Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION. » 2 e+e ee eee Features wee ee ee system Description». + ee eee VIC Description . 2. eee eee VIC Theory of Control... + ~~ SYNC and BLANKING .- +... +++ (BUS STRUCTURES tee pd@ress Buse Data 60g) System Memory Map VIC Memory Mapes ee ee ee ee PIC Memory Map. - > ++ + se ees Synchronization of Microprocessor to VIC FUNCTIONS . 2. e+e ee eee Vertical Sync Control Register . . . Vertical Blanking Control Register . RDY Line Control .- ++ +++ Horizontal Counter Resets ..-.. Page 23 29 30 33 35 37 38 aL 43 45 46 48 52 57TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Object and Projectible Size and Repeats . . Color Control Registers . +s... . eee Border Size and Foreground Control Registers Object Scan Direction Control Registers . Foreground Font Registers ..... 2.4% Sound Selection Registers ...--+++.- Sound Frequency Selection Registers .... Sound Output Level Registers... 1.24% Object Font Registers -. 1... .e eee Projectible Enable Registers... ..... Border Enable Registers ........4- Horizontal Movement Control Registers ... Object Font Register Selects. ......- Border Enable Select Register ....... Projectible Tracking and Disable Registers . Horizontal Movement Enable Control... .. Horizontal Movement Register Reset... . Object Coincidence Register Reset ..... Coincidence and Input Registers ...... ii 78 80 82 83 84 86 90 92 93 98 100 lol 103Chapter 4 Chapter 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) CONTROLLERS .. 2. + System 1/0... ++ .- Joystick Controllers... Paddle Controllers . . . Keyboard Controllers - « Steering Controllers... Front Panel Control Switches PROGRAMMING 2 2. + se Page 106 114 116 iis 122 124INTRODUCTION The Atari Video Interface Circuit (VIC) is controlled by a Microprocessor (MPU) through a series of instructions contained in a computer program. ‘The program is stored in a Read Only Memory (ROM) and is executed according to a set of predefined algorithms and flowcharts developed by the programmer. The MPU also requires some Random Access Memory (RAM) in order to execute the program and to store temporary results of the various routines executed. Also required is a Peripheral Interface Circuit (PIC) to communi- cate with the external controls (i.e., switches, potentiometers, etc.). The VIC is an object-oriented device in that it will directly generate an object which can be moved under the control of the MPU. The object is not generated through the use of screen RAM, but rather from an object generator to which we supply the object shape (font) as needed for the generation of the object on the video screen. The object has 8 Bits of Horizontal Font Data. The horizontal placement of the object is made by the VIC. However we can move the object left or right from the position by controlling the Movement section of the VIC. Vertical positioning is under the direct control of the MPU. ‘The Objects can be Programmed to three different Horizontal sizes and can be repeated one or two times after the original Object.The VIC generates a non-universal object called a Projectile The Projectiles can be programmed to only 4 different Horizontal sizes. The Projectiles have all of the motion capabilities of the Objects. The Projectiles can also be programmed to repeat one or two times after the original Projectile. The VIC also controls a non-universal object generator called the Border, which has all the motion capabilities of the Objects and Projectiles, but which is like the Projectiles and does not have the font capability of the Objects. The Border can only make 4 different shapes horizontally like the Projectiles versus 255 for an Object. The Border also cannot be repeated horizontally as the Objects and Projectiles can. ‘The Foreground appears as a type of screen RAM on a one-line basis, in that it cannot be moved horizontally and covers the entire horizontal visible area of the video screen. The Sound Section works under the