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Atari built a series of 8-bit home computers based on the MOS Technology 6502 CPU, starting in 1979. Over the next decade several versions of the same basic design would be released. These included the original Atari 400 and 800, and their successors, the XL and XE series of computers. However, the models remained largely identical internally. They were the first home computers designed with custom coprocessor chips. IBM even considered licensing Atari for their own personal computer, but decided to build their own. However, design flaws, internal corporate turmoil and difficult, fast-changing market conditions contributed to the 8-bit Atari computers' eventual demise. For the concept Atari (当ãŸã‚Š) in the board game of Go, see Atari (go term). ...
8-bit refers to the number of bits used in the data bus of a computer. ...
TRS-80 Color Computer II The home computer is a consumer-friendly word for the second generation of microcomputers (the technical term that was previously used), entering the market in 1977 and becoming common during the 1980s. ...
MOS Technology, Inc. ...
The MOS Technology 6502 is an 8-bit microprocessor designed by MOS Technology in 1975. ...
Intel 80486DX2 microprocessor in a ceramic PGA package A central processing unit (CPU), or sometimes simply processor, is the component in a digital computer that interprets instructions and processes data contained in software. ...
This page refers to the year 1979. ...
History
Origins As soon as the Atari 2600 was released the engineering team, calling themselves Cyan, started work on its eventual replacement. They felt that the 2600 would have about a three year lifespan, and tried to limit themselves to those features that could be perfected by that time. What they ended up with was essentially a "corrected" version of the 2600, fixing its more obvious flaws. The Atari 2600, released in 1977, is the first successful video game console to use plug-in cartridges instead of having one or more games built in. ...
The newer design would be faster than the 2600, have better graphics, and include much better sound hardware. Work on the chips for the new system continued throughout 1978, primarily focusing on the much-improved video hardware known as the CTIA (the 2600 used a chip known as the TIA). The Color Television Interface Adapter is the graphics chip used in the Atari 400 and Atari 800 home computers. ...
The Television Interface Adapter (TIA) is the custom chip that is the heart of the Atari 2600 games console and was created by Jay Miner of Amiga fame. ...
However, at this point, the home computer revolution took off in the form of the Apple II family, Commodore PET and TRS-80. Ray Kassar, the new CEO of Atari, wanted the new chips to be used in a home computer to challenge Apple. Atari researched on what would be needed to produce a workable home computer of their own. This included support for character graphics (something the 2600 didn't support), some form of expansion for peripherals, the BASIC programming language, and a keyboard. The 1977 Apple II, with its sleek and attractive case design for its time. ...
The PET (Personal Electronic Transactor) was a home-/personal computer produced by Commodore starting in the late 1970s. ...
TRS-80 Model I TRS-80 (also affectionately or derisively known as the Trash-80) was the designation for several lines of microcomputer systems produced by the Tandy Corporation and sold through its Radio Shack stores in the late-1970s and 1980s. ...
A peripheral ***is ***a ***type ******of ***************computer ***hardware************ ***that ***is ***added ***to ***a ***host ******computer*** ******in ***order ************to ***expand ***its abilities***. ***More ***specifica************lly ***the term ***is ***used ***to describe ***those ***devices ***that ***are optional ***in ***nature***, as ***opposed ***t*********o ***hardware ***that ***is ***either ***demanded***, ***or ***always r*********equired...
BASIC (Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) is a family of high-level programming languages. ...
Design
ANTIC Cyan's main area of work during this period was the creation of two advanced LSI chips known as ANTIC and GTIA. Together, they formed the heart of Atari's graphics. ANTIC was really a microprocessor which processed display instructions. A complete sequence of instructions was known as a Display List. Each instruction describe how each line was to be displayed (character or graphics), where it was displayed, if it contained interrupts, if fine scrolling was enabled or not, or where to load data from memory (character sets or graphics information). ANTIC read this display list using DMA (Direct Memory Access), then translated this display list into electrical data for GTIA to process. All of this without any CPU intervention. ANTIC (Alpha-Numeric Television Interface Circuit) was an early video system chip used in the Atari 8-bit family of microcomputers as well as some of Ataris video game consoles of the 1980s. ...
Georges Television Interface Adapter is the successor to the CTIA chip used in the Atari 8-bit Computers. ...
GTIA GTIA receives graphics information from ANTIC and also controls sprites, collision detection, priority control and color-luminance (brightness) control to all objects including DMA objects from ANTIC. GTIA takes all this information and does a DAC (Digital to Analog Conversion) to video signals for display. Georges Television Interface Adapter is the successor to the CTIA chip used in the Atari 8-bit Computers. ...
In computer graphics, a sprite is a two-dimensional image or animation that is integrated into a larger scene. ...
POKEY The third custom support chip, named POKEY, was responsible for reading the keyboard, generating sound and serial communications (the latter in conjunction with the PIA). It also provided timers, a random number generator (for sound noise as well as random numbers), and maskable interrupts. POKEY has four semi-independent audio channels, each with its own frequency, noise and volume control. Each 8-bit channel had its own audio control register which selected the noise content and volume. For higher sound resolution (quality), two of the audio channels can be combined for more accurate sound (16-bit). Atari POKEY (C012294) pin-out The Atari POKEY is a digital I/O chip found in the Atari 8-bit family of home computers and many arcade games in the 1980s. ...
