"CDTV" redirects here. For the Chilean TV channel, see CDtv. For the Japanese music television show, see Count Down TV. For the Compaq system, see Compaq Presario.
The CDTV is essentially a Commodore Amiga 500 home computer with a CD-ROM drive and remote control. With the optional keyboard, mouse, and floppy disk drive, it gained the functionality of the regular Amiga.[3] Commodore marketed the machine as an all-in-one multimedia appliance. As such, it targeted the same market as the Philips CD-i. The expected market for multimedia appliances did not materialize, and neither machine met with any real commercial success. Though the CDTV was based entirely on Amiga hardware, it was marketed strictly as a CDTV, with the Amiga name omitted from product branding.
Commodore announced the CDTV at the summer 1990 Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago, promising to release it before the end of the year with 100 software titles.[3] The product debuted in North America in March 1991 (CES Las Vegas) and in the UK (World of Commodore 1991 at Earls Court, London).[4] It was advertised at £499 for the CDTV unit, remote control and two software titles.[5] The device was released in the United States for $999.[6]
In 1990 Computer Gaming World stated that Commodore had a poor reputation among consumers and developers, citing "abysmal record of customer and technical support in the past".[3] The company chose Amiga-enthusiast magazines as its chief advertising channel, but the Amiga community on the whole avoided the CDTV in the expectation of an add-on CD-ROM drive for the Amiga,[7] which eventually came in the form of the A570. This further hurt sales of the CDTV, as an A570-equipped A500 was electronically the same as a CDTV and, consequently, could run CDTV software, so there was very little motivation for an Amiga owner to buy a CDTV. However, Nolan Bushnell, one of the chief endorsers of the CDTV, argued the system's high price alone was enough to explain its market failure: "... it's very difficult to sell significant numbers of anything at more than $500. ... I felt that I could sell a hundred thousand of something that costs $800 standing on my head. I thought that it would be a no-brainer. And I can tell you that the number of units that we sold in the U.S. at $800 you could put in your eye and not draw tears."[8]
The CDTV was supplied with AmigaOS 1.3, rather than the more advanced and user-friendly 2.0 release that was launched at around the same time. Notably, the CDXL motion video format was primarily developed for the CDTV, making it one of the earliest consumer systems to allow video playback directly from CD-ROM.
By 1994 Computer Gaming World described the CDTV as a "fiasco" for Commodore.[9] Though the company later developed an improved and cost-reduced CDTV-II, it was never released.[10] Commodore discontinued the CDTV in 1993 with the launch of the Amiga CD32, which again was substantially based on Amiga hardware (in this case the newer Amiga 1200) but explicitly targeted the games market.
In December 2021 an unofficial free ROM update was released for CDTV (2.35), which brings compatibility with 68030 accelerator boards and 32-bit Fast RAM, allows non-CDTV titles to boot, fixes bugs and restores several features that were lost in the 2.7 and 2.30 ROMs. Because of copyright reasons the custom ROM is distributed in patch form.[11]
Design
Commodore CDTV setup with 1084 monitor displaying the CDTV's audio CD player facility.
The CDTV was intended as a media appliance rather than a mainstream personal computer. As such, its housing had dimensions and styling that were fairly comparable to most household stereo system components of the period, and it came with an infrared remote control. Similarly, it was initially sold without a keyboard or a mouse (which could be added separately, and were later bundled with the machine). The CDTV was based on the same technology as earlier Amiga systems, but featured a single-speed CD-ROM drive and no floppy disk drive as standard.
External black styled floppy disk drive (CD1411, an FB-354C)
Proprietary memory cards with a capacity of 64 or 256 KB (CD1401/CD1405) allowing storage of game scores and progress[13]
Genlocks for NTSC or PAL (CD1300/CD1301) to overlay video signal with a secondary video source[14]
Versions
CDTV: CDTV unit and remote control/gamepad
Pro pack: CDTV unit, remote control/gamepad, keyboard, mouse and floppy disk drive, along with Almathera CDPD Public domain software compilation on CD-ROM
^"The Big Book of Amiga Hardware - Commodore CD1300".
