Here is the comprehensive preview of the ZX-HD interface for any ZX Spectrum model. Feedback is very welcome, so ask me anything - here, on Facebook ( BenVersteegTech) or at ByteDelight.com.
Mine arrived today from the Netherlands - what an amazing piece of hardware ! I put it into my HDMI display and the picture is PERFECT ! Also i can can confirm this with the Interface 1Bis - i feel have the ultimate zx spectrum ! thank you so much for this great output card !
Increíble trabajo. Todavía tengo mi Spectrum 48k plus, tras cambiarla por la spectrum 48k con teclas de goma, que operé durante 1985. Impresionante verlas tan bien cuidadas en tu taller, me recuerda cómo tenía la mía en las mismas condiciones, a pesar de haberla comprada usada. Todavía tengo también las Microhhoby semanal de dónde sacaba los listados de programas para practicar. Muy hermosos recuerdos y al ver la posibilidad de operar en HD hasta me dan ganas de agarrarla de vuelta. Felicitaciones por tu logro. Muy mpresionate!!
Thanks! And that was even the old workplace - I had it reconstructed at the beginning of this year, since I'm doing ByteDelight now fulltime. The ZX-HD does really well, people really like it, and there are plans for firmware updates!
Unfortunately not, the ZX81 architecture is quite different. However Paul Farrow designed Chrome for the ZX81, which offers the best video output - even in colour!
The product seems to selll priced as high as a spectrum costs these days. Maybe worth it if it had HDMI output also it would then make a spectrum fully working again
Please calculate for yourself what the price should be when you count parts costs, the case and the time needed with that - profit is not that much, and I do this for a living now.
i know this is going to come across as a stupid suggestion - the currah micro speech interface had a 3.5mm mono jack that plugged into the ear socket on the back of the spectrum - in this way it could send the audio output to the tv sound - could this be adapted for the hdmi interface please?
This is absolutely fantastic, and is the beginning of what I wanted to explore with Piotr Bugaj. Looks like you fellas are the ones to contact. So, could you add a connection between the RasPI's GPIO TO this device, and enable via firmware, the ability to use a (wireless) USB keyboard, or a USB gamepad plugged into the RasPI's USB port? I'd like to use a keyboard and mouse at a distance from the unit - so it can sit by the display, whilst I sit at the back of the room. This would also allow the use of the Recreated ZX Spectrum keyboard as a remote keyboard for a real Spectrum. Cheers!
I was thinking of something related. I'm building a generic Z80 board (just as a retro project), but my biggest issue was getting a decent VGA output. Most of the bodges involve a Prop or PIC32 with internal RAM, but what I really need is an area of external dual port RAM I can write to over an 8 bit bus. Now the Rasp Pi only has the usual interfaces which I guess are too slow for video, but it does have a fast camera bus (?), but I'm not sure how this this hardware works.. Could you describe how your system works please?
You don't have to solder in a header for the GPIO any more, just buy the pimoroni hammer header kit. You might want to just leave the pi zero in place, but considering they are cheap I don't see a problem.
I would do anything to own one of these. If anybody has decided to sell theirs, I'm all ears. :-) I'm super jealous of everybody who got one. I'm a massive ZX81 fan, it is my favourite computer of all time. You could draw the CPU on an A4 page. Perfect for a 10 y.o.
Moetje alleen de uitbreingspoort ervoor te modden of hoef je 100% niets om te bauwen? Kan ikook via de rf uitgang profiteren vande extra kleuren of werkt dat alleen via deze hdmi adaptor?? Dankjewel.
Er hoeft niets gemod te worden: wanneer je de ZX-HD aansluit op een willekeurige ZX Spectrum, zou het meteen moeten werken. Mits de edge connector schoon is (soms moet die gereinigd worden met wat IPA alcohol en wattenstaafje). De extra kleuren worden alleen op de HDMI uitgang weergegeven, niet 'terug de ZX Spectrum in', en dan via de antenne uitgang / composiet video (RCA) of RGB aansluiting.
Imre Jakli, who developed the Raspberry Pi firmware for the ZX-HD, and I, are not sure if it's possible to properly add audio, since the ZX-HD has just a single core SOC which is already running at its limits - that is because we wanted it to be in sync with the ZX Spectrum ULA. Actually I hope there will be a dual-core Pi Zero, which will open more possibilities. I am also looking for alternative solutions, but it takes time.
Not with the single-core Raspberry Pi Zero. If we would implement extra features like you describe, it would cause problems staying in sync with the ZX Spectrum ULA. We ARE though working on sound over HDMI, but the core is already running at about 95% of its capacity, so it's not easy.
