Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!ncrlnk!ncrcae!hubcap!gatech!uflorida!mailrus!cornell!rochester!uhura.cc.rochester.edu!haake From: haake@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Bill Haake) Newsgroups: comp.graphics Subject: Re: Film Recorder Wanted Message-ID: <325@ur-cc.UUCP> Date: 10 Nov 88 21:59:35 GMT References: <4071@psuvax1.cs.psu.edu> Reply-To: haake@.cvs.rochester.edu (Bill Haake) Organization: Univ. Roch. Center for Visual Sci. Lines: 68 Sorry if this shows up twice but I posted it about a week ago and it never showed up so here goes again... In article <4071@psuvax1.cs.psu.edu> alessi@gondor.cs.psu.edu (Eric S. Alessi) writes: >I am in the market to purchase a digital film recorder for my Mac II. >Does anybody have current information? It would be greatly appriciated. > I am also about to purchase a film recorder but for a network of Suns with 2 Pixar II image computers attached. I am particularly looking at the Lasergraphics LFR and the Mirus FilmPrinter. I would like to start a discussion about the pros and cons of different types of film recorders. Since I am only interested in recording raster images not presentation graphics and will probably be writing my own drivers for whatever I buy, I am mostly interested in an evaluation of the hardware. Some questions I have are: How well does the addressable resolution match what actually gets on the film? What is the resolution of different films both color and b/w? How much of a difference does the size of the imaging screen make in the quality of the output? How does an electrostatic display work and why might it be better than a magnetic deflection CRT? Here is what I know about the recorders I mentioned above: The LFR is a magnetic deflection CRT and filter wheel style recorder with addressable resolutions of 4096x2732 or 2048x1366. 24 bits per pixel. Comes standard with 35mm film back 3 1/4" x 4 1/2" is optional. My salesman says that the device has a 6" imaging tube which is larger than others, but I can find no mention of tube size in the LFR technical specs (or anyone else's for that matter). Typical exposure time of 80 secs at 4096x2732 resolution. Available with a SCSI interface as MAC/LFR. List price $9750 The Mirus is based on an electrostatic imaging screen which is supposedly very high quality. It also uses a color filter wheel and has 24 bits per pixel. It comes with a 35 mm film back but no optional backs are yet available. The addressable resolution is advertised as "547 to 8191 lines". I think this means both horizontal and vertical but I am not sure. This is billed as an "all digital" film recorder because the exposure level is determined by the length of time the screen is lit rather than the intensity of the screen. Unfortunately this results in very long exposure times. I went for a demo and we killed an 8000 line slide after about 30 minutes and it hadn't even finished the first pass of a three pass RGB image. 15 min. for a 2000 line RGB image. SCSI interface. List price $5995. Anyone have any comments? I have no connection with Lasergraphics or Mirus other than as a potential customer. Bill Haake 274 Meliora Hall University of Rochester Rochester, NY 14627 PHONE (716) 275-8680 INTERNET: haake@cvs.rochester.edu (128.151.80.13)