If a single JPG file can take up dozens of megabytes these days, the question is how did we store images at the start of the millennium? For one, resolution wasn't all that high, and for another… we used floppy disks. The natural advantages of flash memory were obvious, but that technology took its time reaching consumers, and Sony filled the gap with its Mavica line of products. Among them stand out several digital cameras and the remarkable Sony Mavica Printer FVP-1, a home photo printer able to read floppy disks directly, without needing a computer…
Digital photography is just a secondary feature in modern devices, but at the end of the 20th century, it was "the future." The market matured quickly, some industry giants had a rough time, and others took advantage of the transition to launch new products. That brings us to Sony, its expansion of the Mavica line (Magnetic Video Camera), and the adoption of traditional floppy disks as storage media.
(Editor's note: The video has no thumbnail, but it works)
The first two digital cameras with the Mavica name and floppy support were the FD5 and FD7, both debuting between 1997 and early 1998. In just over a year, resolution took a significant leap (indeed, nearly twenty Mavica floppy cameras appeared in the period 1997–2002), but something else was missing: printing these photos in acceptable quality. Sony responded with the Sony Mavica Printer FVP-1, which, besides reading floppy disks directly, worked independently. Clint from the fabulous LGR channel managed to get one of these printers, sealed in its original box…
Printing with the 1999 Sony Mavica Printer FVP-1
The Sony Mavica Printer FVP-1 hit shelves with a price of $500, almost double when adjusted for inflation. Such an investment wasn't easy, but conventional printers simply weren't up to the task, and Sony's goal was to offer a viable solution to those already in the Mavica ecosystem. Taking the floppy out of the camera, inserting it into the printer, and getting a physical copy in less than two minutes was a very different dynamic.
Clint gives a solid overview of the technological evolution that led Sony to launch the Mavica Printer FVP-1, but he quickly confirmed two interesting details. On one hand, it's still possible to get compatible photo paper at reasonable prices (and even at its original cost, it was half of what a Kodak kiosk charged in 1999 for a 4x6 photo), and on the other, the printer doesn't need a computer, but it can't escape the TV.
It goes without saying that the final quality depends on how good the original image is; however, the FVP-1 has an extra trick: printing video captures. Clint did some tests with a PlayStation 1 and Duke Nukem, and the results were excellent.
