CDTV
Encyclopedia
The CDTV was a multimedia platform developed by Commodore International
and launched in 1991. On a technological level it was essentially a Commodore Amiga 500
home computer in a Hi-Fi style case with a single-speed CD-ROM
drive. Commodore marketed the machine as an all-in-one home multimedia
appliance rather than a computer. As such, it targeted the same market as the Philips CD-i. Unfortunately for both Commodore and Philips, the expected market for multimedia appliances did not materialise, and neither machine met with any real commercial success. Though the CDTV was based entirely on Amiga
hardware it was marketed strictly as a CDTV, with the Amiga name omitted from product branding.
The CDTV debuted in North America in March 1991 (CES, Las Vegas) and in the UK (World of Commodore 1991 at Earls Court, London). It was advertised at £499 for the CDTV unit, remote control and two titles. Commodore chose Amiga enthusiast magazines as its chief advertising channel, but the Amiga community on the whole avoided the CDTV in the expectation of an add-on CD-ROM drive for the Amiga, which eventually came in the form of the A570.
The CDTV was supplied with AmigaOS
1.3, rather than the more advanced and user-friendly 2.0 release that was launched at around the same time. Notably, the CDXL
motion video format was primarily developed for the CDTV making it one of the earliest consumer systems to allow video playback from CD-ROM.
Though Commodore later developed an improved and cost-reduced CDTV-II it was never released. Commodore eventually discontinued the CDTV in 1993 with the launch of the Amiga CD32
, which used which again was substantially based on Amiga hardware (in this case the newer Amiga 1200
) but explicitly targeted the games market.
drive as standard.
Commodore International
Commodore is the commonly used name for Commodore Business Machines , the U.S.-based home computer manufacturer and electronics manufacturer headquartered in West Chester, Pennsylvania, which also housed Commodore's corporate parent company, Commodore International Limited...
and launched in 1991. On a technological level it was essentially a Commodore Amiga 500
Amiga 500
The Amiga 500 - also known as the A500 - was the first “low-end” Commodore Amiga 16/32-bit multimedia home/personal computer. It was announced at the winter Consumer Electronics Show in January 1987 - at the same time as the high-end Amiga 2000 - and competed directly against the Atari 520ST...
home computer in a Hi-Fi style case with a single-speed CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
drive. Commodore marketed the machine as an all-in-one home multimedia
Multimedia
Multimedia is media and content that uses a combination of different content forms. The term can be used as a noun or as an adjective describing a medium as having multiple content forms. The term is used in contrast to media which use only rudimentary computer display such as text-only, or...
appliance rather than a computer. As such, it targeted the same market as the Philips CD-i. Unfortunately for both Commodore and Philips, the expected market for multimedia appliances did not materialise, and neither machine met with any real commercial success. Though the CDTV was based entirely on Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
hardware it was marketed strictly as a CDTV, with the Amiga name omitted from product branding.
The CDTV debuted in North America in March 1991 (CES, Las Vegas) and in the UK (World of Commodore 1991 at Earls Court, London). It was advertised at £499 for the CDTV unit, remote control and two titles. Commodore chose Amiga enthusiast magazines as its chief advertising channel, but the Amiga community on the whole avoided the CDTV in the expectation of an add-on CD-ROM drive for the Amiga, which eventually came in the form of the A570.
The CDTV was supplied with AmigaOS
AmigaOS
AmigaOS is the default native operating system of the Amiga personal computer. It was developed first by Commodore International, and initially introduced in 1985 with the Amiga 1000...
1.3, rather than the more advanced and user-friendly 2.0 release that was launched at around the same time. Notably, the CDXL
CDXL
CDXL is an obsolete motion video file format developed by Commodore in the late 1980s and early 1990s for the Amiga computer platform. It is notable for being one of the earliest formats created for motion video playback from CD-ROM .-Background:...
motion video format was primarily developed for the CDTV making it one of the earliest consumer systems to allow video playback from CD-ROM.
Though Commodore later developed an improved and cost-reduced CDTV-II it was never released. Commodore eventually discontinued the CDTV in 1993 with the launch of the Amiga CD32
Amiga CD32
The Amiga CD32, styled "CD32" , was the first 32-bit CD-ROM based video game console released in western Europe, Australia, Canada and Brazil. It was first announced at the Science Museum in London, United Kingdom on 16 July 1993, and was released in September of the same year...
