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Comment by CydeWeys | Hacker News Reader

How does this work exactly? Did they have some kind of device that allowed them to record a single frame to video tape at a time?

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Actually from the site it looks like the digitized copies were saved as - get this - LaserDisc! Kudos to NYC, they decided to go full-on 80's mode for sure.

The final storage medium was LD, but these images were definitely stored and edited on a tape format prior to LD mastering.

LD video is analog format anyway.

Indeed it is, but each frame presented here shows distortion consistent with being stored on a tape format at some point in time, definitely prior to LD mastering.

Yes, probably -- before digital cameras, there were still video cameras. They used a CCD to record still video images onto magnetic media such as a video floppy disk. So a lot like a digital camera, but fully analog.

These were pretty cutting-edge tech in the mid 80's and would have made a lot of sense for a project like this.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Still_video_camera

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_floppy

A fun video to learn more about the tech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4G_1uy_7B5w

Oh yeah, plenty of cameras had a "photo" button, that recorded a single frame to like 2 seconds of VHS tape. You could put the tape into a reader, and project or print the photos later.

I'm not 100% sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if they hacked a telecine.

How do you think video works?

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