Laser Vectrex?
Nick S Bensema
You know what I thought the coolest thing in the universe would be?
If someone hooked a Vectrex display to a laser and scanning system,
so you could play vectrex games ON THE WALL, man!
Not so much a pipe-dream as one might think. I met somebody once who
built a little laser show thing for about $70. He purchased a cheap
laser, and built a cheap scanning system that used a mirror to direct the
beam. I don't have his name at the moment but if people show interest in
this thread I might be able to get it for you. Hopefully I can get him to
write some technical info on what he did.
His system was hardly perfect, however. The scanner seemed quite slow, it
had to stop at the end of each vector line, causing a bright dot to form.
The bright dot could be eliminated if one wired an LCD shutter in front
of the laser to block it, which might also provide brightness control,
but the dot is a sympton of a larger problem, that the scanner might not
be fast enough to keep up with the Vectrex's demands. I asked the man who
designed the project if he could possibly build a better one with more
expensive parts, and he told me that the next level of scanning equipment
would probably cost about $200.
Admittedly, there's probably more to it than this. For one thing, you're
taking input that is intended for a vector CRT and trying to turn it into
a laser show. One might have a better chance of converting an oscillating
fan into a 3D imager. Also, who is to say that this $200 scanner will do
the job either?
Then again, it could be better than I think. Maybe outisde Arizona,
better scanning systems are cheaper. Perhaps the man who built the
original scanning system has already improved upon his design. Perhaps
he is already in the midst of plans to mass-produce a system that we
might be able to use to this end.
If one of us does manage to build such a thing, there is still the problem
that we can't use overlays anymore. Lasers use pure frequencies of color,
and most lasers are red.
Judging by the description of the imager in the FAQ, a 3-D imager would
work if a disc were used without color. Objects leaping out of a CRT is
cool enough, imagine if they were jumping off your WALL!
On the one hand, this might be a complete loser of an idea and everyone
will laugh at me. On the other hand, this idea might become such a
success that Smith Engineering starts selling these things at Spencer
Gifts, next to the lava lamps and antique Coke machines. One could
see these things hooked up to professional laser systems and see
Star Castle being played on the ceilings of discos. Or it could sell
about two dozen units and become yet another thrift store orgasm item.
Just one final thought, though. I read on
rec.games.video.arcade.collectiong that somsone connected a Vectrex to
an arcade machine's monitor. I bet the guy who tried that was criticized
to hell and back. Sure, I know next to nothing about vector monitors or
lasers, but surely some of you out there do, and you can contribute what
you know about the perks and pitfalls of such a project. That's what
Usenet is for: the exchange of ideas. I had an idea so I'm posting it.
HTH.
--
N i c k B e n s e m a < n i c k b @ p r i m e n e t . c o m > ,-._|\
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ / \
Perot for President, and then, the BORDER! QUICK! Phoenix-->*_,--._/
98-KUPD Red Card Holder #710563 WedSpc License #71.0563 v
Nick S Bensema
In article <32580e4c...@news1.news.demon.net>,
Julie Brandon <ju...@merp.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>Hiyas,
>
>On 5 Oct 1996 14:03:02 -0700, ni...@primenet.com (Nick S Bensema)
>wrote:
>>you know about the perks and pitfalls of such a project. That's what
>>Usenet is for: the exchange of ideas. I had an idea so I'm posting it.
>
>of those projects that gets mentioned every months or so.
I dejanewsed for it last night and the only discussion I could find
apparently scrolled off just before I posted. :-)
>I gather ultimately there are likely impracticalities due to the
>speeds at which you'd have to move lasers (electron beams use magnetic
>and electric fields to "bend" them, light usually needs something
>physical to bend it significantly - that means something physical that
>can move as fast as an electric field for instance - irk!)
Like a tiny little mirror..... but you realize that a lot will be gained
by shrinking the image enough. One might need to place the laser guidance
system at the opposite end of the room for it to cover a sizable portion
of the wall.
>It may be that the Vectrex itself doesn't do it's moving around the
>screen at very high speeds, if so, the project might be feasable.
Like I said. People who talk about many Vectrex games speak of a flicker
that implies the screen is being scanned too slow.
>So far, no-one has reported back any details of the speeds that the
>Vectors are drawn at on the Vectrex, so it makes it kind-a hard to
>work out whether this is possible or not.
I hope I can be successful in prodding this issue until I get a definite
yes or no. And definite no's are very hard to come by.
RiK
Nick S Bensema (ni...@primenet.com) wrote:
: >So far, no-one has reported back any details of the speeds that the
: >Vectors are drawn at on the Vectrex, so it makes it kind-a hard to
: >work out whether this is possible or not.
: I hope I can be successful in prodding this issue until I get a definite
: yes or no. And definite no's are very hard to come by.
Well, I can give you a definite yes on the project, but do you have the
cash? :) I know someone has done this with an Asteroids arcade game, so
if that will work, the Vectrex should be no problem.
What holds everybody back is the cost. The scanners (mirrors that deflect
the laser) cost at least $400 each (that's surplus), and you need at least
3 to do it properly. So you are already looking at $1200, and that
doesn't include the laser (HeNe only $10, no biggie...), and control
software/hardware as needed. (Not to mention someone willing to risk
their Vectrex for the project... :)
I'm in the process of trying two things: Getting the scanners at an even
cheaper price (someone I know is just anxious to get rid of a warehouse
full of laser stuff, no idea what's there...), and making friends with a
guy that runs a laser-rock show. His $25k system should be able to handle
it... :)
Anyone have tech info on what parts of the Vectrex I'd have to tap into?
I'll keep everyone posted, but don't expect it too soon...
If anyone else gets anywhere, let us know!
Rik
Nick S Bensema
In article <53afca$u...@newnews.metronet.com>, RiK <r...@metronet.com> wrote:
>Nick S Bensema (ni...@primenet.com) wrote:
>: >So far, no-one has reported back any details of the speeds that the
>: >Vectors are drawn at on the Vectrex, so it makes it kind-a hard to
>: >work out whether this is possible or not.
>
>: I hope I can be successful in prodding this issue until I get a definite
>: yes or no. And definite no's are very hard to come by.
>
>Well, I can give you a definite yes on the project, but do you have the
>cash? :) I know someone has done this with an Asteroids arcade game, so
>if that will work, the Vectrex should be no problem.
If you can get a post from this guy detailing a few things about what he
did and how he did it, I'd be happy.
>What holds everybody back is the cost. The scanners (mirrors that deflect
>the laser) cost at least $400 each (that's surplus), and you need at least
>3 to do it properly. So you are already looking at $1200, and that
>doesn't include the laser (HeNe only $10, no biggie...), and control
>software/hardware as needed. (Not to mention someone willing to risk
>their Vectrex for the project... :)
That guy with four Vectrices in his closet, have him sell two and
sacrifice one. That takes care of the money and the sacrifice. :-)
The contact I had built a rudimentary laser show for about $70..... I'll
try to get in touch with him and see what he did.
>I'm in the process of trying two things: Getting the scanners at an even
>cheaper price (someone I know is just anxious to get rid of a warehouse
>full of laser stuff, no idea what's there...), and making friends with a
>guy that runs a laser-rock show. His $25k system should be able to handle
>it... :)
Well, an affordable do-it-yourself-hack would be nice, but since I
wouldn't know how to build it even if it cost <$200, I'd be happy if I
just saw some video of it happening.