Thank you for the reply, I thought that might be the case, still pretty cool :) I've been thinking about turning an RPi into kind of a built-in server that could actually fit inside a Sharp MZ-800, providing storage, USB and network connectivity, and perhaps some more on top of that. BTW I'm curious if the software on the ZX-HD runs on Linux or if it's all bare metal ...
It's bare metal - it would take way too much time to boot through Linux, and as it's at about max of bare metal performance, Linux would ruin that. Most of the work is programming, not the hardware. I'm no expert myself - I did this with someone that knows the Raspbarry Pi a lot more than I do; check out zx-hd.bytedelight.com for more info!
Wat verdomde handig! Kwam deze video net via- via tegen. Ideaal om m'n ZX Spectrum 128K die ik sinds een paar dagen weer in m'n bezit heb, op m'n AV receiver met HDMI aan te sluiten. Het zou wel helemaal tof zijn, als er een model komt dat ook audio over HDMI weergeeft. Ik ga jullie volgen!
ByteDelight Ik heb inmiddels je site en je FB doorgespit en ik zag dat als ik een ZX-AY én een speciale kabelset heb, het al wel mogelijk is? (maar een all-in-one mogelijkheid is natuurlijk nóg fijner. Dus ik wacht met spanning af. (klopt het trouwens dat ik op de site prijzen in ponden zie en via eBay prijzen in euro's (die duurder zijn)?
Het ligt een beetje aan de TV die je gebruikt: sommige kun je configureren dat ze analoge audio weergeven bij het tonen van een HDMI ingang, maar niet altijd. Je kunt natuurlijk altijd een speakerset aansluiten of een versterker. Ik heb speakersetjes in de webshop eventueel. De prijzen zijn in Ponden omdat ik 90% naar the UK verkoop. Paypal rekent het automatisch om met de op dat moment geldende koers.
Soon I hope, but he refused my offer for testing out some free brand new ZX Spectrum add-ons, so not sure if he will ;) Вскоре я надеюсь, но он отказался от моего предложения по тестированию некоторых новых бесплатных дополнений ZX Spectrum, так что не уверен, что так и будет;)
I am very satisfied with it. Best thing I ever bought for my Spectrum. Woould be even better if it also supported sound over HDMI. Maybe a future version can do it? Would be even better if there would a combined solutions. So HDMI output, Joystick interface and SD card interface in one module. That's the only thing I don't like about my spectrum. My spectrum has three modules in the back. The joystick interface, the SD card solution and the HDMI solution. The stuff on the back of my spectrum is almost the same size as the spectrum itself. The Spectrum Next would be the best solution for that, but at the moment of writing they aren't produced anymore.
For those who love the original hardware, I am continuing to develop and produce new interfaces. A combined interface is under development, but mainly because it's so incredibly busy right now, that will take some months.
@@aldob5681 It seems this thing scans for video Ram and reads it instead of ULA. Yes - processing is done by CPU, but some rare glitches and effects might become unavailable due to different processing.
Mine arrived today from the Netherlands - what an amazing piece of hardware ! I put it into my HDMI display and the picture is PERFECT ! Also i can can confirm this with the Interface 1Bis - i feel have the ultimate zx spectrum ! thank you so much for this great output card !
Increíble trabajo. Todavía tengo mi Spectrum 48k plus, tras cambiarla por la spectrum 48k con teclas de goma, que operé durante 1985. Impresionante verlas tan bien cuidadas en tu taller, me recuerda cómo tenía la mía en las mismas condiciones, a pesar de haberla comprada usada. Todavía tengo también las Microhhoby semanal de dónde sacaba los listados de programas para practicar. Muy hermosos recuerdos y al ver la posibilidad de operar en HD hasta me dan ganas de agarrarla de vuelta. Felicitaciones por tu logro. Muy mpresionate!!
Thanks! And that was even the old workplace - I had it reconstructed at the beginning of this year, since I'm doing ByteDelight now fulltime.
The ZX-HD does really well, people really like it, and there are plans for firmware updates!
Grand grand grand grandson of an Acorn machine helping a Sinclair machine ... how cute ! ;-)
The what now? Very nice thing, although I initially expected it to be a hard drive controller. 🙂
Really looking forward to getting one of these!
Nice video Ben, als the intro.
This ZX-HD looks really great.
Nice bit of kit. Personally though I did the very simple composit mod to bypass the RF modulator and the picture quality is excellent on my LED TV.
