[stella] Closed Captioning Query

Subject: [stella] Closed Captioning Query
From: Glenn Saunders <cybpunks2@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 19 Aug 2002 23:57:14 -0700
At 02:16 AM 8/20/2002 -0400, you wrote:
Wish I could follow this thread more closely.  But I haven't got a computer
or a connection at the moment.  :(  Anyway, keep up the good work everyone!
Oh...and one more note.  These demos won't be producing true NTSC interlace
due to the lack of proper equalizing pulses and vertical sync serrations.
So be careful when trying tricky stuff like closed-captioning...it may or
may not work.


BTW, the hard copy of EIA-608 is only $60 now (50 plus $10 S&H) because it's been superceded by the new spec (which is mostly just stuff related to digital video, big deal) but I am still reluctant to buy it if it turns out the 2600 can't do what it needs to do -- based on what we can glean right now.

How curious is everyone regarding CC?

To describe the bit encoding system in terms of white and black zones on the scanline probably only takes a couple brief paragraphs, which kinda sucks to have to buy an expensive book just for that but there is just NOTHING on the internet that explains it in these terms. They always assume we've already got the bits out (like the character set listings).

I'll buy the book and post the specifications (which to date hasn't been posted anywhere on the internet, strangely enough. Shouldn't this by public knowledge??) if I get some commitments from people to collectively help make the 2600 generate Closed Captioning.

After all this pondering it might be worth finding this out once and for all...

The cool thing about this, BTW, is that with 8 closed captioning channels to work with you could run the 2600 signal through a splitter and set up a multiplayer game with up to 8 players, all with independent text messages. Just set the CC on your TV to display the proper CC channel. More realistically you'd use two of the text channels, though, maybe using one keypad per player.

The text channels scroll up most of the vertical height of the screen.

And if the 2600 can't do it due to resolution limitations, the 5200/8-bit might, if you turn ANTIC DMA off and get interlace going there (might that be possible??). But of course the 8-bit's got okay text capabilities, but the multiplayer trick might be cool...



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