control of the MPU to generate complex sounds. ‘The Sound section generates 10 different sound wave shapes that are used as building blocks for complex sounds. The MPU can control the frequency and amplitude for each of the two Sound channels.The Vic has a Concidence detection circuit which checks for coincidence between each of the Objects, Projectiles, Border, and Foreground. There is also a set of Input circuits that can be used as digital inputs and for performing an Analog to Digital conversion for use with the Player controls. The VIC has a Color Generator circuit that generates all of the signals needed to produce a color picture on a standard NTSC Color Television.FEATURES 2 General Purpose Objects 3 Dedicated Objects Object Duplication (2 Programmable Repeat Objects Object Size and Movement Under Microprocessor Control Programmable Object Priority 280 nsec Object Resolution Programmable Forecround Programmable Foreground Repeat or Mirroring 128 Programmable Colors Programmable Vertical Syne and Vetical Blanking Timing 2 Programmable Sound Generators 4 Analog Potentiometer Inputs 2 Digital Inputs (Edge Sensitive Progrenmable 4 Displayable Colors per Horizontal Scan Line 4 Chip Select Lines for Address Decoding 40 Pin Dual-In-Line Package Page Zero Microprocessor OperationSYSTEM DESCRIPTION The Atari Video Interface Circuit (VIC) is designed for use in a Microprocessor controlled Video Game System. It provides all the game circuits on a single N-Channel MOS LSI Integrated Circuit. Circuits are provided for both analog and digital player inputs, Foreground, moving Objects, Projectiles, Border, and audio signals. The Microprocessor used in the system is the 6507. The ROMS used are the 2316 (16K) or 2332 (32K). The PIC is a 6532. The VIC is a custom circuit. The game is Microprocessor controlled and each game definition is stored as a program in the ROM. ‘The ROM contains the game rules, the score font, the object font, the background font or algorithm, and the sound algorithms. Each ROM can contain more than one game or variations of a game depending on game complexity. The VIC develops Composite Video with Color Burst according to the NTSC video standard and uses a 3.579545 MHZ oscillator frequency. ‘The display is non-interlaced. A block diagram of the system is shown in Figure 1. The Microprocessor reads the stored program in the ROM and controls the generation of the video output by the VIC.The VIC generates the Horizontal Sync, Horizontal Blanking, Color Burst, and Video Signals which contain the Color and Luminence signals. The Microprocessor keeps track of the number of horizontal lines scanned and controls the VIC to generate the Vertical Blanking and Sync. The VIC generates the sounds under control of the Microprocessor, which can control the frequency, shape, and amplitude. The Microprocessor uses the PIC and VIC as the I/O interface for the player controllers (digital), player potentiometers (analog), and the front panei controls (digital). The system scratchpad RAM and Stack are in a 128 byte RAM in the PIC which also contains a programmable @ bit timer. The 128 byte RAM in the PIC is shared between the MPU stack and the system scratchpad RAM. The RAM is address transparent between $0080 thru $O0FF and $0160 thru $01FF. That is to say that the same RAM appears in both of these address ranges simultaneously and care must be exercised not to let the stack alter the scratchpad RAM being used by the program- VIDEO RE PROGRAM ROM BUFFER >To Tv eo MODULATOR 2.316 OR 2332 VIDEO ouTPUT SOUND vic |outeut SYSTEM RAM PLAYER CONTROLS ATARI VIDEO. GAME BLOCK DIAGRAM ‘ FIGURE | REV A 7-23-81 4 DVIC DESCRIPTION The VIC is a Bus oriented device. The Microprocessor address and Data Busses enter the VIC and access the major functional areas. With the Address Bus the Microprocessor selects the area it desires to communicate with. ‘The information is presented or received from the selected area on the Data Bus. An external