ANTIC Chip On An Atari 130XE Motherboard
Alphanumeric Television Interface Controller (ANTIC) is an Large Scale Integration, LSI ASIC dedicated to generating 2D computer graphics to be shown on a television screen or computer display. Under the direction of Jay Miner, the chip was designed in 1977-1978 by Joseph C. Decuir, Joe Decuir, Francois Michel, and Steve Smith for the Atari 8-bit family of home computers first released in 1979 and was patented by Atari, Inc. in 1981. ANTIC is also used in the 1982 Atari 5200 video game console, which shares most of the same hardware as the 8-bit computers. For every frame of video, ANTIC reads a program of instruction set, instructions to define the playfield, or background graphics, then delivers a data stream to the companion CTIA and GTIA, CTIA or GTIA chip which adds color and overlays sprite (computer graphics), sprites (referred to as "Player/Missile graphics" by Atari). Each ANTIC instruction corresponds to either blank scan lines or one of 14 graphics modes used for ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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ANTIC Chip On An Atari 130XE Motherboard
Alphanumeric Television Interface Controller (ANTIC) is an Large Scale Integration, LSI ASIC dedicated to generating 2D computer graphics to be shown on a television screen or computer display. Under the direction of Jay Miner, the chip was designed in 1977-1978 by Joseph C. Decuir, Joe Decuir, Francois Michel, and Steve Smith for the Atari 8-bit family of home computers first released in 1979 and was patented by Atari, Inc. in 1981. ANTIC is also used in the 1982 Atari 5200 video game console, which shares most of the same hardware as the 8-bit computers. For every frame of video, ANTIC reads a program of instruction set, instructions to define the playfield, or background graphics, then delivers a data stream to the companion CTIA and GTIA, CTIA or GTIA chip which adds color and overlays sprite (computer graphics), sprites (referred to as "Player/Missile graphics" by Atari). Each ANTIC instruction corresponds to either blank scan lines or one of 14 graphics modes used for ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Direct Memory Access
Direct memory access (DMA) is a feature of computer systems and allows certain hardware subsystems to access main system memory independently of the central processing unit (CPU). Without DMA, when the CPU is using programmed input/output, it is typically fully occupied for the entire duration of the read or write operation, and is thus unavailable to perform other work. With DMA, the CPU first initiates the transfer, then it does other operations while the transfer is in progress, and it finally receives an interrupt from the DMA controller (DMAC) when the operation is done. This feature is useful at any time that the CPU cannot keep up with the rate of data transfer, or when the CPU needs to perform work while waiting for a relatively slow I/O data transfer. Many hardware systems use DMA, including disk drive controllers, graphics cards, network cards and sound cards. DMA is also used for intra-chip data transfer in multi-core processors. Computers that have DMA channels can trans ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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GTIA
Color Television Interface Adaptor (CTIA) and its successor Graphic Television Interface Adaptor (GTIA) are custom chips used in the Atari 8-bit family of computers and in the Atari 5200 home video game console. In these systems, a CTIA or GTIA chip works together with ANTIC to produce the video display. ANTIC generates the playfield graphics (text and bitmap) while CTIA/GTIA provides the color for the playfield and adds overlay objects known as player/missile graphics ( sprites). Under the direction of Jay Miner, the CTIA/GTIA chips were designed by George McLeod with technical assistance of Steve Smith. ''Color Television Interface Adaptor'' and ''Graphic Television Interface Adaptor'' are names of the chips as stated in the Atari field service manual. Various publications named the chips differently, sometimes using the alternative spelling ''Adapter'' or ''Graphics'', or claiming that the "C" in "CTIA" stands for Colleen/Candy and "G" in "GTIA" is for George. History 2600 a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ultima Series
''Ultima'' is a series of open world fantasy role-playing video games from Origin Systems, Inc. ''Ultima'' was created by Richard Garriott. Electronic Arts has owned the brand since 1992. The series sold over 2 million copies by 1997. A significant series in computer game history, it is considered, alongside ''Wizardry'' and ''Might and Magic'', to be one of the norm-establishers of the computer role-playing game genre. Several games of the series are considered seminal entries in their genre, and each installment introduced new innovations which then were widely copied by other games. The games take place for the most part in a world called Britannia; the constantly recurring hero is the Avatar, first named so in ''Ultima IV''. They are primarily within the scope of fantasy fiction but contain science fiction elements as well. Games The main ''Ultima'' series consists of nine installments (the seventh title is divided into two parts) grouped into three trilogies, or "Ages": ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lode Runner
''Lode Runner'' is a 2D puzzle-platform game, developed by Doug Smith and published by Broderbund in 1983. Its gameplay mechanics are similar to ''Space Panic'' from 1980. The player controls a character who must collect all the gold pieces in a level and get to the end while being chased by a number of enemies. It is one of the first games to include a level editor. After the original game, a number of remakes, spin-offs and sequels were published in the ''Lode Runner'' series for different computers and consoles, and by different developers and publishers. Tozai Games holds the copyright and trademark rights. Development Around late 1980, high school student James Bratsanos heard from a friend about a new arcade video game, ''Space Panic'' by Universal, which involves climbing platforms and ladders while digging holes to trap monsters. Bratsanos was intrigued by his friend's description of the concept, and wanted to develop it further. He began writing a Commodore PET program ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Apple II
