DPB-7000

Computer published 44 years ago:

Quantel Paintbox (c) 1981 Quantel.

The Quantel Paintbox was a dedicated computer graphics workstation for composition of broadcast television video and graphics. Produced by the British production equipment manufacturer Quantel (which, via a series of mergers, is now part of Grass Valley), its design emphasized the studio workflow efficiency required for live news production.

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Model DPB-7000

- TRIVIA -

The real time, broadcast quality, 24 bit Quantel Paint Box as it was then known, was launched at NAB in Las Vegas in May 1981.

Following its initial launch in 1981, the Paintbox revolutionised the production of television graphics.

At a price of US$250,000 per unit, they were used primarily by large TV networks such as NBC, while in the UK, Peter Claridge's company CAL Videographics was the first commercial company to purchase one.

Artist Martin Holbrook worked with Quantel's development team to develop the artist-oriented functionality and user interface, which remained virtually unchanged throughout the life of the product; their Patented pressure-sensitive pen and tablet elevated it from a computer into a real artist's tool.

Quantel invested heavily in art, employing a hundred digital artists by the late 1980s to improve and demonstrate the Paintbox features. Graphic Paintbox was used to create the poster for The Silence of the Lambs, JFK, The Doors, and record covers for Nirvana's Nevermind, and the Beastie Boys' Paul's Boutique. The Miracle, rock band Queen's studio album, was designed by Richard Gray and created by Richard Baker.

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