"most starcraft games" probably take 15 minutes because one or both players are no good at the game. It's become harder to find good games (_period_), but in its heyday it was not uncommon to have long, good games. Super-defense is actually an incredibly poor strategy which rapidly results in a loss.
The only real problem with starcraft ended up being the players: too many just wanted to play mega-money maps and all strategic decisions went out the window. I'm sure WC3, no matter how good a game it is, will suffer the same problem. Too many people just don't have the patience (or brainpower?) to actually play the game...they just want to build lots of units and run around the map.
(Which is fine I guess if that is what gets you going)
I think I will go out and buy this CD today at half a dozen stores or so...then return it. Retailers love going through this hassle, not to mention the cost to them of credit chargebacks.
The best information I've been able to find on this issue has been at Home Theater Hifi and it seems to imply interlaced storage despite the progressive sourcing. Can you provide a reference for your comment, and/or a DVD player which does progressive output without a deinterlacer?
Semantic quibbling aside, there are certainly monopolistic qualities to MS's introduction of the Xbox. You've actually given an excellant example, just backwards: When you buy an Xbox, you are essentially buying Windows. This is/both/ definitions of "leverage": on one hand, it makes sense not to reinvent the wheel when creating an OS to run on PC hardware: a good thing. However, since it is Microsoft's OS, they are essentially extending their software into the videogame realm. If in 5 years everyone is making Xbox (Xbox2, etc) games because it is easier and faster to code once for both PCs and consoles, it will be hard to argue that MS's monopolistic position in the OS business was not used to force a position in the console business. MS can argue that this is "good for consumers" since they can get their games faster. However, once competition is eliminated the cost of games can (to a point) become arbitrarily high, OR, development standards can fall (frequent patching for console games, buggy releases, etc) while the cost stays the same.
As far as MP3 vs. WMA, I think the real story is in the video realm, since the existing multichannel DVD audio specs are also proprietary (DD, DTS). The difference here is that MPEG-2 is an open standard. Developers can (with some jumping through hoops--see tsunami mpeg encoder) fairly easily encode and playback MPEG-2 on Windows, Linux, and their toaster if they feel like it. This is very different than Microsoft having total control, and throwing some scraps to Macintosh operating systems, etc. I believe it remains to be seen if the Mac will ever get this 5.1 channel 96kHz audio codec, let alone the video codecs. (Please correct me if I am mistaken)
Microsoft isn't extending themselves into the DVD market (and the console market) by abusing they're monopoly position in the OS market.
That will be MS's argument, but is it true? MS is leveraging their existing operating system in the Xbox because they tout the development tools already available to target the software/hardware. They are also leveraging the fact that it is easier to port a Windows PC game to Xbox (and vica versa) because the Xbox is basically a specialized...Windows PC!
The same scenario occurs with DVDs, albeit more arguably. MS attracts support for their codecs because they are already implemented in their OS...distributers can release a DVD that plays in every Windows system with no new software. In reverse, WMA format movies enhance the Windows monopoly because the proprietary format cannot be used in other operating systems.
I don't think this is true. If so, why would progressive scan DVDs run their interlaced output through an external IC line doubler before outputting a progressive HDTV signal?
DVDs are an/interlaced/ format, 480i, with tags that show the/source/ of the original format, be that interlaced, progressive, etc. The internal line doublers may use these tags, although most ignore them because they are often set improperly. The format itself though is SDTV.
Now, there are some interesting terrestrial HDTV decoder cards for PCs that provide an MPEG2 stream (either encoded off-line, or real-time with decent equipment (i.e. for live programming)) -- I think Telemann makes one for around US$400. I think the hard part here would be reproducing the ATSC format, as I'm not aware of any cards that can accept a raw stream.
It looks like what you want is a digital stream over 100 Mb/s ethernet or GigE (you did run Cat5e, right?) demodulated from whatever source (terrestrial HDTV, satellite, etc.) at the headend, with a resolution negotiated between equipment in each room and the headend demodulator. So, you could get a full-res main stream, and a 1/4 res PIP. Hehe...so what you are saying is "only $2000 per port?";)
D1 over GigE? I suppose it is possible. This is actually pretty easy I imagine...take a bt878 card and use the linux drivers or dscaler code to send the output over UDP. Pass the incoming stream to bttv or dscaler for a HDTV-compatible output. Total cost: a couple relatively cheap boxes, $50 in TV cards, NICs. With good drivers you should be able to do 3 streams over gigabit. The real problem is going to be PCI bandwidth at the source...3x250Mbits in+3x300Mbits out is a bit much. That's the price you pay though for building a $10000 video routing setup for pennies on the dollar.
