Exegete wrote:
Are there any chips that would make it difficult to impossible to create more cards like this one? Other than the 9918a itself?Roy Yves McDonald wrote:The story so far with my attemps to program the Sprite Card:
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Meanwhile, I'll write a set of VDP init and VRAM access routines to make sprite/backdrop creation a little easier.
Probably not, the TMS9918A VDP was designed to interface with 16Kb dynamic RAM chips. Interface with any microprocessors is done trough registers. The VDP generates all DRAM signals (RAS*,CAS*,R/W, etc) and outputs composite video signal. The VDP chip can superimpose its signal to an external video input. I guess it could be used to do video titling or provide a user interface in video equipment. Mind you this is VERY old technology - resolution is a mere 256x192 pixels with 16 preset colors. But with a small color LCD screen, it could give graphic output to a microcontroller based system. It is quite power-hungry as well due to NMOS technology (no battery operation here) and requires a 10.something MHz cristal (hard to find?). In my case, it's a solution in quest for a problem to solve (and an excuse to have fun programming my GS :).
Cheers, Yves