dgc@euphemia.math.ucla.edu (David G. Cantor) (10/01/90)
Most cable TV scrambling systems simply suppress or otherwise confuse the synch and may invert the color in the composite video signal. Presumebably, since the NeXT Dimension can do real-time video digital computations, it could perform real-time descrambling quite easily. Would this make it the most expensive descrambling "black box" that one can purchase? dgc David G. Cantor Department of Mathematics University of California at Los Angeles Internet: dgc@math.ucla.edu
cgy@cs.brown.edu (Curtis Yarvin) (10/01/90)
In article <443@kaos.MATH.UCLA.EDU> dgc@euphemia.math.ucla.edu (David G. Cantor) writes: >Most cable TV scrambling systems simply suppress or otherwise confuse >the synch and may invert the color in the composite video signal. >Presumebably, since the NeXT Dimension can do real-time video digital >computations, it could perform real-time descrambling quite easily. Or, just as tantalizing... since the NeXT has 16-bit audio capability, it could serve just as easily as a "black box" for DAT. You could read in the music, add the "black frequency" that is masked out for DAT copy-protection, and write it back to another tape. Surely the interface wouldn't be too expensive. Modern technology will make the recording industry (and anyone else who thinks his survival depends on blocking the free flow of information) a dead duck. Few will mourn... -Curtis "Your eyeballs feel like pinballs, and your tongue feels like a fish" -The Clash
barry@pico.math.ucla.edu (Barry Merriman) (10/01/90)
In article <51700@brunix.UUCP> cgy@cs.brown.edu (Curtis Yarvin) writes: >>computations, it could perform real-time [TV] descrambling quite easily. > >Or, just as tantalizing... since the NeXT has 16-bit audio capability, it >could serve just as easily as a "black box" for DAT. Or, for day to day use, you can record, analyze (on the MonsterScope) and playback the tone access codes used by the telephone company---free phone calls for everyone! Sounds to me like the FCC's gonna have to shut down NeXT :-) -- Barry Merriman UCLA Dept. of Math UCLA Inst. for Fusion and Plasma Research barry@math.ucla.edu (Internet)
barry@pico.math.ucla.edu (Barry Merriman) (10/01/90)
Or, imagine the fun you can have applying the Sound Editor to recordings of various import people... -- Barry Merriman UCLA Dept. of Math UCLA Inst. for Fusion and Plasma Research barry@math.ucla.edu (Internet)
henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) (10/02/90)
In article <51700@brunix.UUCP> cgy@cs.brown.edu (Curtis Yarvin) writes: >Or, just as tantalizing... since the NeXT has 16-bit audio capability, it >could serve just as easily as a "black box" for DAT. You could read in the >music, add the "black frequency" that is masked out for DAT copy-protection, >and write it back to another tape... The "black frequency" scheme was decisively shot down and is no longer planned. DAT copy-protection is now strictly *digital* copy protection, with (oversimplifying slightly) a do-not-copy bit in the digital bit stream that other digital recorders will respect. Once the bits get turned into an analog signal, they are clean. -- Imagine life with OS/360 the standard | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology operating system. Now think about X. | henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry
tim@ziggurat.gg.caltech.edu (Tim Kay) (10/03/90)
In <443@kaos.MATH.UCLA.EDU> dgc@euphemia.math.ucla.edu (David G. Cantor) writes: >Most cable TV scrambling systems simply suppress or otherwise confuse >the synch and may invert the color in the composite video signal. >Presumebably, since the NeXT Dimension can do real-time video digital >computations, it could perform real-time descrambling quite easily. >Would this make it the most expensive descrambling "black box" that one >can purchase? No, no, no. The C-Cubed CL550 chip implements the JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) image compression and decompression algorithm. That algorithm is hard-wired into the chip. The chip can't do any real-time video processing except for that one task (plus simple RGB to YUV, and similar conversions). I would guess that, before any data could be gotten to that chip (after all, the chip takes digital data), the incoming video must be genlocked. Before you can genlock, you need a sync. Therefore, you would need a descrambler before you can even feed the data to the NeXT machine. So, while the NeXT box can do some fast, general purpose signal processing on audio data, it can't do any fast (e.g. real-time) processing on video data. Besides, read-time descramblers are incredibly easy to build. Why tie up a $14,000 work station when $20 worth of parts will do the trick. And even then, you aren't doing the trick. While the video is scrambled with simple sync suppression or inversion, the audio is usually encrypted with DES. That is much harder to decode (without the key). Tim
dar@cbnews.att.com (David A. Roth) (10/03/90)
| In article <451@kaos.MATH.UCLA.EDU>, barry@pico.math.ucla.edu (Barry Merriman) writes: |> In article <51700@brunix.UUCP> cgy@cs.brown.edu (Curtis Yarvin) writes: |> |> >>computations, it could perform real-time [TV] descrambling quite easily. |> > |> >Or, just as tantalizing... since the NeXT has 16-bit audio capability, it |> >could serve just as easily as a "black box" for DAT. |> |> Or, for day to day use, you can record, analyze (on the MonsterScope) and playback the |> tone access codes used by the telephone company---free phone calls for everyone! As Homey the Clown would say "I don't think so!". |> |> Sounds to me like the FCC's gonna have to shut down NeXT :-) |> |> |> |> -- |> Barry Merriman |> UCLA Dept. of Math |> UCLA Inst. for Fusion and Plasma Research |> barry@math.ucla.edu (Internet) | |