Sega Mega Drive System Console

Sega Mega Drive System Console

$225.00 AUD

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The Sega Mega Drive (known as the Sega Genesis in North America) is a seminal 16-bit home video game console. Released by Sega in Japan in 1988, its hardware architecture was heavily based on...
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Sega Mega Drive System Console

Product description

The Sega Mega Drive (known as the Sega Genesis in North America) is a seminal 16-bit home video game console. Released by Sega in Japan in 1988, its hardware architecture was heavily based on Sega's System 16 arcade boards, allowing it to bring fluid, fast-paced arcade experiences into the living room. 
The definitive technical specifications for the original Sega Mega Drive hardware are broken down below: 
Processors & Architecture
  • Main CPU: Motorola 68000 running at 7.67 MHz (NTSC) / 7.61 MHz (PAL). This was a 16/32-bit microprocessor managing game logic and overall execution. 
  • Secondary CPU (Co-Processor): Zilog Z80 running at 3.58 MHz (NTSC) / 3.55 MHz (PAL). It primarily handled sound sub-systems and provided native backward compatibility with the Sega Master System.
Memory (RAM & Bandwidth)
  • Main System RAM: 64 KB
  • Video RAM (VRAM): 64 KB
  • Sound RAM: 8 KB
  • Bus Bandwidth: Features a 16-bit memory bus with a system bandwidth of 10 MB/s and a VRAM bandwidth of 13.4 MB/s. This fast memory access formed the basis of Sega's marketing term, "Blast Processing". 
Graphics & Video Display Processor (VDP)
  • Graphics Processor: Custom Sega 315-5313 Video Display Processor. 
  • Resolutions:
    • Progressive: 320×240 pixels (PAL).
    • Interlaced:  or 320×480 pixels (PAL).
  • Color Palette: Total master palette of 512 colors (standard) or up to 1,536 colors using Shadow/Highlight software modes. 
  • On-Screen Colors: Maximum of 64 colors simultaneously under normal conditions (or up to 183 via Shadow/Highlight).
  • Sprites: Displays up to 80 sprites on screen at once (maximum sprite size 32×32 pixels). Supports multi-layer parallax scrolling backgrounds.
Audio & Sound Chips
  • FM Synthesis: Yamaha YM2612 (6-channel Frequency Modulation sound generator, 53.27 kHz sampling rate). One channel can be configured to play digitized 8-bit PCM audio samples. 
  • PSG Chip: Texas Instruments SN76489 Programmable Sound Generator (3 square/pulse wave channels, 1 white noise channel) used for sound layers and Master System compatibility. 
I/O and Physical Ports
  • Media: ROM Cartridges (typically up to 4 MB / 32-Megabit natively without bank-switching mappers).
  • Controller Ports: Two DE-9 front-facing male control pad inputs.
  • AV/Output (Model 1): 8-pin DIN port providing composite video, RGB video, and mono audio.
  • Stereo Audio (Model 1): A dedicated 3.5mm headphone jack with an adjustable volume slider on the front of the unit provided full stereo audio output.
  • Expansion Port: Custom edge connector located on the bottom right side of the unit, used almost exclusively to hook up the Sega Mega-CD / Sega CD add-on.

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