One of the main reasons the 6502 was so widely used in early machines was cost, but the other was a feature that made it ideally suited to graphics: the CPU only accesses memory at the clock rate and only needs access while the clock is high. Thus a video controller can access memory while the clock is low, without fear of the bus signals being scrambled by two devices accessing the bus at the same time. The Atari engineers then carefully selected the computer's clock speed to make sure the GTIA had just enough time to read out a line before the processor wanted access again - this led to the machine running at 1.79 MHz on NTSC televisions, and 1.77 MHz on PAL. NTSC is the analog television system in use in Korea, Japan, United States, Canada and certain other places, mostly in the Americas (see map). ...
For other meanings of PAL see PAL (disambiguation). ...
Atari had originally intended to port Microsoft BASIC to the machine, as had most other vendors, intending to supply it on an 8k ROM cartridge. However the existing 6502 version from Microsoft was 12k, and all of Atari's attempts to pare it down failed. Eventually they farmed out the work to a local consulting firm, who recommended writing their own version from scratch, which was eventually delivered as ATARI BASIC. Microsoft BASIC is the foundation product of the Microsoft company. ...
ATARI BASIC was a ROM resident BASIC interpreter for the Atari 8-bit family of 6502-based home computers. ...
The early machines: 400 and 800
 The startup screen of early Atari 8-bit models when no program is loaded.
 The startup screen when ATARI BASIC is selected. Management identified two sweet spots for the new computers, a low-end version known as Candy, and a higher-end machine known as Colleen (rumored to be named after attractive Atari staff). The primary difference between the two models was marketing; Atari marketed Colleen as a computer, Candy as a game machine (or hybrid game console). Colleen would include slots for memory and ROM, a second 8k cartridge slot, monitor output and a full keyboard, while Candy used a plastic "membrane keyboard" and internal slots (not user upgradable). Both machines were built like tanks with huge internal aluminum shields, to meet FCC rules for TV signals emitted in RF space (Part 15 Type I). Apple machines, without a RF modulator, didn't need to meet those requirements (the first model of the TRS-80 actually never met that FCC spec). The startup screen on early models of Atari 8-bit computers when no program is loaded. ...
The startup screen on computers in the Atari 8-bit family when Atari BASIC is chosen. ...
A sweet spot is a place, often numerical as opposed to physical, where a combination of factors suggest a particularly suitable solution. ...
Read-only memory (ROM) is used as a storage medium in computers. ...
Composite video is the format of an analog television (picture only) signal before it is combined with a sound signal and modulated onto an RF carrier. ...
A membrane keyboard is a computer keyboard whose keys are not separate, moving parts, as with the majority of other keyboards, but rather have only outlines and symbols printed on a flat, flexible surface. ...
The FCCs official seal. ...
TRS-80 Model I TRS-80 (also affectionately or derisively known as the Trash-80) was the designation for several lines of microcomputer systems produced by the Tandy Corporation and sold through its Radio Shack stores in the late-1970s and 1980s. ...
The machines were announced in December 1978 as the 400 and 800, although they weren't widely available until November 1979. The names originally referred to the amount of memory, 4K RAM in the 400 and 8K in the 800. However by the time they were released the prices on RAM had started to fall, so the machines were instead released with 8K and 16K respectively. 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ...
A kilobyte (derived from the SI prefix kilo-) is a unit of information or computer storage equal to either 1024 or 1000 bytes. ...
To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...
Due to new FCC restrictions, the 400/800 couldn't allow slots like those found on the Apple II computers. Instead, they created a proprietary, expensive serial-based interface called SIO (Serial Input/Output). All external devices were connected using this interface (cassette drive, disk drive, interface box) adding to the cost of ownership. On the 800, the internal slots were reserved for ROM and memory modules. Originally the machines shipped with 16k, but as prices continued to fall Atari eventually supplied the machines fully expanded to 48k, using up all the slots. The pier at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography The Scripps Institution of Oceanography (sometimes referred to as SIO or just Scripps) in La Jolla, California is one of the oldest, largest, and most important centers for marine science research, graduate training, and public service in the world. ...
A few companies made RAM modules for the Atari 800. One company made a module which added an 80-column display system and 16k of RAM so you could remove one of the Atari-supplied cards without losing memory.
Overheating problems with the memory modules eventually led Atari to remove the casings on the memory modules, leaving them as "bare" boards. Later, the expansion cover was held down with screws instead of latches.
The Atari 800 sold respectably, but not nearly as well as the Apple machines. The crippling of the 400 only confused buyers and a replacement was in the works (the so called Sweet-8 or "Liz NY").
XL series
1200XL
 The startup screen of later Atari 8-bit models (XL series onwards) when no program is loaded. The 800 was complex and expensive to build, consisting of multiple circuit boards in various locations inside or outside the massive aluminum shield. Additionally the machine was designed to add RAM only through cards, which required expensive connectors and packaging even though it now shipped fully expanded right from the factory. At the same time the 400 didn't compete technically with some of the newer machines appearing in the early 1980s, which tended to ship with much more RAM and a real keyboard. The startup screen on later models of Atari 8-bit computers (XL series onwards) when no program is loaded. ...