>Anyone have tech info on what parts of the Vectrex I'd have to tap into?
>
>I'll keep everyone posted, but don't expect it too soon...
>
>If anyone else gets anywhere, let us know!
--
Kevin Horton
[snip]
-> >I gather ultimately there are likely impracticalities due to the
-> >speeds at which you'd have to move lasers (electron beams use magnetic
-> >and electric fields to "bend" them, light usually needs something
-> >physical to bend it significantly - that means something physical that
-> >can move as fast as an electric field for instance - irk!)
-> Like a tiny little mirror..... but you realize that a lot will be gained
-> by shrinking the image enough. One might need to place the laser guidance
-> system at the opposite end of the room for it to cover a sizable portion
-> of the wall.
Yeppers. These things are called 'galvos' in the industry. It'd be pretty
easy to get a set of two and use those to generate your vectors. The only
problem would be to modulate the intensity (i.e. turn it on/off). Not a
problem if you use a semiconductor laser. A semi laser would probably be
cheaper anyways.
A Q-n-D way to make a galvo is to glue a front-surface mirror (get one out
of a copy machine or camera) to a small speaker, like one out of a pair
of headphones, or a tweeter. Small mass means quick motion. This would do
very nicely. If I had a vec, I'd be very, very tempted to try this.
I got a look at a vec this weekend at the 'con, and it'd be quite doable
using common avalible things.
--
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
| \_ \_ \_\_\_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ B3(4) C G+ K+ S-- R- |
| \_\_ \_\_ \_\_ \_ \_\_\_ &h48,&h65,&h6C,&h6C,&h6F,&h21 |
| \_ \_ \_\_\_ \_ \_ \_ \_ __ kho...@tech.iupui.edu __ |
| "It's 5:50 AM. Do you know \/__Can *YOU* write 8085__\/ |
| where your stack pointer is?" \/ assembly? \/ |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
William Howald
On 5 Oct 1996, Nick S Bensema wrote:
> You know what I thought the coolest thing in the universe would be?
World peace?
>
> If someone hooked a Vectrex display to a laser and scanning system,
> so you could play vectrex games ON THE WALL, man!
Cool dude!
>
> Not so much a pipe-dream as one might think. I met somebody once who
> built a little laser show thing for about $70. He purchased a cheap
> laser, and built a cheap scanning system that used a mirror to direct the
> beam. I don't have his name at the moment but if people show interest in
> this thread I might be able to get it for you. Hopefully I can get him to
> write some technical info on what he did.
>
> His system was hardly perfect, however. The scanner seemed quite slow, it
> had to stop at the end of each vector line, causing a bright dot to form.
NO! NO! NO! The scanner was going too FAST! The beam reaches the "end"
location BEFORE it should,and waits there for the Vec to output the next
move! If you can contact him, if he just added 2 caps (1 for x, 1 for y)
to slow down (dull) the drive waveform, it could work!
> The bright dot could be eliminated if one wired an LCD shutter in front
> of the laser to block it, which might also provide brightness control,
> but the dot is a sympton of a larger problem, that the scanner might not
> be fast enough to keep up with the Vectrex's demands. I asked the man who
Again, I think was actually responding TOO fast....
> designed the project if he could possibly build a better one with more
> expensive parts, and he told me that the next level of scanning equipment
> would probably cost about $200.
>
> Just one final thought, though. I read on
> rec.games.video.arcade.collectiong that somsone connected a Vectrex to
> an arcade machine's monitor. I bet the guy who tried that was criticized
I have my Vec wired to a arcade Tempest (wells-gardner) monitor!
I had to design a amp/buffer board to interface it to the screen,
and it's still not perfect...any raster text on screen in shown printed
1/2 in. to the right! (the yoke's a bit too slow, I think)
and the screen is bowed...Pole Position is cool though...It plays in wide
screen mode!
I also toyed with a color decoder board...currently suspended, no one
seemed interested in supporting it...
> to hell and back. Sure, I know next to nothing about vector monitors or
> lasers, but surely some of you out there do, and you can contribute what
> you know about the perks and pitfalls of such a project. That's what
> Usenet is for: the exchange of ideas. I had an idea so I'm posting it.
I'm glad you did!
I think I'll try using 2 speakers/mirors...that would be cheap...
Aaron howald "Vector master"
>
> HTH.
Brian Jepson
Kevin Horton wrote:
>
[...]
>
> A Q-n-D way to make a galvo is to glue a front-surface mirror (get one out
> of a copy machine or camera) to a small speaker, like one out of a pair
> of headphones, or a tweeter. Small mass means quick motion. This would do
> very nicely. If I had a vec, I'd be very, very tempted to try this.
>
> I got a look at a vec this weekend at the 'con, and it'd be quite doable
> using common avalible things.
>
Why trash a working Vectrex - couldn't the Vectrex emulator be modified to write some of the display
info out to a device controller? I don't know that the emulator comes with source, so I don't know if
this is even possible. I'd be *very* interested in staging this in Providence, RI (USA) - maybe they'd
let us do it as part of First Night or another festival. We might be able to do it through a group that
I'm president of (http://www.ids.net/~as220/smt.html).
SMT's into retro-computing, retro-gaming, and general weirdness, and perhaps we could get funding for
it. If there's anyone who's interested in doing this and is in the Providence vicinity, let's make it
happen. It shouldn't be too hard.
Brian
--
========= Brian Jepson (bje...@ids.net) =========
http://www.ids.net/~bjepson
_Java_Database_Programming_ table of contents:
http://www.ids.net/~bjepson/javadb
pic...@cuug.ab.ca
Don't forget that a phosphor on a screen will stay lit for a bit after the
electron beam has moved onto other sections of the screen.
The laser might have to refresh more often to give the same effect (before
the persistance (sp?) of vision wears off).
L8r
Glenn Saunders
The mortal Brian Jepson wrote:
: Why trash a working Vectrex - couldn't the Vectrex emulator be modified to write some of the display
: info out to a device controller? I don't know that the emulator comes with source, so I don't know if
Why would interfacing the Vec trash it in the process? It's just taking
the X Y signals outside of the unit. As long as you don't short-circuit
anything..
Nick S Bensema
Perhaps, perhaps not. Remember that movies refresh at 24 Hz, and they're
projected on a screen too. This is in comparison to a television set
which refreshed at 50-60 Hz despite that it uses phosphors.
It would be preferable to have a good, bright laser though.
Anders Erlandsson
Kevin Horton wrote:
>problem would be to modulate the intensity (i.e. turn it on/off). Not a
>problem if you use a semiconductor laser. A semi laser would probably be
>cheaper anyways.
>A Q-n-D way to make a galvo is to glue a front-surface mirror (get one out
>of a copy machine or camera) to a small speaker, like one out of a pair
>of headphones, or a tweeter. Small mass means quick motion. This would do
There is also some fast stuff to move the laser in a cd-player. I mean the
focusing coils, you can mount a small mirror instead of the laser diode.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ncc1...@algonet.se Anders Erlandsson
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Brian Jepson
As the owner of a Vectrex, I guess anything which involves
surgery on it makes me nervous :-) I wonder if there would
be a modification that you could make which would give you
an x-y out jack on the back. Then you could interface it
to anything... maybe even an etch-a-sketch?
