<s>
The	O
Datamax	B-Device
UV-1	I-Device
is	O
a	O
pioneering	O
computer	O
designed	O
by	O
a	O
group	O
of	O
computer	O
graphics	O
artists	O
working	O
at	O
the	O
University	O
of	O
Illinois	O
at	O
Chicago	O
,	O
known	O
as	O
the	O
Circle	O
Graphics	O
Habitat	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
primarily	O
the	O
brainchild	O
of	O
Tom	O
DeFanti	O
,	O
who	O
was	O
trying	O
to	O
build	O
a	O
machine	O
capable	O
of	O
running	O
his	O
GRASS	B-Language
programming	I-Language
language	I-Language
at	O
a	O
personal	O
computer	O
price	O
point	O
,	O
a	O
project	O
they	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
the	O
Z-Box	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
represents	O
what	O
seems	O
to	O
be	O
the	O
first	O
dedicated	O
graphics	O
workstation	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
intended	O
to	O
use	O
it	O
in	O
most	O
of	O
their	O
future	O
arcade	O
games	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
a	O
console	B-Device
they	O
were	O
working	O
on	O
which	O
would	O
later	O
turn	O
into	O
the	O
Astrocade	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
idea	O
was	O
to	O
build	O
an	O
external	O
box	O
that	O
would	O
be	O
used	O
with	O
the	O
existing	O
console	B-Device
to	O
turn	O
it	O
into	O
a	O
"	O
real	O
"	O
computer	O
,	O
a	O
system	O
known	O
as	O
the	O
ZGRASS-100	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Also	O
included	O
would	O
be	O
a	O
new	O
version	O
of	O
GRASS3	O
,	O
known	O
as	O
Zgrass	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
mode	O
required	O
16	O
KB	O
for	O
the	O
display	O
buffer	O
alone	O
,	O
so	O
the	O
machine	O
included	O
32	O
KB	O
RAM	B-Architecture
and	O
a	O
larger	O
16	O
KB	O
ROM	O
with	O
additional	O
Zgrass	B-Language
commands	O
in	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
this	O
basic	O
system	O
the	O
Habitat	O
added	O
high	O
quality	O
video	O
output	O
circuitry	O
and	O
a	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
interface	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
that	O
seems	O
to	O
suggest	O
that	O
the	O
ZGRASS-100	O
was	O
already	O
"	O
dead	O
"	O
,	O
and	O
that	O
the	O
UV-1	O
was	O
intended	O
to	O
be	O
used	O
for	O
high-quality	O
video	O
output	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ad	O
copy	O
from	O
the	O
same	O
era	O
suggests	O
that	O
Bally	O
intended	O
to	O
sell	O
the	O
UV-1	O
as	O
a	O
home	O
computer	O
,	O
competing	O
directly	O
with	O
the	O
Apple	B-Device
II	I-Device
and	O
similar	O
machines	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
makes	O
the	O
ZGRASS-100	O
somewhat	O
unnecessary	O
,	O
so	O
whether	O
or	O
not	O
Bally	O
intended	O
to	O
offer	O
both	O
remains	O
a	O
mystery	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Either	O
way	O
,	O
in	O
1980	O
Bally	O
decided	O
to	O
exit	O
the	O
industry	O
altogether	O
,	O
dropping	O
both	O
Z-Box	O
projects	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
Astrocade	B-Device
too	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
version	O
was	O
mounted	O
in	O
a	O
rack	B-Application
mount	I-Application
case	O
(	O
thus	O
the	O
R	O
)	O
with	O
considerably	O
more	O
RAM	B-Architecture
and	O
a	O
32	O
KB	O
ROM	O
which	O
contained	O
the	O
parts	O
of	O
CP/M	B-Application
that	O
were	O
needed	O
to	O
boot	O
the	O
machine	O
,	O
so	O
a	O
disk	O
was	O
no	O
longer	O
required	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Much	O
of	O
the	O
additional	O
RAM	B-Architecture
,	O
up	O
to	O
256	O
KB	O
of	O
it	O
,	O
was	O
dedicated	O
as	O
a	O
RAM	B-Application
disk	I-Application
so	O
the	O
machines	O
could	O
be	O
installed	O
and	O
left	O
running	O
for	O
years	O
a	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
would	O
burn	O
out	O
very	O
quickly	O
in	O
this	O
role	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
additional	O
RAM	B-Architecture
was	O
not	O
normally	O
visible	O
to	O
the	O
Z80	B-General_Concept
or	O
the	O
display	O
hardware	O
,	O
but	O
a	O
new	O
memory	O
controller	O
could	O
switch	O
in	O
blocks	O
of	O
it	O
so	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
screens	O
could	O
be	O
cached	B-General_Concept
if	O
the	O
disk	O
needs	O
were	O
not	O
that	O
large	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
Midway	O
had	O
already	O
given	O
up	O
on	O
the	O
Astrocade	B-Device
,	O
they	O
later	O
sold	O
the	O
rights	O
to	O
the	O
design	O
to	O
a	O
3rd	O
party	O
,	O
Astrovision	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
time	O
in	O
the	O
mid-1980s	O
Astrovision	B-Device
decided	O
to	O
release	O
the	O
original	O
"	O
add-under	O
"	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
hardware	O
,	O
now	O
known	O
as	O
the	O
ZGRASS-32	O
.	O
</s>
