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C64 Direct To TV

 
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C64 Direct-to-TV
 
 
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The C64 Direct-to-TV, called C64DTV for short, is a single-chip
Integrated circuit

In electronics, an integrated circuit is a miniaturized electronic circuit that has been manufactured in the surface of a thin Wafer of semiconductor material....
 implementation of the Commodore 64
Commodore 64

The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer released by Commodore International in August, 1982, at a price of United States dollar595. Preceded by the Commodore VIC-20 and Commodore MAX Machine, the C64 features 64 kilobytes of Random-access memory with sound and graphics performance that were superior to IBM-compatible computers of tha...
 computer, contained in a joystick
Joystick

A joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. Joysticks are often used to control video games, and usually have one or more push-buttons whose state can also be read by the computer....
 with 30 built-in games. The design is similar to the Atari
Atari

Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Infogrames ....
 Classics 10-in-1 TV Game. The circuitry of the C64DTV was designed by Jeri Ellsworth
Jeri Ellsworth

Jeri Ellsworth is an United States entrepreneur and autodidacticism computer chip designer. She is best known for, in 2004, creating a Commodore 64 emulator within a joystick, called C64 Direct-to-TV....
, a self-taught computer chip designer who had formerly designed the C-One
C-One

The C-One is a single-board computer designed by Jeri Ellsworth, a self-taught designer, and Jens Sch?nfeld from Individual Computers, who manufactured the boards themselves....
. Tulip Computers
Tulip Computers

Nedfield NV , formerly Tulip Computers NV is a Netherlands computer manufacturer that manufactures PC clones. It was founded in 1979, and listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange in 1984....
 (which had acquired the Commodore brand name in 1997) licensed the rights to Ironstone Partners, which cooperated with DC Studios, Mammoth Toys, and The Toy:Lobster Company
The Toy:Lobster Company

The Toy:Lobster Company is a privately-owned toy company based in the United Kingdom known for its C64 Direct-to-TV product line.Other recent products include WoodWorx, Danger Dan, Medalz, Gupi The Guinea Pig, Scrap Attack, Stitch Ease, Glow Zone, Funky Fun, and Face Art....
 in the development and marketing of the unit.






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Encyclopedia


The C64 Direct-to-TV, called C64DTV for short, is a single-chip
Integrated circuit

In electronics, an integrated circuit is a miniaturized electronic circuit that has been manufactured in the surface of a thin Wafer of semiconductor material....
 implementation of the Commodore 64
Commodore 64

The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer released by Commodore International in August, 1982, at a price of United States dollar595. Preceded by the Commodore VIC-20 and Commodore MAX Machine, the C64 features 64 kilobytes of Random-access memory with sound and graphics performance that were superior to IBM-compatible computers of tha...
 computer, contained in a joystick
Joystick

A joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. Joysticks are often used to control video games, and usually have one or more push-buttons whose state can also be read by the computer....
 with 30 built-in games. The design is similar to the Atari
Atari

Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Infogrames ....
 Classics 10-in-1 TV Game. The circuitry of the C64DTV was designed by Jeri Ellsworth
Jeri Ellsworth

Jeri Ellsworth is an United States entrepreneur and autodidacticism computer chip designer. She is best known for, in 2004, creating a Commodore 64 emulator within a joystick, called C64 Direct-to-TV....
, a self-taught computer chip designer who had formerly designed the C-One
C-One

The C-One is a single-board computer designed by Jeri Ellsworth, a self-taught designer, and Jens Sch?nfeld from Individual Computers, who manufactured the boards themselves....
.
Commodore64 Dtv Mugshot X600
Tulip Computers
Tulip Computers

Nedfield NV , formerly Tulip Computers NV is a Netherlands computer manufacturer that manufactures PC clones. It was founded in 1979, and listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange in 1984....
 (which had acquired the Commodore brand name in 1997) licensed the rights to Ironstone Partners, which cooperated with DC Studios, Mammoth Toys, and The Toy:Lobster Company
The Toy:Lobster Company

The Toy:Lobster Company is a privately-owned toy company based in the United Kingdom known for its C64 Direct-to-TV product line.Other recent products include WoodWorx, Danger Dan, Medalz, Gupi The Guinea Pig, Scrap Attack, Stitch Ease, Glow Zone, Funky Fun, and Face Art....
 in the development and marketing of the unit. QVC
QVC

QVC is a West Chester, Pennsylvania, United States of America, multinational corporation, specializing in televised Shopping channel. Founded in 1986 in television by Joseph Segel, QVC broadcasts in four major countries to 141 million consumers....
 purchased the entire first production run of 250,000 units and sold 70,000 of them the first day they were offered.

