Nick Montfort is a genius at this--"Twisty Little Passages" works on so many levels. I'm not sure how RTB got its name, but I'm sure it ties in well to the book.
He actually explains it in the book!
"Racing the Beam" stems from the video generation of the VCS as the CPU has to instruct the video chip what data to use *on the fly*. What is written into its registers (for example the background color) is more or less immediately used to generate the video data being sent to the TV set and displayed by the electron beam on its screen.
This is the most prominent feature of the VCS as it has no frame buffer or video memory like other systems with raster graphics. It's also the source for it's flexibility - even though it is so underpowered.
Montfort even says something like this: It would be more accurate to say "Pacing the Beam" as the CPU has to run synchronously and not outrun the beam but he hints that "Racing" sounds catchier...
Nick Montfort is a genius at this--"Twisty Little Passages" works on so many levels. I'm not sure how RTB got its name, but I'm sure it ties in well to the book.
He actually explains it in the book!
"Racing the Beam" stems from the video generation of the VCS as the CPU has to instruct the video chip what data to use *on the fly*. What is written into its registers (for example the background color) is more or less immediately used to generate the video data being sent to the TV set and displayed by the electron beam on its screen.
This is the most prominent feature of the VCS as it has no frame buffer or video memory like other systems with raster graphics. It's also the source for it's flexibility - even though it is so underpowered.
Montfort even says something like this: It would be more accurate to say "Pacing the Beam" as the CPU has to run synchronously and not outrun the beam but he hints that "Racing" sounds catchier...
take care,
Calibrator
take care,
Calibrator