On Sat, Nov 10, 2007 at 02:51:08AM +0000, Andrew Burton wrote:
Ok, I'll trump your VCD with...
Laserdisc
That must have been played with some sort of computer, right?
Not necessarily (unless you count microcontrollers inside a
dedicated video player).
Most videodisc players are standalone - they have buttons on
the front like a VCR or DVD player, and may have a remote control.
They are little more than video playback devices for watching
movies.
Some videodisc players are designed for interactive use and
have a parallel or serial input port, but the computer only sends
start/stop/seek commands to the player. The player still squirts
out NTSC (or PAL?) video to a monitor, not digitized frames to
the controlling computer. Those models can typically be controlled
via front-panel buttons even when a computer is not attached.
Not had a laserdisc or laserdisc player myself, but
allegedly laserdiscs were still being made up until around 2000 give or take a year or so.
I have several laserdisc players and several laserdiscs (most are just
movies, but some are designed for interactive multimedia kiosks and
videogames (Dragon's Lair, Space Ace...)
In either 2002 or 2003, I bought a new, remastered Dragon's Lair videodisc.
Those of us who bought it were told that it was the last thing off the
presses before the last company shut down their line.
One of these days, I'm going to get around to buying or building a
Dragon's Lair cabinet, but for now, it plays fine on a LD player
attached to a computer.
-ethan
--
Ethan Dicks, A-333-S Current South Pole Weather at 10-Nov-2007 at 03:00 Z
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Ethan.Dicks at
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