…significant concessions had to be made in terms of image quality
April 6, 2020 5:16 PM Subscribe
YouTuber works out a method to record video onto a standard audio cassette tape (TechSpot): YouTuber Kris Slyka recently revisited the concept behind an odd piece of kit that toy maker Fisher-Price put out way back in the 80s. In short, he was able to figure out how to record video onto a standard audio cassette. [...] Using a Sony tape recorder, he came up with a method using Python and Java to convert a video signal into one that can be recorded on an audio cassette and successfully played back. There were significant concessions that had to be made in terms of image quality – the resolution was cut down to a paltry 100 x 75 at only five frames per second, and there is no audio – but still, it’s an incredibly fascinating feat: Cassette Video - Video on (Audio) Cassettes! (YouTube)
Related: Camcorder that uses Cassette Tapes - The PXL-2000 (Youtube)
Related: Camcorder that uses Cassette Tapes - The PXL-2000 (Youtube)
An acquaintance had a PXL in high school (late 80s), and I was fascinated by the degraded, high-contrast, blocky images that it produced, which made even a trip to 7-11 to buy cigarettes look like it had been broadcast from the surface of the Moon, or back from the far future (the transmissions in John Carpenter's "Prince of Darkness" came to mind).
By the time I encountered it, though, it had already failed and they were impossible to find. In the information landscape of 1989, the entire concept may as well have been swallowed by a black hole. It's still the only one I've ever seen in person.
posted by ryanshepard at 6:02 PM on April 6, 2020 [2 favorites]
By the time I encountered it, though, it had already failed and they were impossible to find. In the information landscape of 1989, the entire concept may as well have been swallowed by a black hole. It's still the only one I've ever seen in person.
posted by ryanshepard at 6:02 PM on April 6, 2020 [2 favorites]
It's actually JavaScript, not Java.
Programmers of a certain age will remember when everything could be written to cassette tapes, since that's how things worked. In fact, my dad still has a new in box Heathkit H8-5 serial I/O cassette controller in the attic somewhere. Apparently he never got around to hooking it up to his H8 because he bit the bullet and just spent the eye-watering amount of money for a floppy drive for the PDP-11 minicomputer we somehow had in our house in very the early 80's.
Seems like I had a cassette controller for my Commodore 64, but I think that was just a hand me down since my dad's friend had upgraded his Commodore 128 to have a floppy drive.
Also, wasn't this Fisher Price toy all the rage a decade or so ago with people trying to do insane stuff with old hardware? I seem to remember getting something like Quake running (in some sense of "running") on it.
posted by sideshow at 6:13 PM on April 6, 2020 [9 favorites]
Programmers of a certain age will remember when everything could be written to cassette tapes, since that's how things worked. In fact, my dad still has a new in box Heathkit H8-5 serial I/O cassette controller in the attic somewhere. Apparently he never got around to hooking it up to his H8 because he bit the bullet and just spent the eye-watering amount of money for a floppy drive for the PDP-11 minicomputer we somehow had in our house in very the early 80's.
Seems like I had a cassette controller for my Commodore 64, but I think that was just a hand me down since my dad's friend had upgraded his Commodore 128 to have a floppy drive.
Also, wasn't this Fisher Price toy all the rage a decade or so ago with people trying to do insane stuff with old hardware? I seem to remember getting something like Quake running (in some sense of "running") on it.
posted by sideshow at 6:13 PM on April 6, 2020 [9 favorites]
I had a PXL2000. I lent it to an indie filmmaker friend and never got it back. No great loss, except apparently I could have sold it for a decent chunk of change.
Honestly, it was pretty terrible. I can promise you that the nostalgic mystique by far outstrips the reality of using the thing. Better for any video-making purpose to record in a usable resolution and then filter it down.
It's not a computer, you wouldn't run Quake on it. I guess you could display Quake on the terrible monochrome TV that came with it. Not sure why you would.
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:15 PM on April 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
Honestly, it was pretty terrible. I can promise you that the nostalgic mystique by far outstrips the reality of using the thing. Better for any video-making purpose to record in a usable resolution and then filter it down.
