Graphics for S-100 machines (MicroAngelo S-100 Graphics Board by SCION) - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

4 Dec 2007

----------Original Message:
Date: Tue, 04 Dec 2007 01:11:05 +0000
From: Pete Turnbull <pete at dunnington.plus.com>
Subject: Re: Graphics for S-100 machines (MicroAngelo S-100 Graphics
	Board by SCION)

On 03/12/2007 23:35, Richard wrote:
...
  In the 79-81 time frame I remember poring over the ads
for machines in
 BYTE on a regular basis.  (I really wanted my own computer but couldn't
 afford one.)  I recall that Cromemco and SWTPC both had some sort of
 graphics options, although the SWTPC one might have been from a 3rd
 party.  Cromemco had the "dazzler" card IIRC. 
I have two Dazzlers, I think, and three Matrox cards for my Cromemco. 
They're not particularly common, but my Cromemco came from someone who 
supported various systems that needed graphics.

-- 
Pete					

-----------Reply:
S-100 Graphics are what got Cromemco started; the founders, Harry Garland
and Roger Melen started out building RAM-chip cameras in their dorm room
at CROthers MEMorial hall (CROMEMco) at Stanford and their Dazzler
graphics card was quite a sensation in its day, stopping traffic and gathering
a crowd when a New York computer shop set up a demo in its store window.

Ironically, after years of selling high-end text-only S-100 systems to governments, 
institutions and business, in the end it was also graphics that kept them going
(at least for a little while):

A company called Dynatech (also makers of the famous Fuzz-Buster) was using 
Cromemco systems for one of their products, the Colorgraphics Weather System 
used by TV stations to display weather maps, and when Cromemco fell on hard 
times they "merged with" (were bought by) Dynatech to assure continued support 
for their systems.

See:

http://infolab.stanford.edu/pub/voy/museum/pictures/display/3-5-CROMEMCO.ht…

mike