Glenn Saunders
The mortal Nick S Bensema wrote:
: Perhaps, perhaps not. Remember that movies refresh at 24 Hz, and they're
: projected on a screen too. This is in comparison to a television set
I believe that projectors pass the shutter over each frame twice for twice
the flicker (48hz) even though movement remains at a 24hz rate. This
helps.
: It would be preferable to have a good, bright laser though.
How does the Vec really handle brightness info? Does it actually brighten
the beam or does it just make the beam linger longer on the line?
Can lasers' brightness also be controlled or is it merely on and off?
Larry Scott Ii
: Don't forget that a phosphor on a screen will stay lit for a bit after the
: electron beam has moved onto other sections of the screen.
: The laser might have to refresh more often to give the same effect (before
: the persistance (sp?) of vision wears off).
...or you could paint the wall in question with phospor-laden paint :)
(is there such a thing?)
Nick S Bensema
Glow-in-the-dark material might have this effect. I was also at some
scientific museum that would set off a flash and BAM, your silhouette
would be stuck on the opposite wall for a few seconds.
The problem though, with glow-in-the-dark wallpaper is you'd have to wait
for it to stop glowing after you turned off the lights. And nobody I know
makes it.
Wayne Morellini
RiK (r...@metronet.com) wrote:
: Nick S Bensema (ni...@primenet.com) wrote:
[snip]
: Well, I can give you a definite yes on the project, but do you have the
: cash? :) I know someone has done this with an Asteroids arcade game, so
: if that will work, the Vectrex should be no problem.
: What holds everybody back is the cost. The scanners (mirrors that deflect
: the laser) cost at least $400 each (that's surplus), and you need at least
: 3 to do it properly. So you are already looking at $1200, and that
: doesn't include the laser (HeNe only $10, no biggie...), and control
: software/hardware as needed. (Not to mention someone willing to risk
: their Vectrex for the project... :)
Well we have to look past the conventional way if the people out there are
going to benefit, there are a number of technologies I know of that could
lead to a safe high speed wall system. I just rang a guy last night about
some projection stuff, unfortunately he only had high end stuff at around
$15,000 AUS instead of $35,000, but he did say that they had data input that
can be hooked to a computer to produce vectors.
[snip]
: Rik
--
Wayne Morellini
pic...@cuug.ab.ca wrote:
: Don't forget that a phosphor on a screen will stay lit for a bit after the
: electron beam has moved onto other sections of the screen.
: The laser might have to refresh more often to give the same effect (before
: the persistance (sp?) of vision wears off).
There might be some matarial that you could string up on the wall (like a
screen) that actually has a simular property, I might have heard of it. I
don't like the idea myself, I was thinking of doing this commercially and
was talking to a freind about it, but I didn't like the idea of people
having to cart the screen around with the unit.
Ohh, yes the eye has persistence to so it might not be a big problem.
Wayne.
: L8r
--
Kevin Horton
Glenn Saunders (kri...@primenet.com) wrote:
-> The mortal Nick S Bensema wrote:
-> : Perhaps, perhaps not. Remember that movies refresh at 24 Hz, and they're
-> : projected on a screen too. This is in comparison to a television set
-> I believe that projectors pass the shutter over each frame twice for twice
-> the flicker (48hz) even though movement remains at a 24hz rate. This
-> helps.
-> : It would be preferable to have a good, bright laser though.
-> How does the Vec really handle brightness info? Does it actually brighten
-> the beam or does it just make the beam linger longer on the line?
-> Can lasers' brightness also be controlled or is it merely on and off?
I believe the Vec has brightness capibility, tho it may just be on/off.
The reason I say this, is look at the border around the screen, or look at
text. It's made up of a single straight vector that has been turned on
and off. I didn't get enough time to look at the vectrex enough to know
wether it could do intensity modulation other than on/off.
woo...@cf.ac.uk
Perhaps I can use my visual science here! The persistence of vision
varies from about 1/10s after stimulus at low luminance to about 1/55s
after stimulus at high luminance. Perhaps it is better put in terms of
refresh rates, i.e. above 10Hz at low luminance or 55Hz at high
luminance, the visual system should see a reasonably steady image
without flicker. For reference, flourescent tubes at around 100Hz, TV
pictures at around 50 Hz and cinema projection at 48Hz are all reasonably
flicker-free (the latter get away with lower frequency because of lower
luminance).
What all this boils down to is that 50 refreshes a second will
practically guarantee no flicker, but with a darkened room and a single
laser spot tracing the image you may be able to get away with a much
lower frequency. Exactly how low is difficult to say without measuring
the luminances involved.
Dave.
Glenn Saunders
The mortal Kevin Horton wrote:
: I believe the Vec has brightness capibility, tho it may just be on/off.
I know the Vec has brightness (256 levels I believe) but I don't know
whether lasers do as well. And I don't know how brightnes is actually
accomplished on the Vec, whether it's amount of redraw or actually a
matter of how strong the beam is over certain portions of the screen.
A game that makes really good use of vector brightness is Polar Rescue.
Subs and mines and the like fade into the briny background with distance.
RiK
: I know the Vec has brightness (256 levels I believe) but I don't know
: whether lasers do as well. And I don't know how brightnes is actually
If the laser is designed for it, the brightness can be controlled. It may
also require a certain type of laser (read- expensive most likely).
Brightness can be faked with movable filters and such...
I think for now I'd be happy just to see the laser-Vec in action, I
wouldn't be picky about brightness (at first... :)
Rik
Thomas
I don't know how to spell it but I know the device you'd want is called an
A-O-Acoustic Modulator. Jeff Korman of Laser Show fame down in Southern
California recommended that I buy one once or twice.
Just using one soaks up some of the output beam from a laser of course...
so I'd imagine you'd want an 100 mw argon before you started using one.
Others no doubt must know more about this than I as I've never used one of
the beasts.
A laser imaging system would be much more stable and accurate than a
Vectrex is.
I really like Vectrexes but the displays are more "jerky" than they would
be on a laser imaging system or for that matter a larger vector-based
graphics machine.
Is it or is it not the case that the close proximity of the power supply,
etc. affects the granularity of the Vectrex's resolution?
Thomas
RiK <r...@metronet.com> wrote in article
<53noet$h...@newnews.metronet.com>...
Wayne Morellini
I've got a question, what about safety, with kids who might like to 'Look
down the barrel' when your back is turned. Does anybody know enough about
lasers to advise us how to stop intensive laser light from burning the back
of the retina.
If you want to add colour there is a colour LCD filter system available that
will sequentially change from red to green to blue, allowing full sequential
RGB colour from a one color laser.
Wayne.
--
Nick S Bensema
In article <53q92e$9...@janus.cqu.edu.au>,
Wayne Morellini <way...@cq-pan.cqu.edu.au> wrote:
>I've got a question, what about safety, with kids who might like to 'Look
>down the barrel' when your back is turned. Does anybody know enough about
>lasers to advise us how to stop intensive laser light from burning the back
>of the retina.
Aigh. Never thought of that. Let's just not let any kids near it.
Come to think of it, shouldn't this have been a concern with those pen
lasers that my high school had that they could use as a mouse pointer
with that special utility that they never used?
