CRT Controller Handbook PDF

I O SBO R N E /M c G r a w - H ill
CRT Controller
Handbook
Gerry Kane
A stand alone reference book w hich can also be used as a supplement to 5 ! ! ! j .
An Introduction to Microcomputers: Volume 3 — Some Real Support Devices. H u l l
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The CRT Controller
Handbook
Gerry Kane
O SBO RN E/M cG raw -H ill

Berkeley, California
Published by
OSBORN E/McGraw-Hill
2600 Tenth Street
Berkeley, California U.S.A. 94710
For information on translations and book distributors outside of the U. S. A . , please write
OSBORNE/M cGraw -Hill at the above address.
T H E CRT C O N TR O LLER H A N D B O O K
Copyright © 1 9 8 0 McGraw-Hill, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this pub
lication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publishers.
67890 CPCP 898765

ISBN 0 - 0 7 -9 3 1 0 4 5 - 1
Technical reviews by: W illiam Houghton, Intel Corporation; Richard Palm, Synertek Incorporated; Vincent Rende, Stan
dard Microsystems Corporation; Charles Carinalli, National Semiconductor.
Technical edit by Patrick McGuire, Leland Research. Cover design by Marc Miyashiro.
Contents
1. CRT Principles of Operation

The C athode Ray Tube 1-1
The CRT C ontroller-C R T M onitor Interface 1-8
CRT Character G enerator Logic 1-8
Screen M em ory 1-13
M anipulation of CRT Screen Data 1-16
The CRT Timing Chain 1-26
Graphic V ersus A lphanum eric Displays 1-33
Com paring CRT Controller Devices 1-35
2. DP8350 CRT Controllers
CRT C ontrollers Series Pins and Signals 2-3
Program m able Registers 2-8
CRT C ontroller-M icroprocessor Interface 2-14
The CRT Controller-Screen M em ory Interface 2-15
CRT M onitor Interface Signals 2-21
M ask-Program m ing Options 2-23
D ata Sheets 2-31
3. The 8 2 7 5 CRT Controller
The 8275 CRT C ontroller Pins and Signals 3-3
The 8275 CRT C ontroller Program m able Registers 3-6
The 8275-M icroprocessor System Interface 3-10
The 8275-Character G enerator Interface 3-18
Special Control Codes 3-29
The 8275 CRT M onitor Interface 3-30
The 8275 CRT C ontroller C om m ands 3-32
Data Sheets 3-39
V/'

T he 6845 CRT Controller Program m able Registers 4-5
The 6845 CRT Controller-M icroprocessor System Interface 4-8
The 6845 CRT C ontroller-Screen M em ory/C haracter G enerator
Interface 4-9
T he 6845 CRT C ontroller-C R T M onitor Interface 4-17
Program m ing the 6845 CRT C ontroller Registers 4-19
D a ta s h e e ts 4-31
The 6545 CRT Controller Program m able Registers 5-4
The 6545 CRT Controller-Screen M em ory Interface 5-12
Data Sheets 5-23
6. The 5 027 CRT Controller
The 5027 CRT Controller Pins and Signals 6-3
The 5027 CRT Controller Program m able Registers 6-6
The 5027-M icroprocessor System Interface 6-8
The 5027-Screen M em ory/C haracter G enerator Interface 6-12
The 5027-CRT M onitor Interface 6-13
Program m ing the 5027 CRT C ontroller Registers 6-15
The 5027 CRT C ontroller C om m ands 6-22
The CRT C ontroller Timing Chain 6-23
Data Sheets 6-25
1
CRT Principles o f Operation
Cathode ray tubes (CRTs) are ubiquitous devices. M ost homes have
several in the form of TV sets, and CRT-based term inals are used widely in
both data p rocessin g and word p rocessin g com puter s y ste m s. The
widespread and ever increasing use of CRTs in computer term inals has led
semiconductor manufacturers to design large-scale-integrated (LSI) devices
to sim plify and reduce the costs of control functions for CRT-based ter
m inals.
In this book we will describe a n u m b er of LSI CRT controller devices.
A lthough there are significant differences between the functions, capabilities,
and characteristics of each of these CRT controllers, all of them have been
shaped by the requirem ents of the cathode ray tube itself and by prevailing
interface standards to this device. In this chapter we w ill discuss general
principles of operation for the CRT and those terms and definitions which
apply to all of the CRT controllers we w ill describe.
THE CATHODE RAY TUBE

The theory of operation of the cathode ray tube is described in great
detail in num erous texts. T herefore, our description here w ill be quite simple;
we w ill concern ourselves only with the general aspects of the theory which
you should know in order to understand the interface between a CR T and its
controller.
Figure 1-1 is a sim plified representation of a CRT. A cathode ray tube
is an evacuated glass tube which has a fluorescent coating on the inner sur
face of its rectangular frontal region (screen). An electron gun positioned at
the end of the narrow cylindrical part of the tube (the neck) em its an
electron beam. This stream of electrons strikes the fluorescent inner surface
of the screen to produce an illum inated phosphor dot.
1-2 The CRT Controller Handbook
Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)

Side V ie w Front V ie w
Phosphor Dot
Figure 1-1. Simplified Representation of a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)
You can control the point at which the electron beam strikes the
screen, and therefore the position of the dot upon the screen, by deflecting
the electron beam. T here are two prim ary m ethods of perform ing this beam
deflection: electrom agnetic and electrostatic. Electrom agnetic deflection is by
far the m ore com m on m ethod and is used in all conventional television sets.
Separate deflection coils are provided along the horizontal and vertical axes of
the CRT neck. Separate signals can then be applied to effect horizontal and
vertical deflection of the electron beam and thus move it across the surface of
the screen. This operation is illustrated in Figure 1-2.
Persistence As the beam is moved across the screen, it leaves a trace which takes
some finite amount of tim e to dissipate. The duration of this trace depends on
the characteristics of the fluorescent coating applied to the in n er surface of the
screen. This characteristic is called the “ persistence” of the phosphor.
The horizontal deflection signal applied to the deflection coils affects
only the horizontal position of the illum inated dot; lik ew ise, the vertical
deflection signal affects only its vertical position. Some CRT displays allow
the user to arbitrarily position the dot by providing a horizontal and vertical
input. W ith this type of display, the dot position is proportional to the linear
voltages applied to these two inputs. This type of display is often referred to
as a graphic, X-Y, or vector CRT display.
Raster Scan
The far more prevalent type of CRT display is called a raster scan
type. This type is used in all modern commercial television sets and in most
CRT Principles of Operation 1-3
CR T te rm in a ls designed for the display of alp h an u m eric d ata. In this type o f

display, the horizontal and vertical deflection signals are generated to m ove the
beam in a raster or “ rake-like” pattern that can be illustrated as follows:
The raster scan pattern that we have illustrated still does not provide
any method for displaying useful information on the CRT screen; so far, all
w e’ve done is produce a rake-like pattern on the screen. The first step towards
making the screen u seful is to elim inate the retrace portion of the raster
scan pattern. This can be done by reducing the intensity of the electron beam
during the retrace portion, using th e intensity control for video input to the
CRT illustrated in Figure 1-2. If the intensity of the electron beam is su ffi
ciently reduced during retrace, then the flourescent coating on the screen
Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)
Side V ie w Front V ie w
Phosphor Dot
Figure 1-2. Controlling the Movement of the CRT Electron Beam

