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| Vector Graphic Flashwriter II
The Flashwriter II Video Board is Vector Graphic's advanced 80 x 24 memory mapped video board. By "80 x 24" we mean that the board displays characters on the screen in 24 rows of 80 characters each. Each character is made up of an 8 x 10 matrix of dots.
The Flashwriter II can be installed in ANY S-100 8080 or Z-80 computer, including existing Vector Graphic computers, in order to convert the existing memory mapped display to 80 x 24, or to make use of memory mapped video for the first time if a serial terminal had been used. It can be used with almost any standard computer video monitor, since it can produce either separate or combined video and sync signals. However, the monitor must have a band width of at least 12 MHz. The board is definitely applicable to the Vector Graphic Mindless Terminal, which requires separate signals.
 Flashwriter II
The Flashwriter II makes use of the most up-to-date ideas in circuit design such as flicker-free updating of the screen, separate sync outputs for video monitors requiring it, on-board user-programmable PROMs storing the character set, on-board socket for a video-driver and/or Monitor, Jump-on-Reset capability, to be used if the on-board video-driver socket is used, the availability of inverted or non-inverted vertical sync signals, the vailability of combined or separate video and sync signals, and the capability for reverse video. To make the board adaptable to many different systems, you are free by using jumpers to specify the memory addresses used by the on-board video memory RAM and the on-board video driver.
Further, a parallel keyboard input port is incorporated on the board, with the port numbers changeable by jumper anywhere from 00 and 01 (status and data) up to OE and OF. Although the board is shipped jumpered so that it strobes the keyboard data into the input latch on the rising edge of the key-depression strobe, a jumper can be installed to strobe the data on the falling edge, as required by some keyboards. The board can also be jumpered to generate an interrupt when a key is depressed, instead of waiting to be polled. Composite Video Mod The Flashwriter in the image above was modified to support Composite Video. Note the capacitor in the upper left corner. 
Flashwriter Composite Video Modification
Flashwriter II Documentation
Vector Graphic Flashwriter 2 User's Manual Rev4 pdf | |
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