[vcf-midatlantic] 8-bits and 80 columns

RETRO Innovations go4retro at go4retro.com
Sat Jun 25 19:45:59 UTC 2022


On 6/25/2022 8:31 AM, John Heritage via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
> Hey all --
>
> Which (popular) 8-bit computers gained "easy" or even "standard" 80 column
> support?

Just in case it comes up, I can confirm the VIC-20 and C64 did *NOT* 
gain an easy or standard 80 column option.  Commodore never did release 
anything (not that we expected them to for the home computers), though a 
few firms made entries for the VIC-20:

http://sleepingelephant.com/denial/wiki/index.php?title=40_and_80_column_boards

and I know Batteries Included did make a BI-80 card for the 64:

http://mikenaberezny.com/hardware/c64-128/bi-80-display-adapter/

All that said, C64 owners did have an "easy" and "standard" 80 column 
option, in the form of "Soft-80" functionality:

https://www.pagetable.com/?p=901

Many of us spent quite a bit of time using this functionality (I used it 
in VIP Terminal and Novaterm) to enjoy BBS access in 80x25 goodness! 
While a 1702 monitor was required, it was very functional.

Here's an "hardware example" of the Soft-80 functionality:

http://biosrhythm.com/?p=1860

The most widely used Soft-80 implementation was Screen-80 from Compute's 
Gazette:

TO keep the post on topic, the CoCo-3 did indeed have standard 80 column 
support (required VGA monitor) and The 80XX and B Series PETs had it.




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