The features I personally would like in a camcorder are:
Mini DV format, with D8 as a second (D8 makes the camera bigger)
Switchable 16:9/4:3 aspect ratio
Place to connect an external mic.
3 CCD. This makes the picture clearer.
Progressive scan. This will make for better stills and no tearing on slow-mo runs.
The camcorder I have has the first two features. I really wish it had the third. I have some good software that can calculate motion vectors and convert the interlaced picture into progressive nicely, thus this becomes the least important feature. BTW, I always convert to progressive scan before making an SVCD or DVD from my video.
And for the record, I do no editing. I just want the quality of a digital medium. Someone else suggested that film is higher quality, but the remark was clearly made by someone who has never worked with movie film. The cameras are big and bulky due to the amount of film consumed on a shoot. A 12" reel of 16mm film lasts 30 minutes.
Comparing the digital camera's picture to that of analogue formats, it beats out Hi8 and S-VHS-C a little bit, 8mm a bit more (though 8mm is not bad), and completely smokes VHS-C. DV and D8 cameras are much less costly than S-VHS-C, but more expensive than Hi8. Analogue does not offer wide screen that I have seen. My digital camcorder can do 4:3 (720x480), 16:9 letterboxed to 4:3 (720x480, but only 720x382 is active), or 16:9 (720x480).
DSC?????.{JPG|GIF|TIF} from a Sony CD Mavica, also MOV?????.MPG or MOV?????.GIF from that same camera for video clips (the.GIF is an animated GIF). Also, DVC?????.JPG for the still shots taken with a JVC DV camcorder.
The U.S. has this bullheaded, senseless addiction to a system of measurement where temperature is graded between the lowest and highest reproducible temperatures in a 19th century lab (this is the 21st century we're in now, isn't it?) and where linear measurement is based on the length of some long-gone king's thumb, foot and arm. What the fuck?!?
There is no reason why we should not adopt the metric system but for flat out stupidity!
Why are there three teaspoons in a tablespoon, but only two tablespoons in an ounce, but then 8 ounces in a cup but only two cups in a pint, and two pints in a quart, but then 4 quarts in a gallon? MAKE UP YOUR DAMNED MINDS!
If I had my choice, I wouln't touch the U.S. "Standard" system with a 3.045m pole!
I have Dish Network, and I am very pleased with it. I am currently running a 301 receiver (the entry-level model) with a Samsung HDTV and a line doubler. No, this setup is not HD. I am planning to upgrade the receiver shortly to fix that.
Before I start my story of TV service shopping, let me point out that I was, as of the start of this experience, already a customer of Time-Warner's cable modem service, Road Runner. I don't know if the cable was carrying live TV channels or not, I have never hooked it to a TV, because I'm a good boy:-)
When I initially went shopping for such services, in order to compare apples to apples, I did a workup of costs. Dish Network was at $31 for 100 channels at the time, DirecTV was $32 for 100 channels, and Time Warner (cable) was $59 for 100 channels (digital).
Dish network required me to lay out $200 for equipment. Installation was free. Setup was free (they sent a guy out to do it, but you can also DIY if you fell like it). First year of service was discounted $22/month (making it $9/month). This made the first year service $200 for equipment + $0 installation + $0 setup + $108 (12months * $9) = $308. The second year of service would be simply 12 months at $31, or $372.
DirecTV would discount the equipment to $50 with a one-year contract. Free installation. Free setup. $32/month. First year total is $50 + $0 + $0 + $384 = $434. Second year total is $384.
Time Warner would discount the installation to $25 (normally $50) and zero out the setup. They would discount $20 from the first month and $10 from the second month. They own the equipment, so you don't have to buy that. First year total is $0 (equipment) + $25 (installation) + $0 (setup) + $39 (first month) + $49 (second month) + $590 (remaining months) totalling $703 for the first year, and the second year is 12 months of $59 for a total of $708.
I still remember the conversation with the Time Warner CSR. She told me the price, and I said, "Oh, wow!" She said, "Isn't that great?" I said, "No! It sucks! That is totally out of line with both of your competitors!"
Needless to say, I got Dish Network.
I also started getting visits from Time-Warner's door-to-door salesmen, who saw the dish on the front of my house and wanted to convert me. I told them what I have just told you all. They offered me a better deal, but I told them that it was too little, too late. They told me all about the beauty of Road Runner, and that I could have that if I converted. I just laughed and told them I already had it. Each time this happened, the salesman expressed surprise--it seems none of them knew that you could get Road Runner without getting cable TV.
