website/content/museum/coleco-telstar-colortron.md

title, categories, origins, years, cpus, params

title	categories	origins	years	cpus	params
Coleco Telstar Colortron	Pongs	U.S.A.	1978	General Instruments AY-3-8510 Pong chip	name image company company_name specs tabs forum_thread photos adverts links related oc_id source Telstar Colortron /media/museum/photos/coleco_telstar_colortron.jpg /companies/coleco Coleco label value NAME Telstar Colortron label value MANUFACTURER Coleco label value ORIGIN U.S.A. label value YEAR 1978 label value BUILT IN LANGUAGE Tennis, Hockey, Handball, Jai Alai label value KEYBOARD Two dials built-in the system label value CPU General Instruments AY-3-8510 Pong chip or Coleco GX10 chip ? label value SPEED Game selection button, Reset label value CO-PROCESSOR Difficulty Beginner/intermediate/Pro label value RAM On screen label value COLORS Green background. White for the field and ball. Red and black for paddles and scoring. label value SOUND Piezzo beeper label value SIZE / WEIGHT 11 lb label value I/O PORTS RF TV video output label value OS 2 x 9v cells (one for the system, and one for the piezzo beeper) label value POWER SUPPLY 9v DC label value PERIPHERALS No label value PRICE Unknown photos adverts links 654 title subtitle text image BOX /media/museum/photos/coleco_telstar_colortron_box.jpg title subtitle text image BOX #2 /media/museum/photos/coleco_telstar_colortron_box_2.jpg title subtitle text image BOX REAR /media/museum/photos/coleco_telstar_colortron_box_3.jpg title subtitle text image 1980 COLECO CATALOG extract from the 1980 Coleco catalog Thanks to [Digitize, Textfiles.com](http://www.textfiles.com/digitize/items/) for the picture /media/museum/pubs/coleco_colortron_catalog_1.jpg title url text The story of the Telstar systems http://www.pong-story.com/coleco.htm PONG STORY.COM has nice pages dedicated to the Telstar systems /museum/coleco-telstar /museum/coleco-telstar-classic-model-6045 /museum/coleco-telstar-colormatic-model-6130 /museum/coleco-telstar-ranger 670 url date https://web.archive.org/web/20230613152851/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=670 2023-06-13

After the release of the Telstar (the first "dedicated-chip" pong system) in 1976 which was a big success, Coleco conceived a whole range of pongs.

This pong have the same caracteristics as the Telstar Colormatic (4 games) but the case is different. It is quite small and the controllers (dials) are built-in the console. It also has a digital pushbutton game selector, color (thanks to the AY-3-8510 chipset), and a special piezzo electric beeper (which requires an additional battery).

There's a 3 positions switch that controls difficulty (beginner : slow ball, big paddles / advanced : fast ball, big paddles / expert : fast ball, small paddles). If this is common to the first Telstars, this is quite different from most of the other pong systems which offer individual settings.

Promotional text says:
"Telestar Colortron, a sellout in '79 and still going strong! Telstar Colortron features four exciting sports games - Tennis, Hockey, Handball and Jai Alai - all in brillant color! On-screen digital display scoring, realistic electronic sound effects. Variable skill control for beginner, intermediate and pro players. The GX-10, a custom chip made for Coleco, makes it all possible at an incredibly low price! Operates on two 9 volt batteries (not included). Full color packaging.

- Four exciting sports: Tennis, Hockey, Handball, Jai alai
- Brilliant color (plays B&W on B&W TV sets)
- On-screen digital display scoring
- Electronic sound effects
- Variable skill control
- Requires two 9 volt batteries or Coleco battery eliminator / AC adapter
- FCC approved
- Full color packaging
- Ages 8 to adult"