Gabriel Computer Othello

Dan · Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2007 8:41 am Post subject: Gabriel Computer Othello

Is 1984 too new for the museum?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290090451197

Rik · Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2007 9:25 am Post subject:

That looks kind of like a Tsukuda maybe... Let me know if there's another manufacturer on it when you get it...

Dan · Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 12:10 pm Post subject:

Well, it's got no other manufacturers anywhere on the box, game or paperwork, and the game even states Made in U.S.A.

I suppose the guts could still be Tsukuda, but it's got weird screws so I couldn't pop it open quickly...

Rik · Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 1:51 pm Post subject:

Hmm, funny screws... Maybe it's a Bandai, they love weird screws... I just know it looks really familiar, like I've seen it before.

Does it really take 4 C batteries? Is there a model # on it? (I just need information! Cool

)

slydc · Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2011 1:02 am Post subject:

I've received today a Gabriel Industries Computer Othello (no box and no
manual). I had to open it up since the screen had snapped out on a side.
Think somebody dropped it, so when i tried to open up, there were x4 damn
weird screws. Just to say they were bitchy to unscrew them with only small
screwdrivers but after 5 minutes...success!

What i thought exactly, the screen was held in place by x4 small plastic
snaps and two were unsnapped. But before i even tried to open up, everything
works but the LCD screen remains blank. I can hear the sounds when
selecting a level and positioning a flip-chip. Anyhow, i tried to repair the
LCD screen but seems to stay dead. Sad

As for the information, it is made by Gabriel Industries
Copyright 1980, A division of CBS Inc. and made in U.S.A.

Inside it, the keypad is made by Texas Instruments Incorporated, Made
in U.S.A. The 1st CPU is a P31549/R1031-11 and the second CPU is a
Philips HLCD0541P (an LCD driver) and both have 40-pins.

I did a little research about Gabriel Industries, and here's a small part
of a text: In 1975, the international licensing company Becker founded,
Anjar Co., licensed Othello to Gabriel Industries for the U.S. market and,
subsequently, throughout the world.

And for a review made by CREATIVE COMPUTING VIDEO & ARCADE GAMES VOL. 1, NO. 2, check this page:

http://www.atarimagazines.com/cva/v1n2/othello.php

If someone needs some pictures of the handheld and the guts of it,
let me know. If i can't repair it, i'll either sell it or trade it for parts since
the the program is still intact, just the LCD is not responding.

--- Sly DC ---

Rik · Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2011 1:38 am Post subject:

Post up some pics of the game (and the inside of it, especially where the LCD is attached). If it's not physically broken, you should probably be able to make it display something...

Keep in mind LCDs need two polarizing filters to be visible- one on top and one on the bottom. Usually clear (or very slightly smoke-colored) sheets of plastic. If either of these are missing, you won't be able to see the LCD. (These can, occasionally, be stuck directly to the LCD glass. But usually they are loose pieces of plastic.) It may not display correctly (i.e., 'LCD rot' like Microvision gets all the time), but to have one not do anything is actually fairly difficult to achieve...

slydc · Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 5:54 pm Post subject:

Ok, i finally took some pictures of the handheld and especially the guts
of it. Nothing looks broken or whatever. Tried to clean the contacts and still
the LCD screen is blanked. The screen has the polarizing filters glued to the
LCD so since i have tried to repair it and still nothing is displayed, i don't
know what to do. I will try another time to see if i did something wrong.

Anyhow, now it's guttering time!! (lol!)

And here's a link to a RAR file containing all the pictures in full
size: http://www.ccjvq.com/slydc/othello/othello-pics.rar

--- Sly DC ---

Rik · Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 10:51 pm Post subject:

You know, if I didn't know better, I'd swear I was looking at a hacked up Microvision... It's not the exact same board, but it _really_ looks like one... Even the display, 8x8? Microvision is a 16x16 display, so all they have to use groups of 4 squares on the Othello game... And looking at the size of the contacts for the LCD, that's exactly what they are doing...

And, now that I see the LCD, I suspect a similar problem with this game that Microvision has- LCD rot. My guess is that when the game is off, the screen should blank (gray-silver in color, not black). The fact that it's all black makes me think the LCD has degraded just like Microvision displays do sometimes (turning completely black and unusable.)

Looking at the LCD again... It's got contacts on two sides, doesn't it? Is the viewable area about 1.5 inches square? I'd almost bet money you could take an LCD from a Microvision and slap it in there...

The date codes on the chips confirm 1980 as well...

It really looks like someone reverse-engineered the uV, designed it play this one game and just built a stand-alone unit... Have you been able to find datasheets or pinouts for the chips? I hate trying to google a chip number, it's just pointless... Smile

Rik

Rik · Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 11:00 pm Post subject:

Ooooooooooooooooooo

I'm liking this:

http://www.partminer.com/part-specification/HLCD0541P

It's not a Philips chip, it's a Hughes chip... Hughes LCD driver (HLCD)...

