As we have reached the end of chip shortage period I am glad to announce that I have finally finished the HW design and prototype testing of FPGATED. The last years were challenging, especially with Xilinx AMD acquisition and the production stop of Spartan 6 FPGAs. My original design was based on the Spartan 6 FPGA and even though I had two prototypes working, I had to come up with a successor that can be produced for the audience. An obvious path was to use the Xilinx Spartan 7 but as much as it was easy to modify the internal code it was challenging to redesign the PCB for Spartan 7. Hardware version 3.0 is the result of this redesign and I can proudly say that it works flawlessly! 

FPGATED HW version 3.0 has the following features:

- Xilinx Spartan 7 XC7S15CSGA225 FPGA

- Most resource utilizations are below 50% thus plenthy of room to add new features!

- Original analog Chroma and Luma output to get picture via RF modulator

- RGB header onboard which is software programmable between 15KHz SRGB and 31KHz VGA output

- HDMI connector with digital output with 720x576/50Hz or 720x480/60Hz output

- Digital audio output on HDMI connector, so you can hook up the C16 or Plus4 to a modern flat TV

- Software switchable scanline effect on HDMI and VGA outputs

- 4 software selectable color translation tables for HDMI, VGA or SRGB outputs (FPGATED Caclulated, Plus4emu, YAPE, Custom) 

- 1 software programmable custom color table (out of the 4 tables) to be able to adjust RGB colors (CVBS is not affected)

- theoretically firmware upgradeable from Plus 4 side (but 1 floppy is not enough for firmware)

- ESD protection on HDMI connector and VGA header

What is next?

Calculating HW cost and seeking for HW production possibilities. My plan is to start with batches and sell them via e.g. Amibay. Also I am going to write a software to modify configuration registers and the custom color table. The configuration is saveable to flash!

Further development is ongoing to add a SID chip implementation and improve TED core compatibility,

The VGA/SRGB header requires a special cable that will be sold separately (or can be built by anyone).