Colour Genie

The EACA EG2000 Colour Genie was a computer produced by Hong Kong–based manufacturer EACA, and introduced in Germany in August 1982 by Trommeschläger Computer Service and Schmidtke Electronic.^[1][2][3][4]

EACA EG2000 Colour Genie

EG2000 Colour Genie computer
Manufacturer	EACA
Release date	August 1982; 43 years ago (1982-08)
Introductory price	£200 (equivalent to £892 in 2023)
Discontinued	1983
Operating system	16 KB ROM containing LEVEL II BASIC
CPU	Zilog Z80, 2 MHz
Memory	16 KB RAM, expandable to 32 KB
Display	PAL composite or RF out; 40×24 text, 16 colours; 160×96 graphics, 4 colours
Graphics	Motorola 6845
Sound	AY-3-8910
Input	63-key typewriter style Keyboard with 4 programmable function keys
Power	5V DC, +12V DC and -12V DC
Predecessor	Video Genie

It followed their earlier Video Genie I and II computers and was released around the same time as the business-oriented Video Genie.^[5]

The LEVEL II BASIC was compatible with the Video Genie I and II and the TRS-80, except for graphic and sound commands; most of the routines for Video Genie I BASIC commands were left over in the Colour Genie's BASIC ROM.^[6][3] Programs were provided to load TRS-80 programs into the Colour Genie. Colour Genie disks could be read in a TRS-80 floppy disk drive and vice versa, editing the pdrive commands.

The original Video Genies had been based upon (and broadly compatible with) the then-current TRS-80 Model I. As the Colour Genie was descended from this architecture, it was incompatible with Tandy's newer TRS-80 Color Computer which – despite its name – was an entirely new and unrelated design based on an entirely different CPU, and thus incompatible with the TRS-80 Model I and derivatives such as the Color Genie.^[7]

About 190 games were published for the system in English and German.^[8][3][9]

An 80 column card was produced.

Modern emulators for this system exist.^[10][11][12]

A Colour Genie computer

Technical specifications

Central Processing Unit

Z80 running at 2.2 MHz.^[5] Usually using the NEC D780 (and unlicenced Japanese clone) or the SGS Z80 (a European second source for Zilog).

Internal hardware

• Video Hardware
  • Motorola 6845 CRTC
  • 40 × 24 text (original ROMs) or 40 × 25 text (upgraded ROMs), 16 colours, 128 user defined characters
  • 160 × 96 graphics (original ROMs)^[5] or 160 × 102 graphics (upgraded ROMs), 4 colours x up to 4 pages
• Sound Hardware
  • General Instruments AY-3-8910^[5]
  • 3 sound channels, ADSR programmable
  • 1 noise generator, usable on each of 3 sound channels
  • 2 8-bit wide I/O ports

I/O ports and power supply

EACA EG2000 Colour Genie ports

• I/O ports:
  • Composite video out and audio out (cinch plugs)
  • Integrated RF modulator antenna output, which also carries sound, to TV
  • Cartridge expansion slot (slot for edge connector with Z80 CPU address/data bus lines and control signals, as well as GND and voltage pins; used for ROM cartridges or the floppy disk controller
  • 1200 baud tape interface (5 pin DIN)
  • RS-232 port (5 pin DIN)^[5]
  • Light pen port (5 pin DIN)^[5]
  • Parallel port for printer or joystick controller^[5]

External hardware options

• Floppy disk controller with floppy disk station.
  • Supported up to 4 drives (5.25 inch).
  • Support for 90 KB SS/SD up to 720 KB DS/DD drives.
• Cassette recorder
• EPROM cartridge of 12 KB
• EG2013 Joystick Controller
  • 2 Analogue joysticks with keypad