ETC 1972-73
While working for the Experimental Television Center I built the first four Jones Frame Buffers with David. Pictured here is the one I built for myself. The first few buffers were built into the same card racks that were ubiquitous at the ETC at that time. Later David rewired most of the buffers into newer larger boxes. This one might be the only one that stayed in the old rack.
My buffer is the same as the other first generation buffers we built for the ETC except that it has additional second level control. Another difference between the other Jones buffers is the addition of 2v differential video inputs and output - notice the plexiglass panel. At first the frame buffer was controlled by a Sinclair ZX81 micro computer. Plans were made to update to a Z81 big board (or Xerox 820), but when the Amiga 1000 came to market David modified the I/O and software to control the frame buffer from the Amiga. This was a great improvement, with the Sinclair simple programs were written in basic. The only way to save a program was to use audio tape. For the most part the Sinclair was used to simply poke a memory location to put the buffer in the write or read mode and control came from analog patches on the front panel.
The Jones frame buffer is a unique device that offers digital processing with analog control. The internal keyer cuts between a live digital plane and the memory plane. This version had 4 memory boards with 64 frames of memory. Later Jones added a pseudo color option which is also present in this version. I and others were writing routines in Amiga Basic that were compiled to C to control the buffer, however no one ever built the libraries that were needed to blank switching, so the routines tended to be a little noisy.
Summary
While working for the Experimental Television Center the author and David built the first four Jones Frame Buffers; the pictured unit is the author's and may be the only one remaining in the original card rack after David rewired most into newer, larger boxes. The unit adds second-level control and 2v differential video inputs and output with a plexiglass panel; it was initially controlled by a Sinclair ZX81 with programs saved to audio tape and later adapted for control from an Amiga 1000. The buffer includes an internal keyer, four memory boards providing 64 frames and a pseudo-color option; Amiga Basic routines were compiled to C but required unbuilt libraries for blank switching, producing noisy routines.
From the Experimental Television Center archive
ETC10001
1973 International Computer Arts Festival at The Kitchen program (2); ETC info sheets; scan, magazine and xerox from Arts Magazine Dec Jan 1973 referencing TV Bed; Binghamton Teachers Association newsletter; letters of inquiry; Tri Cities Opera program (ETC credit); Nam June Paik and Charlotte Moorman Live at The Kitchen poster (3); Work from the Experimental Television Center (Everson 1972) program (12), large b/w poster(1) and OS box, see also press file; 9th Annual Avant Garde Festival (3 copies, 1972, xerox letter from Charlotte to Ralph, floor plan of Alexander Hamilton, press clipping file video bed and Hocking band pieces); large b/w poster Shigeko Kubota at Everson Museum (2); Press article on Michael Butler; intro letter from Jean-Pierre Boyer; 2nd Annual Video Arts Festival at The Kitchen (May 1973) poster; 2 large posters Open Circuits with correspondence from David Ross; letter from David Ross March 1974 and Richard Simmons 1975; Nam June Paik and Charlotte Moorman Live Video at The Kitchen;
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Last modified 13 September 2026