HB-F9P
Encyclopedia
The HB-F9P was a Sony MSX2
-computer, launched in 1985. The abbreviation HB stands for Hit Bit.
The HB-F9P was unusual in the sense that it did not come with a built in floppy disk drive, instead it had a built in software suite "Memovision" that would run automatically unless a program cartridge was inserted in the cartridge slot or the GRAPH key was pressed during booting. Memovision could store data on the special HBI-55 (battery backed RAM) "data cartridge" that Sony originally had developed, for their HB-55 and HB-75 MSX1 computers. These systems contained a simple built in program called the "Personal Databank". Memovision was a continuation of the same idea, but much extended, as it contained stuff like a (birthday) calendar with alarm system, a "family databank" (a combination of a text editor and database) a built in calculator and a timer and time calculator, all rendered in pseudo 3D
style.
memory
Video
Engine
sound
Interfaces
MSX
MSX was the name of a standardized home computer architecture in the 1980s conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi, then Vice-president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation...
-computer, launched in 1985. The abbreviation HB stands for Hit Bit.
The HB-F9P was unusual in the sense that it did not come with a built in floppy disk drive, instead it had a built in software suite "Memovision" that would run automatically unless a program cartridge was inserted in the cartridge slot or the GRAPH key was pressed during booting. Memovision could store data on the special HBI-55 (battery backed RAM) "data cartridge" that Sony originally had developed, for their HB-55 and HB-75 MSX1 computers. These systems contained a simple built in program called the "Personal Databank". Memovision was a continuation of the same idea, but much extended, as it contained stuff like a (birthday) calendar with alarm system, a "family databank" (a combination of a text editor and database) a built in calculator and a timer and time calculator, all rendered in pseudo 3D
2.5D
2.5D , 3/4 perspective and pseudo-3D are terms used to describe either:* 2D graphical projections and techniques which cause a series of images or scenes to fake or appear to be three-dimensional when in fact they are not, or* gameplay in an otherwise three-dimensional video game that is...
style.
Variants
Of the HB-F9 there were many different localized variants produced:- HB-F9P, with QWERTYQWERTYQWERTY is the most common modern-day keyboard layout. The name comes from the first six letters appearing in the topleft letter row of the keyboard, read left to right: Q-W-E-R-T-Y. The QWERTY design is based on a layout created for the Sholes and Glidden typewriter and sold to Remington in the...
-keyboard layoutKeyboard layoutA keyboard layout is any specific mechanical, visual, or functional arrangement of the keys, legends, or key–meaning associations of a computer, typewriter, or other typographic keyboard....
was designed for the PAL-standard, and meant for European countries, except GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and the former Soviet UnionSoviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. - HB-F9P, had a Russian keyboard.
- HB-F9D, had a QWERTZQWERTZthumb|175px|A computer QWERTZ keyboardThe QWERTZ or QWERTZU keyboard is a widely used computer and typewriter keyboard layout that is mostly used in Central Europe...
-keyboard for the German market - HB-F9F, had an AZERTYAZERTYAZERTY is a specific layout for the characters of the Latin alphabet on typewriter keys and computer keyboards. The layout takes its name from the first six letters to appear on the first row of alphabetical keys...
-keyboard for the French market, and was designed for the SECAMSECAMSECAM, also written SÉCAM , is an analog color television system first used in France....
-standard. - HB-F9S, had a modified QWERTY-keyboard for the Spanish market.
Technical specifications
Processor- SharpSharp Corporationis a Japanese multinational corporation that designs and manufactures electronic products. Headquartered in Abeno-ku, Osaka, Japan, Sharp employs more than 55,580 people worldwide as of June 2011. The company was founded in September 1912 and takes its name from one of its founder's first...
LH-0080 or NEC µPD780C
memory
- ROM: 96 KB
- MSX BASIC version 2.0: 48 KB
- software suite: 48 KB
- RAM
- VRAMVRAMVideo RAM, or VRAM, is a dual-ported variant of dynamic RAM , which was once commonly used to store the framebuffer in some graphics adapters....
: 128 KB - main memory: 128 KB
- VRAM
Video
- VDPVideo Display ControllerA Video Display Controller or VDC is an integrated circuit which is the main component in a video signal generator, a device responsible for the production of a TV video signal in a computing or game system...
- Yamaha V9938Yamaha V9938The Yamaha V9938 is a Video Display Controller used in the Geneve 9640 enhanced TI-99/4A clone, as well as MSX 80s home computers ....
- text: 80×24, 40×24 en 32×24 (characters per line × lines) four colors, two foreground colors and two background colors
- graphical: maximal 512×212 pixels (16 colors of 512) and 256×212 (256 colors)
- colors: 512 maximal
- Yamaha V9938
Engine
- MSX-EngineMSX-EngineAn MSX-ENGINE chip is a specially developed integrated circuit for home computers that are built according to the MSX specifications.Generally, such a chip combines the functions of many separate, older/simpler chips into one...
: S-1985 - real-time clock with trickle-charged battery backup
sound
- Yamaha YM2149 PSGProgrammable sound generatorA Programmable Sound Generator is a sound chip that generates sound waves by synthesizing multiple basic waveforms, and often some kind of noise generator, and combining and mixing these waveforms into a complex waveform, then shaping the amplitude of the resulting waveform using...
- 3 sound channels and one noise channel
- 8 octaves
Interfaces
- power cord
- RF-output
- CVBSComposite videoComposite video is the format of an analog television signal before it is combined with a sound signal and modulated onto an RF carrier. In contrast to component video it contains all required video information, including colors in a single line-level signal...
monitor - luminanceLuminanceLuminance is a photometric measure of the luminous intensity per unit area of light travelling in a given direction. It describes the amount of light that passes through or is emitted from a particular area, and falls within a given solid angle. The SI unit for luminance is candela per square...
output - monochrome switch
- headset sound output
- data-recorder I/O (1200/2400 baudBaudIn telecommunications and electronics, baud is synonymous to symbols per second or pulses per second. It is the unit of symbol rate, also known as baud rate or modulation rate; the number of distinct symbol changes made to the transmission medium per second in a digitally modulated signal or a...
) - 1 general purpose expansion connector
- printerPrinterPrinter may refer to:* Printer , a person or a company* Printer , a hardware device* Optical printer for motion picture films* The Moscow subway station Pechatniki, whose name means "Printers"...
- keyboardKeyboard (computing)In computing, a keyboard is a typewriter-style keyboard, which uses an arrangement of buttons or keys, to act as mechanical levers or electronic switches...
- 2 joystickJoystickA joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. Joysticks, also known as 'control columns', are the principal control in the cockpit of many civilian and military aircraft, either as a center stick or...
s - 2 cartridge slots