Technical description of MiSTer from the wiki:
MiSTer is a port of the well-known MiST project to a larger field-programmable gate array (FPGA) and faster ARM processor. MiSTer provides modern video output through HDMI (VGA and analog audio are still available via an optional daughter board, or with third-party DACs and the direct video feature). It's based on the Terasic DE10-nano board. Here are some improvements over the MiST board:
- Intel/Altera Cyclone V SE (5CSEBA6U23I7) FPGA SoC with 110,000LE (41,500ALM) and 5,570Kbit of Block RAM.
- ARM Cortex A9 dual-core CPU at 800MHz.
- HDMI video and audio allowing easy connectivity to any modern monitor/TV.
- 1GB of DDR3 RAM that is directly available to both ARM and FPGA.
- High-speed ARM <-> FPGA interconnect due to both being in the same chip.
- Embedded Linux on ARM which provides support for many I/O devices and file systems.
- Board is mass-produced by a large manufacturer and widely available for a relatively cheap price.
Due to a larger FPGA, bigger systems can be created than was possible on MiST. It's also possible to add more support from the ARM side. For example, TZX tape format can be parsed on ARM and then sent to the FPGA. Firmware is not limited by code size or available RAM. It's even possible to emulate some parts of system through ARM that are not available in the FPGA (resulting in a so-called hybrid emulator).