ivbconv - picture converter for VBXE 256-color mode

Usage

ivbconv is a command line tool. The invocation syntax is as follows:

ivbconv [options] input_file...

Input files can be in JPEG, PNG, BMP or several other formats, see the list of image formats supported by the FreeImage library. The images are automatically resized and converted to 256 colors and linked with code that displays them. If you specify multiple input files, ivbconv will try to use all available CPU cores to speed up the conversion by processing multiple images in parallel. The output files are in XEX format and can be loaded directly from your favourite DOS.

Available options:

-h, --help

Display usage information.

-t, --dither

Enable dithering (Floyd-Steinberg).

-O output_format

Set the output format to output_format. See Output formats.

-d output_dir

Set output directory to output_dir. Without this option, the output file will be created in the directory where the original image file is located.

-v, --verbose

Show what is being done.

-f, --overwrite

Overwrite existing files.

-c caption, --caption=caption

Setup caption for the converted images. It will be displayed at the bottom of the screen. Its length can be up to 40 characters. The default caption is the name of the original file. If you want no caption at all, use this option with an empty string, i.e. -c "".

Viewing images

The viewer uses original Gary Ryan’s code with a few minor modifications. Each converted image is a DOS binary file, which can be loaded by typing L and entering the file name (DOS 2.5, MyDOS, etc.) or just typing the file name (SpartaDOS, DOS II+, etc.). Loading the image (especially through SIO) can take some time, and thus it can be aborted by pressing the ESC key.

VBXE registers can be located at $D640 or $D740 and their location is detected automatically. The default interlace scheme should work well on most CRT TV sets and monitors. On LCDs, it may show lines in incorrect order (use O and I keys to adjust it, hoping that one of these options will work for you) or not work at all (which is a bit harder to adjust for).

Pressing the ESC key disables VBXE display, enters GR.0 mode and exits to DOS.

Output formats

vb

VBXE, 320x240, 256 colors

vb16

VBXE, 640x240, 16 colors

ivb

VBXE, 320x480i, 256 colors

ivb16

VBXE, 640x480i, 16 colors

Authors

Adrian Matoga

Programming

Gary Ryan

VBXE interlaced display routine

Peter Dell

Display routine patches

Piotr Fusik

FlashPack 2.1 depacker routine

Sebastian Igielski

Testing

This software uses the FreeImage open source image library. See http://freeimage.sourceforge.net for details. FreeImage is used under the FIPL, version 1.0.

History

1.1.1 (2017-12-08)

Reset MEMAC registers at the end. Exit on any key, not just ESC.

1.1.0 (2014-11-23)

Added option to choose output format. Added non-interlaced and hi-res VBXE output formats. Added dithering option.

1.0.1 (2014-09-14)

Fixed VBXE detection bug. Fixed occasional garbage in captions and palette.

1.0.0 (2014-09-14)

Initial release.