In case you didn't know, the Color Computer is a classic 8/16-bit personal home computer from Tandy Corp./Radio Shack. The particular model I'm using (CoCo 3) was released in 1986. (As a kid I always wanted a CoCo 3, but I was stuck with a 16KB CoCo 2 and by the time I could afford to upgrade I had moved on to the PC.)
This is using a 2x2 ordered dither matrix, zoomed by 2x horizontally (displayed as 256x128), using composite out as a sort of inherent low pass filter. The BASIC program currently sets the graphics mode, programs the grayscale palette, and then jumps into the C code's _start function:
10 CLEAR12,9984
20 LOADM"TEST.BIN
30 HSCREEN4
40 PALETTE0,0
50 PALETTE1,16
60 PALETTE2,32
70 PALETTE3,48
80 EXEC9991
The C code (compiled using gcc6809 under Linux) disables interrupts, maps the graphics pages into the ROM area (starting at 0x8000, ending at 0xFEFF or thereabouts) using the MMU0 registers, then decodes the ~4KB JPEG and plots the pixels as each JPEG MCU block is decoded. It currently takes about 45 seconds to decode the 128x128 image, which beats the PIC18F microcontroller I was using a few years ago to originally test this code (that thing would take 10-20 minutes!).
Everything is completely unoptimized - I'm just glad to get it working at all. Using a CoCo to prototype/test this kind of stuff is actually much nicer overall than working on a tiny microcontroller. The CoCo community has compiled a large suite of documentation over the years, and there's a very nice set of tools available. Not to mention I've got built-in (albeit limited) graphics, 128KB of RAM, a 6-bit DAC for sound output, and various forms of input. The 6809 is a surprisingly powerful 8/16-bit CPU to work on - if you push it right.
This poor 1986 CoCo3 has seen better days (the case is an all-yellow wreck). I need to find a machine in better shape:
Zoomed in further, with a 4x4 dither matrix:
How about a link to the bin file?
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