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HDTV, to which I referred as the requirement for high definition video output, was definitely Symbolics niche. I think HDTV-capable gear sized as individual wor
by p_l 2y ago
HDTV, to which I referred as the requirement for high definition video output, was definitely Symbolics niche. I think HDTV-capable gear sized as individual workstations and not custom niche (even more niche than lisp machines, that is) systems only as pricy addons on SGIs and similar around ~1994, though some of the 1990~1994 Sun gear could do a lot there but AFAIK was geared more towards CAD clients than HDTV.
Unfortunately it seems like Explorer software is way less documented :/
- lispm 2y agoBesides all the animation stuff, a prominent application was for the Space Shuttle. NASA bought a bunch of Symbolics XL Lisp machines, to process HDTV video feeds to monitor the Space Shuttle launches. From 1990: "Recently the National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA) used Symbolics' high-definition technology to analyze HDTV video images of the Discovery launch in real-time. This high-definition system enabled NASA engineers to get an instant replay of critical launch systems. The engineers were able to enhance and enlarge high-resolution images of the lift-off in order to analyze the condition of and spot potential problems with space shuttle tiles."
- p_l 2y agoNASA's STS seemed to be full of very eclectic setup - I mean we had Symbolics machines running video analysis, Amigas running telemetry, I think Explorer's might have been involved in early days of Hubble scheduling software (that now runs on Unix with X11), etc. etc.
- lispm 2y agoyes, the early SPIKE software for Hubble was on TI Explorers.