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From: beshers@sylvester.columbia.edu (Clifford Beshers)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics
Subject: Re: Mega-Monitor
Message-ID: <4801@columbia.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 10-Jul-87 13:13:47 EDT
Article-I.D.: columbia.4801
Posted: Fri Jul 10 13:13:47 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 12-Jul-87 11:30:54 EDT
References: <165@asci.UUCP> <102300005@datacube>
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Reply-To: beshers@sylvester.columbia.edu.UUCP (Clifford Beshers)
Organization: Columbia University CS Department
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In article <102300005@datacube> rick@datacube.UUCP writes:
>
>/* Written 11:50 am  Jun 26, 1987 by brian@asci.UUCP in datacube:comp.graphics */
>/* ---------- "Mega-Monitor" ---------- */
>I've been asked by a friend to research information about a super-size
>monitor.  Essentially, what I am looking for is a color monitor that is 10
>feet by 10 feet with a resolution of say 13,000 by 13,000--don't ask me what
>for because I don't know what for, I'm just the gumshoe--and any necessary
>equipment to drive it.  (can you imagine what kind of equipment is necessary
>to drive 169 million pixels!) Basically, my friend needs to generate some very
>large images with extremely fine details.  Color is preferable, but not
>absolute.  Money is not really a concern at this moment, so lets hear anything
>you got.  Also, if it means building it custom, that is what my friend wants
>to know.  So IBM, RCA, Tektronik, HP, etc, if you're listening and have any
>experience in a monitor this large I would like to hear from you, as well as
>if you have any "off-the-top-of-you-head" price estimates send those along.  I
>fully expect to hear in the millions, but that's okay.  Right now, my friend
>needs to know if anybody has done this, or if anybody can do this.
>/* from UUCP: ihnp4!datacube!rick */
>

Interesting.  I'm no expert in this sort of thing, but I will take some wild
stabs.

The first stab is that you are trying to do something too soon.  Wait five
years and it might be feasible.  Okay, you can't wait.

Do you need real time response?  Will slides do?  You can use a digital
film recorder to make 4kx4k images (e.g. Matrix QCR) and then make a special
slide projector to paste all the pieces together.  Or perhaps get Matrix
to handle higher resolution.  13Kx13K is high enough I think to go beyond
the resolution of a standard slide, so you would need to handle larger
film frames.  This seems like a reasonable bet;  it would probably cost
less than a million, you would get high resolution, good colors, etc.
It would just take a while to make a slide.

Now that seems nice, but considering that your friend doesn't think
much of a few million and has 13kx13k, it could be your friend is Uncle
Sam playing with satellite photographs, so you probably already have
them on film.  So say you need a real monitor.  I sincerely doubt that
anybody can build something at that resolution using the standard raster
architecture with a video controller and a phosphor screen, though the might
say they could if you paid them enough.  What you would
have to do is look for a frame buffer that displays it's image
on color lcd's through a direct connection.

If you read in SIGGRAPH '86 about the Pixel Planes machine (Fuchs, et. al.)
at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, you will find an architecture
that has these possiblities.  I believe they tried manufacturing chips
with LCD's built right on top and had a low success rate.  Theoretically,
there is no limit to the resolution of this machine; it would just require
a *lot* of custom VLSI chips and a *lot* of power to drive it.  Some special
busses too, probably.  I've forgotten the actual hardware specs. My guess
would be that 13kx13k would run you several hundred thousand a month
in power alone.  But hey, you could make one kick ass flight simulator.

I suppose there is one more alternative;  make a frame buffer controller
that can handle many small frame buffers, each of say 2kx2k.  Shouldn't
be too hard to build.  You could probably do it with a microcoded
microprocessor or ten or twenty.  Then use existing video controllers
to create the proper video signal, and build a setup with a projector
for each segment 14kx14k would give you 49 projectors which would be a real
bitch to calibrate, but it would come close.

Neat problem.  Wait five years.


Cliff Beshers
Columbia University Computer Science Department
beshers@sylvester.columbia.edu