List of home computers by video hardware
Encyclopedia
This is a list of home computers, sorted alphanumeric
ally, which lists all relevant details of their video hardware
.
A home computer
was the description of the second generation of desktop computers, entering the market in 1977 and becoming common during the 1980s. A decade later they were generally replaced by IBM PC compatible
"PCs", although in actuality home computers are also members of the class known as personal computers.
Examples of typical early home computers are the BBC Micro
, the ZX Spectrum
, the MSX 1, the Amstrad CPC 464 and the Commodore 64
.
Examples of typical late home computers are MSX 2 systems, and the Amiga
and Atari ST
systems.
Note: in cases of manufacturers who have made both home
and personal computer
s, only machines fitting into the home computer category are listed. Systems in the personal computer category, except for Early Macintosh personal computers, are generally all based on the VGA standard, and use a video chip known as a Graphics processing unit
. Although very early PCs used one of the much simpler (even compared to most home computer video hardware) video display controller cards, using standards such as the MDA, Hercules Graphics Card
, CGA
and EGA
standard). Only after the introduction of the VGA standard could PCs really compete with the home computers of the same era, such as the Amiga and Atari ST, or even with the MSX-2. Also not listed are systems that are typically only gaming systems, like the Atari 2600
and the Bally Astrocade
, even though these systems could sometimes be upgraded to resemble a home computer.
, the Z80, or the 6809
microprocessor. They could have only as little as 1 KB
of RAM or as much as 128K, and they could use a small 4K BASIC
interpreter, or an extended 12K or more BASIC. So the basic systems were quite similar, except for one part of the system, the video display hardware. Some systems proved to be much more successful than others, and careful observers will see that the most successful systems had the most capable video hardware. The reason for that is that the success of the home computer was mostly determined by the kind of games you could play on it.
If you wanted to run a nice video game on a home computer, all the other specifications of the system, such as the CPU, the kind of BASIC, even to a degree how much memory the system had (if at least 32K or more) did not matter as much. What mattered most was what kind of picture could be put on the screen, and how easy or hard it was for a programmer to get enough capabilities out of the video hardware to create the effects necessary for the game.
A case in point is the Commodore 64
. Its microprocessor lacked advanced math functions and was relatively slow. In addition, the built-in BASIC interpreter lacked any sort of graphics commands, as it was the same version that was developed for the Commodore PET
(a computer without any high resolution graphics capabilities at all). However, these drawbacks were of little consequence, because the C64 had the VIC-II chip. When accessed by machine language programs, the graphic capabilities of this chip made it possible to develop games that surpassed everything that other systems of the time had. Additionally the design of the VIC II chip allowed for many special tricks to draw even better pictures out of the VIC II chip. The comparatively large memory and the audio capabilities of the C64 also lent themselves well toward the production of desirable games.
A negative example was the Aquarius
by Mattel
which had such incredible limited video hardware (for the time period) that it was retracted from the market after only four months due to bad sales.
for the VDU and RAM was hard to implement because the logic circuits, and video memory chips of the time did not have the switching speed they have now. For higher resolutions the logic and the memory chips were barely fast enough to support reading the display data, let alone for dedicating half the available time for the slow 8-bit CPU. That said, there was one system, the Apple II
, that was one of the first to use a feature of the data-bus logic of the 6502
processor to implement a very early interleaving time slot mechanism to eliminate this problem.
Most other systems used a much simpler approach, and the TRS-80
's video logic was so primitive that it simply did not have any bus arbitration at all. The CPU had access to the video memory at all times. Writing to the video RAM simply disabled the video display logic. The result was that the screen often displayed random horizontal black stripes on the screen when there was heavy access to the video ram, like during a video game
.
Most systems avoided the problem by having a status register
that the CPU could read, and which showed when the CPU could safely write to the video memory. That was possible because a composite video
signal blanks the video output signal during the "blanking periods" of the horizontal and especially the long vertical
video sync
pulses. So by simply waiting for the next blanking period the stripes could be avoided. This approach did have one disadvantage, it relied on the software not to write to the screen during the non-blanking periods. If the software ignored the status register the stripes would re-appear. Another approach, used by most other machines of the time, was to temporarily stop the CPU using the "WAIT/BUSRQ" (Z80) "WAIT" (6809
) or "SYNC" (6502) control signal whenever the CPU tried to write to the screen during a non-blanking period. Yet another, more advanced, solution was to add a hardware FIFO
so that the CPU could write to the FIFO instead of directly to the RAM chips, which were updated from the FIFO during a blanking interval by special logic circuitry. Some later systems started using special "two port" video memory, called VRAM
, that had independent data output pins for the CPU interface and the Video logic.
Systems in the first category were the most flexible, and could offer a wide ranges of (sometimes unique) capabilities, but generally speaking the second category could offer a much more complex system for a comparable lower price.
Note that for completeness, systems that did not really have "Video" hardware in the conventional sense, but used 7-segment displays as a visual output device have been included.
The VDC based systems can be divided into four sub-categories.
a "-" in a table cell means that the answer is irrelevant, unknown or in another way has no meaning, for example the sprite size of a system that does not support hardware sprites.
a "?" in a table cell means that the entry has not yet been determined. if a ? follows an entry it means that other options than the listed ones may also exist
"Mono" in a table cell means monochrome
that is for example black on white, or black on green.
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;"
!System name || Year || Chip name || Video RAM || Text mode(s) || Font extras || soft fonts || text colors || graphics modes || graphics colors || color resolution || palette support ||HW accel|| Sprite details ||unique features
|-
|}
At the moment there are no systems that could not be classified.
Alphanumeric
Alphanumeric is a combination of alphabetic and numeric characters, and is used to describe the collection of Latin letters and Arabic digits or a text constructed from this collection. There are either 36 or 62 alphanumeric characters. The alphanumeric character set consists of the numbers 0 to...
ally, which lists all relevant details of their video hardware
Video Display Controller
A 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...
.
A home computer
Home computer
Home computers were a class of microcomputers entering the market in 1977, and becoming increasingly common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user...
was the description of the second generation of desktop computers, entering the market in 1977 and becoming common during the 1980s. A decade later they were generally replaced by IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to...
"PCs", although in actuality home computers are also members of the class known as personal computers.
Examples of typical early home computers are the BBC Micro
BBC Micro
The BBC Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, was a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers for the BBC Computer Literacy Project, operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation...
, the ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
, the MSX 1, the Amstrad CPC 464 and the Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
.
Examples of typical late home computers are MSX 2 systems, and the Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
and Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
systems.
Note: in cases of manufacturers who have made both home
Home computer
Home computers were a class of microcomputers entering the market in 1977, and becoming increasingly common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user...
and personal computer
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
s, only machines fitting into the home computer category are listed. Systems in the personal computer category, except for Early Macintosh personal computers, are generally all based on the VGA standard, and use a video chip known as a Graphics processing unit
Graphics processing unit
A graphics processing unit or GPU is a specialized circuit designed to rapidly manipulate and alter memory in such a way so as to accelerate the building of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display...
. Although very early PCs used one of the much simpler (even compared to most home computer video hardware) video display controller cards, using standards such as the MDA, Hercules Graphics Card
Hercules Graphics Card
The Hercules Graphics Card was a computer graphics controller made by Hercules Computer Technology, Inc. which, through its popularity, became a widely supported display standard. It was common on IBM PC compatibles connected to a monochrome monitor . It supported one high resolution text mode and...
, CGA
Color Graphics Adapter
The Color Graphics Adapter , originally also called the Color/Graphics Adapter or IBM Color/Graphics Monitor Adapter, introduced in 1981, was IBM's first color graphics card, and the first color computer display standard for the IBM PC....
and EGA
Enhanced Graphics Adapter
The Enhanced Graphics Adapter is the IBM PC computer display standard specification which is between CGA and VGA in terms of color and space resolution. Introduced in October 1984 by IBM shortly after its new PC/AT, EGA produces a display of 16 simultaneous colors from a palette of 64 at a...
standard). Only after the introduction of the VGA standard could PCs really compete with the home computers of the same era, such as the Amiga and Atari ST, or even with the MSX-2. Also not listed are systems that are typically only gaming systems, like the Atari 2600
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...
and the Bally Astrocade
Bally Astrocade
The Astrocade is an early video game console and simple computer system designed by a team at Midway, the videogame division of Bally. It was marketed only for a limited time before Bally decided to exit the market. The rights were later picked up by a third-party company, who re-released it and...
, even though these systems could sometimes be upgraded to resemble a home computer.
The importance of having capable video hardware
Early home computers all had quite similar hardware, mostly using the 6502MOS Technology 6502
The MOS Technology 6502 is an 8-bit microprocessor that was designed by Chuck Peddle and Bill Mensch for MOS Technology in 1975. When it was introduced, it was the least expensive full-featured microprocessor on the market by a considerable margin, costing less than one-sixth the price of...
, the Z80, or the 6809
Motorola 6809
The Motorola 6809 is an 8-bit microprocessor CPU from Motorola, designed by Terry Ritter and Joel Boney and introduced 1978...
microprocessor. They could have only as little as 1 KB
Kilobyte
The kilobyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. Although the prefix kilo- means 1000, the term kilobyte and symbol KB have historically been used to refer to either 1024 bytes or 1000 bytes, dependent upon context, in the fields of computer science and information...
of RAM or as much as 128K, and they could use a small 4K BASIC
BASIC
BASIC is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages whose design philosophy emphasizes ease of use - the name is an acronym from Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code....
interpreter, or an extended 12K or more BASIC. So the basic systems were quite similar, except for one part of the system, the video display hardware. Some systems proved to be much more successful than others, and careful observers will see that the most successful systems had the most capable video hardware. The reason for that is that the success of the home computer was mostly determined by the kind of games you could play on it.
If you wanted to run a nice video game on a home computer, all the other specifications of the system, such as the CPU, the kind of BASIC, even to a degree how much memory the system had (if at least 32K or more) did not matter as much. What mattered most was what kind of picture could be put on the screen, and how easy or hard it was for a programmer to get enough capabilities out of the video hardware to create the effects necessary for the game.
A case in point is the Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
. Its microprocessor lacked advanced math functions and was relatively slow. In addition, the built-in BASIC interpreter lacked any sort of graphics commands, as it was the same version that was developed for the Commodore PET
Commodore PET
The Commodore PET was a home/personal computer produced from 1977 by Commodore International...
