frame buffers pro and con

[Janina Sajka]

Hi, Terry:


On Thu, 21 Jun 2001, Terry D. Cudney wrote:

> Janina,
>
> 	I'm getting closer to making a purchase of a new laptop,
> ThinkPad or Toshiba Tecra. Choice of sound chip and DVD/no-DVD are
> factors to help me decide.
>
> 	Interesting post you made here... You refer to your .sig for
> links for further info, however, your .sig wasn't in the posting (at
> least I can't see it in this)!
Hmmm. Yes, somehow my .signature disappeared. Thanks for pointing this
out. I want those links getting around! <grin>

>
> Question # 1: Does this new standard/policy say anything about DVD for
> distribution of talking books, or other matrerials?
No. The digital talking book standard is media independent on purpose.
Early implementations of the standard use CD ROM. Future ones may go to
DVD--there are good arguments for it, but no one has committed to that,
and NLS specifically wants to go to some kind of reusable static memory
device. So, get a DVD if you like, but don't expect any digital talking
books on DVD any time soon. Meanwhile, if you choose CDR, you can always
get DVD later. I think both the Thinkpad and Tekra use swappable devices.
One interesting option, which I have and like, is to get a CD writer. It's
useful to be able to create a CD for someone.
 >
> Question #2: re laptops. Which model of Think Pad are you using? Do
> you know which sound chip it uses and if it is multi-source capable?
> ie Can it accept/mix signals from multiple PCM channels?
Yes, I have the Thinkpad T20 which has now been replaced by the T21. I
believe the 21 has the same Crystal Sound cs14/22/24 chip which is
multi-source capable.
 >
PS: I think it sounds pretty good even through the native Thinkpad
speakers. Bill Acker has a Tekra and hates the sound. So, you might want
to do a side by side, if you can.


 > 	Thanks for your help.
Any time!

>
>
>
> You wrote:
>
> -=> Just a note that's somewhat important:
> -=>
> -=> SMIL is important to blind people. I say this because it is the basis of
> -=> digital talking books as defined by the international DAISY Consortium and
> -=> in the NISO process. DAISY is a consortium of libraries for the blind from
> -=> around the world. NISO is a standards organization in the U.S. which is
> -=> being used by the U.S. National Library Service for the Blind and
> -=> Physically Disabled (NLS) to define standards for digital talking books
> -=>
> -=> Before I get asked -- DAISY and NISO are in sync 100 per cent as of this
> -=> summer. This means that NISO 3.0 and DAISY 3.0 will be precisely the same,
> -=> and are in wrap up mode now. They are 100 per cent based on SMIL 2.0,
> -=> which is a W3C specification and is now being voted on.
> -=>
> -=> This means that we should be on the lookout for smile players that work
> -=> for us. It also means that we want smile players that can also display,
> -=> and synchronize, on screen text--which is part of what a digital talking
> -=> book is.
> -=>
> -=> If you want to know more, follow the links in my signature below.
> -=>  On Fri,
> -=> 15 Jun 2001, Geoff Shang wrote:
> -=>
> -=> > On Thu, 14 Jun 2001, Charles Hallenbeck wrote:
> -=> >
> -=> > > neitther you nor I have complete X installations properly confikgured,
> -=> > > which may account for the segmentation fault on exit. Dave Mielke does
> -=> > > have a working X installation, and he is able to play this stream with a
> -=> > > normal exit. The stream is a .smi stream by the way.
> -=> >
> -=> > The smi bit doesn't mean much.  Smi is short for smil which is a multimedia
> -=> > syncronisation language.  It's what the smil document launches that
> -=> > matters.  If you hit U while this is playing, you'll hear all the different
> -=> > media types being processed.
> -=> >
> -=> > Geoff.
> -=> >
> -=> >
> -=> >
> -=> > _______________________________________________
> -=> > Speakup mailing list
> -=> > Speakup at braille.uwo.ca
> -=> > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> -=> >
> -=>
> -=>
> -=> _______________________________________________
> -=> Speakup mailing list
> -=> Speakup at braille.uwo.ca
> -=> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> -=>
>
> 		--terry
>
> Name:	Terry D. Cudney
> Phone:	(905)735-6127
> E-mail:	terry at wasagacottage.com
> Web:	www.wasagacottage.com
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup at braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>

-- 

				Janina Sajka, Director
				Technology Research and Development
				Governmental Relations Group
				American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)

Email: janina at afb.net		Phone: (202) 408-8175

Chair, Accessibility SIG
Open Electronic Book Forum (OEBF)
http://www.openebook.org

Will electronic books surpass print books? Read our white paper,
Surpassing Gutenberg, at http://www.afb.org/ebook.html

Download a free sample Digital Talking Book edition of Martin Luther
King Jr's inspiring "I Have A Dream" speech at
http://www.afb.org/mlkweb.asp

Learn how to make accessible software at http://www.afb.org/technology/accessapp.html