CompuServe Messages

CHYRON. Any of several standalone character generators by the recently bankrupt Chyron Corporation. At the low end of the scale is the Chyron VP-1, which contains the character generation circuitry but lacks a keyboard or other user-interface and possesses no means of storage. The VP-1 is intended to be connected via a serial interface to a PC or other source of input. Then there's the VP-2, which has its own keyboard and (3-1/2" flexi) disk drives. Different fonts are available as plug-in chips, which must be purchased from Chyron. Fonts may not be user-created or downloaded. There are no means for animated transitions like the ProVideo and Broadcast Titler Amiga products: the units are straight character generators. They do offer higher resolution than the Amiga (35ns pixels as opposed to the Amiga's 70ns ones) but the new Amiga Super Denise will equalize that. Higher up on the scale are the Chyron Scribe and SuperScribe, which will do animated page transitions, flips, wipes, etc. These units store fonts on disk rather than in firmware, and the fonts are outline, rather than bitmapped, so fonts of any size may be generated. In order to actually use a font, the operator must select the outline shape (s)he wants to use and determine an appropriate point size. A bitmapped font of the appropriate size is then genererated from the outline. These units go for $20K+. Pete