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AY-3-8912
The AY-3-8910 is a 3-voice programmable sound generator (PSG) designed by General Instrument in 1978, initially for use with their 16-bit General Instrument CP1600, CP1610 or one of the PIC1650 series of 8-bit microcomputers. The AY-3-8910 and its variants were used in many arcade games—Konami's ''Gyruss'' contains five—and pinball machines as well as being the sound chip in the Intellivision and Vectrex video game consoles, and the Amstrad CPC, Oric-1, Colour Genie, Elektor TV Games Computer, MSX, and later ZX Spectrum home computers. It was also used in the Mockingboard and Cricket sound cards for the Apple II and the Speech/Sound Cartridge for the TRS-80 Color Computer. After General Instrument's spinoff of Microchip Technology in 1987, the chip was sold for a few years under the Microchip brand. It was also manufactured under license by Yamaha Corporation, Yamaha (with a selectable clock divider pin and a double-resolution and double-rate volume envelope table) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
AY-3-8910
The AY-3-8910 is a 3-voice programmable sound generator (PSG) designed by General Instrument in 1978, initially for use with their 16-bit CP1610 or one of the PIC1650 series of 8-bit microcomputers. The AY-3-8910 and its variants were used in many arcade games—Konami's ''Gyruss'' contains five—and pinball machines as well as being the sound chip in the Intellivision and Vectrex video game consoles, and the Amstrad CPC, Oric-1, Colour Genie, Elektor TV Games Computer, MSX, and later ZX Spectrum home computers. It was also used in the Mockingboard and Cricket sound cards for the Apple II and the Speech/Sound Cartridge for the TRS-80 Color Computer. After General Instrument's spinoff of Microchip Technology in 1987, the chip was sold for a few years under the Microchip brand. It was also manufactured under license by Yamaha (with a selectable clock divider pin and a double-resolution and double-rate volume envelope table) as the YM2149F; the Atari ST uses this versi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oric-1
Oric was the name used by UK-based Tangerine Computer Systems for a series of 6502-based home computers sold in the 1980s, primarily in Europe. With the success of the ZX Spectrum from Sinclair Research, Tangerine's backers suggested a home computer and Tangerine formed Oric Products International Ltd to develop the Oric-1. The computer was introduced in 1982. During 1983, approximately 160,000 Oric-1 computers were sold in the UK, plus another 50,000 in France (where it was the year's top-selling machine). This resulted in Oric being acquired and given funding for a successor model, the 1984 Oric Atmos. Oric was bought by Eureka, which produced the less successful Oric Telestrat (1986). Oric was dissolved the year the Telestrat was released. Eastern European clones of Oric machines were produced into the 1990s. Models Oric-1 Based on a 1 MHz MOS Technology 6502 CPU, the Oric-1 came in 16 KB or 48 KB RAM variants for £129 and £169 respectively, ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vectrex
The Vectrex is a vector display-based home video game console–the only one ever designed and released for the home market, developed by Smith Engineering. It was first released for the North America market in November 1982 and then Europe and Japan in 1983. Originally manufactured by General Consumer Electronics, it was later licensed to Milton Bradley after they acquired the company. Bandai released the system in Japan. The Vectrex, in contrast to other video game systems at the time, does not need to be hooked up to a television set. It has an integrated monochrome CRT monitor. A detachable wired control pad can be folded into the lower base of the console. Games came with translucent color overlays to place over the screen. Peripherals include a pair of 3D goggles known as the "3D Imager" and a light pen for drawing directly on the screen. The ''Asteroids''-inspired '' Mine Storm'' is built into the system. The console was conceived by John Ross, of Smith Engineering, in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as the ''ZX81 Colour'' and ''ZX82'', it was launched as the ''ZX Spectrum'' to highlight the machine's colour display, which differed from the black and white display of its predecessor, the ZX81. The Spectrum was released as six different models, ranging from the entry level with 16 KB RAM released in 1982 to the ZX Spectrum +3 with 128 KB RAM and built in floppy disk drive in 1987; altogether they sold over 5 million units worldwide (not counting unofficial clones). The Spectrum was among the first home computers in the United Kingdom aimed at a mainstream audience, and it thus had similar significance to the Commodore 64 in the US and the Thomson MO5 in France. The introduction of the ZX Spectrum led to a boom in companies producing softwar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC (short for ''Colour Personal Computer'') is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and the German-speaking parts of Europe. The series spawned a total of six distinct models: The ''CPC464'', ''CPC664'', and ''CPC6128'' were highly successful competitors in the European home computer market. The later ''464plus'' and ''6128plus'', intended to prolong the system's lifecycle with hardware updates, were considerably less successful, as was the attempt to repackage the ''plus'' hardware into a game console as the ''GX4000''. The CPC models' hardware is based on the Zilog Z80A CPU, complemented with either 64 or 128 KB of RAM. Their computer-in-a-keyboard design prominently features an integrated storage device ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the Atari 8-bit family. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985 and was widely available in July. It was the first personal computer with a bitmapped color GUI, using a version of Digital Research's GEM from February 1985. The Atari 1040ST, released in 1986 with 1 MB of RAM, was the first home computer with a cost-per-kilobyte of less than US$1. "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", referring to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals. The system was designed by a small team led by Shiraz Shivji. Alongside the Macintosh, Amiga, Apple IIGS, and Acorn Archimedes, the ST is part of a mid-1980s generation of computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 Kilobyte, KB or more of RAM, and computer mouse, mouse-controlled graphical user interfaces. The ST was sold with either Atari's color monitor or less expensive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colour Genie
