daver@boa.gatech.edu (David Rosenbaum) (02/07/91)
I'm interested in the current state of multimedia vis-a-vis X. What's the state of the art, and what standards are in place or in development? I've heard of a few things - servers that support live video in a window with the help of Parallax boards or their ilk, video control extensions to X, synchronization extensions to X, and a variety of separate servers supporting audio and video control - and I'd be interested in hearing more about any of these, as well as anything else that might be relevant. Please email any replies. Your responses will be subject to my great gratitude and to inclusion in a summary posting which I will eventually make. Thanks, David Rosenbaum daver@cc.gatech.edu
daver@boa.gatech.edu (David Rosenbaum) (02/23/91)
Here is the promised summary of responses to my query on multimedia
standards for X.
David Rosenbaum
daver@cc.gatech.edu
===========
From cam-orl!thg@relay.EU.net Fri Feb 22 06:16:39 1991
Return-Path: <cam-orl!thg@relay.EU.net>
Subject: Multimedia and X
Date: Thu, 21 Feb 91 15:43:49 +0000
From: Tim Glauert <cam-orl!thg@relay.EU.net>
You expressed an interest in multimedia and X. I have developed a
synchronization extension to X which you may have heard about and have been
involved in the video/X discussions for a while.
What is it you want to know? :-)
The current status, as far as I am aware, is:
Synchronization: Olivetti Research and DEC have both thought about such an
extension, and we are currently hammering out the details of a joint proposal
based on my early work. This handles the issue of fine-grain synchronization
which is otherwise subject to network/process switch delays (10-100ms range).
Look for a version which runs under R5 soon after it's release, with the
possibility of a release of the R4 version if there is demand.
Video: VEX is dead, long live MVEX (Minimal Video Extension to X). This is a
version of VEX with the device control removed. DEC also have a video
extension proposal and I implemented one at Olivetti so that we could actually
get some work done. MVEX will probably become a standard for a certain class
of applications, but not THE standard for all video applications. I am
inclined towards a scheme which keeps all the video out of the server and uses
the existing rendering mechanisms where possible (including shared memeory for
speed). There are a number of video control servers around but you'll have to
ask someone else for details.
Audio: Nothing to do with X, according to the speakers at the X Conference.
See the proceedings for more details on audio servers.
Tim.
Tim Glauert, Olivetti Research Limited, | thg@cam-orl.UUCP
24a Trumpington Street, Cambridge, England. | +44 223 343232
==========
From lemkin@ncifcrf.gov Tue Feb 12 08:49:44 1991
Return-Path: <lemkin@ncifcrf.gov>
Date: Tue, 12 Feb 91 08:46:04 EST
From: lemkin@ncifcrf.gov
Subject: XAudio
For your information,
There is an X-Windows Audio extension
/contrib/audio.shar.Z on expo.lcs.mit.edu
Pete Lemkin
==========
From danapple@Eng.Sun.COM Thu Feb 7 18:12:02 1991
Return-Path: <danapple@Eng.Sun.COM>
Date: Thu, 7 Feb 91 15:13:16 PST
From: danapple@Eng.Sun.COM (Daniel I. Applebaum)
Subject: Re: Multimedia standards for X...
Newsgroups: comp.multimedia,comp.windows.x
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Mt. View, Ca.
In article <21347@hydra.gatech.EDU> you write:
[my posting omitted...]
The Galatea Network Video Device Control System is a package for
controlling and managing video resources in a distributed workstation
environment. The system handles the control of video devices, such as
analog video disc player/recorders and analog video routing switches.
Galatea runs on 4.3BSD and System V UNIX on 32 bit workstations.
Galatea is available for the public under the same copyright
restrictions as the X Window System. Any person may copy and use
Galatea for any purpose, as long as the M.I.T. copyright is maintained
on all copies of the distributed software. To obtain a copy of
Galatea, anonymous ftp can be used to media-lab.mit.edu (Internet
18.85.0.2). The Galatea distribution, in tar(1) format, as well as
PostScript and line printer copies of the documentation are available
in the subdirectory 'galatea' The documentation is present in the
distribution, so there is no need to grab both. If you cannot form an
ftp(1) connection to media-lab.mit.edu, I would be happy to send mail
containing uuencoded versions of either the documentation or the
distribution. If you don't specify whether you want the PostScript or
lineprinter version of the documentation, I will send the lineprinter
version. I don't have the time or energy to send any of this
information via US mail. I can send the documentation non-uuencoded,
if that is better.
There is no official support for Galatea, although I try to keep
things going and I respond to complaints about bugs. If you wish to
use the system, feel free, but the responsibility is in your hands. I
want to hear about real bugs in the system, and take efforts to
correct them. As I have graduated, the future of Galatea development
is uncertain. As the Media Laboratory is not a product development or
support organization, Galatea is only being offered unofficially by
me, not by the lab.
Currently, Galatea supports Sony, Pioneer and Digital Equipment
Corporation video disc players and the Panasonic write-once units,
Akai Digital Patch Panels and many switches produced by Presentation
Environments. I welcome any device driver software that other users
develop and would be more than happy it to add to the distribution.
The system runs on 4.3BSD, Ultrix, Interactive 386/ix, HP-UX and Sun
OS.
The client library is device independent, so the clients never need to
be aware of the type of device under control. In addition, the physical
location of a device is hidden from a client, so in a distributed
environment, a video disc player may be anywhere. Galatea servers can
communicate to each other to share resources. There need not be a
single server, but a hierarchy can be created, allowing the use of
"office-wide", "department-wide", and "building-wide" resources by the
same user without the client software or the user being aware of the
distinction.
Some applications of Galatea have included the recording of computer
generated animations onto write-once video discs (CALTECH CCSF), image
archive retrieval (Image Concepts, MIT VLW), educational applications
(MIT Project Athena) and off-line video editing prototypes (MIT
Interactive Cinema).
For more information on Galatea and its encompassing project, see the
paper "Light Table: Interface to Visual Information Systems" in the
MIT Press book "The Electronic Design Studio", published in 1990.
Mailing lists: To be added to the galatea-users or galatea-bugs list or
to request documentation or distributions:
galatea-request@athena.mit.edu or galatea-request@media-lab.mit.edu
To send mail to other users of Galatea: galatea-users@athena.mit.edu
or galatea-users@media-lab.mit.edu
To report a Galatea bug: galatea-bugs@athena.mit.edu or
galatea-bugs@media-lab.mit.edu
Daniel I. Applebaum
Interactive Cinema
M.I.T. Media Laboratory
danapple@athena.mit.edu danapple@media-lab.mit.edu
==========
From parallax!vsm@uunet.UU.NET Wed Feb 6 18:06:28 1991
Return-Path: <parallax!vsm@uunet.UU.NET>
From: parallax!vsm@uunet.uu.net
Subject: Re: Multimedia standards for X...
Date: Wed, 6 Feb 91 14:52:46 PST
> I've heard of a few things - servers that support live
> video in a window with the help of Parallax boards or their ilk, video
^^^^
I did not get this????
> control extensions to X
Anyway, parallax has shipping its X server on various platforms
since X11R3. In fact, our server is available on X11R3 tape from
MIT. Till today, ours is the only video extensions to X11, that's
out there. VEX is now withdrawn. Xv, of Dave craver, is still in
design stage, so is MVEX. If you need more details on XPlx, you
could talk to our sales department.
--
Regards,
Murali V. Srinivasan.
Senior Software Engineer,
Parallax Graphics,
2500, Condensa St.,
Santa Clara, CA 95051.
(408) 727 2220.
uunet!parallax!vsm vsm@parallax.com