The , sometimes called the Sharp X1
or CZ-800C
, is a series of
home computers released by
Sharp Corporation
is a Japanese multinational corporation that designs and manufactures electronic products, headquartered in Sakai-ku, Sakai, Osaka Prefecture. Since 2016 it has been majority owned by the Taiwan-based Foxconn Group. Sharp employs more t ...
from 1982 to 1988.
It is based on a
Zilog Z80
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 were ...
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, a ...
.
The
RGB
The RGB color model is an additive color model in which the red, green and blue primary colors of light are added together in various ways to reproduce a broad array of colors. The name of the model comes from the initials of the three addi ...
display monitor
A computer monitor is an output device that displays information in pictorial or textual form. A discrete monitor comprises a visual display, support electronics, power supply, housing, electrical connectors, and external user controls.
The d ...
for the X1 had a television tuner, and a computer screen could be super-imposed on TV.
All the TV functions could be controlled from a computer program. The character font was completely programmable (PCG) with
4-bit color
Color depth or colour depth (see spelling differences), also known as bit depth, is either the number of bits used to indicate the color of a single pixel, or the number of bits used for each color component of a single pixel. When referring to ...
, and was effectively used in many games. The entirety of the VRAM memory was mapped on to the I/O area, so it was controlled without
bank switching
Bank switching is a technique used in computer design to increase the amount of usable memory beyond the amount directly addressable by the processor instructions. It can be used to configure a system differently at different times; for example ...
. These features made the X1 very powerful for game software.
Development
Despite the fact that the ''Computer Division'' of Sharp Corporation had released the
MZ series, suddenly the ''Television Division'' released a new computer series called the X1. At the time the original X1 was released, all other home computers generally had a
BASIC
BASIC (Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages designed for ease of use. The original version was created by John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz at Dartmouth College ...
language in
ROM. However the X1 did not have a BASIC ROM, and it had to load the
Hu-BASIC interpreter from a cassette tape. On the plus side however, this concept meant that a free
RAM
Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to:
Animals
* A male sheep
* Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish
People
* Ram (given name)
* Ram (surname)
* Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director
* RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch
* ...
area was available that was as big as possible when not using BASIC. This policy was originally copied from the
Sharp MZ series, and they were called ''clean computers'' in Japan. The cabinet shape of X1 was also much more stylish than others at that time and a range of cabinet colors (including Red) was selectable.
Sharp never released an
MSX computer in Japan. Some X1 developers were proud to develop their own technology, and they didn't want to work with
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washi ...
who attempted to create a unified standard. However, the Brazilian subsidiary of Sharp, Epcom, released an MSX computer
Hotbit HB-8000 in Brazil.
History
While X1 was struggling to sell, the
PC8801
The , commonly shortened to PC-88, are a brand of Zilog Z80-based 8-bit home computers released by Nippon Electric Company (NEC) in 1981 and primarily sold in Japan.
The PC-8800 series sold extremely well and became one of the three major Japane ...
(from
NEC
is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. The company was known as the Nippon Electric Company, Limited, before rebranding in 1983 as NEC. It provides IT and network soluti ...
) was quickly becoming popular in the Japanese market. In 1984, Sharp released the X1 turbo series with high-resolution graphics (640x400, while X1 had 640x200). It had many improvements, but the
clock speed
In computing, the clock rate or clock speed typically refers to the frequency at which the clock generator of a processor can generate pulses, which are used to synchronize the operations of its components, and is used as an indicator of the pro ...
was still only 4 MHz. In 1986, Sharp released the X1 turbo Z
series with a
4096 color analog RGB monitor. An X1 twin
, which had a
PC-Engine
The TurboGrafx-16, known as the outside North America, is a home video game console designed by Hudson Soft and sold by NEC Home Electronics. It was the first console marketed in the fourth generation, commonly known as the 16-bit era, thoug ...
in the cabinet, was released as the last machine of the X1 series in 1987. The X1 series was succeeded by the
X68000
The is a home computer created by Sharp Corporation. It was first released in 1987 and sold only in Japan.
The initial model has a 10 MHz Motorola 68000 CPU, 1 MB of RAM, and lacks a hard drive. The final model was released in 1993 wi ...
.
In the late 2000s, Sharp sold desktop PC/TV combos in Japan through its
Internet Aquos line, where a
X1-style red color schemewas available.
References
{{Dynabook Inc.
X1
Z80-based home computers
Home video game consoles
Computer-related introductions in 1982