zlacker

[return to "Building a 24-bit arcade CRT display adapter from scratch"]
1. zahlma+4h[view] [source] 2026-02-04 18:43:04
>>evakho+(OP)
> I like the Raspberry Pi RP2040 a lot. It's relatively cheap (around $1 USD) and has tons of on-board RAM - 264 KB in fact! It also has what is called Programmable IO, or PIO.

I wonder how benchmarks would compare between the RP2040 and, say, a Z80.

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2. burnte+rk[view] [source] 2026-02-04 18:59:02
>>zahlma+4h
It would destroy the Z80. It's a 32bit, dual core CPU running at 133MHz. Even single cored it'll thrash a Z80. Heck, I bet you could create a drop-in replacement board for the Z80 using an RP2040.
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3. ge96+cl[view] [source] 2026-02-04 19:01:33
>>burnte+rk
Crazy what you can buy nowadays like the Teensy 4.0 with 600MHz base clock

Granted that's $20 not $1

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4. fortra+Fo[view] [source] 2026-02-04 19:17:50
>>ge96+cl
The key here is the "PIO" which you won't find on a Teensy. It lets you do extreme "bit banging" tricks including generating video. People have even implemented Ethernet on it. I've used it for some custom serial protocols ("Weigand") used by alarm panels.
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5. ge96+jq[view] [source] 2026-02-04 19:26:30
>>fortra+Fo
Really I guess I don't know what that is then as I buy the Teensy since it has so much IO, multiple UART, multiple I2C busses, sd card reading, etc...

edit: interesting

(Teensy | Pico)

Special Features: CAN Bus (3x), SDIO, S/PDIF | PIO (Programmable I/O) (8 SMs)

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