Oh, two last notes.
Anecdotally, I have heard from people who are subscribers to both Time-Warner and Dish Network. They report to me that Dish Network's picture is better than Time Warner's digital picture. I have not, however, confirmed this.
Also, on the issue of rain fading, since it was asked, I do, very occasionally, lose contact with one or both of the satellites in a really, really, really heavy rain. It takes a pretty hellacious storm to cause that, though. People living in the south may see this happen more than those of us up north (States down the coast from us get much more turbulent Summer storms--we get the hellish winter storms), but people living in the south are also a shorter distance to the satellite, so it may actually be a wash, no pun intended.
Okay, the piece I am missing is exactly how the TiVo communicates to the satellite receiver what channel it should be feeding to the TiVo? I'm guessing it sends out an IR signal?
Also, I have an objection to the claim that this is better. How is digital MPEG -> analogue -> digital MPEG better than a capture of the initial MPEG?
The key is that the service is not unlimited, it is unlimited*. There is a big difference between unlimited and unlimited*. Unlimited means, well, unlimited. Unlimited*, on the other hand, means read the fine print.... if you can find it.
In 1985, Amiga had:
4-voice STEREO sound
4096 colours at 320x400...only one year after PCjr....and before anyone says it, no, I don't think the Amiga was a flop, at least not a complete one. If it was, then they would't have still been building them in the 90's.
I get my traffic reports via ham radio. There is a guy in Troy who runs what is called the Capital District Commuter Net every weekday. He collects traffic reports from fellow hams, and disseminates them on request. Best part is, you don't need to be a ham operator to hear the report. Any radio that can receive 146.94MHz will let you participate vicariously.
Similarly, the same radio which I use to participate in that will also bring me a weather report by tuning in the NOAA weather station WXL37 on 162.55MHz.
Hm. I wonder what these billboards will do when they see the only radio active in my car is way out-of-band:-)
No, it will probably not react to XM or Sirius radios, unless you are using a modulator with it (to listen over an FM station preset in your car) in which case it will read garbage.
That last statement probably needs more elucidation. If you have your sirius/XM radio being rebroadcast on, say, 99.3, then the billboard will detect your LO at 99.3+10.2=109.5 and correctly conclude that you are listening to a radio tuned to 99.3, and it may also detect the modulator's carrier at 99.3, and conclude that you are listening to 99.3-10.2=89.1. If there are stations on neither of these frequencies, it won't be able to make any sense of it.
As a practical matter, you shouldn't set your modulator to the frequency of an existing local station, as you will probably not get very good audio.
On the other hand, XM and Sirius have the potential to sell info, since the radio is entirely under their control. That is not to say that current models transmit this info, but since ALL models are manufactured under supervision/license, future models may have the capacity to store/retrieve/forward that info.
Then we would have a Sirius problem:-)
Re:"We've mentioned these before."
on
Smart Billboards
·
· Score: 1
Most FM radios use superheterodyne receivers (actually, I'm not sure how true this is anymore, what with software-defined radios, but it certainly has been historically true).
It is absolutely true.
First, there are not enough software-defined radios out there to make any kind of difference. Most radios on store shelves are still the classic analog model, with the only digital components being the phase-locked loop that lets you get it to exactly the frequency of your favourite station.
Secondly, with the still-low speed of cheap analog to digital converters (ADC's) that might make their way into a consumer radio receiver, it is likely that superheterodyning will still be used in order to get the frequency down into a range that the ADC can handle. There is probably some room for the actual IF to change, no longer being fixed at 445kHz for AM and 10.2MHz for FM, but the principle will remain.
It is also noteworthy that the LO (Local Oscillator) frequency is not the same as the frequency of the station received. Instead, it differs from the frequency of the station by the IF--again, either 445kHz for AM or 10.2MHz for FM. It can be either over or under, depending on the design of the radio, but I believe it is over on most radios. For example, listening to 810 AM here in the upstate NY, my radio would produce an LO frequency of 1255. If I had a radio that would tune in that step (instead of skipping over 1255 between 1250 and 1260), I should be able to pick that up if it is placed close enough to another radio tuning in 810.
Similarly, on FM, if I was listening to 89.1, I should be able to pick up a dead carrier on 99.3. This is all the billboard is really doing.
