djh@neuromancer.metaphor.com (Dallas J. Hodgson) (01/19/91)
THE REAL LYNX TECH SPECS (inquiring minds want to know!)
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(gathered from Jan/Feb issue of Atari Explorer)
1) 16MHz system master clock; 65C02 CPU clocked 2 4MHz
2) 64K RAM clocked at 4MHZ, optionally 8MHz for same-page accesses
3) 4 shift-register sound channels, support for 7-bit digitized sound
4) ComLynx bidirectional serial I/O from 300 to 62.5 KBaud
5) 256K of ROM per game cartridge organized as a disk-like filing system
6) 1/2K of bootstrap ROM
7) RGB resolution of 160x102x4 bits, 16 12-bit color registers
Resolution of 480x102x1 is possible, but experimental
8) 2 custom chips; "Mikey" contains 65C02, DMA, bootstrap ROM;
"Suzy" contains multiply/divide unit and blitter, which
supports translation, scaling & collision detection for
objects up to 64Kx64K pixels.
9) Each video screen takes 8K.
10) Development system is a parallel-interface Lynx emulation module with
hardware debugging features & traceback. Devkit currently runs on Amigas
(3MB ram and hard disk) only.
11) The developer's kit: libraries, docs 'n hardware is $5K. Cheaper versions
without hardware debugging are in the works.
12) The Lynx was developed in 2 years at Epyx. Jay Miner did the custom
chips, R.J. Mical headed software development. Steve Landrum worked on
the Developer's Suite in addition to writing the "Blue Lightning"
cartridge. Jay and R.J. are notable for the Amiga custom chip set and
windowing software, respectively.
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Dallas J. Hodgson | "This here's the wattle, |
| Metaphor Computer Systems | It's the emblem of our land. |
| Mountain View, Ca. | You can put it in a bottle, |
| USENET : djh@metaphor.com | You can hold it in your hand." |
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| "The views I express are my own, and not necessarily those of my employer" |
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