Jan 23, 2022 09:00:00

What happens when you watch an arcade game with 'Vector Scan' made over 30 years ago in 1000x slow motion?

Some arcade games created over 30 years ago have adopted a variety of visual effects to give players a game experience that sets them apart.

The Slow Mo Guys, who shoot various things in slow motion, have released a movie that shot the screen of an arcade game that adopted the technology 'Vector Scan ' that appeared in such a situation at 1000 times slow motion.

Arcade Machines look WEIRD in Slow Mo --The Slow Mo Guys --YouTube


An image is a series of still images called frames, and the larger the number of frames (frame rate ) displayed per second, the smoother the image. However, in order to display the image on the display, it is necessary to switch the display of the frame at high speed. The index that indicates how many frames the display can switch between frames per second is called the 'refresh rate'.

For example, the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro have the same display size and resolution, but the maximum refresh rate is 60Hz for the iPhone 12 Pro and 120Hz for the iPhone 13 Pro. This means that the iPhone 13 Pro will allow for smoother drawing.

There are various types of displays, but the principle for displaying colorful images is basically the same. By preparing color filters of the 'three primary colors of light' of blue, green, and red, and mixing these lights. Creating various colors.

The most common liquid crystal display scans by sandwiching the liquid crystal between the color filter and the backlight and adjusting the light by changing the voltage.

Also, if you take a picture of the plasma display (left), which is already declining, and the organic EL display (right), which is a display method that replaces the liquid crystal display, at 2000 FPS (40x slow), you can clearly see that the scanning method is different. increase.

And before the generalization of liquid crystals, cathode ray tube displays were used. The cathode ray tube is a mechanism that 'emits an electron beam on a phosphor and displays it', and displays a frame by running a point of light on the screen at a tremendous speed. For example, the following is a CRT TV that plays 'Super Mario Bros.' shot at 2500 FPS (50x slow), and the lines are displayed in order from the top of the screen to display one frame. When the human eye catches the light, it recognizes the afterimage for a very short time, so it actually looks like a full-size image.

If you look at it at 28,500 FPS (590 times slower), you can see how the dots run on the screen instead of the lines.

The cathode ray tube is basically a mechanism in which the electron beam is irradiated horizontally from the upper left in the same order as when writing horizontal letters.

As the point of light, that is, the point of irradiation with the electron beam, passes by, the light of the phosphor gradually weakens.

'Vector scan' is a method of directly drawing a figure by controlling the direction of such an electron beam. Vector scanning has a long history, and '

Asteroid ' released in 1979 uses monochrome vector scanning.

In addition, 'Star Wars' released by Atari in 1983 is also one of the arcade games that adopts vector scan. Due to technological advances, Star Wars has succeeded in expressing colors in three colors: blue, green, and red.

The arcade game version of Star Wars is a content where you can experience the climax of

'Episode 4 / New Hope ' where you can shake off the fierce pursuit of the TIE fighter and attack the Death Star. Vector scan is rarely used in arcade games in modern times, but it can display bright and well-colored images, and it can express a pseudo 3D space with a wire frame, so it creates a sense of presence and power. It was also adopted by.

And this time, The Slow Mo Guys shot in slow motion, 'Tempest' released by Atari in 1981.

This is the Tempest screen. Since it is a mechanism to draw a figure directly with an electron beam, it is not a colorful screen,

but the appearance of the wire frame creates a sense of the near future.

'Tempest' is one of the most popular games that Atari has adopted vector scanning.

If you look at such a Tempest vector scan at 59x slow speed, you can clearly see that the spot of light is moving in the screen. Since the light disappears quickly, the spots of light run through the screen in various directions, leaving a short trajectory like a shooting star.

If it is 59 times slow, the dots just move around on the screen, so it is difficult to understand if it is a still image, but if you leave the trajectory as it is, it looks like this. It takes only 0.0183 seconds to display this single screen, and the spots of light flow at a very high speed, so it looks like the figure is displayed properly due to the afterimage.

Below is a look at 'Star Wars' at a slow speed of 59 times. Star Wars is a game that came out after Tempest, and although the objects in the screen composed of vector scans are more colorful and complex, they often draw well by moving only one point at high speed. I understand.

Furthermore, in the movie, the place where the vector scan was shot at 1000 times slow is also released. In the case of a still image, it is just a point of light, but in the case of a movie, you can clearly see how the slowly moving spot of light scans to create figures and numbers, so if you are interested, please take a look at the movie. Please check it with your eyes.