Table of Contents
Character map
The monitor ROM has a built-in font.
Control characters
Control characters can be used to configure the display.
Character | Name | Description |
---|---|---|
0 | NUL | Does nothing! |
1 | SOH | |
2 | STOP | Code for the STOP key |
3 | BREAK | |
4 | EOT | End of Text |
5 | ENQ | |
6 | ACK | |
7 | BEEP | Beep! |
8 | LEFT | Code for the “left” key. Moves cursor left. |
9 | RIGHT | Code for the “right” key. Moves cursor right. |
A | CR | Code for the “down” key. Moves cursor down. |
B | UP | Code for the “up” key. Moves cursor up. |
C | RAZ | Code for the “RAZ” key (Remise à Zéro). Clears the screen. |
D | LF | Code for the “ENT” key. Move to beginning of next line. |
E | TELETEL | Enter semi-graphic mode (see below) |
F | ALPHA | Enter alphanumeric mode (undoes E) |
10 | DLE | |
11 | Shows cursor | |
12 | Unused. | |
13 | Unused. | |
14 | Hide cursor | |
15 | ||
16 | ACC | Begin of accented sequence - uses G2 character set |
17 | ||
18 | Erase to end of line | |
19 | ||
1A | ||
1B | ESC | Begin escape sequence (see below) |
1C | INS | Code for the “INS” key. Inserts an empty space at the cursor position and shifts all following characters to the right. |
1D | DEL | Code for the “DEL” key. Removes current character and shifts all following characters to the left. |
1E | TAB | Tabulation. |
1F | US | User sequence (see below). |
Escape and user sequences
The key codes 1B and 1F mark the start of escape and user sequences. These allow configuring the screen in various ways.
Sequence | Description |
---|---|
1B 20 4x | Change character color for the whole screen |
1B 20 5x | Change background color for the whole screen |
1B 4x | Change current character color |
1B 5x | Change current background color |
1B 6x | Change border color |
1B 70 | Normal size characters |
1B 71 | Double height characters |
1B 72 | Double width characters |
1B 73 | Double size characters |
1B 74 | Opaque characters (printing a character sets the color RAM to the current foreground and background colors) |
1B 75 | Transparent characters (printing a character changes only the shape RAM, colors are preserved) |
1B 76 | Enable video incrustation (some machines will crash if this is done without the color incrustation plugged in) |
1B 78 | Enable fast scrolling (character by character) |
1B 79 | Enable soft scrolling (vertical scroll is done pixel by pixel) |
1B 7A | Page mode (no scrolling, printed text wraps around the screen) |
1B 7B | Toggle inverse attribute (shape RAM is negated) |
1G 1h 1l | Set window bottom border to line hl |
1F 2h 2l | Set window top border to line hl |
1F 40+x 40+y | Set cursor position to (X,Y) |
Starting from the TO9, there are also commands to change video mode (note that the monitor doesn't support text output in all modes!)
Sequence | Description |
---|---|
1B 48 | Page 1 mode |
1B 49 | Page 2 mode |
1B 4A | Overprint (write to page 2) |
1B 4B | Overprint (write to page 1) |
1B 59 | Bitmap 4 |
1B 5A | 40 columns |
1B 5B | 80 columns |
1B 5E | Bitmap 16 |
1B 6D | Video incrustation |
1B 6C | Disable video incrustation |
1B 88 | Triple overprint (write to page 1) |
1B 89 | Triple overprint (write to page 2) |
1B 8A | Triple overprint (write to page 3) |
1B 8B | Triple overprint (write to page 4) |
Accent sequences
Character 16 starts an accent sequence. It is followed by an accent code, then a letter.
Code | Accent |
---|---|
41 | grave (è) |
42 | acute (é) |
43 | circumflex (ê) |
48 | trema (ë) |
4B | cedilla (ç) |
This only works with lowercase characters. If the character sent after the accent isn't a lowercase letter, the accent is ignored.
Moreover, ACC can be used to write G2 characters:
Code | Character |
---|---|
23 | Pound (£) |
24 | Dollar ($) |
26 | Sharp (#) |
27 | Paragraph |
2C | Left arrow |
2D | Up arrow |
2E | Right arrow |
2F | Down arrow |
30 | Degree (°) |
31 | Plus/Minus |
38 | Integer division |
3C | 1/4 |
3D | 1/2 |
3E | 3/4 |
6A | Œ |
7A | œ |
7B | esset |
Teletel mode
Character E enters “Teletel” mode. This is a semigraphic mode. Character F switches back to standard mode. The characters for teletel mode are defined according to this grid:
AAAA | BBBB |
AAAA | BBBB |
CCCC | DDDD |
CCCC | DDDD |
EEEE | FFFF |
EEEE | FFFF |
The character code (in binary) is 0F1EDCBA. This encoding makes it possible to use the following characters while in teletel mode:
@
,A-Z
,[]\^_
- All control characters
- Characters after number 127 (extended characters)
Escae sequences are still interpreted, allowing for example to change colors for the next characters, use double size teletel characters, and more.