I finished soldering the prototype 8051 board and started working on getting the timing right to output a NTSC signal. As a reminder, each line has a ~5us blanking period, a ~5us front porch, and a ~52us active segment. It has been non-trivial to get the timing right using SDCC, so we will see what happens with this. Right now, I would be happy to generate an 8×8 checkered test patter on the screen, far short of implementing text-writing capability as I had originally hoped. That is to say, it is still possible, but I would have to do most of the coding in assembly to get the timing just right and the needed resolution, something I might not be willing to invest too much time into with parts for my msp430-ethernet project on the way. Hopefully I will have something to display on a TV tomorrow or day after.

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