Re: Audio time-compression (Was: On 80 columns should (not) be enough for everyone)
On 31/01/2011 17:01, Ulrik Mikaelsson wrote: Now, what we need is the audio-equivalent of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NcIJXTlugc Damn, pretty damn impressive! -- Bruno Medeiros - Software Engineer
Re: Audio time-compression (Was: On 80 columns should (not) be enough for everyone)
Ulrik Mikaelsson wrote: 2011/1/30 Walter Bright newshou...@digitalmars.com: People who use screen readers often crank up the playback rate to 2x. The software adjusts the pitch so it doesn't sound like the Chipmunks. I've often wondered why DVRs don't do this (I've sent the suggestion to Tivo, they ignored me). I'd like the option to play the news (or other talk shows) at a faster rate, with pitch adjustment. I've found I can watch Tivo at 3x with the closed captioning on, and can almost keep up. The problem with DVRs at any fast forward speed is they turn the sound off! G. A golden opportunity missed. I'd also love it if youtube etc. did this. It's so boring looking at youtube presentations because they talk so slow. I'd love a double speed youtube viewing option. Remember I posted this in case some troll tries to patent it. I KNEW I wasn't alone at this. My S.O. usually just rolls her eyes when I do this. (Tip: VLC does it for at least double-speed) I think the reason I.E. YouTube and Tivo don't do it is that AFAIU, it is fairly CPU-consuming (FFT back and forth?) In the TiVo-case, my guess is nobody paid for the hardware, and in the YouTube-case I doubt neither Flash nor JavaScript will enable the performance required. Perhaps it can be done browser-dependently with HTML5. I think the problem is it either never occurred to Tivo or Youtube, or they don't care about it. When I shut off my Tivo service, I told them that such a feature would entice me to keep it. But I seriously doubt they transmitted my idea to the right people. Now, what we need is the audio-equivalent of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NcIJXTlugc That is an impressive algorithm!
Re: Audio time-compression (Was: On 80 columns should (not) be enough for everyone)
2011/1/31 Walter Bright newshou...@digitalmars.com: I think the reason I.E. YouTube and Tivo don't do it is that AFAIU, it is fairly CPU-consuming (FFT back and forth?) In the TiVo-case, my guess is nobody paid for the hardware, and in the YouTube-case I doubt neither Flash nor JavaScript will enable the performance required. Perhaps it can be done browser-dependently with HTML5. I think the problem is it either never occurred to Tivo or Youtube, or they don't care about it. When I shut off my Tivo service, I told them that such a feature would entice me to keep it. But I seriously doubt they transmitted my idea to the right people. Perhaps, although I develop for STB:s at work, and I know how amazingly price-pressed the hardware is. Seriously, it's designed to show live HD, but the developers manual for one manufacturer, there's a performance-warning about animated GIF:s (not kidding). My guess is, the only FFT the box can manage is the one hard-coded in the video-chip, which can't easily be exploited for other means. Of course, I don't know what HW the Tivo is using, perhaps they're just lazy. :)
Re: Audio time-compression (Was: On 80 columns should (not) be enough for everyone)
Ulrik Mikaelsson wrote: Of course, I don't know what HW the Tivo is using, perhaps they're just lazy. :) I thought that DSP's were programmable.
Re: Audio time-compression (Was: On 80 columns should (not) be enough for everyone)
I might be wrong, I hardly ever get to touch things that low-level, unfortunately. However, I think the DSP:s included in most STB:s are severely limited in how much you can twist them. AFAIU, that's one quiet important aspect of the whole HTML5 video-codec debacle. I.E. in the boxes I work with, the entire video-processing-chain is done in one pipe-line, separated from the CPU almost directly at the network-interface, and color-keyed back with other graphics in the very last rendering-step. (Much as the old Voodoo2-cards worked.) From the economics stand-point, there's a HUGE cost-focus on them, so every chance of removing costs from hardware is taken. Every dollar saved on hardware is roughly a dollar on the bottom-line, and in the volumes STB:s sell, that's millions of dollars. Sure, software costs might go up, but not likely by millons of dollars yearly. I.E. even if you CAN use the DSP-components to post-process audio, I would not be surprised to learn it hasn't got the power to do it simultaneously with video-playback. Again, I don't work low-level enough to tell for sure, and TiVo might spend a lot more on the hardware than I'm used to, but hardware limitations in this industry is a very real challenge, especially for things like post-processing. I too would love 2X playback with working audio though. :) 2011/1/31 Walter Bright newshou...@digitalmars.com: Ulrik Mikaelsson wrote: Of course, I don't know what HW the Tivo is using, perhaps they're just lazy. :) I thought that DSP's were programmable.
Re: Audio time-compression (Was: On 80 columns should (not) be enough for everyone)
Ulrik Mikaelsson wrote: I might be wrong, I hardly ever get to touch things that low-level, unfortunately. However, I think the DSP:s included in most STB:s are severely limited in how much you can twist them. AFAIU, that's one quiet important aspect of the whole HTML5 video-codec debacle. I.E. in the boxes I work with, the entire video-processing-chain is done in one pipe-line, separated from the CPU almost directly at the network-interface, and color-keyed back with other graphics in the very last rendering-step. (Much as the old Voodoo2-cards worked.) From the economics stand-point, there's a HUGE cost-focus on them, so every chance of removing costs from hardware is taken. Every dollar saved on hardware is roughly a dollar on the bottom-line, and in the volumes STB:s sell, that's millions of dollars. Sure, software costs might go up, but not likely by millons of dollars yearly. I.E. even if you CAN use the DSP-components to post-process audio, I would not be surprised to learn it hasn't got the power to do it simultaneously with video-playback. Again, I don't work low-level enough to tell for sure, and TiVo might spend a lot more on the hardware than I'm used to, but hardware limitations in this industry is a very real challenge, especially for things like post-processing. I too would love 2X playback with working audio though. :) The real money for Tivo is not the box cost, but the recurring subscription revenue. Even better if this idea is nontrivial to implement, as that would give the first mover an exclusive.
