Don't be uninformed...oh wait this is slashdot. Vacuum tubes are still used in RF broadcasting, especially digital TV because the are able to reach the power levels necassary to broadcast a 50kW radio signal at low enough distortion to cleanly transmit the digital signals.
I have to reply to this. I work in the "industry" as an engineer for a company heavily involved in this type of stuff. You are flatly wrong. I have been to the SMPTE meetings where it has been shown that film still has better contrast, much darker blacks, better colors, and much superior resolution. I also see most films that are released digitally in both formats and can say film is still better. Don't even go into the differences in capture quaility. Even the best Sony HD cameras can't capture nearly as much information (mostly due to better contrast and resolution) as film.
When I was at USC they used to have lots of the farther away buildings connected on IR laser. It worked ok, until it rained. Packet loss went through the roof. Summer of '98 they dug up all the streets and put in loads of fiber.
I don't mean to be nit picky, but I question the qualifications of the person who designed that circuit. First off, there is no reason not to isolate the power supply from the main line. It doesn't add much cost, and the safety is well worth it. Especially on home built projects, it's already easy enough to shock yourself or start a fire (don't ask...I have done either too many times...) Second, there is also no reason to use the frequency of the mains to drive the circuit. Any one who has ever looked into that has noticed that the mains frequency varies quite a lot over time. Isolating the circuit and using an updated digital circuit or even a small micro-controller (PIC or 8x51) you could build a better, more accurate clock with more features for cheaper. I might even design one myself, put my EE degree to use...
This is certainly possible, and perhaps better. The SPDIF output from your Sony has been error corrected by the CD mechanism inside. Using CDDA on a CD-ROM is prone to more errors since the data isn't error corrected the same way. On newer drives this usually isn't a problem, but it can be. One thing though, since you can only play the CD's out through the SPDIF in real-time, your idea will certainly be much slower than ripping from a 40x CD-ROM
-apg
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"Oh, Precious Roy you get us every time..."
I know of a G4 cluster with 96 machines. However, it isn't general public knoweledge. I used to administer it, and if I get permission from the owner, I can discuss it. Suffice to say it's used for image processing.
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Put giant QR code stickers on the hood/doors. Done.
Funny. Looks like we were thinking the same thing. I'll go back to being an EE now...
Don't be uninformed...oh wait this is slashdot. Vacuum tubes are still used in RF broadcasting, especially digital TV because the are able to reach the power levels necassary to broadcast a 50kW radio signal at low enough distortion to cleanly transmit the digital signals.
I have to reply to this. I work in the "industry" as an engineer for a company heavily involved in this type of stuff. You are flatly wrong. I have been to the SMPTE meetings where it has been shown that film still has better contrast, much darker blacks, better colors, and much superior resolution. I also see most films that are released digitally in both formats and can say film is still better. Don't even go into the differences in capture quaility. Even the best Sony HD cameras can't capture nearly as much information (mostly due to better contrast and resolution) as film.
When I was at USC they used to have lots of the farther away buildings connected on IR laser. It worked ok, until it rained. Packet loss went through the roof. Summer of '98 they dug up all the streets and put in loads of fiber.
I don't mean to be nit picky, but I question the qualifications of the person who designed that circuit. First off, there is no reason not to isolate the power supply from the main line. It doesn't add much cost, and the safety is well worth it. Especially on home built projects, it's already easy enough to shock yourself or start a fire (don't ask...I have done either too many times...) Second, there is also no reason to use the frequency of the mains to drive the circuit. Any one who has ever looked into that has noticed that the mains frequency varies quite a lot over time. Isolating the circuit and using an updated digital circuit or even a small micro-controller (PIC or 8x51) you could build a better, more accurate clock with more features for cheaper. I might even design one myself, put my EE degree to use...
This is certainly possible, and perhaps better. The SPDIF output from your Sony has been error corrected by the CD mechanism inside. Using CDDA on a CD-ROM is prone to more errors since the data isn't error corrected the same way. On newer drives this usually isn't a problem, but it can be. One thing though, since you can only play the CD's out through the SPDIF in real-time, your idea will certainly be much slower than ripping from a 40x CD-ROM
-apg
---------------
"Oh, Precious Roy you get us every time..."
-Sifl and Olly
I know of a G4 cluster with 96 machines. However, it isn't general public knoweledge. I used to administer it, and if I get permission from the owner, I can discuss it. Suffice to say it's used for image processing.
Good one...