DATAMATH CALCULATOR MUSEUM
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DATAMATH CALCULATOR MUSEUM |
Texas Instruments TI-73 Explorer ViewScreen™
| Date of introduction: | July 2006 | Display technology: | LCD dot matrix |
| New price: | $150.00 (SRP 2008) | Display size: | 8 * 16 characters |
| Size: | 7.2" x 3.2" x
0.95" 182 x 81 x 24 mm3 |
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| Weight: | 6.6 ounces, 186 grams | Serial No: | 2111000254 |
| Batteries: | 4*AAA + CR1620 (35mA) | Date of manufacture: | mth 03 year 2007 (F) |
| AC-Adapter: | Origin of manufacture: | China (S) | |
| Precision: | 14 | Integrated circuits: | ASIC: TI REF TI-738X Flash: 29LV400 Display: Novatek NT7564H |
| Memories: | |||
| Program steps: | 25k Bytes, 128k Bytes Flash ROM | Courtesy of: | Joerg Woerner |
The
TI-73 Explorer ViewScreen Calculator (VSC) is the teacher version of the standard
TI-73 Explorer.
It connects with a special port to a ViewScreen panel via a cable.
Placing
the panel on the overhead projector enlarges the image of the handheld screen so
that each student can follow along.
Four ViewScreen panels were available in 2008:
| • Panel 1:
TI-73 VSC, TI-73 Explorer VSC,
TI-80
VSC,
TI-82 VSC, TI-83 VSC, TI-83 Plus VSC, TI-83 Plus Silver Edition VSC, TI-84 Plus VSC, TI-84 Plus Silver Edition VSC • Panel 2: TI-89 VSC, TI-89 Titanium VSC, TI-92, TI-92 Plus, Voyage 200 • Panel 3: TI-85 VSC (2nd design), TI-86 VSC • Panel 4: TI-Nspire, TI-Nspire CAS, TI-Nspire Touchpad, TI-Nspire CAS Touchpad |
As an alternative the TI-Presenter video adapter connects to a TV or other projection device with a video input port.
From
a technical point of view the TI-73 Explorer VSC is almost identical with the students
TI-73 Explorer. The main difference you notice is a bulgier bottom shell of the
calculator housing to accommodate the ViewScreen electronics and connector.
Dismantling
this TI-73 Explorer VSC with the Date code
S-0307F manufactured in March 2007 by
Inventec Corporation in
Shanghai,China reveals a small printed circuit board (PCB) with two LVXC3245 driver chips
connected with a flexible cable to the display PCB of the calculator.
Comparing
this calculator with the original TI-73 VSC
design reveals a lot
of internal differences.
The original design of the TI-73 VSC made use of 5 main Integrated Circuits:
| • Zilog Z84C00 microprocessor • TI REF 9815455 ASIC • 512k Bytes Flash ROM • 32k Bytes Static RAM • Toshiba T6A04: Single-chip 64*120 pixel display driver |
The new designed printed circuit board (PCB) needs just 3 Integrated Circuits:
| • ASIC: Z80 microprocessor, RAM and
supporting logic
• Macronix 29LV400 512k Bytes Flash ROM • Novatek NT7564H: Single-chip 64*120 pixel display driver |
The
picture on the right gives an enhanced view of the ASIC "TI REF TI-738X"
that clocks the Z80
microprocessor with 6 MHz and incorporates the 32k Byte RAM and some supporting
logic. Learn more about the
Hardware Architecture of TI’s Graphing Calculators. The ASIC was probably manufactured by Toshiba and recalls us the TI-83
Plus Silver Edition with the "TI-REF 83PL2M/TA2" ASIC and the early
TI-84 Plus with its "TI-REF 83PLUSB/TA2" ASIC. This ASIC "TI-REF TI-738X"
was used in the revised TI-83 Plus,
too.
Texas
Instruments introduced with the original TI-73 already in March 1998 a
groundbreaking architecture based Flash ROM technology to the students and this
TI-73 Explorer ViewScreen calculator makes use of a Macronix MX29V400 chip with
a capacity of 512k Bytes - about 128k Bytes of the device is available for the
user.
The
driver circuit of the LC-Display was traditionally manufactured by Toshiba for
Texas Instruments' graphing calculators. This TI-73 Explorer
VSC manufactured in March 2007 shows with the Novatek NT7564H a one-by-one replacement. It is just a bare chip
mounted on a flexible piece of circuit board attached between the display and
the main PCB.
A serial port of the calculators allows the connection to the
Calculator-Based Laboratory system CBL, its successor CBL
2, the Calculator-Based Ranger CBR and its successor CBR
2.
Don't miss the colorful slide cases developed for the TI-83 Plus, they fit on the TI-73 ViewScreen, too.
ROM-Versions:
1.90 (February 6, 2006)
1.91 (March 20, 2008, actual in February 2009)
You can check the ROM version of your TI-73 Explorer using the following key sequence and reading the number on your screen:
