Exelvision EXL 100

A talking computer from France

Introduced in 1984, the EXL 100 made dedicated speech hardware part of the computer itself. Its Texas Instruments TMS5220-family synthesizer gave this French home computer a voice without requiring a separate speech cartridge. The machine paired that unusual feature with an infrared keyboard and controllers, presenting the home computer as something that could fit into the living room.

Texas Instruments inside

The EXL 100 used TI processors for its main computing and input/output duties. Hardware documentation places the speech synthesizer under the I/O processor’s control; MAME models it as a TMS5220C. This division of work helped combine keyboard input, peripheral communication, and speech in a compact system.

Speech from a vocal model

The TMS5220 family uses linear predictive coding (LPC). Speech data describes how a vocal model changes over time, rather than storing a raw recording of every sound sample. The chip reconstructs the voice from those parameters. It needs encoded speech data: the chip itself does not read arbitrary French or English text.

A voice for programs and games

Contemporary coverage described using CALL SPEECH in ExelBasic and hearing the synthesizer in commercial software such as Tennis. This made the voice an available part of programming and play. For a speech-chip collector, the EXL 100 is particularly appealing because the synthesizer is integrated into a complete computer that actually reached buyers.

Another branch of the talking computer

The EXL 100 offers a useful comparison with Atari 1400XL & 1450XLD prototypes. Both approaches put a voice inside the computer, but Exelvision used TI’s encoded-speech technology rather than Atari’s Votrax phoneme chips. Its successor, Exeltel, carried speech into a more communications-oriented machine.

Specifications

Manufacturer

Exelvision

Period

1984

Speech installation

Built-in

Speech hardware

TMS5220C