EricBall

It looks like they have a lot of flicker, so aren't simply driving the laser with the raw vector outputs. Yep http://web.archive.org/web/20040401223651/http://games.lasers.org/pressrelease.shtml Not to dismiss what they did - the display looks good. But the galvos are definitely the limiting factor.

Earlier this month the family and I spent a week camping at (nee Six Flags) Darien Lake - riding roller coasters & other rides plus roasting marshmallows & drinking beer. Every night DL has a laser & fireworks show set to music. (Unfortunately the same one every night.) The laser show part of the show in particular was particularly impressive and would have made Pink Floyd (from 40 years ago) green with envy - complex animated scenes in full color. (Probably restricted more by the creation tools and software capabilities than the actual hardware.) But seeing what a modern laser projector is capable of got me to thinking - could one be used as a replacement for a vector monitor (e.g. Asteroids and Tempest)? But then I suspect was others probably had had the same thought - and there's probably a big reason why I've never heard of a laser version of Tempest. Of course, last week's insurmountable problem might be this week's trivial solution. So I started with a little investigation. To make a long story short, the limiting factor is moving the beam. A vector monitor uses electromagnets, while a laser display uses mirrors - typically using a variation of a "mirror galvanometer" or galvo. People have made their own galvos using the voice coil actuator from a hard disk (which is what moves the heads across the disk). But electromagnets can change the position of the beam from one side of the monitor to the other in 100-300 microseconds, whereas it requires 10-20 milliseconds to move the head across the entire disk. That's 100 times slower and a bigger challenge than I think can be easily overcome.

I just borrowed Tomorrowland from the local library. IMHO Ben Affleck's Paycheck does a much better job with the whole "future paradox" idea. I do agree with you that the primary trio of characters were adequate, but not really sympathetic. My biggest issue was with the EET dimension-hopping transport. I could believe in Plus Ultra and even that PU could create Tomorrowland. But an electrically powered rocket hidden under the Eiffel tower (which is really a gantry in disguise) goes way beyond my ability to suspend belief. There also was a lot of casual vaporizations for a Disney movie.

A rack mountable 2600 shouldn't be that bad. The hardest thing would be rewiring the cartridge slot and switches so they are in line with the joystick connectors. Or were you thinking something more radical? Of course, you could always make a rack mounted RPi and play everything via emulation.

For those interested in Apple ][ copy protection (and cracking of it) I have found two troves of information. First is the 4am Apple ][ Library at https://archive.org/details/apple_ii_library_4am Attached to each archive is a text file where 4am describes his cracking process. In most cases he simply follows the boot process, analyzes the often obfuscated code to figure out how to capture the next step in the process, then determines the minimum change required to allow the disk to be easily copied. (e.g. https://archive.org/details/Gumball4amCrack ) Second is PoC||GTFO 0x10 (pocorgtfo10.pdf, available from https://www.alchemistowl.org/pocorgtfo/and other mirrors) which contains an article on various methods of disk were made uncopyable, or at least impossible to copy without being detected. Finally, http://fabiensanglard.net/prince_of_persia/pop_boot.phphas information on the RWTS18 format used by Prince of Persia. There's also source code at https://github.com/jmechner/Prince-of-Persia-Apple-II See the comments from http://atariage.com/forums/blog/7/entry-2436-more-apple-musings/and http://atariage.com/forums/blog/7/entry-2514-more-disk-musings/ for previous discussion on this topic.

I've had the worst luck getting an N64 working with my collection. I've bought a couple off eBay and none of them reliably and consistently play. Sometimes I'll get lucky and the game will start, but most of the time I just get a black screen. Next time I'm going to buy it via Kijiji so I'm buying from someone more local. However, I've got lots of options for playing games, so it's just not a priority. I also need to get a controller extension cable so I can sit farther back from the TV.

One note - a maxlen LFSR will have one "dead" value (typically 0, but might be another value) where the output value is the same as the input value. It's therefore a good idea to either initialize the LFSR with a good seed or detect the "dead" value and handle it.

Graphics on the 7800 is very different from the 2600, so you're going to need different tools. (Which might exist, who knows?) First, graphics data is laid out "upside down" with the last scanline on the lowest address and each scanline on a separate page. e.g. for a 2 byte x 16 line sprite $e000-$e001 bottom line $e100-$e101 2nd last line ... $ee00-$ee01 2nd line $ef00-$ef01 top line (Sprites are typically 16 or 8 lines high and will be on even 4K (16 line) or even 2K (8 line) address blocks. Second, while sprites on the 2600 are 1 bit per pixel, sprites on the 7800 may be 1, 2 (most common), or 4 bits per pixel depending upon the graphics "mode". The bits from the graphics data are combined with bits in the display list entry to determine if the pixel is transparent or the output color (from a 24 of 256 entry palette).

