Gilderfluke&Co old Smart Brick Manual - Manual (Page 13)

- Time Bases -
The Smart Brick System can be used with four normal time bases, as well as one spe-
cial mode for use with an IBM Backup Box. As long as the frame rate being used is the
same for all shows, you can use all of the time bases within the same system. The support-
ed time bases are:
1) LaserDisk: The Smart Brick Brain has an RS-422 serial port on it which can be attached directly to
the serial port on many professional quality LaserDisk players. The Brick Brain talks to the LaserDisk player
to synchronize the entire system to the show being played. All control for the LaserDisk player is provided
by the Brick Brain. Systems with LaserDisk players in them are limited to running either 15 or 30 Frames
Per Second (FPS), as the latter is the frame rate at which the video signal from the player is reproduced.
A Constant Angular Velocity (CAV) format LaserDisk has the capacity of 1/2 hour per surface, and so this
usually serves as the show capacity limitation for the system. Show capacities of the Smart Bricks are as
follows:
15 frames/second (show capacity of 1092 sec. for 16K Smart Brick, 4369 sec. for 64K Smart Brick)
30 frames/second (show capacity of 546 sec. for 16K Smart Brick, 2184 sec. for 64K Smart Brick)
As of this writing the Smart Brick Brain has not been tested for compatibility with PAL and SECAM video
format LaserDisk players running at 25 Frames per second, so the operation with these can not be guar-
anteed. Capacity at this frame rate is:
25 frames/second (show capacity of 655 sec. for 16K Smart Brick, 2621 sec. for 64K Smart Brick)
The LaserDisk players which are currently supported are the Pioneer ФLD-Х and Sony ÔLDP-Õ series. The
Pioneer LaserDisk code was developed and tested on an LD-V8000, which is PioneerÕs top of the line
unit. It should be compatible with all of the earlier models in this series as well. Current Pioneer LaserDisk
models are:
LD-V8000 (recommended)
LD-V6000A
LD-V6000
LD-V3000
LD-V7820-3
The advantages of the LD-V8000 are: four audio channels (two analog and two digital), frame
memory during random access, separate front panel controls, and faster access times than all of itÕs
predecessors.
The Sony LaserDisk code was developed and tested on an LDP-2000. It should be compatible with all
of the other models in this series as well. Current Sony LaserDisk models are
LDP-180 (requires an IF-180 serial port option)
LDP-1000A
LDP-1500
LDP-2000
If more than a single LaserDisk is to be controlled from a single Smart Brick System, then a LaserDisk
Multiplexer must be used. Each of these allow four LaserDisk players to be connected to the Smart Brick
Brain. Each additional player requires an additional ÔshowÕ to hold the disk frame numbers used by that
player. This lowers the total number of shows the system can support by half each time you add an addi-
tional LaserDisk player to be controlled.
LaserDisks are available in two different recording formats. These are Constant Angular Velocity
(CAV) and Constant Linear Velocity (CAV). The only format which will work with the Smart Brick System is
the CAV format. This is because the CAV format is the only one which can be used with all of the com-
mands a LaserDisk player support. Capacity of CAV LaserDisk is up to 54,000 frames or 1/2 hour per side.
G ILDERFLUKE & C O .¥ 205 S. F LOWER S T .¥ B URBANK , CA 91502 ¥ 818/840-9484 ¥ 800/776-5972 ¥ FAX 818/840-9485
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