(a computer without any high resolution graphics capabilities at all). However, these drawbacks were of little consequence, because the C64 had the VIC-II chip. When accessed by machine language programs, the graphic capabilities of this chip made it possible to develop games that surpassed everything that other systems of the time had. Additionally the design of the VIC II chip allowed for many special tricks to draw even better pictures out of the VIC II chip. The comparatively large memory and the audio capabilities of the C64 also lent themselves well toward the production of desirable games.
A negative example was the Aquarius
Mattel Aquarius
Aquarius is a home computer designed by Radofin and released by Mattel in 1983. It features a Zilog Z80 microprocessor, a rubber chiclet keyboard, 4K of RAM, and a subset of Microsoft BASIC in ROM. It connects to a television set and uses a cassette tape recorder for secondary data storage...
by Mattel
Mattel
Mattel, Inc. is the world's largest toy company based on revenue. The products it produces include Fisher Price, Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels and Matchbox toys, Masters of the Universe, American Girl dolls, board games, and, in the early 1980s, video game consoles. The company's name is derived from...
which had such incredible limited video hardware (for the time period) that it was retracted from the market after only four months due to bad sales.
Video Arbitration Logic
One major problem that early computer video hardware had to overcome was the Video bus arbitration problem. The problem was to give the video hardware (VDU) continuous read access to the video RAM, while at the same time the CPU also had to access the same RAM. The obvious solution, using interleaving time slotsTime-division multiplexing
Time-division multiplexing is a type of digital multiplexing in which two or more bit streams or signals are transferred apparently simultaneously as sub-channels in one communication channel, but are physically taking turns on the channel. The time domain is divided into several recurrent...
for the VDU and RAM was hard to implement because the logic circuits, and video memory chips of the time did not have the switching speed they have now. For higher resolutions the logic and the memory chips were barely fast enough to support reading the display data, let alone for dedicating half the available time for the slow 8-bit CPU. That said, there was one system, the Apple II
Apple II
The Apple II is an 8-bit home computer, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977...
, that was one of the first to use a feature of the data-bus logic of the 6502
MOS Technology 6502
The MOS Technology 6502 is an 8-bit microprocessor that was designed by Chuck Peddle and Bill Mensch for MOS Technology in 1975. When it was introduced, it was the least expensive full-featured microprocessor on the market by a considerable margin, costing less than one-sixth the price of...
processor to implement a very early interleaving time slot mechanism to eliminate this problem.
Most other systems used a much simpler approach, and the TRS-80
TRS-80
TRS-80 was Tandy Corporation's desktop microcomputer model line, sold through Tandy's Radio Shack stores in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The first units, ordered unseen, were delivered in November 1977, and rolled out to the stores the third week of December. The line won popularity with...
's video logic was so primitive that it simply did not have any bus arbitration at all. The CPU had access to the video memory at all times. Writing to the video RAM simply disabled the video display logic. The result was that the screen often displayed random horizontal black stripes on the screen when there was heavy access to the video ram, like during a video game
Snake (video game)
Snake is a video game that originated during the late 1970s in arcades and has maintained popularity since then, becoming something of a classic...
.
Most systems avoided the problem by having a status register
Device register
A Device Register is the view any device presents to a programmer.Each programmable bit in the device is presented with a logical address and it appears as a part of a byte in the device registers...
that the CPU could read, and which showed when the CPU could safely write to the video memory. That was possible because a composite video
Composite video
Composite 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...
signal blanks the video output signal during the "blanking periods" of the horizontal and especially the long vertical
Vertical blanking interval
The vertical blanking interval , also known as the vertical interval or VBLANK, is the time difference between the last line of one frame or field of a raster display, and the beginning of the first line of the next frame. It is present in analog television, VGA, DVI and other signals. During the...
video sync
Synchronization
Synchronization is timekeeping which requires the coordination of events to operate a system in unison. The familiar conductor of an orchestra serves to keep the orchestra in time....
pulses. So by simply waiting for the next blanking period the stripes could be avoided. This approach did have one disadvantage, it relied on the software not to write to the screen during the non-blanking periods. If the software ignored the status register the stripes would re-appear. Another approach, used by most other machines of the time, was to temporarily stop the CPU using the "WAIT/BUSRQ" (Z80) "WAIT" (6809
Motorola 6809
The Motorola 6809 is an 8-bit microprocessor CPU from Motorola, designed by Terry Ritter and Joel Boney and introduced 1978...
) or "SYNC" (6502) control signal whenever the CPU tried to write to the screen during a non-blanking period. Yet another, more advanced, solution was to add a hardware FIFO
FIFO
FIFO is an acronym for First In, First Out, an abstraction related to ways of organizing and manipulation of data relative to time and prioritization...
so that the CPU could write to the FIFO instead of directly to the RAM chips, which were updated from the FIFO during a blanking interval by special logic circuitry. Some later systems started using special "two port" video memory, called VRAM
VRAM
Video RAM, or VRAM, is a dual-ported variant of dynamic RAM , which was once commonly used to store the framebuffer in some graphics adapters....
, that had independent data output pins for the CPU interface and the Video logic.
The main classes of video hardware
There are two main categories of solutions for a home computer to generate a video signal.- a custom design, either build from discrete logicLogic gateA logic gate is an idealized or physical device implementing a Boolean function, that is, it performs a logical operation on one or more logic inputs and produces a single logic output. Depending on the context, the term may refer to an ideal logic gate, one that has for instance zero rise time and...
chips, or with some kind of Programmable logic deviceProgrammable logic deviceA programmable logic device or PLD is an electronic component used to build reconfigurable digital circuits. Unlike a logic gate, which has a fixed function, a PLD has an undefined function at the time of manufacture...
. - a system using some form of Video Display ControllerVideo 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...
(VDC), a VLSIVery-large-scale integrationVery-large-scale integration is the process of creating integrated circuits by combining thousands of transistors into a single chip. VLSI began in the 1970s when complex semiconductor and communication technologies were being developed. The microprocessor is a VLSI device.The first semiconductor...
chip that contained most of the logic circuitry needed to generate the video signal.
Systems in the first category were the most flexible, and could offer a wide ranges of (sometimes unique) capabilities, but generally speaking the second category could offer a much more complex system for a comparable lower price.
Note that for completeness, systems that did not really have "Video" hardware in the conventional sense, but used 7-segment displays as a visual output device have been included.
The VDC based systems can be divided into four sub-categories.
- Simple video shift register based solutions, have a simple "video shifter chip", and the main CPU doing most of the complex stuff. Only one example of such a chip for a home computer exists, the RCA CDP1861 used in the COSMAC VIPCOSMAC VIPThe COSMAC VIP was an early microcomputer that was aimed at video games. For a price of US$275, it could be purchased from RCA by mail order. It came in kit form, and had to be assembled. Its dimensions were 22 x 28 cm, and it had a RCA 1802 processor; along with a crystal clock operating at 1.76...
. It could only create a very low resolution monochrome graphic screen. The chip in the Sinclair ZX-81 also is a video shifter, but is not a dedicated chip but a programmable chip, a ULAGate arrayA gate array or uncommitted logic array is an approach to the design and manufacture of application-specific integrated circuits...
. The CDP1861 however was specially designed for this task only. Dedicated Video shifter chips did have some use in very early game systems, most notable the Television Interface AdapterTelevision Interface AdapterThe Television Interface Adaptor is the custom computer chip that is the heart of the Atari 2600 game console, generating the screen display, sound effects, and reading input controllers. Its design was widely affected by an attempt to reduce the amount of RAM needed to operate the display...
chip in the Atari 2600Atari 2600The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...
. Note that although one of the chips in an Atari STAtari STThe Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
is also called a "video shift register" it does not fall into this class, mainly because the IC's in this class depend on the main CPU to feed them with picture data. They do nothing more than generate the sync signals and convert parallel data into a serial video data stream. The Atari ST's chip used a DMA system to read out video data independent of the main CPU, and contained a palette RAM, and resolution/color mode switching logic. - CRTC (Cathode Ray Tube Controller) based solutions. A CRTC is a chip that generates most of the basic timing and control signals. It must be complemented with some "Video RAM" and some other logic for the "arbitration", so that the CPU and the CRTC chip can share access to this RAM. To complete the design, a CRTC chip also needs some other support logic. For example a ROM containing the bitmapBitmapIn computer graphics, a bitmap or pixmap is a type of memory organization or image file format used to store digital images. The term bitmap comes from the computer programming terminology, meaning just a map of bits, a spatially mapped array of bits. Now, along with pixmap, it commonly refers to...
fontFontIn typography, a font is traditionally defined as a quantity of sorts composing a complete character set of a single size and style of a particular typeface...
for text modeText modeText mode is a kind of computer display mode in which the content of the screen is internally represented in terms of characters rather than individual pixels. Typically, the screen consists of a uniform rectangular grid of character cells, each of which contains one of the characters of a...
s, and logic to convert the output from the system into a video signal. - Video interface controllers were a step up on the ladder, these were true VLSI chips that integrated all of the logic that was in a typical CRTC based system, plus a lot more, into a single chip. The VIC-II chip is probably the best known chip of this category.
- Video co-processor chips are Video interface controllers that can manipulate, and/or interprete and display, the contents of their own dedicated Video RAM without intervention from the main CPU.
Explanation of the terms used in the tables
- System Name, the name of the system, or if there are many similar versions, the name of the most well known variant, see Notes.
- Year the year that the first version of this system came on the market.
- Chip name the name of the chip that was used as the basis for the video logic.
- Video RAM the maximum amount of RAM used for the video display, depending on the resolution used the system may use less.
- Text modeText modeText mode is a kind of computer display mode in which the content of the screen is internally represented in terms of characters rather than individual pixels. Typically, the screen consists of a uniform rectangular grid of character cells, each of which contains one of the characters of a...
(s) The numbers of characters per line and lines of text the system supported. Sometimes more than one mode was possible - Font extras describes extra graphical possibilities a video system had because of optional features of their character sets, there are currently three categories:
- LC Some systems could only display upper case characters in text mode because of their limited character set, If a system was able to also support lower case letters in a text mode, (in any highres mode it is of course always possible), then there is LC (for Lower Case} in this column.
- BG Some systems used a matrix of blocky pixels instead of a letterText semigraphicsText semigraphics is a primitive method used in early video hardware to emulate per pixel addressable graphics without having to implement the logic for a true "high resolution" mode....
in their font sets (or used dedicated hardware to emulate them, like the TRS-80TRS-80TRS-80 was Tandy Corporation's desktop microcomputer model line, sold through Tandy's Radio Shack stores in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The first units, ordered unseen, were delivered in November 1977, and rolled out to the stores the third week of December. The line won popularity with...
did), to support some sort of all points addressableAll Points AddressableAll Points Addressable , in the context of a video monitor, dot matrix or any display device consisting of a pixel array, refers to an arrangement bits or cells which can be individually manipulated, as opposed to rewriting the whole array every time a pixel changes.Generally, text modes are not...
