njg2@po.CWRU.Edu (J. Norell Guttman) (04/11/91)
What is the difference between CDTV and Fujitsu's FM-Towns? I have seen the Fujitsu in Niigata, Japan and was extremely impressed. I think it is a 386 based machine but the software available is quite large and impressive: much better than any Amiga game! One of the games I was playing had video from the CD and the graphics from the FM-Towns overlayed! The sound also appeared to be hi-fi stereo? What do you guyz think? J.Norell Guttman njg2@po.cwru.edu Just a Freshman at CWRU AFS Exchange Student: Niigata, Japan
es1@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Ethan Solomita) (04/11/91)
In article <1991Apr10.205908.25051@usenet.ins.cwru.edu> njg2@po.CWRU.Edu (J. Norell Guttman) writes: > >What is the difference between CDTV and Fujitsu's FM-Towns? I have >seen the Fujitsu in Niigata, Japan and was extremely impressed. I think >it is a 386 based machine but the software available is quite large and >impressive: much better than any Amiga game! One of the games I was >playing had video from the CD and the graphics from the FM-Towns overlayed! >The sound also appeared to be hi-fi stereo? What do you guyz think? > You can only read 170K/sec off of a CD, which is exactly the speed necessary to read "CD Quality Sound" off of a CD. They might have been using compression, but otherwise you can't get full CD sound as well as something else. > J.Norell Guttman > njg2@po.cwru.edu > Just a Freshman at CWRU > AFS Exchange Student: Niigata, Japan -- Ethan Q: How many Comp Sci majors does it take to change a lightbulb A: None. It's a hardware problem.
kdarling@hobbes.catt.ncsu.edu (Kevin Darling) (04/11/91)
In <1991Apr10.205908.25051@usenet.ins.cwru.edu> J.Norell Guttman writes: > >What is the difference between CDTV and Fujitsu's FM-Towns? I have >seen the Fujitsu in Niigata, Japan and was extremely impressed. I think >it is a 386 based machine but the software available is quite large and >impressive: much better than any Amiga game! One of the games I was >playing had video from the CD and the graphics from the FM-Towns overlayed! >The sound also appeared to be hi-fi stereo? What do you guyz think? I don't recall reading that the Towns directly played video from CDROM... are you sure that the computer wasn't overlaying gfx on the read-in data? In any case, I think it's a neat personal computer from the little I know. Yes, CDTV sound can also be of hi-fi quality. Additionally, the CDTV unit has both a video slot and a serial port, which means that it would be possible to have it control a laser disc player and overlay CDTV-CDROM graphics on top of that external video signal (using optional genlock card). But the prime market of CDTV is different from the FM-Towns machines. People who are normally wary of, or not interested in, computers are the target of interactive-TV players. The fact that it has a computer inside will no more be touted than the fact that your microwave or VCR has computer chips. BTW, I think that within a few years, we'll be seeing CDROM-equipped computers, or computers with builtin audio/video digitizing and overlay capabilities, or a combination thereof, become relatively standard fare. Or at least, I hope so ;-). best - kev <kdarling@catt.ncsu.edu>
kholland@hydra.unm.edu (Kiernan Holland) (04/24/91)
I also heard (or actually saw illustrated) that CDTV will also have a preferences selection for what language you prefer to play your video games in (like japanese, finish, german, french, ect.) It also looks like CBM will be puting out a CD-ROM frive that will run CDTV software on the other amiga's (AC said this would probably not be out for a year, but it is planned however).
masaru@media-lab.media.mit.edu.MEDIA.MIT.EDU (Masaru Sugai) (04/24/91)
In article <1991Apr23.205539.20699@ariel.unm.edu> kholland@hydra.unm.edu (Kiernan Holland) writes: >I also heard (or actually saw illustrated) that CDTV >will also have a preferences selection for what language you prefer to >play your video games in (like japanese, finish, german, french, ect.) > >It also looks like CBM will be puting out a CD-ROM frive that >will run CDTV software on the other amiga's (AC said this would >probably not be out for a year, but it is planned however). I spotted CDTV at my Amiga dealer last Saturday. At first I was excited to find Japanese words "TORIATUKAI CHUUI" (fragile) on the package. I asked a guy and he showed me startup screen of CDTV and its multilanguage menu supports at least American, English, Germany, French, Chinese, and Japanese. I also asked him to bring up Japanese tutorial, but apparently I need a specific language edition of CD-ROM. I wonder they could have stored short greeting messages on their free CD :( To add a piece of info to FM-Towns, both machine can play CD+ titles, and I remember Fujitsuu made use of Fleet Woodmac's album to tout their machine has a variety of sources in US of A. I guess they are more serious than CDTV, as FM-Towns is 386 based, and there is no way to simulate CD-I in any event. BTW, I thought C= has no plan to sell CDTV in Japanese market, as they are little known to Japanese customers. Our customers have keen eyes on AV gadgets (I'm not talking we are superior by any sense) and they don't buy anything which as artifacts on their product. That is the reason some personal compters (FM-Towns, X68000, MSX) have a rich color graphics (>16 colors) built in at afforable prices... -- -- -- Masaru Sugai:Use disclaimer. CIS 72050,2141:NeXT + A3000 = money-eater NEC Corporation:sugai@ccs.mt.nec.co.jp DORMANT:hardwired logic,machine language MIT R.Affiliate:masaru@media-lab.media.mit.edu: "Silicon on Sapphire" by CLASH