This makes me think of the DV format used by digital camcorders. The content is recorded on a tape (but could be done on disc as well or instead). The data is blocked, and sent to tape. The blocks include data on time/date down to a frame level. Malloc the chunk of disc you need, stuff the block into it. If you need more metadata, make a structure to hold it and go for it.
There is no reason an attack like that couldn't be applied to other devices.
If you need a way to pass the data to a computer or other device, do so using an ethernet or firewire interface (TCP over whichever) and provide an interface of some sort to the metadata. HTTP/NFS/FTP/SMB can be used to fetch the data.
I know it is a rough-cut idea, so I leave it to you all to refine it.
I think it is important to move away from the current reliance on fossil fuels as quickly as possible and move towards nuclear power generation as the only realistic sustainable alternative power generation scheme.
I challenge the assertion that nuclear power is sustainable.
My challenge is based on the fact that there is a finite (though possibly vast) quantity of fissible material. This quantity is, obviously, reduced by using such material. Eventually, the supply will run out.
When we learned to tap oil and coal and natural gas as sources of energy, we looked at the vastness of the supply and believed that it was essentially unlimited. This belief failed to take into account the enormous growth in usage that since took place.
The lesson to be learned from fossil fuels is that vastness should not be confused with sustainability.
The only sustainable energy sources are those that draw their power in short-term from the sun. That would be solar, wind, hydro. Yes, the sun will eventually run out, but when it does (assuming that homo sapiens still exists), I think we will have bigger problems to deal with than how we're going to power our vehicles that way 2t to carry one 70kg commuter to and from his job.
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This uncomputerized grid you describe suffered a blackout in the 60's. The grid has been computerized ever since then.
The features I personally would like in a camcorder are:
The camcorder I have has the first two features. I really wish it had the third. I have some good software that can calculate motion vectors and convert the interlaced picture into progressive nicely, thus this becomes the least important feature. BTW, I always convert to progressive scan before making an SVCD or DVD from my video.
And for the record, I do no editing. I just want the quality of a digital medium. Someone else suggested that film is higher quality, but the remark was clearly made by someone who has never worked with movie film. The cameras are big and bulky due to the amount of film consumed on a shoot. A 12" reel of 16mm film lasts 30 minutes.
Comparing the digital camera's picture to that of analogue formats, it beats out Hi8 and S-VHS-C a little bit, 8mm a bit more (though 8mm is not bad), and completely smokes VHS-C. DV and D8 cameras are much less costly than S-VHS-C, but more expensive than Hi8. Analogue does not offer wide screen that I have seen. My digital camcorder can do 4:3 (720x480), 16:9 letterboxed to 4:3 (720x480, but only 720x382 is active), or 16:9 (720x480).
Oh yeah, my camera is a JVC DVL520U.
Intu what?
I don't want to go intuit right now.
Is that anything like a round tuit?
DSC?????.{JPG|GIF|TIF} from a Sony CD Mavica, also MOV?????.MPG or MOV?????.GIF from that same camera for video clips (the .GIF is an animated GIF). Also, DVC?????.JPG for the still shots taken with a JVC DV camcorder.
Let me add #11 to the list.
The U.S. has this bullheaded, senseless addiction to a system of measurement where temperature is graded between the lowest and highest reproducible temperatures in a 19th century lab (this is the 21st century we're in now, isn't it?) and where linear measurement is based on the length of some long-gone king's thumb, foot and arm. What the fuck?!?
There is no reason why we should not adopt the metric system but for flat out stupidity!
Why are there three teaspoons in a tablespoon, but only two tablespoons in an ounce, but then 8 ounces in a cup but only two cups in a pint, and two pints in a quart, but then 4 quarts in a gallon? MAKE UP YOUR DAMNED MINDS!
If I had my choice, I wouln't touch the U.S. "Standard" system with a 3.045m pole!
Very good answers, thank you.
I have Dish Network, and I am very pleased with it. I am currently running a 301 receiver (the entry-level model) with a Samsung HDTV and a line doubler. No, this setup is not HD. I am planning to upgrade the receiver shortly to fix that.
Before I start my story of TV service shopping, let me point out that I was, as of the start of this experience, already a customer of Time-Warner's cable modem service, Road Runner. I don't know if the cable was carrying live TV channels or not, I have never hooked it to a TV, because I'm a good boy :-)
When I initially went shopping for such services, in order to compare apples to apples, I did a workup of costs. Dish Network was at $31 for 100 channels at the time, DirecTV was $32 for 100 channels, and Time Warner (cable) was $59 for 100 channels (digital).