Versions

There exist multiple versions of the C64DTV. DTV1 (NTSC
NTSC

NTSC is the analog television system used in most of the Americas, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, Burma, and some Pacific island nations and territories ....
 television type) comes with 2 MB
Megabyte

Megabyte is a SI prefix-multiple of the unit byte for digital information computer storage or transmission and is equal to 106 bytes....
 ROM
Read-only memory

Read-only memory is a class of computer storage media used in computers and other electronic devices. Because data stored in ROM cannot be modified , it is mainly used to distribute firmware ....
. It first appeared in late 2004 for the American/Canadian market. DTV2 (called C64D2TV sometimes) is a revised version for the European and world markets (PAL
PAL

PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is a color-encoding system used in broadcast television systems in large parts of the world. Other common analog television systems are SECAM and NTSC....
 television type) and appeared in late 2005. The ROM has been replaced by flash memory
Flash memory

Flash memory is a non-volatile memory computer storage that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. It is a technology that is primarily used in memory cards and USB flash drives for general storage and transfer of data between computers and other digital products....
 in these devices. Unfortunately the DTV2/PAL version suffers from a manufacturing fault, which results in poor colour rendering (the resistors in the R-2R ladder
Resistor Ladder

Two Resistor Ladder configurations are shown below, a string resistor ladder and a R-2R ladder.An R-2R Ladder is the most simple and inexpensive way to perform Digital-to-analog converter, using repetitive arrangements of precision resistor networks in a ladder-like configuration....
 DAC
Digital-to-analog converter

In electronics, a digital-to-analog converter is a device for converting a digital code to an analog signal .An analog-to-digital converter performs the reverse operation....
s for both the chroma
Chrominance

Chrominance , is the signal used in video systems to convey the color information of the picture, separately from the accompanying luma signal....
 and the luma
Luma (video)

As applied to video signals, luma represents the brightness in an image . Luma is typically paired with Chrominance. Luma represents the achromatic image without any color, while the chroma components represent the color information....
 have been transposed). In the DTV3, a problem with the blitter
Blitter

In a computer system, a blitter is a co-processor or a logic block on a microprocessor that is dedicated to rapid data transfer within that computer's RAM....
 was fixed. Another DTV variant is the Radio Shack
Radio shack

Radio shack is a slang term for a room or structure for housing radio equipment....
 "HUMMER Off-Road Racing Challenge Video Game".

Hardware Specifications


  • Core circuity
    • ASIC
      Application-specific integrated circuit

      An application-specific integrated circuit is an integrated circuit customized for a particular use, rather than intended for general-purpose use....
       running at 32 MHz internally, emulating 6510 CPU
      MOS Technology 6510

      The MOS Technology 6510 is a microprocessor designed by MOS Technology, and is a modified form of the very successful MOS Technology 6502.The primary change from the 6502 was the addition of an 8-bit general purpose input/output port ....
      , VIC-II
      MOS Technology VIC-II

      The VIC-II , specifically known as the MOS Technology 6567/8562/8564 , 6569/8565/8566 , is the integrated circuit tasked with generating S-Video/composite video graphics and dynamic random access memory memory refresh signals in the Commodore 64 and Commodore 128 home computers....
      , SID
      MOS Technology SID

      The MOS Technology 6581/8580 SID was the built-in Programmable Sound Generator chip of Commodore International's Commodore CBM-II, Commodore 64, Commodore 128 and Commodore MAX Machine home computers....
      , CIA
      MOS Technology CIA

      The 6526/8520 Complex Interface Adapter was an integrated circuit made by MOS Technology. It served as a I/O port controller for the MOS Technology 6502 family of microprocessors, providing for Parallel communications and Serial communications I/O capabilities as well as Programmable Interval Timer and a Time-of-Day clock....
      , and PLA
  • Casing/Connectors
    • integrated in a Joystick
      Joystick

      A joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. Joysticks are often used to control video games, and usually have one or more push-buttons whose state can also be read by the computer....
       (as if connected to port 2 of a real C64)
    • five additional buttons (acting like keys)
    • running from batteries only (four AA batteries
      AA battery

