1
00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:07,120
when you think PC speakers you probably think of something that looks like this

2
00:00:04,600 --> 00:00:13,280
but the original PC speaker actually looked more like this the original IBM

3
00:00:10,440 --> 00:00:17,359
PC from 1981 actually had a speaker built into the chassis and unlike modern

4
00:00:15,639 --> 00:00:22,480
computer speakers it would typically only emit a series of beeps and boops

5
00:00:19,880 --> 00:00:25,960
kind of like R2-D2 but without the fun personality and even though many of you

6
00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:31,920
probably aren't old enough to remember using the original IBM PC plenty of

7
00:00:29,199 --> 00:00:35,440
subsequent system featured a similar PC speaker if you remember hearing a beep

8
00:00:33,879 --> 00:00:41,440
coming from your PC chassis when you booted it up that was the PC speaker in

9
00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:43,640
action indeed from the mid 1990s onward

10
00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:48,280
the primary use of the PC speaker was to relay information about system

11
00:00:45,559 --> 00:00:52,960
operations to the user it was common for a beep at bootup to mean that the

12
00:00:50,559 --> 00:00:58,519
computer had passed the power on self test or post while multiple beeps or no

13
00:00:56,160 --> 00:01:03,480
beep at all indicated some kind of error or Hardware problem but prior to the

14
00:01:00,879 --> 00:01:08,720
mid90s the PC speaker was actually used for General sound output music playback

15
00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:13,320
feedback from productivity applications or sound effects NVIDIA games so

16
00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:18,280
similar to the full fat speakers of today just with a much more limited

17
00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:22,840
range of sounds but why was it so limited well most speakers work by

18
00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:26,759
having a diaphragm move from some starting position to some end position

19
00:01:25,119 --> 00:01:32,000
with the movement of the diaphragm pushing the air to make what our ears

20
00:01:29,079 --> 00:01:38,119
register and as sound normally speakers receive analog input a voltage that

21
00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:40,759
tells them how far to move a big wiggle

22
00:01:38,119 --> 00:01:46,159
or a little wiggle the old PC speaker though could be told to either be all

23
00:01:43,119 --> 00:01:48,040
the way in or all the way out quickly

24
00:01:46,159 --> 00:01:53,840
switching between these two positions at a regular interval makes something close

25
00:01:50,799 --> 00:01:56,280
to a single frequency tone and yet this

26
00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:59,840
system could produce a wider range of sounds somehow

27
00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:06,600
we'll tell what clever technique was used to change the notes and create more

28
00:02:04,439 --> 00:02:10,599
complicated music or sound effects right after we thank the sponsor of this video

29
00:02:08,319 --> 00:02:15,480
private internet access their VPN network spans across six continents and

30
00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:19,680
91 countries letting you access your local catalog of content from all over

31
00:02:17,920 --> 00:02:23,640
the globe plus with a single subscription you get unlimited

32
00:02:21,239 --> 00:02:28,160
connections making it easy to run Pia on practically any device we previously

33
00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:31,840
partnered with Pia for years and they just concluded their second security

34
00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:36,239
audit putting further emphasis on your privacy and security so go check out Pia

35
00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:40,840
using our Link in the description for a special deal with a risk-free 30-day

36
00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:46,640
money back guarantee a special technique called pulsewidth modulation or pwm was

37
00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:51,120
used to expand the capabilities of the PC speaker you might be more familiar

38
00:02:48,640 --> 00:02:56,280
with pwm as a method to vary the speed of the fans in your computer but it also

39
00:02:53,680 --> 00:03:00,560
worked well for the PC speaker it worked by essentially applying voltages for

40
00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:05,920
varying lengths of time which resulted in the speaker being told to switch

41
00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:08,480
between in and out faster than it could

42
00:03:05,920 --> 00:03:13,080
physically respond you see it takes time for the speaker to change States between

43
00:03:10,640 --> 00:03:17,760
in and out it's a very short amount of time we're talking far lower than a

44
00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:22,840
millisecond but it still takes time nonetheless so if a signal is sent to

45
00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:27,280
change back before the speaker is fully finished switching States different

46
00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:31,480
kinds of sounds can be produced although the sounds you'd get in many games and

47
00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:35,840
applications were still fairly simple talented programmers could exploit this

48
00:03:33,599 --> 00:03:40,959
method in some games to allow for the playback of more complex music and even

49
00:03:38,439 --> 00:03:46,280
human speech the downside though is that this often put quite a load on CPUs of

50
00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:50,959
the day so not all systems were powerful enough to reproduce the best that the

51
00:03:48,599 --> 00:03:54,799
dinky little speaker had to offer of course once dedicated sound cards

52
00:03:52,840 --> 00:04:00,000
started making their way into PCS taking that load off of the CPU we all started

53
00:03:57,799 --> 00:04:04,360
connecting proper desktop speakers to our computers and the PC speaker was

54
00:04:02,239 --> 00:04:09,480
mostly relegated back to its original role of just beeping at us every now and

55
00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:14,239
then and even that isn't as common these days since modern applications can give

56
00:04:11,439 --> 00:04:18,880
you auditory feedback through you know actual speakers and there are more

57
00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:23,759
robust tools for Diagnostics between Windows features the UEFI and even

58
00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:27,720
indicator lights and led codes on the motherboard itself some motherboards

59
00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:33,039
don't even have headers for an internal speaker anymore but if you really miss

60
00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:38,520
that sweet startup beep you can actually buy an m.2 Gadget that makes a similar

61
00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:40,759
sound which originated from an old NC

62
00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:46,160
pc98 if you can wait for it to be shipped from Japan do you still use the

63
00:04:43,199 --> 00:04:49,400
internal PC speaker in your modern setup let us know down below and if you want

64
00:04:47,639 --> 00:04:55,759
to know why most computers don't come with sound cards anymore go watch this

65
00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:55,759
video next it's pretty good