The CRT Controller Handbook
w ill not be sufficiently excited to produce an illum inated trace. T he resultant

pattern on the screen can be illustrated as follows:
T he dotted lines in this illustration represent th e retrace portion of the

raster scan pattern w hen the electron beam intensity is reduced. T he dotted
lines would not be visible to a viewer. Now we have a series of approxim ately
10 horizontal lines or traces that are continuously displayed on the screen.
W hile this is som e im provem ent over the zigzag pattern that included retrace
lines, we are still not displaying any useful inform ation.
To see how information can be displayed on the screen, let us
arbitrarily define our screen as having 10 horizontal traces or lin es, and then
let us divide each of those lines into seven segm ents. The resultant display
could be represented as follows:
We are going to use this seven-by-ten (7 x 10) matrix of line segm ents
to display a single alphanum eric character. To provide a separation border
around this alphanumeric character, we w ill leave the top line and the bot
tom two lin es blank and provide a one-segm ent border on the left and right
edges of the 7 x 1 0 m atrix. This border is provided by reducing th e intensity
of the electron beam during the appropriate segm ents of the scan pattern. We
w ill then be left with a 5 x 7 m atrix of line segm ents or dots in the center of
our field:
We can now represent alphanumeric characters w ithin this 5 x 7

m atrix by reducing the intensity of the electron beam during the appropriate
line segm ents. For exam ple, the letter “ R ” can be represented as follows:
The beam intensity is reduced during the entire scan of line 1, during line
segm ents 1, 6 and 7 of scan line 2, and so on. T hus, it would take seven con
secutive scan lines to represent the letter R with a n um ber of illum inated line
segm ents or dots on each scan line representing part of the letter. Each illum i
nated dot will rem ain illum inated for som e finite period of tim e depending on
the persistence rating of the flourescent coating on the screen. The line seg
m ents or dots representing the character m ust be repeated or refreshed at fre
quent intervals, or the character will simply fade away.
In our discussion of the character form ation using scan lines, we showed
only ten horizontal lines. Obviously, a typical CRT screen can display many
m ore lines than this, and each line will be subdivided into m any m ore dots or
segm ents than the few that we have illustrated. Let us now discuss the factors
involved in determining the number of scan lines and dots or segm ents per
line that are commonly used.
Horizontal and In the United S tates, the horizontal sweep or scan rate of the electron
Vertical Scan Rates beam for television is 15.75 kH z. If the beam is sim ultaneously moved ver
tically at a rate of 60 H z, then 262.5 (15,750 -s- 60) horizontal trace lines can
be produced while the beam is moved from the top to the bottom of the
screen. Of course, some tim e is required to accomplish the horizontal and
vertical retrace operations. T hus, som e of the scan lines are effectively lost
while perform ing the vertical retrace. A typical video system might require 21
or 22 scan lines of tim e to perform the vertical retrace, leaving about 240
raster scan lines for display of data. If we used 10 scan lines to form each
row of alphanumeric characters, we could get a total of 24 lines of characters
on the screen.
The number of characters that you can display horizontally along one
of the rows depends on the video frequency used; that is, the rate at which you
m odulate the intensity of the electron beam. For exam ple, if the horizontal
scan frequency is 15.75 kHz and you want to display 100 8-dot wide characters
per line, you would need a video frequency of 12.6 M Hz (15,750 x 8 x 100 =
12.6 M H z). In an actual system you would blank about 20% of these characters
to allow for horizontal retrace tim e and side m argins, and would th u s have an
80-character per line display with this video frequency.
The number of lines of data that can be displayed on the screen can be
increased in several w ays. The most obvious way would be to increase the
horizontal sweep frequency so that more horizontal scan lin es are produced
during vertical scan of the screen. For exam ple, if we increased the horizontal
scan frequency from 15.75 kHz to 18 kHz and kept the vertical frequency at 60
H z, we would increase the num ber of horizontal scan lines from 252.5 to 300
(18,000 60 = 300). However, increasing the horizontal frequency may
mean that you must use nonstandard beam deflection com ponents to achieve
this higher sweep or scan rate. In addition, you m ust now also increase the
video frequency if you still wish to attain the sam e num b er of characters per
line. Thus this approach to increasing the number of data rows can be quite
expensive.
Refresh Another approach is to reduce the vertical scan frequency. For exam
Frequency ple, if you m aintained the horizontal frequency at 15.75 kHz but decreased the
vertical frequency from 60 Hz to 45 Hz, you would increase the n um ber of
horizontal scan lines from 262.5 to 350 (15,750 -s- 45 = 350). The main prob
lem with this approach to increasing the number of scan lin es is that if the
vertical refresh rate is not synchronized with the CRT’s power line fre
quency, the electron beam can be deflected by stray m agnetic fields,
especially those produced by nearby power transform ers. This effect can cause
raster jitters if the sources of m agnetic interference are not adequately
shielded. For this reason it is usually advisable to have the refresh frequency
be the sam e as the power line frequency. T herefore, the refresh frequency
used in the U nited States is usually 60 Hz, while in other countries where the
power frequency is 50 Hz the refresh frequency for CRTs is usually 50 Hz.
Interlaced Another method of increasing the number of scan lin es available for
Scanning displaying data is to use a method known as interlaced scan. This is the scan
ning m ethod used in broadcast television. In an interlaced scanning system ,
only half of the screen is refreshed during each vertical sweep cycle. Interlaced
scanning can be illustrated as follows:
Field 1
Combined fields
(One complete frame)
Field 2
An interlaced raster scanning system employs two sweep fields: when the
electron beam reaches the m iddle of the first field’s bottom line (line 262 in the
illustration) it retraces not back to the top left corner, but rather to the middle
of the top line w here it is offset vertically by half a line. Thus the first line (line
263) of the second field is traced betw een the first two lines (lines 1 and 2) of
the first field. The fields com bine to m ake up one com plete display frame.
One of the problems with this interlaced scan method is that you effec
tively halve the refresh rate: if the vertical sweep frequency is 60 Hz then a
particular line on the screen will only be refreshed at a 30 Hz frequency. This
525 lines per fram e, 262.5 lines per field interlaced scanning pattern we have
ju st described is the system that is used in the U nited States for broadcast
television. Since television scene content consists of large w hite areas, with
adjacent fields being repeated, the low refresh rate provided in th e interlaced
scan m ethod is quite acceptable. H ow ever, if you are using the CRT to display
alphanum eric characters, all of the displayed data consists of small elem ents,
and adjacent elem ents are not the sam e. In this application, an annoying flicker
will usually result at a 30 Hz refresh rate unless a long persistence phosphor is
used on the CRT screen.
THE CRT CONTROLLER-CRT MONITOR INTERFACE

A typical low-cost CRT monitor provides three signal connections to a
CRT controller and associated electronics. The three signals are Horizontal
S yn cron ization (H S Y N C ), V ertical S yn ch ro n iza tio n (V S Y N C ), and
VIDEO. These signals are applied to the CRT monitor’s electronics: the
horizontal and vertical deflection control signals are then generated by the
monitor’s electronics and applied to the tube itself.
The horizontal and vertical sweep oscillators of a CRT monitor are
free running, and scanning is usually continuous; the purpose of the syn
chronization signals is not to start or stop the scan m otion, but rather to
shorten or lengthen the existing scan m otions so that you can synchronize the
presentation of inform ation via the electron beam . The in tensity of the
electron beam is modulated by the video input to the CRT monitor. C om m er
cial TV sets usually include video am plifier circuitry which can provid gray
levels by properly regulating the beam intensity. In CRT m onitors intended for
display of alphanum eric data, how ever, simple o n /o ff or black-white levels are
all that are necessary to produce dots or no dots. Blanking levels are also fed
to the video input to turn off the electron beam for the return trip or retrace
on each horizontal scan and vertical frame scan.
Composite Video On some CRT monitors, a single input signal called “ composite
video” is provided. The composite video signal includes H SY N C , VSYNC,
and VIDEO. T he CRT m onitor then provides the circuitry to separate out the
three signals com prising the com posite video input. T he m ajor advantage of a
com posite video signal over three separate input signals is th at this com posite
signal can be sent with a single coaxial cable. This is m ore convenient over long
cable runs or in system s w here the video display m ust be switched from one
source to another.
CRT CHARACTER GENERATOR LOGIC

