RF connector to TV, 384 x 336 graphics, 128 x 56 semigraphic, 16 colors
Graphics
UV-201, UV-202
Input
36-key keyboard
Controller input
Joysticks
The VideoBrain Family Computer[1][2][3] (model 101) is an 8-bithome computer manufactured by Umtech Incorporated, starting in 1977. It is based on the Fairchild SemiconductorF8CPU. It was not a large commercial success and was discontinued from the market less than three years after its initial release. Some of its lack of success has been attributed to the decision to substitute the APL/S programming language over the then-standard BASIC. Due to the high cost of RAM memory, it only contained 1 KB. It had a full-travel keyboard, unlike some early home computers that featured membrane keypads (and earlier kit machines that used switches), but with a very non-standard layout. It was designed by David Chung and Albert Yu.[4][5]
The VideoBrain Family Computer was designed and produced by Umtech Inc., doing business as the VideoBrain Computer Company of California in 1977. It was not widely available, although Macy'sdepartment store briefly carried the computer on its shelves. It was sold in various configurations, and the price ranged from $500 to $1100 depending on the accessories chosen.[6] New software for the VideoBrain was available on cartridge,[7] which was a first for home computer systems[8] (Later price reductions brought costs down to $300 for the computer by itself, and $350–900 for the packaged deals).[9]
Boxes of Tennis and Pinball cartridges for VideoBrain Family Computer
The VideoBrain Family Computer was built around the F8processor from Fairchild Semiconductor, and featured 1KB of RAM and a 4KB ROM.[9] It was able to output 384 x 336 graphics [10] and 128 x 56 semigraphic characters[11] in 16 colors, (based on UV-201 and UV-202 proprietary chips[12]) and sound to a connected television set through an RF connector. By far its most striking feature was the 36-key keyboard - though the keyboard of the VideoBrain was poorly designed and difficult to use, keyboards were not available on any of the more common video game consoles of the time.[13] Some popular kit-based computers also typically lacked a keyboard, opting for toggle switches instead. The system also features four joystick ports, a cartridge connector, and an expansion port.
The system included four built-in software titles, available if the unit is powered on without a cartridge inserted - a simple text editor, a clock, a countdown timer, and a Color Bar generator.
Two additional hardware modules were marketed that would extend the capabilities of the VideoBrain.[9] The Expander 1 was an interface to various I/O devices. It allowed users to connect a cassettetape recorder for saving or loading data, and included two RS-232 ports for attaching a printer and the Expander 2. The Expander 2 was a 300 baudacousticmodem used by a single program (Timeshare) that allowed the VideoBrain to act as a terminal when dialed into a compatible mainframe computer.[14]
Additional software was sold on cartridges measuring approximately the size of a Betamax tape. The cartridge interface was unique: unlike most video game systems, VideoBrain cartridges had an exposed strip of conductive traces that simply lie flush against a set of pins on the computer itself. Cartridges could contain up to 12KiB of data.[9]
Patent 4232374 titled "Segment Ordering for Television Receiver Control Unit" describes the VideoBrain display hardware.[15]
Because the VideoBrain computer was discontinued so quickly, fewer than 25 software titles were ever marketed for the system. The library comprises a handful of games, educational titles, and productivity software.[9]
Released Titles
VideoBrain Family Computer titles
Title
Model
Description
Cite
APL/S: The Computational Language
APL/S
APL/S - the only programming language available for the VideoBrain. The tape connections of the Expander 1 can be used to load and save programs.
Timeshare
CM01
The only program to use the Expander 2. This gives the user access the data banks of other computers with which the user is doing business, in effect transforming the VideoBrain into a timeshare terminal.
This program converts the keyboard into a piano keyboard, teaching users how to sight-read, compose, and play music in a 4-octave range. Music that the user composes can be played back via the VideoBrain using the television's speakers. Two pre-encoded songs come built-in on the cartridge: "Happy Birthday" and "Row, Row, Row Your Boat".
This program teaches users addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. There are four skill levels, and the option for a third party to create a math problem for the user to solve.
This program functions as a four-player educational game. Each player is given a random assortment of ten letters which must be organized into words. At the end of each round, points are awarded for words formed, and a winner is selected. The program features three skill levels that can be assigned to each player individually.
The program is intended to familiarize users with the VideoBrain keyboard. Users are subjected to a number of touch-typing exercises and are presented with a final words per minute count. An educational word game is also available on the same cartridge.
This program functions as an educational business simulation game. Users operate a virtual lemonade stand where decisions like how much lemonade to produce, how much to charge, and how much to spend on advertising must be weighed against a variety of market factors including market competition and the vagaries of the weather.
