stein@dhw68k.cts.com (Rick 'Transputer' Stein) (09/03/90)
I noticed an article in the New York Times this Sunday (9-2-90) about
the proposed fiber optic highway. In the piece, a picture of a very
large (wall sized) television image was shown. The co-inventor, Lanny
Smoot of Bellcore was shown with it in a video conference. Can
some one tell me how such a big picture is made? It looks like
a bunch of flat screen tv "tubes."
In a related question, if you watch Club MTV on cable, you'll notice
that they have a bunch of small monitors ganged together to build a very large
television picture where all 9 (or 16) monitors display only a part of the
camera's image. How do they do that?
--
Richard M. Stein (aka, Rick 'Transputer' Stein)
Sole proprietor of Rick's Software Toxic Waste Dump and Kitty Litter Co.
"You build 'em, we bury 'em." uucp: ...{spsd, zardoz, felix}!dhw68k!stein rick@hanauma.stanford.edu (Richard Ottolini) (09/04/90)
In article <1990Sep3.033831.2543@dhw68k.cts.com> stein@dhw68k.cts.com (Rick 'Transputer' Stein) writes: >In a related question, if you watch Club MTV on cable, you'll notice >that they have a bunch of small monitors ganged together to build a very large >television picture where all 9 (or 16) monitors display only a part of the >camera's image. How do they do that? There are problem some of these in South Cal. Nordstroms in S.F. has one on the top floor. The West End in Dallas has one rigged as a video jukebox.
jbm@eos.UUCP (Jeffrey Mulligan) (09/05/90)
stein@dhw68k.cts.com (Rick 'Transputer' Stein) writes: >In a related question, if you watch Club MTV on cable, you'll notice >that they have a bunch of small monitors ganged together to build a very >large television picture where all 9 (or 16) monitors display only a part >of the camera's image. How do they do that? ^^^^^^^^^^ You assume there's only one camera; is this known? I suppose it could be done digitally with a zoom and scroll frame buffer, where you compartmentalize the video ram with one video controller per monitor. Unless there is off-the-shelf hardware that will do this (which I doubt) then it is probably cheaper just to buy 9 ccd cameras and mount them rigidly together. This is the high-bandwidth solution! :-) -- Jeff Mulligan (jbm@eos.arc.nasa.gov) NASA/Ames Research Ctr., Mail Stop 262-2, Moffet Field CA, 94035 (415) 604-3745
TEG@orc.olivetti.com (09/05/90)
>>stein@dhw68k.cts.com (Rick 'Transputer' Stein) writes: >>if you watch Club MTV on cable, >>you'll notice large television picture where all 9 (or 16) monitors >>How do they do that? >Jeff Mulligan (jbm@eos.arc.nasa.gov) replies: >I suppose it could be done digitally >Unless there is off-the-shelf hardware that will do this (which I doubt) Such a product does exist. They have some sort of rack mount back plane, and cards (1 CPU per monitor). It can take a single video input, and break it up into pieces for each monitor and also display the full image on any particular monitor. There are various effects programmable for images dancing around. This system been around for a while. I have seen it at an Audi display in a car show, on various music videos, big record stores, etc... Tom Griner Systems Administrator - Olivetti Research Center frames 2 /dev/fb uunet!wyse!decwrl!pyramid!oliveb!TEG TEG@ORC.Olivetti.Com flames 2 /dev/null pqpqpqpqpqpqpqpqpqpqpqpqpqpqpqpqpqpqpqpqpqpqpqpqpqpqpqpqpqpqpqpqpqpqpqpqpqpqpq bdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbd
paul@taniwha.UUCP (Paul Campbell) (09/05/90)
In article <1990Sep3.033831.2543@dhw68k.cts.com> stein@dhw68k.cts.com (Rick 'Transputer' Stein) writes: >In a related question, if you watch Club MTV on cable, you'll notice >that they have a bunch of small monitors ganged together to build a very large >television picture where all 9 (or 16) monitors display only a part of the >camera's image. How do they do that? Lots of (9 or 16) scan converters, actually it's probably not that hard to do - doesn't need much total RAM (maximum 1Mb for a 24-bit NTSC image - they probably use 8-16 bits, and probably get to waste a lot because they need to partition the RAM over the 9/16 scan converters). You could probably put it all together for under $10k (retail in volume) Paul -- Paul Campbell UUCP: ..!mtxinu!taniwha!paul AppleLink: CAMPBELL.P What most people don't realize is that those plastic cover slips that your 3 inch floppies come in are actually condoms for protecting your computer from harmfull computer viruses - practice safe computing ..... :-)
adrian@mti.mti.com (Adrian McCarthy) (09/06/90)
In article <7192@eos.UUCP> jbm@eos.UUCP (Jeffrey Mulligan) writes: >stein@dhw68k.cts.com (Rick 'Transputer' Stein) writes: >I suppose it [video walls] could be done digitally with a zoom and scroll >frame buffer, where you compartmentalize the video ram with >one video controller per monitor. Unless there is off-the-shelf >hardware that will do this (which I doubt) then it is probably >cheaper just to buy 9 ccd cameras and mount them rigidly together. >This is the high-bandwidth solution! :-) There is plenty of off-the-shelf equipment for video walls. The medium is becoming quite popular with multi-image presentation firms. The pricing and reliability are becoming quite competitive with the multi-projector slide shows which have been a staple for conventions, museums, etc. (Although I still prefer the much better image you can quite with slides.) Aid.
