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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] |
GTIA NTSC Chip
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] |
CTIA And 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] |
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] |
Atari 8-bit Family
The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1979 as the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The series was successively upgraded to Atari 1200XL , Atari 600XL, Atari 800XL, Atari 65XE, Atari 130XE, Atari 800XE, and Atari XEGS, the last discontinued in 1992. They differ primarily in packaging, each based on the MOS Technology 6502 central processing unit, CPU at and the same custom coprocessor chips. As the first home computer architecture with coprocessors, it has graphics and sound more advanced than most contemporary machines. Video games were a major draw, and first-person space combat simulator ''Star Raiders'' is considered the platform's killer app. The plug-and-play peripherals use the Atari SIO serial bus, with one developer eventually also co-patenting USB. While using the same internal technology, the Atari 800 was sold as a high-end model, while the 400 was more affordable. The 400 has a pressure-sensitive, spillproof membrane keyboar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atari 400
The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1979 as the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The series was successively upgraded to Atari 1200XL , Atari 600XL, Atari 800XL, Atari 65XE, Atari 130XE, Atari 800XE, and Atari XEGS, the last discontinued in 1992. They differ primarily in packaging, each based on the MOS Technology 6502 CPU at and the same custom coprocessor chips. As the first home computer architecture with coprocessors, it has graphics and sound more advanced than most contemporary machines. Video games were a major draw, and first-person space combat simulator '' Star Raiders'' is considered the platform's killer app. The plug-and-play peripherals use the Atari SIO serial bus, with one developer eventually also co-patenting USB. While using the same internal technology, the Atari 800 was sold as a high-end model, while the 400 was more affordable. The 400 has a pressure-sensitive, spillproof membrane keyboard and initially shi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atari 5200
The Atari 5200 SuperSystem or simply Atari 5200 is a home video game console introduced in 1982 by Atari, Inc. as a higher-end complement for the popular Atari Video Computer System. The VCS was renamed to the Atari 2600 at the time of the 5200's launch. Created to compete with Mattel's Intellivision, the 5200 wound up a direct competitor of ColecoVision shortly after its release. While the Coleco system shipped with the first home version of Nintendo's ''Donkey Kong'', the 5200 included the 1978 arcade game ''Super Breakout'' which had already appeared on the Atari 8-bit family and Atari VCS in 1979 and 1981 respectively. The CPU and the graphics and sound hardware are almost identical to that of the Atari 8-bit computers, although software is not directly compatible between the two systems. The 5200's controllers have an analog joystick and a numeric keypad along with start, pause, and reset buttons. The 360-degree non-centering joystick was touted as offering more control than ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ANTIC (magazine)
''Antic'' () was a print magazine devoted to the Atari 8-bit family of home computers and later the Atari ST. It was named after the ANTIC chip in the 8-bit line which, in concert with CTIA or GTIA, generates the display. The magazine was published from April 1982 until June/July 1990. ''Antic'' printed type-in programs (usually in BASIC), reviews, and tutorials, among other articles. Each issue contained one type-in game as "Game of the Month." In 1986, ''STart'' magazine was spun off to exclusively cover the Atari ST line. Its main rival in the United States was ''ANALOG Computing'', another long-lived magazine devoted to the Atari 8-bit line. Multi-system magazines ''COMPUTE!'' and ''Family Computing'' also served Atari 8-bit owners with type-in programs. Starting in 1984, the catalog for Antic Software was bound into issues of ''Antic''. History NASA programmer Jim Capparell was an early Atari 8-bit owner. He quit his job on 15 January 1982 to found a magazine for the comp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Television Interface Adapter
The Television Interface Adaptor (TIA) is the custom computer chip, along with a variant of the MOS Technology 6502 constituting the heart of the 1977 Atari Video Computer System game console. The TIA generates the screen display, sound effects, and reads the controllers. At the time the Atari VCS was designed, even small amounts of RAM were expensive. The chip was designed around not having a frame buffer, instead requiring detailed programming to create even a simple display. Development of the CO10444/CO11903 TIA was led by Jay Miner who continued at Atari expanding on the design of the TIA for the Atari 400/800 computers with the ANTIC and CTIA/GTIA chips. Jay Miner later led the design of the custom chips for the Amiga computer. Design Background Around 1975, Atari's engineers at Cyan Engineering led by Steve Mayer and Ron Milner had been considering alternatives to the development dedicated hardware such as application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC) for arcade vide ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Television Interface Adaptor
The Television Interface Adaptor (TIA) is the custom computer chip, along with a variant of the MOS Technology 6502 constituting the heart of the 1977 Atari Video Computer System game console. The TIA generates the screen display, sound effects, and reads the controllers. At the time the Atari VCS was designed, even small amounts of RAM were expensive. The chip was designed around not having a frame buffer, instead requiring detailed programming to create even a simple display. Development of the CO10444/CO11903 TIA was led by Jay Miner who continued at Atari expanding on the design of the TIA for the Atari 400/800 computers with the ANTIC and CTIA/GTIA chips. Jay Miner later led the design of the custom chips for the Amiga computer. Design Background Around 1975, Atari's engineers at Cyan Engineering led by Steve Mayer and Ron Milner had been considering alternatives to the development dedicated hardware such as application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC) for arcade v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jay Miner
Jay Glenn Miner (May 31, 1932 – June 20, 1994) was an American integrated circuit designer, known primarily for developing graphics and audio chips for the Atari 2600 and Atari 8-bit family and as the "father of the Amiga". Early life Jay Miner received his first formal electronics education after joining the U.S Coast Guard out of high school. Following his service he became a radio operator for the North Atlantic Weather Patrol who serviced meteorological duties on distant islands for three years. He returned to school to enroll in the University of California at Berkeley, for which he received a BS in EECS in 1958, focusing on electronics design. Career Miner first became a chip designer when he joined General Microelectronics in 1964, playing a role in the design of the first calculator to use the MOS ICs, the Victor 3900. He then worked at the companies Standard MicroSystems and American Micro Systems, at the latter of which he contributed to the design of the MP ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Color Artifacts
Composite artifact colors is a designation commonly used to address several graphic modes of some 1970s and 1980s home computers. With some machines, when connected to an NTSC TV or monitor over composite video outputs, the video signal encoding allowed for extra colors to be displayed, by manipulating the pixel position on screen, not being limited by each machine's hardware color palette. This mode was used mainly for games, since it limits the display's effective horizontal resolution. It was most common on the IBM PC (with CGA graphics), TRS-80 Color Computer, Apple II and Atari 8-bit computers, and used famously by the '' Ultima'' role-playing video games. Software titles (such as ''King's Quest'' for the IBM PC) usually provided an option to select between ''"RGB mode"'' and ''"Color Composite mode"''. On PAL displays the effect is also present, but generates more limited colors. Depending on the exact PAL system used results will vary (if PAL-M or PAL-N are used, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Backward Compatibility
Backward compatibility (sometimes known as backwards compatibility) is a property of an operating system, product, or technology that allows for interoperability with an older legacy system, or with input designed for such a system, especially in telecommunications and computing. Modifying a system in a way that does not allow backward compatibility is sometimes called " breaking" backward compatibility. A complementary concept is forward compatibility. A design that is forward-compatible usually has a roadmap for compatibility with future standards and products. A related term from programming jargon is hysterical reasons or hysterical raisins (near-homophones for "historical reasons"), as the purpose of some software features may be solely to support older hardware or software versions. Usage In hardware A simple example of both backward and forward compatibility is the introduction of FM radio in stereo. FM radio was initially mono, with only one audio channel represented ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