, which used which again was substantially based on Amiga hardware (in this case the newer Amiga 1200
Amiga 1200
The Amiga 1200, or A1200 , was Commodore International's third-generation Amiga computer, aimed at the home market...
) but explicitly targeted the games market.
Design
The CDTV was intended as a media appliance rather than a personal computer. As such, its housing had dimensions and styling compatible with most stereo components, and it came with an infrared remote control. Similarly, it was initially sold without keyboard and mouse (which could be added separately, and were later bundled with the machine). The CDTV was based on the same technology as earlier Amiga systems, but featured a single-speed CD-ROM drive and no floppy diskFloppy disk
A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles...
drive as standard.
Technical specifications
| Attribute | Specification |
|---|---|
| Processor Central processing unit The central processing unit is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, to perform the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The CPU plays a role somewhat analogous to the brain in the computer. The term has been in... |
Motorola 68000 Motorola 68000 The Motorola 68000 is a 16/32-bit CISC microprocessor core designed and marketed by Freescale Semiconductor... at 7.16 MHz (NTSC NTSC NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as... ) or 7.09 MHz (PAL PAL PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system... ) |
| RAM | 1 MB Megabyte The megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission with two different values depending on context: bytes generally for computer memory; and one million bytes generally for computer storage. The IEEE Standards Board has decided that "Mega will mean 1 000... Amiga Chip RAM (upgradable) 2 kB Kilobyte The kilobyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. Although the prefix kilo- means 1000, the term kilobyte and symbol KB have historically been used to refer to either 1024 bytes or 1000 bytes, dependent upon context, in the fields of computer science and information... non-volatile Non-volatile memory Non-volatile memory, nonvolatile memory, NVM or non-volatile storage, in the most basic sense, is computer memory that can retain the stored information even when not powered. Examples of non-volatile memory include read-only memory, flash memory, ferroelectric RAM, most types of magnetic computer... RAM |
| ROM Read-only memory Read-only memory is a class of storage medium used in computers and other electronic devices. Data stored in ROM cannot be modified, or can be modified only slowly or with difficulty, so it is mainly used to distribute firmware .In its strictest sense, ROM refers only... |
256 kB Kickstart Kickstart (Amiga) Kickstart is a commonly used term for the bootstrap firmware of the Amiga computers developed by Commodore.Most Amiga models were shipped with the Kickstart firmware stored on ROM chips... ROM 256 kB CDTV firmware ROM |
| Chipset | Original Chip Set Original Amiga chipset The Original Chip Set was a chipset used in the earliest Commodore Amiga computers and defined the Amiga's graphics and sound capabilities... (OCS) or Enhanced Chip Set (ECS) |
| Video | 12-bit color palette (4096 colors) Graphic modes with up to 32, 64 (EHB mode) or 4096 (HAM Hold-and-Modify Hold-And-Modify, usually abbreviated as HAM, is a display mode of the Commodore Amiga computer. It uses a highly unusual technique to express the color of pixels, allowing many more colors to appear on screen than would otherwise be possible.... mode) on-screen colors:
Graphic modes with up with up to 16 on-screen colors:
|
| Audio | 4 × 8-bit PCM channels (2 stereo Stereophonic sound The term Stereophonic, commonly called stereo, sound refers to any method of sound reproduction in which an attempt is made to create an illusion of directionality and audible perspective... channels) 28 kHz maximum DMA Direct memory access Direct memory access is a feature of modern computers that allows certain hardware subsystems within the computer to access system memory independently of the central processing unit .... sampling rate Sampling rate The sampling rate, sample rate, or sampling frequency defines the number of samples per unit of time taken from a continuous signal to make a discrete signal. For time-domain signals, the unit for sampling rate is hertz , sometimes noted as Sa/s... |
| Removable storage | Single-speed CD-ROM CD-ROM A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data.... drive (proprietary controller) |
