Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!usc!wuarchive!husc6!endor!siegel From: siegel@endor.uucp (Rich Siegel) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware Subject: Re: Best color monitor and card? Message-ID: <4162@husc6.harvard.edu> Date: 13 Sep 90 01:28:47 GMT References: <313@intuit.intuit.COM> <1990Sep08.134718.18163@ddsw1.MCS.COM> <1330@radius.com> <4145@husc6.harvard.edu> <1990Sep12.192706.11901@ecst.csuchico.edu> Sender: news@husc6.harvard.edu Reply-To: siegel@endor.UUCP (Rich Siegel) Distribution: usa Organization: Symantec Language Products Group Lines: 79 In article <1990Sep12.192706.11901@ecst.csuchico.edu> tempest@walleye.UUCP (Kenneth K.F. Lui) writes: > I was wondering if you can post a summary regarding >RadiusTV. From the summaries that I've read in the various Mac >magazines regarding this product, it seems as though this is the >perfect peripheral every Mac II owner should have if they wish >to deal with any type of video/audio. The resolution is good >(both maximum size of a displayable picture and its depth); >real-time video and audio digitization; closed-captioned text >capture is implemented as a bonus; and the price is not too >outrageous. Are there any limitations one should consider when >getting ready to buy RadiusTV? Are the video/audio digization's >quality excellent, good, average, fair, bad? What about the >controlling software? > With pleasure. :-) The RadiusTV system consists of three major components. The first is a full-length NuBus card which you drop into a slot in your Mac II, IIx, IIcx, IIci, or IIfx. I was using the system on a II with a DayStar accelerator, and on a stock IIcx. This board contains the logic to get the video data across the NuBus to the machine, and the logic to control the second major component. The second component is the "Audio/Video Input Processor" (AVIP). The AVIP has inputs on the back for the following: RGB, two NTSC inputs, two RF inputs, and a pair or RCA jacks which I believe are for stereo sound output at line level. The third component is the software which controls the AVIP/interface board combo. This consists of an INIT which installs the .RadiusTV driver and initializes the NuBus board, a DA which can be used to monitor the box (i.e. watch the Red Sox while you compile), and the Theatrics application, which provides for more sophisticated image manipulation. I didn't really use Theatrics that much; instead, I used the Developer's Toolkit to write custom software and exercise the interface, and I used the RadiusTV DA on occasion. The RadiusTV system is the most flexible system I've ever seen, given the variety of inputs - for example, you could hook up a commercial laser-disk player and control it through the serial port, and view frames using the supplied software. Also, the picture and sound quality is quite good, even at times when you wouldn't expect it to be (like during heavy i/o or computation activity). I didn't notice any serious limitations to the system. I'd suggest that if possible, you set up a two-screen system: have a main display of whatever type (for example, I use a Radius FPD) for doing general-purpose work, and have an Apple 13-inch color screen driven by the Radius DC/GX board for your live video display. The DC/GX, like the other Radius DirectColor boards, supports NuBus block transfers, and the RadiusTV system takes advantage of this fact when bringing information into the machine. The only problem I had with the software was when running on the Daystar-accelerated Mac II; the machine blew away whenever I tried to turn on the sound. It's my understanding that this is a bus-mastering interaction between the RadiusTV board and the Daystar board, and that it's being fixed. (BTW, the accelerator board made no real difference in the RadiusTV's performance, since it does nothing to accelerate bus transfers.) I'd recommend the radiusTV system if you're doing any kind of software development that might take input from something like a video camera, or cable TV, or if you have some other non-development related application for live video capture. It's a bit expensive to use purely as a toy to watch the ballgame while you hack, but if you've got the cash to use on it, it's far and away the best system for watching regular broadcasts on your machine. My only regret is that I was just a beta site, so I have to send back my setup. :-( Radius doesn't pay me to say good things about their products, and they don't threaten me if I say bad things; I've been a satisfied Radius customer for a long time, and if they keep coming out with quality products like they've been doing, I expect I'll be a satisfied customer for a long time to come. :-) R. Rich Siegel Software Engineer Symantec Languages Group Internet: siegel@endor.harvard.edu UUCP: ..harvard!endor!siegel I hate fascist Pnews implementations which limit the .signature to 4 lines.