The '''Commodore 64''' is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982. Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US $595.Preceded by the [[VIC-20|Commodore VIC-20]] and Commodore MAX Machine, the C64 features 64KB (65,536 bytes) of memory with sound and graphics performance that were superior to IBM-compatible computers of that time. It is commonly known as the '''C64''' or '''C=64''' (after the graphic logo on the case) and occasionally as the '''CBM 64''' (for '''C'''ommodore '''B'''usiness '''M'''achines), or '''VIC-64'''. It has also been affectionately nicknamed the "breadbox" and "bullnose" due to the shape and color of the first version of its casing.
During the The C64's lifetime, sales totaled between 12.5 and 17 million units, making it is recognized as the best-selling single personal computer model of all time. For a substantial period of time (1983–1986), the C64 dominated the market with between 30% and 40% share and 2 million units sold per year, outselling the IBM PC clones, Apple Inc. computers, and Atari 8-bit family computers. Sam Tramiel, a former Atari president and the son of Commodore's founder, said in a 1989 interview "When I was at Commodore we were building 400,000 C64s a month for a couple of years."
Part of its success was because it was sold in retail stores instead of electronics stores. Commodore produced many of its parts in-house to control supplies and cost. It is sometimes compared to the Ford Model-T automobile for its role in bringing a new technology to middle-class households via creative mass-production.
At the time of its introduction, the C64's graphics and sound capabilities were rivaled only by the Atari 8-bit family. This was at a time when most IBM PCs and compatibles had text-only display adapter cards, monochrome monitors, and sound consisting of squeaks and beeps from the built-in tiny, low-quality speaker.
The C64 is often credited with starting the computer subculture known as the demoscene. The C64 lost its top position among demo coders when the 16-bit Commodore Amiga and Atari ST were released in 1985, however it still remained a very popular platform for demo coding up to the early 90s, and is still the top 8bit demo platform today.
It is still being actively used as a demo machine , especially for music (its sound chi] even being used in special sound cards for PCs, and the Elektron SidStation synthesizer). Unfortunately, the differences between PAL and NTSC C64s caused cause compatibility problems between U.S./Canadian C64s and those from most other countries. The vast majority of demos run only on PAL machines.
{| class="wikitable"! Parameter !! PAL C64 !! NTSC C64|-| Master Clock Frequency || 17.734475 MHz || 14.31818 MHz|-| Clock Divider || 18 || 14|-| CPU Clock Speed || 985,248 Hz || 1,022,727 Hz|-| Raster Lines per Frame || 312 || 263|-| CPU Cycles per Line || 63 || 65|-| Total CPU Cycles per Frame || 19,656 || 17,096|-| Calculated Frame Rate || ~50.12 Hz <br /><small>(985,248 / 19,656)</small> || ~59.83 Hz <br /><small>(1,022,727 / 17,096)</small>|} Even though it was released in 1982, the C64 was still a strong competitor to the later consoles Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Master System] , thanks to its by-then established software base.
During the 1980s, the Commodore 64 was used to run numerous Bulletin Board Systems using software packages such as Bizarre 64, Blue Board and Color 64, often with sysop-made modifications. These boards often were used to distribute cracked software.
Most screen shots show borders around the screen, which is a feature of the VIC-II chip. By utilising interrupts to reset various hardware registers on precise timings it was possible to place graphics within the borders and thus utilise the full screen.
The PAL color palette of the C64 differs significantly from the NTSC one [https://x.com/jscastro76/status/1820876067441123706 Source1] [https://x.com/vmisev/status/1664621460642471936 Source2] [https://x.com/vmisev/status/1642238897135529984 Source3]. It is often described as "brownish". Thanks to Tramiel decision to save 1¢ and not to change couple of transistors for the PAL C64. [https://x.com/vmisev/status/1638903342574235649 Source].
