From owner-freebsd-chat Thu Nov 18 15:41:50 1999 Delivered-To: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Received: from mail.ftf.dk (mail.ftf.net [129.142.64.2]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id D855F1553D for ; Thu, 18 Nov 1999 15:41:47 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from regnauld@ftf.net) Received: from ns.int.ftf.net (fw2.ftf.dk [192.168.1.2] (may be forged)) by mail.ftf.dk (8.9.3/8.9.3/gw-ftf-1.2) with ESMTP id AAA21505; Fri, 19 Nov 1999 00:39:58 +0100 (CET) X-Authentication-Warning: mail.ftf.dk: Host fw2.ftf.dk [192.168.1.2] (may be forged) claimed to be ns.int.ftf.net Received: (from regnauld@localhost) by ns.int.ftf.net (8.9.2/8.9.3) id AAA31154; Fri, 19 Nov 1999 00:53:35 +0100 (CET) Message-ID: <19991119005335.00596@ns.int.ftf.net> Date: Fri, 19 Nov 1999 00:53:35 +0100 From: Phil Regnauld To: David Schwartz Cc: Greg Lehey , Terry Lambert , David Scheidt , jcm@dogma.freebsd-uk.eu.org, erickw@taurus.oursc.k12.ar.us, freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Marketing vs. technical superiority (was: Judge: "Gates Was Main Culprit") References: <19991117102851.53109@mojave.sitaranetworks.com> <000101bf313e$e16c7ca0$021d85d1@youwant.to> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Mailer: Mutt 0.88e In-Reply-To: <000101bf313e$e16c7ca0$021d85d1@youwant.to>; from David Schwartz on Wed, Nov 17, 1999 at 01:01:12PM -0800 X-Operating-System: FreeBSD 3.1-RELEASE i386 Organization: FTFnet Sender: owner-freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.org David Schwartz writes: > > References, please. > > See pretty much every actual research paper on the subject, including > Lardner(1987), Weinstein(1984), Prentis(1981), and even Consumer Reports. > Klopfenstein summarizes the research as follows: > > "Although many held the perception that Beta VCR produced a better picture > than VHS, technical experts ... have concluded that this is, in fact, not > the case; periodic reviews in Consumer Reports found VHS picture quality > superior twice, found Beta superior once, and found no difference in a > fourth review. In conclusion, the Beta format appeared to hold no advantages > over VHS other than being the first on the market, and this may be a lesson > for future marketers of new media products." Well, whatever. Betamax gave you roughly ~400 lines, that's about 65% of Pal/Secam resolution (before that Secam was 825, that's before they switched to color) and about %75 of NTSC (Never Twice the Same Color :-). Don't know if there were any variants of NTSC Betamax, as with VHS (NTSC 3.58 & 4.43). VHS gives you roughly ~250 lines, with probably better color restitution, which might explain the consumers saying they liked the picture better. Doesn't say anything about sharpness. It's a bit like the CD vs. vinyl argument: some people say vinyls and tube amps sound better. It's a question of taste, and the fact that CDs sound too "clear" for some people, especially when they've been used to the post-master audio-spectrum compression of vinyls. -- Y et A nother RedHat buys Cygnus L inux T akeover A lliance To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message