Yamaha PU1-20

Central processing unit

Yamaha YIS central processing unit computer PU-1-20

1982 (Apr.)
Initially sold for ¥810,000

Identical to the Yamaha PU-1-10, but instead of the CAP board it has a DDA (Digital Differential Analyzer) board and a graphics board. Some reports suggest the PU-1-20 may use a Zilog Z8001 as main cpu instead of the YM2002.

The graphical capabilities of the PU-1-20 were far superior than the 8bit microcomputer competition of the time. Since the rasterization is done at hardware level with custom Yamaha chips, drawing was much faster and various vector operations and generations were possible.

In June 1982 Yamaha released two upgrades, a PU-1-20E with 128KB of RAM preinstalled and a PU-1-20EM of which specifics are unknown.

The keyboard (KB1 or KB2), the monitor (GM1 or GM2) and every accessory were all sold separately.

A Yamaha PU1-20 with the top panel removed
A Yamaha PU1-20 with the top panel removed