Editing Television Interface Adaptor (section)

{{short description|Video/audio/input chip of the Atari 2600}}
{{improve lead|date=June 2013}}
[[File:Atari-2600-Wood-4Sw-Set.jpg|thumb|[[Atari 2600]]]]

The '''Television Interface Adaptor'''<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.atariguide.com/pdfs/Atari_2600_VCS_Domestic_Field_Service_Manual.pdf|title=Atari Video Computer System Field Service Manual - Model 2600/2600A Domestic|date=January 21, 1983|publisher=[[Atari, Inc.]]|version=Rev. 02|pages=1–4|section=I. Theory of Operation|access-date=September 10, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215054248/http://www.atariguide.com/pdfs/Atari_2600_VCS_Domestic_Field_Service_Manual.pdf|archive-date=February 15, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> ('''TIA''') is the custom [[integrated circuit|computer chip]] which, along with a variant of the [[MOS Technology 6502]], constitutes the heart of the 1977 [[Atari 2600|Atari Video Computer System]] game console. The TIA generates the screen display, sound effects, and reads the controllers. At the time the Atari VCS was designed, even small amounts of [[Random-access memory|RAM]] were expensive. The chip was designed without the extra circuitry of a [[framebuffer]], instead requiring detailed programming to create even a simple display.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hague |first1=James |title=Why Do Dedicated Game Consoles Exist? |url=https://prog21.dadgum.com/181.html |website=Programming in the Twenty-First Century |date=September 10, 2013}}</ref>

Development of the CO10444/CO11903<ref name="Stilphen">{{cite web|url=http://www.ataricompendium.com/faq/vcs_tia/vcs_tia.html|title=ATARI VCS/2600 TIA CHIPS|last=Stilphen|first=Scott|date=February 5, 2020|access-date=February 24, 2020}}</ref> TIA was led by [[Jay Miner]], who continued at Atari expanding on the design of the TIA for the [[Atari 8-bit computers]] with the [[ANTIC]],[[CTIA and GTIA|CTIA/GTIA]] and [[POKEY]] chips which allow for more graphical and sound capabilities. Miner later led the design of the custom chips for the [[Amiga]] computer.