I'm sorry about the completely off topic thread, but these two things have been annoying me. I can't seem to resolve them myself and you guys are always on top of things here:

1) I need to find a very small television. what would be perfect would be a tunerless, 7 inch wide monitor that would accept either RCA or RF input. I've had trouble locating something like this.

2) Does anyone know if Real is still offering a free version of RealProducer? This is really annoying me. I was told they had a free basic version, but even the links from Cnet to Real's site result in pages not found. I think they may have yanked it.

This leads me to a related question. I've been doing some video stuff for my band. I took a video taped gig, captured it to MPEG, and then as a means of compressing it, chose WMV. Is there anything really bad about the Windows format? (besides the usual "M$ sux" crap) Hell, a 4 minute long, 300MB MPEG turned into an acceptable quality, 2.3 MB FILE!!! That's pretty damn good in my book. Plus, the encoding software is free. So I'm wondering why I don't see it more. Anyone got the answer?

Anyway, once more I'm sorry for the off-topic, but I knew the smart people here would have answers [stokes egos to avoid criticism on post topic]

Thanks!

DiGNAN
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, etc.

I didn't think real ever had a free version of producer just the player but I may have missed it

I used the windows media format I like it it looks pretty good for the small file size the only thing I didn't like was the fast forward and rewind didn't work very well for a large video (I like IE5 too so what do I know) I don't know if there are players for any platform other than windows.

I am sure there will be plenty of reasons why it sucks posted on this bbs



32Gig MK2 In 2001 VW Golf TDI

What is your buget? Are you looking for a LCD or CRT?

Kenwood LZ-701W - 7" LCD

Kenwood LZ-800W - 8" LCD w/ 2 A/V Inputs

Tom

For my in-dash video setup I used a very no-frills 6.4" LCD display that came with mounting kit from a company I'd never heard of in Korea. The whole kit cost like $180 shipped. So far, it's got a nice display with a wide viewing angle. No tuner built in, but it takes a line-level video input just fine. Connect that to a VCR on a power inverter, and you've got yourself a system. Email me off-list (dearing@jacksonville.net), and I'll send you the details.

_~= Dearing =~_
"WAY too happy about having #99."

Install porn please

(list 6284, Mk1 S/N 00299 4GB blue [for sale]. Mk2 S/N 080000094 26GB blue)

I'm putting together a site with both home and car install porn. I've had the Mk1 in the dash for 2 years now, and I just recently added the video stuff. It's not really installed, though. I've got 12V and RCA cables running right through the cabin and the VCR's just sitting in the cargo area. I'l take some pics anyway...
Jason

_~= Dearing =~_
"WAY too happy about having #99."

Well, I'd like to keep it under $100 if possible. I'd prefer whatever works best for my situation, honestly. What I'll basically be using it for is a simple monitor for whatever output is coming from my VCR at my computer. I'm going to be using that as a means of getting video onto my PC, and if I had a simple TV monitor, I could view the VCR output without opening my TV programs on the PC. Of course, I could also watch TV the rest of the time. The reason I want such a small one is that I have a perfect spot in my desk's surround to put something less than 7.5" wide.

This is why I want something that isn't too fancy. Just small and preferably color. It need not have a tuner built in because I'm using the VCR for that. It needs only to have either RF or RCA (phono) inputs.

Thanks for the help.

DiGNAN
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, etc.

Well, there must have been, at one time, a free basic version of Producer, because it's been mentioned all over the place and Cnet has several links to it that lead to the Real site where they say the page isn't found.

Anyway, I'm not really concerned with that anymore. If I know Real, I'm sure that program would have been clogged with annoying registration reminders, advertisements, etc. Granted, it's a free program, but technically so is WMP (of course, that's partly what all the fuss is about ).

Anyway, aside from all that negativity about Microsoft, I'm happy that they've released a completely free video encoding program. I created decent quality, incredibly small files with this thing.

If you wnat to see some of these files (and have Windows/WMP), head over to my band's website:
http://www.constructrecords.com/Pages/media/video.html
(I'm not in these clips because I wasn't in the band yet )

I think those are pretty good. The lighting in the place was pretty bad, so that's not the fault of the programs.

Anyway, I'm going to be using this for all my stuff from now on.

See ya.

DiGNAN
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, etc.

Real does have free Producer and Server software (5 streams) bundled together. It's well hidden on there site but the link to it can be found Here. Usually you have to search the help section for the named product (in this case RealProducer Plus) then search for the Basic version on the full product page. This is how Microsoft is under-cutting Real because they ship a server and encoder with Win2000. Once a technologist has the tools, they are more likely to use them instead of hunting down some other technology.

I have always prefered QuickTime over any of the other streaming technologies because it is small, fast, and of high quality. WMA would come second, then Real last. For smal LCD displays, try Worst Buy. They have a monitor designed for under kitchen cabinets that should be in your price range.

Greg