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Post by Simon Wells on May 3, 2007 21:11:26 GMT
Imagine my surprise when scouting around a junk shop I found a large box containing 2 (what looks like) Laser discs and a variety of paraphinalia relating to the state of Britain in the 1980's (pretty scary thought!). Presumably this is the sort of think you bury for a 1000 odd years, but my memory doesn't recall this event taking place. I am presuming there is no moving footage on the discs (despite the box cover saying BBC Advanced Interactive Video)- but given I can't play them I am not entirely sure what's on them.
Anyone have any idea how many of these were produced?
Very best wishes
Simon Wells
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Post by hartley967 on May 3, 2007 21:44:58 GMT
Vaguely remembered the project. it should be on the web somewhere?
This usedthe first type of video discs, which were analogue and about the size of an LP record and arrived around 1977.
If they had straight video on them they lasted a certain time, but if they were interactive they had a much reduced playing time.
Not sure about half an hour I think?
These disc systems were used in the MOMI (museam of moving image)for their displays during the 1980s-90s.
The BBC project, I believe has already been transfered to another format.
However being the great silver hope of long term storage and wear , there were a great many in corporate use. Consequently you may be able to still pick up players for £20 odd pounds from disposal places like 'Bull Electrical' on the web.
BTW the 1980s were certainly not as scary as the 1970s - at least the power didnt go off in the middle of your recording and leave you in the dark.
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Post by Paul Grayson on May 3, 2007 22:45:02 GMT
These disks are a precursor to CD Rom, and contain primarily still video and text. As computer systems of the time typically were limited to showing no more than 8 or 16 colours at a time, the images came directly from the disc, and mixed into the computer output using a genlock system.
The equipment needed to read these discs was a BBC Micro (can't remember if it was a standard Model B or a later model) and a special video disc player. The project was designed to be used in schools, using the standard BBC Micro series of microcomputers, and to prevent engineers having to modify the BBC Micro, the genlock hardware needed to mix the signal was integrated into the laser disk unit.
There may have also been an edition for the Research Machines CPM systems also found in some schools.
The project was released to commemorate the 900th anniversary of the original Domesday Book. There was a BBC daytime quiz show aired in late 1986 entitled The Domesday Detectives based around the project - I think the prize for the winners was one of these systems.
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Post by William Martin on May 4, 2007 12:10:55 GMT
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Post by Greg H on May 5, 2007 5:06:54 GMT
I remember this from when i was a kid!! Probably ebay to search for redundant hardware on this one. I was told by an AI phd that nasa uses ebay to look for legacy kit, but who knows!!
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RWels
Member
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Post by RWels on May 5, 2007 10:47:59 GMT
Strange that it should require a special player. Because early laserdiscs did not sell, philips had already developed a system to use the discs as a sort of laserdisc-rom for schools, libraries etc., with this unit connected to a computer (a computer with a hard disk no less!): www.videoinfo.nl/Beeldplatenspelers/ph635laser.JPG |
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Post by peteseatonwsmuk on May 5, 2007 13:16:59 GMT
is this the same one that was previewed on Tomorrows World in October 1986
(I have this on VHS) and they showed all sorts of disc technology, including a walk round an oil rig by a series of stills on CD rom, and encyclopedia britannica on 1 CD rom etc.
everyday stuff now, but then......
i have a Video CD of the Status Quo - Burning bridges (Video) that I cannot play on anything, though it can play the audio track
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RWels
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Post by RWels on May 5, 2007 14:32:29 GMT
CD-ROM in 1986? You must be confused with CD-i or laserdisc rom.
Your video-cd could be a CD-i - yet another philips invention that did not quite make it.
There are some tricks that allow you to read a CD-i on a PC. It does not emulate a cd-i player but at least you could see the files. By the filesize you could then determine which is a video and copy that and rename it to .mpg.
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Post by peteseatonwsmuk on May 5, 2007 15:14:21 GMT
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Post by peteseatonwsmuk on May 5, 2007 15:22:17 GMT
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RWels
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Post by RWels on May 5, 2007 22:03:01 GMT
PS Apparently some arcade video games also use(d) a laserdisc system. That board does not allow viewing without registering, and I am not going to register just to see the picture (I suppose you have your reasons for choosing that setting). This picture below shows most formats. www.videoinfo.nl/Beeldplatenspelers/all-discs.jpgBut I am not sure exactly what the golden disc represents. Of course within each of these formats there are subcategories. The cd video might be the early version of the video cd? Based on mpg-I instead of mpg-II? If that is the case, a PC should be able to read it. Try a program called isobuster perhaps? If it also has a normal audio track it must be a cd-i... or at least, that is my guess. Even so you could use isobuster to extract the video content (and rename it to .mpg). |
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Post by peteseatonwsmuk on May 5, 2007 22:11:07 GMT
it works now
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Post by Paul Grayson on May 6, 2007 8:46:19 GMT
CD Video was a relaunch of the Laserdisc system from the late 1980s. They contained a short CD audio track, and around 5 minutes of analogue video. They could only be played on compatible Laserdisc players.
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RWels
Member
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Post by RWels on May 6, 2007 9:43:24 GMT
OK, so it was a sort of 'Single' (like for records and CDs) but with cd player compatible audio content?
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Post by Paul Grayson on May 6, 2007 18:03:23 GMT
OK, so it was a sort of 'Single' (like for records and CDs) but with cd player compatible audio content? Correct, that's the intended use for that format. At the same time 8" discs were released which could hold 20 minutes of video per side; these were generally issued as music video EPs. Both formats appeared when video discs were relaunched in the late 1980s with digital audio channels. Philips and a few other manufacturers released players, but they sold very little. In Japan there was also another version of CD Video called Video Single Disc that lacked the traditional CD audio track, |
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