The Matsushita JR series was a line of

microcomputer A microcomputer is a small, relatively inexpensive computer having a central processing unit (CPU) made out of a microprocessor. The computer also includes memory and input/output (I/O) circuitry together mounted on a printed circuit board (PC ...

s produced by Matsushita Electric Industrial (now Panasonic) during the 1980s. Based on the success of the

Sharp MZ The Sharp MZ is a series of personal computers sold in Japan and Europe (particularly Germany and Great Britain) by Sharp beginning in 1978. History Although commonly believed to stand for "Microcomputer Z80", the term MZ actually has its ...

and

NEC PC-8000 The is a line of personal computers developed for the Japan, Japanese market by NEC. The PC-8001 model was also sold in the United States and Canada as the PC-8001A. Original models of the NEC PC-8001B (or sometimes the NEC PC-8000) were also sol ...

series, it was an attempt by Matsushita to enter the personal computer market. The JR series included four computer models: the JR-100, the JR-200, the JR-300 and the JR-800.

JR-100

The JR-100マイコン1982年2月号 was released on November 21st, 1981 with a price of 54,800 yen. Like the Hitachi Basic Master and Sharp MZ-80, it was a low-performance, low-priced personal computer offering basic semi-graphic character based graphics, a monochrome display, and minimal sound ability. The

CPU A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, and ...

was an

8-bit In computer architecture, 8-bit Integer (computer science), integers or other Data (computing), data units are those that are 8 bits wide (1 octet (computing), octet). Also, 8-bit central processing unit (CPU) and arithmetic logic unit (ALU) arc ...

Panasonic

MN1800A MN18 is a blue supergiant in the constellation of Circinus, about 5.6 kiloparsecs away, or about 18,300 light years away, likely in the open cluster Lynga 3. MN18 is surrounded by a bipolar nebula, quite uncommon around blue supergiants, ...

NMOS microprocessor (compatible with the Motorola MC6802, a slightly improved version of the Motorola MC6800) running at a slow 0.89 MHz, and it came with 16 KB of RAM (expandable to 32 KB). Specifications: *CPU: MN1800A (MC6802 compatible) *Clock speed: 890 KHz *RAM: 16-32 KB *ROM: 8 KB *Graphics: Monochrome; 32x24 text characters; 64x48 semi-graphic characters with 8x8 pixel matrix *Sound: Internal speaker *Connections: Monitor, Expansion, Tape (

Frequency-shift keying Frequency-shift keying (FSK) is a frequency modulation scheme in which digital information is transmitted through discrete frequency changes of a carrier signal. The technology is used for communication systems such as telemetry, weather ball ...

encoding with 1200Hz for space and 2400Hz for mark; 600

baud In telecommunication and electronics, baud (; symbol: Bd) is a common unit of measurement of symbol rate, which is one of the components that determine the speed of communication over a data channel. It is the unit for symbol rate or modulatio ...

) *OS: JR-BASIC 1.0

JR-200

The JR-200 is made of silver grey plastic, and has a black matte area around the chiclet keyboard area. It used the same MN1800A CPU as the previous model, but added a second processor, the

4-bit In computer architecture, 4-bit integers, or other data units are those that are 4 bits wide. Also, 4-bit central processing unit (CPU) and arithmetic logic unit (ALU) architectures are those that are based on registers, or data buses of that si ...

MN1544CJR, which is used for I/O and contains 128 bytes of RAM plus four kilobytes of ROM. The computer received favorable reviews on its launch.

Creative Computing ''Creative Computing'' was one of the earliest magazines covering the microcomputer revolution. Published from October 1974 until December 1985, the magazine covered the spectrum of hobbyist/home/personal computing in a more accessible format th ...

wrote ''"The Panasonic JR-200 is one of the nicest new computers to make the scene in some time."'' A version of the JR-200 called the Panasonic JR-200U was developed for the North American and European markets and was announced in January 1983. Specifications: *CPU: MN1800A + MN1544 *Clock speed: 890 KHz *RAM: 36 KB *ROM: 16 KB *Graphics: 8 colors (black, blue, red, magenta, green, cyan, yellow, white); 256x192; 32x24 text characters; 64x48 semi-graphic characters with 8x8 pixel matrix *Sound: 3 voices, 5 octaves, square wave. Generated by the MN1271 sound, I/O and timer chip. *Connections:

Composite Composite or compositing may refer to: Materials * Composite material, a material that is made from several different substances ** Metal matrix composite, composed of metal and other parts ** Cermet, a composite of ceramic and metallic materials ...

and

RF video RF is an abbreviation for radio frequency. Rf or RF may also mean: Arts and entertainment * ''Red Faction (series)'', a series of revolution video games * Rinforzando, , in music notation * '' RF Online'', an online RPG made by CCR Businesses * ...

, expansion, tape (600/2400 bauds), printer port, floppy drive, joystick *OS: JR-BASIC 5.0

JR-300

The JR-300, released in 1984, was completely redesigned in comparison with the earlier JR-100 and JR-200 models. The JR-300 had a

Zilog Zilog, Inc. is an American manufacturer of microprocessors and 8-bit and 16-bit microcontrollers. It is also a supplier of application-specific embedded system-on-chip (SoC) products. Its most famous product is the Z80 series of 8-bit microp ...

Z80A The Z80 is an 8-bit microprocessor introduced by Zilog as the startup company's first product. The Z80 was conceived by Federico Faggin in late 1974 and developed by him and his 11 employees starting in early 1975. The first working samples we ...

CPU as well as a second MN1800A CPU to allow backwards compatibility with the JR-200. Specifications: *CPU: MN1800A + Z80A *Clock speed: 4 MHz *RAM: 82 KB *ROM: 40 KB *Graphics: 8 colors; 640x200; 320x200; 640x400 *Sound: Yamaha 8910 (3 voices, 5 octaves) *Connections: RGB, Composite and RF video, sound out, expansion, tape (600/2400 bauds), printer port, floppy drive, joystick *OS: JR-BASIC 5.0, Extended Basic

JR-800

A handheld model called JR-800 was launched in 1983 with a price of 128,000 yen, but it was not compatible with the previous JR computers. It was based around a

Hitachi () is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is the parent company of the Hitachi Group (''Hitachi Gurūpu'') and had formed part of the Ni ...

HD63A01V CPU ( MC6801 compatible) running at 4.9152 MHz, with 16 KB of RAM, and featured a 192x64 pixel LCD screen. Specifications: *CPU: HD63A01V *Clock speed: 4.9152 MHz *RAM: 16 KB *ROM: 16 KB *Graphics: monochrome LCD, 32x8 characters; 192x64 pixels *Connections: tape, RS-232, printer, sound *OS: BASIC

Character set

Semigraphics character set for the Matsushita JR series, as shown on the operations manual (JR-100U manual, pg.8). Characters are rendered using modern equivalents, the exact hardware font it not simulated.

References

External links

The Pocket Computer Museum entry
on the National JR-800 handheld computer
BINARIUM museum entry
on the Panasonic JR-100 (German language) Home computers Panasonic computers Character sets {{compu-hardware-stub