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IBM Color Graphics Adapter
The Color Graphics Adapter (CGA), originally also called the ''Color/Graphics Adapter'' or ''IBM Color/Graphics Monitor Adapter'', introduced in 1981, was IBM's first color graphics card for the IBM PC and established a de facto computer display standard. Hardware design The original IBM CGA graphics card was built around the Motorola 6845 display controller, came with 16 kilobytes of video memory built in, and featured several graphics and text modes. The highest display resolution of any mode was 640 × 200, and the highest color depth supported was 4-bit (16 colors). The CGA card could be connected either to a direct-drive CRT monitor using a 4-bit digital ( TTL) RGBI interface, such as the IBM 5153 color display, or to an NTSC-compatible television or composite video monitor via an RCA connector. The RCA connector provided only baseband video, so to connect the CGA card to a television set without a composite video input required a separate RF modulator. IBM ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Motorola 6845
The Motorola 6845, or MC6845, is a display controller that was widely used in 8-bit computers during the 1980s. Originally intended for designs based on the Motorola 6800 CPU and given a related part number, it was more widely used alongside various other processors, and was most commonly found in machines based on the Zilog Z80 and MOS 6502. The 6845 is not an entire display solution on its own; the chip's main function is to properly time access to the display memory, and to calculate the memory address of the next portion to be drawn. Other circuitry in the machine then uses the address provided by the 6845 to fetch the pattern and then draw it. The implementation of that hardware is entirely up to the designer and varied widely among machines. The 6845 is intended for character displays, but could also be used for pixel-based graphics, with some clever programming. Among its better-known uses are the BBC Micro, Amstrad CPC, and Videx VideoTerm display cards for the Apple ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pac-Man
''Pac-Man,'' originally called in Japan, is a 1980 maze video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. The player controls Pac-Man, who must eat all the dots inside an enclosed maze while avoiding four colored ghosts. Eating large flashing dots called "Power Pellets" causes the ghosts to temporarily turn blue, allowing Pac-Man to also eat the ghosts for bonus points. Game development began in early 1979, led by Toru Iwatani with a nine-man team. Iwatani wanted to create a game that could appeal to women as well as men, because most video games of the time had themes that appealed to traditionally masculine interests, such as war or sports. Although the inspiration for the Pac-Man character was the image of a pizza with a slice removed, Iwatani has said he rounded out the Japanese character for mouth, kuchi (). The in-game characters were made t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SimCity (1989 Video Game)
''SimCity'' (also known as the retronyms ''Micropolis'' or ''SimCity Classic'') is a city-building game, city-building Construction and management simulation games, simulation video game developed by Will Wright (game designer), Will Wright, and released for several platforms from 1989 to 1991. ''SimCity'' features two-dimensional graphics and an overhead perspective. The game's objective is to create a city, develop residential and industrial areas, build infrastructure, and collect taxes for further city development. Importance is placed on increasing the population's standard of living, maintaining a balance between the different sectors, and monitoring the region's environmental situations to prevent the settlement from declining and going bankrupt. ''SimCity'' was independently developed by Will Wright (game designer), Will Wright, beginning in 1985; the game was not released until 1989. Because the game lacked any arcade or action elements that dominated the video game mar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
PCPaint
PCPaint was one of the first IBM PC-based mouse-driven GUI paint programs, released in 1984. It followed after Microsoft Doodle, released in 1983 with the Microsoft Mouse version 1 drivers for DOS, and around the same time as Digital Research’s Draw program. It was developed and created by John Bridges and Doug Wolfgram. It was later developed into Pictor Paint. The hardware manufacturer Mouse Systems bundled PCPaint with millions of computer mice that they sold, making PCPaint one of the best-selling DOS-based paint programs of the mid 1980s. History In 1983, Doug Wolfgram purchased a Microsoft Mouse and decided to write a drawing program for it. They named it “Mouse Draw”. The interface was primitive but the program functioned well. Wolfgram traveled to SoftCon in New Orleans where he demonstrated the program to Mouse Systems. Mouse Systems was developing an optical mouse and they wanted to bundle a painting program so they agreed to publish Mouse Draw. The origi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Self-booting Game
A self-booting disk is a floppy disk for home computers or personal computers that loads directly into a standalone application when the system is turned on, bypassing the operating system. This was common, standard, on some computers in the late 1970s to early 1990s. Video games were the type of application most commonly distributed using this technique. The term "PC booter" is sometimes used in reference to self-booting software for IBM PC compatibles. On other systems, like the Apple II and Atari 8-bit computers, almost all software is self-booting. On the IBM PC, the distinction is between a self-booting program and one which is started by the user via an operating system such as MS-DOS or IBM PC DOS. The term "PC booter" was not contemporaneous with when self-booting games were being released. Purpose On some home computers like the Apple II, software is loaded by inserting a floppy disk and turning on or resetting the machine. It's analogous to cartridges on game console ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alley Cat (video Game)