(APA) mode. Its hard to call this a "high resolution" mode, because the resolution could be as low as 80x48 pixels, but in any case you could draw pictures with them. In case of systems that used such a system as its "APA" mode there is BG (for Block Graphics) in this column. - SG Some other systems used semi graphical charactersSemi graphical charactersSemi graphical characters are characters in a font that are intended to give the impression that a system can support high resolution graphics, while in fact it cannot....
like box-drawing characters dots and card symbolsSuit (cards)In playing cards, a suit is one of several categories into which the cards of a deck are divided. Most often, each card bears one of several symbols showing to which suit it belongs; the suit may alternatively or in addition be indicated by the color printed on the card...
, and "graphical building block" geometric shapes such as triangles to give the system the appearance it could do high resolution graphics while in reality it could not, Systems like that have SG (for semi graphical characters) in this column. Many systems like the PET had a few of such characters dedicated to block graphics for an APA mode as well, often only for 2x2 matrix characters. Sometimes the system filled (or could fill) a reprogrammable section of the font set which such characters, these systems mainly fall under the "soft font" heading. Note that the BG and SG entries are only used when the system relied on them, had them predefined in its default character set, or, (what often happened on early systems) had them printed on the keyboard keys for direct entry in combination with some kind of "graphic shift" key. - Soft Font when the system had a programmable font RAM instead of a static "font ROM", or when the video system did not have a hardware text modeText modeText mode is a kind of computer display mode in which the content of the screen is internally represented in terms of characters rather than individual pixels. Typically, the screen consists of a uniform rectangular grid of character cells, each of which contains one of the characters of a...
, but painted text in the highres screen using software, the video display wasn't dependent on a permanent font set, in this case we are talking about a system with a "soft" font. - text colors The number of colors the characters could have. If more than one text mode is supported the text colors column also lists the same numbers in the same order.
- Graphics modes The number of horizontal and Vertical pixels the system could display in a High resolution mode, where several high resolution modes exist each one is listed separately.
- Graphics colors The number of colors each pixel could have in High resolution mode, If more than one high resolution mode is supported the graphics color mode also lists the numbers in the same order.
- Color resolution in "high resolution mode" it was often the case that a certain pixel could not be given an arbitrary color, often certain clusters of pixels shared the same "color attribute", so as to spare video memory, as a 8-bit computer only had a 64 KB address space, and the CPU often had limited capabilities to manipulate video memory, therefore it was often necessary to keep the video RAM size as small as possible, so a minimum of the address space of the micro was used, and also the video content could be changed relatively rapidly.
- Palette Support If the system could translate a "logical color" into a (larger number) or true colors using a palette mechanismPalette (computing)In computer graphics, a palette is either a given, finite set of colors for the management of digital images , or a small on-screen graphical element for choosing from a limited set of choices, not necessarily colors .Depending on the context In computer graphics, a palette is either a given,...
then this column lists the number of logical colors the palette could accept, and the number of colors it could translate to. - HW accel short for Hardware accelerationHardware accelerationIn computing, Hardware acceleration is the use of computer hardware to perform some function faster than is possible in software running on the general-purpose CPU...
can take several forms, the most obvious form is "bit blittingBit blitBit BLIT is a computer graphics operation in which several bitmaps are combined into one using a raster operator....
", that is the moving of groups of pixels from one place in video memory to another without the CPU doing any of the moving, another often used technique is hardware scrolling which in fact emulates moving the whole screen in the video ram, a third form of hardware acceleration is the use of sprites implemented in hardware. Some systems also supported drawing lines (and sometimes rectangles) using special line drawing hardware. The entry in the column reveals which methods the hardware supported with a two letters for each method. - BL for blitterBlitterIn a computer system, a blitter is a circuit, sometimes as a coprocessor or a logic block on a microprocessor, that is dedicated to the rapid movement and modification of data within that computer's memory...
- SC for hardware scrollingScrollingIn computer graphics, filmmaking, television production, and other kinetic displays, scrolling is sliding text, images or video across a monitor or display. "Scrolling", as such, does not change the layout of the text or pictures, or but incrementally moves the user's view across what is...
support - SP for hardware spriteSprite (computer graphics)In computer graphics, a sprite is a two-dimensional image or animation that is integrated into a larger scene...
support - DR for hardware supported line drawingBresenham's line algorithmThe Bresenham line algorithm is an algorithm which determines which points in an n-dimensional raster should be plotted in order to form a close approximation to a straight line between two given points...
- Sprite details covers three facets of the sprite support hardware the system used. Each number in the table cell is preceded by two letters.
- S# for the first facet, is the total number of hardware sprites the system could support, in hardware (not counting re-use of the same hardware). if the system doesn't support hardware sprites at all the table cell only contains "-" .
- SS for the second facet, is the size of the sprite in screen pixels'. A sprite could be displayed by the hardware, as a matrix of horizontal by vertical pixels. If more than one sprite size mode is available each one is listed.
- SC for the third facet, is the number of Sprite colors, it gives the number of colors that a sprite could have. It is about the total number of colors that could be used to define the sprite (transparent NOT included), so if a sprite could only be displayed as a figure in a single color the number is 1. If more than one sprite size mode is available each one is listed.
- SP for the forth facet, is the number of Sprites per scanline. Hardware spites use a kind of Z-buffer to determine which sprite is "on top". Availability of hardware to do this limits the number of sprites that can be displayed on each scanlineScan lineA scan line or scanline is one line, or row, in a raster scanning pattern, such as a line of video on a cathode ray tube display of a television set or computer monitor....
. This number tells how many sprites could be displayed on a scanline before one of them became invisible because of hardware limitations. - Unique features If the video display has unique features (or limitations) they will be listed here, if space is a limitation the remaining special features are expressed as notes.
a "-" in a table cell means that the answer is irrelevant, unknown or in another way has no meaning, for example the sprite size of a system that does not support hardware sprites.
a "?" in a table cell means that the entry has not yet been determined. if a ? follows an entry it means that other options than the listed ones may also exist
"Mono" in a table cell means monochrome
Monochrome
Monochrome describes paintings, drawings, design, or photographs in one color or shades of one color. A monochromatic object or image has colors in shades of limited colors or hues. Images using only shades of grey are called grayscale or black-and-white...
that is for example black on white, or black on green.
Systems using discrete logic
| System name | Year | Chip name | Video RAM | Text mode(s) | Font extras | soft fonts | text colors | graphics modes | graphics colors | color resolution | palette support | HW accel | Sprite details | unique features |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aamber Pegasus Aamber Pegasus thumb|300px|The 1981 Technosys Aamber Pegasus shown here in its suitcase style cardboard case.thumb|300px|Aamber Pegasus PCB with MONITOR 1.0, FORTH 1.1A and FORTH 1.1B EPROMs installed.... |
1981 | |||||||||||||
| 512 Bytes | 32x16 | LC | Yes | Mono | Programmable characters | Mono | - | None | ||||||
| Software driven video generation | ||||||||||||||
| ABC80 ABC80 The ABC 80 was a home computer engineered by the Swedish corporation Dataindustrier AB and manufactured by Luxor in Motala, Sweden in the late 1970s and early 1980s... |
1978 | |||||||||||||
| 1K | 40x24 | LC, BG | ||||||||||||
| Mono | 78 x 72 | Mono | - | |||||||||||
| Videotex Videotex Videotex was one of the earliest implementations of an "end-user information system". From the late 1970s to mid-1980s, it was used to deliver information to a user in computer-like format, typically to be displayed on a television.In a strict definition, videotex refers to systems that provide... (Prestel Prestel Prestel , the brand name for the UK Post Office's Viewdata technology, was an interactive videotex system developed during the late 1970s and commercially launched in 1979... ) support |
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| Acorn system 1 Acorn System 1 The Acorn System 1, initially called the Acorn Microcomputer , was an early 8-bit microcomputer for hobbyists, based on the MOS 6502 CPU, and produced by British company Acorn Computers from 1979.... |
1979 | |||||||||||||
| - | 9 x 1 | |||||||||||||
