SV-328
Encyclopedia
The SV-328 is an 8-bit
home computer
introduced by Spectravideo
in June 1983. It was the business-targeted model of the Spectravideo range, sporting a rather crowded full-travel keyboard with numeric keypad
. It had 80 kB RAM
(64 kB available for software, remaining 16 kB video memory
), a respectable amount for its time. Other than the keyboard and RAM, this machine was identical to its little brother, the SV-318
.
The SV-328 is the design on which the MSX
standard was based. Spectravideo
's MSX-compliant successor to the 328, the SV-728, looks almost identical, the only immediately noticeable differences being a larger cartridge slot (to fit MSX standard cartridges) and the MSX badging.
At back of SV-318
/ SV-328, adapters permit to connect only a few peripherals, such as a tape drive (SV-903), a CVBS monitor and joystick
s. However, with a Super Expander unit, more options were available:
8-bit
The first widely adopted 8-bit microprocessor was the Intel 8080, being used in many hobbyist computers of the late 1970s and early 1980s, often running the CP/M operating system. The Zilog Z80 and the Motorola 6800 were also used in similar computers...
home computer
Home computer
Home computers were a class of microcomputers entering the market in 1977, and becoming increasingly common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user...
introduced by Spectravideo
Spectravideo
Spectravideo, or SVI, was a U.S. computer company founded in 1981 as "SpectraVision" by Harry Fox. They originally made video games for Atari 2600 and VIC-20. Some of their computers were MSX-compliant or IBM PC compatible...
in June 1983. It was the business-targeted model of the Spectravideo range, sporting a rather crowded full-travel keyboard with numeric keypad
Numeric keypad
A numeric keypad, numpad or tenkey for short, is the small, palm-sized, seventeen key section of a computer keyboard, usually on the very far right. The numeric keypad features digits 0 to 9, addition , subtraction , multiplication and division symbols, a decimal point and Num Lock and Enter keys...
. It had 80 kB RAM
Random-access memory
Random access memory is a form of computer data storage. Today, it takes the form of integrated circuits that allow stored data to be accessed in any order with a worst case performance of constant time. Strictly speaking, modern types of DRAM are therefore not random access, as data is read in...
(64 kB available for software, remaining 16 kB video memory
Video memory
Video memory is a term generally used in computers to describe some form of writable memory, usually RAM, dedicated to the purpose of holding the information necessary for a graphics card to drive a display device...
), a respectable amount for its time. Other than the keyboard and RAM, this machine was identical to its little brother, the SV-318
SV-318
The SV-318 was the basic model of the Spectravideo range. It was fitted with a chiclet style keyboard, difficult to use, alongside which sat a combination cursor pad/joystick. This was a curious disc-shaped affair with a hole in the centre; put a red plastic 'stick' in the hole and you had a...
.
The SV-328 is the design on which the MSX
MSX
MSX was the name of a standardized home computer architecture in the 1980s conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi, then Vice-president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation...
standard was based. Spectravideo
Spectravideo
Spectravideo, or SVI, was a U.S. computer company founded in 1981 as "SpectraVision" by Harry Fox. They originally made video games for Atari 2600 and VIC-20. Some of their computers were MSX-compliant or IBM PC compatible...
's MSX-compliant successor to the 328, the SV-728, looks almost identical, the only immediately noticeable differences being a larger cartridge slot (to fit MSX standard cartridges) and the MSX badging.
System specs
- Processor: Zilog Z80Zilog Z80The Zilog Z80 is an 8-bit microprocessor designed by Zilog and sold from July 1976 onwards. It was widely used both in desktop and embedded computer designs as well as for military purposes...
A running at 3.6 MHz - ROMRead-only memoryRead-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...
: 32 KB- BIOSBIOSIn IBM PC compatible computers, the basic input/output system , also known as the System BIOS or ROM BIOS , is a de facto standard defining a firmware interface....
(16 KB) - BASICBASICBASIC is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages whose design philosophy emphasizes ease of use - the name is an acronym from Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code....
(16 KB)
- BIOS
- RAM: 64 KB
- Video Display ProcessorVideo Display ControllerA Video Display Controller or VDC is an integrated circuit which is the main component in a video signal generator, a device responsible for the production of a TV video signal in a computing or game system...
: Texas Instruments TMS9918Texas Instruments TMS9918thumb|VDP TMS9918Athumb|VDP TMS9918Athumb|VDP TMS9928AThe TMS9918 is a Video Display Controller manufactured by Texas Instruments.-General information:...
