[Open-graphics] Announcement: Finally ready to announce OGD1 pre-orders

[Dieter]

> - OGD1 is for hardware hackers.  This isn't just about graphics.  If
> all you wanted was a graphics card that worked with Free Software,
> we've had that for a long time with Matrox, for some time with Intel,
> and most recently and significantly with ATI.

And VIA has very recently (announced on Tuesday) seen the light, although
I don't think they have released any docs yet.

All this makes me wonder about the market for OGC.  Will it have enough
unique features to sell, given the new competition?

> - Some technical stuff:  The TV chip still has not been tested.  It's
> probably just fine, but we don't know for sure.

$1500 for untested hardware.  Hmmm....

I've been looking at the data sheet, and they talk about 800x600 and
1024x768.  But s-video out is either x480 for NTSC or x576 for PAL/SECAM
(right?).  Do they scale 800x600 and 1024x768 down to fit, or what?

One thing I've been trying to figure out is the maximum horizontal
resolution for s-video.  The standard is 720x480 (or x576), but there
isn't any hard limit, and some analog TVs can go much higher.  Can a
"normal" (e.g. ATI) graphics card output, say, 1600x480 to s-video?
If not, can OGD & OGC do it and make that a selling point?

> So, to partially reiterate, here's what we need to produce:
> 
> - Articles and interviews
> - Ads
> - An electronic brochure
> - Web pages with detailed information
> - Publicity info about OGP, OHF, etc.
> - A convincing argument that will make every FOSS enthusiast want to
> buy an OGD1 board.

- Documentation
	hardware
		pinouts for the expansion connector(s) I assume the
		missing one can be added by the user?

		Voltages, min/max temp, humidity, and such

	software
		How does the end user program the thing?  Provide a
		simple "Hello, World!" type example.

		Do the tools run on their preferred OS?

	Things to avoid doing so it doesn't become a paperweight.

	A clear warranty/return policy spelling out what happens
	when the user does manage to make a paperweight.

- Diagnostics

- A starter list of things one can use the board for (may require
  additional programming and/or hardware)

	- graphics card

	- FPGA projects (examples?)

	- high speed D/A outputs
		signal generator
			sine, square, pulse, triangle, sawtooth, ...
			ATSC
			DVB-T
			NTSC, PAL, SECAM
			AM, FM
			SSB, VSB
			other?

	- PCI bus sniffer

	- what else?

- mailing list(s) and/or web forum(s) for users (seperate from the
  development forums)