Lenslok

Lenslok was a copy protection system for games software, which was used in the 1980s when home computers like the Commodore 64, Sinclair ZX Spectrum and Schneider / Amstrad CPC. The most popular software in this copy was used, the game is elite for the ZX Spectrum. The Lenslok system consisted of a small, clear plastic lens, were stamped on the vertical number of small prisms. There was thus a hardware copy protection.

Before the player could start a game with this copy protection, software called on the players to keep the lens in front of the monitor to two letters that were displayed on the monitor, but were really only be read through the lens, into a corresponding input field entered. The lens was small enough to be included in the hull of a compact cassette. Compact cassettes were at that time one of the most common media that computer games were sold. In order to recognize letters, had been the monitor or TV on which the game was shown to be calibrated accordingly, which did not work on all devices in the necessary extent. How many copy protection systems of the time the procedure was easy to get around: players who dominated a little machine language, could find the code in the memory of the computer, especially if you went to the Lenslok screen in the source code of the program under the guidance text. These circumstances and the great expense to the user, meant that the system was accepted by the market very slowly and eventually not even prevailed.

Software with the Lenslok system ( distributor ) (selection)

• Elite ( Firebird)
• OCP Art Studio, ( Rainbird )
• Tomahawk, (Digital Integration)
• TT Racer (Digital Integration)
• Jewels of Darkness ( Level 9 Computing)
• The Price of Magik, ( Level 9 Computing)
• ACE ( Air Combat Jet Emulator ) ( Cascade Games Ltd. )
• Graphic Adventure Creator, Incentive Software
• Moon Cresta, Incentive Software
• Supercharge, Digital Precision