Yep, need to digitize those tapes before everyone forgets how to handle analog!

Personally, I think the movie could have done with a few less characters on the battlefield. Neither Spidey nor Ant Man had enough character development to be part of the battle. Even Wanda & Clint didn't really have the emotional weight of the others. This movie was really about Tony's guilt and Steve's convictions.

I use my home theater amplifier / receiver as an HDMI switcher. When "off" it just switches the inputs (audio to TV), when "on" it plays the audio through the speakers. Occasionally when switching inputs it glitches and the screen is just digital static, but powering the TV off & on fixes the issue. I realized the other day I'd need to upgrade the receiver to handle 4K HDMI. Another reason not to upgrade.

Don't just toss them into the garbage - check with your local municipality for how you should dispose of them.

Hmm... interesting point about the Empire New Order building yet another planet killer - it's "the ultimate power in the universe".

I understand having a 4K (or 5K) monitor if you're creating or editing 4K content - you want to have everything onscreen at once rather than scrolling or scaling. I got my 27" iMac before they went to the 5K retina display, although IIRC when I checked them out I didn't see a huge improvement. Probably depends what you're working on. IIRC the DVD versus BluRay which changed my mind was Cars. I think I have a mental block on paying for streaming content. If I'm not willing to pay for the physical disc then I might as well wait until it's available from the library, on one of the cable stations or the VoD service in my cable package.

Part of me wonders what the results would be of a side-by-side comparison at normal viewing distances of the same broadcast in 4K versus HDTV. Probably not good. I stopped "upgrading" my DVD collection to BluRay because I didn't find the improvement worth the cost.

Oh, I understand the manufacturer side. They want to sell more TVs and it's relatively easy to make LCDs with higher pixel density (a 55" 4K panel is basically four 27" HDTVs). And more is better, right?

The other day I was browsing a warehouse sale which had a few 4K TVs (but no 3D, which I found interesting), and it got me to thinking about them. Not because I want one, but strictly on a why? basis. The local cable company is hyping their 4K TV offering, starting with local baseball and hockey games. But when I'm watching my 55" HDTV, I'm not thinking "boy, I'd pay big bucks to have more picture detail". Maybe if my TV filled the entire wall so HDTV looked like 320x200 VGA on a 21" monitor. But then I wonder whether compression wouldn't make the extra resolution moot.

Good job! A soldering jig made from LEGO.

WM RM1 RM0 mode details 0 0 0 160A 4 color, 2 bits/pixel 1 0 0 160B 0 1 1 320A 2 color, 1 bit/pixel 1 1 0 320B 4 color, 2 bits/pixel 1 1 1 320C 0 1 0 320D You can only change the write mode on the same line, so the only option is 320B -> 320D. Easier option is to simply have more sprites with the different eye positions.

From Colecovision's facebook: Also in the thread: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/247145-coleco-chameleon-hardware-speculations/?view=findpost&p=3463001

Although I haven't followed the entire story, I suspect the whole tale is basically Mike's effort to make money from the Jag molds. There wasn't a large enough market for actual cart & console shells, so the idea of a new "retro" console is hatched. But Mike doesn't really understand the market or the technology. So he fumbles along, trying various quick fixes (spending as little money as possible) to try to get money, create a sellable product, and generate market "buzz". However, as Mike has demonstrated, creating a console when all you have is a mold for the case is putting the cart before the horse. And even that is an understatement, 'cause Mike doesn't have a console. Nor does he understand his ideas are DOA in the market. I agree he will likely lose the Coleco license. Probably the best he could hope for is they tell him to come back once he has a ready for manufacture prototype.

Composite is (relatively) easy and cheap. You can generate NTSC output with little more than a microcontroller and a resistor DAC for an output stage. HDMI OTOH is more difficult requiring dedicated silicon and licensing fees. However, VGA is just as cheap and easy as composite video and would be a logical intermediate step for HDMI.

Antenna amplifiers (whether built-in or external) are only good for reducing signal losses due to cable length / quality and splitters (note: some devices have internal splitters). Amplifiers have no impact on signal strength (and will degrade the signal as they also add noise). Given this, the amplifier should be as close to the antenna as possible. To increase the signal strength / quality mount the antenna outside, as high as possible, and aimed at the transmission tower. Physically larger antennas also provide a more powerful signal but are more directional.

I thought you'd decided to upgrade to a 4K TV. Which of the interfaces support 4K?

There's no hardware mirroring or scaling of sprites on the 7800, so you'll need to create separate graphics for each. Yes, you could do it programmatically, but that would burn CPU time and some RAM. Better / easier to simply make multiple sprites. (Palette tricks, however, can be used.).