In our preceding discussion of the CRT monitor, we briefly described
how a single character can be created on the CRT screen. A series of dots is
“ painted” on the screen on successive scan lines to form a single character.
The dot information is input to the CRT monitor serially on the VIDEO
input. Obviously, some logic m ust be provided to convert data that is nor
m ally handled in 8-bit parallel bytes in a microcomputer system into the
serial bit stream needed to create a corresponding data character on the CRT
screen. In addition, since each character on the screen is represented by
many dots, it w ill take more than eight bits of information to represent an
alphanumeric character. Lastly, we w ill want to be able to write more than
one character on a line; this im plies that some sort of buffering w ill be
required. Let us begin by seeing what would be needed to generate the
characters for a single 80-character row on the CRT screen.
Figure 1-3 illustrates the sequence that occurs when displaying a
single 80-character row of alphanum eric data on a CRT screen. First, the dot
inform ation for scan line 1 is applied via the VIDEO input to the CRT.
The dot pattern for all 80 characters on scan line 1 m ust be presented
consecutively. W hen the first scan line is com pleted, the dot inform ation for
scan line 2 m ust be presented to the CRT. Once again, the dot inform ation for
all 80 characters m ust be applied consecutively. This sequence is repeated until
all of the scan lines (seven in our illustration) for that character row have been
Figure 1-3. Display of One 80-Character Row of Data
com pleted. T hus dot inform ation for each of the 80 characters on the character
row m ust be presented to the CRT a total of seven tim es. The dot pattern pre
sented for each character differs for every scan line. To see how the dot infor
m ation for each character could be provided, let us exam ine the com position of
a single character.
In Figure 1-3, each character is created in a 5 x 7 m atrix. Thus each
character is actually represented by a total of 35 dots which can be either on
or off. We could therefore store the pattern for a single character in a 35-bit
memory device which could be represented as follows:
3 5 -b it
M em ory Device
1 1 1 1 0
1 0 0 0 1 • • •
1 0 0 0 1
Row Select
1 1 1 1 0 • • •
1 of 7
1 0 1 0 0
1 0 0 1 0
1 0 0 0 1
CLK ■
ni
Shift Register
(Parallel-to- • To VIDEO
Serial)
Now, with three row-select inputs to this read-only m em ory (ROM)

device, we can select the dot patterns for each of the seven rows of the
character. As each dot row pattern for the character is read out of this ROM , it
can be loaded into a shift register and then sent serially to the VIDEO input of
the CRT. That takes care of one character, but we must consecutively pro
vide the dot pattern for each of the 80 characters on a character row.
Obviously, we need a larger memory storage elem ent.
If we want to be able to represent a standard 64-character set, with
each character represented by a 5 x 7-dot pattern, we w ill need a 2240-bit
memory device (64 x 7 x 5 = 2240). This device could be represented as
follows:
We could now address the desired character in this ROM using six
address inputs, and specify the dot row of that character using the three row
select or scan line address inputs. As each character is required for presentation
to the CRT, the character address inputs are changed to select the necessary
character, while the scan line address inputs to the device access the correct dot
pattern for the current scan line.
There are two problems with the sim ple approach we have illustrated:
we are using an unnecessarily large number of address lin es, and we have
not defined a way in which we can consecutively present the proper character
addresses to the ROM device. The first problem is easily dealt with: since we
will always be accessing the scan lines in consecutive order (1 through 7) we
can sim ply provide a scan line counter which w ill increment the scan line
address (or dot row address) to the ROM as each CRT scan line is com
pleted. In our illustrated exam ple, a three-bit counter could be used to gener
ate the scan line addresses:
Now the scan line address inputs to the ROM will rem ain constant for a
com plete scan line, while the character address inputs will be changed to
address the dot pattern for each of the characters on an 80-character row.
W hen a scan line is com pleted, the counter is increm ented to select the next
dot pattern row and the sam e 80-character sequence will be repeated until all
seven rows have been scanned. W hen a subsequent 80-character row is to be
presented to the CRT, the 3-bit row counter will be reset to once again address
dot row 1 for the new character sequence.
Character The ROM , scan line address counter, and parallel-to-serial shifter
Generators logic that we have just described comprise what we call a character genera
tor. Because this com bination of devices is used so frequently, a num ber of
com panies provide fully integrated character generator devices. You can get
character generator devices that provide the required dot patterns for full
ASCII character sets with a 5 x 7 or 7 x 9-dot m atrix for each character. The
amount of logic included on character generator devices varies: som e include
character address latches, scan line counters, and parallel-to-serial shifters,
while other character generators may consist simply of the ROM with the
required dot patterns stored in the device. For purposes of our discussion, we
w ill define the character generator functions as including the elem ents
illustrated below:
Character Generator
Character
Address Latches
Scan Line K.
Scan Line C LK- ROM
Counter
Dot C LK-
E
Shift Register
(Parallel-to- -T o VIDEO
Serial)
Now that we are familiar with the character generator functions, we must
still find a way to successively present the character address inputs to the
character generator and to present this 80-character sequence of addresses
repetitively (once for each scan line) as each character row on the CRT is
written. One sim ple schem e would be to construct an 80-character buffer
which would be loaded with the data that is to be displayed. The characters in
this buffer would then be accessed one after the other and presented to the
character generator as each scan line is w ritten to the CRT. The contents of this
80-character buffer would be accessed once for each scan line com prising a
character row (seven tim es in our 5 x 7 m atrix exam ple). The relationship
between the character row buffer and the character generator can be illu s
trated as follows:
80-Character
Character Select
Data Buffer
Data
Character
Address
Scan Line C LK -
Character
►To VIDEO
Generator
Dot CLK -
One aspect of this relationship may not be obvious: the data word from
the 80-character buffer is used as an address input to the character generator.
A lthough the use of a data word as an address may seem a bit unusual, there is
no reason why the bit pattern representing a character cannot be used as an
address; each character has a unique bit pattern and thus presents a unique
address to the character generator ROM.
SCREEN MEMORY
Thus far, we have developed the logic necessary to present one 80-
character row of data to the CRT for display. You w ill recall, however, that
data on the CRT screen m ust be refreshed or rewritten to the screen at fre
quent intervals (50 or 60 H z). In addition, the screen w ill be comprised of
more than a single line of characters. One solution is to set aside an entire
block of memory for storage of data that is to be displayed on the screen. For
exam ple, if our CRT screen is going to be capable of displaying twenty-four
80-character lines of information, we can assign a block of 1920 (80 x 24)
memory locations to store the screen data.
Screen The memory used to store the data for display on the screen is referred
Memory to as screen memory. The data in the screen m em ory is presented to the
character generator, which then sends the appropriate dot stream to the CRT.
Logic m ust be provided to address the screen memory so that the appropriate
data w ill be accessed for presentation to the character generator. The data in
the screen m em ory could be accessed as 80-byte lines, with each of the twenty-
four 80-byte lines accessed seven tim es in order to produce the seven scan
lines that com prise a character row. The preceding illustration shows data
from screen memory being applied directly to the character generator.
However, we have not provided a path for putting data into screen memory;
obviously, screen m em ory would not be read-only m em ory, since we want to
be able to vary the data that is displayed on the CRT screen. Typically, screen
memory would sim ply be connected to the system data bus as shown in the
following illustration:
Now the microprocessor can load screen memory with data that is to be
displayed on the CRT screen. Subsequently, the stored data in screen
memory can be applied to the character generator as required to create the
display. One problem with this arrangem ent is that the character generator
requires that the sam e data be applied to it over and over again in order to
create the dot stream for the CRT. This results in the system data bus being
used alm ost continuously to pass data from screen m em ory to the character
generator. U se of the system data bus for this purpose could be greatly
reduced by combining the 80-character line buffer which we discussed ear
lier with the screen memory approach:
Address
To VIDEO
A complete character row can now be loaded into this buffer from
screen memory via the system data bus. The contents of the 80-character
buffer will then be repeatedly presented to the character generator while the
scan lines com prising a character row are being sent to the CRT screen. With
this approach, the system data bus will be used by the CR T-related devices
only when a new line of characters m ust be passed from screen m em ory into
the line buffer. While use of the system data bus by CR T-related functions is
still significant, the line buffer approach does help to alleviate traffic.
The preceding illustration still does not deal with the logic required to
generate the addresses to access screen memory; this is one of the functions
typically provided by a CRT controller. The following illustration includes a
logic block to generate addresses for screen memory:
Since screen memory must also be accessed by the microprocessor, the

preceding figure includes address m ultiplexing logic and data buffering
logic. There are, however, a number of other techniques that might be used
to provide for bus sh arin g by the C R T -related d evices and the
microprocessor. The m ethod used in a particular system depends on the
various system dem ands as well as on the characteristics of the CRT controller
being used. For exam ple, In tel’s 8275 CRT controller usually requires the use
of an external DM A controller in the system. O ther CRT controllers provide
som e minimal bus access contention logic to simplify coordination of system
bus sharing. Some CRT controllers provide no D M A or bus access contention
logic, and you m ust provide all the necessary logic externally.
MANIPULATION OF CRT SCREEN DATA