It is all so useless though, because if you have the money for this kind of setup you problably won't want to watch D1 video.
I'm not sure MPEG2 encoding is a realistic option for the near future though; even at DVD-bitrate most realtime encoders create very noticeable artifacting. The advantage that content creators have is they can master everything offline by hand...and I'd bet they take advantage of this more as MPEG2/HDTV becomes the standard for distribution.
The chrominance sampling is also very atrocious compared to full-bandwidth D1. If you are talking about taking compressed video (from Satellite/ATSC decoder/DVD/etc) and unencoding it, then re-encoding it in a worse way, the results won't be pretty. (especially since you are cascading your chrominance losses) Of course, if you are looking to serve this to a 15" TV, you probably won't notice that much. (or will you?)
You could send SDI, which is not all that unreasonable for D1 (270Mbps?)...but as other posters have noted high-res HDTV requires ridiculous bandwidth. SDI is also hugely expensive to encode and decode.
Basically we've come full cirle to your original idea, which is "run some damn RG-6!";)
Actually you can run video quite effectively over just STP (or even UTP) if you turn it into a differential signal. This is probably not worth doing through unless you build the converters yourself, but it is a cheap solution for people who have unused twisted pairs.
I'm not convinced. The PCM1748 appears to be a decent IC(104-106dB dynamic range if you are using the better -KE part), but I'm skeptical that the *system* performance allows a 96dB dynamic range with only 16 bits to work with.
I'm looking at the datasheet for the CS43122, a 192kHz multibit D/A chip with a nominal 117dB dynamic range at 24 bits. Even this chip has a stated dynamic range of 95dB at 16 bits, and we haven't even started discussing the external low pass filters.
Are you really asserting that the ZapStation, input-to-output, has 96dB unweighted dynamic range by the EIAJ method when fed with a 16-bit input?
I'm taking the easy way out--my stereo components are all racked so I just need a pretty faceplate...the actual box behind can look like crap since you never see it.
It would be nice to have access to quality hardware though. I'm currently interested in an A/V computer, but it is difficult to find quality I/O cards. A GeForce with Powerstrip is a great HDTV output device, but there are few options other than SDI for inputting high-quality video, and it would be nice to have CVBS, Y/C, SDTV component, S/PDIF etc all in one place for easy hacking.
What we really need is someone to put together a cheap input solution around a TI or Analog Devices video decoder (pref. with component in) and a Conexant chip. This would provide an input solution up there with the quality of the Rock, with no need to write additional software drivers.
BTW, anyone know of a Conexant-chipset card that has Y/C input and is not plagued by Macrovision problems? I'd like to use Dscaler but I want DVD and VHS input, without buying a Sima SCC or a hackable DVD player.
You might want to take those specs with a grain of salt though. 16bit audio S/N is listed at 96dB...i.e. 0% noise. Dynamic range is listed at 94dB. Unless they are using a new form of magical output stage, I find this somewhat difficult to believe. Can anyone cite an IC that has this kind of performance at 16-bit resolution?
There is always someone that insists on saying something like this, completely disregarding the enormous drop in quality when going from a 90dB dynamic range recording through a 70dB dynamic range soundcard out through a 60dB dynamic range ADC. Not to mention THD+N increases from the noisy recording atmosphere of a computer case and the cheap electronics used. (and if you trust the quoted analog specs on most consumer sound cards, I have a bridge to sell you)
Yes, it can be done. It can even be done decently with an extra $1000 or so in recording hardware. But at best it represents a significant degradation in sound quality + a lot of work to get what should be freely available in the first place.
How I wish I was a moderator today...while Rogerborg may have a point about disposal, no decent charger permits excessive overcharging. You can bet an expensive unit is going to spend the $3 required to prevent this.
PAL S-video is still incompatible with NTSC S-video. The only difference between composite (CVBS) and S-video (Y/C) is that S-video has seperated the luminance and chrominance signals. This doesn't change the fact that the signal itself is PAL as opposed to NTSC scanrate.
Try listening to something with a large dynamic range, like Orff's Carmina Burana. On a decent set of speakers/headphones you'll rapidly see that even at 320kbps the psychoacoustic modeling appears detrimental to soft sections of the music--there is simply a lack of definition. I surmise that some of the things the encoder thinks you won't miss are in fact quite audible.