Let's also hope that the picture will be drawn fast enough where it won't
be on the retina for more than 1/5000th of a second at a time. Perhaps a
cone around it so nobody gets close enough to the laser where the image is
small enough to cause a problem. Books on laser applications might
provide more insight.
Wasn't this also a concern of projection TV's?
>If you want to add colour there is a colour LCD filter system available that
>will sequentially change from red to green to blue, allowing full sequential
>RGB colour from a one color laser.
Red light does not turn green through a green filter. It turns black.
You would probably need a white laser. They don't exist so you'll have to
invent it.
Glenn Saunders
The mortal Wayne Morellini wrote:
: I've got a question, what about safety, with kids who might like to 'Look
: down the barrel' when your back is turned. Does anybody know enough about
: lasers to advise us how to stop intensive laser light from burning the back
: of the retina.
Raise the projector system and the bottom of the screen area above the
eye-level of the kids.
Brian Jepson
Larry Scott Ii wrote:
>
>
> ...or you could paint the wall in question
> with phospor-laden paint :)
>
> (is there such a thing?)
Yes, there is. It's probably available from a theater
supply company - I've only seen it used in theaters.
I got my hands on some a while ago, and if someone
needs to find it, I can probably research where to
get it.
Regards,
Nick S Bensema
In article <53uoek$7...@hpax.cup.hp.com>,
Kenneth M. Sumrall <k...@cup.hp.com> wrote:
>>>If you want to add colour there is a colour LCD filter system available that
>>>will sequentially change from red to green to blue, allowing full sequential
>>>RGB colour from a one color laser.
>>
>> Red light does not turn green through a green filter. It turns black.
>>
>> You would probably need a white laser. They don't exist so you'll have to
>> invent it.
>>
>frequencies simultaneously in the tube. The best way to control them is to use
>a prism to split up the different colors, and then each beam goes to it's own
>X-Y controller for simultaneous display. This setup was used by the guy
Cool, then we don't have to modify the 3D imager....
Of course you know the Vectrex only has ONE x-y controller. Color is
achieved either through the 3D imager or overlays.
How do you feel about painting overlays on the wall?
--
N i c k B e n s e m a < n i c k b @ p r i m e n e t . c o m > ,-._|\
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ / \
Anders Erlandsson
Kenneth M. Sumrall wrote:
>>>If you want to add colour there is a colour LCD filter system available
>>>that will sequentially change from red to green to blue, allowing full
>Actually, they do exist. They use xenon, and they lase on several different
>frequencies simultaneously in the tube. The best way to control them is to
>use a prism to split up the different colors, and then each beam goes to it's
>own X-Y controller for simultaneous display. This setup was used by the guy
>doing the laser light shows at the Hayden Planetarium in New York a few years
>ago. I know because I asked him after the show.
Try Pangolin Laser Software (if they still exist) tel: (703)527-4880.
They used to produce laser software for Amiga, and also sold equipment to
produce 16 million color laser displays and animations.
Maybe they did supply the stuff for Hayden planetarium.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ncc1...@algonet.se Anders Erlandsson
HTTP://www.algonet.se/~ncc1701d/
* A2000/060 - 34Mb - VLAB - PicassoII Cgfx - 1.4Gb *
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Aardvyrk
[[rec.games.video.classic trimmed from my headers]]
Nick S Bensema (ni...@primenet.com) wrote:
: Of course you know the Vectrex only has ONE x-y controller. Color is
: achieved either through the 3D imager or overlays.
:
: How do you feel about painting overlays on the wall?
Well, you probably wouldn't have to paint them... A simple projection
system should work, like one of those ugly classroom overhead projectors.
You could even use the original overlays as transparencies. If the
laser turns out to be a standard red rather than white, you possibly could
still see it on a red overlay if it were bright enough.
A flashlight and a clip on a ruler would work in a pinch as well. This is
piddly stuff, though! Let's get something on the wall first and THEN
worry about the cosmetics (and charred retinas).
aard...@cris.com
--
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"When I watch TV and see those poor, starving kids all over the world, I can't
help but cry. I mean, I'd love to be skinny like that, but not with all those
flies and death and stuff."
MARIAH CAREY, WENN (World Entertainment News Network)
and quoted on Radio 1 by both Kevin Greening and Chris Evans
--This insight into popintellect courtesy of Robert Bess via HUMOR-L.
Wayne Morellini
Kenneth M. Sumrall (k...@cup.hp.com) wrote:
: >>If you want to add colour there is a colour LCD filter system available that
: >>RGB colour from a one color laser.
: >
: > Red light does not turn green through a green filter. It turns black.
: >
: > You would probably need a white laser. They don't exist so you'll have to
: > invent it.
: Actually, they do exist. They use xenon, and they lase on several different
: frequencies simultaneously in the tube. The best way to control them is to use
: a prism to split up the different colors, and then each beam goes to it's own
: X-Y controller for simultaneous display. This setup was used by the guy
: doing the laser light shows at the Hayden Planetarium in New York a few years
: ago. I know because I asked him after the show.
The "MORTAL" Wayne Morellini is proven right again by somebody else who
knows what he's talking about, they do come in different colours, I saw it
on a laser home site ages ago and have seen at least red "GREEN" and blue
ones in use but never a "black" one ;).
Wayne.
: | Ken Sumrall HP Cupertino Systems Lab k...@cup.hp.com |
: | "He who will not reason, is a bigot; he who cannot is a fool; |
: | and he who dares not is a slave." -- Sir William Drummond |
--
Wayne Morellini
Julie Brandon (ju...@merp.demon.co.uk) wrote:
: Hiyas,
: On 15 Oct 1996 03:05:05 GMT, way...@cq-pan.cqu.edu.au (Wayne
: Morellini) wrote:
: >This is not a good idea, just a substitute for genuine safety Quality.
: I dare say it might not be possible to make it completely safe;
: leaving people with children three options:
: 1) Inform your children of the danger and trust them.
: 2) Find a way to take it out of their reach.
: 3) Don't consider using such a device.
: It is impossible to make a great many devices in the world
: *completely* safe, requiring extra precautions as above.
Thats right but the natural temptation for a curiouse child is to climb
anything and do anything to get a peak, despite what you tell them, thats
what worries me, even though it is not my responsibility, if I made the
device I would be directly leagal responsible in Cival cases according to
law despite the parents responsibility :(.
: I personally never trust anything to be completely safe; just varying
: levels of danger and risk!
Right Jules.
Have fun.
Wayne.
God Bless.
: Ta-ra!
: Love,
: Julie.
--
Wayne Morellini
: Kenneth M. Sumrall <k...@cup.hp.com> wrote:
: >>>If you want to add colour there is a colour LCD filter system available that
: >>>will sequentially change from red to green to blue, allowing full sequential
: >>>RGB colour from a one color laser.
: Of course you know the Vectrex only has ONE x-y controller. Color is
: achieved either through the 3D imager or overlays.
: How do you feel about painting overlays on the wall?
Ha thats good ) , what I posted up above is not the only technology, but
elements that can be tuned to the colour wanted are available you could
simply get the timing of the overlay and syncronise the LCD with it, the
above system might even be possible, and hey presto colour. Mind you I
think there is items that that can produce 3D on a cimina type screen (the
actual screen does it, but I can't rember), alternatives a pair of LCD
shutter Glasses for true 3-D.