It's not a computer, you wouldn't run Quake on it. I guess you could display Quake on the terrible monochrome TV that came with it. Not sure why you would.
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:15 PM on April 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
I found mine in the basement just today. I'll have to see if it still works and if I have any of my old tapes around.
posted by donpardo at 6:24 PM on April 6, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by donpardo at 6:24 PM on April 6, 2020 [5 favorites]
Aside from the old "yep, had a tape recorder on my computer" yelling. Reminds me also of early computer scanning. You had a B/W camera and a Red/Green/Blue rotating filter so you'd put your picture on a bed and take the Red, then rotate the filter and take the Green and then rotate again and take the Blue and then combine the three images into an actual color image. Oh the things we did with crappy technology so long ago.
posted by zengargoyle at 6:27 PM on April 6, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by zengargoyle at 6:27 PM on April 6, 2020 [4 favorites]
Back in the 80’s I had this small beige box that was a video frame grabber for the Mac. Koala something or other I think. You plugged it into the serial port and then plugged in a video camera. It was slow-scan and preferably the image shouldn’t move. Sort of the first scanner for the Mac. But if you aimed it at a person and had them move during the scan you could really get some weird twisted images. B&W of course. Great fun. I still have it but time has moved on so it sits in the closet. Nothing to plug it into.
posted by njohnson23 at 7:06 PM on April 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by njohnson23 at 7:06 PM on April 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
I don’t think they failed, they were dirt cheap, $100 or so new. What I heard was that the military requisitioned the production capacity for nosecone cameras on smartbombs needed for the first Iraq war. The actual way that I heard it was that the military had the technology retroactively classified. I do also recall that some of that is likely inaccurate. At any rate, after the Iraq war, they remained unavailable.
posted by mwhybark at 7:11 PM on April 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by mwhybark at 7:11 PM on April 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
lol mwhybark. I heard that during the first Iraq war that the US had snuck a bit of code into the French made air-defense system that Iraq was using. By means of a SCSI printer. This makes more sense if you know how SCSI worked and there were such things as SCSI printers. When the printer had to print a certain identification it jammed the SCSI network making the air-defense system effectively blind. Yet another story of the age that seems entirely plausible.
posted by zengargoyle at 7:37 PM on April 6, 2020
posted by zengargoyle at 7:37 PM on April 6, 2020
Don't forget how Iraq bought thousands of PlayStation2 consoles to build military supercomputers.
posted by glonous keming at 8:01 PM on April 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by glonous keming at 8:01 PM on April 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
I do also recall that some of that is likely inaccurate. At any rate, after the Iraq war, they remained unavailable.
I don't remember the first Gulf War being planned quite that far out? And anything being newly produced then would have probably have had an infrared seeker (like the Maverick-G), or else laser guidance. Plain old "TV guided" (electro-optical 'contrast seeker') models would have probably been older stuff in the stockpiles, and still likely had better CCDs than the PXL2000.
I'm not surprised it quickly became unavailable after the first run. After the initial novelty wore off the thing was pretty much unusable for the purpose it was meant for -- keeping my grubby kid mitts away from the real (and really expensive) camcorder. The image quality was bad enough but the sound was even worse and the tapes had very low capacity. Weird art vids mining the _ a e s t h e t i c _ were a later phenomenon.
Here's someone's Comparative Media Master's Thesis (MIT, 2005) -- Toying With Obsolescence: Pixelvision Filmmakers and the Fisher Price PXL 2000 Camera
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:33 PM on April 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
I don't remember the first Gulf War being planned quite that far out? And anything being newly produced then would have probably have had an infrared seeker (like the Maverick-G), or else laser guidance. Plain old "TV guided" (electro-optical 'contrast seeker') models would have probably been older stuff in the stockpiles, and still likely had better CCDs than the PXL2000.
I'm not surprised it quickly became unavailable after the first run. After the initial novelty wore off the thing was pretty much unusable for the purpose it was meant for -- keeping my grubby kid mitts away from the real (and really expensive) camcorder. The image quality was bad enough but the sound was even worse and the tapes had very low capacity. Weird art vids mining the _ a e s t h e t i c _ were a later phenomenon.