| nine 7 segment displays | ||||||||||||||
| Apple I Apple I The original Apple Computer, also known retroactively as the Apple I, or Apple-1, is a personal computer released by the Apple Computer Company in 1976. They were designed and hand-built by Steve Wozniak. Wozniak's friend Steve Jobs had the idea of selling the computer... |
1976 | |||||||||||||
| 729 Bytes | 40x24 | |||||||||||||
| Mono | None | Mono | ||||||||||||
| Dumb terminal | ||||||||||||||
| Apple II Apple II The Apple II is an 8-bit home computer, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977... |
1977 | |||||||||||||
| 18K | 40x24 | |||||||||||||
| Mono | 40x48, 280x192 | 15, 6 | 180x192 | None | ||||||||||
| 4 line "caption" | ||||||||||||||
| Apple III Apple III The Apple III is a business-oriented personal computer produced and released by Apple Computer that was intended as the successor to the Apple II series, but largely considered a failure in the market. Development work on the Apple III started in late 1978 under the guidance of Dr. Wendell Sander... |
1980 | |||||||||||||
| 64K | 40x24, 80x24 | LC | - | 16 | 280x192, 560x192 | 16, 2 | ? | |||||||
| ? | ||||||||||||||
| 228 programmable characters | ||||||||||||||
| Commodore PET Commodore PET The Commodore PET was a home/personal computer produced from 1977 by Commodore International... |
1977 | |||||||||||||
| 1000 Bytes | 40x25 | BG, SG | ||||||||||||
| Mono | pseudo graphic characters | Mono | - | |||||||||||
| 9" Mono monitor, non ASCII ASCII The American Standard Code for Information Interchange is a character-encoding scheme based on the ordering of the English alphabet. ASCII codes represent text in computers, communications equipment, and other devices that use text... (PETSCII PETSCII PETSCII , also known as CBM ASCII, is the variation of the ASCII character set used in Commodore Business Machines 's 8-bit home computers, starting with the PET from 1977 and including the VIC-20, C64, CBM-II, Plus/4, C16, C116 and C128... ) character set. |
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| Compukit UK101 Compukit UK101 The Compukit UK101 microcomputer was a kit clone of the Ohio Scientific Superboard II single-board computer, with a few enhancements for the UK market - notably replacing the 24×24 screen display with a more useful 48×16 layout working at UK video frequencies. The video output was black and white... |
1979 | - | 768 Bytes | 48x16 | LC SG | No | Mono | None | Mono | - | None | - | - | 256 character font |
| DAI Personal Computer DAI Personal Computer The DAI personal computer is a rare, early home computer from the Belgian company Data Applications International. The DAI came to market in 1980. It provided many pioneering features such as high resolution color graphics, a maths co-processor, and a pre-compiling BASIC interpreter... |
1979 | |||||||||||||
| 32K | 24x60 4x60 | LC | - | 4 or 16 | 65x88, 130x176, 260x352 | 4 or 16 | 65x88, 130x176, 260x352 | 4 of 16 | ||||||
| split screen text graphics mode | ||||||||||||||
| Datapoint 2200 Datapoint 2200 The Datapoint 2200 was a mass-produced programmable terminal, designed by Phil Ray and Gus Roche, announced by Computer Terminal Corporation in June, 1970... |
1971 | |||||||||||||
| 840 Bytes | 80x12 | LC | - | Mono | None | Mono | - | - | ||||||
| Shift registers for RAM | ||||||||||||||
| Exidy Sorcerer Exidy Sorcerer The Sorcerer was one of the early home computer systems, released in 1978 by the videogame company, Exidy. It was comparatively advanced when released, especially when compared to the contemporary more commercially-orientated Commodore PET and TRS-80, but due to a number of problems including a... |
1978 | |||||||||||||
| 1920 Bytes | 64 x 30 | LC, SG | Yes | Mono | None 512x240 | Mono | ||||||||
| None | ||||||||||||||
| Programmable character set allowed TRS-80 TRS-80 TRS-80 was Tandy Corporation's desktop microcomputer model line, sold through Tandy's Radio Shack stores in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The first units, ordered unseen, were delivered in November 1977, and rolled out to the stores the third week of December. The line won popularity with... and PET Commodore PET The Commodore PET was a home/personal computer produced from 1977 by Commodore International... like graphics |
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| FM-7 FM-7 FM-7 is a home computer released in 1982 in Japan.The Fujitsu FM-7 was Fujitsu's first entry into the Japanese home computer market, and for their debut computer, they chose to come out with a 6809-based personal computer very similar to Radio Shack's Color Computer.-Hardware:*Two MC 68B09 CPUs @... |
1982 | |||||||||||||
| 48K | 80x25, 80x20, 40x25, 40x20 | LC | ||||||||||||
| 8 | 640x200 | 8 | ||||||||||||
| None | ? | |||||||||||||
| 640x200x8 colors without color limitations | ||||||||||||||
| Galaksija Galaksija The Galaksija was originally a build-it-yourself computer designed by Voja Antonić. It was featured in the special edition Računari u vašoj kući of a popular eponymous science magazine, published late December 1983 in Belgrade, Yugoslavia... |
1983 | |||||||||||||
| 512 Bytes | 32 x 16 | BG | ||||||||||||
| Mono | 64 x 48 | Mono | ||||||||||||
| None | ||||||||||||||
| All systems were essentially "home built", on a single sided PCB. Like the ZX81 it was software driven. | ||||||||||||||
| Grundy NewBrain Grundy NewBrain The Grundy NewBrain was a microcomputer sold in the early 1980s by Grundy Business Systems Ltd of Teddington and Cambridge, England.- Beginnings :... |
1982 | |||||||||||||
| max 20K | 32×25, 32×30, 40×25, 40×30, 64×25, 64×30, 80×25×2, 80×30×2 | LC, BG | ||||||||||||
| Mono | 256×256, 320×256, 512×256, 640×256 | Mono | ||||||||||||
| None | ? | |||||||||||||
| Built in one line LCD, Videotext Teletext Teletext is a television information retrieval service developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s. It offers a range of text-based information, typically including national, international and sporting news, weather and TV schedules... mode support |
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| Interact Home Computer Interact Home Computer The Interact Home Computer was a rare and very early American home computer made by Interact Co. of Ann Arbor MI. It sold under the name "interact home computer".Only a few thousand were sold before the company went bankrupt... |
1979 | |||||||||||||
| 2184 Bytes | 17 x 12 | |||||||||||||
| 4 | 112 x 78 | 4 | ||||||||||||
| 4 of 8 | ||||||||||||||
| no real text mode, characters drawn by software. | ||||||||||||||
| Panasonic JR-200 Panasonic JR-200 The Panasonic JR-200U was a simple, relatively early , 8-bit home computer with a chiclet keyboard somewhat similar to the VTech Laser 200.Made of silver grey plastic it had a black matte area around the keyboard area... |
1983 | |||||||||||||
| 2K+2K | 32x24 | LC, BG | ||||||||||||
| 8 | 192x256 64x48 | 8 | ||||||||||||
| None | ||||||||||||||
| none | ||||||||||||||
| PMD 85 PMD 85 The PMD 85 was an 8-bit personal computer produced from 1985 by the companies Tesla Piešťany and Bratislava in the former Czechoslovakia.They were deployed en masse in schools throughout Slovakia, while the IQ 151 performed a similar role in Czech part of the country.PMD 85s were famous for their... |
1985 | |||||||||||||
| 9600 Bytes | 48x32 | LC | ||||||||||||
| 4 gray-scales | 288x256 | 4 gray-scales | ||||||||||||
| None | ? | |||||||||||||
| no text modes, only a single 288 x 256 graphics 4 gray-scales mode | ||||||||||||||
| Jupiter Ace Jupiter ACE The Jupiter Ace was a British home computer of the early 1980s, produced by a company, set up for the purpose, named Jupiter Cantab. The Ace differed from other microcomputers of the time in that it used FORTH instead of the more common BASIC.- Introduction :... |
1982 | |||||||||||||
| 2K | 32x24 | LC, BG | ||||||||||||
| Mono | 64x48 | Mono | - | |||||||||||
| none | ||||||||||||||
| KIM-1 KIM-1 The KIM-1, short for Keyboard Input Monitor, was a small 6502-based single-board computer developed and produced by MOS Technology, Inc. and launched in 1976... |
1976 | |||||||||||||
| - | 6 x 1 | - | - | |||||||||||
| 7x6 LED's | - | - | ||||||||||||
| 7 segment display | ||||||||||||||
| LINK 480Z LINK 480Z The LINK 480Z was an 8-bit microcomputer produced by Research Machines Limited in Oxford, England, during the early 1980s.The 480Z used a Z80 microprocessor with up to 256 KB of bank-switched RAM... |
1982 | |||||||||||||
| 2K | 40x25, 80x25 | LC | ||||||||||||
| Mono | None | Mono | - | |||||||||||
| none | ||||||||||||||
| MZ-80K | 1979 | |||||||||||||
| 1000 Bytes | 40x25 | LC, BG, SG | ||||||||||||
| Mono | 80x50 | Mono | ||||||||||||
| None | ||||||||||||||
| many well chosen pseudo-graphics characters | ||||||||||||||
| OSI Superboard II | 1979 | - | 1K | 32x32 | LC SG | No | Mono | None | Mono | - | None | - | - | 256 character font |
| Nascom Nascom The Nascom 1 and 2 were single-board computer kits issued in 1977 and 1979, respectively, based on the Zilog Z80 and including a keyboard and video interface, a serial port that could be used to store data on a tape cassette using the Kansas City standard, and two 8-bit parallel ports... (1&2) |
1977 | |||||||||||||
| 768 Bytes | 48x16 | LC, SG | ||||||||||||
| Mono | none | Mono | ||||||||||||
| None | ||||||||||||||
| None | ||||||||||||||
| Newbear 77-68 | 1977 | |||||||||||||
| 1 Byte | none | |||||||||||||
| 8x1 | ||||||||||||||
| Mono | ||||||||||||||
| Eight LEDs | ||||||||||||||
| SOL-20 | 1976 | - | 1K | 64x16 | LC, SG | No | Mono | None | ||||||
| One of the first systems with built in video hardware | ||||||||||||||
| TRS-80 Model 1 TRS-80 TRS-80 was Tandy Corporation's desktop microcomputer model line, sold through Tandy's Radio Shack stores in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The first units, ordered unseen, were delivered in November 1977, and rolled out to the stores the third week of December. The line won popularity with... |
1977 | |||||||||||||
| 1K | 32x16 64x16 | BG | ||||||||||||
| Mono | 64x48 128x48 | Mono | ||||||||||||
| None | ||||||||||||||