The EACA EG2000 Colour Genie was a computer produced by Hong Kong-based manufacturer EACA and introduced in Germany in August 1982. It followed their earlier Video Genie I and II computers and was released around the same time as the business-oriented Video Genie. The BASIC was compatible with the Video Genie I and II and the TRS-80, except for graphic and sound commands; most of the routines for Video Genie I BASIC commands were left over in the Colour Genie's BASIC ROM. Programs were provided to load TRS-80 programs into the Colour Genie. Colour Genie disks could be read in a TRS-80 floppy disk drive and vice versa, editing the pdrive commands. The original Video Genies had been based upon (and broadly compatible with) the then-current TRS-80 Model I. As the Colour Genie was descended from this architecture, it was incompatible with Tandy's newer TRS-80 Color Computer which - despite its name - was an entirely new and unrelated design based on an entirely different CPU, and thus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mockingboard
The Mockingboard (a pun on "Mockingbird") is a sound card for the Apple II series of microcomputers built by Sweet Micro Systems, which improve on the Apple II's limited sound capabilities. In 1981, Sweet Micro Systems began designing products not only for creating music, but speech and general sound effects as well, culminating in the release of the Mockingboard in 1983. The Mockingboard's hardware allowed programmers to create complex, high-quality sound without need for constant CPU attention. The Mockingboard could be connected to the Apple's built-in speaker or to external speakers. However, as the quality of the built-in speaker was not high, the instruction manual recommended obtaining external speakers. The Mockingboard was available in various models for either the slot-based Apple II / Apple II Plus / Apple IIe systems or in one special model for the Apple IIc. Sound was generated through one or more AY-3-8910 or compatible sound chips, with one chip offering three sq ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Intellivision
The Intellivision is a home video game console released by Mattel Electronics in 1979. The name is a portmanteau of "intelligent television". Development began in 1977, the same year as the launch of its main competitor, the Atari 2600. In 1984, Mattel sold its video game assets to a former Mattel Electronics executive and investors, eventually becoming INTV Corporation. Game development ran from 1978 to 1990 when the Intellivision was discontinued. From 1980 to 1983, more than 3 million consoles were sold. In 2009, IGN ranked the Intellivision No. 14 of the greatest video game consoles of all time. It remained Mattel's only video game console until the HyperScan in 2006. History and development Master Component The Intellivision was developed at Mattel in Hawthorne, California along with the Mattel Electronics line of handheld electronic games. Mattel's Design and Development group began investigating a home video game system in 1977. It was to have rich graphics and long l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clock Divider
A frequency divider, also called a clock divider or scaler or prescaler, is a circuit that takes an input signal of a frequency, f_, and generates an output signal of a frequency: : f_ = \frac where n is an integer. Phase-locked loop frequency synthesizers make use of frequency dividers to generate a frequency that is a multiple of a reference frequency. Frequency dividers can be implemented for both analog and digital applications. Analog Analog frequency dividers are less common and used only at very high frequencies. Digital dividers implemented in modern IC technologies can work up to tens of GHz. Regenerative A regenerative frequency divider, also known as a Miller frequency divider, mixes the input signal with the feedback signal from the mixer. The feedback signal is f_/2. This produces sum and difference frequencies f_/2, 3f_/2 at the output of the mixer. A low pass filter removes the higher frequency and the f_/2 frequency is amplified and fed back into mixer. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
MOS Technology 6522
The 6522 Versatile Interface Adapter (VIA) is an integrated circuit that was designed and manufactured by MOS Technology as an I/O port controller for the 6502 family of microprocessors. It provides two bidirectional 8-bit parallel I/O ports, two 16-bit timers (one of which can also operate as an event counter), and an 8-bit shift register for serial communications or data conversion between serial and parallel forms. The direction of each bit of the two I/O ports can be individually programmed. In addition to being manufactured by MOS Technology, the 6522 was second sourced by other companies including Rockwell and Synertek. The 6522 was widely used in computers of the 1980s, particularly Commodore's machines, and was also a central part of the designs of the Apple III, Oric-1 and Oric Atmos, BBC Micro, Victor 9000/Sirius 1 and Apple Macintosh. Video game platforms such as the Vectrex also used the 6522, as did the 1984 through 1989 Corvette digital dash cluster. A high speed, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glue Logic
In electronics, glue logic is the custom logic circuitry used to interface a number of off-the-shelf integrated circuits. This is often achieved using common, inexpensive 7400- or 4000-series components. In more complex cases, a programmable logic device like a CPLD or FPGA might be used. The falling price of programmable logic devices, combined with their reduced size and power consumption compared to discrete components, is making them common even for simple systems. In addition, programmable logic can be used to hide the exact function of a circuit, in order to prevent a product from being cloned or counterfeited. The software equivalent of glue logic is called glue code. Usage Typical functions of glue logic may include: * Simple logic functions. * Address decoding circuitry used with older processors like the MOS Technology 6502 or Zilog Z80 to divide up the processor's address space into RAM, ROM and I/O. Newer versions of these processors, such as the WDC 65816 or th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