Cursor We have seen how a copy of the data that is to be displayed on a CRT
screen is m aintained in screen m em ory. W hen you w ant to change inform ation
that is displayed on the screen, you simply write the new inform ation into
screen m em ory at the appropriate location. When a CRT display is being used
as part of a term inal, some method m ust be provided so that an operator can
determine and control the location on the CRT screen where new data is to
be entered. Therefore, all of the CRT controllers we w ill describe can gener
ate and display a cursor on the screen. The cursor is sim ply a visible symbol
that may be moved about the screen where a transaction is to take place. The
cursor is typically displayed as a horizontal line below a character position:
t.t.r.1.1 I * t: n-H-t tf
Underscore cursor
Some of the CRT controllers allow you to program the cursor so that it
appears as a block rather than as a single line. The cursor can also be m ade to
autom atically blink on and off with som e CRT controllers. A block-type cursor
symbol can be illustrated as follows:
Block cursor
Light Pen The primary m ethod used to coordinate the input of data by an operator
Inputs to an appropriate spot on the CRT screen is to position a cursor to indicate the
point of entry. An alternate method, often used in graphic-oriented CRT
system s, is a light pen input. W ith this m ethod, you simply hold the light pen
against the CRT screen to physically indicate the position w here a transaction
or change is to occur. Im plem enting a light pen input into a CRT system
requires additional external hardw are and implies the presence of som e addi
tional logic. To understand what is required, let us briefly discuss how the light
pen input works.
Light pens are actually light sensor devices. W hen you hold the light pen
against the CRT screen, it will detect the passage of the C R T ’s electron beam
in front of the pen, generating a pulse which is sent to the CRT controller.
Since the CRT controller is generating all of the scan line and character counts
for the CRT screen, it knows the position of the electron beam on the screen at
any given m om ent. T hus, when it receives the signal from the light pen, the
values from the controller’s appropriate counting registers can be saved to
record the position of the light pen.
Several of the CRT controller devices we will describe provide a light pen
input. All of them simply use an internal register to store the appropriate
counter values at the tim e when the light pen input signal is received. The
m icroprocessor can then read the value stored in the register to determ ine the
location of the light pen.
Scrolling If the CRT screen is being used for entry of data or display of text, it is
often desirable to make the screen appear as though it were a sheet of paper
in a typewriter. Text is entered beginning at the top line of the screen and
subsequent lines are entered below. When the bottom line of the screen is
reached, the text on the screen is moved up, or scrolled. Scrolling on the
screen causes the top line to be lost from view w hile creating a vacant bottom
line for entry of additional data. This scrolling operation can be illustrated
as follows:
Before Scrolling After Scrolling
There are a number of ways that the scrolling operation can be im ple
mented. The m ost straightforw ard m ethod from a conceptual point of view is
to simply m ove the data in screen m em ory. This approach can be illustrated as
follows:
Before Scrolling A fter Scrolling
1000 I T I E X |n | 1000 T
T|M ' K E ll x T l ■-I I | N E l h i
1010I t I e x T|W ' M h i I 2 ]*) 1010 T x T| l | I | N E l h i
1020I t | e x i [ n |h i 1020 T X t | Li I N El
t |M ht> h
CO
x
11N E |
0
LU
1-
t | L 1030 T X T L I N E 5
- H
10 4 0 j t | e X t | l | i M 1040
h i h i I I I I I
T here is a very obvious problem with this approach: m oving all of the
data around in screen m em ory requires an unacceptably large am ount of tim e
and attention from the m icroprocessor.
A m uch sim pler m ethod of perform ing the scrolling function is to m ain
tain a register which will hold the screen m em ory address w here th e first line of
displayed data begins. This address, which we will call TOP, would be used as
the starting point when screen m em ory is accessed at the beginning of the first
scan line on the screen. W hen the contents of the screen are to be scrolled
upw ards, the register holding the TOP address is increm ented by a value cor
responding to the n um ber of characters contained in one line. This approach
can be illustrated as follows:
W ith this approach, no actual m ovem ent of data is required. We have

simply changed the starting location of screen m em ory and th u s effectively
m oved the data that is displayed on the screen upward. Using this approach,
you could also scroll downward since the previous top line (TEX TLIN E 1) is
still available in m em ory beginning at location 1000.
The scrolling operations we have thus far illustrated moved data one
line at a tim e. There is no reason, however, why we could not scroll the
screen data on a character-by-character basis if we desired. For exam ple, we
could scroll the screen data four characters upwards and to the left by adding 4
to the TOP register value as follows:
Before Scrolling After Scrolling
The display that would result from this type of character scrolling opera
tion can be illustrated as follows:
Scrolling by m anipulation of the contents of the screen m em ory starting

address greatly reduces the burden placed on the m icroprocessor since no
actual m ovem ent of data is required. You will note, how ever, th at this scrolling
technique still requires that m em ory locations being “ scrolled into view” be
cleared or loaded with the value representing a space character. For exam ple,
in the following line scrolling operation you m ust be sure that the ten screen
m em ory locations beginning at location 1050 are cleared, since w hatever is
contained in those locations will be displayed as the bottom line on the screen
after scrolling.
There is one obvious problem with the type of scrolling operation we

have been illustrating. Each time we scroll, we effectively move a “ w in
dow,” whose size is equal to the display capacity of the screen, through
memory. For exam ple, if our screen displays 24 80-character lines, then we
m ust provide 1920 (80 x 24) bytes of screen m em ory. Each tim e that we scroll
the display, we require an additional 80 bytes of m em ory, as the starting
address for screen m em ory is increm ented by 80. A fter we have scrolled the
screen 24 tim es we will have utilized 3840 (1920 x 2) m em ory locations. This
moving window of screen memory w ill be unacceptable in m any applica
tions. Fortunately, there is a sim ple solution. To illustrate these solutions,
le t’s assum e that our screen consists of eight 16-character lines. We therefore
need 128 bytes of screen m em ory which we will position at addresses 100016
through 107F16. N ow , when the entire screen is filled with text and we want to
scroll the screen data upw ard, we m ust add 1616 (1010) to the TOP register. This
can be illustrated as follows:
Before Scrolling
TOP Register
1000-16 | T 1 E 1 X I T I L |
IQ IO lfil T | E | X | T | L 1 N| E| | n | u | m | B | E | R | 2 | 1F16
1020-1 fi I t | E | ~ x T r E m n | u| m| b | e | r | 3 l 2F16
N U M B
nz
T E X T m l N | U | M 1 B | E I R | 5 | 4 F 1fi
L n N | u| M rE 5f16
=| X | T
n hue n | u | m[ b | E I R 1 7 | 6F-) 6
1 0 7 0 i f i | T| E f x p nU E n [ U I M I B I E I R I 8 | l0 7 F 16
1 6 Bytes -
h
After Scrolling
1010 TOP Register
h i h i |xlIt L 1 N e |1 | n | u M B lh i 1 r 1
T X h 1| N E l N u M Bih R 2
T E X N N
00
LU
T L ' M R 3
T E X T L 1| N E N U M Bh R h
T E x'I " • N E N U M h R h
T E X hiu 1 N E N U M B E R 6
h X L ' N E N M hi Rh
10701 6 [ |x | T L • N E | n| |M B hihihi 1 0 7 F 16
i o8o16n r r T T T J r 1 0 8 F 16
1 6 Bytes
W hen the next scan of screen m em ory begins, it will now start with loca
tion 101016. Eight lines of text (128 characters) will be displayed; how ever, the
bottom line displayed on the screen will not consist of the contents of m em ory
locations 108016 through 108F16; instead, TEX TLIN E NUM BER1 from
m em ory locations 100016 through 100F16 will be displayed as the bottom line.
The screen display can be illustrated as follows:
TEXTLINE NUMBER 1 TEXTLINE NUMBER2

