Engineering:Colour Genie
 EG2000 Colour Genie computer | |
| Manufacturer | EACA |
|---|---|
| Release date | August 1982 |
| Introductory price | £200 (equivalent to £711 in 2019) |
| Discontinued | 1983 |
| Operating system | 16 KB ROM containing LEVEL II BASIC |
| CPU | Zilog Z80, 2 MHz |
| Memory | 16 KB RAM, expandable to 32 KB |
| Display | PAL composite or RF out; 40×24 text, 16 colours; 160×96 graphics, 4 colours |
| Graphics | Motorola 6845 |
| Sound | AY-3-8910 |
| Input | 63-key typewriter style Keyboard with 4 programmable function keys |
| Power | 5V DC, +12V DC and -12V DC |
| Predecessor | Video Genie |
The EACA EG2000 Colour Genie was a computer produced by Hong Kong-based manufacturer EACA, and introduced in Germany in August 1982 by Tromeschläger Computer Service and Schmidtke Electronic.[1][2][3][4]
It followed their earlier Video Genie I and II computers and was released around the same time as the business-oriented Video Genie.[5]
The LEVEL II BASIC was compatible with the Video Genie I and II and the TRS-80, except for graphic and sound commands; most of the routines for Video Genie I BASIC commands were left over in the Colour Genie's BASIC ROM.[6][3] Programs were provided to load TRS-80 programs into the Colour Genie. Colour Genie disks could be read in a TRS-80 floppy disk drive and vice versa, editing the pdrive commands.
The original Video Genies had been based upon (and broadly compatible with) the then-current TRS-80 Model I. As the Colour Genie was descended from this architecture, it was incompatible with Tandy's newer TRS-80 Color Computer which - despite its name - was an entirely new and unrelated design based on an entirely different CPU, and thus incompatible with the TRS-80 Model I and derivatives such as the Color Genie.[7]
About 190 games were published for the system in English and German.[8][3][9]
A 80 column card was produced.
Modern emulators for this system exist.[10][11][12]
Technical specifications
Central Processing Unit
Z80 running at 2.2 MHz.[5] Usually using the NEC D780 (and unlicenced Japanese clone) or the SGS Z80 (a European second source for Zilog).
Internal hardware
- Video Hardware
- Motorola 6845 CRTC
- 40×24 text (original ROMs) or 40×25 text (upgraded ROMs), 16 colours, 128 user defined characters
- 160×96 graphics (original ROMs)[5] or 160×102 graphics (upgraded ROMs), 4 colours x up to 4 pages
- Sound Hardware
I/O ports and power supply
- I/O ports:
- Composite video out and audio out (cinch plugs)
- Integrated RF modulator antenna output, which also carries sound, to TV
- Cartridge expansion slot (slot for edge connector with Z80 CPU address/data bus lines and control signals, as well as GND and voltage pins; used for ROM cartridges or the floppy disk controller
- 1200 baud tape interface (5 pin DIN)
- RS-232 port (5 pin DIN)[5]
- Light pen port (5 pin DIN)[5]
- Parallel port for printer or joystick controller[5]
External hardware options
- Floppy disk controller with floppy disk station.
- Supported up to 4 drives (5.25 inch).
- Support for 90 KB SS/SD up to 720 KB DS/DD drives.
- Cassette recorder
- EPROM cartridge of 12 KB
- EG2013 Joystick Controller
- 2 Analogue joysticks with keypad
References
 |  |
- ↑ "Hardware-Aktuell - Lexikon - Colour Genie". https://www.hardware-aktuell.com/lexikon/Colour_Genie.
- ↑ Bennett, Bill (October 1982). "Review: Colour Genie". Your Computer: pp. 34, 35. https://archive.org/details/your-computer-magazine-1982-10/page/n33/mode/2up.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Burton, Maggie (June 1983). "Benchtest: Colour Genie". Personal Computer World: pp. 120–127. https://archive.org/details/PersonalComputerWorld1983-06/page/120/mode/2up.
- ↑ "EG 2000 Colour Genie Homepage". 2008. http://www.colourgenie.de/.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 "COLOUR GENIE / EG-2000 Eaca". https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=128.
- ↑ "Colour Genie Review". https://www.classic-computers.org.nz/system-80/hardware_colour%20genie_review.htm.
- ↑ "EG2000 Colour Genie - Computer - Computing History". https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/1340/EG2000-Colour-Genie/.
- ↑ "List Of Every Colour Genie Game Going - Everygamegoing.com". 2016-03-07. http://www.everygamegoing.com/landing/machine_types/colour_genie/games.html.
- ↑ "Colour Genie Professional Games - Colour Genie World". 2019-01-02. http://colourgenieworld.com/profs/colour_genie/top_lvl.html.
- ↑ "Colour Genie Homepage". http://gansweith.freehostia.com/colourgenie/cgenie_en.html.
- ↑ "Genieous - EACA Video Genie - Downloads - Emulators". https://emutopia.com/index.php/emulators/item/332-eaca-video-genie/511-genieous.
- ↑ "EACA Colour Genie". https://www.classic-computers.org.nz/system-80/hardware_eaca-colour-genie.htm.
