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Re: [microsound] pixels per minute?



graham miller wonders;


> i know this may sound like a ridiculous question, but how many pixel per
> minute of audio is processed in real time? i'm not talking visual
> waveforms here, but rather 'pixels' of sound (as in the smallest measure
> of computer detail in the visual realm).

I think it´s perfectly valid to look at it that way but I also think it´s
heavy context dependant. Many audio programs process audio in blocks of a
set of samples (sample as in a single value) where each block will have the
same values for controling signals. You could look as those blocks as pixels
or as clusters of pixels, both are valid, I think, but the size of such a
block will depend on the buffer of your soundcard or your program´s settings
or.....

It gets harder if if you chain up several operations in some modular system.
It´s clear that everything that arives at the output was processed but
suppose we have a chain that goes like; VCO, VCF, envelope, chorus (heresy
on this list!). clearly everything that got out of the chorus was processed
but you could argue that the filter and the envelope are processing just as
many "pixels". Worse yet, some packages will use internal processing at a
higher bit rate then the processed sample is. That would mean that arguably
many more pixels are processed then will ever be heard. Also; what exactly
is "one process"? a reverb might be seen as one process but your homebuild
contraption that uses a reverb after a granulator might be "one process" to
you.

If we could agree on what standard to adhere to when talking about "pixels
per second" it might be a interesting unit, for example to compare
workstations and digital processors but practically speaking I think the
only thing that realy matters is the percentage of cpu time (and perhaps
memory) a certain operation or patch will cost on your tool of choice.

I think it´s a interesting question to contemplate but i fear it won´t
result in a very usefull standard of measurement.

Kas.



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