Dan B's Atari Microvision Tech Page

Microvision

The Microvision was a hand-held cartridge based game system sold by Milton Bradley between 1979 and 1981. It featured a 16x16 monochrome LCD display, 12 key keypad and paddle control. One unique feature of it's design was that not only did the cartridges hold the ROM code for the game, they also contained the microprocessor, and acted as an overlay for the screen and keypad.

Technical Specs

Main PCB

Chip Pinouts

Cartridge Connector

Cartridge Information

System Specs

(Note: There where two different processor used in the Microvision cartridges each with different specs)

Processor: Intel 8021
Speed: 100Khz (unconfirmed)
RAM: 64 bytes
ROM: 1K

Processor: TMS1100
Speed: 100Khz (unconfirmed)
RAM: 128x4 bits
ROM: 2K

Sound: Piezo speaker controlled by CPU

Graphics: 16x16 monochrome LCD

Main PCB

Schematics

Links

Hand Held Museum - This site has good pictures of the system and it's cartridges, boxes and manuals. You will also find the Microvision FAQ here.

Wikipedia - Wikipedia entry for the Microvision

Microvision Patent

Chip Pinouts

TMS1100 CPU

`<-`	`R8`	`1`	`28`	`R7`	`->`
`<-`	`R9`	`2`	`27`	`R6`	`->`
`<-`	`R10`	`3`	`26`	`R5`	`->`
	`Vdd`	`4`	`25`	`R4`	`->`
`->`	`K1`	`5`	`24`	`R3`	`->`
`->`	`K2`	`6`	`23`	`R2`	`->`
`->`	`K4`	`7`	`22`	`R1`	`->`
`->`	`K8`	`8`	`21`	`R0`	`->`
`->`	`Init`	`9`	`20`	`Vss`
`<-`	`O7`	`10`	`19`	`OSC2`	`->`
`<-`	`O6`	`11`	`18`	`OSC1`	`<-`
`<-`	`O5`	`12`	`17`	`O0`	`->`
`<-`	`O4`	`13`	`16`	`O1`	`->`
`<-`	`O3`	`14`	`15`	`O2`	`->`

Pin Name	Function
Vss	Ground
Vdd	Power Supply Input
Init	Processor reset
OSC1	Oscillator input
OSC2	Oscillator output
K1-K8	Data input lines
O0-O7	Data output lines
R0-R10	Data output lines

Intel 8021 CPU

`<->`	`P22`	`1`	`28`	`Vcc`
`<->`	`P23`	`2`	`27`	`P21`	`<->`
`<-`	`PROG`	`3`	`26`	`P20`	`<->`
`<->`	`P00`	`4`	`25`	`P17`	`<->`
`<->`	`P01`	`5`	`24`	`P16`	`<->`
`<->`	`P02`	`6`	`23`	`P15`	`<->`
`<->`	`P03`	`7`	`22`	`P14`	`<->`
`<->`	`P04`	`8`	`21`	`P13`	`<->`
`<->`	`P05`	`9`	`20`	`P12`	`<->`
`<->`	`P06`	`10`	`19`	`P11`	`<->`
`<->`	`P07`	`11`	`18`	`P10`	`<->`
`<-`	`ALE`	`12`	`17`	`RESET`	`-<`
`->`	`T1`	`13`	`16`	`XTAL2`	`<-`
	`Vss`	`14`	`15`	`XTAL1`	`<-`

Pin Name	Function
Vss	Ground
Vcc	Power Supply Input
RESET	Processor reset
XTAL1,XTAL2	Oscillator input
P00-P07	Bi-directional I/O port
P10-P17	Bi-directional I/O port
P20-P23	Bi-directional I/O port
T1	Input line
ALE	Output clock = Input clock/30

SCUS0488 LCD Controller

`<-`	`R12`	`1`	`40`	`Vcc`
`<-`	`R11`	`2`	`39`	`R15`	`->`
`<-`	`R10`	`3`	`38`	`R14`	`->`
`->`	`CTRL5`	`4`	`37`	`R13`	`->`
`->`	`CTRL4`	`5`	`36`	`C15`	`->`
`->`	`CTRL3`	`6`	`35`	`C14`	`->`
`->`	`CTRL2`	`7`	`34`	`C13`	`->`
`->`	`CTRL1`	`8`	`33`	`C12`	`->`
`->`	`CTRL0`	`9`	`32`	`C11`	`->`
`<-`	`R0`	`10`	`31`	`C10`	`->`
`<-`	`R1`	`11`	`30`	`C9`	`->`
`<-`	`R2`	`12`	`29`	`C8`	`->`
`<-`	`R3`	`13`	`28`	`C7`	`->`
`<-`	`R4`	`14`	`27`	`C6`	`->`
`<-`	`R5`	`15`	`26`	`C5`	`->`
`<-`	`R6`	`16`	`25`	`C4`	`->`
`<-`	`R7`	`17`	`24`	`C3`	`->`
`<-`	`R8`	`18`	`23`	`C2`	`->`
`<-`	`R9`	`19`	`22`	`C1`	`->`
	`GND`	`20`	`21`	`C0`	`->`

Pin Name	Function
GND	Ground
Vcc	Power Supply Input
CTRL0-CTRL5	CPU Interface
R0-R15	LCD Row
C0-C15	LCD Column

Cartridge Connector

`24`	`+9V`	`->`
`23`	`+9V in`	`<-`
`22`	`Vlcd`	`->`
`21`	`NC`
`20`	`GND`
`19`	`LCD0`	`<-`
`18`	`LCD1`	`<-`
`17`	`LCD2`	`<-`
`16`	`LCD3`	`<-`
`15`	`LCD4`	`<-`
`14`	`LCD5`	`<-`
`13`	`KEY0`	`->`
`12`	`KEY1`	`->`
`11`	`KEY2`	`->`
`10`	`KEY3`	`<-`
`9`	`KEY4`	`<-`
`8`	`KEY5`	`<-`
`7`	`KEY6`	`<-`
`6`	`SPKR1`	`<-`
`5`	`SPKR2`	`<-`
`4`	`POT1`	`->`
`3`	`POT0`	`->`
`2`	`CAP1`	`->`
`1`	`CAP2`	`->`

Pin Name	Function
+9V	+9V supply from battery
+9V in	+9V interlock
Vlcd	LCD Voltage
LCD0-LCD5	LCD control
KEY0-KEY2	Keypad column select
KEY3-KEY6	Keypad row return
SPKR1,SPKR2	Speaker inputs
POT1,POT0	Potentiometer output
CAP1-CAP2	Capacitor used to read potentiometer

Click here for more information on the cartridges

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Dan Boris - danlb_2000@yahoo.com