Hardware Autopsy
capable of resolving detail. HD-DVD doesn’t
make a dramatic departure on this front: It
uses a 0.65 numerical aperture lens, com-
pared to 0.60 for DVD lenses.
HD-DVD discs will initially come in three
different fl avors: HD DVD-ROM (read-only
media for prerecorded content, such as
movies, music, software, and games); HD
DVD-R (one-time recordable discs for video
recording and data storage/backup); and HD
DVD-RW (rewriteable discs). At launch, the
recordable formats will only be available in
single-layer format, but double-layer rewrite-
able will eventually be available. In order
to ease the transition from DVD, HD-DVD’s
backers offer the concept of combination
and twin-format media. Twin-format discs
will carry HD-DVD and traditional DVD con-
tent on opposite sides of the disc; combina-
tion discs are single-sided discs with HD-
DVD content on one layer and DVD content
on the other.
These discs offer consumers a measure
of future-proofi ng: They can buy movies that
will play in standard defi nition on their exist-
ing equipment today, and then in high-defi ni-
tion when they upgrade their TVs and disc
players down the road. Of course, this would
also prevent Hollywood from selling con-
sumers the same content twice, so we don’t
expect to see widespread adoption.
HD-DVD (and Blu-ray) will support two
substantially more sophisticated video
codecs (compression/decompression algo-
rithms), in addition to the MPEG-2 codec
supported by the DVD standard: MPEG-4
AVC, also known as H.264; and SMPTE VC1,
a standard based on Microsoft’s Windows
Media Video technology. These more effi cient
codecs are essential to both formats’ mission
to deliver high-defi nition video on disc; neither
format has the capacity to store an uncom-
pressed, full-length movie in high defi nition.THE SCOOP ON BLU-RAY
Blu-ray technology marks much more of a
departure from the optical-disc technologies
that precede it. Like HD-DVD, it will come in
three formats: BD-ROM (prerecorded Blu-ray
discs), BD-R (recordable media), and BD-RW
(rewriteable media). As noted above, it will
support the same video codecs as HD-DVD;
but that’s largely where the similarities end.
For starters, a Blu-ray disc is capable
of storing nearly twice as much data as an
HD-DVD. How is that possible? Rather than
build on existing technology and accept its
basic limitations, Blu-ray’s inventors took
more of a clean-slate approach. One of
the key problems they attacked was bire-
fringence, a condition in which the disc’s
polycarbonate layer refracts the laser intor & d BREAKING DOWN TECH —PRESENT AND FUTURE
60 MA XIMUMPC APRIL 2006 APRIL 2006 MA XIMUMPC 61
White Paper: "LU
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HANDLE The most important measure
of a stick’s handle is comfort. It should
be slim enough to accommodate
protracted use, yet still large enough to
withstand hard use. This plastic shell
inside the handle contains a joint and
spring that provides resistance to the
stick’s lateral twisting movement, which
is commonly used for rudder control in
flight simulations.THE BRAINS It might be green, but this circuit board
is home to the stick’s grey matter: the circuits, memory,
and chipsets that translate in-game API calls into
realistic force-feedback effects. This chip (behind wires)
is a low-power, low-voltage 524,288-bit one-time
programmable read-only memory chip that stores the
data for the various force-feedback effects that the stick
can model.THE BRAWN Here are the twin motors
that act in tandem to produce force-
feedback effects on both a horizontal
and vertical axis. Attached to the motor’s
axles are digital optical sensors, just like
the one used to control the throttle input.
So, the stick uses the same mechanism
to measure the position on each axis as
it uses to impart forces to the stick.Force Feedback Joystick
The first force feedback joysticks were expensive, huge, heavy, and not the most precise
controllers a gamer could ask for. That’s all changed with current models. We hack into
Saitek’s Cyborg Evo Force to see what makes it tickMOTION Under this protective cover,
packed in grease, lies the single-spring
gimbal mechanism that gives the stick a
smooth and precise range of motion. The use
of a single spring also means fewer parts,
which translates into increased durability and
a more compact formfactor.THROTTLE If you’re trying to land a
Corsair on a pitching carrier deck, precise
throttle control is just as important as
precise stick controls. Most joysticks,
including this one, use a digital optical-
sensing system to produce an
exact level of control that
is able to sense even
the smallest of input
adjustments.