      A AA battery is a dry cell-type Battery commonly used in portable electronic devices. The AA battery type was standardized by ANSI in 1947, and is designated E91 by Deutsches Institut f?r Normung and AM3 by Japanese Industrial Standards....
      )
    • Composite Video
      Composite video

      Composite video is the format of an analog television signal before it is combined with a sound signal and modulation onto an Radio Frequency carrier wave....
      , monaural
      Monaural

      Monaural sound reproduction is single-channel. Typically there is only one microphone, one loudspeaker, or, in the case of headphones or multiple loudspeakers, they are fed from a common Signalling path, and in the case of multiple microphones, mixed into a single signal path at some stage....
       audio (RCA connectors)
    • looks similar to a Competition Pro joystick
  • Graphics
    • NTSC
      NTSC

      NTSC is the analog television system used in most of the Americas, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, Burma, and some Pacific island nations and territories ....
       (DTV2 and later: NTSC
      NTSC

      NTSC is the analog television system used in most of the Americas, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, Burma, and some Pacific island nations and territories ....
      /PAL
      PAL

      PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is a color-encoding system used in broadcast television systems in large parts of the world. Other common analog television systems are SECAM and NTSC....
       on chip, only PAL
      PAL

      PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is a color-encoding system used in broadcast television systems in large parts of the world. Other common analog television systems are SECAM and NTSC....
       wired in end-market devices)
    • reprogrammable palette with 4 bit
      Bit

      A bit is a binary numeral system numerical digit, taking a value of either 0 or 1. Binary digits are a basic unit of information Computer data storage and transmission in digital computing and digital information theory....
      s of luma and 4 bit
      Bit

      A bit is a binary numeral system numerical digit, taking a value of either 0 or 1. Binary digits are a basic unit of information Computer data storage and transmission in digital computing and digital information theory....
      s of chroma
    • DTV2 and later: "chunky" 256 color mode, additional blitter
      Blitter

      In a computer system, a blitter is a co-processor or a logic block on a microprocessor that is dedicated to rapid data transfer within that computer's RAM....
       for fast image transformation
  • Sound
    • no support for SID
      MOS Technology SID

      The MOS Technology 6581/8580 SID was the built-in Programmable Sound Generator chip of Commodore International's Commodore CBM-II, Commodore 64, Commodore 128 and Commodore MAX Machine home computers....
       filters
      Electronic filter

      Electronic filters are electronic circuits which perform signal processing functions, specifically to remove unwanted frequency components from the signal and/or to enhance wanted ones....
    • DTV2 and later: 8 bit digital sound, additional options for envelope
      ADSR envelope

      An ADSR envelope is a component of many synthesizers, sampler s, and other electronic musical instruments. Its function is to Modulation some aspect of the instrument's sound — often its loudness — over time....
       generators
  • Memory
    • DTV1: 128 KB
      Kilobyte

      Kilobyte is a unit of Computer data storage equal to either 1,024 bytes or 1,000 bytes , depending on context.It is abbreviated in a number of ways: KB, kB, K and Kbyte....
       (KiB
      Kibibyte

      A kibibyte is a unit of information or computer storage, established by the International Electrotechnical Commission in 2000. Its symbol is KiB....
      ) RAM
      Random-access memory

      Random-Assess Memory Card is a form of computer data storage. Today it takes the form of integrated circuits that allows the stored data to be accessed in any order ....
      , 2 MB
      Megabyte

      Megabyte is a SI prefix-multiple of the unit byte for digital information computer storage or transmission and is equal to 106 bytes....
       ROM
      Read-only memory

      Read-only memory is a class of computer storage media used in computers and other electronic devices. Because data stored in ROM cannot be modified , it is mainly used to distribute firmware ....
    • DTV2 and later: 2 MB
      Megabyte

      Megabyte is a SI prefix-multiple of the unit byte for digital information computer storage or transmission and is equal to 106 bytes....
       RAM
      Random-access memory

      Random-Assess Memory Card is a form of computer data storage. Today it takes the form of integrated circuits that allows the stored data to be accessed in any order ....
      , 2 MB
      Megabyte

      Megabyte is a SI prefix-multiple of the unit byte for digital information computer storage or transmission and is equal to 106 bytes....
       flash memory
      Flash memory