Here's someone's Comparative Media Master's Thesis (MIT, 2005) -- Toying With Obsolescence: Pixelvision Filmmakers and the Fisher Price PXL 2000 Camera
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:33 PM on April 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
PlayStation 2 a decade late for the wrong war.
Researchers create a PlayStation 2-based supercomputer - Geek.com
PlayStation 3 cluster
Maybe 2nd Iraq war.
posted by zengargoyle at 8:44 PM on April 6, 2020
Researchers create a PlayStation 2-based supercomputer - Geek.com
PlayStation 3 cluster
Maybe 2nd Iraq war.
posted by zengargoyle at 8:44 PM on April 6, 2020
I heard that during the first Iraq war that the US had snuck a bit of code into the French made air-defense system that Iraq was using.
They could have just threatened to nuke Baghdad
posted by Freelance Demiurge at 8:57 PM on April 6, 2020
They could have just threatened to nuke Baghdad
posted by Freelance Demiurge at 8:57 PM on April 6, 2020
The problem with threatening to nuke anything is if you don't follow through you unleash a horror show and if you do follow through you unleash a horror show. The calculus is impossible and so you just don't. You Just Don't.
I got to visit the InterGerman Border late in the Cold War and also passed through Checkpoint Charlie at one point. This was during a time when Reagan wanted to put SDI ("Star Wars") missile defense technology (which basically didn't work, but whatever) in Germany and Poland even against the citizen's wishes, all because of the threat of incoming Soviet nuclear missiles. The whole situation was surreal. I was, as an 18 year old exchange student, being quizzed on minute details of this whole policy, which I basically barely knew nothing about.
Nuclear bomb things are a higher level of calculus than anyone in this administration can do the equations on. Especially since all the higher level workers have been exchanged over the past few years.
They were barely a calculation that anyone previous was willing to make, and so they basically didn't. Thank goodness.
posted by hippybear at 9:15 PM on April 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
I got to visit the InterGerman Border late in the Cold War and also passed through Checkpoint Charlie at one point. This was during a time when Reagan wanted to put SDI ("Star Wars") missile defense technology (which basically didn't work, but whatever) in Germany and Poland even against the citizen's wishes, all because of the threat of incoming Soviet nuclear missiles. The whole situation was surreal. I was, as an 18 year old exchange student, being quizzed on minute details of this whole policy, which I basically barely knew nothing about.
Nuclear bomb things are a higher level of calculus than anyone in this administration can do the equations on. Especially since all the higher level workers have been exchanged over the past few years.
They were barely a calculation that anyone previous was willing to make, and so they basically didn't. Thank goodness.
posted by hippybear at 9:15 PM on April 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
I remember seeing an ad for the pxe2000 when I was a kid and being incredibly excited about. But, it was far too expensive. And then, a few years later when it might have been possible to save up for it. . . it had vanished without a trace. I was young enough at the time that I never was really sure if it actually existed or not, but I kept looking for an equivalent in stores for years. Upon later seeing what the video actually looked like, I suspect that was for the best.
Both links are really fun and I realize I never really stopped to consider the tricks the PXE played to achieve what it did. I've seen quite a few contemporary (well, made within the last 12 years) pixelvision films. I didn't particularly seek them out, but my spouse used to curate video art shows. They were all a lot better than the average submission to an open call for video art. I don't know if it's the restriction that inspires interesting art, or if interesting artists are drawn to restriction. Or, perhaps, only really geeky, obsessive people would choose that medium and those kind of people put more effort into what they're creating than the average video artist. But, whatever the cause, I was impressed. And 9 year old me was intensely jealous.