oscillator provides the 3.58 MHZ clock frequency for the VIC. THe VIC then divides it by 3 to generate the clock for the Microprocessor. The VIC internally generates the Horizontal Sync, Blanking, and Color Burst and generates 4 displayable colors per line (Object A/Projectile A, Object B/Projectile B, Border/Foreground, and Background). Each color is independently programmable, and each one has a priority over the other. Some of the priorities can be altered by the Microprocessor. There are 128 Programmable colors for each of the above. There are two fully programmable Objects (Object A and Object B). Each of these Objects is 8 bits wide and is fully programmable which means that there are 255 visible combinations of display for each Object. There are two Object Font Registers for each Object. Each Object Font Register contains one Byte (8 bits) of data. The direction in which the data is scanned can be reversed. The horizontal size of the bits in the Object displaycan be programmed to be 1, 2, or 4 units wide, Each of the Objects can be programmed to be repeated one or two times after the original and at different intervals from the original Object. There are two dedicated objects (Projectile A and Projec- tile B) that are related to the main Objects (Object A and Object B). These Projectiles can only be 1, 2, 4, or 8 units wide. Pro- jectile A can be programmed to track the horizontal movement of Object A. Projectile B can be programmed to track the horizontal movement of Object B. The Projectiles can be repeated hori- zontally in conjunction with the associated Object. Projectile A is repeated exactly as Object A and Projectile B is repeated exactly as Object B. There is also a dedicated object (Border) that can be moved or used as a ball, Border, or center line. The Border can only be 1, 2, 4, or 8 units wide. ‘The Border cannot be repeated. The Foreground is a 20 bit memory that can be displayed in one of four methods horizontally. Each bit is 4 units wide and the active Foreground area is 160 units wide. The Foreground memory acts as a register. The register is 2-1/2 bytes of RAM (20 bits). The Forearound Register is displayed two times each line (40 bits/line). An object can be made to appear over or under the Foreground and Border and can appear over or under another object based on apriority system. Object A, Object B, Projectile A, and Projectile B can be programmed as higher or tower priority than the Fore- ground and Border. Object A and Projectile A are always a higher priority than Object B and Projectile B. The horizontal movement of each Object (A and B), Projectile (A and B), and the Border is controlled by the Microprocessor. Each of these 5 can be moved left or right relative to the Horizontal Reference Counter. Movement can be from -7 to +8 horizontal units per horizontal line sweep. The VIC has a coincidence detection circuit that indicates when any two Objects, Projectiles, Foreground, Border, or any combination of the above are coincidental with each other. A set of 15 comparators compares each object against the other and stores the result in a set of registers which can be read and reset by the Microprocessor. The VIC has 4 analog inputs with Schmitt triggers for accurate repeat detection of the player potentiometer setting. The analog inputs use a resistor-capacitor circuit for the time constant; the resistor is a potentiometer that is controlled by the player. Each input has a progammable discharge transistor that can be turned on to discharge the capacitor in the RC timing circuit. -10-There are also 2 Trigger inputs which can be used as latching Input Ports. Whenever one of these inputs goes to a level, this transition is stored in a latch that can be reset under software control. ‘The latching mode is programmable and when turned off the data at the Trigger inputs is passed directly to the MPU when read. The VIC contains two Sound genertors each of the Sound generators are connected to