Commodore's Birthday
Birthday Commodore 64!
Commodore 64 - a home computer with 64 KB of RAM, was popular in the 1980s. Launched by Commodore International in August 1982 for $ 595. For all the time of release Commodore 64 (from 1982 to 1994) more than 17 million computers were sold. According to the Guinness Book of Records, Commodore 64 is still the sales leader among computer models.
Commodore 64 is the computer from which many of today's IT professionals started their career (especially in the United States or Japan, the ZX Spectrum competed with it in Europe). In the 1980s, in capitalist countries, you could easily find a myriad of add-ons, accessories, and peripherals for this home computer. For example, one of the favorite models of this family was the Commodore 128, whose modification called the C128D Diesel was equipped with a built-in 5 "drive. In addition to the RGB monitor with a resolution of 80 characters horizontally, a dot-matrix printer and a terribly expensive 20 MB hard drive, It was to find a variety of input devices and an abundance of software.
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Because of this computer, many young enthusiasts skipped school, spending sleepless (but exciting) nights in front of the monitor. At the time, the x86 PC was still struggling with Commodore for market share. It was the time of the emergence of personal computer technology, and interest in this area pushed many young people to choose a career in IT. Many employees of the international editorial staff of THG also started with the C64 or from early PC predecessors like the VC20, C16 and C166, and then switched to the Amiga 500 or the original 8086 PC models.
Commodore 64 is equipped with an 8-bit MOS 6510 processor (later MOS 8500 and MOS 8510 were also used) with a frequency of 0.9 or 1.02 MHz.
RAM - 64 KB. There is a possibility of increasing the memory capacity by cards installed in a special slot, where cartridges are also installed, expanding the capabilities of a computer or turning it into a specialized computer (usually - into a game console).
Graphics is engaged in a special processor VIC II. Displays a palette of 16 shades of colors on the screen with a resolution of 320 × 200 pixels in two-color mode or 160x200 in four-color mode. The programmable character generator made it possible to display also 2- or 4-color characters; for text mode, the vertical and horizontal smooth scrolling of the screen, widely used in games, was also supported. Interlace mode is possible. Demos and games of the late 1980s-1990s demonstrated all the capabilities of the graphics subsystem, even those that the developers did not even realize. Also provided for the creation and simultaneous demonstration of 8 4-color sprites. Using manipulations with vertical scanning (analogous to copper in Commodore Amiga) it is possible to display more than 8 sprites, display graphics beyond the standard resolution, and even combine different resolutions on one screen.
High quality sound provides a special processor SID. Three voices, 8 octaves each, filters, envelope control. Commodore 64 is practically a full-fledged synthesizer (It is possible to use the SID sound in your music using the VSTi SID emulator (for example, QuadraSID). Using only software manipulations, you can add a 4th voice, which is analogous to modern digital sound (Commodore 64 - 4 bits) With this virtual channel, a voice or various effects were added in many games. The anniversary edition of Byte magazine (September '95) included SID in the top twenty outstanding chips of the 20th century with a characteristic: “You can get a wonderful result, and assign an engineer to do what he thinks is right. "
It included either a computer-controlled tape recorder or a disk drive equipped with an integrated processor. Additionally, drives, printers (including “Electronics 6512”), MIDI devices are connected.
Two ports for connecting joysticks, mice and other things (including analog devices).
Commodore Club
PS Nostalgically, took out the only one of the old surviving ZX-Spectrum , and went to try to connect to the TV.
PPS I apologize for a suitable hub where I could not write with my karma
Commodore 64 - a home computer with 64 KB of RAM, was popular in the 1980s. Launched by Commodore International in August 1982 for $ 595. For all the time of release Commodore 64 (from 1982 to 1994) more than 17 million computers were sold. According to the Guinness Book of Records, Commodore 64 is still the sales leader among computer models.
Commodore 64 is the computer from which many of today's IT professionals started their career (especially in the United States or Japan, the ZX Spectrum competed with it in Europe). In the 1980s, in capitalist countries, you could easily find a myriad of add-ons, accessories, and peripherals for this home computer. For example, one of the favorite models of this family was the Commodore 128, whose modification called the C128D Diesel was equipped with a built-in 5 "drive. In addition to the RGB monitor with a resolution of 80 characters horizontally, a dot-matrix printer and a terribly expensive 20 MB hard drive, It was to find a variety of input devices and an abundance of software.
')
Because of this computer, many young enthusiasts skipped school, spending sleepless (but exciting) nights in front of the monitor. At the time, the x86 PC was still struggling with Commodore for market share. It was the time of the emergence of personal computer technology, and interest in this area pushed many young people to choose a career in IT. Many employees of the international editorial staff of THG also started with the C64 or from early PC predecessors like the VC20, C16 and C166, and then switched to the Amiga 500 or the original 8086 PC models.
Brief TTX:
Commodore 64 is equipped with an 8-bit MOS 6510 processor (later MOS 8500 and MOS 8510 were also used) with a frequency of 0.9 or 1.02 MHz.
RAM - 64 KB. There is a possibility of increasing the memory capacity by cards installed in a special slot, where cartridges are also installed, expanding the capabilities of a computer or turning it into a specialized computer (usually - into a game console).
Graphics is engaged in a special processor VIC II. Displays a palette of 16 shades of colors on the screen with a resolution of 320 × 200 pixels in two-color mode or 160x200 in four-color mode. The programmable character generator made it possible to display also 2- or 4-color characters; for text mode, the vertical and horizontal smooth scrolling of the screen, widely used in games, was also supported. Interlace mode is possible. Demos and games of the late 1980s-1990s demonstrated all the capabilities of the graphics subsystem, even those that the developers did not even realize. Also provided for the creation and simultaneous demonstration of 8 4-color sprites. Using manipulations with vertical scanning (analogous to copper in Commodore Amiga) it is possible to display more than 8 sprites, display graphics beyond the standard resolution, and even combine different resolutions on one screen.
High quality sound provides a special processor SID. Three voices, 8 octaves each, filters, envelope control. Commodore 64 is practically a full-fledged synthesizer (It is possible to use the SID sound in your music using the VSTi SID emulator (for example, QuadraSID). Using only software manipulations, you can add a 4th voice, which is analogous to modern digital sound (Commodore 64 - 4 bits) With this virtual channel, a voice or various effects were added in many games. The anniversary edition of Byte magazine (September '95) included SID in the top twenty outstanding chips of the 20th century with a characteristic: “You can get a wonderful result, and assign an engineer to do what he thinks is right. "
It included either a computer-controlled tape recorder or a disk drive equipped with an integrated processor. Additionally, drives, printers (including “Electronics 6512”), MIDI devices are connected.
Two ports for connecting joysticks, mice and other things (including analog devices).
Related Links:
Commodore Club
PS Nostalgically, took out the only one of the old surviving ZX-Spectrum , and went to try to connect to the TV.
PPS I apologize for a suitable hub where I could not write with my karma
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/149730/
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