| Input/output ports | Keyboard (5 pin mini-DIN Mini-DIN connector The mini-DIN connectors are a family of multi-pin electrical connectors used in a variety of applications. Mini-DIN is similar to the larger, older DIN connector... ) Mouse (4 pin mini-DIN Mini-DIN connector The mini-DIN connectors are a family of multi-pin electrical connectors used in a variety of applications. Mini-DIN is similar to the larger, older DIN connector... ) RS-232 RS-232 In telecommunications, RS-232 is the traditional name for a series of standards for serial binary single-ended data and control signals connecting between a DTE and a DCE . It is commonly used in computer serial ports... serial port Serial port In computing, a serial port is a serial communication physical interface through which information transfers in or out one bit at a time... (DB-25M D-subminiature The D-subminiature or D-sub is a common type of electrical connector. They are named for their characteristic D-shaped metal shield. When they were introduced, D-subs were among the smaller connectors used on computer systems.... ) Centronics style parallel port Parallel port A parallel port is a type of interface found on computers for connecting various peripherals. In computing, a parallel port is a parallel communication physical interface. It is also known as a printer port or Centronics port... (DB-25F D-subminiature The D-subminiature or D-sub is a common type of electrical connector. They are named for their characteristic D-shaped metal shield. When they were introduced, D-subs were among the smaller connectors used on computer systems.... ) Floppy disk Floppy disk A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles... drive port (DB-23F D-subminiature The D-subminiature or D-sub is a common type of electrical connector. They are named for their characteristic D-shaped metal shield. When they were introduced, D-subs were among the smaller connectors used on computer systems.... ) MIDI (In and Out) |
| Audio/Video output | Audio out (2 × RCA RCA connector An RCA connector, sometimes called a phono connector or cinch connector, is a type of electrical connector commonly used to carry audio and video signals... and 6.35 mm stereo jack TRS connector A TRS connector is a common family of connector typically used for analog signals including audio. It is cylindrical in shape, typically with three contacts, although sometimes with two or four . It is also called an audio jack, phone jack, phone plug, and jack plug... ) Analog RGB video out (DB-23M D-subminiature The D-subminiature or D-sub is a common type of electrical connector. They are named for their characteristic D-shaped metal shield. When they were introduced, D-subs were among the smaller connectors used on computer systems.... ) RF audio/video out (RCA RCA connector An RCA connector, sometimes called a phono connector or cinch connector, is a type of electrical connector commonly used to carry audio and video signals... or RF RF connector A coaxial RF connector is an electrical connector designed to work at radio frequencies in the multi-megahertz range.RF connectors are typically used with coaxial cables and are designed to maintain the shielding that the coaxial design offers. Better models also minimize the change in transmission... loop through) Composite video Composite video Composite video is the format of an analog television signal before it is combined with a sound signal and modulated onto an RF carrier. In contrast to component video it contains all required video information, including colors in a single line-level signal... out (RCA RCA connector An RCA connector, sometimes called a phono connector or cinch connector, is a type of electrical connector commonly used to carry audio and video signals... ) S-Video S-Video Separate Video, more commonly known as S-Video and Y/C, is often referred to by JVC as both an S-VHS connector and as Super Video. It is an analog video transmission scheme, in which video information is encoded on two channels: luma and chroma... out (4-pin mini-DIN Mini-DIN connector The mini-DIN connectors are a family of multi-pin electrical connectors used in a variety of applications. Mini-DIN is similar to the larger, older DIN connector... ) SCART SCART SCART is a French-originated standard and associated 21-pin connector for connecting audio-visual equipment together... audio/video out |
| Expansion slots | Proprietary card slot by ITT-Cannon and Fujisoku from 8 to 1024 KB non-volatile memory cards (1 MB addressing needs a hardware hack) 80-pin diagnostic slot 30-pin DMA expansion slot Video slot |
| Operating system Operating system An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system... |
AmigaOS AmigaOS AmigaOS is the default native operating system of the Amiga personal computer. It was developed first by Commodore International, and initially introduced in 1985 with the Amiga 1000... 1.3 (Kickstart 1.3/Workbench 1.3) and CDTV firmware |
| Physical dimensions | 430 × 330 × 95 mm (W × D × H) |
| Other | Wireless infrared remote control/gamepad Gamepad A gamepad , is a type of game controller held in two hands, where the digits are used to provide input. Gamepads generally feature a set of action buttons handled with the right thumb and a direction controller handled with the left... Front panel with display and controls for CD player |
Official upgrades
The CDTV was compatible with many existing Amiga peripherals. In addition, official CDTV peripherals and upgrades included:- Wireless infrared mouse
- Wireless trackballTrackballA trackball is a pointing device consisting of a ball held by a socket containing sensors to detect a rotation of the ball about two axes—like an upside-down mouse with an exposed protruding ball. The user rolls the ball with the thumb, fingers, or the palm of the hand to move a cursor...
