

The machine includes an expansion bus edge connector and 3. Software was later available that could play two channel sound. Sound output is through a beeper on the machine itself, capable of producing one channel with 10 octaves. Video output is through an RF modulator and was designed for use with contemporary television sets, for a simple colour graphic display. The Spectrum is based on a Zilog Z80, a CPU running at 3. The Commodore 64, Dragon 32, Oric-1, Oric Atmos, BBC Micro and later the Amstrad CPC range were rivals to the Spectrum in the UK market during the early 1980s. The Spectrum was among the first home computers in the United Kingdom aimed at a mainstream audience, similar in significance to the Commodore 64 in the US or the MO5 in France.

Referred to during development as the ZX81 Colour and ZX82, it was launched speccy the ZX Spectrum to highlight the machine’s colour display, compared with the black and white display of its predecessor, the ZX81.

It was first released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982 and went on to become Britain’s best-selling microcomputer. 8-bit personal home computer developed by Sinclair Research.
