スラくジムンダールMar 9
Nicole Express
New blog post! A what-if scenario where we try to see how a home computer designer might've dealt with the field-sequential color television, had the Korean War not stopped that standards' rollout. Enjoy! https://nicole.express/2026/the-apple-that-wasnt.html
Mar 8 at 1:08pmWeb
Show threadKroc CamenMar 8
@nicole This is very "The size of the space shuttle was dictated by the width of two horses" (debunked, but a good corollary regardless). So much of the field of consumer computing was shaped by standards that were invented either before computing or before computing meant VDUs.
Show threadAndrew BoostsWithWildAbandonMar 8

@nicole fascinating! I imagine most machines with such a display would jump straight to having three frame buffers once memory allowed, as you note this gives effectively a planer display.

I imagine such a display gives very odd results on fast moving video.

Show threadGames That I MissedMar 8

@nicole This is nearly Fallout-world fanfic. I'm now expecting a physical build to show up on Hackaday.io within the year.

Also: "cuz she's a brick... OUT" ... now that the song is in my head, it's a good time to watch the Muppet video:

https://www.
youtube.com/watch?v=q7MifCUPOsY

Show threadUSB Type-Steve Mar 8
@nicole Ah yes, the "back when TVs could kill you" era (it was glorious/I miss the console TV aesthetic)
Show threadLaberpferdMar 13

@nicole Multipart

I cant say much about computers of that era, but a lot more about video hardware

First of all i expect the shadow mask color CRT would have been developed in exactly the same way, this type of CRT can be run totally fine with color field sequential mode as well

Perhaps a different kind of CRT would had commercial success as well, where a single beam was rasterscanning and color selection done electrostatic or magnetic in the shadow mask

Show threadLaberpferdMar 13

@nicole i have heard of experimental CRT that tried something like this with the 3,58 NTSC color carrier, but they were not anywhere practical

Another technology that might find more use would be projection TV

They would get a lot simpler replacing complicated color convergence circuits for three spatially displaced tubes with a scanning mirror for sequentially scanning them

Cheapies might run a single white tube through a color wheel, just like a DLP projector does it today
/Multipart

Show threadacbMar 17
@nicole @nina_kali_nina The VIC-20 (with its 176x184 display) could have existed almost unchanged
Show threadnotsoloudMar 17

@nicole
This has to take the prize for nerdiest alternative history yet.

I love it!