TEXTLINE NUMBER2 TEXTLINE NUMBER3
TEXTLINE NUMBER 7 TEXTLINE NUMBER8
Memory This phenom enon is due to w raparound of screen m em ory. In our exam
Wraparound ple we require only 128 bytes of screen mem ory. Only seven address lines
(A0-A6) are required to select one of the 128 locations. T herefore, the screen
m em ory addressing logic need only generate seven address signals for connec
tion to the screen m em ory. W hen the last character in the last row of screen
m em ory (location 107F16) is being accessed, the seven address signals gener
ated by the screen m em ory address logic will all be set to 1 to represent the
address 7 F 16. The next tim e the screen m em ory address logic is increm ented,
the seven address lines will all be set low. Since only these seven address lines
need be applied to the screen m em ory to select one of the 128 locations, the
next location that will be accessed after 107F16 will be the first location in
screen m em ory (100016). T he m ore significant address lines needed to repre
sent the address 108016 are not connected to screen m em ory and are therefore
not a factor in the screen function. They may, of course, be used in other ways
within a system to select other m em ory or I/O devices, or as chip enable inputs
to the screen m em ory devices, but these uses can be m ade transparent so far as
the screen m em ory address logic is concerned.
T here is still one problem with this w raparound technique of scrolling. In
the exam ple we ju st illustrated, all of the text has been m oved up one line.
H ow ever, since the last line of screen m em ory now effectively consists of
m em ory locations 0016 through 0 F 16, the bottom line of the screen will display
TEX TLIN E NUM BER1. In order to have the last line of the display cleared,
the m icroprocessor m ust write blanks or spaces into the appropriate line of
screen mem ory. In addition, the line of screen m em ory that m ust be cleared
will change with each scrolling operation. For exam ple, after the bottom line of
screen m em ory has been cleared and a new text line (TEX TLIN E NUM BER9)
has been entered, the following scrolling procedure would be perform ed:
Before Scrolling
1000 TOP Register
O
U-
I T T L I n M
CO
e | x| I N e | Bl e |i R
1010 16 T T L N E N M E 2 1F16
* 8 R
1 0 2 0 16 T L N B 3 2F16
f I x .T N E U M E !r
T E X T L N M B E 4 3 F 16
Ni u R
T E X L N E N| M B E R 5 4 F i6
T E X L N E N M E R 6 5F16
T
T E X T L N E N u M B E r ! 7 l 6 F 16
1070*1 e I T X T L |
I N E N M B l| E I R | 8 1 1 0 7 F 16
1 6 Bytes
h
After Scrolling
TOP Register
EI x I TI L I | N|E| | N | U l M | B | E I R [3 )
E X T L N[ E| | N|UIM| B| e T~R
E nr
X | n | e | | n | u | m | b | e | r | 5 |
H U I N| E| ] N |U|M| BI
H XI t | l ■I N| E| | N| u| M| B| E| R| fl
1 0 7 0 16 T E X T L | NI E I I N | U | m |BI EI RI 8
1 0 7 F 16
1 6 Bytes
Now the top of screen m em ory begins at address 1020l6, and it is the old
TEXTLIN E N U M BER2, which begins at screen m em ory location 1010,6, that
m ust be cleared by the m icroprocessor to clear the bottom line displayed on the
screen. This scrolling procedure obviously im poses som e burden on the
m icroprocessor to keep track of the current bottom line of display m em ory and
clear that line as part of each scrolling operation. H ow ever, this wraparound
approach to scrolling m akes the screen m em ory address logic provided by a
CRT controller quite straightforw ard. A nd, since it is this addressing logic
which m akes the majority of accesses to screen m em ory, it is im portant that
this logic be kept simple.
Screen Memory Addressing: Linear versus Row/Column

In our preceding discussion of screen memory addressing, we assumed
that memory is addressed linearly; that is, the addressing is done as though
all locations on the display were stored in a continuous string of memory
locations. This is the way that microprocessors assum e that m em ory is co n
figured. This approach is not always the most efficient, however. For exam
ple, if you are m anipulating the data that is displayed on a CRT screen, it is
often most convenient and efficient if the data can be handled on a display
line basis. This is especially true when you want to im plem ent text editing
functions such as insert line, delete line, and insert/delete character.
Therefore, some of the CRT controllers provide screen memory addressing
on a row/colum n basis. In this approach, som e of the m em ory address lines
specify the data row of the character. W hile this approach can sim plify the
software required to perform many data m anipulation functions on the CRT
screen, it is accomplished at the cost of memory usage efficiency. To illu s
trate this, consider the figure below.
As you can see, using#standard linear addressing, the first character on
each row is simply stored in the next consecutive m em ory location following
the last character on the preceding row. If row /colum n addressing is used, then
this will be the case only if the nu m b er of characters on a row equals som e
power of two. O therw ise, som e m em ory locations will effectively be inaccessi
ble. For exam ple, in the illustration above, the last character on the first data
row is at m em ory address 8010 while the first character on the next data row is
at location 12810. The intervening m em ory addresses are not accessible. There
are ways around the dilem m a, such as using external logic or ROM to map the
addresses generated by the m icroprocessor and those generated by the CRT
controller for screen m em ory into the sam e address spaces. T hus, the
tradeoffs you m ust m ake will be between m ore com plicated software for text
m anipulation versus inefficient use of m em ory space and additional address
mapping logic.
Linear (Binary) Addressing (Decimal addresses)
8 0 Characters
Row/Column Addressing (Decimal addresses)
8 0 Characters
Memory Contention Logic

Although there are a number of methods that can be used to resolve
screen memory contention existing between the microprocessor and the CRT
controller, there are three techniques that are most commonly used: direct
memory access (D M A ), interlaced memory access, and, for want of a better
term, what we w ill call non-display-tim e access.
Direct Memory The D M A approach utilizes an external DM A controller to handle
Access transfers of data between the microprocessor and screen memory, and be
tween screen memory and the CRT controller. With this technique, the CRT
controller will not always have access to screen m em ory. Instead, blocks of
data, typically one character line, will be transferred u nder control of the DM A
controller from screen m em ory to the CRT controller logic. This approach is
the one used in the Intel 8275 CRT controller which provides two 80-character
buffers to hold data from screen mem ory.
Interlaced Memory The interlaced memory technique assum es that the CRT controller
Access and microprocessor w ill have equal and alternating periods of tim e when
they can access screen memory. For exam ple, the 6800 and 6500 families of
m icroprocessors use tw o-phase clocks, and the m icroprocessor will only be
using the system busses during one of the two phases. T herefore, the CRT
controller can be guaranteed access to the busses during the alternate phases.
We will discuss this technique in m ore detail when we describe the 6845 and
6545 CRT controllers.
Non-Display- A third technique for resolving screen memory contention consists of
Time Access granting the microprocessor access to screen memory during non-display
tim es when the CRT controller logic does not need access. The am ount of
tim e that will be available to the m icroprocessor to access screen m em ory
depends, of course, on your system design. For exam ple, if the system does
not include a line buffer betw een screen m em ory and the character generator,
then the CRT controller will need alm ost continuous access to the screen
mem ory. Even in this case, how ever, th ere are periods of tim e when screen
m em ory can be accessed by the m icroprocessor. You will recall from our dis
cussion of CRT tim ing that dot inform ation for the alphanum eric character dis
play m ust be presented during each horizontal scan line. H ow ever, no dot
inform ation need be presented during horizontal retrace or vertical retrace,
and these tim e intervals can therefore be m ade available to the m icroprocessor
to access screen m em ory. Typically, horizontal retrace represents approx
imately 20% of the horizontal scan line tim e; thus, 10-15 m icroseconds would
be available to the m icroprocessor during each horizontal retrace operation.
The vertical retrace tim e in a typical system would provide an other 1-1.5
milliseconds at the end of each frame. A dditionally, the contents of screen
m em ory need not be applied to the character generator for every horizontal
scan line: for exam ple, a 5 x 7 dot m atrix character m ight be centered in a
7 x 9 m atrix. In this case, dot inform ation would only be presented during
seven of the nine scan lines which com prise a character row. Screen m em ory
could therefore be m ade available to the m icroprocessor during the first and
last scan lines of each character row.
D eterm ining when screen m em ory can be accessed by the m icro
processor will require som e logic. H ow ever, this logic can be m inim al since
som e of the useful signals such as vertical blanking and scan line counts will
already be available in the system .
THE CRT TIMING CHAIN

Now that we have discussed the general characteristics of a CRT d is
play, let us look a little more closely at the timing required. Since the North
American broadcast standard for television requires a horizontal syn
chronization (H SYNC) pulse frequency of 15.75 kH z, the deflection compo
nents of most CRT monitors are designed to operate at that frequency
+ 5-10% . Another lim iting parameter of the CRT monitors is their video
response; that is, the rate at which the electron beam can be modulated. The
video response range is usually m uch wider and therefore less lim iting than the
horizontal synchronization requirem ents. We will therefore begin our discus
sion of CRT timing with the horizontal synchronization requirem ents.
HSYNC In the discussion that follow s, you must keep in mind that the num eri
cal values we will use, w hile realistic, were chosen to clarify the explana
tion. The actual values used w ill of course depend on the application and
your particular requirem ents.
We are going to use a horizontal synchronization frequency of 15.625
kH z in our exam ple. With this frequency, each horizontal scan line w ill be
64 microseconds in duration (1 -s- 15,625 = 64 x 10-6 ). T he HSYNC pulse is
applied to the CRT m onitor electronics near the end of each horizontal scan
line. Part of the 64 m icroseconds available for each horizontal scan line m ust
be used for application of the HSYNC pulse and for horizontal retrace tim e. In
a typical CRT, approximately 20% of the total horizontal scan tim e m ust be
used for retrace. The relationship between the display portion of a scan line,
the HSYNC pulse and retrace tim e can be illustrated as follows:
15.6 25 kHz -6 4 /a s (One Scan Line)-

