Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!asuvax!ncar!gatech!udel!mmdf From: andersen!tsarver@uunet.uu.net (Tom Sarver) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.misc Subject: CDTV Message-ID: <50212@nigel.ee.udel.edu> Date: 9 Apr 91 23:02:54 GMT Sender: mmdf@ee.udel.edu Lines: 83 >From: Jonathan David Abbey >Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.misc >Subject: Re: CDTV- Let's clear the air... >Message-Id: <296@atacama.cs.utexas.edu> >(Ethan Solomita) writes: >> This is also a good question. I can't believe that this >>can be produced at as good a price as CDTV. And if it comes down >>to a quality/price issue, we all remember Sony/Beta. >The reason that VHS blew the doors off of Betamax included the fact that >only Sony supported Betamax, whereas the rest of the industry were >making cheaper and better VHS machines. In this case, the Betamax lesson >points the wrong way at Commodore, unless the rumour of Commodore licensing >of the CDTV technology comes true in a serious way. >[...] >> Two years is unrealistic. Kevin is claiming September or >>so, but I don't know about that. I'll believe it when I see it. I >>HAVE seen CDTV and it is shipping. >Undeniably a point in our favor, but I would believe the projected release >date.. >[...] >> If CD-I ships doing everything that Kevin says without >>any catches or negatives and it sells for $1,000, then maybe it >>will dominate CDTV. Of course, the feeling I'm getting from >>Kevin's post (mainly because I've never heard anyone else say >>these things about CD-I) is that you are getting a dream system >>for a ridiculously cheap price. Reminds me of the NeXT, except I >>know that Panasonic, etc., are in this for the money. >I've not heard that CD-I came with a blitter, but everything else he's said >holds with what I've heard. The mere presence of a quality compression >scheme in hardware gives CD-I an immediate technological advantage. The >rest of the specs sound very good as well, and a large number of manufacturers >will be making it. >Commodore has the advantage of a large base of software that could be quickly >transferred onto CD's from existing floppies.. Shadow of the Beast et al. >They also have the advantage of first release and name brand recognition in >the home computer market as a good value. (Those durn C64 adds were potent.) >And, they've got the nice James Sachs artwork, a better name for their >device (although whether third party manufacturers would want to throw their >manufacturing support behind a standard called Commodore Dynamic Total Vision.. >8-), and a small horde of loyal Amigans that could give it a bit of a push >in the states and a whale of a push in Europe. >Still and all though, it grieves me that CD-I should be so far in advance of >the Amiga technologically speaking.. it does make sense, though. Intel and >company are not dull-witted, CD-I is from Phillips and Sony, DVI (Digital Video Interaction) is from Intel. CBM's saving grace is the fact that the makers of DVI and CD-I desparately want licensees. That means they will make it easy to put their technology on a board. When all the CDTV hubbub started, I'm sure I saw stuff C='s desire to be compatible with at least one of these standards AS SOON AS ONE IS COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE. >they have just been locked to a lackluster >standard in the PC world. I would trust them to do a bang-up job when given >a fresh page, and CD-I has been in development for years. >It'll be interesting to see if Commodore advertises this thing well... >> -- Ethan >> The "technology" is 1) a standard for encoding data onto a CD-ROM (or any other digital device, but the standard accounts for CD-ROM's 170K/s transfer rate). and 2) a set of chips which will de-compress this standard on the fly to create the animation. It's not hard to imagine a board which will do the decompression and throw it into an S-VHS output. (in this case the CDTV would be acting like an intelligent CD-ROM drive and I/O cabinet.) >------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >Jonathan David Abbey \"Take your place on the great Mandela" P,P&M >the university of texas at austin \ jonabbey@cs.utexas.edu "Love me, love >computer science/math?/psychology? \ (512) 472-2052 my Amiga" -Me --Tom Sarver