Hardware overview
the machine was depending about a Z80B CPU clocked at 6 MHz, and contained an ASIC that is comparable to the Spectrum's ULA. A basic model experienced 256 KB of RAM, upgradable internally to 512 KB and externally by having even more, an extra Quadruplet MB (added in I MB packs). Tapes were a original data-storage medium, however 1 or even both Three.Quintet inch floppy disc drives could be fitted internally. Six channel, Ogdoad octave stereo sound was provided by a Philips SAA 1099 chip. A ASIC also included the line triggered interrupt counter, leaving streaming video results to exist as synchronized to specific display positions sustaining little effort.

4 graphics modes were provided:

Mode Four - 256x192, linear framebuffer, 4 bits per pixel (16 colours) = Two dozen KB Mode Three - 512x19Deuce, linear framebuffer, 2 bits by the picture element (Quatern colours) = Two dozen KB Mode Two - 256x192, linear framebuffer, I bit by the pel using separate attributes for every 8x1 prevent of pel = Dozen KB Mode One - 256x192, separate attributes, non-linear framebuffer intended to match a display of the ZX Spectrum = Captain hicks.75 KB

Everthing modes were paletted, by owning the 16-entry CLUT selecting from the palette of 128 colours. Within mode I, additional forced hold off states reduced the CPU speed by as much as 10% to give a further compatible heading speed for ZX Spectrum computer software.

A Motorola MC1377P RGB to PAL/NTSC encoder created a composite video signal from a machine's RGB- & Sync-signals (outputted by the ASIC) for the RF modulator.

A machine shipped by having 32 KB of ROM containing code to boot the machine & a BASIC interpreter (SAM BASIC) written by Andrew Wright and heavy influenced by his earliest Beta BASIC for the ZX Spectrum. There is no DOS was included in a ROMs, this was instead loaded from either disk using iron boot or even even BOOT One command, or the F9 key. A majority of disks shipped by owning SAMDOS, a formulas's number one DOS, in the children and then that it can be directly booted. An improved replacement, MasterDOS, was too developed offering sooner disc access, further files & trend lines for the Real Time Clock for filestamps amongst many more improvements.

A BASIC was super advanced & involved code for sprite drawing and basic vector shapes such as lines & circles. A screen co-reference frame for these was variable & can be indiscriminately scaled & centred. The provision for "recording" sequences of graphics commands then that it may late exist as repeated forswearing the speed penalty of a BASIC interpreter inbetween, super similar to the display lists of OpenGL, was provided.

Video memory problems
Internal RAM wwhen shared between a streaming videos circuitry & a CPU, by owning accesses getting a speed penalty as the CPU was forced to hold off for the ASIC to finish. Following a SAM Coupé's CPU ran exclusively around 14% sooner than that of a ZX Spectrum, eventually was needed to wash 4 days as much act to develop the equivalent total of movement on the display.

When a independent 256x192 locality of a screen was existence draw the processor may simply access memory inside Unity away from each 8 t-states. when you took the border vicinity this was Unity away from each Four t-states, which got there are no outcome on the numbers of videos whose timings were a multiple of Iv. Inside modes Three & Four the display can be disabled all, eliminating these memory contention delays for a fully 6MHz going speed. Code running off within ROM was insensible per contention, though any RAM accesses it performed would however become affected.

Disk drives
A SAM utilized Citizen 3.5 inch slimline causes which slotted around beneath a keyboard to provide front facing slots. Prefer IBM PC hard disks these contained not just a causes however as well a caapply controllers (a WD1772-02) sustaining the symptom that the SAM can use two causes at the same time.

the double-density disks utilized a format of Ii sides, Eighty tracks by the side & Ten sectors by the track, using 512 bytes by the sector. This gave a number capacity of 800 KB, though the standard directory occupied Xx KB going away 780 KB loose for user files. Files were stored in the equivalent structure when MGT's original +D interface, however by owning extra codes utilized for SAM Coupé file types.

A microcode of the disk controllers was compatible thereupon for IBM PC, & computer program were available to scroll through FAT formatted disks.

Expansion ports
The big array of expansion ports were provided, including:

Both internal cause bays Slightly non-standard SCART connector offering composite video & digital & linear RGB 64-pin Euroconnector for general purpose devices expansions Mouse socket (proprietary format, although the convertor for Atari ST style mice was late available) Lightpen / Lightgun via 5-pin DIN MIDI IN/OUT ports (and Across, vithe a computer software switch) Network using the MIDI port (up to Xvi machines can be interconnected) Atari-style 9-pin joystick port (dual capability with the splitter cable) Deuce-ace.Fivesome millimetre monophonic Cassette jack Stereo healthy output across Little phoebe-pin DIN

Unambiguously a SAM's RF modulator was built into the power supply unit & attached via a joint power/TV socket. This manufactured signal interference from a ACDC convertor commons & it was the popular however totally unofficial modification to dislodge the modulator & keep it as a separate unit.

Imputable a flaw in the project, whenever 2 joysticks were utilized at the equivalent instance (through the sanctioned splitter) it would interfere using every more.

Kaleidoscope
A Kaleidoscope, announced by SAMCo shortly prior to bankruptcy, would own extended a machine's number colour palette to 32768 colourize such how else when to allow forwards & backwards compatibility by applications. Although complete a devices disappeared by owning SAMCo.

ZX Spectrum compatibility
Emulation of the ZX Spectrum was limited to the 48K & was achieved by loading the copy of the ZX Spectrum ROM & switching to display mode Ace, which mimicked a ZX Spectrum display mode and estimated that machines processor speed.

the ROM was non provided with a machine & experienced to exist as found from either a rattling ZX Spectrum.

