Hi! I'm a new subscriber to the list, but I've been reviewing the past
archives for a while, in light of a pet project of mine. As a part of
this, I'd love to get feedback from you folks regarding what hardware
you'd recommend for my needs, and what your experiences have been.
Basically put, I want to overlay (using an alpha-channel or chromakey)
graphics I generate under Linux on top of video. V4L is about the
only thing I've found thus far to give me ideas on how to accomplish this,
but I figured someone here likely has deeper experiences than my puttering
around has given me, or may be able to suggest a better solution than
using V4L.
Schematically, I could demonstrate my desire like so:
[ SVHS (preferred) ] [ Some device ] [ SVHS or other ]
[ Composite, or ]===\[ or method ]===\[ video signal ]
[ analog video ]===/[ to overlay ]===/[ output to my ]
[ signal ] [ graphics ] [ television ]
Other relevant info:
1. If it existed/exists affordably, I'd love some device or card or
whatever to take output from standard VGA and do the overlay itself.
This way I'd avoid image degradation. Does it exist? I didn't see
anything like this targeted to the home market that worked with Linux.
2. Image quality, yes, is the most important thing here. Well, right
after affordability. well, and right after retaining my sanity. :)
3. I don't need to worry about audio, as sound goes through my stereo.
4. Yes, I'd like to do this under Linux. I have other reasons, but
core to this project is my desire to be able to have things like
text or graphic overlays show up over my television signal, so that
when I'm watching a movie, I can be told that backups finished, I
got new mail from my mom, or the web server just crashed. :)
5. I'm not too daft... I'm very comfy building kernels, doing basic
C programming (that's basic as in "not guru level", not BASIC as
in "10 PRINT 'HELLO WORLD'") and heavier programming in other
languages, and I know hardware, OS'es and software pretty well.
In other words, I don't need a "1. red wire into red plug" set
of instructions :)
6. I'd like to be able to do this with a maximum of $200 or so spent
on new video hardware. If I can't,how cheap could I get away with?
So please, feel free to offer whatever advice and suggestions you might
have... all input is appreciated, and thanks, in advance!
-mh.
----
. _+m"m+_"+_ Mark Hazen
d' Jp qh qh
Jp O O O
Yb Yb dY dY
O "Y5m2Y" " even the mightiest wave starts out as a ripple.
"Y_ why make waves when it's easier to nurture ripples?
