Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!kddlab!cs.titech!wnoc-tyo-news!scslwide!wsgw!headgw!cvgw!yamanaka From: yamanaka@cv.sony.co.jp (Brian Yamanaka) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.multimedia Subject: Re: CDTV Motion Video Message-ID: Date: 14 Jun 91 03:15:02 GMT Sender: news@cv.sony.co.jp (Usenet News System) Organization: Sony Corporation, Consumer Video Group Lines: 86 In article <1991Jun13.232219.10300@watserv1.waterloo.edu> tcapener@watserv1.waterloo.edu (CAPENER TD - ENGLISH ) writes: |In article <22384@cbmvax.commodore.com> daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie) writes: |>In article <13967@goofy.Apple.COM> lsr@Apple.COM (Larry Rosenstein) writes: |>>In article <1991Jun7.025704.21505@watserv1.waterloo.edu> tcapener@watserv1.waterloo.edu (CAPENER TD - ENGLISH ) writes: |> |>>>Actually, to be fair (fair? who said we had to be fair?) Apple's 24 minutes |>>>of video is full screen and at 30 frames per second. |> |>What's more important to the question is, from where does the image originate? | |The presentation I saw at Apple did the video on a normal projection |television. Somehow they were getting the video signal off of the CD-ROM, |through the Mac (IIfx) and onto an NTSC device. The display was not on |the Mac screen at all. The stuff on the projection screens were straight off the Mac display 24 bit display. (There are such things as multiscan projection screens) |However, I also saw similar video on the Mac screen in a HyperCard window. |This time, though, they were using some sort of card that takes a video |signal and patches it through onto a bit-plane of the Mac screen. I don't think this is true. The QuickTime XCMD's for Hypercard allow you to playback compressed "movies" on any Mac II family computer (including the LC). I think this is the point most people are missing with QuickTime. QT is a new software architecture that integrates into the Mac OS. It provides for multi-media by combining compressed video and sound into a single data stream and format. Most importantly QuickTime provides the necessary timing support to make sure that the video image and sound are synched. It is even possible to synch together two movies that were captured at different frame rates. THe really neat thing is that the software "scales" the playback rates to deal with the kinds of hardware (CPU) in use. That means slower frame rates on slower Macs, but anyone can playback a file mad eon a different Mac. QuickTime is also an open architecture that allows for the addition of more software decompressors and hardware ones as well. Using these "components" video boards from other manufacturers are given a single interface that allows them to playback and capture video, making the job for the programmer a lot easier. |Mind you, all of this hardware cost megabucks. The CDTV, on the other hand, |costs around $1000 (in Canada) which I'm sure is about a quarter of the |special video card for the Mac alone. | |On the surface, the stuff Apple is doing is much more impressive than |Commodore. When you realize that Apple does its stuff on a $10k system |and Commodore on a $1k system, the tables are turned. Of course, someday |Apple hopes to have compressed video, too. I hope by then Commodore is |either very well entrenched or has something new up its sleeve. Apple has always excelled in software creation. Anyone who has used the Mac can see that in the elegance of its interface. Of course they can't seem to get pre-emptive "multi-tasking" to work. But they excel in human interfacing and application program interfaces. I think we can no longer say that Apple produces only expensive systems. QuickTime puts multi-media in the reach of many with the LC, and Super Mac has unveiled a $500 video capture and playback board for it. Of course the Amiga still has many hardware advantages that a Mac doesn't, so Commodore is not out of the game yet. As I said in another post, we just need better resolution and colors with greater OS support. That would really make the Amiga the best solution. | |Travis Capener The usual disclaimers apply. All comments are my own and in no way reflect in anyway those of my employer. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Brian YAMANAKA (aka The VISCA dude) |"I knew I should have made that Sony Corporation, Personal Video Group | left turn at Albuquerque." Email: yamanaka@cv.sony.co.jp | -Bugs Bunny Phone: +81-3-5488-6160 | FAX: +81-3-5488-6469 |Hawaii,Illinois,Japan...what's next?