Retrace Time
- Display Time (80 C haracters)-
(20 Characters)
HSYNC
Before continuing with our description of the timing chain, let us look
a bit more closely at the H SYNC signal. The horizontal retrace time can be
subdivided into three intervals: the HSYNC delay, the H SY NC pulse, and
the horizontal scan delay. This can be illustrated as follows:
M >
HSYNC
0 HSYNC Delay (Front Porch)
(2 ) HSYNC Pulse
0 Horizontal Scan Delay (Back Porch)

Front The HSYNC delay is often referred to in television literature as the

Porch “ front porch,” while the horizontal scan delay is frequently referred to as the
Back “ back porch.” The values for these three intervals will be determ ined by the
Porch operating characteristics of the CRT m onitor you are using. Typical values for
com m ercial CRT m onitors would call for a total retrace tim e in the range of 10
to 12 m icroseconds and a ratio of HSYNC delay to HSYNC pulse to horizontal
scan delay of 1:2:2. T hus, if we were allowing a total of 20 character tim es for
horizontal retrace, the HSYNC delay (or front porch) would be 4 character
tim es in duration, and the horizontal scan delay (back porch) would be 8
character tim es in duration. Now let us continue with our discussion of the tim
ing chain.
If we want to display 80 characters per line, then we m ust divide the
available horizontal scan tim e into approximately 100 character-times to
allow for the 20% retrace requirement. Thus the horizontal scan tim e for each
character along a line would be 640 nanoseconds (64 x 10~6 100 = 640 x
10-9). Therefore, 640 nanoseconds of each horizontal scan line are required
for each character that is to be formed. This can be illustrated as follows:
6 4 0 nanoseconds =
Character The 15.625 kH z frequency m ust be m ultiplied by 100 to derive the time
Clock allotted to a single character. Thus, the character clock frequency for our
timing chain would be 1.5625 M H z.
We are going to use a 6 x 8 character formed in an 8 x 10 m atrix for
this exam ple. Each character tim e along the horizontal scan line m ust
therefore be divided into 8 dot tim es:
From Character
Generator
— 8 dot tim es = 1 C ha ra cte r— ►
-•—►J 1 Dot Time
6 4 0 nanoseconds =
1 Character tim e
64 fx s e c
8 0 Characters —
Dot The dot clock that we need to clock the shift register which generates
Clock VIDEO m ust therefore operate at a frequency of 12.5 M H z (1.5625 x 106 x
8 = 12.5 x 106). This dot clock frequency is the highest that w ill be required
in our system .
Now we have developed the tim ing chain from the highest frequency
required down to the standard HSYNC frequency accepted by m ost CRT
m onitors. Since we have decided to use an 8 x 10 m atrix to create each
character on the screen, each character row will therefore require a total of 10
scan lines, or 640 m icroseconds including horizontal retrace tim e. A character
or data row clock would thus run at a frequency o f 1.562 kHz (15.625 kHz
10).
From Character
Generator
VSYNC The next timing constraint we m ust deal w ith is the vertical syn
chronization (VSYNC) pulse used to initiate vertical retrace. Y ou will recall
that m ost CRT m onitors in the U.S. are designed to operate with a VSYNC
pulse frequency of 60 Hz. We could m eet this param eter if the total num ber of
horizontal scan lines on our screen was approxim ately 260 (15,625 260 =
60.096). T hus, our display would consist of 26 character rows of 10 lines each.
Of course, som e tim e will be required for the vertical retrace operation. A typi
cal value for this vertical retrace tim e might be 1 millisecond. So a period of
tim e equivalent to 20 horizontal scan lines would give sufficient tim e (20 x 64
x 10~6 = 1.28 x 10~3) for the vertical retrace. This would leave a total of 240
scan lines, or 24 character rows for display of data.
Figure 1-4 illustrates the entire timing chain that we have developed.
As we mentioned at the outset, the values we have used in this exam ple were
chosen for reasons of clarity. The actual values you use w ill doubtless be
different. To highlight some of the ways in which you can vary the tim ing
chain, let us sim plify Figure 1-4 as follows:
12.5 MHz
Scan lines/Screen
(Including Retrace)
From Character
Generator
Figure 1-4. A CRT Timing Chain

In m ost applications, you will want to m aintain a VSYNC frequency of 60

Hz and an HSYNC frequency that is near the com m ercial broadcast frequency
of 15.75 kHz. Even with these constraints, how ever, there are still many
changes we can make. For exam ple, if we need to increase the n um ber of
characters that can be displayed on the screen we m ight develop the following
tim ing chain:
1 2.4 74 MHz
y
Dot CLK
Dots/Character
1.782 kHz
• Character Clock
Characters/Scan Line
-5- 110 (Including Retrace Time)
16.2 k
HSYNC
Scan Lines/Character (Data) Row

-J- 9
Scan Lines/Screen 1.8 kh

► Data Row Clock
(Including Retrace)
Data Rows/Screen
30
(Including Retrace Time)
60 Hz
VSYNC
In this illustration, we have increased the n u m b er of characters per line

and data rows per screen by using sm aller characters: 5 x 7 characters in a
7 x 9 m atrix instead of the 8 x 1 0 m atrix of our first example. This results in a
dot clock frequency that is slightly lower than that developed in our first exam
ple, and an HYSNC frequency that is som ew hat higher than our previously
chosen value. The HYSNC frequency is still close enough to the 15.75 kHz
standard to be used with m ost CRT m onitors, how ever.
GRAPHIC VERSUS ALPHANUMERIC DISPLAYS

M ost of the CRT controllers we will describe are oriented towards
alphanum eric displays w here data com prising a character line is repetitively
presented to character generator logic until all the scan lines com prising that
character row have been displayed. With this arrangem ent, m em ory storage
requirem ents and m em ory accesses are m inim ized and the character generator
logic assum es responsibility for producing each individual dot required along a
scan line.
By delegating responsibility for generating each dot on the CRT screen,
you have also surrendered control of each dot and are limited in what you can
display by the capabilities of the character generator logic. If you wish to display
graphic inform ation in which you m ust have the capability of individually
m anipulating every dot on the CRT screen, then a different approach is
required. Typically, this different approach will consum e m ore m em ory and
may require additional resources beyond those usually provided by a CRT con
troller. The concept, how ever, is rather straightforw ard. N onetheless, we will
limit our discussion of this approach since the m ore widespread use of the CRT
controllers we describe will be in alphanum eric display applications.
Bit-Mapped The m ost straightforw ard way of independently controlling every dot on
Screen the CRT screen is to m ap every dot to a specific m em ory data bit. A ssum ing
Memory that m em ory is organized as 8-bit bytes of data, you can store the dot inform a
tion for eight dot locations on a scan line as one byte o f m em ory. T hus, if the
video portion of a scan line in an alphanum eric display application were used to
present 80 characters, with each of them occupying seven dots along the scan
line, then we could store the dot inform ation for the scan line in 70 bytes of
mem ory. Each 8-bit byte would be accessed from m em ory, loaded into a
parallel-to-serial shift register, and then shifted serially at the dot clock fre
quency to create the CRT m onitor video signal.
The m em ory storage requirem ents for a single scan line of individual dot
inform ation have not been increased beyond those required by alphanum eric
data. H ow ever, while the sam e data stored in m em ory would be accessed
repetitively for the 7-10 scan lines that m ight com prise a character row, the
data for every scan line in a graphic application is unique and requires its own
separate m em ory storage locations. If the CRT screen is to display 240 scan
lines, then you m ust provide m em ory storage for 240 lines w orth of dot infor
m ation. In an alphanum eric application w here each character row was com
prised of 10 scan lines, you would only have to store 24 lines worth of data in
m em ory.
Table 1-1 lists the CRT controller devices we w ill describe in this book
and tabulates their salient functional capabilities.
Table 1-1. A Summary of CRT Controller Functional Characteristics
Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6
D P 83 5 0
8275 6845 6545 5 0 2 7 (9927)
National
Intel M otorola Synertek S M C (TO
Semiconductor
On-Chip
Yes No No No No
Dot Timing
Synchronization
Signals
H S Y N C /VSY N C Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Composite No No No No Yes
Programmable Yes No Yes Yes Yes
Display Format
Characters/Row 5 -1 1 0 1 -8 0 1 -2 5 6 1 -2 5 6 2 0 -1 3 2 *
Rows/Frame 1 -6 4 1 -6 4 1 -1 2 8 1 -1 2 8 1 -64
Scan Lines/Row 1 -16 1-16 1 -32 1 -32 1-16
Interlaced Mode No No Yes (2) Yes (2) Yes
Reverse video, Reverse video, Reverse video,

