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Amiga CD32 1994 - Brilliant PD Games.iso
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aboutfmv.txt
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1994-05-11
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1KB
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39 lines
MPEG is a 'lossy compression' format for spooled
video. The CD32 has add-on hardware that allows
real-time decompression and playback of PAL video
with surround-sound audio. MPEG can, however, be
played back without extra hardware. It's just far
slower.
In the above menu are example MPEG streams which
play back using the processing power of the CD32
ALONE. Bear in mind that most of these streams
are quarter-screen size which have been expanded
to full screen - this is why they appear chunky.
Also, the streams contain no audio.
If you've got a FMV cartridge for your CD32,
contrast and compare the frame-rate and quality of
these streams <which are processed on the 68020
CPU> against the performance of a typical FMV
disc.
This explains 3 things: <1> The MPEG cartridge
has some serious processing power inside it, <2>
the cost of the unit, and <3> the amount of heat
the FMV cart generates.
And if you think that's a lot of number-crunching,
bear in mind that CD-level MPEG can currently only
be compressed on Unix workstations costing at
least ten thousand pounds. The cost of an
MPEG-generation system is coming down, however.