A Line at a Time: The Atari 2600, Now with S-Video

owl writes:

https://nicole.express/2023/have-you-read-atari-today.html

From Pitfall II to the Channel F to the NES cartridge port, a spectre has lurked in the background of Nicole Express: the spectre of the Atari 2600. The best-selling console of the second generation, an icon, and yet to date, I have not covered it, or even owned one. That all changes today, and we'll find out what the deal is with this strange artifact from the past. Plus, we'll get some S-Video.

[...] Those three chips are right in the center:

• The MOS Technology 6507 CPU. This is a 6502 die, with some pins not hooked up. The implications of this are important. The fact that this particular 6507 is made by Taiwan-based UMC probably isn't.
• The MOS Technology 6532 RIOT. This does exactly what the name implies: it contains 128 bytes of RAM (twice the Channel F!), provides two 8-bit I/O ports, and a programmable Timer. It's also made by UMC.
• The Atari Television Interface Adapter (TIA). The only real custom chip onboard, the TIA is what made the 2600 the 2600. It generates a video signal using various internal registers, as well as handling paddles, sound, and some other functions. Someone wrote on this one.

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