vector monitors and lasers

Hi all,

I've got a project here that my boyfriend Adam and I are working on...
It looks like we are going to be investing in a laser animation system,
less the computer interface. So we are making our own computer interface
using a standard six channel 12-bit D/A card. When the software is done
we hope to be playing Tempest on the ceiling! We will be getting the D/A
card by Saturday, but we probably won't have the laser for a few weeks at
least. So, in the mean time we were going to get the software side working
by connecting the D/A card directly to a Vectrex monitor. With a laser,
no harm is done by leaving the galvos in a position where the laser is
projected off into a corner constantly...but isn't that supposed to
destroy the transistors in a vector monitor if you hold the beam off to
the side too long? What are some rules we should follow when directly
manipulating the beam like this to avoid destroying the monitor?

On a slightly different topic... How is Star Wars able to 'defocus' the
beam??? I never really gave it much thought how the enemy shots get so
blurry when they hit you and how the 'GAME OVER' text gets so out of
focus...but then I looked at the pinouts of the game board and there is a
DEFOCUS pin! I have never heard anything about this here or anywhere
else. How does this work? The Wells Gardner vector monitor doesn't have
a defocus pin on its connector...does the Amplifone? Does every Star Wars
do this including the ones with WG replacement monitors? Is it just me or
is this really strange???

Miranda
 
Received on Thu Nov 18 17:12:28 1999