The Resolution Solution: A History of HDTV & Computing Technology | VCFMW 20 (2025)

Ready to take a look at the fine details? Audio/video archivist & HDTV historian "OP" will take you on a journey through time as he explores the symbiotic relationship between high-definition television and computing technology. He'll uncover the history of HDTV from its inception as an idea, through the creative experimental processes which defined the meaning of "HDTV," to the earliest applications that defined HDTV's eventual place as a global technological standard. Over the course of this presentation, we'll take time to explore some landmark technological achievements including the defining research and work into high-resolution CG by Triple-I & Symbolics, the hybrid analog-digital "MUSE" video compression system, the "impossible" 1.2Gbps digital HDTV video tape recorder from 1987, and more. Included is behind-the-scenes information sourced directly from some of the engineers and directors who worked with early HDTV hardware, long-forgotten data and research from Japanese-language research papers, and clips from 30–40-year-old HDTV recordings, including the debut of the very first HDTV CG production, not seen in public since SIGGRAPH 1985!

Links: https://linktr.ee/OpWorkshop

Speaker Bio: OP (pronounced "ahhp") is a computer engineer by day and a researcher/archivist by night. Known primarily for running the archival YouTube channel ‪@ReelyInteresting‬ , he has traveled near & far to meet with audio-video production personnel to uncover some of the most obscure and unusual content lost to time. In addition, he is also the curator of the "OP Workshop," which is both his creative outlet to share his experiences with others & a growing collective of like-minded individuals who also wish to explore, research, and give new life to vintage media and obsolete technologies. Through these efforts, "OP" has been heavily focused on researching, capturing, & preserving the dramatic global history of HDTV to create the ultimate early HDTV resource.
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Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free-to-attend, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, or to donate to the 501c3 non-profit organization that puts on the show each year, visit http://www.vcfmw.org/ for more information.