Charles Poynton -
Consumer video


This page lists resources on the Internet concerning consumer video equipment, standards and technology. If this page isn't technical enough for you, try my Video Engineering page.


I'm vile and perverted.
I'm obsessed and deranged.
I've existed for years but very little has changed.
I'm the tool of the government and industry too.
For I'm destined to rule and regulate you.

You may think I'm pernicious, but you can't look away.
I'll make you think I'm delicious with the stuff that I say.
I'm the best you can get... have you guessed me yet?
I'm the slime oozing out of your TV set...

- Frank Zappa


To learn how to adjust those mysterious controls on the front of your computer monitor, or your television set, consult "Brightness" and "Contrast" controls.



rec.video-related resources on the Web

Worldwide TV Standards - A Web Guide
by Bevis King.
 
rec.video US/Canada Consumer Video FAQL (text file, 40 KB)
by H. Morrow Long
 
rec.video Resource Guide (text file, 42 KB)
by H. Morrow Long
 
Television Antenna Frequently Asked Question List
by Wm. L. Ranck; Version 1.1, circa 1991; also available as a UNIX-compressed (.Z) file at at H. Morrow Long's site. I an unaware of a more recent version.
 
Cable TV Resources on the Net
by John Higgins of Multichannel News, circa 1994
 
Satellite TV Frequently Asked Questions List
by Gary Bourgois
 
US DBS Frequently Asked Questions
by Richard R. Peterson
 
John Hodgson's DBS Dish Satellite News & Information
 
South Scanner Satellite Services Chart by Robert Smathers. A listing of the North American television satellites with audio and video services that are accessible to dish-owners.
 
Wireless Cable Television FAQ
by Brian J. Catlin. Despite a note saying that a full HTML version is not available, it is not.
 
Bob Niland's excellent LaserDisc FAQ Articles
 
Fillippa Consumer Electronics Page
hosted at Lund University in Sweden.
 
Phil [who?]'s Laserdisc home page
 
CD-i FAQ
 
LucasFilm THX
 
The Satellite TV (and Radio) Page
by Jay M. Novello
 
How to Play Movies on Your PC
by John Sweeney of IBM UK. This is not about consumer video per se, but is an excellent summary of creating and playing digitized movies.
 
Dolby Labs
 
Sony Digital Handycam
 
Web interface to Publicly-Accessible Mailing Lists (PAML):
I-TV, Interactive Television
SCTE, Society of Cable Television Engineers
telcom regulation
UK-CABLE, cable services in the United Kingdom
 

DVD FAQ by Jim Taylor

Alt.video.laserdisc FAQ by Henrik 'Leopold' Herranen.

Newsgroups


Publications

Digital Video magazine.

Charles
2000-10-03