MOS Technology VIC-II
E539027
The MOS Technology VIC-II is the video interface chip that powered the Commodore 64’s distinctive graphics and sprite capabilities, making it one of the most iconic home computer graphics processors of the 1980s.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| MOS Technology VIC-II canonical | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T5513674 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: MOS Technology VIC-II Context triple: [Commodore 64, graphicsChip, MOS Technology VIC-II]
-
A.
MOS Technology 6502
The MOS Technology 6502 is an influential 8-bit microprocessor introduced in the mid-1970s that powered many early personal computers and game consoles, including the Apple II, Commodore 64, and Nintendo Entertainment System.
-
B.
Commodore VIC-20
The Commodore VIC-20 is an early 1980s home computer known for being one of the first affordable, mass-market color computers and a major commercial success for Commodore.
-
C.
MOS Technology SID
The MOS Technology SID is a legendary programmable sound chip renowned for its rich, distinctive synthesizer-like audio in classic home computers and game music, most famously in the Commodore 64.
-
D.
Atari 8-bit family
The Atari 8-bit family is a series of home computers released by Atari in the late 1970s and 1980s, known for their advanced graphics and sound capabilities for the time and a rich library of games and productivity software.
-
E.
MOS 6581
The MOS 6581 is the original SID (Sound Interface Device) chip, famous for providing the distinctive synthesizer-style audio and music capabilities of the Commodore 64 home computer.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: MOS Technology VIC-II Target entity description: The MOS Technology VIC-II is the video interface chip that powered the Commodore 64’s distinctive graphics and sprite capabilities, making it one of the most iconic home computer graphics processors of the 1980s.
-
A.
MOS Technology 6502
The MOS Technology 6502 is an influential 8-bit microprocessor introduced in the mid-1970s that powered many early personal computers and game consoles, including the Apple II, Commodore 64, and Nintendo Entertainment System.
-
B.
Commodore VIC-20
The Commodore VIC-20 is an early 1980s home computer known for being one of the first affordable, mass-market color computers and a major commercial success for Commodore.
-
C.
MOS Technology SID
The MOS Technology SID is a legendary programmable sound chip renowned for its rich, distinctive synthesizer-like audio in classic home computers and game music, most famously in the Commodore 64.
-
D.
Atari 8-bit family
The Atari 8-bit family is a series of home computers released by Atari in the late 1970s and 1980s, known for their advanced graphics and sound capabilities for the time and a rich library of games and productivity software.
-
E.
MOS 6581
The MOS 6581 is the original SID (Sound Interface Device) chip, famous for providing the distinctive synthesizer-style audio and music capabilities of the Commodore 64 home computer.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (49)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
graphics processing chip
ⓘ
video interface controller ⓘ |
| alsoKnownAs | VIC-II NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| bitmapModeResolution | 320×200 pixels ⓘ |
| busWidth | 8-bit ⓘ |
| characterCellSize | 8×8 pixels ⓘ |
| characterSetSize | 256 characters ⓘ |
| clockSource | system clock divided ⓘ |
| colorPaletteSize | 16 colors ⓘ |
| colorRAMWidth | 4 bits ⓘ |
| controlsBackgroundColor | true ⓘ |
| controlsBorderColor | true ⓘ |
| designedFor | home computers ⓘ |
| era | 1980s home computer era ⓘ |
| hasLightPenSupport | true ⓘ |
| introductionYear | 1982 ⓘ |
| laterNTSCVariantPartNumber | 8562 ⓘ |
| laterPALVariantPartNumber | 8565 ⓘ |
| manufacturer | MOS Technology NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| maxSpritesOnScreen | 8 hardware sprites ⓘ |
| memoryAccess | shared with main RAM ⓘ |
| memoryAddressSpace | 16 KB window ⓘ |
| multicolorBitmapResolution | 160×200 pixels ⓘ |
| notableFor |
distinctive color palette
ⓘ
hardware sprites ⓘ smooth hardware scrolling ⓘ |
| NTSCVariantPartNumber | 6567 ⓘ |
| outputType |
composite video
ⓘ
luma/chroma ⓘ |
| packageType | 40-pin DIP ⓘ |
| PALVariantPartNumber | 6569 ⓘ |
| predecessor | MOS Technology VIC NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| primaryFunction |
raster interrupt generation
ⓘ
sprite handling ⓘ video generation ⓘ |
| spriteHeight | 21 pixels ⓘ |
| spriteModes |
monochrome
ⓘ
multicolor ⓘ |
| spriteWidth | 24 pixels ⓘ |
| successor | MOS Technology VIC-III NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| supportsBadLines | true ⓘ |
| supportsHardwareScrolling | true ⓘ |
| supportsRasterInterrupts | true ⓘ |
| technologyNode | 5 µm NMOS ⓘ |
| textModeResolution | 320×200 pixels ⓘ |
| usedIn |
Commodore 128
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Commodore 64 NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| videoStandardSupport |
NTSC
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
PAL ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: MOS Technology VIC-II Description of subject: The MOS Technology VIC-II is the video interface chip that powered the Commodore 64’s distinctive graphics and sprite capabilities, making it one of the most iconic home computer graphics processors of the 1980s.
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.