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--- guides:text_mode [2020-05-03 06:55]
omolini
+++ guides:text_mode [2020-08-28 23:13] (current)
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 ====== Perfect Text Mode in VGA ======
-Ever wondered why VGA text mode had at times, ugly looking text mode graphics? Most all VGA boards by default displayed text at a larger font glyph size of 9x16 pixels, while remaining compatible with the earlier font size at 8x14 pixels. While this added clarity to text by creating a higher resolution display, it was a compromise to keep compatibility with older hardware. The font size was increased from 14 to 16 pixels high, however the designers were unable to add an ninth column to the font. Instead, they decided to make it a blank column. In some cases, it did make sense to separate text with space to make it more readable, however it also made some text mode graphical applications look bad. Here's an example of what a wall of 50% gradient characters looks like in VGA:
+Ever wondered why VGA text mode had at times, ugly looking text mode graphics? Most all VGA boards by default displayed text at a glyph size of 9x16 pixels, while remaining compatible with the earlier font size of EGA graphics at 8x14 pixels. While this added clarity to text by creating a higher resolution display, it was a compromise to keep compatibility with older hardware.
+When designers took to increase the resolution of the VGA as compared to the earlier EGA standard, they had to come up with a new higher definition text mode as well. To do this, they increased the font height from 14 to 16 pixels to match the new higher resolution of the display while keeping the amount of rows and columns of text the same for compatibility. They needed to add a ninth column to increase the width, but this was impossible without breaking compatibility. So instead they decided to increase the width by adding a column that contained no font data in ROM, so in essence it was blank. In some cases, it did make sense to separate text with space to make it more readable, however it also made some text mode graphical applications, and especially ANSI art look weird. Here's an example of what a wall of 50% gradient characters looks like in VGA:
 {{ :guides:pics:text_mode_setup_vga.jpg?400 |}}
-To correct for this, you can run a text mode utility called, you guessed it, Text Mode. It is a great freeware utility, which allows for programming your VGA adapter to display a wide variety of text modes. To set up your computer to run in 8x14 pixel mode, run TM as follows:
+To correct for this, you can run a utility called Text Mode. It is a great freeware utility, which allows for programming your VGA adapter to display a wide variety of text modes.
+To switch your VGA to run in 8x14 pixel mode, run TM as follows:
 <code>tm -f 14,2</code>
-To return back to VGA text mode, run TM as follows:
+To return back to normal VGA text mode, run TM as follows:
 <code>tm -f 16,3</code>
@@ Line 20: / Line 24: @@
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-What's great about the utility, is that it's not a TSR - it doesn't stay memory resident. You can set it up to run in your autoexec.bat file every time the computer boots, and still be able to enjoy nice quality text with no compromises.
+What's great about the utility, is that it's not a TSR - it doesn't use any memory on the computer as it only switches a couple of registers around and then closes. You can leave it in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file to always switch to this text mode when your computer starts. and still be able to enjoy nice quality text with no compromises.
 This utility can also be handy to display ANSI art correctly, or with use with BBS's. You can also use it to switch to a nicer 40x25 column text, that mimics the original CGA adapter.

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