Decoding SSTV on Portal Radios

I'm just showing how the images were created using the radio sounds in portal. The signal is actually an SSTV (Slow Scan Televeision) signal, often used in ham radio.

The headphones on the microphone are unnecessary as I can actually patch the audio directly back into the system for better accuracy, but I thought that I'd do it this way to better illustrate how the technology works.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• portal
• ham radio
• radio
• video game
• sstv
• dinosaur

[boredkid1235]

you managed to figure out how to do this, but can't use a screen recorder...

[marqmike2]

@boredkid1235 I just wanted to show how sstv works and how it can still be interpreted from an imperfect analog transmission (between my headphones and my microphone). But yeah, a screen capture probably would have been fine :P

[Hiyaguy]

Are all the video artifacts a result of the encoding process or actually in the picture?

[marqmike2]

@Hiyaguy Good question. I wouldn't be surprised if they messed around with the picture a bit before converting it into a SSTV signal. It does seem like a good portion of the visual noise comes from the audio noise that they added to the signal. I'm no expert on how such a signal works though, so I can't know for sure.

[55spiros1]

oh

skull blah that's it that game have many mysteries

[10yrubikscubeguy]

@Jacobsaysftw get a male to male 3.5mm audio cable and plug one end into your microphone port and the other into the headphone port that should work.

[BatWeaselPresents]

Mystery Solved. It's Caroline's Skull XD

[smiletehk]

Valve your just too good.

[tipomartins]

I do I turn image to SSTV signal

[Jacobsaysftw]

How can i make the audio go directly back into the system, other than being ghetto and taping my headphones to my mic?

[MoronicallySmart]

may i ask where the files is located?

[lara2bailey]

:O omg It's a skull!!! what's that got to do with portal??

[phantomrulez1]

@NicroLife

stop hating on him

atleast he uploaded a video like this for people like you to watch

[akaTRENT]

@NicroLife Ha! way to read the description.