I'm well aware of the inane things "audiophiles" often believe, but I think there is a lot to be said about uncompressed CD audio, at least for certain kinds of music--and I'm quite certain my ears are far from perfect.
Well, I'm looking at the Lightwave tests on Tom's and seeing a huge lead by the P4-2000 vs. Athlon 1900+. Lightwave is actually my renderer of choice, so a 30% difference is hard to ignore.
For a while it looked as though Intel was the clear leader for "high end" computing; i.e. memory intensive applications like physics and rendering, even if Athlons were as good or better for gaming and general use. However, Tom's roundup has shown (curiously, to me) that the audio and MPEG4 encoding performance of the Athlon 1900+ is superior to the P4-2000. (I wish they had posted tmpegenc rates, because I don't consider Pinnacle a worthwhile encoder)
A better question is when is the last time a fan failed? Not everyone monitors their fan speeds/temperature, and it is pretty hard to know if a fan has died if you have other fans in the box whirring away.
You'll find that a 1 deg C/W heatsink-fan becomes a heck of a lot worse than that when the fan stops. If you are cooling 30 watts at 1dC/W you are probably looking at 50 deg C on a mild day. Without fan, you could easily be talking 110 deg C. I'd hope that in this situation my computer would halt as opposed to frying my new $300 processor.
The sink doesn't have to "fall off" to be in the failure range.
Granted this may no longer be true, but I remember a Radio Electronics magazine from 10 years ago or better that had a project to modify your TV so that it would detect a signal in the feed and turn down the volume during commercials. (during commercials, not dynamic range compression)
This project wasn't exactly super-expensive high-tech. I'm not sure if it is still possible since Commercial Advance VCRs seem to detect commercial fade-in/fade-out, which is more complex; if it is though, it is a fairly easy way to do reliable detection.
Anyone have any experience using sound absorbant sheeting? I'm interested in lining computer case panels with it, or possibly building a fully-enclosed rack that is lined to house noisy equipment.
I'd like to give an example but I can't get to the site that has them. The most basic form is an asphalt-based flexible sheet with adhesive that can be applied to just about any surface. They are often used in automotive stereo setups to deaden road noise (and reverberations?).
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"most starcraft games" probably take 15 minutes because one or both players are no good at the game. It's become harder to find good games (_period_), but in its heyday it was not uncommon to have long, good games. Super-defense is actually an incredibly poor strategy which rapidly results in a loss.
The only real problem with starcraft ended up being the players: too many just wanted to play mega-money maps and all strategic decisions went out the window. I'm sure WC3, no matter how good a game it is, will suffer the same problem. Too many people just don't have the patience (or brainpower?) to actually play the game...they just want to build lots of units and run around the map.
(Which is fine I guess if that is what gets you going)
I think I will go out and buy this CD today at half a dozen stores or so...then return it. Retailers love going through this hassle, not to mention the cost to them of credit chargebacks.
The best information I've been able to find on this issue has been at Home Theater Hifi and it seems to imply interlaced storage despite the progressive sourcing. Can you provide a reference for your comment, and/or a DVD player which does progressive output without a deinterlacer?
Semantic quibbling aside, there are certainly monopolistic qualities to MS's introduction of the Xbox. You've actually given an excellant example, just backwards: When you buy an Xbox, you are essentially buying Windows. This is /both/ definitions of "leverage": on one hand, it makes sense not to reinvent the wheel when creating an OS to run on PC hardware: a good thing. However, since it is Microsoft's OS, they are essentially extending their software into the videogame realm. If in 5 years everyone is making Xbox (Xbox2, etc) games because it is easier and faster to code once for both PCs and consoles, it will be hard to argue that MS's monopolistic position in the OS business was not used to force a position in the console business. MS can argue that this is "good for consumers" since they can get their games faster. However, once competition is eliminated the cost of games can (to a point) become arbitrarily high, OR, development standards can fall (frequent patching for console games, buggy releases, etc) while the cost stays the same.
As far as MP3 vs. WMA, I think the real story is in the video realm, since the existing multichannel DVD audio specs are also proprietary (DD, DTS). The difference here is that MPEG-2 is an open standard. Developers can (with some jumping through hoops--see tsunami mpeg encoder) fairly easily encode and playback MPEG-2 on Windows, Linux, and their toaster if they feel like it. This is very different than Microsoft having total control, and throwing some scraps to Macintosh operating systems, etc. I believe it remains to be seen if the Mac will ever get this 5.1 channel 96kHz audio codec, let alone the video codecs. (Please correct me if I am mistaken)
Microsoft isn't extending themselves into the DVD market (and the console market) by abusing they're monopoly position in the OS market.