Dish network required me to lay out $200 for equipment. Installation was free. Setup was free (they sent a guy out to do it, but you can also DIY if you fell like it). First year of service was discounted $22/month (making it $9/month). This made the first year service $200 for equipment + $0 installation + $0 setup + $108 (12months * $9) = $308. The second year of service would be simply 12 months at $31, or $372.
DirecTV would discount the equipment to $50 with a one-year contract. Free installation. Free setup. $32/month. First year total is $50 + $0 + $0 + $384 = $434. Second year total is $384.
Time Warner would discount the installation to $25 (normally $50) and zero out the setup. They would discount $20 from the first month and $10 from the second month. They own the equipment, so you don't have to buy that. First year total is $0 (equipment) + $25 (installation) + $0 (setup) + $39 (first month) + $49 (second month) + $590 (remaining months) totalling $703 for the first year, and the second year is 12 months of $59 for a total of $708.
I still remember the conversation with the Time Warner CSR. She told me the price, and I said, "Oh, wow!" She said, "Isn't that great?" I said, "No! It sucks! That is totally out of line with both of your competitors!"
Needless to say, I got Dish Network.
I also started getting visits from Time-Warner's door-to-door salesmen, who saw the dish on the front of my house and wanted to convert me. I told them what I have just told you all. They offered me a better deal, but I told them that it was too little, too late. They told me all about the beauty of Road Runner, and that I could have that if I converted. I just laughed and told them I already had it. Each time this happened, the salesman expressed surprise--it seems none of them knew that you could get Road Runner without getting cable TV.
Oh, two last notes.
Anecdotally, I have heard from people who are subscribers to both Time-Warner and Dish Network. They report to me that Dish Network's picture is better than Time Warner's digital picture. I have not, however, confirmed this.
Also, on the issue of rain fading, since it was asked, I do, very occasionally, lose contact with one or both of the satellites in a really, really, really heavy rain. It takes a pretty hellacious storm to cause that, though. People living in the south may see this happen more than those of us up north (States down the coast from us get much more turbulent Summer storms--we get the hellish winter storms), but people living in the south are also a shorter distance to the satellite, so it may actually be a wash, no pun intended.
Okay, the piece I am missing is exactly how the TiVo communicates to the satellite receiver what channel it should be feeding to the TiVo? I'm guessing it sends out an IR signal?
Also, I have an objection to the claim that this is better. How is digital MPEG -> analogue -> digital MPEG better than a capture of the initial MPEG?
The key is that the service is not unlimited, it is unlimited*. There is a big difference between unlimited and unlimited*. Unlimited means, well, unlimited. Unlimited*, on the other hand, means read the fine print.... if you can find it.
It could also be a song (by Aerosmith).
Yet another point is that he predicts his business will trail off.
In 1985, Amiga had: 4-voice STEREO sound 4096 colours at 320x400 ...only one year after PCjr. ...and before anyone says it, no, I don't think the Amiga was a flop, at least not a complete one. If it was, then they would't have still been building them in the 90's.
230-400 is mostly military. 500-800 is television channels 18-68.
I get my traffic reports via ham radio. There is a guy in Troy who runs what is called the Capital District Commuter Net every weekday. He collects traffic reports from fellow hams, and disseminates them on request. Best part is, you don't need to be a ham operator to hear the report. Any radio that can receive 146.94MHz will let you participate vicariously.
Similarly, the same radio which I use to participate in that will also bring me a weather report by tuning in the NOAA weather station WXL37 on 162.55MHz.
Hm. I wonder what these billboards will do when they see the only radio active in my car is way out-of-band :-)
No, it will probably not react to XM or Sirius radios, unless you are using a modulator with it (to listen over an FM station preset in your car) in which case it will read garbage.
That last statement probably needs more elucidation. If you have your sirius/XM radio being rebroadcast on, say, 99.3, then the billboard will detect your LO at 99.3+10.2=109.5 and correctly conclude that you are listening to a radio tuned to 99.3, and it may also detect the modulator's carrier at 99.3, and conclude that you are listening to 99.3-10.2=89.1. If there are stations on neither of these frequencies, it won't be able to make any sense of it.