Wayne.
: --
: N i c k B e n s e m a < n i c k b @ p r i m e n e t . c o m > ,-._|\
: ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ / \
: Phoenix-->*_,--._/
: 98-KUPD Red Card Holder #710563 WedSpc License #71.0563 v
--
Wayne Morellini
Aardvyrk (Aard...@cris.com) wrote:
: [[rec.games.video.classic trimmed from my headers]]
: Nick S Bensema (ni...@primenet.com) wrote:
: : Of course you know the Vectrex only has ONE x-y controller. Color is
: : achieved either through the 3D imager or overlays.
: :
: : How do you feel about painting overlays on the wall?
: Well, you probably wouldn't have to paint them... A simple projection
: system should work, like one of those ugly classroom overhead projectors.
: You could even use the original overlays as transparencies. If the
: laser turns out to be a standard red rather than white, you possibly could
: still see it on a red overlay if it were bright enough.
I have to bite, Anybody for a collection of ten feet high overlays :) or we
could mount them in front of the laser with a backlight.
: A flashlight and a clip on a ruler would work in a pinch as well. This is
: piddly stuff, though! Let's get something on the wall first and THEN
: worry about the cosmetics (and charred retinas).
O.K.
I know a guy who is the local Laser guy in the town, he also has a guess
what, Vectrex, and he was very interested to find out that there was this
group going, now I have been meaning to get back to him for a while to talk
to him about laser stuff after I finish being busy.
At the moment I have a guy who is high up in one company wantting to know my
ideas. I have work on offer at a local VR business. I have figured out
some new laser scanning systems that in principle shoud work and get around
many problems. If anybody really knows about lasers and safety issues,
contact me or get them to contact me, I am not planning on giving any ideas
away but I could do with some free advice.
Wayne.
Wayne Morellini
way...@cq-pan.cqu.edu.au
Microsun*
--
Glenn Saunders
The mortal Wayne Morellini wrote:
: Thats right but the natural temptation for a curiouse child is to climb
: anything and do anything to get a peak, despite what you tell them, thats
: what worries me, even though it is not my responsibility, if I made the
: device I would be directly leagal responsible in Cival cases according to
: law despite the parents responsibility :(.
I have always scoffed at the "lasers make you go blind" warnings. When I
worked at a department store as a teenager I was bold and took one of
those laser barcode readers that scan back and forth and tried looking
into them. They were pretty weak, no big deal. Lasers are just another
form of light, but people connote lasers with weapons like on Star Wars so
they automatically think they are more dangerous. But I don't think the
type that are used for this sort of thing are in any more dangerous than
incandescent lights.
Did you know that if you look at the sun too long you can burn a spot into
your retina? I guess we should keep all our children indoors then.
Looking directly into any bright light can cause that "temporary burnin"
phenomenon. Try staring into a flashlight for 30 seconds and then look
away and find out.
Lasers such as this probably aren't bright enough to do damage unless the
kid is TRYING to burn his or her eyes out by staring for 2 minutes or
more. Any short-term contact isn't likely going to do anything.
It's not like these are surgical lasers.
Blaine S. Gardner
Glenn Saunders <kri...@primenet.com> writes:
>I have always scoffed at the "lasers make you go blind" warnings. When I
>worked at a department store as a teenager I was bold and took one of
>those laser barcode readers that scan back and forth and tried looking
>into them. They were pretty weak, no big deal.
Therefore _all_ lasers not found in surgery are safe to look into?
This might be bordering on rocket science, but the ability of a laser to
do permanent eye damage is directly related to its power output. A
supermarket scanner with a working range of a few inches is going to have
a vastly lower output than a laser expected to project a visible image at
tens or hundreds of feet.
As the sign said: "Do not look into laser with remaining eye."
--
Blaine Gardner bla...@xmission.com DoD#46 UB#2 FJ1200 XR600R LT250R
<*>
Nick S Bensema
In article <549b95$g...@xmission.xmission.com>,
Blaine S. Gardner <bla...@xmission.xmission.com> wrote:
>Glenn Saunders <kri...@primenet.com> writes:
>
>>I have always scoffed at the "lasers make you go blind" warnings. When I
>>worked at a department store as a teenager I was bold and took one of
>>those laser barcode readers that scan back and forth and tried looking
>>into them. They were pretty weak, no big deal.
>
>Therefore _all_ lasers not found in surgery are safe to look into?
>
>This might be bordering on rocket science, but the ability of a laser to
>do permanent eye damage is directly related to its power output. A
>supermarket scanner with a working range of a few inches is going to have
>a vastly lower output than a laser expected to project a visible image at
>tens or hundreds of feet.
Or about eight feet. THat's the kind of room I have in my room.
If it turns out safety is an issue, we'll have to include government
bribe money in with the costs of production.
Wayne Morellini
Glenn Saunders (kri...@primenet.com) wrote:
: The mortal Wayne Morellini wrote:
: : Thats right but the natural temptation for a curiouse child is to climb
: : anything and do anything to get a peak, despite what you tell them, thats
: : what worries me, even though it is not my responsibility, if I made the
: : device I would be directly leagal responsible in Cival cases according to
: : law despite the parents responsibility :(.
: I have always scoffed at the "lasers make you go blind" warnings. When I
: worked at a department store as a teenager I was bold and took one of
: those laser barcode readers that scan back and forth and tried looking
: into them. They were pretty weak, no big deal. Lasers are just another
Yes they are pritty weak and these class 1 lasers rely on the blink effect
to stop it hurting the eye. In matter of fact they are so week, see how
impressive they are if you aim them at a wall 6-10 feet away and wobble them
(no your not blind, the light may not be strong enough). Yes these lasers
have been especially designed so they don't hurt people (though if you
deliberatly stared and kept your eyes open for a long periode I don't know
what would happen, I think they also vibrate the image so that it goes
accross a large area).
: form of light, but people connote lasers with weapons like on Star Wars so
No not just enough form of light, normally a light shines in a number of
directions, Lasers Shine most of the light in parralel beams, in one
direction, and when it enters the eye, the
eyes focusses it into a smaller dot and concentrates the energy, in matter
fact lasers don't produce long thin lines normally so those bar codes must
be scanning the one laser back and foeward, that will explain why they are
allowed to be used in public. Also I notice the big ends of them, a usefull
guide I'm sure, but this will also stop the Eye from getting close enough to
the arc of the scan to stop the eye from asorbing to much light. So my main
concern is getting in contact with somebody who knows what to do to get
around these problems, so it is generally safe.
And the reason they probably are used as wepons is that they cause injury,
not, the other way about.
: they automatically think they are more dangerous. But I don't think the
: type that are used for this sort of thing are in any more dangerous than
: incandescent lights.
: Did you know that if you look at the sun too long you can burn a spot into
: your retina? I guess we should keep all our children indoors then.
Well they tend to blink and say ohh that hurts, but a laser can be much
quicker and less obviouse (no hot sunlight on your face or accoss the pupil
to make you blink).
: Looking directly into any bright light can cause that "temporary burnin"
: phenomenon. Try staring into a flashlight for 30 seconds and then look
: away and find out.
: Lasers such as this probably aren't bright enough to do damage unless the
: kid is TRYING to burn his or her eyes out by staring for 2 minutes or
: more. Any short-term contact isn't likely going to do anything.