Great work Ben, I'm really happy to hear about this :)
Will it work on a zx81?
Unfortunately not, the ZX81 architecture is quite different. However Paul Farrow designed Chrome for the ZX81, which offers the best video output - even in colour!
Fantastic! Is there any option to add scanlines -because of the upscaling that tends to look nice.
What about ZX HD and ULA plus on a single board ?
The product seems to selll priced as high as a spectrum costs these days. Maybe worth it if it had HDMI output also it would then make a spectrum fully working again
Please calculate for yourself what the price should be when you count parts costs, the case and the time needed with that - profit is not that much, and I do this for a living now.
@@ByteDelight mm sure.. i am on the look out for a cheap zxspectrum to make up for it. I might code some new software for it again.
More CPU power in that HDMI interface than the actual Speccy. You could emulate the spectrum on the Pi... :)
Retro fit the pi in the zx case c
all it zxpi eh
What a clever piece of hardware !
Awesome. Anxious to get one!
i know this is going to come across as a stupid suggestion - the currah micro speech interface had a 3.5mm mono jack that plugged into the ear socket on the back of the spectrum - in this way it could send the audio output to the tv sound - could this be adapted for the hdmi interface please?
This is absolutely fantastic, and is the beginning of what I wanted to explore with Piotr Bugaj. Looks like you fellas are the ones to contact.
So, could you add a connection between the RasPI's GPIO TO this device, and enable via firmware, the ability to use a (wireless) USB keyboard, or a USB gamepad plugged into the RasPI's USB port?
I'd like to use a keyboard and mouse at a distance from the unit - so it can sit by the display, whilst I sit at the back of the room.
This would also allow the use of the Recreated ZX Spectrum keyboard as a remote keyboard for a real Spectrum.
Cheers!
Very nice video, RGB is good but HDMI is a must, How much I wander?
wow! how many speccy models do you have?
All ;)
@@ByteDelight badass is you! Respect :-)
Same here. I have all. Also several QLs and ZX80 & ZX81. 😎
@@mikeymcmikeface5599 a real Sinclair pro :-)
exciting stuff! well done.
Great job, Ben! Would love to see a similar version with actual RCA output in NTSC, so I can hook up a 48k to my North American, NTSC TV! :o(.
Amazing Ben!
Very good ! Already have an DivMMC, expect to have ZX-HD soon -:)
What about ZX +2A/B and ZX+3 compatibility ?
I was thinking of something related. I'm building a generic Z80 board (just as a retro project), but my biggest issue was getting a decent VGA output. Most of the bodges involve a Prop or PIC32 with internal RAM, but what I really need is an area of external dual port RAM I can write to over an 8 bit bus.
Now the Rasp Pi only has the usual interfaces which I guess are too slow for video, but it does have a fast camera bus (?), but I'm not sure how this this hardware works..
Could you describe how your system works please?
You don't have to solder in a header for the GPIO any more, just buy the pimoroni hammer header kit. You might want to just leave the pi zero in place, but considering they are cheap I don't see a problem.
Very cool!
great
I would do anything to own one of these. If anybody has decided to sell theirs, I'm all ears. :-) I'm super jealous of everybody who got one. I'm a massive ZX81 fan, it is my favourite computer of all time. You could draw the CPU on an A4 page. Perfect for a 10 y.o.
They are available in the webshop ;) www.bytedelight.com/?product_cat=videoaudio
Sorry for my delayed response.
Moetje alleen de uitbreingspoort ervoor te modden of hoef je 100% niets om te bauwen?
Kan ikook via de rf uitgang profiteren vande extra kleuren of werkt dat alleen via deze hdmi adaptor??
Dankjewel.
Er hoeft niets gemod te worden: wanneer je de ZX-HD aansluit op een willekeurige ZX Spectrum, zou het meteen moeten werken. Mits de edge connector schoon is (soms moet die gereinigd worden met wat IPA alcohol en wattenstaafje).
De extra kleuren worden alleen op de HDMI uitgang weergegeven, niet 'terug de ZX Spectrum in', en dan via de antenne uitgang / composiet video (RCA) of RGB aansluiting.
And what about sound from HDMI?
Imre Jakli, who developed the Raspberry Pi firmware for the ZX-HD, and I, are not sure if it's possible to properly add audio, since the ZX-HD has just a single core SOC which is already running at its limits - that is because we wanted it to be in sync with the ZX Spectrum ULA.
Actually I hope there will be a dual-core Pi Zero, which will open more possibilities.
I am also looking for alternative solutions, but it takes time.
