VIC-1510 Colour Monitor
The VIC-1510 is a colour video monitor designed specifically for use with the VIC-1001 computer (and therefore compatible with the VIC-20). It is assumed that the monitor is a colour display, since the VIC-1001's colour capabilities were a major selling feature. The case of the VIC-1510 is designed with the same brown and silver "theme" that is used on VIC utility peripherals such as RAM expanders, the VICModem, etc.
It was long thought by most VIC-20 users & collectors that Commodore never produced an "official" monitor for the VIC-20, and that the first CBM colour monitor for home use was the C-64's model 1701. However, in 2006 a single, low-resolution promotional photo of the VIC-1001 surfaced which showed this monitor. Subsequently, it was noted in a Denial forum discussion that the product number VIC-1510 also showed up in a Japanese VIC-1001 brochure from 1982. There, the monitor was described as follows (English translation):
VIC-1510: Dedicated Color Monitor (including monitor cable) Composite video input. Internal speaker. 14 inches. Connect VIC-1001's color video interface with the monitor cable.
The same brochure also lists the VIC-1510's price as 72,800 Yen.
Previous to this discovery, the "Canonical List of Commodore Products" by Jim Brain speculated that VIC-1510 might have been the product number for a predecessor of the VIC-1515 Graphic Printer (this has now been corrected).
It is not known if the VIC-1510 monitor was actually produced & sold commercially by Commodore, although a discussion thread on the Denial VIC-20 user's forum offers some clues that it was at least shown in merchandising displays.(forum thread) The version shown in the promotional photo might have been manufactured in limited quantities for promotional purposes. If it actually was sold, the monitor might have been released within Japan only (in which case it would have worked on the NTSC video system). No surviving examples of this peripheral are know to exist.
The VIC-1510 seems to be a re-branded OEM (original equipment manufacturer) monitor made by BMC Industries, Inc. (Buckbee-Mears Company) and re-branded with Commodore markings.