As a practical matter, you shouldn't set your modulator to the frequency of an existing local station, as you will probably not get very good audio.
On the other hand, XM and Sirius have the potential to sell info, since the radio is entirely under their control. That is not to say that current models transmit this info, but since ALL models are manufactured under supervision/license, future models may have the capacity to store/retrieve/forward that info.
Then we would have a Sirius problem :-)
It's called an "update."
Most FM radios use superheterodyne receivers (actually, I'm not sure how true this is anymore, what with software-defined radios, but it certainly has been historically true).
It is absolutely true.
First, there are not enough software-defined radios out there to make any kind of difference. Most radios on store shelves are still the classic analog model, with the only digital components being the phase-locked loop that lets you get it to exactly the frequency of your favourite station.
Secondly, with the still-low speed of cheap analog to digital converters (ADC's) that might make their way into a consumer radio receiver, it is likely that superheterodyning will still be used in order to get the frequency down into a range that the ADC can handle. There is probably some room for the actual IF to change, no longer being fixed at 445kHz for AM and 10.2MHz for FM, but the principle will remain.
It is also noteworthy that the LO (Local Oscillator) frequency is not the same as the frequency of the station received. Instead, it differs from the frequency of the station by the IF--again, either 445kHz for AM or 10.2MHz for FM. It can be either over or under, depending on the design of the radio, but I believe it is over on most radios. For example, listening to 810 AM here in the upstate NY, my radio would produce an LO frequency of 1255. If I had a radio that would tune in that step (instead of skipping over 1255 between 1250 and 1260), I should be able to pick that up if it is placed close enough to another radio tuning in 810.
Similarly, on FM, if I was listening to 89.1, I should be able to pick up a dead carrier on 99.3. This is all the billboard is really doing.
What took you so long? Mine got peeled four years ago!
The big question is this: Who is actually surprised by this?
Answer: Not I.
A helicopter is lost in a fog. The pilot observes he is near a tall building and so he yells to get the attention of someone.
A person comes to the window and says, "Can I help you?"
"Yes," says the pilot, "I'm lost! Where am I?"
"You're in a helicopter!" says the man in the window.
The pilot thanked him and turned a specific angle and flew an exact distance to the nearest airport.
His passenger asked him how he knew where he was.
"Well, the answer I got was 100% correct, and 100% useless, so I knew I was talking to Microsoft Technical Support."
Estimata Darl:
Vi parolas kvazaux Anglo estas la solan lingvon. Se mi parolas Esperaranto, vi ne havas kruro stari je! Gxi estas posedion publikan.
This makes me think of the DV format used by digital camcorders. The content is recorded on a tape (but could be done on disc as well or instead). The data is blocked, and sent to tape. The blocks include data on time/date down to a frame level. Malloc the chunk of disc you need, stuff the block into it. If you need more metadata, make a structure to hold it and go for it.
There is no reason an attack like that couldn't be applied to other devices.
If you need a way to pass the data to a computer or other device, do so using an ethernet or firewire interface (TCP over whichever) and provide an interface of some sort to the metadata. HTTP/NFS/FTP/SMB can be used to fetch the data.
I know it is a rough-cut idea, so I leave it to you all to refine it.
MS isn't going after Sony for the cameras they made yesterday, they're gunning for license fees for cameras they are *going* to build.
That's painfully obvious, and changes nothing.
My camera (a Sony) doesn't use FAT for anything. It uses UDF.
Would this former employer of yours have been in Troy, NY?
I think it is important to move away from the current reliance on fossil fuels as quickly as possible and move towards nuclear power generation as the only realistic sustainable alternative power generation scheme.
I challenge the assertion that nuclear power is sustainable.
My challenge is based on the fact that there is a finite (though possibly vast) quantity of fissible material. This quantity is, obviously, reduced by using such material. Eventually, the supply will run out.
When we learned to tap oil and coal and natural gas as sources of energy, we looked at the vastness of the supply and believed that it was essentially unlimited. This belief failed to take into account the enormous growth in usage that since took place.
The lesson to be learned from fossil fuels is that vastness should not be confused with sustainability.
The only sustainable energy sources are those that draw their power in short-term from the sun. That would be solar, wind, hydro. Yes, the sun will eventually run out, but when it does (assuming that homo sapiens still exists), I think we will have bigger problems to deal with than how we're going to power our vehicles that way 2t to carry one 70kg commuter to and from his job.