one of the two Sound Output pins. The Sound Generator consists of a Programmable Divider that @ivides the horizontal sweep frequency, a Sound Generator, and a Programmable Output Driver. ‘The Divider can be programmed to divide the 15.7 KHZ horizontal sweep frequency by 1 to 32. The Sound Circuit is programmable for 10 different sounds and tones This circuit can produce a series of sounds from a simple tone to a complex random noise. The Output Driver can be programmed for 15 different output levels. alaea2 Al ao | |CS3] |tS2 [esi CSO [enw [ee FREQUENCY SOUND Coven 2 sip) Le] [=] | wewer Lofsouno |_af tay ' Seeceseeee ee eeectecceeeeeeeeasaas | -_& ae ADDRESS Bus FREQUENCY souno {sf cever | ___'SNb — DECODER TIMING 8 8 8 2 AS 080 Vv Lum be! l — . LuM LJ DATA FOREGROUND - Bus GENERATOR OBJFCT ORJECT Se COUNTER GENERATOR RIORIT ae oR2 a A I LOGIC GENERATOR Lum 5 ONTAL [== folPRovective] .fPRovecTILE ORS mage COUNTER [SAGENERATOR A A _ Vv vy pR4 ¥ OBJECT OBJECT W COUNTER GENERATOR COINCIDENCE MASTER 1J oF5-—— COUNTER 2 : a PROJECTILE | . [PROJECTILE READ TIMING COUNTER GENERATOR Locic cr DBS AD. vy yy Vv BORDER Rorver |_| oe7 LI [a COUNTER [> GENERATOR i OSC) Isvnc| | ROY 0 Tor] |ToR| Pot] |Pot| [Pot] [ror IN J t 2 A 8 c REV A 7-246! VIC BLOCK DIAGRAM FIGURE 2 -l2-084 085] |o86} |087 READ LOGIC — RDB7 pB3 [—........ RDB = -——_——___—______—> 087 0B2 > 'DB6 Li DATA BUS} 085 On4 a DRIVERS S bas | +> 2 > dB! 080 . -——___—_———> 80 02 — 02 o2 TO READ pane] ee | REA > LOGIC Bus fon TIMING essay --7———$ 82e i ADORESS se —| DECODER 02 WRITE eH) Ss Si 22 eH a [= She 10 { 2 READ | Losi Ao REV B 4/27/81 -13-ci $03 >—_| DBO OBI $00 $02 SOA $20 ane BLANKING MASTER COUNTER cer H6 SOUND CLK C BLANKING HCO HCo2 HME : RIN LIN sco : : sca2 NC] Hs MASTER COUNTER LOGIC FIGURE 4 REV A 4729/81 -I4-FOREGROUND GENERATOR FGND FOREGROUND GENERATOR LOGIC REV A 4/29/81 FIGURE 5 7HORIZONTAL HCO! >___ MOVEMENT OBJECT A Hco2>—— HORIZONTAL HME > HORIZONTAL Ds7 > MOVEMENT MOVEMENT ies cLock OBJECT B 08s > GENERATOR HORIZONTAL 084 MOVE MENT $20 5 PROJECTILE A $21 > HORIZONTAL, $22>—___| MOVEMENT. $23, PROJECTILE 8 $24 HORIZONTAL $28 RESET MOVEMENT BORDER: HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT REVA 4/29/81 FIGURE 6 -16-cLock >———___} HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT ponued BORDER COUNTER $14>——_ SOA 1c fe BORDER $27 GENERATOR Ls BoRDER DAS DB4 ‘ BI DBO Co BORDER REV A 4/28/81 FIGURE 7 ItcLocK >————+ OBJECT COUNTER HZNTAL MOTION >] OBJ-AB $10,311 $04,305 >—————___ $10, S1E $28,829 DBO $25,326 $1B,$1C $1C,$1B $08,300 OBJECT FONT TIMING GENERATOR -——> Pu TK OBJECT FONT GENERATOR > OBJECT AB OBJECT GENERATOR LOGIC FIGURE 8 REVA 7-21-81 -18-CLOCK PROJECTILE A,B COUNTER $I0,Si PROJECTILE a AB Gia oreo GENERATOR “ PROJECTILE A,B REV A 0 . : 7/3781 FIGURE 9 2 19-H6 Cc BLNK OBJECT A OBJECT B PROJECTILE A PROJECTILE 8 BORDER FOREGROUND SOA v cLock’ Cc ty yy C4 C8 CLR BRST FLAG PRIORITY LOGIC OBJECT COLOR GENERATOR -E| ]2 es Ze NS = BS = coLoR BURST GENERATOR erst] LW COLOR LoGiC FIGURE 10 REVA 4/28/81 =20-ROBT RDBS VERTICAL > Banking a READ LOGIC A2> DECODER Al>— ee $0 $0 OBJECT A>——_, OBJECT B>——_ COINCIDENCE PROJECTILE A> DETECTION PROJECTILE B>—_—} Locic BORDER>——— ' FOREGND >———_ i. STROBE $2C READ, 087 > 086 >——_ 08! >——+ INPUT $01 >——+ READ . LOGIC POT Por c 0 FIGURE REVA 4/28/81 " -2l-SIA $19 080 CLOCK OB! CLOCK GENERATOR DB2 | GENERATOR SOUND A SOUND 8B SOUND A WAVEFORM GENERATOR SOUND 8B WAVE FORM GENERATOR TONE SOUND LEVEL LEVEL GENERATOR GENERATOR SND B OUT SOUND GENERATORS REV A 4/30/80 FIGURE {2 22+VIC THEORY OF CONTROL The VIC is an Object oriented video circuit that is controlled by the Microprocessor. ‘The VIC automatically generates the Horizontal scan for the Video System but the Microprocessor provides the Vertical scan for each frame. The Microprocessor controls the Vertical Blanking and the Vertical Sync. The Microprocessor keeps track of the Horizontal line scan count and the Vertical position of the