Another major change was the introduction of the FCC ratings specifically for digital devices in homes and offices. One of the ratings, known as Class B, mandated that the device's RF emissions were to be low enough not to interfere with other devices, such as radios and TVs. Now computers needed just enough shielding to prevent interference (both ways), not prevent emissions from leaking out. This requirement enabled lighter, less expensive shielding than the previous 400 and 800 computers.
In 1982 Atari started the Sweet 16 project to address these issues. The result was an upgraded set of machines otherwise similar to the 400 and 800, but much easier and less costly to produce. Newer fabs allowed a number of chips in the original systems to be condensed into one. For comparison, the original 800 used seven separate circuit boards (many of them small, three of them for RAM and another for ROM), while the new machines used only one. Sweet 16 also addressed problems with the 800 by adding a new expansion chassis as well, although it was to be external. Like the earlier machines, the Sweet 16 was intended to be released in two versions as the 1000 with 16KB and the 1000XL with 64KB. RAM was still expensive enough to make this distinction worthwhile. 1982 (MCMLXXXII) is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Fabrication plant. ...
When ANTIC needed memory access it halted the CPU. But this required four support chips. Atari later had a custom version of the 6502B to be made with an extra "HALT" pin. Known initially as SALLY, this version later became an official product known as the "6502C" and used in all XL/XE Atari machines.
But when the machines were actually released there was only one version, the 1200XL, an odd hybrid of features from the Sweet 16 project. Notable features were 64kB of RAM (first for an Atari), built-in self test, redesigned keyboard (favored by many users), and redesigned cable port layout. However the 1200XL also included a number of missing or poorly implemented features. For instance it included the expansion chassis connector, but the case did not include a hole for it to be used. A new video chip provided more chroma for a more colorful image, but then someone decided to disconnect that pin in the monitor port, reversing the effect. The +12V pin in the SIO port was also removed, for no obvious reason.
In the end the 1200XL offered little new in comparison to the existing 800, and although it should have been much less expensive, it in fact was sold at the same basic price points. Changes made to the operating system to support the new hardware also had the side effect of making a number of existing programs no longer work. For all of these reasons the 1200XL sold poorly. There is an often-repeated story, perhaps apocryphal, that 800 sales shot up after the release of the 1200XL, as existing owners tried to snap them up before they disappeared. Released in late 1982, the machine was quickly discontinued in 1983.
Newer XL machines By this point in time Atari was involved in what would soon develop into a full-blown price war. Jack Tramiel of Commodore International watched Texas Instruments enter the home computer market, and decided to push them back out by undercutting their prices. TI had undercut Commodore's calculator business only a few years earlier, but this time Tramiel's supply was stronger than TI's, and he could turn the tables. Although Atari had never been a deliberate target of Tramiel's wrath, they, along with the rest of the market, were dragged into "his" price war in order to maintain market share. Price war is a term used in business to indicate a state of intense competitive rivalry accompanied by a multi-lateral series of price reductions. ...
Jack Tramiel (born 1928) is a businessman, famous for founding Commodore International, manufacturer of the Commodore 64 and Commodore Amiga home computers. ...
Commodore is the commonly used name for Commodore International, a West Chester, Pennsylvania based electronics company who was a vital player in the home/personal computer field in the 1980s. ...
Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN), better known in the electronics industry as TI, is a company based in Dallas, Texas, renowned for developing and commercializing semiconductor and computer technology. ...
Market share, in strategic management and marketing, is the percentage or proportion of the total available market or market segment that is being serviced by a company. ...
The timing was particularily bad for Atari; the 1200XL was a flop, and the earlier machines were too expensive to produce to be able to compete at the rapidly falling price points. The solution was to replace the 1200XL with a machine that users would again trust, while at the same time lowering the production costs to the point where they could compete with Commodore.
Starting with the 1200XL design as the basis for a new line, Atari engineers were able to add a number of new IC's to take over the functions of many of those remaining in the 1200XL. While the 1200XL fit onto a single board, the new designs were even smaller, simpler, and as a result much less expensive. To reduce cost even further, manufacturing of a new series of machines was set up in the far east.
These versions, the 600XL, 800XL, 1400XL and 1450XLD were announced at the 1983 Summer CES. These machines had Atari BASIC built into the ROM of the computer and a Parallel Bus Interface (PBI). The machines looked similar to the 1200XL, but were smaller back to front, the 600 being somewhat smaller than the 800 front-to-back (a reflection of the Sweet 8 project). The 1400 and 1450 both added a built-in 300 baud modem and a voice synthesizer, and the 1450XLD also included a built-in double-sided floppy disk drive in an enlarged case. The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is held each January in Las Vegas, Nevada, and is sponsored by the Consumer Electronics Association. ...
Read-only memory (ROM) is used as a storage medium in computers. ...
The Parallel Bus Interface or PBI is a 50-pin port found on some Atari 8-bit XL computers. ...
A modem (a portmanteau word constructed from modulator and demodulator) is a device that modulates a carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. ...
Speech synthesis is the artificial production of human speech. ...
A floppy disk is a data storage device that is composed of a ring of thin, flexible (i. ...