They can do long periodes out of facination and they don't have to try, but
afterwards will they complain.
: It's not like these are surgical lasers.
So this is what I'm getting at finding a proffessional and source
information to figure out what to use that won't, I'm sure there is allready
simple equipement out there that does it, not like the professional that
simply said 'No, all lasers are dangerous' to me. The opinion of guesswork
will not do. Well anyway if I get time in the holidays I might spend some
of it finding out the details, more book after 5 years of tertiary studies,
ahhg, probably will take a week or two. I now have two assignments to do,
one due last Friday to start and one Monday.
--
Glenn Saunders
The mortal Blaine S. Gardner wrote:
: This might be bordering on rocket science, but the ability of a laser to
: do permanent eye damage is directly related to its power output. A
: supermarket scanner with a working range of a few inches is going to have
: a vastly lower output than a laser expected to project a visible image at
: tens or hundreds of feet.
No, but a laser with the range of a projection TV is most likely safe.
Glenn Saunders
The mortal Wayne Morellini wrote:
: allowed to be used in public. Also I notice the big ends of them, a usefull
And likewise, a Vec is constantly scanning most of the time so would be
equally safe.
: And the reason they probably are used as wepons is that they cause injury,
: not, the other way about.
The reason lasers are NOT used as weapons is that in order to cause injury
they require a whole lot of power. Witness the mixed results of .S.DI.
: Well they tend to blink and say ohh that hurts, but a laser can be much
: quicker and less obviouse (no hot sunlight on your face or accoss the pupil
: to make you blink).
Not true. If the light hits your peripheral vision, it's easier to forget
about it until it's too late.
Nick S Bensema
In article <326a773e...@news.demon.co.uk>,
Julie Brandon <ju...@merp.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>
>>Did you know that if you look at the sun too long you can burn a spot into
>>your retina?
>eclipse coming it seems that a lot of people demonstrate that they
>certainly *don't* know that by the number that lose or damage their
>sight. *8-(
"The solar eclipse is over. You may now once again stare directly at
the sun." Paraphrase of Kevin Nealon, Weekend Update.
>There will be technology necessary to switch the beam on and off very
>fast at the very least here, so why not just implement a safety system
>that stops the beam displaying when it is not moving?
That we'd need anyway to prevent bright spots from forming at the end of
every line.
Since we're operating via laser anyway, we can put a sensor that makes
sure that the laser is projecting on something several feet away, by
detecting the delay that the light goes back in.... well I'm not very
articulate right now but you know what I mean. It's like those auto-flush
toilets. We already have the laser part anyway.
Robert Worne
ni...@primenet.com (Nick S Bensema) wrote:
>Since we're operating via laser anyway, we can put a sensor that makes
>sure that the laser is projecting on something several feet away, by
>detecting the delay that the light goes back in.... well I'm not very
>articulate right now but you know what I mean. It's like those auto-flush
>toilets. We already have the laser part anyway.
But wouldn't that also cure the safety issue? If the "auto flush" sensor
determined that the wall suddenly moved closer (by someone passing in front
of the projector), it would shut off the beam. When turning on the unit, it
could also not start the laser if there is an object too close, say less than
three-five feet or so in front of the unit.
--
Robert Worne NeXT-OS/2-MacOS
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Starving CS Undergrad...Sorry, I don't *do* Windows! I'd rather starve...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Visit my shrine to videogame collecting! http://www.primenet.com/~rworne/
Wayne Morellini
Glenn Saunders (kri...@primenet.com) wrote:
: The mortal Wayne Morellini wrote:
: : be scanning the one laser back and foeward, that will explain why they are
: : allowed to be used in public. Also I notice the big ends of them, a usefull
: And likewise, a Vec is constantly scanning most of the time so would be
: equally safe.
: : And the reason they probably are used as wepons is that they cause injury,
: : not, the other way about.
: The reason lasers are NOT used as weapons is that in order to cause injury
: they require a whole lot of power. Witness the mixed results of .S.DI.
Well they HAVE been used as weapons, provided you are a US citizen then you
might like to know I have seen on the news a public demonstraction of such a
system by the US to knock down some flying thing (missile or aircraft) and
this time it wasn't painted RED (a little demonstration they did in the
sixties or seventies was to paint the target with a special heat asorbing
paint, well that was the elegation to make it work better but it still took
at least 10 seconds from memory)). In the late eighties reading Scientific
America I came acccross a news article claiming that some discovery had just
been made that can boost laser power (I think the exact number was 3000 or
30,000 times, hence why I rembered it). Now not basing any of this on
reports of "Death Ray" type devices used by some military testers in the
Pamana dispute, to cut through a jeep, I think I saw a picture of the jeep
to, and it didn't look good, I can still say they have been used in target
practice. Despite this there is another trick for this wepon and that is to
temporarily blind an opponent in war. In matter of fact I have allready
read the Miltary report on the web about targeting lasers and they don't
regard them as completely safe either. The problem with lasers is that
because they are a "concentrated beam" they deliver more energy than normal
light. Now maybe they think there dangerouse because they are and people
have been warned about this on many documentary programs on lasers, they
even use lasers to cut metal.
Now despite this my origional assertion was it must be possible and I
rembered that I had an article on a device that you stare into and it writes
an image on your retina, it will be out soon in red and apparently they have
full colour working in the lab. They intend to use i for handheld info
devices. ANYBODY for a PORTABLE VECTREX?
ey
: : Well they tend to blink and say ohh that hurts, but a laser can be much
: : quicker and less obviouse (no hot sunlight on your face or accoss the pupil
: : to make you blink).
: Not true. If the light hits your peripheral vision, it's easier to forget
: about it until it's too late.
Well I'd rather work with you than against you on this one, we both
obviously beleive it can be done, I'm interested in how it can be done
safely from design point of veiw.
Anyway does anybody know of a good source of projection tubes, I've been
looking for a projection Television to convert.
Wayne.
--
Chris Cracknell
Hmmmm.... you know, with all this talk of Laser Vectrex I was just thinking.
Want to freak out the entire population of your hemisphere? Wait for
a night where there's a new moon. Carefully calculate the angles and the
orbits and then project your vectrex game on the surface of the moon.
Or I suppose you could just freak out everyone in your town by waiting
for an overcast night and playing vectrex games on the cloud canopy.
CRACKERS
(Yes, I know it wouldn't really work from hell!!!!!)
--
http://www.freenet.hamilton.on.ca/~ad329/Profile.html
-=<Atari 2600 Collector and Wethifl Musician>=-
Nick S Bensema
In article <54dkit$9...@james.freenet.hamilton.on.ca>,
Chris Cracknell <ad...@james.freenet.hamilton.on.ca> wrote:
>Hmmmm.... you know, with all this talk of Laser Vectrex I was just thinking.
>
>Want to freak out the entire population of your hemisphere? Wait for
>a night where there's a new moon. Carefully calculate the angles and the
>orbits and then project your vectrex game on the surface of the moon.
>
>Or I suppose you could just freak out everyone in your town by waiting
>for an overcast night and playing vectrex games on the cloud canopy.
>
>
> CRACKERS
> (Yes, I know it wouldn't really work from hell!!!!!)
