Refresh Animation

[wpgne]

Creating a place holder issue for updating the data refresh animation, so it can better match the character-by-character loading sequence as seen on the original hardware.

Here's a good example of how it ought to appear:

1998-1999.Ec.Nye.2022.Rec.-1.mp4

[andrew867]

Some thoughts on the original implementation and how it may be emulated in software. Data is coming in via serial, processor is context switching between interrupts. One thread reading from serial and updating internal variables for data points. Second thread updating screen, it is reading either a pre made buffer of text or processing a text stream with other memory locations referenced for the data. I noticed that sometimes the 'animation' stops between data points like the processor is locked up at the end of a display instruction while processing incoming data.

Anyone have a reference manual for the MSC DataCaster or something similar that may shed some light on it?

[wpgne]

What seems to happen just prior to the new data loading in appears to be a form of clear screen and memory that erases the last update and replaces it with fresh information.

As per Gary Krushen, who was the Videon engineer that setup the original system in 1975, whilst working with ECCC's IT staff:

Received via email correspondence on 2022-12-18 09:27 CST:

Sorry, but I have no idea what the programming language was. Videon simply received an ASCII date stream from EC but I have no idea how it was assembled.

Yes you were seeing the characters arriving at about 10 per second. However, once the headend was relocated to the Stafford Street office, the speed was raised to 300 bps. As that was too fast to comfortably read and absorb, the EC guys changed the software so that the first page would update in real time to show viewers that an update was happening. However, that page stayed displayed while the remainder of the pages were updated in the background.