Question About WeatherStar4000 BG and Radar Font

[toxictwister00]

I was wondering, I've been studying over various 4000 videos (real and emulated) off and on for nearly 6 weeks or so since I've been making my own in AE and it seems like on the gradient background there's some noise. Is that really the case? I haven't used the most recent 4000 emulator yet, but I think I remember on v3 when it was released there was noise on the BG.

My next question is about the font for "Local Radar" and "Current Radar". Is that a different font from the STAR4000 fonts? None of the ones I have installed match the font for that text.  The closest one is the STAR Radar font, but it's all CAPS.

EDIT: I added some noise in the picture below which is from one of my AE projects.

[twcclassics]

Nick would be the best person to answer this.

[Eric]

it seems like on the gradient background there's some noise. Is that really the case?

Are you talking about the bitrot degredation on the background?  That's a common problem with the 4000s now that they're getting so old.  However, as originally designed, the background was supposed to be a smooth gradient (as smooth as that technology would allow).  The best way to see the background other than just as a frame at the edges of the screen was on the "Almanac" page, where it was used for the sunrise/sunset information, the "Air Quality" screen (in California), where it was used for the entire background, and if a page didn't load immediately, you could see the background while the blue box was being drawn in front of it.  The 4000 was essentially one layer on top of another, ad nauseum, and sometimes the computer had a problem drawing certain layers at certain times.  If the top banner didn't load, for example, you'd see the top line as used on the WeatherStar III, as the 4000 used all the same information as the III, but it was able to draw graphics to replace some textual information.

My next question is about the font for "Local Radar" and "Current Radar". Is that a different font from the STAR4000 fonts? None of the ones I have installed match the font for that text.  The closest one is the STAR Radar font, but it's all CAPS.

The original radar font was that which you see in the font set.  However, as a result of the most recent update to the 4000, which was some time ago already, the font changed to a more streamlined and narrower helvetica-type font.  This hasn't been included in any of the font sets that I've seen available.

[Zach]

it seems like on the gradient background there's some noise. Is that really the case?

Are you talking about the bitrot degredation on the background?

No, he isn't talking about the degradation. And the gradient couldn't have been smooth because of the hardware limitations on the 4000. Nick recreated the 4000 background to it's best extent for the WS4000 emulator, so the gradient was indeed grainy.

[Eric]

As I said, the technology of the time limited how smoothly the gradient could be drawn.  I can't imagine why anyone would design a background that was deliberately "noisy."

[Nick]

The original background was solid colors with a noise pattern bordering the transition between the colors. The current one uses a similar scheme, but it gives a much smoother look. When I recreated it for the emulator, I created a standard Photoshop gradient, then exported it through the "save for web & devices" option, set output to GIF, color reduction algorithm to "selective", dithering algorithm to "noise" and colors to "12". The video adapter only displayed 256 colors (8 bit), which was somewhat common at the time.

The big blue box is actually five concentric rectangles with a border color that makes it appear smooth.

No idea on the radar banner fonts. I did look through font libraries and tried the Bitstream's "what the font", but never found a good match. On the emulator's banners, the letters were traced out on a separate layer since I couldn't find a suitable font. Keep in mind the font looks the way it does because the image is sent at about half size and is enlarged for display by the 4000 (same with the radar maps and data).

[toxictwister00]

The original background was solid colors with a noise pattern bordering the transition between the colors. The current one uses a similar scheme, but it gives a much smoother look. When I recreated it for the emulator, I created a standard Photoshop gradient, then exported it through the "save for web & devices" option, set output to GIF, color reduction algorithm to "selective", dithering algorithm to "noise" and colors to "12". The video adapter only displayed 256 colors (8 bit), which was somewhat common at the time.

The big blue box is actually five concentric rectangles with a border color that makes it appear smooth.

No idea on the radar banner fonts. I did look through font libraries and tried the Bitstream's "what the font", but never found a good match. On the emulator's banners, the letters were traced out on a separate layer since I couldn't find a suitable font. Keep in mind the font looks the way it does because the image is sent at about half size and is enlarged for display by the 4000 (same with the radar maps and data).

Thank you for your insight on this. It's very appreciated.