The driver chip in a Microvision is a custom chip developed for Milton Bradley by...
Hughes!
Developed in 1979 (or prior) for use in the uV, this is a 1980 chip that I believe Hughes started selling. May not be exactly the same, but I bet it's very similar...

slydc · Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2011 4:05 pm Post subject:

Hi Rik,

Thanks for checking out what is the problem with the Gabriel Computer
Othello, i greatly appreciate this! Smile

Indeed, the board is somehow like an Microvision board. The Gabriel
display is 8x8, unlike the 16x16 for the MV. To answer your question,
the viewable area is 1 7/8 inches square. Both LCD (Gabriel & MV)
drivers are 40 pins and they are both customs. I also tried to Google
the HLCD and the only place is the URL you wrote down where you
can get the datasheet but have to pay for it Sad

To see if both LCD drivers (Gabriel & MV) would be similar (or close), is
that i would need to retrace all the connections of the HLCD and compare
it to the SCUS0488 on Dan B. Microvision web site (http://atarihq.com/danb/Microvision.shtml).

Here's something that i find weird...If you look at the Tsukuda Computer
Othello (http://www.handheldmuseum.com/Tsukuda/ComputerOthello.htm),
You can see that it has the same LCD screen of the Gabriel, but the LEDs
are on each side of the Tsukuda version instead of being up side of the
Gabriel. Pretty sure it has the same board and HLCD in it. And for the
keypad, i think Gabriel asked Texas Instruments to make one inspired
from the Tsukuda Othello M-II (http://www.handheldmuseum.com/Tsukuda/OthelloMII.htm)
but reversed keys positions.

I have read some time ago the Microvision FAQ by Joe Huber (which BTW,
the one on your web site is not the latest version, it's version 1.3 the last
one: http://videogamegeek.com/thread/552002/microvision-faq ) about
the LCD driver since one of my MV has the rotten screen problem. If you
check out section 7.0 (at the end of the FAQ, the author wrote:

"Internally, the 9V input voltage is dropped to 5V (reducable by the
contrast knob to 3V). A square would turn on when 5V was applied, and
off when below 1.67V was applied. To turn on a square, both the row and
column would have to be on. So during the first refresh, the rows would
be 1.67V - off and 5V - on, and the columns 3.3V - off and 0V - on.
Voltages would be reserved during the next frame refresh."

So in theory, we could use a ordinary LED for each pixel but would need
256 LEDs for the MV to completely replace the LCD screen or an 16x16
LED panel matrix like this one:

I thought of this when i saw that one of my MV had the rotten screen
problem but never had quite the time to try this out. I still kept the
rotten MV to try this out one day to see if it would work (but like i
wrote, in theory, it should work!).

Sorry for the long text but i have so many ideas that sometimes i just
write too much...LOL!!!

--- Sly DC ---

Rik · Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2011 10:00 pm Post subject:

Yeah, looking at that Tsukuda model, I bet it is the same thing on the inside... That might even be the model I've been thinking every time I see the Gabriel model, but could never be sure since they do look different...

And, yep, I have actually thought of using surface-mount LEDs to replace the screen of a uV. I actually thought the voltage wouldn't be high enough as is and would need some kind of power amplifier... But if it's 5 volts, that would probably work for normal LEDs (although the power drain of an LED, being higher than an LCD I'm sure, might make it harder to do games like Block Buster that have a lot of squares lit up). Still, it'd be fun to do... I certainly have enough dead-screen uVs around to play with it...

I did that with a Mattel Football- wired up large LEDs to all of the 'blips' in the game and mounted them to a 1-foot wide board to make a 'giant' play field for the game. Even used 1 inch LED numeric displays for the score. Actually works pretty good, and people always get a kick out of seeing it! Cool

BTW- in case it's not clear, I frequently use 'uV' for Microvision... the 'u' is supposed to be the scientific symbol for micro, even though it looks a little different... It should be µ, but that's hard to find on a keyboard. Mr. Green

slydc · Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2012 12:14 pm Post subject:

Well, it's been almost 2 months now and the Gabriel Othello is still
"resting in pieces" stored in a box waiting either that i try to modify
it with 16x16 dual-color LED panel or sell/trade it for spare parts.

For the Microvision, the only way to be sure to see if the uV could
take regular LED's would be to mesure the output voltage when a
square lights up. But there are also other LED's that are less volt-thirsty
like some just takes 1.5 volts but rewiring 256 LEDs is a hell of a job! Wink

You should post your big LED Mattel Football to show people that you can
modify an handheld, i would really like to see it! Very Happy

Oh and i understood the term "u" for micro, you have to know it when
you do electronics (especially capacitors). Wink

--- Sly DC ---

Rik · Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2012 2:11 pm Post subject:

slydc · Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 5:13 pm Post subject:

Rik · Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2012 5:34 pm Post subject:

Completely random find last night:
Going through old issues of Electronic Gaming from 1982-1984 or so, stumbled across this article about the Gabriel Othello game. Just thought it was funny that shortly after getting the game I find this. (I'll get a nice scan of it made and on the website, but in the mean time, this is readable at least... Cool

)