But, then, if 9 year old me knew that in three decades, I'd be sitting within arms reach of five HD video cameras and at least four useless old ones that are all far better than any consumer cassette camera, all of which came for free with tools that I use for other things. . . they'd be incredibly jealous and astonished that I spend my free time writing text on a message board instead of making films.
posted by eotvos at 9:19 PM on April 6, 2020 [2 favorites]
Both links are really fun and I realize I never really stopped to consider the tricks the PXE played to achieve what it did. I've seen quite a few contemporary (well, made within the last 12 years) pixelvision films. I didn't particularly seek them out, but my spouse used to curate video art shows. They were all a lot better than the average submission to an open call for video art. I don't know if it's the restriction that inspires interesting art, or if interesting artists are drawn to restriction. Or, perhaps, only really geeky, obsessive people would choose that medium and those kind of people put more effort into what they're creating than the average video artist. But, whatever the cause, I was impressed. And 9 year old me was intensely jealous.
But, then, if 9 year old me knew that in three decades, I'd be sitting within arms reach of five HD video cameras and at least four useless old ones that are all far better than any consumer cassette camera, all of which came for free with tools that I use for other things. . . they'd be incredibly jealous and astonished that I spend my free time writing text on a message board instead of making films.
posted by eotvos at 9:19 PM on April 6, 2020 [2 favorites]
they did
posted by clavdivs at 9:20 PM on April 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by clavdivs at 9:20 PM on April 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
If everyone who had film making tools were to suddenly make films based on their vision of what a film should be over the next week, Hollywood would be dead overnight and the entire audience would be on fire with unique visions and feeling energized by the new offerings.
posted by hippybear at 9:28 PM on April 6, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 9:28 PM on April 6, 2020 [3 favorites]
clav, maybe I heard it from you, but via mediated verbal transmission
posted by mwhybark at 11:00 PM on April 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by mwhybark at 11:00 PM on April 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
Meh, call me when you record video into bacterial DNA.
posted by little onion at 5:14 AM on April 7, 2020
posted by little onion at 5:14 AM on April 7, 2020
Could he not have gotten better resolution / framerate by discarding color information?
posted by grumpybear69 at 6:04 AM on April 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by grumpybear69 at 6:04 AM on April 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
Oh the things we did with crappy technology so long ago
Anybody else into 1200bps packet radio circa 1981?
posted by flabdablet at 8:34 AM on April 7, 2020 [2 favorites]
Anybody else into 1200bps packet radio circa 1981?
posted by flabdablet at 8:34 AM on April 7, 2020 [2 favorites]
Seeing the comment under the linked article that says doing this was “a complete waste of time” is the attitude that coats the world in boring. Someone does something interesting for the fun of it, and up pops the practicality police. There is very little in the world that by that measure isn’t a waste of time that I have any interest in. Sorry to rant, but god some people really go out of their way to be completely awful, and I doubt they realize they’re doing it. Again my apologies. The covid situation has left me feeling raw about arrogant people who project pointless negativity Into the world. I don’t think this was a waste of time at all, telling other people they’re wasting their time on the other hand is worse than wasting time, it’s caustic. Sorry If this is unclear.
posted by hilberseimer at 8:39 AM on April 7, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by hilberseimer at 8:39 AM on April 7, 2020 [4 favorites]
call me when you record video into bacterial DNA
Give Microsoft another few years and you'll be doing that without even knowing that what's storing your uploaded bits bears no resemblance to a disk drive.
posted by flabdablet at 8:42 AM on April 7, 2020
Give Microsoft another few years and you'll be doing that without even knowing that what's storing your uploaded bits bears no resemblance to a disk drive.
posted by flabdablet at 8:42 AM on April 7, 2020
flabdablet, not that early and not myself, but my 1987 university roommate was a packet radio enthusiast. That thing would make my monitor jump every time he sent something out. He was an EE major and the fact that he had a UNIX account was what made me switch from Physics to EE to CE to CS in short order so I could get email, USENET, and sit in front of high powered workstations all day.
posted by zengargoyle at 10:27 AM on April 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by zengargoyle at 10:27 AM on April 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
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I love the idea of a web site that will sell you a Pixelvision cassette tape version of any YouTube video. Playback's gonna be tricky though.
posted by Nelson at 5:59 PM on April 6, 2020 [6 favorites]