Some Image Capture Devices

FrameGrabber 256, Digiview, and Xapshot.

• The historic Newtek Digi-View, whose success funded the Video Toaster, is the small ivory box sitting on top of the (black) PP&S box.
  • It plugs into the parallel port and has a single RCA video cable input.

  • For color imaging, a flywheel with red, green, and blue filters was used. Video data corresponding to each color was re-assembled by the software.

  • Although capable of 21 bit deep color images, it was limited to 16 levels of grey.

• The black box beneath the Digi-View unit is the FrameGrabber 256 from the now defunct Progressive Peripherals & Software company.
  • The unit was an off-shoot of the company's FrameGrabber color digitizer.

  • Although it could digitize images 256 levels of grey, it was limited in resolution to 384x480 because of the (then) high cost of RAM!

  • The hardware was able to perform multiple digitizations for the purpose of animation.

  • The included software had image processing features unavailable in most commercial packages today.

• The small video disk next to Digi-View belongs to the Xapshot camera, which is also shown.
  • The Xapshot is best thought of as a video camera which uses small disks instead of video tape.

  • Whereas a video camera is typically used to record motion, the Xapshot is used to store still images, much like a 35 mm camera.

  • Each disk is capable of storing 50 images.

  • Images can be erased individually.

  • Each image is a field mode video image -- half the video lines are missing and are filled in by duplicating the lines that are present.

  • Xapshot images are viewable on TV. Video printers can provide hard-copy photos.

  • Xapshot image quality is limited but does have the advantage of being TV viewable immediately after shooting. No developing time is required, as for film.

  • Because Xapshot photos are video images they must be digitized, e.g., by the FrameGrabber 256.

  • You might wish to compare a Xapshot image with a photo scanned at 320 dpi with the Epson ES-800C scanner and with a digital image from Seattle Film Works, obtainable when you use them to develop 35 mm. camera film.

  • You might wish to read about other ways of imaging real objects.

• At the bottom of the picture is an Epson ES-800C flatbed scanner.
  • You may proceed to read more about it in the "Imaging the Printed Word" section. OR
  • You may choose to return to Photo Nukes.

Revised -- December, 2002

Back to Imaging Real Objects -->

Back to Photo Nukes -->