The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-molded plastic case, Rod Holt developed the switching power supply, while Steve Jobs's role in the design of the computer was limited to overseeing Jerry Manock's work on the plastic case. It was introduced by Jobs and Wozniak at the 1977 West Coast Computer Faire, and marks Apple's first launch of a personal computer aimed at a consumer market—branded toward American households rather than businessmen or computer hobbyists. ''Byte'' magazine referred to the Apple II, Commodore PET 2001, and TRS-80 as the "1977 Trinity". As the Apple II had the defining feature of being able to display color graphics, the Apple logo was redesigned to have a spectrum of colors. The Apple II is the first model in the Apple II series, followed by Apple ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Playfield
A pitch or a sports ground is an outdoor playing area for various sports. The term ''pitch'' is most commonly used in British English, while the comparable term in American and Canadian English is playing field or sports field. For most sports the official term is field of play, although this is not regularly used by those outside refereeing/umpiring circles. The field of play generally includes out-of-bounds areas that a player is likely to enter while playing a match, such as the area beyond the touchlines in association football and rugby or the sidelines in American and Canadian football, or the "foul territory" in baseball. The surface of a pitch is most commonly composed of sod (grass), but may also be artificial turf, sand, clay, gravel, concrete, or other materials. A playing field on ice may be referred to as a ''rink'', for example an ice hockey rink, although ''rink'' may also refer to the entire building or, in the sport of curling, to either the building or a partic ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Direct Memory Access
Direct memory access (DMA) is a feature of computer systems and allows certain hardware subsystems to access main system memory independently of the central processing unit (CPU). Without DMA, when the CPU is using programmed input/output, it is typically fully occupied for the entire duration of the read or write operation, and is thus unavailable to perform other work. With DMA, the CPU first initiates the transfer, then it does other operations while the transfer is in progress, and it finally receives an interrupt from the DMA controller (DMAC) when the operation is done. This feature is useful at any time that the CPU cannot keep up with the rate of data transfer, or when the CPU needs to perform work while waiting for a relatively slow I/O data transfer. Many hardware systems use DMA, including disk drive controllers, graphics cards, network cards and sound cards. DMA is also used for intra-chip data transfer in multi-core processors. Computers that have DMA channels can trans ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Random-access Memory
Random-access memory (RAM; ) is a form of computer memory that can be read and changed in any order, typically used to store working Data (computing), data and machine code. A Random access, random-access memory device allows data items to be read (computer), read or written in almost the same amount of time irrespective of the physical location of data inside the memory, in contrast with other direct-access data storage media (such as hard disks, CD-RWs, DVD-RWs and the older Magnetic tape data storage, magnetic tapes and drum memory), where the time required to read and write data items varies significantly depending on their physical locations on the recording medium, due to mechanical limitations such as media rotation speeds and arm movement. RAM contains multiplexer, multiplexing and demultiplexing circuitry, to connect the data lines to the addressed storage for reading or writing the entry. Usually more than one bit of storage is accessed by the same address, and RAM ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Display List
A display list (or ''display file'') is a series of graphics commands that define an output image. The image is created ( ''rendered'') by executing the commands to combine various primitives. This activity is most often performed by specialized display or processing hardware partly or completely independent of the system's CPU for the purpose of freeing the CPU from the overhead of maintaining the display, and may provide output features or speed beyond the CPU's capability. For a display device without a frame buffer, such as vector graphics displays, the commands were executed every fraction of a second to maintain and animate the output. In modern systems, the commands need only be executed when they have changed or in order to refresh the output (e.g., when restoring a minimized window). A display list can represent both two- and three-dimensional scenes. Systems that make use of a display list to store the scene are called retained mode systems as opposed to immediate mode s ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sprite (computer Graphics)
Sprite commonly refers to: * Sprite (drink), a lemon-lime beverage produced by the Coca-Cola Company * Sprite (computer graphics), a smaller bitmap composited onto another by hardware or software * Sprite (folklore), a type of legendary creature including elves, fairies, and pixies Sprite may also refer to: Comics *Sprite (Eternal), a fictional member of the race of Eternals in the Marvel Universe * ''Sprite'' (manga), a 2009 Japanese manga series *Sprite, alias of the Marvel Comics character Kitty Pryde *Sprite comic, a webcomic that consists primarily of computer sprites from video games Computing and technology * Sprite (operating system), an operating system developed at the University of California, Berkeley * SPRITE (spacecraft), a proposed Saturn atmospheric probe mission * SPRITE infrared detector, a specialist detector device using a process known as signal processing in the element * De Havilland Sprite, a British rocket engine Vehicles * Sprite (motorcycle), a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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ANTIC
Alphanumeric Television Interface Controller (ANTIC) is an LSI ASIC dedicated to generating 2D computer graphics to be shown on a television screen or computer display. Under the direction of Jay Miner, the chip was designed in 1977-1978 by Joe Decuir, Francois Michel, and Steve Smith for the Atari 8-bit family of home computers first released in 1979 and was patented by Atari, Inc. Atari, Inc. was an American video game developer and home computer company founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. Atari was a key player in the formation of the video arcade and video game industry. Based primarily around the Sunny ... in 1981. ANTIC is also used in the 1982 Atari 5200 video game console, which shares most of the same hardware as the 8-bit computers. For every frame of video, ANTIC reads a program of instruction set, instructions to define the playfield, or background graphics, then delivers a data stream to the companion CTIA and GTIA, CTIA or GTIA chip which ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |