<s>
The	O
Cromemco	B-Device
Dazzler	I-Device
was	O
a	O
graphics	B-Device
card	I-Device
for	O
S-100	B-Architecture
bus	I-Architecture
computers	O
introduced	O
in	O
a	O
Popular	O
Electronics	O
cover	O
story	O
in	O
1976	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
the	O
first	O
color	O
graphics	B-Device
card	I-Device
available	O
for	O
microcomputers	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Dazzler	O
came	O
about	O
in	O
a	O
roundabout	O
fashion	O
after	O
Les	O
Solomon	O
,	O
Technical	O
Editor	O
for	O
Popular	O
Electronics	O
magazine	O
,	O
demonstrated	O
the	O
original	O
Altair	B-Architecture
8800	I-Architecture
to	O
Roger	O
Melen	O
of	O
Stanford	O
University	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
two	O
built	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
add-ons	O
for	O
the	O
machine	O
,	O
collaborating	O
with	O
Terry	O
Walker	O
on	O
the	O
design	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
digital	O
camera	O
called	O
the	O
Cyclops	B-Algorithm
and	O
then	O
moving	O
on	O
to	O
the	O
Dazzler	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
many	O
early	O
microcomputer	B-Architecture
projects	O
of	O
the	O
era	O
,	O
the	O
Dazzler	O
was	O
originally	O
announced	O
as	O
a	O
self-built	O
kit	O
in	O
Popular	O
Electronics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
Federico	O
Faggin	O
's	O
new	O
company	O
-	O
Zilog	O
-	O
introduced	O
the	O
Z80	B-General_Concept
,	O
Cromemco	O
branched	O
out	O
into	O
their	O
own	O
line	O
of	O
Z80-based	O
S-100	O
compatible	O
computers	O
almost	O
immediately	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Combinations	O
of	O
their	O
rackmount	B-Application
machines	O
and	O
the	O
Dazzler	O
formed	O
the	O
basis	O
of	O
ColorGraphics	O
Weather	O
Systems	O
(	O
CWS	O
)	O
product	O
line	O
into	O
the	O
late	O
1980s	O
,	O
and	O
when	O
CWS	O
was	O
purchased	O
by	O
Dynatech	O
in	O
1987	O
,	O
Dynatech	O
also	O
purchased	O
Cromemco	O
to	O
supply	O
them	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Over	O
time	O
,	O
Cromemco	O
introduced	O
additional	O
software	O
for	O
the	O
Dazzler	O
,	O
at	O
first	O
on	O
paper	O
tape	O
and	O
later	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
,	O
including	O
Spacewar	B-Application
!	I-Application
</s>
<s>
The	O
Dazzler	O
lacked	O
its	O
own	O
frame	B-Algorithm
buffer	I-Algorithm
,	O
accessing	O
the	O
host	O
machine	O
's	O
main	O
memory	O
using	O
a	O
custom	O
DMA	B-General_Concept
controller	I-General_Concept
that	O
provided	O
1Mbit/s	O
throughput	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
card	O
read	O
data	O
from	O
the	O
computer	O
at	O
speeds	O
that	O
demanded	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
SRAM	B-Architecture
memory	O
,	O
as	O
opposed	O
to	O
lower	O
cost	O
DRAMs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Control	O
signals	O
and	O
setup	O
was	O
sent	O
and	O
received	O
using	O
the	O
S-100	B-Architecture
bus	I-Architecture
's	O
input/output	O
"	O
ports	O
"	O
,	O
normally	O
mapped	O
to	O
0E	O
and	O
0F	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
0E	O
contained	O
an	O
8-bit	O
address	O
pointing	O
to	O
the	O
base	O
of	O
the	O
frame	B-Algorithm
buffer	I-Algorithm
in	O
main	O
memory	O
,	O
while	O
0F	O
was	O
a	O
bit-mapped	O
control	O
register	O
with	O
various	O
setup	O
information	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
selected	O
the	O
size	O
of	O
the	O
frame	B-Algorithm
buffer	I-Algorithm
,	O
either	O
512bytes	O
or	O
2kB	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
other	O
selected	O
normal	O
or	O
"	O
X4	O
"	O
mode	O
,	O
the	O
former	O
using	O
4-bit	O
nybbles	O
packed	O
2	O
to	O
a	O
byte	O
in	O
the	O
frame	B-Algorithm
buffer	I-Algorithm
to	O
produce	O
an	O
8-color	O
image	O
,	O
or	O
the	O
latter	O
which	O
was	O
a	O
higher	O
resolution	O
monochrome	O
mode	O
using	O
1-bits	O
per	O
pixel	O
,	O
8	O
to	O
a	O
byte	O
.	O
</s>