Well, wouldn't it be totally awesome if it did, though?
I think I'll just modify my projection TV and put porno movies on the
moon.
But you know, I bet spam-advertisers will discover the way first and put
billboards on the moon or clouds or something...
Larry Suter
ni...@primenet.com (Nick S Bensema) writes:
>I think I'll just modify my projection TV and put porno movies on the
>moon.
>
>But you know, I bet spam-advertisers will discover the way first and
>put billboards on the moon or clouds or something...
"Robin! That's not the Batsignal! That's Long Dong Silver!"
"Holy hermaphroditic hernias, Batman!"
--
YONderBOY..!!
Aron Bacs
To the Vectrex News Group:
I have been unable to read this news group for the past 4 weeks (been on
the road), and with that in mind I will ask the question:
Are you all talking about making a Laser Projector capable of displaying
Vectrex (vector) graphic images ? Can someone please repost or e-mail me
the original question ? :)
If displaying is your goal I may be able to help who ever wants to take
on the task.
My Background:
I am Design Engineer that specializes in vector graphic displays via
laser projection. I worked for Audio Visual Imagineering, Inc. (1984 -
1989) as an electro-optics design engineer and designed alot of the
laser projectors they use, including the one at New Yorks Hayden
Planetarium as well as many others across the U.S. and Canada.
I still am a consultant with them today. My current full time job (Dir
of Engineering) is designing special effects camera systems for motion
pictures at Vision III Imaging, Inc.
The Vectrex Project:
Anyway, when I had free time I brought the signals x, y, & blanking,
from the D to A section of the vectrex out to the side of the unit on
BNC connectors. I then built a circuit which stripped off the raster
portion of the display. At that time these raster signals were to high
a bandwidth for the display system to keep up with. The processed
signals then went into my "test rig" which was a very "tweaked and
tuned" system I use(d) to test analog and computer graphic systems as I
designed them.
The bottom line is it actually worked. I played Mine Storm a few times
to see if the galvos would hold up because the infomation bandwidth was
just barely to high for the scanners to keep up. I again played with
the idea for a few months in my free time and that was it. It was much
easier at that time to rewrite the "look and feel" of Mine Storm on our
"new super powered" 386 ! We toyed around the idea of an emulator but
never got around to it.
Display Scanners:
Electro-mech galvo systems have about 1.5 khz bandwidth, but display at
about 80 degree p-p display angle, where as acousto-optic scanning
systems can display much more information (100khz - 1 Mhz) but the scan
angle and optical efficiencies are very low.
The galvo systems cost about $2000 although it may be possible to put
one together with surplus parts for less.
Current moving magnet galvo's from Cambridge Technology, Inc. can easily
display the Vectrex graphics display.
Also, A friend of mine (president of Pangolin Laser Software) wrote an
Asteroids simulator as a demo for his graghics software which he markets
to the laser light show industry as well as others. Patrick is this
years president of the International Laser Display Association, of which
we are both members. (I.L.D.A. has a web page dont know address right
now but it is available if you do a search)
If you have any questions I will help as much as I can (and have time
for)...
Aron Bacs
p.s. "I make a better engineer than writer / speller"
Wayne Morellini
Well I come in here every now and again and bring up possibilies, to see if
anybody is listening. I had some time so I started a thread called Future
Vectrex or something and think I might have broken it off into this thread,
but I can't rember now (so long ago), which one of us did do this.
Well anyway I'm been the one asking, "Does anybody out there know somebody
that knows about lasers" because I am interested in seeing a vectrex like
gamer manufactures, but am not an Laser engineer, so if you can help here is
some questions, you can email me:
I am worried about the safety issues, a manufacturer doesn't generally like
releasing unsafe products on the market, because they get their butts
freind.
- How would you make a family entertainment device that can project an
large image on a wall, where little mathew might think I'l stair at the
pretty lights with his pupil right up against it.
- What types of scanning systems are available, how do they work and how
much?
Well this is about it for the time being, I have been up for a couple of
days studying, we look forward to hearing from you. Wayne.
way...@cq-pan.cqu.edu.au
Aron Bacs (ar...@us.net) wrote:
: To the Vectrex News Group:
: My Background:
: The Vectrex Project:
: Display Scanners:
: Aron Bacs
--
Chris Cracknell
In article <54e3op$j...@nnrp1.news.primenet.com>, ni...@primenet.com (Nick S Bensema) wrote:
>In article <54dkit$9...@james.freenet.hamilton.on.ca>,
>> CRACKERS
>> (Yes, I know it wouldn't really work from hell!!!!!)
>
>Well, wouldn't it be totally awesome if it did, though?
>moon.
>But you know, I bet spam-advertisers will discover the way first and put
>billboards on the moon or clouds or something...
Actually, the cloud canopy thing might work. I remember when I lived in T.O
there was a laser on the side of the CN Tower that used to project things
onto the sides of downtown buildings.
CRACKERS
(Spammers on the moon from hell!!)
Chris Cracknell
In article <54e3op$j...@nnrp1.news.primenet.com>, ni...@primenet.com (Nick S Bensema) wrote:
>In article <54dkit$9...@james.freenet.hamilton.on.ca>,
>>Want to freak out the entire population of your hemisphere? Wait for
>>a night where there's a new moon. Carefully calculate the angles and the
>>orbits and then project your vectrex game on the surface of the moon.
>> (Yes, I know it wouldn't really work from hell!!!!!)
>
>Well, wouldn't it be totally awesome if it did, though?
Actually, I was just thinking. If it really was possibly to project a laser
vectrex game onto the surface of a new moon and have it visable from earth
you'd really be able to mess with the minds of people of pre-literate
cultures that have had little or no western contact. Who knows what they
might think these strange shapes in the sky were. Fighting gods? You could
really mess with thier whole mythos system.
It reminds me of a a story from a book I read on the Dobe Kung.
One of the Dobe Kung asked the anthropologist what these white streaks in
the sky were and the anthropologist answered that they were the vapour trails
from jet planes. The fellow responded a "oh yes, of course it is" responce
and the anthropologist asked him what he had thought it was and he said.
"Well, my friend told me that the white people were writting messages on
toilet paper and then shooting them to one another with a cannon."
CRACKERS
(Freaking out a tribe in the amazon from hell!!)
Nick S Bensema
In article <54gcli$q...@james.freenet.hamilton.on.ca>,
Chris Cracknell <ad...@james.freenet.hamilton.on.ca> wrote:
>In article <54e3op$j...@nnrp1.news.primenet.com>, ni...@primenet.com (Nick S Bensema) wrote:
>>In article <54dkit$9...@james.freenet.hamilton.on.ca>,
>>> (Yes, I know it wouldn't really work from hell!!!!!)
>>
>>Well, wouldn't it be totally awesome if it did, though?
>>moon.
>>But you know, I bet spam-advertisers will discover the way first and put
>>billboards on the moon or clouds or something...
>~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~
>
>Actually, the cloud canopy thing might work. I remember when I lived in T.O
>there was a laser on the side of the CN Tower that used to project things
>onto the sides of downtown buildings.
I would fricken' LOVE to see that!
We could put the Vectrex Laser show on tour to overcast cities, or we
could base it in Seattle and people would travel from all over, though
they'd be pissed if it were ever sunny. I know i always am.