That will be MS's argument, but is it true? MS is leveraging their existing operating system in the Xbox because they tout the development tools already available to target the software/hardware. They are also leveraging the fact that it is easier to port a Windows PC game to Xbox (and vica versa) because the Xbox is basically a specialized...Windows PC!
The same scenario occurs with DVDs, albeit more arguably. MS attracts support for their codecs because they are already implemented in their OS...distributers can release a DVD that plays in every Windows system with no new software. In reverse, WMA format movies enhance the Windows monopoly because the proprietary format cannot be used in other operating systems.
I don't think this is true. If so, why would progressive scan DVDs run their interlaced output through an external IC line doubler before outputting a progressive HDTV signal?
/interlaced/ format, 480i, with tags that show the /source/ of the original format, be that interlaced, progressive, etc. The internal line doublers may use these tags, although most ignore them because they are often set improperly. The format itself though is SDTV.
DVDs are an
Actually, DVDs are /required/ to have a Dolby Digital or PCM track. Having additional audio formats (i.e. DTS) is optional.
Now, there are some interesting terrestrial HDTV decoder cards for PCs that provide an MPEG2 stream (either encoded off-line, or real-time with decent equipment (i.e. for live programming)) -- I think Telemann makes one for around US$400.
;)
I think the hard part here would be reproducing the ATSC format, as I'm not aware of any cards that can accept a raw stream.
It looks like what you want is a digital stream over 100 Mb/s ethernet or GigE (you did run Cat5e, right?) demodulated from whatever source (terrestrial HDTV, satellite, etc.) at the headend, with a resolution negotiated between equipment in each room and the headend demodulator. So, you could get a full-res main stream, and a 1/4 res PIP.
Hehe...so what you are saying is "only $2000 per port?"
D1 over GigE? I suppose it is possible.
This is actually pretty easy I imagine...take a bt878 card and use the linux drivers or dscaler code to send the output over UDP. Pass the incoming stream to bttv or dscaler for a HDTV-compatible output. Total cost: a couple relatively cheap boxes, $50 in TV cards, NICs. With good drivers you should be able to do 3 streams over gigabit. The real problem is going to be PCI bandwidth at the source...3x250Mbits in+3x300Mbits out is a bit much. That's the price you pay though for building a $10000 video routing setup for pennies on the dollar.
It is all so useless though, because if you have the money for this kind of setup you problably won't want to watch D1 video.
I'm not sure MPEG2 encoding is a realistic option for the near future though; even at DVD-bitrate most realtime encoders create very noticeable artifacting. The advantage that content creators have is they can master everything offline by hand...and I'd bet they take advantage of this more as MPEG2/HDTV becomes the standard for distribution.
;)
The chrominance sampling is also very atrocious compared to full-bandwidth D1. If you are talking about taking compressed video (from Satellite/ATSC decoder/DVD/etc) and unencoding it, then re-encoding it in a worse way, the results won't be pretty. (especially since you are cascading your chrominance losses) Of course, if you are looking to serve this to a 15" TV, you probably won't notice that much. (or will you?)
You could send SDI, which is not all that unreasonable for D1 (270Mbps?)...but as other posters have noted high-res HDTV requires ridiculous bandwidth. SDI is also hugely expensive to encode and decode.
Basically we've come full cirle to your original idea, which is "run some damn RG-6!"
Actually you can run video quite effectively over just STP (or even UTP) if you turn it into a differential signal. This is probably not worth doing through unless you build the converters yourself, but it is a cheap solution for people who have unused twisted pairs.
I'm not convinced. The PCM1748 appears to be a decent IC(104-106dB dynamic range if you are using the better -KE part), but I'm skeptical that the *system* performance allows a 96dB dynamic range with only 16 bits to work with.
I'm looking at the datasheet for the CS43122, a 192kHz multibit D/A chip with a nominal 117dB dynamic range at 24 bits. Even this chip has a stated dynamic range of 95dB at 16 bits, and we haven't even started discussing the external low pass filters.
Are you really asserting that the ZapStation, input-to-output, has 96dB unweighted dynamic range by the EIAJ method when fed with a 16-bit input?
I'm taking the easy way out--my stereo components are all racked so I just need a pretty faceplate...the actual box behind can look like crap since you never see it.