- Black styled keyboard
- SCSISCSISmall Computer System Interface is a set of standards for physically connecting and transferring data between computers and peripheral devices. The SCSI standards define commands, protocols, and electrical and optical interfaces. SCSI is most commonly used for hard disks and tape drives, but it...
controller providing both an internal and external SCSI connector for hard disk drives and other SCSI devices - External black styled hard disk drive
- External black styled floppy disk drive
- Proprietary memory cards with a capacity of 64 or 256 kB (CD1401/CD1405) allowing storage of game scores and progress
- GenlockGenlockGenlock is a common technique where the video output of one source, or a specific reference signal from a signal generator, is used to synchronize other television picture sources together. The aim in video and digital audio applications is to ensure the coincidence of signals in time at a...
s for NTSC or PAL (CD 1300/CD1301) to overlay video signal with a secondary video source
Versions
- CDTV: CDTV unit and remote control/gamepad
- Pro pack: CDTV unit, remote control/gamepad, keyboard, mouse and floppy disk drive, along with AlmatheraAlmatheraAlmathera Systems Ltd was a British company that specialised in developing software for Amigas. The firm was in business between 1992 and 1997, developing CD-ROM based software for the CDTV and Amiga CD32, along with multimedia software for Amiga computers. Almathera developed the initial releases...
CDPD Public Domain software compilation on CD-ROM
High-end A/V (primary market)
(multi-purpose audio/video systems)- Philips'Philips Consumer ElectronicsPhilips Consumer Lifestyle is a part of Philips ; which is one of the largest electronics companies in the world. In 2005, its sales were € 30.4 billion and it employed 161,500 people in more than 60 countries. Other Philips divisions are: Philips Lighting, Philips Healthcare, Philips Domestic...
CD-iCD-iCD-i, or Compact Disc Interactive, is the name of an interactive multimedia CD player developed and marketed by Royal Philips Electronics N.V. CD-i also refers to the multimedia Compact Disc standard used by the CD-i console, also known as Green Book, which was developed by Philips and Sony... - Pioneer'sPioneer Corporationis a multinational corporation that specializes in digital entertainment products, based in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan. The company was founded in 1938 in Tokyo as a radio and speaker repair shop...
LaserActivePioneer LaserActiveThe Pioneer LaserActive was a short-lived Laserdisc-based game console released by Pioneer in 1993. In addition to LaserActive games, separately sold add-on modules expanded the hardware to include compatibility with the Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis and PC Engine/TurboGrafx 16 game cartridges and... - The 3DO CompanyThe 3DO CompanyThe 3DO Company , also known as 3DO , was a video game company...
's 3DO Interactive Multiplayer3DO Interactive MultiplayerThe 3DO Interactive Multiplayer is a video game console originally produced by Panasonic in 1993. Further renditions of the hardware were released in 1994 by Sanyo and Goldstar. The consoles were manufactured according to specifications created by The 3DO Company, and were originally designed by... - Tandy Video Information SystemTandy Video Information SystemTandy Memorex Visual Information System was an interactive, multimedia CD-ROM player produced by the Tandy Corporation starting in 1992. It was similar in function to the Philips CD-i and Commodore CDTV systems...
Video gaming (secondary market)
- NECNEC, a Japanese multinational IT company, has its headquarters in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. NEC, part of the Sumitomo Group, provides information technology and network solutions to business enterprises, communications services providers and government....
PC Engine with Super CD-ROM expansion - NintendoNintendois a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
's SNESSuper Nintendo Entertainment SystemThe Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short... - Sega Mega DriveSega Mega DriveThe Sega Genesis is a fourth-generation video game console developed and produced by Sega. It was originally released in Japan in 1988 as , then in North America in 1989 as Sega Genesis, and in Europe, Australia and other PAL regions in 1990 as Mega Drive. The reason for the two names is that...
with CD-ROM expansion - The 3DO CompanyThe 3DO CompanyThe 3DO Company , also known as 3DO , was a video game company...
's 3DO Interactive Multiplayer3DO Interactive MultiplayerThe 3DO Interactive Multiplayer is a video game console originally produced by Panasonic in 1993. Further renditions of the hardware were released in 1994 by Sanyo and Goldstar. The consoles were manufactured according to specifications created by The 3DO Company, and were originally designed by...