Problems with the new production lines delayed the entry of the machines onto the market. Originally intended to replace the 1200XL in mid-83, the machines did not arrive until late in 1983, far fewer than anticipated during the 1983 Christmas season. Nonetheless, the 800XL was the most popular computer sold by Atari. The 1400XL and the 1450XLD had their delivery dates pushed back, first by the priority given to the 600XL/800XL, and later by the 3600 System. In the end the 1400XL was eventually cancelled outright, and the 1450XLD so delayed that it would never ship. Atari 7800 System The Atari 7800 is a video game console released by Atari. ...
By late 1983 the price war that had started the year before was now reaching a crescendo. Although the 600/800 were well positioned in terms of price and features, their entry into the market was so delayed that Commodore was able to take the '83 Christmas season while Atari struggled to get their machines onto the shelves. Combined with the simultaneous effects of the video game crash of 1983, Atari was soon losing millions of dollars a day. Their owners, Warner Communications, became desperate to sell off the division. E.T. for the Atari 2600. ...
Warner Communications, formerly Kinney National Company, was the parent company for Warner Bros. ...
Tramiel Era: XE series and XEGS Although Commodore emerged intact from the computer price wars, fighting inside Commodore soon led to Jack Tramiel's ousting. Looking to re-enter the market, he soon purchased Atari from Warner for an extremely low price. Jack Tramiel (born 1928) is a businessman, famous for founding Commodore International, manufacturer of the Commodore 64 and Commodore Amiga home computers. ...
The final machines in the 8-bit series were there 65XE and 130XE. The 65XE was the replacement for the 800XL. Originally called the 900XLF, the 65XE was functionally equivalent to the 800XL minus the PBI connection. The 65XE (Euro version) and the 130XE had a Enhanced Cartridge Interface (ECI), a variant of the Parallel Bus Interface (PBI). The 130XE came with 128kB of memory, accessible through bank-selection (thanks to FREDDIE and a EMMU chip). An additional 800XE was available in Europe (mostly Eastern Europe), it was basically a 130XE with half the memory. XE stood for XL-Expanded. The Enhanced Cartridge Interface or (ECI) was a 14-pin extension to the cartridge slot on Atari 8-bit XE computers. ...
The Parallel Bus Interface or PBI is a 50-pin port found on some Atari 8-bit XL computers. ...
FREDDIE was the name for a 40-pin LSI found in Atari 8-bit computers. ...
EMMU is a custom MMU chip for the 130XE Atari 8-bit computer. ...
World map showing Europe Europe is conventionally considered one of the seven continents which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiogeographic one. ...
Current division of Europe into five (or more) regions: one definition of Eastern Europe is marked in orange Eastern Europe as a region has several alternative definitions, whereby it can denote: the region lying between the variously and vaguely defined areas of Central Europe and Russia. ...
The reason for repackaging the 130XE into the 800XE was Atari trying to ride on the popularity of the original 800XL in Europe. Unfortunately, 65XE and 800XE machines sold in Eastern Europe had a buggy GTIA chip, specifically those machines made in China in 1991.
A theory for why the number 65 was used for the first machine in the XE series is because Atari wanted their machine-numbers to correspond with the amount of RAM they came with, but as Commodore already used the numbers 64 and 128, Atari decided to add one to 64 and chose 65. All subsequent model-numbers were multiples of 65 instead of 64. This numbering-scheme was used in the Atari ST line of computers as well. Commodore is the commonly used name for Commodore International, a West Chester, Pennsylvania based electronics company who was a vital player in the home/personal computer field in the 1980s. ...
The Atari 520ST Atari 1040STF with SC1224 color monitor The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was commercially popular from 1985 to the early 1990s. ...
Finally, with the resurgence of the gaming industry brought on by Nintendo, Atari brought out the XE Game System (XEGS), released in 1987. The XEGS was sold bundled with its detachable keyboard (first for a Atari computer), a joystick and a lightgun (XG-1), and a couple of game cartridges. No PBI or ECI, but a complete computer with the keyboard. Bad marketing and a lack of newer releases hampered sales. Nintendo (Japanese: ä»»å¤©å ‚, ニンテンドー NintendÅ; NASDAQ: NTDOY, TYO: 7974 ) is an international company originally founded in Japan on November 6, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce handmade hanafuda cards, for use in a Japanese playing card game of the same name. ...
The Atari XG-1 Light Gun Released in 1987, the XG-1 is the light gun that came bundled with the Atari XEGS. The XEGS, which stands for XE Game System, was an Atari 65XE computer reworked cosmetically to give the appearance of a game console. ...
On January 1, 1992, Atari Corp. officially dropped all remaining support of their 8-bit line.
Computer models - 400 and 800 (1979) – original machines in beige cases, 400 had membrane keyboard, 800 had full-travel keys, two cartridge ports, monitor output, expandable memory slots (up to 48KB).
- 1200XL (1982) – new aluminum and smoked plastic cases, 64KB of RAM, only two joystick ports. Help key, four function keys. A new OS caused compatibility problems with some older software.
- 600XL and 800XL (1983) – replacements for the 400, 800 and 1200XL sans function keys. 600XL had 16KB of memory, 800XL had 64KB and monitor output. Both had built-in BASIC and an expansion port known as the Parallel Bus Interface (PBI).
- 800XLF – 800XL with FREDDIE chip and BASIC rev. C. Released in Europe only.
- 65XE, and 130XE (1985) – A repackaged 900XLF with new cases and keyboards. The U.S., Canadian version of the 65XE had no PBI or expansion port. 130XE came with 128KB of RAM and a Enhanced Cartridge Interface (ECI) instead of a PBI.