      Flash memory is a non-volatile memory computer storage that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. It is a technology that is primarily used in memory cards and USB flash drives for general storage and transfer of data between computers and other digital products....
    • DMA
      Direct memory access

      Direct memory access is a feature of modern computers and microprocessors that allows certain hardware subsystems within the computer to access system Computer storage for reading and/or writing independently of the central processing unit....
       engine for RAM/RAM and ROM/RAM memory transfers
    • DTV2 and later: additional RAM access using bank switching and blitter
      Blitter

      In a computer system, a blitter is a co-processor or a logic block on a microprocessor that is dedicated to rapid data transfer within that computer's RAM....
  • CPU
    • emulating a 6510 at 1 MHz
    • DTV2 and later: Enhanced CPU (fast/burst mode, additional registers and opcodes, support for illegal ops of the 6510)


Built-in games


The official games for the unit are mostly a mix of Epyx
Epyx

Epyx, Inc. was a video game video game developer and video game publisher in the late 1970s and entire 1980s. The company was founded as Automated Simulations by Jim Connelley and Jon Freeman, originally using Epyx as a brand name for action-oriented games before renaming the company to match in 1983....
 and Hewson C64 games. This list is valid for the NTSC version.

EPYX

  • Summer Games
    Summer Games

    Summer Games is a sports video game developed by Epyx and released by U.S. Gold based on sports featured in the Summer Olympic Games. Released in 1984 for the Commodore 64, it was also eventually ported to the Apple II, Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Atari 8-bit family and Sega Master System platforms....
  • Winter Games
    Winter Games

    Winter Games is a sports video game developed by Epyx , based on sports featured in the Winter Olympic Games.A snow-and-ice themed follow-up to the highly successful Summer Games, Winter Games was released in 1986 for the Commodore 64 and later ported to several popular home computers and video game consoles of the 1980s....
  • Pitstop
  • Pitstop II
    Pitstop II

    Pitstop II is a computer race car game published in 1984 by Epyx. It allows players to race head to head on a split screen.The game lets players not only race around the track, but requires that they keep an eye on their tires and fuel gage also....
  • Super Cycle
  • Jumpman Jr.
    Jumpman

    Jumpman is a platform game written by Randy Glover and released by Epyx in 1983. Originally developed for the Atari 8-bit family, versions were also released for the Commodore 64, Apple II, and IBM PC....
  • Impossible Mission
    Impossible Mission

    Impossible Mission is a platform game computer game for several home computers. The original version for the Commodore 64 was game programming by Dennis Caswell and published by Epyx 1984 in video gaming....
  • Impossible Mission II
    Impossible Mission II

    Impossible Mission II is a 1988 computer game for the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Enterprise 128, Nintendo Entertainment System, MS-DOS based PCs, Atari ST, Apple IIGS and Amiga computers, developed by Appaloosa Interactive and published by Epyx....
  • Championship Wrestling
  • Gateway to Apshai
    Gateway to Apshai

    Gateway to Apshai is a computer game for the Commodore 64, ColecoVision, and Atari 8-bit familys, developed by The Connely Group and published by Epyx as a prequel to Temple of Apshai....
  • Sword of Fargoal
    Sword of Fargoal

    Sword of Fargoal was a computer game written in 1982 by Jeff McCord. The November 1996 anniversary issue of Computer Gaming World listed Sword of Fargoal as #147 on the "Top 150 Best Video Games of All Time."...
  • Silicon Warrior
  • World Karate Champion
    International Karate

    International Karate is a 1986 in games karate computer game for the ZX Spectrum, MSX, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and Atari 8-bit family of computers....
     (AKA International Karate)
  • Several events taken from Epyx's World Games
    World Games (computer game)

    World Games is a sports video game developed by Epyx for the Commodore 64. Versions for the Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, SEGA Master System and other contemporary systems were also released....
     and California Games
    California Games

    California Games is a 1987 Epyx sports game video game for many home computers and video game consoles. Branching from their popular Summer Games and Winter Games series, this game consisted of some sports purportedly popular in California including skateboarding, freestyle footbag, surfing, roller skating, flying disc and BMX...
    , including Bull Riding, Sumo Wrestling, Flying Disks


Hewson

  • Tower Toppler
    Nebulus (computer game)

    Nebulus, also known as Castelian, Kyorochan Land and Tower Toppler, is a computer game published by Hewson in the late 1980s for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, Commodore Amiga, Atari ST and Acorn Archimedes platforms....
     (AKA Nebulus)
  • Paradroid
    Paradroid

