Through the mirror: In the multimedia world, the bigger almost always, the better. More data, higher resolutions, larger screens … all contribute to an enhanced viewing experience. But have you ever wondered what would be possible at the opposite end of the spectrum, where excess is the enemy?
GreedyPaint, a Reddit user, recently embarked on this journey and, in the process, managed to bundle an entire feature film (90 minutes) into a single 1.44 MB floppy drive complete with audio. Let it drop for a moment.
How is that possible, you ask? Compression, a lot of compression.
Along with a Raspberry Pi, Redditor employed a custom x265 codec to reduce the film to a minuscule resolution of 120 x 96 pixels. Worse, playback is limited to just four frames per second.
It is one of those classic cases of being “so concerned with whether or not he could, that he didn’t stop to think if he should”. In other words, it is incredibly impressive, although it is as far from being practical as humanly possible.
Earlier this year, we shared the story of a YouTuber who managed to discover a method for recording video on a standard audio cassette. This is kind of in the same wheelhouse.
The best part of the whole project can be the hardware. GreedyPaint created a fake “VCR” complete with a personalized home screen that automatically plays the contents of the disc when inserted.
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