This is absolutely cool stuff, this lightpen might be not ideal for drawing but you can use it to get trough menu’s,hitting targets in supported games or lines by clicking from one point to the next to create rectengular ,square,triangle etc,, shaped objects. This is definitely cool stuff.
I had one, and I can remember that 'flashing' thing every time you placed the stylus on screen. I seem to recall a particularly awful freehand mode too. Great video - thanks for sharing!
Oh mannn! I used to have one of these exact ones. Very difficult to use sensibly, but also very exciting!! The cross-hair of timing flashes was frustrating - but nonetheless an absolute forerunner for on-screen pencils.
I have rewatched this video and i can confirm that you could only point and click on icons or clicking from one point to another point to draw lines ,hence those flashes everytime you click on things, It works just similar to the nes lightgun by detecting light on a frame bases manner rather then on a pixel base manner ,in order to save lots of precessing power, in fact this lightpen predates the nes zapper by a year by using the same technology. Thing is it has it’s limitations compared to the C64 lightpen wich can track down the position of the lightbeam wich the zx lightpen cannot do but it’s still a cool must have gedjet with lots of potential for business applications.
Basic history ZX Spectrum was just a friendly reminder of the first computer science from the very beginning it had a few issues but it worked once in awhile it was the template of what would come of course that also means gaming consoles as well PS2 had a basic programming and now even Nintendo have basic programming in some ways it has been the ZX Spectrum that paved the way in retro style and design it was just the earliest laptop you just plugged it in to your TV and history was made. It wasn't cheap at the time and I will say it may have been the same as the newest consoles today if you think about it? Compact computer and downright the next generation then but never got a prize for being the earliest to use for some but it had been a successful bit of technology
I wanted this so bad for my Spectrum, I had the printer though, I remember using it to print out my games list for people in school to swap games with :) Cool vid, will be checking out your others!
I had one of these as well, and could never get it working! I'd do the calibration, then could not make it do anything on the drawing package - no matter where I put the pen, no matter what key I pressed...The Spectrum's CPU isn't powerful enough to read the pen position in one flash, so the flickering and white boxes you see are it trying to zero in on where the pen is pointed. Similar technique to the NES Zapper.
Tomsonic41 heey if that’s true that this lightpen works similar to the nes zapper, then it cannot detect more then 60 positions onscreen because each target or point has it’s own frame and since the zx spectrum runs at 60fps, it could atleast detect 60 targets onscreen and for drawing there can be 60 points onscreen to draw lines from point to point, hence why it’s limited in what it can do, so this lightpen is frame based while the C64 lightpin is pixel based,thus it can detect each pixel onscreen in this case 160x160 pixel due limited cpu power. But again both technology’s are very impressive.
i saved up my pennies for months to buy one these , after seeing a light-pen demo on the telly - looked like the best thing ever. unfortunately this was total shite. Still, Rome wasnt built in a day and we should thank the people that toiled to made these early gizmos
Zx spectrum did have poor graphics. Eney zx,did.i had zx 128 with cassette Dec. Atari ST 520.commodore.amiga.all the atari models. You name it I had it. Best one wos amiga brilliant computer the best.