- XEGS (1987) – a game machine in a light beige case, with a detachable full-travel but slightly "mushy" keyboard (Atari ST'ish)
- 800XE – the final machine in the series. Styling the same as 65XE and 130XE. A 130XE with 64KB RAM. Mainly seen in Eastern Europe.
- Prototypes/Vaporware (Never Officially Released)
- 1400XL – Similar to the 1200XL but with an PBI, FREDDIE chip, built-in modem and speech synthesis chip. Cancelled by Atari.
- 1450XLD – basically a 1400XL with built in 5 1/4" disk drive and expansion bay for a second 5 1/4" disk drive. Code named Dynasty. Made it to pre-production, but got abandoned by Tramiel.
- 900XLF – redesigned 800XLF. Became the 65XE.
- 65XEM – 65XE with AMY sound synthesis chip. Cancelled.
- 65XEP – "portable" 65XE with 3.5" disk drive, 5" green CRT and battery pack. Never released
A membrane keyboard is a computer keyboard whose keys are not separate, moving parts, as with the majority of other keyboards, but rather have only outlines and symbols printed on a flat, flexible surface. ...
The Parallel Bus Interface or PBI is a 50-pin port found on some Atari 8-bit XL computers. ...
FREDDIE was the name for a 40-pin LSI found in Atari 8-bit computers. ...
The Enhanced Cartridge Interface or (ECI) was a 14-pin extension to the cartridge slot on Atari 8-bit XE computers. ...
FREDDIE was the name for a 40-pin LSI found in Atari 8-bit computers. ...
Cathode ray tube employing electromagnetic focus and deflection Cutaway rendering of a color CRT The cathode ray tube or CRT, invented by Karl Ferdinand Braun, is the display device that was traditionally used in most computer displays, video monitors, televisions and oscilloscopes. ...
Peripherals Atari's peripherals were named after the machines they were intended to be used with, so in general they have names like "410" and "1050". All of them used the proprietary SIO port, which allowed them to be daisy chained together into a single string; a method also used in Commodore's home computers from the VIC-20 onwards. These "intelligent" peripherials were more expensive than the standard IBM PC devices, which did not need the added SIO electronics. The elementary meaning of daisy chain is a garland created from the daisy flower, generally as a childrens game. ...
VIC-20 with accessories. ...
400/800 series - 410 tape drive, 600 bit/s on cassettes
- 810 5¼" floppy disk, single-density single-sided, 90KB
- 815 dual 5¼" floppy disks, double-density single-sided, 180KB (only small numbers produced)
- 820 printer, 40-column dot matrix on adding machine paper
- 822 printer, 40-column thermal on slightly wider paper
- 825 printer, 80-column dot matrix (Centronics 737)
- 830 300-baud modem, using an acoustic coupler, used RS-232 so required an 850 (Novation CAT)
- 835 300-baud modem, direct connect, basic Hayes compatible with SIO interface
- 850 expansion system, included four RS-232 ports and one Centronics parallel port
- CX-85 Numerical Keypad, external keypad that plugs into the joystick ports.
Typical audio 60-minute Compact Cassette. ...
A floppy disk is a data storage device that is composed of a ring of thin, flexible (i. ...
A dot matrix is an array of dots used to generate characters, symbols and images. ...
A modem (a portmanteau word constructed from modulator and demodulator) is a device that modulates a carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. ...
Acoustically coupled modem In telecommunications, the term acoustic coupler has the following meanings: An interface device for coupling electrical signals by acoustical means--usually into and out of a telephone instrument. ...
RS-232 (also referred to as EIA RS-232C or V.24) is a standard for serial binary data interchange between a DTE (Data terminal equipment) and a DCE (Data communication equipment). ...
Centronics logo 23 June 1986 Centronics logo 1971 Centronics Data Computer Corporation was a pioneering American manufacturer of computer printers, now remembered only for the parallel interface that bears their name. ...
In computing, a parallel port is an interface from a computer system where data is transferred in or out in parallel, that is, on more than one wire. ...
XL series - 1010 tape drive, a smaller replacement for the 410
- 1020 color printer, 40-column plotter with 4 pens - 256 colors
- 1025 printer, 80-column dot matrix (Okidata ML-80)
- 1027 printer, 80-column letter quality daisy wheel (Mannesmann Tally Riteman LQ)
- 1029 printer, 80-column lower-quality 7-pin dot matrix sold in Europe (Seikosha mechanism)
- 1030 300 baud modem, direct connect
- 1050 5¼" floppy disk, "enhanced density" format single-sided, 130KB
- 1064 memory module, 64K memory expansion for 600XL
- 1090 expansion system, 5 slots in a large case (never released, small numbers leaked out)
This article does not cite its references or sources. ...
A daisy wheel printer is a type of computer printer that produces high-quality type, and is often referred to as a letter quality printer (this in contrast to high-quality dot-matrix printers, capable of near-letter-quality, or NLQ, output). ...
A daisy wheel printer is a type of computer printer that produces high-quality type, and is often referred to as a letter-quality printer (this in contrast to high-quality dot-matrix printers, capable of near-letter-quality, or NLQ, output). ...