It would be nice to have access to quality hardware though. I'm currently interested in an A/V computer, but it is difficult to find quality I/O cards. A GeForce with Powerstrip is a great HDTV output device, but there are few options other than SDI for inputting high-quality video, and it would be nice to have CVBS, Y/C, SDTV component, S/PDIF etc all in one place for easy hacking.
What we really need is someone to put together a cheap input solution around a TI or Analog Devices video decoder (pref. with component in) and a Conexant chip. This would provide an input solution up there with the quality of the Rock, with no need to write additional software drivers.
BTW, anyone know of a Conexant-chipset card that has Y/C input and is not plagued by Macrovision problems? I'd like to use Dscaler but I want DVD and VHS input, without buying a Sima SCC or a hackable DVD player.
You might want to take those specs with a grain of salt though. 16bit audio S/N is listed at 96dB...i.e. 0% noise. Dynamic range is listed at 94dB. Unless they are using a new form of magical output stage, I find this somewhat difficult to believe. Can anyone cite an IC that has this kind of performance at 16-bit resolution?
There is always someone that insists on saying something like this, completely disregarding the enormous drop in quality when going from a 90dB dynamic range recording through a 70dB dynamic range soundcard out through a 60dB dynamic range ADC. Not to mention THD+N increases from the noisy recording atmosphere of a computer case and the cheap electronics used. (and if you trust the quoted analog specs on most consumer sound cards, I have a bridge to sell you)
Yes, it can be done. It can even be done decently with an extra $1000 or so in recording hardware. But at best it represents a significant degradation in sound quality + a lot of work to get what should be freely available in the first place.
How I wish I was a moderator today...while Rogerborg may have a point about disposal, no decent charger permits excessive overcharging. You can bet an expensive unit is going to spend the $3 required to prevent this.
PAL S-video is still incompatible with NTSC S-video. The only difference between composite (CVBS) and S-video (Y/C) is that S-video has seperated the luminance and chrominance signals. This doesn't change the fact that the signal itself is PAL as opposed to NTSC scanrate.
Try listening to something with a large dynamic range, like Orff's Carmina Burana. On a decent set of speakers/headphones you'll rapidly see that even at 320kbps the psychoacoustic modeling appears detrimental to soft sections of the music--there is simply a lack of definition. I surmise that some of the things the encoder thinks you won't miss are in fact quite audible.
I'm well aware of the inane things "audiophiles" often believe, but I think there is a lot to be said about uncompressed CD audio, at least for certain kinds of music--and I'm quite certain my ears are far from perfect.
Well, I'm looking at the Lightwave tests on Tom's and seeing a huge lead by the P4-2000 vs. Athlon 1900+. Lightwave is actually my renderer of choice, so a 30% difference is hard to ignore.
For a while it looked as though Intel was the clear leader for "high end" computing; i.e. memory intensive applications like physics and rendering, even if Athlons were as good or better for gaming and general use. However, Tom's roundup has shown (curiously, to me) that the audio and MPEG4 encoding performance of the Athlon 1900+ is superior to the P4-2000. (I wish they had posted tmpegenc rates, because I don't consider Pinnacle a worthwhile encoder)
A better question is when is the last time a fan failed? Not everyone monitors their fan speeds/temperature, and it is pretty hard to know if a fan has died if you have other fans in the box whirring away.
You'll find that a 1 deg C/W heatsink-fan becomes a heck of a lot worse than that when the fan stops. If you are cooling 30 watts at 1dC/W you are probably looking at 50 deg C on a mild day. Without fan, you could easily be talking 110 deg C. I'd hope that in this situation my computer would halt as opposed to frying my new $300 processor.
The sink doesn't have to "fall off" to be in the failure range.
references?
How so?
(I'm not being sarcastic; if you think I've made a mistake somewhere I'd much rather know)
Granted this may no longer be true, but I remember a Radio Electronics magazine from 10 years ago or better that had a project to modify your TV so that it would detect a signal in the feed and turn down the volume during commercials. (during commercials, not dynamic range compression)
This project wasn't exactly super-expensive high-tech. I'm not sure if it is still possible since Commercial Advance VCRs seem to detect commercial fade-in/fade-out, which is more complex; if it is though, it is a fairly easy way to do reliable detection.
Anyone have any experience using sound absorbant sheeting? I'm interested in lining computer case panels with it, or possibly building a fully-enclosed rack that is lined to house noisy equipment.
I'd like to give an example but I can't get to the site that has them. The most basic form is an asphalt-based flexible sheet with adhesive that can be applied to just about any surface. They are often used in automotive stereo setups to deaden road noise (and reverberations?).