Sharp Computer Hardware manuals
X1, sometimes called Sharp X1, is a series of home computers released by Sharp Corporation from 1982 to 1988 it was based on the Z80 CPU.
Despite the fact that the Computer Division of Sharp Corporation has released the MZ series, unexpectedly the Television Division has released a new computer series called X1. At a time when the original X1 was released, all other home computers usually had a BASIC-language in ROM. However, X1 did not have BASIC ROM, and it had to load the Hu-BASIC interpreter from the cassette tape. However, on the other hand, this concept meant that a free RAM area was available, as far as possible, if not using BASIC. This policy was originally copied from the Sharp MZ series, and they were called clean computers in Japan. The shape of the case X1 was also much more stylish than others at the time, and the range of colors in the cabinet (including red) was chosen.
The RGB display monitor for X1 had a TV tuner, and a super-screen could be superimposed on the TV screen. All the functions of the TV could be controlled from a computer program. The character font was fully programmable (AKA PCG) with 4-bit color, and it was effectively used in many games. All VRAM memory was mapped to the I / O area, so it was monitored without changing the bank. Since X1 had these functions, it was very powerful for gaming software.
Home screen Sharp X1 Hu-BASIC