XE series - XEP80 80-column display module, parallel port
- XC11 tape drive
- XC12 tape drive (small model like the 1010, sold worldwide)
- XF551 5¼" floppy disk, double-density double-sided, 360KB
- XMM801 printer, 80-column dot matrix
- XDM121 printer, 80-column letter quality daisy wheel
- XM301 300 baud modem
- SX212 1200 baud modem (also included RS-232 for use on Atari ST computers)
Atari also produced a number of other tape drives for use in eastern Europe where they continued to sell into the late 1980s due to their low cost. Some of these included various "high-speed" modes which made them almost as fast as early disk drives. The Atari 520ST Atari 1040STF with SC1224 color monitor The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was commercially popular from 1985 to the early 1990s. ...
In addition to the list above, Atari failed to release a huge selection of machines and peripherals that were otherwise completed. See the externally linked FAQ below for details.
Software
Built-in and disk operating systems The Atari 8-bit computers came with an operating system built into the ROM. The Atari 400/800 had the following: Read-only memory (ROM) is used as a storage medium in computers. ...
- OS Rev. A - 10K ROM (3 chips) early machines.
- OS Rev. B - 10K ROM (3 chips) bug fixes. Most common for 400/800.
The XL/XE Atari 8-bit models all had OS revisions due to added hardware features and changes. But this created compatibility issues with some of the older software. Atari responded with the Translator Disk, a floppy disk which loaded the older 400/800 Rev. B or Rev. A OS into the XL/XE computers. - OS Rev. 10 - 16K ROM (2 chips) for 1200XL Rev A
- OS Rev. 11 - 16K ROM (2 chips) for 1200XL Rev B (bug fixes)
- OS Rev. 1 - 16K ROM for 600XL
- OS Rev. 2 - 16K ROM for 800XL
- OS Rev. 3 - 16K ROM for 800XE/130XE
- OS Rev. 4 - 32K ROM (16K OS + 8K BASIC + 8K Missile Command) for XEGS
Several third-party replacement OSes were also available. See Atari DOS under Third-party DOS Programs. Atari DOS, (often just known as DOS), was the disk operating system used with the Atari 8-bit family of computers. ...
The standard Atari OS only contained very low-level routines for accessing floppy disk drives. An extra layer, a disk operating system, was added to assist in organizing file system-level disk access. Enter Atari DOS, which, like most home computer DOSes of the era, had to be booted from floppy disk at every power-on or reset. Unlike most others, Atari DOS was entirely menu driven. A floppy disk is a data storage device that is composed of a ring of thin, flexible (i. ...
disk operating system (specifically) and disk operating system (generically), most often abbreviated as DOS, refer to operating system software used in most computers for the management of storage devices and the information on them (e. ...
In computing, a file system is a method for storing and organizing computer files and the data they contain to make it easy to find and access them. ...
Atari DOS, (often just known as DOS), was the disk operating system used with the Atari 8-bit family of computers. ...
- DOS 1.0 - Initial DOS for Atari.
- DOS 2.0S, 2.0D - Improved over DOS 1.0, became the standard for the 810 disk drive. 2.0D was for never-released 815 drive.
- DOS 3.0 - Came with 1050 drive, not compatible with DOS 2.0.
- DOS 2.5 - Replaced DOS 3.0 due to complaints.
- DOS 4.0 - Designed for 1450XLD, cancelled, rights given back to the author.
- DOS XE - Designed for the XF551 drive.
For more info, see Atari DOS. Atari DOS, (often just known as DOS), was the disk operating system used with the Atari 8-bit family of computers. ...
Available programming languages - Action! – A product of Optimized Systems Software. A high performance language that compiled to machine code, with good support for Atari's hardware. While it was popular with hobbyists, it never attained widespread acceptance, particularly since it was limited to the Atari 8-bit platform.
- Assembly language
- Atari Assembler Editor – A 6502 assembler editor and compiler was released by Atari in a ROM cartridge.
- Atari Macro Assembler (AMAC) – A macro assembler released by Atari Program Exchange (APX) in disk form. Copy protected.
- MAC/65 – 6502 macro assembler/editor developed by Optimized Systems Software. Released in disk and cartridge forms.
- Synassembler – Assembler from Synapse Software. Written by Steve Hales. Not compatible with XL/XE computers without patching.
- Macro Assembler/Text Editor (MAE) – Assembler from Eastern House Software. Written by John Harris.
- BASIC dialects.
- Atari BASIC – This was the original BASIC for the Atari 8-bit family. Came as a ROM cartridge with the Atari 400/800 models, but was built into the computer's ROM in later models. In the XL/XE models, BASIC could be disabled by holding down the OPTION key while booting.
- Atari Microsoft BASIC – A version of BASIC for the Atari 8-bit family released by Atari that was more compatible with Microsoft BASIC. Microsoft BASIC II was the same except it was in a ROM cartridge plus extension disk.
- Turbo Basic XL – An improved version of Atari BASIC released by a third party that is not only faster, but offers many more commands. There is also a compiler that makes Turbo-BASIC XL programs even faster by compiling them into machine-language binaries.
- BASIC A Plus — An extended BASIC from Optimized Systems Software
- BASIC XL — An improved BASIC from Optimized Systems Software [1]
- BASIC XE — An enhanced version of BASIC XL from Optimized Systems Software [2]
- C
- Deep Blue C – A C compiler. Written by John Palevich, APX.
