Software Generated Video
This page describes how an Atmel AVR AT90S8535 at 8 MHz is used to generate
video signals in software. A video game console framework is
described, that can be used to build simple video games, similar to
the early video games that was common in the 80's. The framework
provides an easy way of creating black and white video signals with a
resolution of 64x56 pixels and simple sound effects on any TV set,
using almost no hardware except the AVR. A scart connector, 5
resistors and 4 switches are all that is required.
The resolution is limited by the memory and speed of the AVR. With 8
kB additional RAM it would be possible to increase the resolution to
256x256 pixels. To go beyond that it would be necessary to increase
the clock speed to more than the current 8 MHz.
More photos
Source code (avrgcc)
The code is only briefly documented, but the simple bouncing ball
program at the end of video.h is supposed to work as a small tutorial
on how to write programs for the game console. The code is written for
avrgcc but should be easy to port to for example CodeVison.
Please look back later. More documentation will follow...
By Robin Stridh 2003