| The canonical system to use Text semigraphics Text semigraphics Text semigraphics is a primitive method used in early video hardware to emulate per pixel addressable graphics without having to implement the logic for a true "high resolution" mode.... |
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| Video Genie Video Genie Video Genie was a series of computers produced by Hong Kong-based manufacturer EACA during the early 1980s. They were compatible with the Tandy TRS-80 Model I computers and could be considered a clone, although there were hardware and software differences.The computers making up the series... |
1980 | |||||||||||||
| 1K | 32x16 64x16 | BG | ||||||||||||
| Mono | 64x48 128x48 | Mono | ||||||||||||
| None | ||||||||||||||
| Clone of TRS-80 | ||||||||||||||
| ZX80 | 1980 | |||||||||||||
| 792 Bytes | 32x24 | BG, SG | ||||||||||||
| Mono | 48 x 64 | Mono | - | |||||||||||
| "slow mode", software generated display | ||||||||||||||
Systems using simple Video Shift Registers
| System name | Year | Chip name | Video RAM | Text mode(s) | Font extras | soft fonts | text colors | graphics modes | graphics colors | color resolution | palette support | HW accel | Sprite details | unique features |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| COSMAC VIP COSMAC VIP The COSMAC VIP was an early microcomputer that was aimed at video games. For a price of US$275, it could be purchased from RCA by mail order. It came in kit form, and had to be assembled. Its dimensions were 22 x 28 cm, and it had a RCA 1802 processor; along with a crystal clock operating at 1.76... |
1977 | CDP 1861 | 256 Bytes ! | None ! | - | - | Yes | 64x32 | Mono | - | - | - | ||
| Incredibly primitive | ||||||||||||||
| Telmac 1800 Telmac 1800 The Telmac 1800 was an early microcomputer delivered in kit form. It was introduced in 1977 by Telercas, the Finnish importer of RCA microchips. Most of the 2,000 kits manufactured were bought by electronics enthusiasts in Finland and Sweden.... |
1977 | CDP 1861 | 256 Bytes | None | - | - | Yes | 64x32 | Mono | - | - | - | - | Incredibly primitive |
| Oscom NANO | 1980 | CDP 1864 | 256 Bytes | None | - | - | Yes | 64x32 | Mono | - | - | |||
| Incredibly primitive | ||||||||||||||
| ETI 660 | 1981 | CDP 1864 | 1.5K | None | - | - | Yes | 64x192 | 8 | - | - | |||
| primitive but supporting color | ||||||||||||||
| Telmac 2000 | 1980 | CDP 1864 | 384 Bytes | None | - | - | Yes | 64x48 | 8 | ? | - | |||
| - | Incredibly primitive but supporting color |
Systems using programmable logic
| System name | Year | Chip name | Video RAM | Text mode(s) | Font extras | soft fonts | text colors | graphics modes | graphics colors | color resolution | palette support | HW accel | Sprite details | unique features | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acorn Electron Acorn Electron The Acorn Electron is a budget version of the BBC Micro educational/home computer made by Acorn Computers Ltd. It has 32 kilobytes of RAM, and its ROM includes BBC BASIC along with its operating system.... |
1983 | ULA Gate array A gate array or uncommitted logic array is an approach to the design and manufacture of application-specific integrated circuits... |
20K (max) | 20×32 40×25 40×32 80×25 80×32 | LC | Yes | 4 or 16, 2 or 4, 2 or 4, 2, 2 | 160×256, 320×256, 640×256, 320×200, 640×200 | 4 or 16, 2 or 4, 2, 2, 2 | 160×256, 320×256, 640×256, 320×200, 640x200 | Yes | - | None | ||
| Elektronika BK Elektronika BK The Elektronika BK was a series of 16-bit PDP-11-compatible Soviet home computers developed by NPO Scientific Center, the leading Soviet microcomputer design team at the time. It was also responsible for the more powerful UKNC and DVK micros... |
1985 | ULA | 16K | 32×25, 64×25 | LC | - | 4, 2 | 256×256, 512×256 | 4, 2 | 256×256, 512×256 | Yes | - | None | ||
| 1985 | ASIC Application-specific integrated circuit An application-specific integrated circuit is an integrated circuit customized for a particular use, rather than intended for general-purpose use. For example, a chip designed solely to run a cell phone is an ASIC... |
23K | 90×32 | LC | Yes | Mono | 720×256 | Monochrome | - | - | S | 0 | - | - | Scroll RAM |
| Mattel Aquarius Mattel Aquarius Aquarius is a home computer designed by Radofin and released by Mattel in 1983. It features a Zilog Z80 microprocessor, a rubber chiclet keyboard, 4K of RAM, and a subset of Microsoft BASIC in ROM. It connects to a television set and uses a cassette tape recorder for secondary data storage... |
1983 | PLA1 | 2000 Bytes | 40×25 | LC, BG | - | 16 | 80×75 | 16 | 40×25 | None | - | None | ||
| Nimbus PC-186 | 1984 | FPGA | 64K | 40x25, 80x25 | LC | - | 16 | 320x250, 640x350 | 16, 4 | 320x250, 640x350 | None | ? | - | Early x86-based non IBM-PC IBM PC compatible IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to... system with good graphics |
|
| Oric 1 | 1983 | HSC 10017 ULA | 8K | 40 × 28 | LC | Yes | 8 | 240 × 200 | 8 | 40 × 200 | None | - | Serial attributes like Ceefax Ceefax Ceefax is the BBC's teletext information service transmitted via the analogue signal, started in 1974 and will run until April 2012 for Pages from Ceefax, while the actual interactive service will run until 24 October 2012, in-line with the digital switchover.-History:During the late 60s, engineer... and Prestel Prestel Prestel , the brand name for the UK Post Office's Viewdata technology, was an interactive videotex system developed during the late 1970s and commercially launched in 1979... systems |
||
| SAM Coupé SAM Coupé The SAM Coupé is an 8-bit British home computer that was first released in late 1989. It is commonly considered a clone of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum computer, since it features a compatible screen mode and emulated compatibility, and it was marketed as a logical upgrade from the Spectrum... |
1989 | ASIC | 24K | 32 x 24, 85 x 24 | LC | - | 16, 4 | 256x192, 256x192, 256x192, 512x192 | 8, 8, 16, 4 | 32x24, 32x192, 256x192, 512x192 | 128 colors | - | Backwards compatible with Sinclair Spectrum | ||
| Thomson TO7 Thomson TO7 The Thomson TO7 is a home computer introduced by Thomson SA in November 1982.The TO7 is built around a 1 MHz Motorola 6809 processor. ROM cartridges, designed as MEMO7, can be introduced through a memory bay. The user interface uses Microsoft BASIC, included in the kit cartridge. The keyboard... |
1982 | Gate array | 8Kx8 + 16Kx6 | 40×25 | LC | - | 8 | 320×200 | 8 | 40x200 | None | ? | - | Light pen Light pen A light pen is a computer input device in the form of a light-sensitive wand used in conjunction with a computer's CRT TV set or monitor. It allows the user to point to displayed objects, or draw on the screen, in a similar way to a touch screen but with greater positional accuracy... , color restrictions |
|
| Sinclair ZX Spectrum ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd... |
1982 | ULA | 6912 Bytes | 32×24 | LC, BG | - | 8 (15) | 256×192 | 8 (15) | 32 × 24 | None | - | color limitations | ||
| Timex/Sinclair TS2068 Timex Sinclair 2068 The Timex Sinclair 2068 , released in November 1983, was Timex Sinclair's fourth and last home computer for the United States market... |
1983 | CPLD | 12288 Bytes (max) | 32x24 | LC, BG | - | 8 | 256x192, 256x192, 512x192 | 8,8,2 | 32x24, 32x192 | None | - | swapping between two 256x192 screens | ||
| Sinclair QL Sinclair QL The Sinclair QL , was a personal computer launched by Sinclair Research in 1984, as the successor to the Sinclair ZX Spectrum... |
1984 | ZX8301 ZX8301 The ZX8301 was a ULA integrated circuit designed for the Sinclair QL microcomputer. Also known as the "Master Chip", it provided a Video Display Generator, the division of a 15 MHz crystal to provide the 7.5 MHz system clock, ZX8302 register address decoder, DRAM refresh and bus controller... ULA |
32K | 42×25 85×25 | LC | Yes | 8, 4 | 256x256 512x256 | 8, 4 | 256x256, 512x256 | None | - | hardware pixel-based blinking | ||
| ZX81 | 1981 | ULA 2C184E / 2C210E | 792 bytes | 32×24 | BG | - | mono | 64×48 | mono | 32×24 | None | ||||
| Very low cost design |
Systems using a CRTC
| System name | Year | Chip name | Video RAM | Text mode(s) | Font extras | soft fonts | text colors | graphics modes | graphics colors | color resolution | palette support | HW accel | Sprite details | unique features |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC 800C | 1981 | MC6845 | 16K | 40x24 | LC, BG | - | 8 | 240x240 | 2 | ? | 2 of 8 | ? | - | None |
| ABC 800M | 1981 | MC6845 | 16K | 80x24 | LC | - | 2 | 240x240 | 2 | ? | 2 of 8 | ? | - | None |
| Acorn Systems 2, 3 and 4 | 1980 | MC6845 + SAA5050 | 1K | 40x25 | LC, BG | - | 8 | 80x75 | 8 | ? | None | ? | - | Teletext graphics |
| Amstrad CPC Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,... |
1984 | MC6845 | 16K | 20x25, 40x25, 80x25 | LC | - | 16, 4, 2 | 160x200, 320x200, 640x200 | 16, 4, 2 | ? | 17 of 27 | ? | - | None |
| Amstrad CPC+ Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,... |
1990 | MC6845 + ASIC Application-specific integrated circuit An application-specific integrated circuit is an integrated circuit customized for a particular use, rather than intended for general-purpose use. For example, a chip designed solely to run a cell phone is an ASIC... |
16K | 20x25, 40x25, 80x25 | LC | - | 16, 4, 2 | 160x200, 320x200, 640x200 | 16, 4, 2 | ? | 32 of 4096 | SC, SP | S#=16 SS=16x16 SC=1 SP=16 | screen control |
| Aster CT-80 Aster CT-80 The Aster CT-80, an early home/personal computer developed by the small Dutch company MCP , was sold in its first incarnation as a kit for hobbyists. Later it was sold ready to use. It consisted of several Eurocard PCB's with DIN 41612 connectors, and a backplane all based on a 19-inch rack... |
1979 | MC6845 | 1K or 2K | 64x16, 32x16, 80x25, 40x25 | LC, BG, SG | - | Mono | 128x48, 160x75 | 3 gray scales | |||||
| None | - | Dual memory map support | ||||||||||||
| BBC Micro BBC Micro The BBC Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, was a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers for the BBC Computer Literacy Project, operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation... |
