On Sep 11, 10:53 pm, Linonut <lino...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> * Roy Schestowitz peremptorily fired off this memo:
Support of multiple display screens is nothing new to X11 (the display
system used on Linux desktops as well as most Unix desktops).
There was a restaurant in New York City's Greenwich Village, on 7th
avenue, that had a display system made of of 64 screens in an 8 by 8
configuration. Diners would watch a 20 minute "loop" display, in
which the screens sometimes worked independently, sometimes worked in
unison to display one large picture, sometimes broke into quadrants,
and various other combinations. Animations ranged from bouncing balls
to sci-fi style special effects. The system was a number of X11
server displays. These were coordinated by a Unix server (Silicon
Graphics?).
I first went there after reading about it in a local NYC publication
(Village Voice), and asked the owner how the system worked. He was
quite proud of the system and happy to share as much detail as you
wanted with any who asked.
As is the case with so many NYC restaurants, the novelty wore off
after a few years and the ownership and management changed, and the
display was removed.
Silicon Graphics uses as many as 32 screens in simulators to simulate
everything from ariel combat to docking the space shuttle, to tank
combat to house to house infantry training. Each of these simulators
is designed to create as close to a realistic environment as possible,
so that when the troops get out into real combat, they are better
prepared for a wider variety of scenarios than they could afford to do
in "Live Rounds" combat excercises (due to the very high cost of this
type of excercise).
My understanding is that even Predator "pilots" use this type of
technology to fly the Predator in real-world combat situations. The
combination of cameras, computer aided image enhancement, targeting
systems, and other advanced sensors, can then be fed to multiple
display screens, allowing the "pilot" to get as close to an "in the
cockpit" experience as possible, while still in the safety of the
military command center. The result is that the "pilots" can fly more
missions, can get far more experience, and can even learn from their
mistakes - because they aren't fatal to the actual pilot.
This also lets the pilots take far more "risk" than a traditional
fighter/bomber pilot could take, getting closer to the target, staying
around the target longer, and assuring that as much as possible is
done before withdrawing.
Microsoft got very excited when they could do "dual-head" displays,
with the release of Windows XP. The frustration among the Linux
community was that you couldn't stick more graphics cards in the PC so
that you could have more displays per PC.
> > ATI to Enable High-Definition Video Playback on Linux-Based Computers.
> > ,----[ Quote ]
> >| ATI, graphics product group of Advanced Micro Devices, plans to enable
> >| playback of protected high-definition content under Linux operating system
> >| (OS) sometime in October, 2008. The move will allow the company to address
> >| the market of Linux-based computers with a unique feature, which is not
> >| currently available.
> > `----
>
> >http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/multimedia/display/20080902113646_ATI_to...
>
> Cool. Let's see how it plays out.
>
> --
> What garlic is to food, insanity is to art.
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