    Paradroid is the name of a Commodore 64 computer and video game written by Andrew Braybrook and published by Hewson in 1985_in_video_gaming....
  • Eliminator
  • Cyberdyne Warrior
  • Cybernoid
    Cybernoid

    Cybernoid is a shoot 'em up published in 1987 by Hewson Consultants for several home computer formats. It was programmed by Raffaele Cecco....
     I
  • Cybernoid
    Cybernoid

    Cybernoid is a shoot 'em up published in 1987 by Hewson Consultants for several home computer formats. It was programmed by Raffaele Cecco....
     II
  • Ranarama
    Ranarama

    Ranarama is a top-down Gauntlet like action game developed by Graftgold in 1987 and published by Hewson Consultants. It was released for the Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum home computers....
  • Firelord
  • Exolon
    Exolon

    Exolon is a Shoot 'em up#Run and gun game programmed by Raffaele Cecco and published by Hewson#The Hewson era in 1987 for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC 8-bit computers....
  • Uridium
    Uridium

    Uridium is a sci-fi Side-scrolling video game shoot 'em up for the Commodore 64 . It consists of fifteen levels, each named after a metal element, with the last level being called Uridium ....
  • Zynaps
    Zynaps

    Zynaps is is a shoot 'em up computer game published by Hewson Consultants for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64 in 1987 in video gaming and for the Atari ST 1988 in video gaming....


Image Works

  • Speedball


Hardware-modding

Since the internal circuit board has exposed solder
Solder

A solder is a fusible alloy metal alloy with a melting point or melting range of 90 to 450 ?Celsius , used in a process called soldering where it is melted to join metallic surfaces....
 points for floppy-drive and keyboard ports, hardware modifications of the C64DTV are quite simple.

Known hardware mods
  • keyboard connector
  • external joystick (Port 1 and 2)
  • floppy connector
  • power unit connector
  • fixing the palette problems of the PAL version (to some degree this is possible in software by adjusting palette entries)
  • S-Video
    S-Video

    Separate Video, more commonly known as S-Video, and sometimes incorrectly referred to as "Super Video" and also known as Y/C, is an analog signal video signal that carries the video data as two separate signals, lumen and chroma ....
     connector
  • user port
  • Original C64 casing and PS2 keyboard
Additional hardware
  • Data transfer cable (Parallel port
    Parallel port

    A parallel port is a type of interface found on computers for connecting various peripherals. It is also known as a printer port or Centronics#The interface....
     (or USB/serial port via DTV2ser) to Joystick or user port)
  • SD card
    Secure Digital card

    Secure Digital is a non-volatile memory memory card format developed by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., SanDisk, and Toshiba for use in portable devices....
     interface 1541-III or MMC2IEC


The board could be used as a System-on-a-chip
System-on-a-chip

System-on-a-chip or system on chip refers to integrating all components of a computer or other Electronics system into a single integrated circuit ....
 (SoC) embedded computer for control applications.

Limitations

The internal flash memory is accessible as device 1. However, software is not included to support write operations so high score saving is not possible. Also, flash devices used in the DTV are specified for a very limited number of write accesses only.

Software-modding

The DTV contains software-flashable memory. A number of tools have been released to compile programs into a DTV-compatible flash images and load it onto the DTV. People made their own game compilations, adding popular (sometimes DTV-fixed) games that were not in the original DTV, added boot menus to make homebrew software development easier or enable new features, for example transfer programs like DTVtrans for transferring data from PC to DTV RAM and vice versa via the PC parallel port (or USB) and the DTV joystick port.

External links

  • - DTV versions overview, HOWTOs, DTV Programming guide
  • - fork
    Fork (software development)

    In software engineering, a project fork happens when developers take a copy of source code from one Computer software and start independent development on it, creating a distinct piece of software....
     of the VICE
    Vice

    Vice is a practice or habit considered immoral, depraved, and/or degrading in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a defect, an infirmity or merely a bad habit....
     Commodore emulator including C64DTV support
  • - user manual plus some other information
  • Flash Tool, ML-Monitor, PC<->DTV transfer system
  • - Note that surface-mount soldering
    Soldering

    Soldering is a process in which two or more metal items are joined together by melting and flowing a filler metal into the joint, the filler metal having a relatively low melting point....
     skills are required.