Lynx technical specifications
The Lynx contains two processors:
1. Mikey (16-bit custom CMOS chip running at 16MHz)
2. Suzy (16-bit custom CMOS chip running at 16MHz)
| Function | Capabilities |
In Chip |
| MOS 65C02 | CPU, runs up to 4MHz | Mikey |
| Sound engine | 4 channel sound, 8bit DAC for each channel, range from 32Hz up to above range of human hearing, Stereo with panning (mono for Lynx I) | Mikey |
| Video DMA driver for LC display | 4096 colors, 16 colors simultaneously per scanline | Mikey |
| System timer | Mikey | |
| Interrupt controller | Mikey | |
| UART | For ComLynx functionality | Mikey |
| 512 bytes ROM | Bootstrapping & game-card loading | Mikey |
| Blitter | Bitmap block transfer unit | Suzy |
| Graphics engine | Hardware drawing
support Unlimited number of sprites with collision-detection Hardware sprite-scaling, distortion & tilting-effects Hardware decoding of compressed sprite-data Hardware clipping and multi-directional scrolling Variable frame rate (up to 75 frames/second) 160 x 102 "triad" standard resolution (16,320 addressable pixels) (A triad is three LCD elements: red, green, and blue) Capability of 480 x 102 artificially high resolution |
Suzy |
| Math co-processor | Hardware 16-bit multiply and divide (32-bit
answer) Parallel processing of single multiply or divide instruction |
Suzy |
| Memory | 64KBytes DRAM (120ns) | |
| Game-cards | 128 Kbytes / 256
KBytes of ROM are mostly used Maximum capacity is 2 MBytes Theoretically, this sizes can be exceeded by adding extra bank-switching hardware into the game-card The first few hundred bytes of any card are encrypted to prevent unauthorized game-programming |
|
| Power supply | 9VDC/1A | |
| Batteries | 6 x AA / Mignon /
LR6 Battery life is about 4 hours (Lynx I) and about 5 hours (Lynx II) With Ni-Cad batteries, life-span drops to 1.5 hours |
|
| Physical dimensions | Case: 10.75" x 4.25" x 1.5" (Lynx I) 9.25" x 4.25" x 2" (Lynx II) Display: 3.5" diag. (3.25" x 1.88" approx.) Speaker: 2" diameter |
|
| Ports | Headphones: 3.5 mm stereo, wired for mono on the Lynx I ComLynx: For connecting multiple Lynx |
How does the
Lynx compare to other portable systems...
(if anyone knows any better, please tell
me...)
| Lynx ATARI |
Game Boy NINTENDO |
Game Gear SEGA |
|
| CPU | 65C02 | Z80 | Z80 |
| Speed | 3.6 MHz | 2.2 MHz | 3.6 MHz |
| Gx Bits | 16 | 8 | 8 |
| Gx | 16.0 MHz | ||
| Screen size |
3.5" | 2.6" | 3.2" |
| Video | 160 x 102 | 160 x 144 | 160 x 144 |
| Palette | 4096 | 4 (mono) | 4096 |
| Colors | 16 | 4 grey | 32 |
| Sound | 4 channels, stereo on Lynx II |
4 channels, stereo: 2 left, 2 right |
4 channels, stereo? |
| Sprites | Unlimited | 8 | 64 |
| Size of sprites |
Unlimited | 8 x 8 pixels | 8 x 8 pixels |
| Comm. | Serial port, 8 connections 300 Baud - 62K Baud |
Serial port, 4 connections ? Baud |
? |
| Memory | 64 K address space, 64 K RAM | 64 K address space, 16 K RAM |
24 K |
| Cart size | 1 MBit, 2 MBit, 8 MBit max | 512 KBit - 4 MBit are known | ? |
| Batt. life | 4-5 Hours, 1.5 rechargable | 35 Hours, 12 rechargable | ? |