The console is based on components from the Signetics 2650 series \u2013 Signetics became part of Philips in 1975. The extent to which Interton<\/em> itself was actually involved in the development is a matter of debate. (See: Radofin<\/em> with the 1292 Advanced Programmable Video System<\/em>, which was already available for purchase in 1976) . Technical specifications<\/strong> The games for the VC4000, all of which were developed by Interton itself, were consistently labelled with numbers from 1 to 40 alongside their titles. However, numbers 34, 35 and 39 were never released, meaning that 37 titles were ultimately published. The games often came with stencils for the joysticks, labelled with the functions. The analogue joysticks were self-centring, which was a standout feature at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n The console was sold in numerous versions across Europe \u2013 not only in Germany, but also in the UK, France, Spain, Austria, the Netherlands and Australia, amongst others. Units were produced by a wide variety of companies, such as Grundig, Radofin, Hanimex and Fountain, and were often software-compatible. However, the modules did not fit into units made by other manufacturers \u2013 adapters are now available for some of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The console has four buttons on the front, including the on\/off button and a reset button. This button has a special function: whenever a game is inserted, you must press Reset<\/em> so that the programme code is loaded into the main memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The best games for the Interton VC 4000<\/em> are likely to be Space Invaders<\/em>, Monster Man, Football, War in Space, Cockpit<\/em> and Metropolis\/Hangman<\/em>. The boxes in which the modules were supplied were very large, as was customary at the time \u2013 the instructions were printed on the inside. However, the packaging was quite neatly designed and, above all, really beautifully colourful. The modules had a storage capacity of 2 to 4 kilobytes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The brand Interton<\/em> still exists today \ud83d\ude42 Hearing aids are manufactured under this name.<\/p>\n\n\n Some of the Interton\u2019s features later reappeared on other consoles: Nochmal f\u00fcr alle, die zum ersten Mal ein Interton VC4000<\/em> verwenden, eine kurze Anleitung: For anyone (including myself) who finds the antenna signal a headache, there\u2019s an AV mod that\u2019s very easy to carry out. To do this, you need to carefully open the console (four screws). You then need to loosen the two screws on the module bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Next, the RF modulator is carefully detached from the circuit board, and three cables are soldered to the underside: one for video, one for earth and one for audio. These are then connected to RCA sockets, which are fitted to the rear of the housing:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2013 Connect the video signal to the inner pin of the video RCA socket Pretty much anyone who\u2019s into this hobby should be able to manage it. I can\u2019t recommend it highly enough. The result is truly amazing \u2013 a superb picture!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Anyone who no longer wants to rely on original cartridges now has alternatives: there is an adapter available for the Rolo Dragon\/CoCo Multicart that allows it to be used on the VC4000, and the Classic Computing community has produced its own DIY MultiROM cartridges. This allows you to play your entire games collection without constantly having to swap cartridges \u2013 you can read more about this in my article on the Dragon\/CoCo Multi-Cart<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Incidentally, production of the VC4000 ceased in May 1983 when Interton was forced to file for bankruptcy \u2013 after around five years on the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is the first in a series of identical or almost identical consoles, which were produced under various names by, amongst others, Grundig, Hanimex, Palladium, Schmid, Radofin <\/em>and Emerson<\/em> in Hong Kong and sold mainly in Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
CPU:<\/strong> Signetics 2650A at 0.887 MHz
RAM:<\/strong> 37 bytes, of which 32 bytes were usable \u2013 the rest was reserved for sprites and graphics.
Video:<\/strong> Signetics 2636 Programmable Video Interface (PVI).
Resolution:<\/strong> 128 \u00d7 200 pixels (monochrome).
Sprites:<\/strong> four different monochrome sprites in four different sizes
Colours:<\/strong> the colours of the background image and the sprites could be selected individually from a choice of eight colours. In addition, there was the four-digit dot display.
Audio:<\/strong> a single audio channel (also included in the video processor), which was not, however, modulatable, and a separate module for three sound effects (bang, boom, static).
Input:<\/strong> two detachable controllers with an analogue, self-centring joystick and 14 buttons.
Output:<\/strong> In addition to the graphics, a large score display in BCD format was shown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Interton](\"https:\/\/www.jungsi.de\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/interton-vc4000-rueckseite-300x225.jpg\")
![\"Interton](\"https:\/\/www.jungsi.de\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/interton-vc4000-platine.jpg\")
\u2013 Game numbering: Videopac
\u2013 Analogue, self-centring joysticks: Vectrex
\u2013 Joysticks with function buttons: Colecovision, Intellivision, Jaguar
\u2013 Joystick templates: Jaguar<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. Konsole an den Strom anstecken und Fernseher einschalten
2. Modul einstecken
3. Ein-\/Aus-Schalter auf Position „Ein“ (nach rechts schieben)
4. die Taste neben dem Ein-\/Aus-Schalter dr\u00fccken
5. Kanal am Fernseher suchen, wenn noch nicht geschehen
6. Start dr\u00fccken
7. andere Spielvarianten auf der gleichen Kassette werden mit der Pfeiltaste ausgew\u00e4hlt (Pfeil nach rechts)<\/p>\n\n\n![\"Interton](\"https:\/\/www.jungsi.de\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/interton-vc4000-19-krieg-im-weltraum-225x300.jpg\")
\u2013 Connect the audio signal to the inner pin of one audio RCA socket and, from there, run a second cable to the inner pin of the second audio RCA socket
\u2013 Connect the earth to the outer pin of one RCA socket and, from there, connect it in series to the other RCA sockets<\/p>\n\n\n\n