Loadstar 18/018.d81/comp.eyes.review

Text File | 2022-08-26 | 9KB | 319 lines

       COMPUTER EYES REVIEW

  (Editor's Note: The uses of micro-
computers get ever more sophisticated
as we learn better how to use them.
  (Some of the fastest advances
currently are coming in the area of
computer graphics--specifically in
the use of digitizers.
  (A digitizer's sole purpose is to
convert visual images into a computer
picture. What is done with that
picture depends on the applications
in question and on the imagination of
the user.
  (Industrial and scientific users
usually lean toward pattern recog-
nition applications, for example, a
captured image is compared bit for
bit against a 'control' image to see
whether or not anything has changed
or is different. One aspect of
robotics research centers around
providing robots with 'sight' through
image digitizing.
  (Business users might use a digi-
tizer to capture images of charts,
graphs, and other graphic data for
use in computer presentations.
  (The computer artist can create the
rough sketch of a picture on paper
and then digitize that image into the
computer medium. A few computer game
writers have used digitizers to
capture images for use in graphic
adventures and arcade games.
  (The number of uses for a computer
digitizer seems to be limited only by
the user's imagination.
  (Because the state-of-the-art in
this area is a 'moving target', we
asked Joel Ellis Rea to examine one
currently popular digitizing system.
His report, and a special surprise
for Loadstar subscribers, follows.)


            COMPUTEREYES
            ============

    Reviewed by:  Joel Ellis Rea


  ComputerEyes is an inexpensive
digitizer available for the Apple,
Atari, IBM PC, and the Commodore 64
and 128 computers.  All versions are
available for about $400, including
a B&W camera and all the hardware and
software necessary to digitize video
signals into the computer's high-
resolution bit-mapped graphics
screen.

  The working hardware consists of a
simple-looking black box that has
two adjustment knobs (Sync and
Brightness) and one jack (Video In).
No interface board is needed, because
the box plugs right into the User
port.

  A single video scan takes about
five seconds. This makes ComputerEyes
unsuitable for applications where
real-time frame-grabbing is required
(say, as part of an alarm system);
but, for general purposes,
ComputerEyes is more than adequate.

  ComputerEyes will use the video
signal from any composite video
source, including a VCR, any video
camera, or even another computer.
(That's one way to get an Apple II
picture into your C-64.) Of course,
the captured image must be still
for the digitized image to be
recognizable.
  HAL Systems, distributor of the
product, sells Panasonic and Ikegami
B&W cameras interchangeably for use
with the system. I tested it with a
Panasonic camera that performed
surprisingly well in average lighting
conditions and can focus on objects
as near as six inches from the lens.

  The software is easy to use.
Simply type LOAD":*",8 then RUN to
run the main driver program.  The
menu has the following choices:

   (A)djust Sync        (H)elp
   (B)rightness
   (N)ormal Scan        (C)atalog
   (4)-Level Scan       (S)ave Picture
   (8)-Level Scan       (L)oad Picture
   (V)iew Current Image (D)emo

  The software is user-friendly,
and the Help screens are a nice
supplement to the brief but excellent
manuals. In fact, they are the most
informative manuals I have seen for a
digitizer, even the more expensive
frame-grabbers.

  A switch-box included with the
system allows you to view the camera
output directly on your monitor, then
switch to the computer's display,
enabling you to frame and focus the
desired image before you scan.

  This is an added feature that is
provided by HAL Systems.  The switch-
box is valued at about $20.00 and
would not ordinarily be included with
the system.

  The Adjust Sync option tells you if
ComputerEyes is in sync with your
computer's video.  If not, it
actually tells you which way to turn
the Sync knob until it is in sync.

  A (N)ormal scan reads the video
signal, and sets as white every pixel
brighter than a certain threshold (set
with the Brightness knob -- a little
adjustment goes a long way!), and as
black every pixel dimmer than that
threshold. See the "Louisiana Bones"
picture on this disk for an example
of a Normal scan of a black-and-
white sketch.

  A (4)-level scan reads the screen
4 times, each at a higher threshold,
thus getting a "map" of 4 grey-levels.
Since the Commodore Hi-res graphics
screen is incapable of true grey
scales, after the 4th scan the 4
samples are merged (dithered) into
pseudo grey-scaling, using different
dot densities at the expense of
resolution. This process takes 4
times as long as a Normal scan.

  An 8-level scan is similar to a
4-level, except 8 scans are made,
with the successive thresholds closer
together.  More grey-scale means
less resolution than 4-level or (of
course) Normal scan.  It takes twice
as long as 4-level, or 8 times as
long as Normal.
  The result of an 8-level scan is
shown on this disk in the picture
called "Commodore&Penny". This
picture shows how closely the
Panasonic camera can focus on an
object.  Good macro capabilities!

  You can SAVE a picture in either a
Normal or space-saving Packed format.
Since color is not used, the color
nybbles and color bytes aren't saved.
You can LOAD either a normal or Packed
picture. ComputerEyes will only
reference Drive 0 of Unit 8 with the
disk commands.

  In addition to the menu program,
special routines are included that can
be used from within a user program.
You can do anything from your own
programs you could do from the menu,
including 1, 4 or 8-level scans,
Packed picture SAVEs and LOADs, Sync
adjustments, etc. Note: The
ComputerEyes hardware is NOT
necessary to view a picture created
with ComputerEyes.

  Registered users can obtain special
versions of the system software for
only $15 each, including a Doodle
version (allows digitized images to
be saved as Doodle pictures so that
they can be edited & colored with
Doodle), a Flexi-Draw version and a
Koala version, a Print Shop version
(allows Print-Shop Graphics to be
made from digitized images). Note
that the ComputerEyes software in and
of itself provides no means to send
images to a printer.  You must have
another program or printer interface
that can print graphics images.

  All in all, ComputerEyes is a quite
worthy product which fills the needs
it was intended for.  It provides
video digitizing capability to the
small-computer user at a small-compu-
ter price. For about what you would
spend on a good printer, you can
experiment with this popular aspect
of computing!

  The modules that make up Computer-
Eyes are available separately.  You
can get the ComputerEyes Digitizer and
standard software without the camera
for $149. The Panasonic and Ikegami
cameras each retail for $249.

  ComputerEyes also works with the
"UnderWare" Iron-On ribbons for Epson,
Okidata and Star Micronics printers.
That product prepares pictures for
transfer to T-shirts, etc. UnderWare
accessories include sets of 5 or 7
Iron-On color pens for coloring a
digitized image and an Iron-On
Coloring Kit which contains 20 sheets
of transfer paper and 5 pens.

  Digital Vision, the manufacturer of
ComputerEyes, provides a demo that
shows most of the capabilities of the
system and gives ideas for some
interesting applications.

  Some less obvious applications
include fundraising (by digitizing
pictures of people), taking "photos"
for inclusion in a computer-printed
newsletter, education (teaching such
topics as Video Image Processing, Art
Appreciation, A/D and D/A, Law
Enforcement, Robotics, Physics,
Optics, Photography, Interfacing and
Telemetry, etc.), small-scale security
systems (comparing two successive
scans of an area for large differences
which would indicate motion, such as
an intruder), etc.
  I think Digital Vision has a real
winner here!

======================================

  That's what Joel Ellis Rea has to
say about ComputerEyes. Kind of makes
you itch for one yourself, doesn't
it? It made us want one, so we went
to the trouble of calling HAL
Systems, the distributor