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Originally Posted by Paul Stenning
Could the converted data be sent out on USB2, FireWire, Ethernet, SCSI or something and then converted to the required video signal by a fast D-A converter? This may be easier than trying to pursuade a graphics card to do something it really doesn't want to do?
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This raises the classic problem of the computer industry's interpretation of "real time". In the world of television, real time means exactly that. Every pulse and pixel has to arrive at its rigidly fixed time. All the time. If this isn't the case you get, zits, glitches and bounces on your pictures. This is a far cry from the meaning of real time in the world of computing.
All the computer interfaces you mention can never provide this totally even uninterrupted flow of data. Although they can sustain the average data rate. Hence you need buffering and by the time you've done this and stuck a DAC on the end you have almost built an Aurora converter. The only time all this buffering etc becomes very simple and cheap is when an application is sufficiently widespread to attract a chip designed for the purpose. For example USB speakers where the USB interface, buffering and DAC are presumably all integrated into 1 or 2 chips.
32 line video is easily represented as audio and so should be relatively easy to handle with standard computer hardware.