External links
Media related to Commodore CDTV at Wikimedia Commons
April 10, 2023
commodore, cdtv, cdtv, redirects, here, chilean, channel, cdtv, japanese, music, television, show, count, down, compaq, system, compaq, presario, cdtv, from, commodore, dynamic, total, vision, later, treated, backronym, compact, disc, television, home, multime. CDTV redirects here For the Chilean TV channel see CDtv For the Japanese music television show see Count Down TV For the Compaq system see Compaq Presario The CDTV from Commodore Dynamic Total Vision later treated as a backronym for Compact Disc Television is a home multimedia entertainment and video game console convertible into a full fledged personal computer by the addition of optional peripherals developed by Commodore International and launched in April 1991 2 Commodore CDTVManufacturerCommodore InternationalTypeHome multimedia entertainment Home video game console Personal computerGenerationFourth generationRelease dateMarch 1991 32 years ago 1991 03 Introductory priceUS 999 equivalent to 1 990 in 2021 Units soldGermany 25 800 1 UK 29 000MediaCD ROMOperating systemAmigaOS 1 3CPUMotorola 68000 7 MHzMemory1 MBPredecessorCommodore 64 Games SystemSuccessorAmiga CD32 Contents 1 Description 2 Design 3 Technical specifications 4 Official upgrades 5 Versions 6 Games 7 Market competition 7 1 High end A V primary market 7 2 Video gaming secondary market 8 See also 9 References 10 External linksDescription EditThe CDTV is essentially a Commodore Amiga 500 home computer with a CD ROM drive and remote control With the optional keyboard mouse and floppy disk drive it gained the functionality of the regular Amiga 3 Commodore marketed the machine as an all in one multimedia appliance As such it targeted the same market as the Philips CD i The expected market for multimedia appliances did not materialize and neither machine met with any real commercial success Though the CDTV was based entirely on Amiga hardware it was marketed strictly as a CDTV with the Amiga name omitted from product branding Commodore announced the CDTV at the summer 1990 Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago promising to release it before the end of the year with 100 software titles 3 The product debuted in North America in March 1991 CES Las Vegas and in the UK World of Commodore 1991 at Earls Court London 4 It was advertised at 499 for the CDTV unit remote control and two software titles 5 The device was released in the United States for 999 6 In 1990 Computer Gaming World stated that Commodore had a poor reputation among consumers and developers citing abysmal record of customer and technical support in the past 3 The company chose Amiga enthusiast magazines as its chief advertising channel but the Amiga community on the whole avoided the CDTV in the expectation of an add on CD ROM drive for the Amiga 7 which eventually came in the form of the A570 This further hurt sales of the CDTV as an A570 equipped A500 was electronically the same as a CDTV and consequently could run CDTV software so there was very little motivation for an Amiga owner to buy a CDTV However Nolan Bushnell one of the chief endorsers of the CDTV argued the system s high price alone was enough to explain its market failure it s very difficult to sell significant numbers of anything at more than 500 I felt that I could sell a hundred thousand of something that costs 800 standing on my head I thought that it would be a no brainer And I can tell you that the number of units that we sold in the U S at 800 you could put in your eye and not draw tears 8 The CDTV was supplied with AmigaOS 1 3 rather than the more advanced and user friendly 2 0 release that was launched at around the same time Notably the CDXL motion video format was primarily developed for the CDTV making it one of the earliest consumer systems to allow video playback directly from CD ROM By 1994 Computer Gaming World described the CDTV as a fiasco for Commodore 9 Though the company later developed an improved and cost reduced CDTV II it was never released 10 Commodore discontinued the CDTV in 1993 with the launch of the Amiga CD32 which again was substantially based on Amiga hardware in this case the newer Amiga 1200 but explicitly targeted the games market In December 2021 an unofficial free ROM update was released for CDTV 2 35 which brings compatibility with 68030 accelerator boards and 32 bit Fast RAM allows non CDTV titles to boot fixes bugs and restores several features that were lost in the 2 7 and 2 30 ROMs Because of copyright reasons the custom ROM is distributed in patch form 11 Design Edit Commodore CDTV setup with 1084 monitor