ChanServ changed the topic of ##yamahasynths to: Channel dedicated to questions and discussion of Yamaha FM Synthesizer internals and corresponding REing. Discussion of synthesis methods similar to the Yamaha line of chips, Sound Blasters + clones, PCM chips like RF5C68, and CD theory of operation are also on-topic. Channel logs: https://freenode.irclog.whitequark.org/~h~yamahasynths
<TD-Linux>
also relevant for when I finish glasgisa
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<Lord_Nightmare>
that prototype sat on a shelf in a college engineering department cabinet for 30 years, being used as a handed-around example item
<Lord_Nightmare>
one of the flex cables for the anode had broken off the conductive part of the glass frit, but was fixed using some conductive epoxy. other than that, there wasn't anything wrong with it
<Lord_Nightmare>
its definitely a prototype, it has WAY more dead pixels, some stuck on, some off, than a shipping device should have
<Lord_Nightmare>
but it works
<ej5>
wow
<Lord_Nightmare>
the way self-scanning displays work is very cool
<Lord_Nightmare>
there's some burroughs patents and documentation about it around
<Lord_Nightmare>
the original driver board was overly complicated and could only do all caps chars, so kevtris designed his own replacement board for it which was less than half the size of the original
<Lord_Nightmare>
and could do 256 characters
<Lord_Nightmare>
and i think does much much faster serial comms
<Lord_Nightmare>
I think the original was something like 300 baud, maybe 1200
<Lord_Nightmare>
ej5 you should message kevtris if you want to know more, I've been trying to convince him to set up a museum-ish display of the various self-scan and contemporary vfd and plasma display tech he has for years
<Lord_Nightmare>
that stuff is fascinating as hell
<Lord_Nightmare>
I think there's just one manufacturer, futaba, which still makes VFDs and pixel or alphanumeric vfd displays
<Lord_Nightmare>
but i may be wrong, there might be another
<Lord_Nightmare>
iirc futaba made an hd44780-protocol vfd display which uses the exact same interface as the standard display the handy board or certain arduino shields etc use
<Lord_Nightmare>
except it needs an extra 50vdc supply for the vfd power
<Lord_Nightmare>
i'm not sure they still make it
<Lord_Nightmare>
i.e. a vfd display to replace an lcd
<Lord_Nightmare>
which is the opposite of what you'd expect, but there must be applications for it
<Lord_Nightmare>
it doesn't suffer the sharp angle issues that backlit LCDs do