Cursor Mode Block or
blink, underline blink, block, blink, block, Block
Controls underline
block underline underline
Screen M em ory Linear or
Addressing Linear Linear Linear Row/Colum n Row/Colum n
Size (M ax) 4K 64K 16K 16K 8K
Cursor, status, Screen form at Screen form at Cursor, scroll,
Cursor,
Accessible light pen and tim ing registers, and timing, Top-of-Page
Top-of-Page
Registers cursor, light pen, cursor, light
New Row
Top-of-Page pen, Top-of-Page
On-chip Buffer No Tw o, 80-Bytes each No No No
Transparent
M em ory Contention
No DMA No Memory No
Logic
Addressing
Scrolling Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Visual Attributes No Yes No No No
Light Pen Logic No Yes Yes Yes No
Process IIL NMOS NMOS NMOS NMOS
Power +5 V +5 V +5 V +5 V + 5 V, + 1 2 V
* Up to 2 0 0 characters/row available in m ask-programmed versions.

Figure 1-5. General Block Diagram of a CRT Controller
COMPARING CRT CONTROLLER DEVICES

Figure 1-5 is a generalized block diagram showing typical logic func
tions that m ust be provided to create the interface between a microprocessor
and a CRT monitor. The ideal CRT controller device would incorporate all of
the logic functions shown in Figure 1-5. Actual CRT controller devices, of
course, do not include all of the functional blocks illustrated — it is im possi
ble to fit that m uch logic on a single chip. In addition, when you im plem ent
functions on a chip you sacrifice som e flexibility: the approach that the chip
designer has taken when im plem enting the CRT controller functions will dic
tate, to a large extent, the approach that you m ust take when incorporating the
device in your system. For exam ple, inclusion of a line buffer and the character
generator logic function in Figure 1-5 implies that all CRT controllers will be
used to generate alphanum eric displays. This will obviously not always be the
case. This also points out one of the w eaknesses of Figure 1-5: the assum ptions
that we have m ade in defining logic functions that should be included in a CRT
controller. N onetheless, we w ill use this illustration throughout this book to
indicate the functions provided by each of the CRT controllers we w ill de
scribe. W hile far from perfect, it does provide a starting point for comparing
the capabilities of various CRT controller devices.
The CRT Controller
Handbook
2
The DP8350 CRT Controllers
The DP8350 CRT controller series is one of the more recently

introduced set of CRT controller devices and provides some functions not
available on any of the other devices described in this book. N onetheless,
because its operation is quite straightforward, we have chosen to describe
the 8350 first. One reason for its relative sim plicity of operation is that some
of the functions which are user-programmable in other CRT controllers are
mask-programmable in the D P8350s. M ask-program m ing of certain func
tions m akes a great deal of sense because, while m any functions need to be
custom tailored to a particular design, they do not need to be altered once they
have been established. T he disadvantage of m ask-program m able functions is,
of course, that you m ust be a high-volum e user of a particular program m ed
version of the DP8350 in order to justify the cost involved. If you need only a
few devices and one of the standard preprogram m ed versions cannot be used,
you should not choose the 8350.
At this writing, the DP8350 series consists of three standard ROM ver
sions. These are:
DP8350 80 ch a ra c te rs /ro w , 24 ro w s, 7 x 10 fie ld
DP8352 32 c h a ra c te rs /ro w , 16 ro w s, 9 x 12 fie ld
DP8353 80 ch a ra c te rs /ro w , 25 ro w s, 9 x 1 2 fie ld
H ow ever, an additional 15 ROM versions have been generated, som e of

which may be assigned standard part num bers in the future. If a low volum e
user cannot use one of the three standard versions, any of these non-standard
versions may be used w ithout having to pay for ROM mask developm ent.
The largest functional difference between the D P8350s and the other
CRT controllers we w ill describe is the inclusion of on-chip dot tim ing logic.
The dot tim ing frequency is the highest that will be required in the CRT system
and typically cannot be provided by an MOS device. The DP8350, how ever, is
constructed using bipolar integrated-injected logic (PL ) technology which can
provide the high speed timing.
Figure 2-1. DP8350 CRT Controller Functions
The only m anufacturer of the DP8350 series is:
N A TIO N A L SEM ICON D U CTO R CO RPO RA TIO N

2900 Sem iconductor Drive
Santa Clara, CA 95051
Figure 2-1 illustrates those portions of the idealized CRT controller

which we developed in Chapter 1 that are provided by the D P8350. Both the
SYNC generation and dot tim ing logic are provided by the DP8350. Standard
cursor and scroll logic are provided on-chip along with the screen m em ory
addressing and scan line counter logic. The m em ory contention logic provided
by the DP8350 is quite prim itive and we have therefore shown this logic func
tion only partially shaded. Similarly, the program m able registers provided by
the 8350 are few in n um ber, since m any functions are m ask-program m able.
We have therefore show n this logic area as only partially present on the
DP8350.
The DP8350 CRT Controllers 2-3
THE DP8350 CRT CONTROLLER SERIES PINS AND SIGNALS

Figure 2-2 shows the pin assignm ents and signals for the DP8350. At
this point we w ill provide a brief description of each signal, since this will
serve as a good introduction to, and overview of, the capabilities of this CRT
controller. Our descriptions of the signals will be brief since we will discuss
their uses and interrelationship in m ore detail later in this chapter.
The signals may be divided into three categories: signals used to inter
face the CRT controller to the microprocessor and system busses (we include
standard power and tim ing input signals in this group), signals used to
interface the screen memory logic and character generator logic, and signals
sent to the CRT monitor.
Microprocessor RSA and RSB are register select inputs that specify which of the
Interface D P 8350’s internal registers is to receive data from the microprocessor.
Signals RLD is the register load signal used to strobe data into the DP8350
in tern al re g ister s. T h e D P8350 reg isters th a t are accessib le to th e
m icroprocessor are all w rite-only registers. In addition, there is no chip select
input to the DP8350. T hus the RLD signal perform s the functions of selecting
the DP8350 device for a register load and actually strobing the data into the
DP8350. Accordingly, the system logic used to generate RLD will have to com
b ine b o th deco d ed ad d re ss signals and th e w rite signal from th e
m icroprocessor.
A O -A ll are dual purpose, bidirectional lines. They are used primarily
as screen memory address output lines but they also serve as data inputs
during register load operations.
RAE is the RAM Address Enable input. In order to use the A O -A ll
address lines as data input lines, the RAE signal must be set low to place the
address outputs in the high-im pedance mode. It is im portant to note that this
input does not disable any of the D P8350’s internal counting logic functions; it
simply disables the outputs of the screen m em ory address lines. T hus it is up to
external logic to determ ine w hether the DP8350 will be requiring access to the
address bus before the RA E input is used to disable the address outputs. We
will discuss this in m ore detail later in this chapter.
SYSCLR is the System Clear or reset input. W hen you set this signal
low, it clears the C ursor and Top of Page registers within the DP8350 to zero
and holds the tim ing chain at that point where vertical and horizontal blanking
begins.
50/60 Hz. If this input is high it specifies that the CRT system refresh
rate is to be 60 Hz, and if low specifies a refresh rate of 50 Hz. An interesting
feature of the DP8350 is the fact that you can specify other refresh rates besides
50 and 60 Hz. The refresh rate is a mask-programmable option that you
specify when you order the device. You can always specify two different fre
quencies for a given device. T hus, for exam ple, you could specify a refresh rate
of 37.5 Hz and 45 Hz instead of 50 Hz and 60 Hz. As part of the m ask-pro
gram m ing specification, you assign an F, frequency and an F0 frequency. A
logic 1 input on the 50/60 Hz signal always selects the F, refresh rate, and a
logic 0 selects the F0 refresh rate.
X I and X2 are the input connections for an external, parallel resonant
crystal which w ill determine the operating frequency for the D P8350. The
crystal frequency is the dot clock rate that will be used. You can also use a
system clock instead of the crystal. In this case, the dot rate clock frequency
could be applied to pin 22 (X I) from a Schottky TT L series device and pin 21
(X2) should be left opened.
RSB 1 40
^ ___ VCC (+ 5
VBLANK 2 39 RSA
5 0 /6 0 Hz 3 38 RLD
VSYNC 4 37 RAE
See te x t 5 36 AO
LC3 0 A1
LC2 7 A2
LC1 QO QQ
JO A3
LC0 9 32 A4
CLRLC ■ 10 D P 83 5 0 J1 A5
CGPRG ------
■ ► 11 30 A6
LBREN ■ 10
Iz OQ
zy A7
LRCLK ■ 13 28 AP
HSYNC 14 27 A9
SYSCLR 15 26 A10
LBCLK 16 25 A1 1
EC/LRC 17
I/ OA
Z^ LCGA
LDVSR 18 23 D0TCLK
1Q 00
ZZ X1
CUREN ~
GND on
zu Zo 1I X2
Pin Name Description Type
E RSA,RSB Register Select A, B Input