Louis Nick III
Nick S Bensema <ni...@primenet.com> wrote:
>Chris Cracknell <ad...@james.freenet.hamilton.on.ca> wrote:
>>ni...@primenet.com (Nick S Bensema) wrote:
>>>
>>>I think I'll just modify my projection TV and put porno movies on the
>>>moon.
>>>But you know, I bet spam-advertisers will discover the way first and put
>>>billboards on the moon or clouds or something...
>>
>>there was a laser on the side of the CN Tower that used to project things
>>onto the sides of downtown buildings.
>
>I would fricken' LOVE to see that!
>
>We could put the Vectrex Laser show on tour to overcast cities, or we
>could base it in Seattle and people would travel from all over, though
>they'd be pissed if it were ever sunny. I know i always am.
This automated followup has been triggered by keyword "Seattle"
----
Actually, people in Seattle would just be confused by the snowy picture, a
result of trying to project through all this rain. And Seattlites don't
really get pissed at the sun. They just forget where they last put their
sunglasses[1], buy another pair, and head for Starbucks, but they sit on
the sundeck[2] or outside. Some people put on their so-called
Dry-Pavement Treaded Tires[3] for the commute up I-5, but most people
don't bother, as they know that sun is merely an annoying meteorological
anamoly, and that Harry Wappler will soon have things back under control.
Interestingly, however, lights on the clouds would frighten and confuse
native Seattlites. Lightning only occurs in this area about once a year,
plus the occasional immortal taking the head of another[4]. Also, there
would be protests and other expressions of community outrage if movies
depicting only hetero-sex were projected over Capital Hill. Also, Bill
Gates would buy the technology and project his home-movies over Mercer
Island, much to the annoyance of all the other rich people that live
there. I also predict an increase in the number of UFOs reported there at
the National UFO Reporting Center, also on Mercer Island. I suggest we
merely project Kevin Spacey movies on Mt. Ranier.
1: Wearing sunglasses during a rainy week because of dark circles is never
done in Seattle. Dark circles are not a sign of lack of sleep, but a
sign that the person drinks more coffee than you. Status, in any case.
2: A large area of concrete or wood with outdoor tables and chairs,
occasionally plants. Etymological origin of this term is unknown in
Seattle.
3: Strange tires, probably a California thing, that lack the necessary
grooves to channel gallons per second of water out of the path of the
wheel.
4: As the time of The Gathering approaches, I expect to see this happen
more frequently.
--
"Teller, don't bother me with your conscientious scruples. This is superb
physics!" -Enrico Fermi, "Day One"
CREDO QUIA IMPOSSIBILIS
===Louis Nick III alt.religion.louis-nick sn...@u.washington.edu===
joseph richard koleszar
In article <54e3op$j...@nnrp1.news.primenet.com>,
Nick S Bensema <ni...@primenet.com> wrote:
>I think I'll just modify my projection TV and put porno movies on the
>moon.
Along these lines, a couple of years ago, some of the guys in Dodds
House up on the NW corner of the Quad projected Deep Throat onto the
side of the eight story main stacks at the library across the street.
Hilarity ensued.
Ralph
--
Joseph Richard "Ralph" Koleszar | jkol...@silver.ucs.indiana.edu
I AM THE ANTIBOB(c)! I AM THE ANTIBOB(c)! I AM THE ANTIBOB(c)!
Archbishop of Bloomington for the Church of the Cactus
For your killfiles: /jkolesza/f:j
Anders Erlandsson
Aron Bacs wrote:
>Also, A friend of mine (president of Pangolin Laser Software) wrote an
Do they (Pangolin) still sell Amiga based laser systems/software for
animation/static projection?
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ncc1...@algonet.se Anders Erlandsson
HTTP://www.algonet.se/~ncc1701d/
* A2000/060 - 34Mb - VLAB - PicassoII Cgfx - 1.4Gb *
* Colecovision - Vectrex - Intellivision - Atari2600 *
---------------------------------------------------------------------
woo...@cf.ac.uk
In article <548gsh$n...@nnrp1.news.primenet.com> Glenn Saunders <kri...@primenet.com> writes:
>I have always scoffed at the "lasers make you go blind" warnings. When I
>worked at a department store as a teenager I was bold and took one of
>those laser barcode readers that scan back and forth and tried looking
>into them. They were pretty weak, no big deal. Lasers are just another
>type that are used for this sort of thing are in any more dangerous than
>incandescent lights.
Not true. Even a 1mW HeNe is capable of producing a scotoma on the
retina, and we aren't just talking about simple after-image as you do in
your flashlight example. Similarly, just because you looked into a low power
laser and had no bad effects doesn't mean that all lasers are safe.
I would say proceed with caution, do the maths, and then stick a PIR
infront of the laser so that if anyone moves infront, the laser cuts out
while they are there. You could even put a failsafe in so that the laser
won't start up in the first place if the PIR isn't working. Total
additional cost to the project? Maybe $10. You can then put in a
disclaimer about people having to use the equipment in accordance with
the instructions, and you should be covered.
Dave.
Dr.David Wooding (woo...@cardiff.ac.uk) UWCM, Cardiff, Wales, UK
------------------------------------------------------------------
The MC list: subscribe mornington-crescent to majo...@mono.org
David DeLaney
>>Or I suppose you could just freak out everyone in your town by waiting
>>for an overcast night and playing vectrex games on the cloud canopy.
>
>billboards on the moon or clouds or something...
Hey, scorekeepers - do third-level indirect references to obscure Heinlein
stories also kill threads dead?
Dave "Cuz if they do I have some ideas about calling Boursy a fifth columnist"
DeLaney
--
\/David DeLaney d...@panacea.phys.utk.edu "It's not the pot that grows the flower
It's not the clock that slows the hour The definition's plain for anyone to see
Love is all it takes to make a family" - R&P. VISUALIZE HAPPYNET VRbeable<BLINK>
http://enigma.phys.utk.edu/~dbd/ - net.legends FAQ / I WUV you in all CAPS! --K.
Bruce Tomlin
Nick S Bensema (ni...@primenet.com) wrote in rec.games.vectrex:
>In article <549b95$g...@xmission.xmission.com>,
>Blaine S. Gardner <bla...@xmission.xmission.com> wrote:
>>
>>>I have always scoffed at the "lasers make you go blind" warnings. When I
>>>worked at a department store as a teenager I was bold and took one of
>>>those laser barcode readers that scan back and forth and tried looking
>>>into them. They were pretty weak, no big deal.
>>
>>
>>do permanent eye damage is directly related to its power output. A
>>supermarket scanner with a working range of a few inches is going to have
>>a vastly lower output than a laser expected to project a visible image at
>>tens or hundreds of feet.
>Or about eight feet. THat's the kind of room I have in my room.
>If it turns out safety is an issue, we'll have to include government
>bribe money in with the costs of production.
I hear that in Texas, you have to have a licence to own a laser device...
UNLESS it's for sale. Because of this, Forrest M. Mims III would put
little "for sale" tags on all his laser experiments. :) (Of course,
they would be for sale at absurd prices, but that wasn't the point.)
Wayne Morellini
Bruce Tomlin (bto...@crl.com) wrote:
: Nick S Bensema (ni...@primenet.com) wrote in rec.games.vectrex:
That is absurd, have fun.
Wayne.
--