Cirrus Logic Inc, Milpitas, California reckons that its CL-GD6340 Colour LCD Interface Controller is a revolutionary integrated circuit: it is claimed to bring to the MS-DOS portable, laptop, and notebook computer world a new level of graphics quality and capabilities approaching those only previously available only with colour cathode ray tube systems. The new part is claimed to give colour liquid crystal diode display systems the full spectrum of colours required by the Video Graphics Array standard and to be able to expand by orders of magnitude the number of colours available on the emerging active-matrix colour displays. The absolute number of colours is a function of the display used, but Cirrus reckons that without the chip, the available displays can produce only from eight to 512 colours, inadequate for true life-like colour images. With the CL-GD6340, 256 can be chosen from many thousands for simultaneous display. It also does 64 shades of grey on mono LCDs, and can be used with gas plasma, electro-luminescent, and analogue CRT displays as well. Sampling fourth quarter, it will be $68 for 100-up.
