Case study

OpenTV: a portable C rebuild of Centigram TruVoice

Rebuilds Centigram TruVoice, the 1997 text-to-speech engine, as portable C. tools/difftest.py compares PCM from the C build with the original DLL across the corpus checked in that script.

Targets: Binary
Category: Independent reconstruction cases
Relationship: Independent reconstruction project
Sources reviewed: 2026-11-04

Stars: 9
Last commit: 2026-10-27
Language: C
License (GitHub): MIT

GitHub data as of 2026-11-09

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Requirements & limits

Prerequisites: Needs an x86_64 mingw-w64 toolchain, used in -m32 freestanding mode for the 32-bit build, plus dlltool and Python 3. Put CGRM_EN.DLL in TruVoice/. That DLL is not in the repository. pefile is only required by the tools that read a DLL.
Scope: The README describes a C library, a command-line speaker, and an NVDA add-on, at 32 and 64 bits. It says SAPI 4 COM glue, config dialogs, and waveOut playback are documented but not ported.
Testing evidence: The README says tools/difftest.py runs 59 corpus inputs in 335 configurations and demands identical PCM, for the hooked build and the standalone 32-bit and 64-bit ports. --ref compares those builds with a recording from the installed engine.
License: LICENSE is the MIT License, copyright 2026 RetroBunn. The original TruVoice DLL is not in the repository and is not part of that grant.

Cite

BibTeX

@misc{opentv-truvoice-case,
  title = {{OpenTV: a portable C rebuild of Centigram TruVoice}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://github.com/RetroBunn/tv-decomp}},
  url = {https://github.com/RetroBunn/tv-decomp},
  urldate = {2026-11-04},
  note = {Awesome REA entry: \url{https://awesomerea.org/resources/opentv-truvoice-case/}}
}

Plain text

OpenTV: a portable C rebuild of Centigram TruVoice. https://github.com/RetroBunn/tv-decomp (accessed 2026-11-04). Awesome REA entry: https://awesomerea.org/resources/opentv-truvoice-case/

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About this entry

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Primary sources

README.md GitHub · RetroBunn/tv-decomp · Revision 8488e51
tools/difftest.py GitHub · RetroBunn/tv-decomp · Revision 8488e51
LICENSE GitHub · RetroBunn/tv-decomp · Revision 8488e51