AY-3-8500
Sign in to saveAlso known as Ball & Paddle, Ball and Paddle, AY-3-8500-1 (NTSC), AY-3-8500-7 (later revision), AY-3-8500 (PAL), AY-5-8500-G (later revision)
250px|thumb|AY-3-8500 chip The AY-3-8500 "Ball & Paddle" integrated circuit (IC, or "chip") was the first in a series of ICs from General Instrument designed for the consumer video game market. These chips output video to an RF modulator, which would then display the game on a domestic television set. It was introduced in 1976, Coleco becoming the first customer, having been introduced to the IC development by Ralph H. Baer. The lineup was later known as the GIMINI series. Approximately 5 million 8500s were sold and used in hundreds of different consoles.
Wikidata facts
- Subclass of
- central processing unit
- Manufacturer
- General Instrument
- Image
- Interton Video 3000 - board - General Instrument AY-3-8500-9968.jpg
- Has use
- video game
Show 2 more facts
- Commons category
- AY-3-8500 chip and derived games
- publication date
- 1976-00-00
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~10 min read
Encyclopedic overview
17 sectionsContents
- History
- AY-3-8500
- Games
- Usage
- Applications
- AY-3-8550
- Games
- Usage
- Application
- AY-3-8610
- Games
- Usage
- Application
- Derivatives
- See also
- References
- External links
250px|thumb|AY-3-8500 chip The AY-3-8500 "Ball & Paddle" integrated circuit (IC, or "chip") was the first in a series of ICs from General Instrument designed for the consumer video game market. These chips output video to an RF modulator, which would then display the game on a domestic television set. It was introduced in 1976, Coleco becoming the first customer, having been introduced to the IC development by Ralph H. Baer. The lineup was later known as the GIMINI series. Approximately 5 million 8500s were sold and used in hundreds of different consoles.
The 8500 contained six selectable games — tennis (a.k.a. Pong), hockey (or soccer), squash, practice (single-player Pong), and two shooting games. The 8500 was the 625-line PAL version and the 8500-1 was the 525-line NTSC version. A minimum number of external components were needed to build a complete system. The video was in black-and-white, although it was possible to colorize the game by using an additional chip, the AY-3-8515.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “AY-3-8500” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.