Alley cat may refer to: Cat designations *Stray cat, a homeless domestic cat *Feral cat, a cat that has been born to other ferals or from stray cats, and that are unaccustomed to human interaction *Domestic short-haired cat or "moggie" cat more generally, as distinct from a pedigreed cat Organizations *Alley Cat Rescue, an organization that rescues feral and homeless cats Media and entertainment *Alley Cat (video game), ''Alley Cat'' (video game), a 1983 computer game by game designer Bill Williams *Alley Cat (film), ''Alley Cat'' (film), a 1984 action film *Alley Cat (2017 film), ''Alley Cat'' (2017 film), a Japanese buddy comedy film directed by Hideo Sakaki Music *The Yale Alley Cats, an all-male ''a cappella'' singing group from Yale University founded in 1943 *Alleycats (Malaysian rock band), a Malaysian musical group *The Alley Cats (1960s group), a Los Angeles doo-wop group *The Alley Cats (punk rock band), a Los Angeles punk rock band *Alley Cat (album), ''Alley Cat'' ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Artifact Color
Composite artifact colors is a technique commonly used to address several graphic modes of some 1970s and 1980s home computers. With some machines, when connected to an NTSC TV or monitor over composite video outputs, the video signal encoding allowed for extra colors to be displayed, by manipulating the pixel position on screen, not being limited by each machine's hardware color palette. This mode was used mainly for games, since it limits the display's effective horizontal resolution. It was most common on the IBM PC (with CGA graphics), TRS-80 Color Computer, Apple II and Atari 8-bit computers, and used by the ''Ultima (series), Ultima'' role-playing video games. Software titles (such as ''King's Quest'' for the IBM PC) usually provided an option to select between ''"RGB mode"'' and ''"Color Composite mode"''. On PAL displays the effect is also present, but generates more limited colors. Depending on the exact PAL system used results will vary (if PAL-M or PAL-N are use ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RF Modulator
An RF modulator (radio frequency modulator) is an electronic device used to convert signals from devices such as media players, VCRs and game consoles to a format that can be handled by a device designed to receive a modulated RF input, such as a radio or television receiver. Its input is a baseband signal, which is used to modulate a radio frequency source. RF modulators operate on different channels depending on the region and have been integrated into various home electronics. However, they tend to produce lower image quality than a baseband connection due to losses during the modulation and demodulation process. In professional broadcast settings, more sophisticated modulators are used. History Prior to the introduction of specialised video connector standards such as SCART, TVs were designed to only accept signals through the aerial connector: signals originate at a TV station, are transmitted over the air, and are then received by an antenna and demodulated within ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RCA Connector
The RCA connector is a type of electrical connector commonly used to carry analog audio and video signals. The name refers to the popular name of Radio Corporation of America, which introduced the design in the 1930s. Typically, the output is a plug type connector and the input a jack type connector. These are referred to as RCA plug and RCA jack respectively. It is also called a phono connector, referring to its early use to connect a phonograph turntable to a radio receiver. As home audio systems became more complex, RCA cables became a standard way to connect components such as radio receivers, amplifiers, turntables, tape decks, and CD players. Their ubiquity led to them also being used for video: connecting analog televisions, videocassette recorders, DVD players, and game consoles. They remain in use as a simple, widely supported means of connection. In some European countries such as France and Germany, the name ''cinch'' is still used as an antonomasia of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Computer Monitor
A computer monitor is an output device that displays information in pictorial or textual form. A discrete monitor comprises a electronic visual display, visual display, support electronics, power supply, Housing (engineering), housing, electrical connectors, and external user controls. The display in modern monitors is typically an Liquid-crystal display, LCD with LED-backlit LCD, LED backlight, having by the 2010s replaced cold-cathode fluorescent lamp, CCFL Backlight, backlit LCDs. Before the mid-2000s, most monitors used a cathode-ray tube, cathode-ray tube (CRT) as the image output technology. A monitor is typically connected to its host computer via DisplayPort, HDMI, USB-C, Digital Visual Interface, DVI, or VGA connector, VGA. Monitors sometimes use other proprietary connectors and signals to connect to a computer, which is less common. Originally computer monitors were used for data processing while television sets were used for video. From the 1980s onward, computers ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Composite Video
Composite video, also known as CVBS (composite video baseband signal or color, video, blanking and sync), is an analog video format that combines image information—such as brightness (luminance), color (chrominance), and synchronization, into a single signal transmitted over one channel. It is most commonly used for standard-definition television, and is sometimes referred to as ''SD video''. The signal is typically carried on a yellow RCA connector, with separate connectors used for left and right audio channels. In professional equipment, a BNC connector is often used instead. Other connector types may appear in compact consumer devices like digital cameras. Composite video supports several line resolutions, including 405-line, 525-line, and 625-line interlaced formats. It exists in three major regional variants based on analog color encoding standards: NTSC, PAL, and SECAM. The same format can also be used to transmit monochrome (black-and-white) video. Signal comp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