1981 | MC6845 | 20K (max) | 80x32, 40x32, 20x32, 80x25, 20x32, 40x25, 40x25 | LC, BG | - | 2, 4, 8, 2, 2, 4, 2, 8 | 640x256, 320x256, 160x256, 640x200, 320x256, 160x256, 320x200, 80x75 | 2, 4, 8, 2, 2, 4, 2, 8 | ? | 16 | ? | - | Teletext mode, shadow RAM support |
| Camputers Lynx Camputers Lynx The Lynx was an 8-bit British home computer that was first released in early 1983 as a 48 kB model. The designer of the Lynx was John Shireff and several models were available with 48 kB, 96 kB or 128 kB RAM... |
1983 | MC6845 | 32K | 40x24 | LC | - | 8 | 256x248 | 8 | ? | None | ? | - | fully pixel addressable in 8 colors |
| Colour Genie Colour Genie The EACA EG2000 Colour Genie was a computer produced by Hong Kong-based manufacturer EACA and introduced in Germany in August 1982. It followed their earlier Video Genie I and II computers and was released around the same time as the business-oriented Video Genie III.The BASIC was compatible with... |
1982 | MC6845 | 16K | 40x24 | LC, BG, SG | - | 16 | 160×96 | 4 | ? | None | ? | - | Programmable characters |
| Compucolor II Compucolor II The CompuColor II was an early home computer introduced in 1977 by Intelligent Systems Corporation. It was a lower-cost version of the Compucolor, which is credited with being the first home computer system with built-in color graphics, designed to hit the home computer price points... |
1977 | SMSC CRT5027 | 4K | 40x24 | BG | - | 8 | 128 x 128 | 8 | ? | None | ? | - | 13 " built in color screen, |
| Comx-35 Comx-35 The COMX-35 was a home computer that was one of the very few systems to use the RCA 1802 microprocessor, the same microprocessor that is also used in some space probes... |
1983 | CDP1869 CDP1870 | 3K | 40x24 | BG, SG | - | 8 | 240x216 (PAL) 80x72 120x96 | 8 (5 colors per 6x8 or 6x9 pixels) | ? | None | - | None | |
| LNW-80 LNW-80 The LNW-80, released in 1982, is the first computer built by LNW Research. The computer is 100% compatible with the Tandy TRS-80 Model 1, but has some hardware enhancements. Most notable are the high-resolution color graphics, which could also be used for a 80×24 screen, with a special software... |
1982 | MC6845 | 1K or 2K | 80x24, 64x16, 32x16 | LC, BG | - | 8 | 128x48, 160x75, 480x192 | 8 | 64x16 | None | - | Clone of the TRS-80 with additional graphic modes | |
| LOBO MAX-80 Max-80 The MAX-80 is a personal computer released in 1982 by Lobo Systems . It differed from other TRS-80 compatible computers in that it was not hardware compatible with the TRS-80.-Hardware:... |
1982 | MC6845 | 1K or 2K | 80x24, 64x16 | LC, BG | Yes | Mono | 128x48, 160x75 | Mono | |||||
| None | - | Clone of the TRS-80 with 80x24 mode | ||||||||||||
| MicroBee MicroBee MicroBee was a series of home computers by Applied Technology, later known as MicroBee Systems.The original MicroBee computer was designed in Australia by a team including Owen Hill and Matthew Starr... |
1982 | 6545 | 4K | 64x16 | LC, BG | - | Mono | 128x48 | Mono | ? | None | ? | - | Color add-on available |
| MZ-700 | 1982 | M60719 | 2000 Bytes | 40x25 | LC, BG, SG | - | 8 | 80x50 | 8 | ? | None | ? | - | color version of MZ-80K |
| PC-8001 PC-8000 Series The PC-8000 series was a line of personal computers developed for the Japanese market by NEC.The PC-8001 model was also sold in the United States and in the UK as the PC-8001A.- PC-8001 :... |
1979 | ìPD3301D | 3K | 36x20, 36x25, 40x20, 40x25, 72x20, 72x25, 80x20, 80x25 | LC, BG | - | 8 | 160x100 | 8 | ? | None | ? | - | None |
| Pecom 64 Pecom 64 Pecom 64 was an educational and/or home computer developed by Elektronska Industrija Niš of Serbia in 1985.- Specifications :* CPU: CDP 1802B 5V7 running at 2.813 MHz* ROM: 16 KB, with optional 16 KB upgrade containing enhanced editor and assembler... |
1985 | CDP1869 CDP1870 | 34K | 40x24 | LC | - | 8 | 240x216 | 8 (5 colors per 6x8 or 6x9 pixels) | ? | None | ? | - | None |
| Telmac TMC-600 Telmac TMC-600 The Telmac TMC-600 was a Finnish microcomputer produced during the early 1980s. It was introduced in 1982 by Telercas, the Finnish importer of RCA microchips. Only 600 units were produced, making it very rare today. The TMC-600 was the only commercially available microcomputer designed and... |
1982 | CDP1869 CDP1870 | 1K | 64x32 | LC | - | 8 | None | - | ? | None | ? | - | None |
| Sharp X1 (CZ-800C) Sharp X1 The X1 is a series of home computer released by Sharp Corporation from 1982 to 1988. It was based on a Z80 CPU.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... |
1982 | HD46505 | 48K | 40x25, 80x25 | LC | - | 8 | 320x200, 640x200 | 8 | ? | None | ? | ? | powerful APA All Points Addressable All Points Addressable , in the context of a video monitor, dot matrix or any display device consisting of a pixel array, refers to an arrangement bits or cells which can be individually manipulated, as opposed to rewriting the whole array every time a pixel changes.Generally, text modes are not... color PCG |
| Casio Casio is a multinational electronic devices manufacturing company founded in 1946, with its headquarters in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Casio is best known for its electronic products, such as calculators, audio equipment, PDAs, cameras, musical instruments, and watches... FX-9000P |
1980 | HD46505 | 4K | 32x16 | LC | - | Mono | 256x128 | Mono | ? | None | ? | - | 5.5" built in CRT |
Systems using a Video Interface Controller
| System name | Year | Chip name | Video RAM | Text mode(s) | Font extras | soft fonts | text colors | graphics modes | graphics colors | color resolution | palette support | HW accel | Sprite details | unique features |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acorn Atom Acorn Atom The Acorn Atom was a home computer made by Acorn Computers Ltd from 1980 to 1982 when it was replaced by the BBC Micro and later the Acorn Electron.... |
1980 | MC6847 MC6847 The MC6847 is a video display generator first introduced by Motorola and used in the TRS-80 Color Computer, Dragon 32/64, Laser 200 and Acorn Atom among others. It is a relatively simple display generator compared to other display chips of the time. It is capable of displaying text and graphics... |
6K | 32x16 | BL | No | 9 | 64x32, 68x48, 64x64, 128x64, 128x64, 128x96, 128x96, 128x192, 128x192, 256x192 | 9, 4, 4, 2, 4, 4, 2, 2, 4, 2 | ? | None | ? | - | None |
| Acorn Archimedes Acorn Archimedes The Acorn Archimedes was Acorn Computers Ltd's first general purpose home computer to be based on their own ARM architecture.Using a RISC design with a 32-bit CPU, at its launch in June 1987, the Archimedes was stated as running at 4 MIPS, with a claim of 18 MIPS during tests.The name is commonly... |
1987 | VIDC1 | 480KB (from system RAM) | software | LC | Yes | 256 | Flexible, e.g. 800x600 16cols | 256 | ? | 16 groups of 16 from 4096 | S#= 1 SS= 32x32 SC=? SP=1 | RISC OS RISC OS RISC OS is a computer operating system originally developed by Acorn Computers Ltd in Cambridge, England for their range of desktop computers, based on their own ARM architecture. First released in 1987, under the name Arthur, the subsequent iteration was renamed as in 1988... system |
|
| Acorn Risc PC Risc PC The RiscPC was Acorn Computers's next generation RISC OS/Acorn RISC Machine computer, launched on 15 April 1994, which superseded the Acorn Archimedes. The Acorn PC card and software allows PC compatible software to be run.... |
1994 | VIDC20 | 2MB, 1MB | software | LC | Yes | 16M | Flexible, e.g. 1600x1200 256cols | 16M | ? | In <=256 color modes | S#= 1 SS= 32x32 SC=? SP=1 | RISC OS RISC OS RISC OS is a computer operating system originally developed by Acorn Computers Ltd in Cambridge, England for their range of desktop computers, based on their own ARM architecture. First released in 1987, under the name Arthur, the subsequent iteration was renamed as in 1988... system |
|
| APF-1 APF Imagination Machine The APF Imagination Machine was a combination home video game console and computer system released by APF Electronics Inc. in late 1979. It was composed of two separate components, the APF-M1000 game system, and an add on docking bay with full sized typewriter keyboard and tape drive. The APF-M1000... |
1979 | MC6847 MC6847 The MC6847 is a video display generator first introduced by Motorola and used in the TRS-80 Color Computer, Dragon 32/64, Laser 200 and Acorn Atom among others. It is a relatively simple display generator compared to other display chips of the time. It is capable of displaying text and graphics... |
6K | 32x16 | BG | No | 9 | 64x32 68x48 , 64x64, 128x64, 128x64, 128x96, 128x96, 128x192, 128x192, 256x192 | 9, 4, 4, 2, 4, 4, 2, 2, 4, 2 | ? | None | ? | - | None |
| Apple IIe Apple IIe The Apple IIe is the third model in the Apple II series of personal computers produced by Apple Computer. The e in the name stands for enhanced, referring to the fact that several popular features were now built-in that were only available as upgrades and add-ons in earlier models... |
1983 | unknown | 19K | 40x24, 80x24 | LC | No | Mono chrome | 40x48, 80x48, 280x192, 560×192 | 15, 15, 6, 15 | None | - | Split screen Graphics/Text | ||
| Apple IIc Apple IIc The Apple IIc, the fourth model in the Apple II series of personal computers, was Apple Computer’s first endeavor to produce a portable computer. The end result was a notebook-sized version of the Apple II that could be transported from place to place... |
1984 | unknown | 19K | 40x24, 80x24 | LC | No | Mono chrome | 40x48, 80x48, 280x192, 560×192 | 15, 15, 6, 15 | ? | None | - | Split screen Graphics/Text | |
| Apple IIGS Apple IIGS The Apple , the fifth and most powerful model in the Apple II series of personal computers produced by Apple Computer. The "GS" in the name stands for Graphics and Sound, referring to its enhanced graphics and sound capabilities, both of which greatly surpassed previous models of the line... |
1986 | VGC | 32K | 40x24, 80x24 | LC | No | 16 | 40x48, 80x48, 280x192, 560×192, 320x200, 320x200, 320x200, 640x200, 640x200, 640x200, 640x200, 640x200 | 16, 16, 6, 16, 16, 256, 3200, 4, 16, 64, 800 | ? | Apple][ modes none, other modes 4096 | - | many new graphics and palette modes | |
| Atari ST Atari ST The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals... |
