Developer Christian Forstreuter has recently released his C64 V9958 Cartridge, a color graphics card designed to enhance the graphics capabilities of the Commodore 64 and 128. This cartridge plugs into the expansion slot and is based on the Yamaha MSX2+ video display processor (VDP) V9958, which is backward compatible with the V9938 (MSX2) and the TMS9918/9928 used in many vintage home computers. The V9958 offers additional features over the V9938, including vertical soft scrolling and enhanced color modes with up to 19,000 colors.
The VDP provides an RGB output, which can be configured for either PAL or NTSC. To use this card, an analog RGB monitor, such as the Commodore 1084, or a SCART TV is required. The V9958 card includes 128kB of dedicated RAM, accessible only through the VDP ports. It supports screen resolutions ranging from 256×192 to 512×212 or 512x424i, with 16, 256, or 19,000 colors, 32 sprites, soft scrolling, and hardware-accelerated commands such as fill, line, and copy. Screen modes up to 5 require only 64kB of VRAM, while modes 6 and 7 utilize the full 128kB for faster bank interleaving access.
This cartridge is currently not for sale and is free for you to build yourself. So if you’re a DIY type of person, this card is for you. Everything from schematics to parts is listed on his GitHub page.
