Early laser show hardware

[james1095]

I've been curious lately to know more about the hardware used in early generation laser shows, particularly back in the 70s and early 80s. I remember seeing my first laser show in the mid 80s back when it was really exotic, I had never seen anything remotely like it before. By this point there were graphics and not just abstract figures. When did the vector graphics first appear? Were they driven by minicomputers, commodity PCs with special hardware, completely specialized systems? There doesn't seem to be a lot of historical information out there.

[laserist]

I've been curious lately to know more about the hardware used in early generation laser shows, particularly back in the 70s and early 80s. I remember seeing my first laser show in the mid 80s back when it was really exotic, I had never seen anything remotely like it before. By this point there were graphics and not just abstract figures. When did the vector graphics first appear? Were they driven by minicomputers, commodity PCs with special hardware, completely specialized systems? There doesn't seem to be a lot of historical information out there.

http://www.famous-company.com/pm_las...-histories.htm

[james1095]

Hey that's cool stuff! Too bad some of the links are dead, still lots of interesting info.

[dar303]

This link is good too: http://www.laserfx.com/Backstage.Las...efHistory.html

[mixedgas]

Run this through the "Wayback Machine" at the Internet Archive:

http://laser.shows.org/default.htm

Prepare to be stunned, if you can find it.

Steve

[dar303]

Wow, thanks for the tip!
This page about scanners was very informative since I just got 120DT´s!
http://web.archive.org/web/200709120...g/scanners.htm

[james1095]

Ditto, that's good stuff!

Anyone know what happened to the original page? Seems a shame to let a resource like that fade into digital oblivion. Could someone else host it?

[mixedgas]

Ditto, that's good stuff!

Anyone know what happened to the original page? Seems a shame to let a resource like that fade into digital oblivion. Could someone else host it?

If I remember correctly, it was a lady somewhat involved with the project who had the site.

I ordered the soundtrack CD, its 70s, its a period piece, its not something you would play at SELEM, sort of like a very mello opera, and hard to describe. I'll see if there is anything in the soundtrack label to track her down.

Steve