A 128K exemplary's memory map was incompatible with the Coupé's memory model & a machine featured an totally different healthy generator. It was conceivable to convert games by hacking the 128K code.

Because a Coupé didn't dog at exactly a equivalent speed when a Spectrum potentially around emulation mode, numbers of anti-piracy tape loaders would non act on the Coupé devices. This lead to the development by MGT of the favorite hardware interface called a Courier which can capture the state of a attached ZX Spectrum to SAM Coupé disc for playback afterwards while forgoing the Spectrum attached.

Commercial fortunes
3 different corporations keep close at hand owned a rights to the SAM Coupé. These are imagine that just about 12,000 SAM Coupé & SAM Élite machines were sold within number.

Miles Gordon Technology, plc.
MGT, Miles Gordon Technology, plc., which originally produced add-ons for the ZX Spectrum, launched the SAM Coupé (super) late within 1989, missing the Christmas sales. It ended higher by using the immense total of machines within equity. A Xvi-bit & PC marked was on the rise & it helped little that MGT in the beginning of 1990 had to ship a freshly ROM to astir 8,000 existent client to fix bugs, notably a DOS bootstrapping bug. MGT went into receivership in June 1990.

SAM Computers Ltd
Immediately when a collapse of MGT, Alan Miles & Bruce Gordon purchased that company's plus & formed Sam Computers Ltd. A price of the SAM sustaining floppy disk drive was brought down to under £20& recently games & devices were freed. SAMCo survived until July 1992.

West Coast Computers
Commodity from either SAM Computers Ltd were bought by West Coast Computers within November 1992. It revamped a SAM Coupé into SAM Élite. A simply changes were that 512 KB became standard & an external printer connexion was added. A slim-line floppy causes from either either Citizen, which got withdrawn a babies from the European market within 1990, were replaced with standard Ternion.Cinque inch causes. West Coast was set into liquidation inside February 2005. Little is known just about a company. For an extended time period a lone point of email was Format Publications, run by Bob Brenchley, which faded away from existance quondam in 1998.

SAM the robot
Devised by Mel Croucher & put within pen by Robin Evans as a mascot for a machine, SAM the automatin appeared in the user manual & on virtually all of the advertising literature for the machine & afterwards processed an appearance when the independent character in the bet on SAM Strikes Out!

Notable software
A SAM Coupé was particularly notable for the wide array of disk depending magazines that originated for it, include FRED and the official SAMCo Newsdisk. It as well became infamous for the overwhelming total of puzzle games for the technique, something that Spectrum magazine Your Sinclair referred to jokingly numerous days.

Many noted computer games were ported to the Sam, notably Manic Miner, Prince of Persia, and Lemmings. An unofficial however arcade hone port of Defender surfaced late in the machine's lifespan.

Flash!

Flash player!, an art pack, was a sole fully application bundled by owning each SAM Coupé & following is probably a program better known to SAM owners. Written by Bo Jangeborg, author of the earliest ZX Spectrum program Artist Two, it offered pel editing all told fouroccasionally graphics modes, conversion of graphics from either 1 mode to a second & some basic animation functions.

Merely to a full screen images were supported & the program's independent flaw was an inability to learn from a integrality of an image when working thereon.

a copy altered for utilize by using the mouse was bundled by owning the official mouse addon.

Software houses
Prior to a machine was freed US Gold infamously claimed that "if, as with Strider, we've already produced a games across all common formats, all we have to do is simply take the code from the Speccy version and the graphics from the ST and sort of mix them together. This should take one bloke around two weeks at most."

Despite this, supporting the machine proved hard & exclusively a little total of software program houses stepped forwards, virtually all SAM specific.

Enigma Variations
An early supporter of the SAM, Enigma promulgated SAM versions of Defenders of the Earth, Escape From the Planet of the Golem Monsters, 5 in a Treasure Island (according to Enid Blyton's Famous Five), Klax, Pipemanithe and SAM originals SAM Strikes Out (a Jet Set Willy influenced platformer) and Futureball (the Speedball influenced futuristic sporting title), Spherthe (a mode Deuce vertically scrolling shooter).

Revelation
A software package arm of SAMCo, founded inside 1992 due to the want of trend lines from either mainstream publishing firm, was notable for publishing virtually all of the SAM's better titles.

SAM original titles involved Astroball, Batz 'north' Balls, Legend of Eshan, Sophistication & Wop Gamma.

SAM ports involved Elite (nothing more than a ZX Spectrum 48K version repackaged onto floppy disk), Prince of Persia, Manic Miner, Lemmings and Splat!.

FRED Publishing
Spun remove from either a disk depending magazine, FRED Publishing were comparatively late to a scene however supported the machine hanker when any of the more publishing firm. A jewel in their crown was a SAM conversion of Lemmings (and Oh There are no! Supplementary Lemmings), however it as well published a total of SAM original titles like Boing, Bulgulators, Dyzonium, Football League Manager, Impatience/Triltex, Divergence, Parallax, Waterworks & the Witching Hour.

The SAM Community
Following of a moo sales volume & high proliferation of disk depending magazines, the total of people became swell known amongst the SAM community. These include: František Fuka - programmer and musician David Gommeren - autor of the SAM games Tetris and ''Bats 'n Balls & a bit of demos Colin Macdonald - original editor of FRED! & human behind FRED Publishing Simon Owen - creator of SimCoupe, a SAM Coupé emulator Collin Piggot - Diarrhethe Quazar & has produced a huge total of package & devices for the SAM Nick Roberts - programmer, writer of the SAM column around Crash! Allan Skillman - creator of XCoupe, a prelude to SimCoupe Chris White - coder of SAM ports of Prince of Persia & Lemmings''

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