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File:C64 ntsc cxa2025Commander X16 Palette.png|Real C64 NTSC color palette (Sony CXA2025)File[https:C64 PAL color //lospec.com/palette.jpg|Real C64 PAL color -list/commodore-64-commander-x16 Commander X16 palette]
File:C64 NTSC palette hexcodes.jpg|C64 NTSC palette hexcodes
File:C64 PAL palette hexcodes.jpg|C64 PAL palette hexcodes
*[[Comparing C64 to CPC]]
====PeripheralsFloppy Disk Drives====The Commodore 1541 floppy disk drive, sold for use with the 64, was notoriously slow at ~400 bytes/second. It happened because:* Marketing insisted on compatibility with the 1540 (the floppy drive sold with the Vic-20) which was slow because the shift register in the 6522 VIA chip didn't work, so bit shifting had to be done in software with the 6502 instead. Using the 6526 CIA chip instead would have fixed the problem.* Then transfer had to go even slower because unlike the Vic-20, the 64's video chip has to completely take over the bus one out of every eight active scan lines.Various solutions, like the Epyx FastLoad cartridge or the JiffyDOS ROM replacement, quickly emerged to fix the problem. They provide 5-10x speedup depending on the solution. DolphinDOS is even faster as it uses a parallel cable between the C64 and the 1541 instead of the serial cable, bypassing the bit shifting issue entirely. Note: On stock C64, loading the directory with LOAD "$",8 places it in the BASIC program memory. If you have a BASIC program already in memory, it will be erased. Fortunately, most fast loaders fix this issue by streaming the list from disk to screen instead.
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Image:Commodore 1541 front cropped.jpg|Commodore 1541 Floppy Drive, 1st model.
Image:Commodore 1581 disk drive.jpg|[https://youtu.be/Fgtl8g1Gfog Commodore 1581 Floppy Drive]
Image:C64-Epyx-Fast-Load.jpg|[https://youtu.be/pUjOLLvnhjE Epyx Fast Load]
</gallery>
====Other Peripherals====
<gallery widths="160px" heights="120px" perrow="6">
Image:Commodore-Datassette.jpg|Commodore 1530 Datasette
Image:Commodore blockomaus.jpg|Commodore 1531 Mouse
Image:Commodore Matrixdrucker MPS-802.jpg|Commodore MPS-802 Dot-matrix Printer
Image:Cbm1650 automodem.jpg|Commodore 1650 Automodem
Image:C64 cpm cartridge.jpg|[https://youtu.be/gBDBPIclYc0 C64 CP/M Cartridge]
Image:Commodore Music Maker.jpg|[https://youtu.be/wtIeINiAezk Commodore SFX Music Maker]
Image:Commodore FM Sound Expander.jpg|[https://youtu.be/w2DpLW374Sg Commodore SFX FM Sound Expander]
* [https://youtu.be/nd_yiMhu1DM Commodore 64 Commercials]
* [https://youtu.be/7pONRbIHT_w Top C64 game music - 3.5 hours!]
* [https://youtu.be/SawEX68lKMI The ultimate top 100 C64 games] [https://youtu.be/8QgcS1Sp-Do 7000 C64 games in one video]* Top 50 Commodore 64 games from [https://youtu.be/-j3UgBwl738 1983] [https://youtu.be/AviMfosTzTE 1984] [https://youtu.be/ub3CFiBDQnE 1985] [https://youtu.be/2pGaJrg2d0A 1986] [https://youtu.be/yV9nbW1gsr8 1987] [https://youtu.be/BwrbGtuNGW8 1988] [https://youtu.be/SeO68JcWEIM 1989] [https://youtu.be/3FdkH7WWopQ 1990] [https://youtu.be/0INqJ2tYqNQ 1991] [https://youtu.be/km1uGaY4AGQ 1992]
* [https://c64.krissz.hu/online-playable-games/ Online Playable C64 Games]
* [https://gb64.com/ Gamebase 64]
* [https://youtu.be/lz0CJbkplj0 OneLoad64 Games Collection]
* [https://www.zimmers.net/anonftp/pub/cbm/c64/index.html Zimmers C64 FTP]
* [https://weaselsworld.com/c64-roms/ C64 ROMs Library]
* [https://www.commodore.ca/commodore-manuals/ Commodore Manuals]
* [[Media:C64C Service Manual.pdf]]
* [https://youtu.be/ZsRRCnque2E The Ultimate Commodore 64 Talk] Everything about the C64 in 64 Minutes
* [https://youtu.be/_1jXExwse08 The Ultimate Commodore 1541 Disk Drive Talk]
* [https://youtu.be/kaeFV0oZaps Why was the Commodore 1541 disk drive so slowgAcO0s9yKtI JiffyDos and Epyx Fastload cart are they worth it in 2020?] [https://youtu.be/7SPr5S0eEYM Update]
* [https://youtu.be/rs6J_PP7O7k Commodore 64 Chip Designer Interview] [https://youtu.be/QNLbi6ZanUE VIC I and VIC II Chips Designer Interview]
* Commodore History: [https://youtu.be/BpXFB8ZEH30 The Commodore 64] [https://youtu.be/6QBXY8dx8ZA Disk Drives] [https://youtu.be/wzMsgnnDIRE The C128] by [[The 8-Bit Guy]]