7 ms·

That's an impressive range of products: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connectix https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connectix

by tpmx 4y ago

rcarmo 4y ago
The QuickCam page is also impressive on its own: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QuickCam https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QuickCam
- tpmx 4y ago
  From searching the web, it seems like the original one uses the TI TC255 CCD image sensor (https://www.google.com/search?q=Connectix+QuickCam+%22tc255%22 https://www.google.com/search?q=Connectix+QuickCam+%22tc255%...): https://www.farnell.com/datasheets/93863.pdf https://www.farnell.com/datasheets/93863.pdf The TC255 is a frame-transfer charge-coupled device (CCD) designed for use in B/W NTSC TV and special-purpose applications where low cost and small size are desired. The image-sensing area of the TC255 is configured in 243 lines with 336 elements in each line. It's a DIL through-hole package with just 8 pins. The output is analog. I wonder how they implemented the A/D conversion and the frame/line buffering.
  - tpmx 4y ago
    It's amazing how breakthroughs in the past now seem trivial. Everything has gotten so much easier/cheaper. A hobbyist can do what took quite a bit of funding back in the 80s/90s.
  - gsliepen 4y ago
    The frame buffering is a physical feature of the CCD. It actually has twice the number of lines, but half of them are behind a mask so they will never be exposed. When the exposure ends, it rapidly shifts the accumulated electrons from the exposed lines into the area with unexposed lines. From there, they can be read out by the ADC while another exposure is in progress.
- cm2187 4y ago
  And its look is basically the logo used today for webcams, which I hope is a bragging topic for its designers.
  - VectorLock 4y ago
    When your product becomes the actual graphical icon for some particular class of things, I guess you are totally justified in calling it "iconic."
ocdtrekkie 4y ago
Yeah, Connectix was such a cool company when I was growing up. It feels like they launched so many possibilities for computers that weren't really thought of at the time. The fact they even emulated the PlayStation in a retail product is kind of incredible.
threeseed 4y ago
RAM Doubler. For Mac users it was one of the most incredible pieces of software ever.
- totetsu 4y ago
  I always thought that RAM extending software was just a joke. wow this was real
  - scarface74 4y ago
    RAM extending software for Windows was a joke. Back in the pre OS X days, you had to pre allocate a block memory that could be used by each app. You set how much memory could be used for an app in its Get Info dialog. Since each block was assigned at launch, you could have plenty of memory available, but as you launched and quit apps, your memory could be “fragmented” so the next app that was launched didn’t have enough contiguous memory. You would have to quit and relaunch apps so you had enough continuous memory. The second issue was that you needed to have as much hard drive space available as you wanted to use for swap. For instance, I had 10MB RAM on my old LCII with an 80MB hard drive. If I wanted to have 15 Mb of “virtual memory” that took up 15MB of my hard drive the minute I configured it. RAM Doubler on the Mac replaced the built in memory management system with a more traditional one. Instead of pre-allocating Photoshop for instance 4MB of RAM you could preallocate more memory and RAM Doubler would make it seem contiguous. On another note, after the PPC Macs came out, RAM Doubler was bundled with Speed Doubler that replaced the built in 68K emulator with a much faster one.
RunSet 4y ago
> Virtual Game Station: PlayStation emulation software. Sold to Sony, who bought it only after their lawsuit to stop it failed, and then dropped the product immediately. Ah, the invisible hand of the free market at work.
- anthk 4y ago
  Play Station emulation in the iMac was promoted by Steve Jobs itself.

That's an impressive range of products: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connectix https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connectix

by tpmx 4y ago

That's an impressive range of products: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connectix https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connectix

The QuickCam page is also impressive on its own: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QuickCam https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QuickCam

tpmx 4y ago
From searching the web, it seems like the original one uses the TI TC255 CCD image sensor (https://www.google.com/search?q=Connectix+QuickCam+%22tc255%22 https://www.google.com/search?q=Connectix+QuickCam+%22tc255%...): https://www.farnell.com/datasheets/93863.pdf https://www.farnell.com/datasheets/93863.pdf The TC255 is a frame-transfer charge-coupled device (CCD) designed for use in B/W NTSC TV and special-purpose applications where low cost and small size are desired. The image-sensing area of the TC255 is configured in 243 lines with 336 elements in each line. It's a DIL through-hole package with just 8 pins. The output is analog. I wonder how they implemented the A/D conversion and the frame/line buffering.
- tpmx 4y ago
  It's amazing how breakthroughs in the past now seem trivial. Everything has gotten so much easier/cheaper. A hobbyist can do what took quite a bit of funding back in the 80s/90s.
- gsliepen 4y ago
  The frame buffering is a physical feature of the CCD. It actually has twice the number of lines, but half of them are behind a mask so they will never be exposed. When the exposure ends, it rapidly shifts the accumulated electrons from the exposed lines into the area with unexposed lines. From there, they can be read out by the ADC while another exposure is in progress.
cm2187 4y ago
And its look is basically the logo used today for webcams, which I hope is a bragging topic for its designers.
- VectorLock 4y ago
  When your product becomes the actual graphical icon for some particular class of things, I guess you are totally justified in calling it "iconic."

ocdtrekkie 4y ago

Yeah, Connectix was such a cool company when I was growing up. It feels like they launched so many possibilities for computers that weren't really thought of at the time. The fact they even emulated the PlayStation in a retail product is kind of incredible.

threeseed 4y ago

RAM Doubler. For Mac users it was one of the most incredible pieces of software ever.

totetsu 4y ago
I always thought that RAM extending software was just a joke. wow this was real
- scarface74 4y ago
  RAM extending software for Windows was a joke. Back in the pre OS X days, you had to pre allocate a block memory that could be used by each app. You set how much memory could be used for an app in its Get Info dialog. Since each block was assigned at launch, you could have plenty of memory available, but as you launched and quit apps, your memory could be “fragmented” so the next app that was launched didn’t have enough contiguous memory. You would have to quit and relaunch apps so you had enough continuous memory. The second issue was that you needed to have as much hard drive space available as you wanted to use for swap. For instance, I had 10MB RAM on my old LCII with an 80MB hard drive. If I wanted to have 15 Mb of “virtual memory” that took up 15MB of my hard drive the minute I configured it. RAM Doubler on the Mac replaced the built in memory management system with a more traditional one. Instead of pre-allocating Photoshop for instance 4MB of RAM you could preallocate more memory and RAM Doubler would make it seem contiguous. On another note, after the PPC Macs came out, RAM Doubler was bundled with Speed Doubler that replaced the built in 68K emulator with a much faster one.

RunSet 4y ago

> Virtual Game Station: PlayStation emulation software. Sold to Sony, who bought it only after their lawsuit to stop it failed, and then dropped the product immediately. Ah, the invisible hand of the free market at work.

anthk 4y ago
Play Station emulation in the iMac was promoted by Steve Jobs itself.