Can the RPi handle anything else on top of the HDMI stuff, such as providing a USB storage or WiFi network access for the Speccy?
Not with the single-core Raspberry Pi Zero.
If we would implement extra features like you describe, it would cause problems staying in sync with the ZX Spectrum ULA.
We ARE though working on sound over HDMI, but the core is already running at about 95% of its capacity, so it's not easy.
Thank you for the reply, I thought that might be the case, still pretty cool :) I've been thinking about turning an RPi into kind of a built-in server that could actually fit inside a Sharp MZ-800, providing storage, USB and network connectivity, and perhaps some more on top of that.
BTW I'm curious if the software on the ZX-HD runs on Linux or if it's all bare metal ...
It's bare metal - it would take way too much time to boot through Linux, and as it's at about max of bare metal performance, Linux would ruin that.
Most of the work is programming, not the hardware. I'm no expert myself - I did this with someone that knows the Raspbarry Pi a lot more than I do; check out zx-hd.bytedelight.com for more info!
Wat verdomde handig! Kwam deze video net via- via tegen. Ideaal om m'n ZX Spectrum 128K die ik sinds een paar dagen weer in m'n bezit heb, op m'n AV receiver met HDMI aan te sluiten. Het zou wel helemaal tof zijn, als er een model komt dat ook audio over HDMI weergeeft. Ik ga jullie volgen!
Thansk! Audio gaat nog niet over HDMI, daar zijn we nog mee bezig. Maar het beeld is haarscherp!
ByteDelight Ik heb inmiddels je site en je FB doorgespit en ik zag dat als ik een ZX-AY én een speciale kabelset heb, het al wel mogelijk is? (maar een all-in-one mogelijkheid is natuurlijk nóg fijner. Dus ik wacht met spanning af. (klopt het trouwens dat ik op de site prijzen in ponden zie en via eBay prijzen in euro's (die duurder zijn)?
Het ligt een beetje aan de TV die je gebruikt: sommige kun je configureren dat ze analoge audio weergeven bij het tonen van een HDMI ingang, maar niet altijd.
Je kunt natuurlijk altijd een speakerset aansluiten of een versterker. Ik heb speakersetjes in de webshop eventueel.
De prijzen zijn in Ponden omdat ik 90% naar the UK verkoop. Paypal rekent het automatisch om met de op dat moment geldende koers.
Ты крут, мужик. (Когда же "the 8-bit guy" сделает о тебе репортаж ? :))
Soon I hope, but he refused my offer for testing out some free brand new ZX Spectrum add-ons, so not sure if he will ;)
Вскоре я надеюсь, но он отказался от моего предложения по тестированию некоторых новых бесплатных дополнений ZX Spectrum, так что не уверен, что так и будет;)
Has anyone tried this with a TS2068 & twisterboard with Spectrum ROM?
NTSC support would be nice if thats possible
I am very satisfied with it. Best thing I ever bought for my Spectrum. Woould be even better if it also supported sound over HDMI. Maybe a future version can do it?
Would be even better if there would a combined solutions. So HDMI output, Joystick interface and SD card interface in one module. That's the only thing I don't like about my spectrum. My spectrum has three modules in the back. The joystick interface, the SD card solution and the HDMI solution. The stuff on the back of my spectrum is almost the same size as the spectrum itself.
The Spectrum Next would be the best solution for that, but at the moment of writing they aren't produced anymore.
For those who love the original hardware, I am continuing to develop and produce new interfaces.
A combined interface is under development, but mainly because it's so incredibly busy right now, that will take some months.
@@ByteDelight No rush Ben. Quality takes time. I can wait :-) Combined interface is great! But how about sound over HDMI? Is that possible too?
@@Patrick-sp6zu Probably not with the single core Raspberry Pi Zero.
WOW! Greaaat!!!!
Not clear if you are using the zx cpu or only the keyboard
It's an original ZX Spectrum
ByteDelight But The code run in The zx cpu?
Yes, the ZX Spectrum works as usual, but the ZX-HD 'listens' to the video changes and creates the HDMI output.
@@aldob5681
It seems this thing scans for video Ram and reads it instead of ULA.
Yes - processing is done by CPU, but some rare glitches and effects might become unavailable due to different processing.
1:56 the bootscreen of the rasberry who powers the zx hd
Seems to be a joke or what? HEhehe
Where do I buy it?
zx-hd.bytedelight.com
stop interrupting rates on ebay
I seem to get better picture with OSSC.
But buying OSSC makes sense only if you have a whole bunch of different retro hardware lying about.
and only 15 colors)