displaying the CDTV s audio CD player facility The CDTV was intended as a media appliance rather than a mainstream personal computer As such its housing had dimensions and styling that were fairly comparable to most household stereo system components of the period and it came with an infrared remote control Similarly it was initially sold without a keyboard or a mouse which could be added separately and were later bundled with the machine The CDTV was based on the same technology as earlier Amiga systems but featured a single speed CD ROM drive and no floppy disk drive as standard Technical specifications Edit Close up detail of the CDTV buttons CDTV remote control Attribute SpecificationProcessor Motorola 68000 at 7 16 MHz NTSC a or 7 09 MHz PAL b c RAM 1 MB Amiga Chip RAM upgradable 2 KB non volatile RAMROM 256 KB Kickstart ROM256 KB CDTV firmware ROMChipset Original Chip Set OCS Enhanced Chip Set ECS Video 12 bit color palette 4096 colors Graphics modes with up to 32 64 EHB mode or 4096 HAM mode on screen colors 320 200 to 320 400i NTSC a 320 256 to 320 512i PAL b c Graphics modes with up to 16 on screen colors 640 200 to 640 400i NTSC a 640 256 to 640 512i PAL b c Audio Four 8 bit PCM channels two stereo channels 28 kHz maximum DMA sampling rateRemovable storage Single speed CD ROM drive proprietary controller Input output ports Keyboard 5 pin mini DIN Mouse 4 pin mini DIN RS 232 serial port DB 25M Centronics style parallel port DB 25F Floppy disk drive port DB 23F MIDI in and out Audio Video output Audio out Two RCA and 6 35 mm stereo phone jack Analog RGB video out DB 23M RF audio video out RCA a or RF loop through b Composite video out RCA a b S Video out 4 pin mini DIN a SCART audio video out c Expansion slots Proprietary card slot by ITT Cannon and Fujisoku for 8 KB to 1024 KB non volatile memory cards 1 MB addressing needs a hardware hack 80 pin diagnostic slot30 pin DMA expansion slotVideo slotOperating system AmigaOS 1 3 Kickstart 1 3 Workbench 1 3 CDTV firmwarePhysical dimensions 430 330 95 mm width depth height Other Wireless infrared remote control gamepad 40 kHz Front panel with display and controls for CD playerNotes North American model UK model European modelOfficial upgrades EditThe CDTV is compatible with many Amiga peripherals from the same period In addition official CDTV peripherals and upgrades included Wireless infrared mouse CD1252 Wireless trackball Black styled keyboard SCSI controller providing both an internal and external SCSI connector for hard disk drives and other SCSI devices External black styled hard disk drive 12 External black styled floppy disk drive CD1411 an FB 354C Proprietary memory cards with a capacity of 64 or 256 KB CD1401 CD1405 allowing storage of game scores and progress 13 Genlocks for NTSC or PAL CD1300 CD1301 to overlay video signal with a secondary video source 14 Versions EditCDTV CDTV unit and remote control gamepad Pro pack CDTV unit remote control gamepad keyboard mouse and floppy disk drive along with Almathera CDPD Public domain software compilation on CD ROMGames EditList of Commodore CDTV gamesMarket competition EditHigh end A V primary market Edit multi purpose audio video systems Philips CD i Pioneer s LaserActive Tandy Video Information SystemVideo gaming secondary market Edit NEC PC Engine with Super CD ROM expansion Nintendo s SNES Sega Mega Drive with CD ROM expansion The 3DO Company s 3DO Interactive MultiplayerSee also Edit Amiga portalAmiga A570 Amiga CD32 Amiga models and variantsReferences Edit Distrita Where to Go Feldman Tony 1994 Multimedia Psychology Press ISBN 9781857130102 a b c The Maturation of Computer Entertainment Warming The Global Village Computer Gaming World 1990 07 08 p 11 Retrieved 16 November 2013 The Commodore CDTV Information Center www cdtv org uk Archived from the original on 2009 04 12 Retrieved 2010 08 06 Amiga History Guide Beaver County Times Google News Archive Search news google com Retrieved 2021 03 23 Commodore CDTV TidBITS 1991 05 20 Retrieved 2021 03 23 What the Hell has Nolan Bushnell Started Next Generation Imagine Media 4 9 April 1995 Miller Chuck Dille H E Wilson Johnny L January 1994 Battle Of The New Machines Computer Gaming World pp 64 76 The Big Book of Amiga Hardware Commodore CDTV II CDTV OS 2 35 FAQ GitHub 2 November 2022 The Commodore CDTV Information Center www cdtv org uk CDTV Technical Information by Darren Ewaniuk The Big Book of Amiga Hardware Commodore CD1300 External links Edit Media related to Commodore CDTV at Wikimedia Commons Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Commodore CDTV amp oldid 1124318525, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