1985 | Shifter | 32K | software | LC | Yes | 16 | 320x200, 640x200, 640x400 | 16, 4, 2 | ? | Yes 512 | - | Hi-Res non-interlaced 31kHz-72Hz | |
| Commodore VIC-20 Commodore VIC-20 The VIC-20 is an 8-bit home computer which was sold by Commodore Business Machines. The VIC-20 was announced in 1980, roughly three years after Commodore's first personal computer, the PET... |
1980 | VIC MOS Technology VIC The VIC , specifically known as the MOS Technology 6560 / 6561 , is the integrated circuit chip responsible for generating video graphics and sound in the Commodore VIC-20 home computer... |
512 bytes + 512 nibbles | 22x23 | LC, BG, SG | Yes | 2 | 176x184 | 4 | ? | No | - | Some | |
| Commodore MAX Commodore MAX Machine The Commodore MAX Machine, also known as Ultimax in the United States and VC-10 in Germany, was a home computer designed and sold by Commodore International in Japan, beginning in early 1982, a predecessor to the popular Commodore 64... |
1982 | VIC-II MOS Technology VIC-II The VIC-II , specifically known as the MOS Technology 6567/8562/8564 , 6569/8565/8566 , is the microchip tasked with generating Y/C/composite video graphics and DRAM refresh signals in the Commodore 64 and C128 home computers.Succeeding MOS's original VIC , the VIC-II was one of the two chips... |
2.5K | 40x25 | LC, BG, SG | Yes | 16 | 320x200, 160x200 | 16 | ? | None | SP | S#= 8 SS= 24x21, 12x21 SC=1 SP=8 | Some |
| Commodore 64 Commodore 64 The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595... |
1982 | VIC-II MOS Technology VIC-II The VIC-II , specifically known as the MOS Technology 6567/8562/8564 , 6569/8565/8566 , is the microchip tasked with generating Y/C/composite video graphics and DRAM refresh signals in the Commodore 64 and C128 home computers.Succeeding MOS's original VIC , the VIC-II was one of the two chips... |
16K | 40x25 | LC, BG, SG | Yes | 16 | 320x200, 160x200 | 16 | ? | None | SP, SC | S#= 8 SS= 24x21, 12x21 SC=1 SP=8 | Many, probably the most capable chip of the time. |
| Commodore 16 Commodore 16 The Commodore 16 was a home computer made by Commodore with a 6502-compatible 8501 CPU, released in 1984. It was intended to be an entry-level computer to replace the VIC-20 and it often sold for 99 USD... 116 and Plus/4 |
1984 | TED MOS Technology TED The 7360 Text Editing Device was an integrated circuit made by MOS Technology, Inc. It was a video chip that also contained sound generation hardware, DRAM refresh circuitry, interval timers, and keyboard input handling. It was designed for the Commodore Plus/4 and 16... |
8K | 40x25 | LC, BG, SG | Yes | 16 | 320x200, 320x160 , 160x200, 160x160 | 121 | None | - | Some | ||
| Commodore 128 Commodore 128 The Commodore 128 home/personal computer was the last 8-bit machine commercially released by Commodore Business Machines... |
1985 | VIC-II MOS Technology VIC-II The VIC-II , specifically known as the MOS Technology 6567/8562/8564 , 6569/8565/8566 , is the microchip tasked with generating Y/C/composite video graphics and DRAM refresh signals in the Commodore 64 and C128 home computers.Succeeding MOS's original VIC , the VIC-II was one of the two chips... plus VDC MOS Technology 8563 The 8563 Video Display Controller was an integrated circuit produced by MOS Technology. It was used in the Commodore 128 computer to generate an 80-column RGB video display... |
16K plus 16K dedicated to VDC | 40x25 and 80x25 | LC, BG, SG | Yes | 16 | 320x200, 160x200 720×700 | 16 | ? | None | SP, SC BL | S#= 8 SS= 24x21, 12x21 SC=1 SP=8 | Some |
| Dragon 32/64 Dragon 32/64 The Dragon 32 and Dragon 64 are home computers that were built in the 1980s. The Dragons are very similar to the TRS-80 Color Computer , and were produced for the European market by Dragon Data, Ltd., in Port Talbot, Wales, and for the US market by Tano of New Orleans, Louisiana... |
1982 | MC6847 MC6847 The MC6847 is a video display generator first introduced by Motorola and used in the TRS-80 Color Computer, Dragon 32/64, Laser 200 and Acorn Atom among others. It is a relatively simple display generator compared to other display chips of the time. It is capable of displaying text and graphics... |
6K | 32x16 | BG | No | 9 | 64x32 , 68x48 , 64x64, 128x64, 128x64, 128x96, 128x96, 128x192, 128x192, 256x192 | 9, 4, 4, 2, 4, 4, 2, 2, 4, 2 | ? | None | ? | - | None |
| Elektronika BK Elektronika BK The Elektronika BK was a series of 16-bit PDP-11-compatible Soviet home computers developed by NPO Scientific Center, the leading Soviet microcomputer design team at the time. It was also responsible for the more powerful UKNC and DVK micros... -0010/-0011 |
1985 | K1801VP1-037 | 16K | 32x25, 64x2,5 80х25 | LC | Yes | 4, 2 | 256x256, 512x256 | 4, 2 | ? | 4 colors from 64 | SC | - | Hardware scrolling Scrolling In computer graphics, filmmaking, television production, and other kinetic displays, scrolling is sliding text, images or video across a monitor or display. "Scrolling", as such, does not change the layout of the text or pictures, or but incrementally moves the user's view across what is... |
| Laser 100/110 Laser 200/210 and 310 | 1983 | MC6847 MC6847 The MC6847 is a video display generator first introduced by Motorola and used in the TRS-80 Color Computer, Dragon 32/64, Laser 200 and Acorn Atom among others. It is a relatively simple display generator compared to other display chips of the time. It is capable of displaying text and graphics... |
2K | 32x16 | BG | No | 9 | 64x32 , 64x64,128x64 | 9, 4, 4 | ? | None | ? | - | None |
| Matra Alice Matra Alice The Matra & Hachette Ordinateur Alice was a home computer sold in France beginning in 1983. It was a clone of the TRS-80 MC-10, produced through a collaboration between Matra and Hachette in France and Tandy Corporation in the United States.... (first model) |
1983 | MC6847 Thomson EF936x The Thomson EF936x family is called Graphic Display Processor . The chip could draw at 1 million pixels per second, which was relatively advanced for the year of its release .-Versions:Plastic or Ceramic*EF9364... |
4K | 32x16 | BG | No | 9 | 64x32, 68x48, 64x64, 128x64, 128x64, 128x96, 128x96 | 9, 4, 4, 2, 4, 4, 2, 2 | ? | None | ? | - | None |
| Matra Alice 32/90 Matra Alice The Matra & Hachette Ordinateur Alice was a home computer sold in France beginning in 1983. It was a clone of the TRS-80 MC-10, produced through a collaboration between Matra and Hachette in France and Tandy Corporation in the United States.... |
1984 | EF9345 Thomson EF936x The Thomson EF936x family is called Graphic Display Processor . The chip could draw at 1 million pixels per second, which was relatively advanced for the year of its release .-Versions:Plastic or Ceramic*EF9364... |
8K | 32x16 40x25 80x25 | LC, BG | Yes | 8 | 64x32, 160x125, 320x250 | 9, 4, 4 | ? | None | DR | - | Video Input |
| PC-8801 | 1981 | SGP | 48K | 40x20, 80x25 | LC | No | 8 or 2 | 640x200, 640x400, 320x200, 320x400 | 2, 2, 8, 8 | ? | 8 or 2 out of 512 | ? | ||
| early highres support | ||||||||||||||
| PCjr & Tandy 1000 Tandy 1000 The Tandy 1000 was the first in a line of more-or-less IBM PC compatible home computer systems produced by the Tandy Corporation for sale in its Radio Shack chain of stores.-Overview:... |
1984 | "Video Gate Array" | 32K | 40×25, 80×25 | LC | No | 16 | 320×200, 640×200, 160×100, 160×200, 320×200, 640×200 | 4, 2, 16, 16, 16, 4 | ? | None | - | None | |
| IBM PS/1 IBM PS/1 The IBM PS/1 was a brand for a line of personal computers and was IBM's return to the home market in 1990, five years after the IBM PCjr. It was replaced by the IBM Aptiva in September 1994.-Position in IBM's PC brands:... |
1990 | "VGA Video Graphics Array Video Graphics Array refers specifically to the display hardware first introduced with the IBM PS/2 line of computers in 1987, but through its widespread adoption has also come to mean either an analog computer display standard, the 15-pin D-subminiature VGA connector or the 640×480 resolution... " |
128K | 80×25, 40×25, 80×43, 80×50 | LC | Yes | 16 | 640x480, 640x350, 320x200, 320x200 | 16, 16, 16, 256 | ? | Yes | SC | - | 14" Monitor, "Video tweaking Mode X Mode X is an alternative video graphics display mode of the IBM VGA graphics hardware that was popularized by Michael Abrash, first published in July 1991 in Dr... " |
| TRS-80 Color Computer TRS-80 Color Computer The Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Computer was a home computer launched in 1980. It was one of the earliest of the first generation of computers marketed for home use in English-speaking markets... Models 1 & 2 |
1980 | MC6847 MC6847 The MC6847 is a video display generator first introduced by Motorola and used in the TRS-80 Color Computer, Dragon 32/64, Laser 200 and Acorn Atom among others. It is a relatively simple display generator compared to other display chips of the time. It is capable of displaying text and graphics... |
6K | 32x16 | No | BG | 9 | 64x32, 68x4,8 64x64, 128x64, 128x64, 128x96, 128x96, 128x192, 128x192, 256x192 | 9, 4, 4, 2, 4, 4, 2, 2, 4, 2 | ? | None | ? | - | None |
| TRS-80 MC-10 TRS-80 MC-10 thumb|right|The TRS-80 MC-10The TRS-80 MC-10 microcomputer is a lesser-known member of the TRS-80 line of home computers, produced by Tandy Corporation in the early 1980s and sold through their RadioShack chain of electronics stores... |
1983 | MC6847 MC6847 The MC6847 is a video display generator first introduced by Motorola and used in the TRS-80 Color Computer, Dragon 32/64, Laser 200 and Acorn Atom among others. It is a relatively simple display generator compared to other display chips of the time. It is capable of displaying text and graphics... |
4K | 32x16 | BG | No | 9 | 64x32, 68x48, 64x64, 128x64, 128x64, 128x96, 128x96, 128x192, 128x192 256x192 | 9, 4, 4, 2, 4, 4, 2, 2, 4, 2 | ? | None | ? | - | None |
Systems using a video co-processor
| System name | Year | Chip name | Video RAM | Text mode(s) | Font extras | soft fonts | text colors | graphics modes | graphics colors | color resolution | palette support | HW accel | Sprite details | unique features |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atari 8-bit family Atari 8-bit family The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers manufactured from 1979 to 1992. All are based on the MOS Technology 6502 CPU and were the first home computers designed with custom coprocessor chips... |
