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The storage tube display allowed the screen to retain images drawn to it, eliminating the need for frame-buffer memory. This allowed the resolution to be as high as the hardware could handle, which was ostensibly 1024 by 1024 but limited by the physical layout of the screen to 1024 by 780. It also allowed the machine to dedicate all of its memory to the programs running on it, as opposed to partitioning off a section for the buffer. | The storage tube display allowed the screen to retain images drawn to it, eliminating the need for frame-buffer memory. This allowed the resolution to be as high as the hardware could handle, which was ostensibly 1024 by 1024 but limited by the physical layout of the screen to 1024 by 780. It also allowed the machine to dedicate all of its memory to the programs running on it, as opposed to partitioning off a section for the buffer. | ||
The 4051 was based on an 8-bit [ | The 4051 was based on an 8-bit [[Motorola 6800]] CPU running at 1 MHz, and normally shipped with 8 kB of RAM expandable to 32 kB using 8 kB modules. | ||
The remaining 32 kB of address space was reserved for ROM, which could be expanded using one or two external ROM cartridges of 8 kB each. It included six character sets in ROM and an extended dialect of BASIC that included various vector drawing commands. | The remaining 32 kB of address space was reserved for ROM, which could be expanded using one or two external ROM cartridges of 8 kB each. It included six character sets in ROM and an extended dialect of BASIC that included various vector drawing commands. | ||