ahg@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Allen Braunsdorf) (09/07/90)
In article <1990Sep3.033831.2543@dhw68k.cts.com> stein@dhw68k.cts.com (Rick 'Transputer' Stein) writes: >In a related question, if you watch Club MTV on cable, you'll notice >that they have a bunch of small monitors ganged together to build a very large >television picture where all 9 (or 16) monitors display only a part of the >camera's image. How do they do that? At CES a few years ago when CDV was the buzzword, Philips had a bunch of CDV machines connected to a beast called a Vidiwall. It was a four by four array of flat screens. There were no seams between the screens, so it made a pretty impressive big picture. Several pictures could be displayed in differing widths by combining several of the screens. It was controlled from a computer terminal of some sort. I couldn't get close enough to see exactly what was involved, but the operator would work at the terminal and signal other workers to cue up discs in their players. It looked much better than any of the setups I've seen made from ordinary monitors, but we were in the dark (I don't know how bright it's be in other situations), and I don't know whether Philips sells them or just uses them internally (it had their logo on it, so I suppose they made it). --- Allen Braunsdorf Purdue University Computing Center ahg@cc.purdue.edu UNIX Systems Programmer
stein@dhw68k.cts.com (Rick 'Transputer' Stein) (09/10/90)
In article <49303@ricerca.UUCP> TEG@orc.olivetti.com () writes: > >Such a product does exist. They have some sort of rack >mount back plane, and cards (1 CPU per monitor). It can >take a single video input, and break it up into pieces for >each monitor and also display the full image on any particular >monitor. There are various effects programmable for images >dancing around. This system been around for a while. I have seen >it at an Audi display in a car show, on various music videos, >big record stores, etc... > >Tom Griner Systems Administrator - Olivetti Research Center frames 2 /dev/fb So then the granularity of the individual pixels increasing across each monitor? IF you had a 4096x4096 CCD camera and decide to project this across a 4x4 array of 1Kx1K tubes, then each pixel would subtend one physical CCD pixel. If you went to an 8x8 set of tubes, then you'd have a "magnification" of 2x2 for each tube. Right? -- Richard M. Stein (aka, Rick 'Transputer' Stein) Sole proprietor of Rick's Software Toxic Waste Dump and Kitty Litter Co. "You build 'em, we bury 'em." uucp: ...{spsd, zardoz, felix}!dhw68k!stein
rjp@sword.bellcore.com (Ronald Plummer(22262)) (09/11/90)
> I noticed an article in the New York Times this Sunday (9-2-90) about > the proposed fiber optic highway. In the piece, a picture of a very > large (wall sized) television image was shown. The co-inventor, Lanny > Smoot of Bellcore was shown with it in a video conference. Can > some one tell me how such a big picture is made? It looks like > a bunch of flat screen tv "tubes." You can write Lanny himself (lss@faline.bellcore.com). I'm sure he can give you the appropriate information. rjp
kevinc@cs.athabascau.ca (Kevin Crocker) (09/11/90)
In article <1990Sep3.033831.2543@dhw68k.cts.com> stein@dhw68k.cts.com (Rick 'Transputer' Stein) writes: >In a related question, if you watch Club MTV on cable, you'll notice >that they have a bunch of small monitors ganged together to build a very large >television picture where all 9 (or 16) monitors display only a part of the >camera's image. How do they do that? S.A.C. in Omaha (Strategic Air Command) also has this kind of setup in the Command Post. It's awesome when they do a blowup from a satelite picture to show you what the resolution is from up there. The pixel density is incredible. Just an odd thought to add color (sic) to this thread. Kevin