- VRAMVRAMVideo RAM, or VRAM, is a dual-ported variant of dynamic RAM , which was once commonly used to store the framebuffer in some graphics adapters....
: 16 KB - Text modes: 40×24 and 32×24
- Resolution: 256×192 (16 colours)
- Sprites: 32, 1 colour, max 4 per horizontal line
- VRAM
- Sound chipSound chipA sound chip is an integrated circuit designed to produce sound . It might be doing this through digital, analog or mixed-mode electronics...
: General Instrument AY-3-8910General Instrument AY-3-8910The AY-3-8910 is a 3-voice Programmable Sound Generator designed by General Instrument, initially for use with their 16-bit CP1610 or one of the PIC1650 series of 8-bit microcomputers...
(PSG) - Programmable PeripheralPeripheralA peripheral is a device attached to a host computer, but not part of it, and is more or less dependent on the host. It expands the host's capabilities, but does not form part of the core computer architecture....
Interface : Intel 8255Intel 8255The Intel 8255 Programmable Peripheral Interface chip is a peripheral chip originally developed for the Intel 8085 microprocessor, and as such is a member of a large array of such chips, known as the MCS-85 Family. This chip was later also used with the Intel 8086 and its descendants.It was later...
Peripherals
SV-318
The SV-318 was the basic model of the Spectravideo range. It was fitted with a chiclet style keyboard, difficult to use, alongside which sat a combination cursor pad/joystick. This was a curious disc-shaped affair with a hole in the centre; put a red plastic 'stick' in the hole and you had a...
/ SV-328, adapters permit to connect only a few peripherals, such as a tape drive (SV-903), a CVBS monitor and 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, also known as 'control columns', are the principal control in the cockpit of many civilian and military aircraft, either as a center stick or...
s. However, with a Super Expander unit, more options were available:
- SV-803 Memory expansion card, 16 kB
- SV-807 Memory expansion card, 64 kB
- SV-805 RS232 card
- SV-701 Internal modemModemA modem is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data...
, 300 baudBaudIn telecommunications and electronics, baud is synonymous to symbols per second or pulses per second. It is the unit of symbol rate, also known as baud rate or modulation rate; the number of distinct symbol changes made to the transmission medium per second in a digitally modulated signal or a... - SV-802 CentronicsCentronicsCentronics Data Computer Corporation was a pioneering American manufacturer of computer printers, now remembered primarily for the parallel interface that bears its name.-The beginning:Centronics began as a division of Wang Laboratories...
parallel portParallel portA 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...
card for printer - SV-806 80-column video card
- SV-801 Floppy controller card, needed for disk drive usage
- Hard diskHard diskA hard disk drive is a non-volatile, random access digital magnetic data storage device. It features rotating rigid platters on a motor-driven spindle within a protective enclosure. Data is magnetically read from and written to the platter by read/write heads that float on a film of air above the...
controller card - SV-809 Network cardNetwork cardA network interface controller is a computer hardware component that connects a computer to a computer network....
- SV-602 Mini Expander (for one card)
- SV-601A Expander case with power supply and many slots. External disk drives
- SV-601B Super Expander, similar but with built in floppy drive and an optional second drive
- SV-603 ColecoVisionColecoVisionThe ColecoVision is Coleco Industries' second generation home video game console which was released in August 1982. The ColecoVision offered arcade-quality graphics and gaming style, and the means to expand the system's basic hardware...
adapter, enabling ColecoVision games to be played on the SV-328 - SV-901C 80-columns printer at 50 cps (a refurbished Seikosha SK-100)
- SV-902 External floppy drive
- SV-903 cassette driveMagnetic tape data storageMagnetic tape data storage uses digital recording on to magnetic tape to store digital information. Modern magnetic tape is most commonly packaged in cartridges and cassettes. The device that performs actual writing or reading of data is a tape drive...
- SV-105 Graphics TabletGraphics tabletA graphics tablet is a computer input device that enables a user to hand-draw images and graphics, similar to the way a person draws images with a pencil and paper. These tablets may also be used to capture data or handwritten signatures...
External links
- SV-328 at Roger's Spectravideo page
- El Museo de los 8 Bits
- old-computers
- Spectravideo discussion board
Emulators
- SVI-318/328 Emulator by Jimmy Mårdell
- MSX blue MSX emulator, support SVI 318/328