After Atari's 8-bit machines entered the realm of retrocomputing in the late 1990s, cross platform development tools such as XASM, TASM, and cc65, most commonly run on PCs, have been much used by enthusiasts to do programming intended for the machines. Action! was a programming language, editor and in-memory 6502 compiler created by Clinton Parker working for Optimized Systems Software and running on the Atari 8-bit family of microcomputers. ...
Optimized Systems Software (OSS) was a small company producing operating systems and programming languages for the Atari 8-bit and Apple II computer families. ...
Atari built a series of 8-bit home computers based on the MOS Technology 6502 CPU, starting in 1979. ...
Assembly language commonly called assembly or asm, is a human-readable notation for the machine language that a specific computer architecture uses. ...
The Atari Assembler Editor cartridge was a program used to edit, compile and debug assembly language programs for the Atari 8-bit computers. ...
The MOS Technology 6502 is an 8-bit microprocessor designed by MOS Technology in 1975. ...
MAC/65 was a assembly language compiler produced by Optimized Systems Software for the Atari 8-bit family of microcomputers. ...
Optimized Systems Software (OSS) was a small company producing operating systems and programming languages for the Atari 8-bit and Apple II computer families. ...
BASIC (Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) is a family of high-level programming languages. ...
ATARI BASIC was a ROM resident BASIC interpreter for the Atari 8-bit family of 6502-based home computers. ...
The Atari Microsoft BASIC and Atari Microsoft BASIC II variants of the BASIC programming language were cartridge or floppy disk packaged versions of the industry standard Microsoft BASIC dialect adapted to the Atari 800 and later Atari computers of that architecture. ...
For the concept Atari (当ãŸã‚Š) in the board game of Go, see Atari (go term). ...
Microsoft BASIC is the foundation product of the Microsoft company. ...
This article is about Turbo-Basic XL, a dialect of BASIC for the Atari 8-bit family. ...
ATARI BASIC was a ROM resident BASIC interpreter for the Atari 8-bit family of 6502-based home computers. ...
BASIC A+ was developed by Optimized Systems Software of Cupertino, California, USA, to provide the Atari 8-bit family with an extended BASIC compatible with, but faster than, the simpler ROM-based Atari BASIC. While Atari BASIC came on an 8 KB ROM cartridge, BASIC A+ was delivered on floppy...
Optimized Systems Software (OSS) was a small company producing operating systems and programming languages for the Atari 8-bit and Apple II computer families. ...
Optimized Systems Software (OSS) was a small company producing operating systems and programming languages for the Atari 8-bit and Apple II computer families. ...
Optimized Systems Software (OSS) was a small company producing operating systems and programming languages for the Atari 8-bit and Apple II computer families. ...
The C Programming Language, Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie, the original edition that served for many years as an informal specification of the language The C programming language is a standardized imperative computer programming language developed in the early 1970s by Dennis Ritchie for use on the Unix operating system. ...
The C Programming Language, Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie, the original edition that served for many years as an informal specification of the language The C programming language is a standardized imperative computer programming language developed in the early 1970s by Dennis Ritchie for use on the Unix operating system. ...
Lisp may mean: Lisp programming language Lisp (speech) This is a disambiguation page, a list of pages that otherwise might share the same title. ...
The Logo programming language is an imperative programming language. ...
Atari LOGO was a programming language for the Atari 8-bit computers. ...
The word pilot has several meanings: In aviation, a pilot, also known as an aviator, is someone who flies an aircraft. ...
Pascal is an imperative computer programming language, developed in 1970 by Niklaus Wirth as a language particularly suitable for structured programming. ...
Atari Pascal was a program released by Atari in 1982. ...
Forth is a procedural, stack-oriented, reflective programming language and programming environment. ...
Retrocomputing is a term to describe the use of old computer hardware and software. ...
cc65 is a complete cross development package for 65(C)02 systems, including a powerful macro assembler, a C compiler, linker, librarian and several other tools. ...
One of the first PCs from IBM - the IBM PC model 5150. ...
Applications See Category:Atari 8-bit family software.
Games See Category:Atari 8-bit family games.
Graphics capabilities
Standard modes While the ANTIC and GTIA chips allowed a variety of graphics modes to be combined, and different playfield widths to be used, the Atari's Operating System provided a basic set of graphics modes. In most cases, these were exposed to Atari BASIC via the "GRAPHICS" command, and to some other languages, via similar system calls. - 40x24 text modes
- 1 color of text, with each character's 8x8 pixels the same size as those in 320x192 graphics mode, with the same hue restriction. Characters with the high-bit on were represented in inverse-video.
- "Lowercase with descenders" mode, which was not available through GRAPHICS, only as part of custom display lists. In this mode characters were 10 pixels high and occupied either the upper or lower 8 pixels of that height. This was not strictly speaking a 40x24 text mode, because of the unusual height.
- Colored text, where every two bits represents a colored pixel (characters were 4x8 pixels that were the same size as those in 160x192 graphics mode). Characters with the high-bit on were displayed using a 5th color palette registered where the 4th would normally be used.
- Colored text, where every four bits represents a colored pixel (characters were 2x8 pixels that were the same size as those in 80x192 graphics mode and had the same color limitations). This mode was not directly available through GRAPHICS but required setting GTIA flags in text mode.