1979 | ANTIC ANTIC Alphanumeric Television Interface Controller is an early video system chip used in the Atari 8-bit family of microcomputers as well as the Atari 5200 in the 1980s. The chip was patented by Atari, Inc. in 1981... plus CTIA/GTIA George's Television Interface Adapter Color Television Interface Adaptor and its successor Graphic Television Interface Adaptor are custom chips used in the Atari 8-bit family of computers and in the Atari 5200 console. In these systems, a CTIA or GTIA chip works together with ANTIC to produce video display... |
15K of 64K | 48x24 (30), 40x24 (30), 20x24 (30), 20x12 (15) | LC | Yes | 2 (5), 2 or 5 or 16,2 or 5 or 16 | 40x24 (30), 80x48 (60), 80x96 (120), 160x96 (120), 160x192 (240), 320x192 (240), 80x192 (240) | 4, 2 or 4,16 or 256, 2 or 4, 2 or 4, 2, 9/16/16 | ? | 9 out of 128, 16 out of 256(with GTIA) | SP | S#=4+4 or 5 SS=8 + 2 or 5 x256(max) SC=1 SP=4+4 or 5 | Many, especially the Display list Display list A display list is a series of graphics commands that define an output image. The image is created by executing the commands.... |
| Coleco Adam Coleco Adam The Coleco Adam is a home computer, an attempt in the early 1980s by American toy manufacturer Coleco to follow on the success of its ColecoVision game console... |
1983 | TMS9918A | 16K | 32x24 | LC | Yes | 2,16 | 64x48, 256x192, 256x160 | 16,16,16 | 32x192 | None | SP | S#=32 SS=8x8, 16x16 SC=1 SP=4 | color limitations |
| Enterprise 64 | 1985 | Nick | 64K | 40 x 24, 80 x 32 or 28, 84 x 64 | LC | Yes | 2 or 4 | 640 x 256, 320 x 256, 160 x 256, 80 x 256 | 2, 4, 16, 256 | ? | Yes | - | Advanced for its time | |
| MSX-1 | 1983 | TMS9918 | 16K | 32x24 40x24 | LC, BG, SG | Yes | 2, 16 | 64x48, 256x192 | 16, 16 | 32x192 | None | SP | S#=32 SS=8x8, 16x16 SC=1 SP=4 | color limitations |
| MSX-2(+) | 1986 | Yamaha V9938 Yamaha V9938 The Yamaha V9938 is a Video Display Controller used in the Geneve 9640 enhanced TI-99/4A clone, as well as MSX 80s home computers .... , Yamaha V9958 Yamaha V9958 The Yamaha V9958 is a Video Display Controller used in MSX 80s home computers. More specifically, the "TIM" upgrade to the TI-99/4A, MSX 2+ and MSX turbo R.... |
64K, 128K, or 192K | 32x24 40x24 80x24 | LC, BG, SG | Yes | 2, 4, 16 | 64x48, 256x192, 512x192, 256x212, 512x212 | 16, 16/256, 16, 16/256, 16 | ? | 2 to 16 out of 512 colors | SP, SC, BL, DR | S#=32 SS=8x8, 16x16 SC=16 SP=4 | Many unique features |
| Commodore Amiga Amiga The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities... (first generation) |
1985 | Agnus and Denise | 1M "chip ram" | Any textsize up to 80x32 | LC | Yes | 2 to 32, 64 | 320x200, 640x200 (and 320x400, 640x400 interlaced) | 2 to 32, 64 and 4096 | ? | 2 to 32 colors out of 4096 colors | BL, SP, SC, DR | S#=8 SS=16 wide, arbitrary height SC=3 or 15 SP= 8 | Many unique features |
| Commodore Amiga Amiga The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities... (second generation) |
1990 | Super-Agnus and Hires Denise | 2M "chip ram" | Any textsize up to 160x32 | LC | Yes | 2 to 32, 64, (4 in super highres) | 320x200, 640x200, 320x400, 640x400, 1280x200, 1280x256 | 2 to 32, 64 and 4096 | ? | 2 to 32 colors out of 4096 colors | BL, SP, SC, DR | S#=8 SS=16 wide, arbitrary height SC=2 or 15 SP=8 | even more unique features |
| Commodore Amiga Amiga The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities... (Third generation) |
1992 | Advanced Graphics Architecture (AGA) | 2M "chip ram" | Any textsize up to 160x32 | LC | Yes | 2 to 256 (including super highres). | NTSC: 320x200 .. 1280x400. PAL: 320x256 .. 1280x512. VGA: 640x480. Super72: 400x300 .. 800x600 (interlaced) | 2 to 256. 4096 and 262,144 | ? | 2 to 256 colors out of 16,777,216 colors | BL, SP, SC, DR | S#=8 SS=64 wide, arbitrary height SC=2 or 15 SP=8 | still more unique features |
| Atari Falcon Atari Falcon The Atari Falcon030 Computer System was Atari Corporation's final computer product. Codenamed Sparrow, the machine was based on a Motorola 68030 main CPU, and had a Motorola 56000 digital signal processor, a feature which distinguished it from most other microcomputers of the era.-History:The... |
1992 | VIDEL, COMBEL (Blitter) | 1 to 14M "chip ram" | Any textsize up to 160x32 | LC | Yes | 2 to 65536 | CRT: 320x200 to 1600x608 VGA: 640x480, 800x608 | 2,4,16,256 (indexed), 32768 (+overlay), 65536 (Hi-Color) | ? | 2 to 65536 colors out of 262,144 colors | BL | ||
| scan doubler | ||||||||||||||
| Memotech MTX | 1983 | TMS9918A | 16K | 32x24 40x24 | LC | Yes | 2,16 | 64x48, 256x192 | 16,16 | 32x192 | None | SP | S#=32 SS=8x8, 16x16 SC=1 SP=4 | color limitations |
| P2000T Philips P2000 --The Philips P2000T home computer was Philips' first real entry in the home computer market, after the Philips Videopac G7000 game system which they already sold to compete with the Atari 2600 and similar game systems. There was also an P2000M version with an additional 80-column card for use... |
1980 | SAA5243 | 960 Bytes | 40x24 | LC, BG | No | 8 | 80x72 | 8 | 40x24 | None | - | Used TV chip. | |
| Risc PC Risc PC The RiscPC was Acorn Computers's next generation RISC OS/Acorn RISC Machine computer, launched on 15 April 1994, which superseded the Acorn Archimedes. The Acorn PC card and software allows PC compatible software to be run.... |
1994 | VIDC20 | 308K | 132x32 max. | LC | Yes | up to 256 | 21 modes from 640x256 to 1280x960 | 2, 16, 256 | ? | Yes, 256 28 bit entries | |||
| Flexible, for CRT and LCD | ||||||||||||||
| Sharp X68000 Sharp X68000 The Sharp X68000, often referred to as the X68k, is a home computer released only in Japan by the Sharp Corporation. The first model was released in 1987, with a 10 MHz Motorola 68000 CPU, 1 MB of RAM and no hard drive; the last model was released in 1993 with a 25 MHz Motorola 68030... |
1987 | VINAS 1 + 2, VSOP, CYNTHIA / Jr, RESERVE | 1056K | from 16x16 to 128x128 | LC | Yes | 256 | from 256x256 to 1024x1024 | 256 | ? | 65,536 Palette | SP | S#=128 SS=16x16 SC=16 SP=32 | special hardware options |
| Sord M5 Sord M5 The Sord M5 , was a Japanese home computer launched by Sord Computer Corporation in 1982.-Internal hardware:* CPU: Zilog Z80 , 3.58 MHz... |
1983 | TMS9918 | 16K | 32x24 40x24 | LC, BG, SG | Yes | 2, 16 | 64x48, 256x192 | 16, 16 | 32x192 | None | SP | S#=32 SS=8x8, 16x16 SC=1 SP=4 | color limitations |
| SV-318 SV-318 The SV-318 was the basic model of the Spectravideo range. It was fitted with a chiclet style keyboard, difficult to use, alongside which sat a combination cursor pad/joystick. This was a curious disc-shaped affair with a hole in the centre; put a red plastic 'stick' in the hole and you had a... |
1983 | TMS9918A | 16K | 32x24 40x24 | LC, BG, SG | Yes | 2,16 | 64x48, 256x192 | 16,16 | 32x192 | None | SP | S#=32 SS=8x8, 16x16 SC=1 SP=4 | color limitations |
| SV-328 SV-328 The SV-328 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Spectravideo in June 1983. It was the business-targeted model of the Spectravideo range, sporting a rather crowded full-travel keyboard with numeric keypad. It had 80 kB RAM , a respectable amount for its time... |
1983 | TMS9918A | 16K | 32x24 40x24 | LC, BG, SG | Yes | 2,16 | 64x48, 256x192 | 16,16 | 32x192 | None | SP | S#=32 SS=8x8, 16x16 SC=1 SP=4 | color limitations |
| Tatung Einstein Tatung Einstein The Tatung Einstein was an eight-bit home/personal computer produced by Taiwanese corporation Tatung, designed in Bradford, England at Tatung's research laboratories and assembled in Bridgnorth and Telford, England. It was aimed primarily at small businesses.... |
1984 | TMS9918A | 16K | 32x24 40x24 | LC, BG, SG | Yes | 2,16 | 64x48, 256x192 | 16,16 | 32x192 | None | SP | S#=32 SS=8x8, 16x16 SC=1 SP=4 | color limitations |
| TI-99/4 | 1979 | TMS9918 | 16K | 32x24 | Yes | 2,16 | 64x48 | 16,16 | 32x192 | None | SP | S#=32 SS=8x8, 16x16 SC=1 SP=4 | color limitations | |
| TI-99/4A Texas Instruments TI-99/4A The Texas Instruments TI-99/4A was an early home computer, released in June 1981, originally at a price of USD $525. It was an enhanced version of the less-successful—and quite rare—TI-99/4 model, which was released in late 1979 at a price of $1,150... |
1981 | TMS9918A | 16K | 32x24 | Yes | 2,16 | 64x48, 256x192 | 16,16 | 32x192 | None | SP | S#=32 SS=8x8, 16x16 SC=1 SP=4 | color limitations |
Systems that could not be classified
For these systems it could not be established on what technology they are based. If you know more about the actual hardware used by these systems, then please move them to the correct class.{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;"
!System name || Year || Chip name || Video RAM || Text mode(s) || Font extras || soft fonts || text colors || graphics modes || graphics colors || color resolution || palette support ||HW accel|| Sprite details ||unique features
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At the moment there are no systems that could not be classified.
See also
- List of home computers
- List of early microcomputers
- List of palettes - List of computer hardware palettes section
- semi graphical charactersSemi graphical charactersSemi graphical characters are characters in a font that are intended to give the impression that a system can support high resolution graphics, while in fact it cannot....
- Text semigraphicsText semigraphicsText semigraphics is a primitive method used in early video hardware to emulate per pixel addressable graphics without having to implement the logic for a true "high resolution" mode....
- Video Display ControllerVideo 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...
- Graphics processing unitGraphics processing unitA graphics processing unit or GPU is a specialized circuit designed to rapidly manipulate and alter memory in such a way so as to accelerate the building of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display...
External links
- Obsolete technology website — Information about many old computers.
- old-computers.com — Web Site dedicated to old computers.