This video game cartridge provides players with three basic games. In Ancient Gladiator, players use bow and arrow to fight and defend against hungry lions and other players. In Modern Gladiator, players must run or pass to two different receivers to score points. And in Future Gladiator, players control laser-firing spaceships in an interstellar setting. The games can be played in a multiplayer format or versus the computer. Player-set variables allow for as many as 381 variations in gameplay.
This video game cartridge simulates a pinball machine. Using two joysticks (one for each flipper), players take turns trying to score as many points as possible with the five balls they start with. Points are awarded for sending the ball into the "thumper-bumpers".
This video game cartridge simulates the game of Tennis. There are four points per game, and six games per set. Player-set variables including curve balls, net rushing, handicapping, and varying skill and speed settings allow for as many as 96 variations in gameplay. Pre-defined game modes such as "Bounce-Back" (wherein players must bounce the ball off of the net and back to themselves once before hitting the ball over the net) are also available.
This video game cartridge simulates the standard game of Checkers. The game can be played versus other players or versus the computer with four different skill settings: Defensive, Aggressive, Super-Intelligent, and Not Quite Championship Caliber.
This video game cartridge simulates the standard game of Blackjack. One or several players play against the computer which acts as the house. Each player starts with $500 and can bet up to $250 per game. Winning rewards players with a song and 1.5 times the bet.
This cartridge acts as personal accounting software, allowing the creation of detailed personal financial information that could be saved on audiocassette tapes via the VideoBrain's Expander 1 port.
The VideoBrain largely failed to achieve commercial viability for a number of reasons. Poor design decisions hindered user acceptance; for example, the VideoBrain's confusing and user-unfriendly keyboard made even simple text entry a tedious process. Moreover, the computer did not offer the then-popular programming languageBASIC, forcing users to instead adopt APL/S - a far more obscure and difficult programming language. Finally, the VideoBrain software library had trouble reaching a key audience. Most available software was aimed at productivity or educational markets, and lacked any variety of entertainment titles.
Perhaps the largest contributor to the VideoBrain's failure was simply a lack of proper marketing and hardware availability. Public understanding of computers in 1977 was significantly lower than it is today, and many potential consumers simply did not understand the benefits of owning a home computer. Additionally, the VideoBrain was mainly sold through mail-order outfits, and only made a brief retail showing at Macy's Department Stores. (By contrast, video game consoles at the time were easily available in a number of department and toy chains, allowing them to far outsell the VideoBrain Computer System).[14]
Albert Yu said, in an 2005 interview, said he had invited Andy Grove to look over the system and he was skeptical – wondering who would want to buy a computer for the home.[23] Yu also said Grove was skeptical about the Apple II as well but Yu felt that the Apple was successful because it targeted a market (computer enthusiasts) that was easier to sell to. The Apple was also quite a bit more powerful and more expensive. It was an open system, with many expansion slots and fully documented software and hardware – to target the enthusiast community. Although it lacked lowercase, its keyboard was both full-travel and of a normal layout. The VideoBrain, by contrast, was a much more closed design targeting home users with more simplicity and low cost. Even the keyboard was simplified, in terms of the number of keys. Apple created closed systems designed around simplicity later, such as the original Macintosh (which eschewed slots, hard disk support, and the numeric keypad) and the much later iMac (which eschewed slots and the floppy disk).
↑ Details are very sketchy, this is a "best guess" based on the point addressable mode that there seemed to have been; that is, the 168 bytes of video memory were reinterpreted as the 4-bit RGBI values of a column of 336 pixels, being then reloaded 384 times per frame
↑ Details are very sketchy, this is a "best guess" based on 8×8 (blocky) pixel characters, these most likely being of 3x6i high-resolution pixels
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Gerald Anderson Lawson was an American electronic engineer. He is known for his work in designing the Fairchild Channel F video game console as well as leading the team that pioneered the commercial video game cartridge. He was thus dubbed the "father of the videogame cartridge" according to Black Enterprise magazine in 1982. He eventually left Fairchild and founded the game company Video-Soft.
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The Fairchild Channel F is a home video game console released by Fairchild Camera and Instrument in November 1976. It has the distinction of being the first programmable ROM cartridge–based video game console, and the first console to use a microprocessor. It was launched as the Fairchild Video Entertainment System, or Fairchild VES for short, but when Atari released their Atari Video Computer System, Atari VCS, later Atari 2600 the next year, Fairchild renamed its machine.
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