- 20x24 text mode
- 1 color of text, with each character's 8x8 pixels the same size as those in 160x192 graphics mode. Characters with various bits enabled or disabled (which would normally appear as 'control-characters', lower-case characters, or inverse-video) were displayed with different colored pixels.
- 20x12 text mode
- (Same as 20x24 text mode, but with larger pixels and fewer rows of text)
- 40x24 graphics mode -- 4 colors (2bpp)
- 80x48 graphics modes -- Either 2 colors (1bpp), or 4 colors (2bpp)
- 160x96 graphics modes -- Either 2 colors, or 4 colors
- 160x192 graphics modes -- Either 2 colors, or 4 colors
- 320x192 graphics mode -- 2 colors (1bpp). The pixels were a shade of the playfield color, and could not be different hue.
- 80x192 graphics modes (GTIA chip only)
- 9 colors from the color palette registers
- All 15 Atari hues, but only of one brightness (plus black)
- All 16 Atari shades, but only of one hue
Software-driven modes In 1992, Jeff D. Potter created a GIF decoder and image viewer for the Atari called APACView. APAC, or Any Point, Any Color, was a software-driven method of display an image using all 256 of the Atari's possible colors. By taking 80x192 mode lines that displayed 16 hues, and those that displayed 16 shades, and either interlacing rows of them, quickly alternating between rows of them, or both, a screen displaying 80x96 or 80x192 pixels in 256 colors could be perceived. (This mode may have been invented by someone earlier.) 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ...
A rotating globe in GIF format. ...
Later, Jeff created another GIF decoder, and later a JPEG decoder was created, which broke an image into the three red, green and blue channels. 16 shades of each, at 80x192 pixels, would be displayed in an interlaced and flickering fashion. The human eye's persistence of vision would allow the viewer to see 4096 colors (12bpp) at 80x192, with slight 'rolling' artifacts in solid red, green or blue fields in the image. This was called ColorView mode. A rotating globe in GIF format. ...
A photo of a flower compressed with successively lossier compression ratios from left to right. ...
According to the theory of persistence of vision, the perceptual processes of the brain or the retina of the human eye retains an image for a split second. ...
In 1994, Clay Halliwell created a modem terminal program for the Atari (FlickerTerm80) which uses 40x24 text mode, combined with two character sets with an identical 4x8 font -- one with the pixels on the left half of the 8x8 grid, the other on the right. By altering where in memory ANTIC looks for graphics, and which font to display, an 80x24 character screen can be displayed. It uses less memory (about 2KB) and can be more quickly manipulated, compared to rendering 80x24 characters using a 320x192 bitmap mode (which would require about 8KB). 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ...
A font can mean: A member of a typeface family; or digital font - file format that encapsulates a typeface family in a database. ...
In 1998, Bill Kendrick created a puzzle video game for the Atari (Gem Drop) which utilized a similar effect, but by using two alternating character sets (fonts) in colored text. (Each character is 4x8 pixels, each pixel being one of 4 colors.) No color palette changes occurred, and ANTIC's Display List wasn't altered -- only a vertical blank interrupt was used to change the character set. This allowed for approximately 13 colors on the screen. Solid color fields that were based on two actual colors (e.g., dark red created by flickering between red and black) had less artifacting because they could be drawn in a checkerboard fashion. This mode was called SuperIRG. (Normal 4x8 multi-colored text on the Atari is called IRG.) 1998 (MCMXCVIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ...
A font can mean: A member of a typeface family; or digital font - file format that encapsulates a typeface family in a database. ...
A vertical blank interrupt (or VBI) is a programming technique used in some systems, notably video games and consoles, to allow program code to be run in the periods when the display hardware is turned off, waiting for the TV to complete its vertical blank, which takes about 20 uS...
5 by 5 checkerboard pattern A checkerboard (or chequerboard) is a board on which American checkers is played. ...
IRG Ideographic Rapporteur Group International Resources Group Immersive Reality Gaming This page concerning a three-letter acronym or abbreviation is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...
In 1996, Atari demo coders HARD Software from Hungary created HARD Interlacing Picture (HIP), which can display 160x192 pixels in 30 shades of grey. It interlaces two modes -- 80x192 with 16 shades of grey, 80x192 with 9 paletted colors -- and utilizes a bug in the GTIA chip that causes one of the modes to be shifted 1/2 pixel, allowing for a perceived 160 pixels across. 1996 (MCMXCVI) is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ...
Later, other demo coders created RIP graphics mode, which is similar to HIP, but can display 160x192 pixels in color.
Sources - 1. ^ The Atari 800 Personal Computer System, by the Atari Museum, accessed August 28th, 2005
See also Atari User was a British magazine aimed at users of Atari computers, and published by Database Publications (later known as Europress) between 1985 and 1988. ...
Page 6 (subtitled Atari Users Magazine, and later known as New Atari User) was an independent British publication aimed at users of Atari computers. ...
External links
General Retrocomputing is a term to describe the use of old computer hardware and software. ...
Technical information - Atari Technical Information
- ANTIC Chip data sheet
- GTIA Chip data sheet
- CGIA Chip data sheet
- POKEY Chip data sheet
Software, games
Software-driven graphics modes |
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