denbeste@bbn.com (Steven Den Beste) (03/15/88)
I just received a newsprint flyer of Amiga products from some place called "Computer Discount" in Denver. (I assume they got my name from the Boston Computer Society, but I can't be sure.) It is very impressive, and I'm keeping it so the next time someone says to me "Oh, the Amiga - I heard that there wasn't much support for that." I can wave it under their nose (or stick it down their throat, depending on their computer-of-choice). That's as may be. On page 6 of the flyer they list digitizers and graphics packages, including Digi-View and the other NEWTEK products. There is also listed there the following, quoted exactly: "NEW! Digi-Adaptor. Allows DigiView to digitize in color from a home VCR. This will be very useful for anyone using the Amiga for home or professional video production. Regular $79.95 Our price $67.98" (Their phone number is 303-825-2943.) Well! "In Color" no less. Is this real or did the catalog writer get confused? To do what they say, we've gotta have a box which is fed color composite, which has a three-way switch to choose Red or Green or Blue output (and, sigh, also has to have "tint" and "color" and "brightness" and "contrast" pots). To power all this, it's probably going to have to have a brick, too. If that is what it is, $70 is pretty cheap. I can't think what else it might be, though, because if you AREN'T doing color demodulating, you can plug the composite directly into DigiView. I'd appreciate it if anyone has any direct intelligence on this product. I don't want it for my VCR, I want it so I can digitize the NASA Jupiter and Saturn pictures from my videodisk player. Steven C. Den Beste, Bolt Beranek & Newman, Cambridge MA denbeste@bbn.com(ARPA/CSNET/UUCP) harvard!bbn.com!denbeste(UUCP)
oconnor@sungoddess.steinmetz (Dennis M. O'Connor) (03/16/88)
An article by denbeste@BBN.COM (Steven Den Beste) says:
] I just received a newsprint flyer of Amiga products from some place called
] "Computer Discount" in Denver. (I assume they got my name from the Boston
] Computer Society, but I can't be sure.)
[...]
] "NEW! Digi-Adaptor. Allows DigiView to digitize in color from a home VCR. This
] will be very useful for anyone using the Amiga for home or professional video
] production. Regular $79.95 Our price $67.98" (Their phone number is
] 303-825-2943.)
]
] Well! "In Color" no less. Is this real or did the catalog writer get confused?
] To do what they say, we've gotta have a box which is fed color composite,
] which has a three-way switch to choose Red or Green or Blue output (and,
] sigh, also has to have "tint" and "color" and "brightness" and "contrast"
] pots). To power all this, it's probably going to have to have a brick, too.
]
] If that is what it is, $70 is pretty cheap. I can't think what else it might
] be, though, because if you AREN'T doing color demodulating, you can plug the
] composite directly into DigiView.
]
] Steven C. Den Beste, Bolt Beranek & Newman, Cambridge MA
] denbeste@bbn.com(ARPA/CSNET/UUCP) harvard!bbn.com!denbeste(UUCP)
The circuitry to change NTSC composite to RGB is a minor peice of
every color television sold. It does not need to draw much power,
and I believe there exist single chips that accomplish the function.
So this adapter is really not that cheap ( considering what cheap
color TVs cost, and how much more stuff they have, like CRT and
tuners and so on ). A 9-volt battery could power this thing.
I don't know about this specific device, but I expected something
like it in about this price-class and time-frame. No big deal.
But USEFUL, yes indeed.
--
Dennis O'Connor oconnor%sungod@steinmetz.UUCP ARPA: OCONNORDM@ge-crd.arpa
( I wish I could be civil all the time, like Eugene Miya )
(-: The Few, The Proud, The Architects of the RPM40 40MIPS CMOS Micro :-)king@dciem.UUCP (Stephen King) (03/23/88)
In article <9942@steinmetz.steinmetz.UUCP> oconnor%sungod@steinmetz.UUCP writes: >The circuitry to change NTSC composite to RGB is a minor peice of ^^^^^ >every color television sold. It does not need to draw much power, >and I believe there exist single chips that accomplish the function. >So this adapter is really not that cheap ( considering what cheap >color TVs cost, and how much more stuff they have, like CRT and >tuners and so on ). A 9-volt battery could power this thing. > The NTSC decoder is probably the most complicated part of a color TV. For those of you interested, Philips reportedly makes a single chip to do this job, the TDA3563. I have no literature on this thing (yet), but obviously something like it exists, or we would not have pocket color TVs such as the Casio, which run off batteries. -- dciem!king@zorac.arpa or {decvax|ihnp4|watmath}!utzoo! dciem!king uwbeaver!utcsri!---/ * DCIEM Simulation & Training Group * uunet!mnetor!--/