The TRS-80 computer manufacturered by Tandy / Radio Shack contains an 8-bit character set.[1] It is partially derived from ASCII, and shares the code points from 32 - 95 on the standard model. Code points 96 - 127 are supported on models that have been fitted with a lower-case upgrade.[2]
The character set consists of letters, various numeric and special characters[1] as well as 64 semigraphics called squots (square dots) from a 2×3 matrix.[3] These were located at code points 128 to 191 with bits 5-0 following their binary representation,[3] similar to alpha-mosaic characters in World System Teletext.[4][5] These characters were used for graphics in games, such as Android Nim.[6]
Character set
The following table shows the TRS-80 model I character set. Each character is shown with a potential Unicode equivalent. Space and control characters are represented by the abbreviations for their names.
| TRS-80 model I character set[7][3][8][9] | ||||||||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F | |
| 0x | BS[lower-alpha 1] | LF | CR | con[lower-alpha 2] | coff[lower-alpha 3] | |||||||||||
| 1x | カ[lower-alpha 4] | 32[lower-alpha 5] | ←[lower-alpha 6] | →[lower-alpha 7] | ↓[lower-alpha 8] | ↑[lower-alpha 9] | home[lower-alpha 10] | sol[lower-alpha 11] | ceol[lower-alpha 12] | ceof[lower-alpha 13] | ||||||
| 2x | SP | ! | " | # | $ | % | & | ' | ( | ) | * | + | , | - | . | / | 
| 3x | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | : | ; | < | = | > | ? | 
| 4x | @ | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | 
| 5x | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | ↑ | ↓ | ← | → | _ | 
| 6x | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | i | j | k | l | m | n | o | |
| 7x | p | q | r | s | t | u | v | w | x | y | z | { | | | } | ~ | ± | 
| 8x | NBSP | |||||||||||||||
| 9x | ||||||||||||||||
| Ax | ||||||||||||||||
| Bx | ||||||||||||||||
| Cx | [lower-alpha 14] | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | 
| Dx | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | 
| Ex | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | 
| Fx | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | tab | 
- ↑ Backspace and erase current character
 - ↑ Cursor on
 - ↑ Cursor off
 - ↑ Toggles Katakana characters (Model III)
 - ↑ Converts to wide 32 column mode
 - ↑ Backspace ← Cursor
 - ↑ Advance → Cursor
 - ↑ Downward ↓ linefeed
 - ↑ Upward ↑ linefeed
 - ↑ Move cursor to (0,0), also turns off 32 column mode
 - ↑ Move to start of line
 - ↑ Erase to end of line
 - ↑ Erase to end of frame
 - ↑ 192 to 255 are "Space Compression Codes", tabs for 0 to 63 spaces
 
References
Citations
- 1 2 Fylstra, Dan (April 1978). "Radio Shack TRS-80: An Owner's Report" (PDF). BYTE. Boston, MA, USA: BYTE Publications Inc.: 49–59. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-07-29. Retrieved 2017-07-29.
 - ↑ Heiserman 1983, p. 15.
 - 1 2 3 Goldklang, Ira (2015). "Graphic Tips & Tricks". Archived from the original on 2017-07-29. Retrieved 2017-07-29.
 - ↑ Wiels. "TeleText - Het Protocol" (in Dutch). Mosaic characters. Archived from the original on 2017-12-22. Retrieved 2017-12-21.
 - ↑ https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_i_ets/300700_300799/300706/01_60/ets_300706e01p.pdf#page=126
 - ↑ Crawford 2003, p. 202.
 - ↑ Level II Basic Manual. Tandy / Radio Shack. 1978. pp. C1/C2.
 - ↑ "TRSM1ICH.TXT" (PDF), L2/19-025: Proposal to add characters from legacy computers and teletext to the UCS, 2019-01-04
 - ↑ Heiserman 1983, p. 243.
 
Sources
- Heiserman, David L. (1983). Computer art and animation for the TRS-80. Prentice-Hall. ISBN 978-0-131-64749-7.
 - Crawford, Chris (2003). Chris Crawford on Game Design. New Riders. ISBN 978-0-131-46099-7.
 
Further reading
- Bettencourt, Rebecca G. (2017) [2015]. "The Ultimate TRS-80 Font". Kreative Korporation. Archived from the original on 2017-07-29. Retrieved 2017-07-29.