Commodore C65 Video

DB-9 analogue RGB video port on the prototype Commodore C65 (C64DX), driven by the CSG 4567 chip; the C65 was never commercially released.

The Commodore C65 (internally designated the C64DX) was a prototype next-generation home computer developed by Commodore Business Machines; it was never commercially released and all known units are pre-production machines. According to the C64DX System Specification (Revision 0.2, January 1991), video output is handled by the CSG 4567 chip and provided via three connectors: an 8-pin DIN composite video and audio port, a DB-9 analogue RGB video port, and an RF modulator. The video chip supports analogue RGBA with sync on all colours or a separate digital sync signal, as well as composite NTSC/PAL video with separate chroma and luma, and digital foreground/background (genlock) control. Because the specification is a pre-production engineering document, the chip descriptions note that changes were expected before any production release.

9 PIN D-SUB MALE 9 PIN D-SUB MALE at the Computer.

PinNameDirDescription
1GND-Ground
2???
3ROUTRed
4GOUTGreen
5BOUTBlue
6???
7CSYNCOUTComposite Sync
8HSYNCOUTHorizontal Sync
9VSYNCOUTVertical Sync

Signals

  • GND — Signal ground reference.
  • R — Analogue Red video output.
  • G — Analogue Green video output.
  • B — Analogue Blue video output.
  • CSYNC — Composite sync output (combined horizontal and vertical sync).
  • HSYNC — Horizontal sync output.
  • VSYNC — Vertical sync output.
  • Pin 2 / Pin 6 — Purpose not publicly documented; the C64DX System Specification Revision 0.2 does not provide a per-pin assignment for these positions on the DB-9 RGB port.

Notes

  • Direction is Computer relative to Monitor.
  • The C65 DB-9 analogue RGB port is described in a pre-production prototype specification (Revision 0.2, January 1991); pin assignments for pins 2 and 6 are not documented in the known public text of that specification.
  • The C65 was never commercially released; all known hardware units are prototypes, so connector behaviour may vary between individual machines.
  • The CSG 4567 video chip supports both analogue RGB with sync-on-colour and composite NTSC/PAL with separate chroma and luma; the DB-9 port carries the analogue RGB output path.

References

Category:Computer Video Connectors