Through the corpse glass: In the world of multimedia, bigger is almost always better. More data, higher resolutions, bigger screens … it all contributes to an enhanced viewing experience. But have you ever wondered what would be possible on the other end of the spectrum, where excess is the enemy?
Reddit user GreedyPaint recently undertook such a journey and managed to cram an entire feature film (90 minutes) onto a single 1.44MB floppy disk, complete with audio. Let it sink in for a moment.
How is this possible, you ask? Compression, a lot of compression.
Along with a Raspberry Pi, the Redditor used a custom x265 codec to reduce the movie to a minimum resolution of 120 x 96 pixels. Worse, playback is limited to just four frames per second.
It’s one of the classic cases of ‘so busy asking if they could not, that they did not stop thinking if they should do it.’ In other words, it’s incredibly impressive while being as far from practical as humanly possible.
Earlier this year, we shared the story of a YouTuber who managed to work out a method to record video on a standard audio cassette tape. It’s similar in the same wheelhouse.
Perhaps the best part of the whole project is the hardware. GreedyPaint has created a faux ‘VCR’, complete with a custom splash screen that automatically plays the contents of the disc when placed.
Found is a TechSpot feature where we share clever, funny or otherwise interesting stuff from across the internet.