An LTP file is a data file designed to mimic the function of a cassette tape. The LTP format was created to work with PC programs that emulate the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, a 16-bit computer that was popular in Europe in the 1980s. LTP files allow ZX Spectrum simulators to read and store data on "virtual cassettes," complete with rewind and play functions.
ZX Spectrum
- The ZX Spectrum was one of the most popular home computers in Europe in the days before Macintosh and Windows. Released in the UK in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd., it was one of the first computers for the home market that was capable of producing a color display if connected to a color TV; the unit itself had no display. This feature made it a hit with gamers, and it was released in eight different models with combined sales of over five million units.
ZX Spectrum and Audio Cassettes
- Much like the TRS-80 in the United States, the ZX Spectrum was designed to read from and write to a standard audio cassette tape; you could hook a home cassette recorder to the computer, using leads that plugged into the microphone and earphone jacks. The user loaded data by giving the computer a LOAD command and then starting the cassette deck; the ZX Spectrum would then read everything on the tape until it came to the file it had been requested to load.
ZX Spectrum Emulators
- Thousands of games were developed for the ZX Spectrum in its heyday, and more continue to be generated by fans; as of the time of publication, there are more than 20,000 games available for this defunct platform, according to the emulator download site Get-Your-ROM. Emulator software allows a PC to run these games as a "virtual machine," interpreting code written for the ZX Spectrum operating system and executing it in the Windows environment.
ZX Spectrum Emulators and LTP Files
- If a ZX Spectrum emulator is a virtual machine, and LTP file is a virtual cassette tape. It stores programs which are read by giving the virtual machine a LOAD order and then "starting" the tape, usually by pressing one of the function keys on the PC's keyboard. Like a cassette tape, multiple LOAD files can be stored in a single LTP file; the emulator simply runs through them in sequence until it locates the one you've requested.
