Amiga CD32

The CD ³ ² was developed by Commodore International based on the Amiga 1200 game console with CD -ROM drive - and the successor to the CDTV. It was thought the first game console to the European market with 32- bit architecture and as a competitor to Philips ' CD -i. The Amiga 1200 base was reduced to the wherewithal to play and added a CD drive. About a slot on the back of the CD ³ ² but could be expanded to a full-fledged Amiga or alternatively to a video CD player.

The CD ³ ² has held the System Controller Gayle used in the Amiga 1200 a special custom chip, the Akiko that should facilitate, inter alia, PC conversions and allow more complex 3D graphics. 3D graphics is on Amigas traditionally more difficult to handle than usual, because the image memory ( the framebuffer ) works in inappropriately bitplane mode. In the so-called Chunky mode (which has now established itself across systems ) are the bits that give the color of a pixel, one after the other in memory. In bitplane mode, however, takes several black and white images ( " planes" with one bit per pixel) are independent of each other in memory. If this bitplanes one imagines superimposed, one can read the binary value of a pixel color from top to bottom. In this mode, to change a single pixel by software, is expensive, and to represent 3D graphics, you had to set each pixel of the image individually by software. Therefore, it has ultimately prevailed on the Amiga to calculate 3D graphics with a chunky framebuffer and this eventually converted to a bit plane frame buffer - this is the term chunky -to -planar conversion has naturalized, and it is these implements of Akiko chip ( in addition to its other functions) in hardware.

The hoped- PC conversions were made ​​, however, and the main processor, clocked at 14 MHz 68EC020, gave no additional hardware support is not sufficient to motivate the development of 3D games - this function of Akiko remained unused except for a few exceptions.

The CD ³ ² was part of a series of consoles that could not survive on the market. Commodore had the Sega Mega - CD adopted as the main competitor in the eye. During the lifetime of CD ³ ² also published the 3DO and the Atari Jaguar. The CD ³ ² was the last hope Commodores to avoid bankruptcy, but this did not succeed. Ultimately, appeared on the CD ³ ² very few exclusives, most games were conversions of Amiga 1200 or even Amiga 500 titles.

In the United States allowed the CD ³ ² because of a license dispute are never officially sold, so the devices were left in the factories in Asia. Some dealers sell from Asia since 2006, some remainders now a well-known auction house. The CD ³ ² was one of the last hardware products, the company released the Commodore before they went bankrupt.

Technical information

  • Motorola 68020 ( 68EC020RC16 ) with 14.18 MHz ( PAL version) or 14.28 MHz ( NTSC version )
  • 2 MB Chip RAM
  • 1 MB ROM with Kickstart ROM 3.0 (later 3.1 ) and integrated cdfs.filesystem
  • 1 KB of flash ROM for storing game saves
  • AGA chipset
  • CD -ROM Double speed drive with audio CD playback control (software in ROM integrated)
  • Akiko chip, which was responsible for CD -ROM drive plus additional features (see above)
  • 24 - bit color palette ( 16.7 million colors)
  • Up to 256 colors simultaneously in pallets modes
  • To over 650,000 colors simultaneously in HAM8 mode
  • Resolution up to 1280 × 512i (more with overscan)
  • Amiga OS 3.0/3.1
  • 4 × 8-bit audio channels
  • Gamepad, Serial port, two game ports, interfaces for a keyboard

Connections

  • S- Video output ( 4 pin mini-DIN)
  • Composite video output
  • Hochfrequenz-Audio/Video-Ausgang (antenna)
  • Audio output (2 x RCA and 3.5mm stereo jack )
  • Keyboard (6- pin mini -DIN)
  • 2 × mouse / joypad ports ( D- Sub 9 )
  • RS-232-seriell/AUX-Port (6- pin mini -DIN)
  • Expansion slot: 182- pin connector for MPEG- Cartridge or third-party adapters such as the SX -1 or SX32 Expansion Cartridges.

Others

Due to age, there is now the problem that the electrolytic capacitors, the electrolyte leak and damage the conductors and integrated circuits. Therefore, it is recommended that all owners to replace them.

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