objects. At the correct Vertical position’ the Microprocessor enables the objects and supplies the font to the object generator one line at a time until the objects have been fully displayed. The VIC keeps track of the horizontal positon of each object and retains that horizontal positon until directed to move the object left or right by the Microprocessor. There are 160 distinct horizontal locations for an object. Horizontal motion of an object is the movement left or right at a constant rate (i.e., 1 horizontal unit per frame, 2 horizontal units per frame, or 1 horizontal unit every other frame). Vertical motion of an object is the movement up or down at a constant rate (i.e., 1 horizontal line per frame, 2 horizontal lines per frame, or 1 horizontal line every other frame). aoaDiagonal movement of. an object is the combination of horizontal and vertical motion of an object at the same time. The apparent direction of movement of an object can be determined by using vector arithmetic. Motion in any one plane can be defined as being either positive (+) or negative ( The two directions of motions are divided into two planes; one called X, for horizontal motion, and one called ¥, for vertical motion. These two planes of motion will intersect each other at a 90 degree angle and will form the basis of an X-¥ graph on which can be shown vectored motion. Vertical motion towards the top of the screen will be positive (+¥) and towards the bottom of the screen will be negative (-¥). Horizontal motion towards the right will be positive (+x) and towards the left will be negative (-X). The X-¥ graph is then broken into four quadrants and each of the quadrants is numbered from 1 to 4. The first quadrant is in the upper right hand corner and is represented by both +X and +¥ motion, the second quadrant is the lower right quadrant and is the +X and -Y motion, The third quadrant is the lower left quadrant and is the -x and -¥ motion, the fourth quadrant is the upper left quadrant and is -x and +4¥ motion. The horizontal movement range provided by the VIC is -7 to +8 horizontal units each time the motion is enabled. The motion logic (HMENB) is normally enabled only one time per frame or less. The maximum amount of horizontal motion normally used is less than 7 units per frame. -24-For the purpose of this example which should cover most applications the vertical motion will be limited from -8 to +8 horizontal lines per frame. As seen in figure 13 the amount of the motion can be shown as a vector using the value of horizontal motion and vertical motion on the graph in figure 14 and the distance from the intersection of the X and Y axis to the value of motion is the relative speed of the object. In figure 15 vector A shows a moderate rate of motion in the first quadrant, the object motion shown by vector B is in the opposite direction at half of the rate of vector A. Both of these examples show movement where the number of horizonatal units of motion are equal to the number of horizontal lines of vertical motion. Vector C shows an example of a motion vector where x an ¥ are not equal. Figure 14 can be used to calculate the angles of motion that can be generated on the screen using the VIC. It should be noted that the aspect ratio of the Video Screen is 4:3 and the actual angle seen will vary with this relationship. By making copies of figure 14 it will be possible to actually draw each vector and examine the rate of movement and the angle. ~25-ee + +7. + +6 4TH QUADRANT + +5 IST QUADRANT (-x,+Y) on (4X,4¥) +3 ie +1 -7-6 -5 -4 -3 -2 ™* ob p> Dy TEMP #S0F SB 4$0FsB EOR #$07 ASL A RTS Note: This program is from an Activision Game Program. -133-TEE aStzSs bbe ATARI TV GAME Cun se MAIN PC poanD(2.070) >| (2.040) 40 2i Lf VLA LA LALALAN SANSA LA IA AA 625 hp N PIN Now i em (DENT MINT TT TT ooo t 20 wre FES 1404 T + (060, ssoiF | 088 L { (40) (toss) (023) 4 090) - O15) 1 (045) .032 TYP, (orsy TR PACKAGE DRAWING AND PINOUT (200) (600) PLASTIC PACKAGE