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VGA ROM Fonts (2020)

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Re: VGA ROM Fonts (2020)

#21

Post by rbanffy »

kjs3 wrote: post #12
rbanffy wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It depends on the language. Modern languages feel like that because they evolved on high resolution workstation screens with GUIs that could use smaller fonts. You can do 132x50 on most SVGA cards, but you’ll want a bigger screen for that (and the fonts will be ugly 8x8 or 6x8 ones). Writing BASIC on 80x25 feels constrained, but 80x35 is much better. Java would be a lot more concise if it was designed with VT-100s in…

Ya...bog standard VGA can do 80x50; VESA SVGA can do 132x50 (or more, I think). I seemed to remember 8514/XGA had something like a 132x50 mode with decently readable fonts (8x16?), but I can't find a reference. 132x50 + tmux/screen is pretty usable. You could also plug in a Hercules mono card and get a 2-monitor setup, if you had software that could grok it. The color and mono video memory lived in different, non-ove…

I remember I did a lot of BASIC on 40x24. At some point I got myself a Videx 80-column card and could do graphics on the attached TV and crisp 80x24 on a green screen.

Re: VGA ROM Fonts (2020)

#22

Post by SavantIdiot »

bluedino wrote: post #11
SavantIdiot wrote: post #5

After 30+ years of XGA and higher I've forgotten what coding on an 80x25 terminal felt like. Cramped. The answer is "cramped".

80x43 seemed world-changing to me on a 286 with a 14" monitor. 80x50 was a bit squished.

I came from 40 column Apple //e and had to pr#3 to active my 80 column card. And let's not talk about the 280x192 HGR2 graphics, almost as painful as CGA, except that was at least linearly addressed!

Re: VGA ROM Fonts (2020)

#23

Post by zorked »

sedatk wrote: post #18
swiley wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

C# feels cramped unless you have huge desktop monitors.

Luckily, that’s changing. C# 10 is converting namespace blocks into directives like Java. That means one fewer indent.

Do people indent namespaces in C#? In C++ it's common practice to not indent.

Re: VGA ROM Fonts (2020)

#25

Post by progman32 »

swineyy wrote: post #10
caf wrote: post #3

We used to erase those eproms with sunlight. Took a lot longer, but seems a lot safer than that rig!

The UVC lamp setup seems dangerous as fuck - exposed live AC voltage AND mercury??? If you're in need of erasing EEPROMs, just do yourself a favor and buy 10mW UVC 265nm LED. A single LED should suffice to erase a single EEPROM chip within 10-15 minutes.

Psh, I've used a TIG welder's arc as an impromptu EPROM eraser. Worked great. It's on video somewhere but I'm not posting it here :)

But yeah, LED is the way to go. Normal "black light" LEDs won't work, I tried. Do as parent says.

Re: VGA ROM Fonts (2020)

#26

Post by SavantIdiot »

tyingq wrote: post #13
SavantIdiot wrote: post #5

After 30+ years of XGA and higher I've forgotten what coding on an 80x25 terminal felt like. Cramped. The answer is "cramped".

132 column mode was pretty common on old terminals, and not too terrible if you had a 12+ inch CRT. Typically, still 24 rows though.

Really? I started college using VT100s in the lab to access the mainframe, and 80 columns was taxing enough to stare at hours on end. Can't imagine a 65% increase in horizontal density!

Re: VGA ROM Fonts (2020)

#27

Post by tyingq »

SavantIdiot wrote: post #26
tyingq wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

132 column mode was pretty common on old terminals, and not too terrible if you had a 12+ inch CRT. Typically, still 24 rows though.

Really? I started college using VT100s in the lab to access the mainframe, and 80 columns was taxing enough to stare at hours on end. Can't imagine a 65% increase in horizontal density!

On a vt320, which does have a larger 14" CRT, couldn't find a good picture of a 132 column on 12": https://i.imgur.com/IYULtxAh.jpg

Re: VGA ROM Fonts (2020)

#28

Post by khm »

pdenton wrote: post #24

For actual fonts you can use in your terminal emulators and whatnot, visit https://int10h.org/oldschool-pc-fonts/download/

Those are missing tons of Unicode glyphs, for obvious reasons. Dmitry Bolkhovityanov maintains an expanded-coverage font[1] which has been converted to many useful formats[2].

1 - https://www.inp.nsk.su/~bolkhov/files/fonts/univga/

2 - http://sciops.net/downloads/vga/ (my site)

Re: VGA ROM Fonts (2020)

#30

Post by jleahy »

swineyy wrote: post #10
caf wrote: post #3

We used to erase those eproms with sunlight. Took a lot longer, but seems a lot safer than that rig!

The UVC lamp setup seems dangerous as fuck - exposed live AC voltage AND mercury??? If you're in need of erasing EEPROMs, just do yourself a favor and buy 10mW UVC 265nm LED. A single LED should suffice to erase a single EEPROM chip within 10-15 minutes.

I have a history of doing incredibly dangerous things and it terrifies me. The exposed wiring isn’t the worst in my opinion, it’s the uncased high intensity UV-C light source.

Arc eye is a truly horrible thing that I would wish on nobody.

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