technology advancements

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SaltyNZ

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#1276856 3-Apr-2015 18:54

Fred99:
The only true innovation which has been commercialised is the Lytro light-field camera, which so far is a curiosity but very limited for any practical use. Not to say that something revolutionary might be just around the corner, but guessing what it might be is a problem.

The light-field camera is the one that keeps the entire image in varying focal lengths so you can selectively choose the focus in software later, right? Not the single-pixel camera?

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DarthKermit

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#1276859 3-Apr-2015 19:00

Who knows what is to come? There could be some amazing tech that will revolutionise stuff this year or in a few years.

Whatifthespacekeyhadneverbeeninvented?

Fred99

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#1276883 3-Apr-2015 20:13

SaltyNZ:
Fred99:
The only true innovation which has been commercialised is the Lytro light-field camera, which so far is a curiosity but very limited for any practical use. Not to say that something revolutionary might be just around the corner, but guessing what it might be is a problem.

The light-field camera is the one that keeps the entire image in varying focal lengths so you can selectively choose the focus in software later, right? Not the single-pixel camera?

Demo here:

When I say limited in practical use, you need apps to interact/display the image. However the camera above has 4mp resolution (ie a 2d image created from a frame is 4mp). So actually getting there now with this new camera.
If they can extend this to video (a massive amount of data to process) then it would revolutionise cinematography. Shallow DOF is a huge feature for 2d video (and a reason why 3d movies suck so badly). Being able to "post focus" video when editing would be a huge advance.

Lurch

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#1276911 3-Apr-2015 21:21

From the Amiga 1000

A1000

To the AmigaOne X1000

...and sometime late this year, next year AmigaOne X3500 - X5000..... All running Amiga OS 4.1 FE, which I have running on my aging Pegasos 2 board. :-) Technology is a good thing.

SaltyNZ

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#1276935 3-Apr-2015 22:40

Fred99:
When I say limited in practical use, you need apps to interact/display the image. However the camera above has 4mp resolution (ie a 2d image created from a frame is 4mp). So actually getting there now with this new camera.
If they can extend this to video (a massive amount of data to process) then it would revolutionise cinematography. Shallow DOF is a huge feature for 2d video (and a reason why 3d movies suck so badly). Being able to "post focus" video when editing would be a huge advance.

Yep, that's the one I thought. This one is quite interesting too.

iPad Pro 11" + iPhone 15 Pro Max + 2degrees 4tw!

These comments are my own and do not represent the opinions of 2degrees.

SepticSceptic

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#1278466 7-Apr-2015 16:14

DarthKermit: My first computer, a Dick Smith VZ200 had a memory expansion port.

You could plug this brick of a thing in the back and increase your memory by a whopping 16 KB of RAM. I think it cost about $160 in the mid 1980s.

Luxury !!

I had to solder in my 32kb RAM expansion on the Dick Smith System 80

frankv

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#1278471 7-Apr-2015 16:27

SepticSceptic:
DarthKermit: My first computer, a Dick Smith VZ200 had a memory expansion port.

You could plug this brick of a thing in the back and increase your memory by a whopping 16 KB of RAM. I think it cost about $160 in the mid 1980s.

Luxury !!

I had to solder in my 32kb RAM expansion on the Dick Smith System 80

I had to lay out my own 16KB expansion board (black sticky tape on mylar), then get the board manufactured, and solder the chips into it, before I could plug it into my Compucolor.

But we did have a speaker, driven off the serial port.

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SepticSceptic

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#1278472 7-Apr-2015 16:27

KiwiNZ:
Aredwood:
SJB: Technology is actually evolving slower than it has in the past.

Yes it is getting smaller and cheaper but that will soon stop when physical and financial limits are reached. There have been no real breakthroughs since Kilby and Noyce invented the microchip.

Your parents or grandparents lived through much greater technological changes (eg the telephone, television, jet travel, advances in medicine) than we do now.

There have been no real breakthroughs for over 40 years.

What I'm waiting for - fusion power becoming a practical reality. As nothing else will ever be able to replace fossil fuels. By any decent amount. And without long term increasing costs.

Fusion power generation won't be in our life times or even grand children's life times.

Nah, Limitless Fusion Power is but a decade away ....

Unfortunately, it's been a decade away for about the last 7 of them

I think they clever boffins have reached reached unity power ( power in = power out) for brief periods (seconds), have reached sustainablilty for quite a length of time, but at a huge cost of input power. The aim is for better than unity, sustained. Best guess is 2025 - 2035 for experimental generators.

( this is from memory, from a recent article I read / heard / seen - went thru the history of Fusion power, toroids vs bottles, new experimental generators, new materials and techniques)

SepticSceptic

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#1278484 7-Apr-2015 16:35

frankv:
SepticSceptic:
DarthKermit: My first computer, a Dick Smith VZ200 had a memory expansion port.

You could plug this brick of a thing in the back and increase your memory by a whopping 16 KB of RAM. I think it cost about $160 in the mid 1980s.

Luxury !!

I had to solder in my 32kb RAM expansion on the Dick Smith System 80

I had to lay out my own 16KB expansion board (black sticky tape on mylar), then get the board manufactured, and solder the chips into it, before I could plug it into my Compucolor.

But we did have a speaker, driven off the serial port.

The RAM expansion on the System80 consisted of piggy-backing 2 extra Dynamic Ram DIL IC's (4116) on top of the existing RAM chips, so you ended up with a stack of 3. One pin had to be bent out from each IC, and run to another set of piggy backed chips that added extra column or row address strobes.
No expansion ports for us

Though the was a tiny 2" speaker that could be pressed to make some monophonic bleeps and blarps. Hey, it was the early days of personal computing, where it meant you were getting up close and personal with your permanently unclothed computer ...

Sideface

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#1278698 7-Apr-2015 22:09

CSIRAC 1949 model computer

I recently saw this magnificent valve-powered beast at the Museum of Victoria - well worth a visit.

(click to enlarge)

SPECS

Speed                       .001Mhz
Word size                    20 bit
RAM                            768 words
Disk capacity             2048 words
Power consumption 30,000 watts
Weight                        7,000 Kg

Sideface

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