http://www.tobyz.net/tobyzstuff/projects/dvi-mixer

Artist: *spark

I’ve wanted a simple, compact VGA mixer for as long as I’ve had a laptop. Something I could fit in the same case as the laptop, and something that wouldn’t render my precise computer imagery through the lens of a 1950’s television: a single pixel line should not end up blurred and flickery when projected on a screen. My need is for live video performance, but anybody who has had to put a powerpoint presentation through their laptop’s tv-out socket or seen the chaos caused by swapping cables in and out of computers in front of an audience should have an idea of just how useful such a thing could be.

With the commercial world still clinging to PAL and NTSC in 2009, may I present the *spark d-fuser project: a video processor and controller capable of handling all the resolutions a VJ might need, processed in 4:4:4 RGB VGA/DVI, that will fit in a 12” laptop case and still have space in there for its natural partner, the Matrox TripleHead2Go. And it won’t break the bank: £750 or so.

My work on D-Fuse’s new live performance Particle was predicated on having such a box: a laptop sprinkled with custom code was the only way to meet the creative brief, but connecting a single laptop direct to projectors for gigs that can stretch to audiences in the thousands simply wasn’t an option, and while the software based setup allows generation of the complete composition and so the whole show, we still wanted two setups to switch between, tag teaming to develop and pace the performance. So I developed the prototype in July 2009, it had its first public outing at London’s Electrovision event, and we have used it for all the Particle performances since then. Its real, it works.