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Hex-Bus
The Texas Instruments Hex-Bus interface (sometimes used unhyphenated as Hex Bus and with varying capitalization) was designed in 1982 and intended for commercial release in late 1983. It connects the console to peripherals via a high-speed serial link. Though it was prototypical to today's USB (plug and play, hot-swappable, etc.), it was never released, with only a small number of prototypes appearing in the hands of collectors after TI pulled out of the market. Several Hex-Bus peripherals were planned or produced. A WaferTape drive never made it past the prototype stage due to reliability issues with the tapes. The 5.25-inch floppy drive also never made it past the prototype stage, even though it worked. Prototype DSDD disk controllers and video controllers were also made. A 4-color printer-plotter, a 300-baud modem, RS-232 interface, an 80-column thermal A thermal column (or thermal) is a rising mass of buoyant air, a convective current in the atmosphere, that transfer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
TI-99/4A
The TI-99/4 and TI-99/4A are home computers released by Texas Instruments (TI) in 1979 and 1981, respectively. Based on TI's own TMS9900 microprocessor originally used in minicomputers, the TI-99/4 was the first 16-bit home computer. The associated TMS9918 video display controller provides color graphics and Sprite (computer graphics), sprite support which were only comparable with those of the Atari 8-bit computers, Atari 400 and 800 released a month later. The TI-99 series also initially competed with the Apple II and TRS-80."Death of a Computer," April 1984, ''Texas Monthly,'' retrieved September 20, 2023 The calculator-style keyboard of the TI-99/4 and the high price were cited as weak points. TI's reliance on ROM cartridges and their practice of limiting develo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Compact Computer 40
The Compact Computer 40, or CC-40, is a notebook-sized computer developed by Texas Instruments. It started development in 1981, and was released in March 1983 for US$249. The CC-40 has a single-line 31 character LCD display, weighs and is powered by an AC adapter or can operate for 200 hours on four AA batteries. Memory is not erased by turning the unit off; it can retain data for several months. The CC-40 lacks a way to store data more permanently. Software was only available on cartridge or by typing programs into its built-in BASIC interpreter. The BASIC interpreter is similar but not identical to that of the TI-99/4A. The CC-40 uses TI's TMS70C20 CPU, an 8-bit microprocessor that runs at 2.5 MHz. The system has 6 kilobytes of random-access memory (RAM; expandable to 18 KB), and 34 KB of read-only memory (ROM). Peripherals can be connected via a Hexbus port: an 80 column printer, printer/plotter, RS-232 interface, and modem. A licensed version of the Exatron ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thermal Printer
Thermal printing (or direct thermal printing) is a digital printing process which produces a printed image by passing paper with a thermochromic coating, commonly known as thermal paper, over a print head consisting of tiny electrically heated elements. The coating turns black in the areas where it is heated, producing an image. Most thermal printers are monochrome (black and white) although some two-color designs exist. Grayscale is usually rasterized because it can only be adjusted by temperature control. Thermal-transfer printing is a different method, using plain paper with a heat-sensitive ribbon instead of heat-sensitive paper, but using similar print heads. Thermal transfer printer require the use of wax-based ribbons that adhere to the substrate during the printing process. As a result, users must load both labels and ribbon, essentially using an alternative ink system. Design A thermal printer typically contains at least these components: * Thermal head: Prod ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Inventions ...
The following articles cover the timeline of United States inventions: * Timeline of United States of America inventions (before 1890), before the turn of the century * Timeline of United States inventions (1890–1945), before World War II * Timeline of United States inventions (1946–1991), during the Cold War * Timeline of United States inventions (after 1991), after the dissolution of the Soviet Union {{DEFAULTSORT:Timeline of United States Inventions United States inventions United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
TI-74
The Texas Instruments TI-74 Basicalc is a type of programmable calculator, which was released in 1985 to replace the Compact Computer 40. The TI-74's architecture is descended from the never-released TI CC-40 Plus. TI utilized the CC-40 Plus ROM to create the TI-74's BIOS; it removed the CC-40's internal debugger to gain enough space to add calculator mode to the TI-74. The CC-40 Plus' cassette routines were reused in the TI-74, and the CC-40's Hexbus port underwent a physical footprint change and was renamed to Dockbus. The Hexbus protocol is 100% compatible between the CC-40 and TI-74 with an adapter. One variant, the TI-74S, has a blank faceplate instead of secondary functions to allow for customization (otherwise it is the same as the 74). Both models accepted customized ROM-modules. The TI-95, released at the same time, was a keystroke programmable descendant of the TI-59 and TI-66, with the same general form factor, but a two-line display (the second line was for fu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