%>■ «
to
RLD Register Load Input
SYSCLR System Clear Input
o>
o £ 5 0 /6 0 Hz Vertical Refresh Rate Select Input
(A 0) X1 Input
a> o j- Crystal Oscillator
O (0
o ^ X2 Output
a ® RAE RAM Address Enable Input
o £
o “ A0-A1 1 Register Inputs, RAM Address Outputs Bidirectional, Tristate
i V c c , GND Power (+5 V) and Ground
LBCLK Line Buffer Clock Output

o
LBREN Line Buffer Recirculate Enable O utput
> 1 CGPRG Character Generator Program Input
o
2 £
c
E ® LCGA Latch Character Generator Address O utput
« CD i2
£
. «o
« C
LRCLK Scan Line Rate Clock Output
~ O) Scan Line Counter Outputs O utput
LC0-LC3
$ 2^ CLRLC Clear Line Counter O utput
Jr to
° £
co o LDVSR Load Video S h ift Register O utput
-o DOTCLK Dot Rate Clock O utput
§ EC/LRC External Clock/Line Rate Clock Input
HYSNC Horizontal Synchronization Output

2 —
H* *2 to VSYNC Vertical Synchronization Output
r r rC e
LL.
o O o> VBLANK Vertical Blanking Output
5 w
CUREN Cursor Enable Output
Figure 2-2. DP8350 CRT Controller Pins and Signals

Figure 2-3. DP8350 Screen Memory and Character Generator Signals
The DOTCLK Dot Rate Clock is a buffered output at the dot rate clock
frequency used for system synchronization. The positive edge of this signal
should be used to clock the dot shift register.
Screen The next group of signals we shall describe are used to interface the
Memory and DP8350 to screen memory and character generator logic. A subset of signals
Character is included in this group and provides timing for a line buffer. Since the
Generator DP8350 generates the high frequency dot clock, all of these lower frequency
Signals tim ing signals which are derived from that clock are also generated on-chip.
That is the reason for the availability of such a large n um ber of tim ing signals
for the character generator and line buffer logic. No other CRT controller we
describe approaches the com pleteness of the set of tim ing signals provided by
the DP8350. H ow ever, not all of the signals will be required in m any applica
tions since these signals imply a very specific system organization. The system
organization implied by this set of signals is nearly identical to that of our
idealized CRT controller. T hat is, an 80-character line buffer is situated b et
ween screen m em ory and the character generator logic as illustrated in Figure
2-3.
Screen Memory In Figure 2-3, we have shown the signals provided by the DP8350 series
Signals for interfacing to screen m em ory, a line buffer, and a character generator. The
interface to screen memory sim ply consists of the 12 address outputs (AO-
A l l ) and the related RAM Address Enable (RAE) signal which we have
already discussed. T he 12 screen m em ory address outputs allow you to have
up to 4096 bytes of screen m em ory.
Line Buffer There are three signals associated with operation of a line buffer:
Signals LBCLK, LBREN, and CGPRG. LBCLK is a Line Buffer Clock signal that
is generated at the character rate and which can be used to shift the contents
of the line buffer in order to present the next character address to the character
generator. LBREN is the Line Buffer Recirculate Enable signal and is used
to select the source of input to the character line buffer. In a typical line
buffer, the recirculate enable input, when high, specifies that the character
being shifted out of the line buffer is also to be used as the input to the line
buffer in order to simply recirculate the contents. W hen the recirculate input is
low, it specifies that an alternate data source (in our application, screen
m em ory) is to be used as the input to the line buffer. Thus the line buffer is
shifted and its contents recirculated until all of the scan lines that com prise a
character row have been displayed; the LBREN signal is then set low so that a
new line of data can be loaded into the line buffer. The LBREN signal will go
low at the beginning of one horizontal blanking interval and will rem ain low for
one scan line until the next horizontal blanking interval.
You control the scan line during which LBREN is to be low by using
the Character Generator Program (CGPRG) input to the DP8350. If
C G PR G is low, the LBREN signal will go low during the last scan line of a
character row. If CG PR G is high, then LBREN will go low during the first scan
line of a character row. This allows you to select when the line buffer should be
loaded with a new line, based on w hether the particular character generator you
are using provides blank video during the last scan line of a character row or
the first scan line.
Character The remainder of the signals shown in Figure 2-3 are associated with
Generator the character generator function.
Signals LCGA is the Latch Character Generator Address signal which is used
to load a data word from the line buffer, or from screen m em ory if no line
buffer was used, into the character generator address latch to select the
character for display. The LCGA signal is generated at the character rate
frequency.
The Line Rate Clock (LRCLK) signal and the four line count output
signals (LC0-LC3) are all associated with the scan line count function. The
LRCLK signal is used as an input to character generators which have their
own internal scan line counters to increm ent that internal counter as each
new scan line is begun. The LC0-LC3 signal is applied to a character genera
tor that does not have an internal scan line counter to select the proper scan
line address for each character. Even if you are using a character generator with
an internal scan line counter, the LC0-LC3 signals may still be of use in a
system. For exam ple, you can decode these outputs to determ ine the current
scan line of a character row. This inform ation m ight be used to grant the
m icroprocessor access to the screen m em ory during non-display scan lines of a
character row. _______
The Clear Line Counter (CLRLC) signal is generated after the last
scan line of any character row to reset a scan line counter in preparation for
the first scan line of a new character row. Thus if a character row consists of
nine scan lines, the CLRLC signal will go low after the ninth scan line has been
com pleted (LC3-LC0 = 10002), resetting a character generator scan line
counter to 00002. The DP8350 will also reset its internal scan line counters at
this point (LC3-LC0 = 00002).
The Load Video Shift Register (LDVSR) signal is generated at the

character rate and used to load a parallel dot pattern for a particular
character into the parallel-to-serial converter shift register. The DOTCLK
signal from the DP8350 is then used to clock the dot pattern out serially to
create the VIDEO signal for the CRT m onitor.
CRT Monitor The final group of DP8350 signals are those most directly related to
Signals the CRT monitor. There are four signals in this group: H SY N C , VSYNC,
VBLANK, and CUREN.
The Horizontal Synchronization (H SYNC) and Vertical Synchroniza
tion (VSYNC) signals are the standard CRT monitor signals which we de
scribed in Chapter 1. The precise position and width of these signals and their
active logic states are m ask-program m able. We will describe the program m ing
options when we discuss the program m ing specifications in detail later in this
chapter.
The Vertical Blanking (VBLANK) signal becomes active at the start
of vertical blanking — that is, upon com pletion of the video in the last
horizontal scan line — and rem ains active until the beginning of the video in
the first displayed scan line of the next frame. The precise scan line where
the signal becom es inactive is m ask-program m able, as is its polarity. The
VBLANK signal may have several uses in a CRT system since it indicates a
relatively long period of tim e when the CRT controller will not require access
to the system busses.
The Cursor Enable (CUREN) signal w ill be output high by the
DP8350 during the character time that you have specified in the Cursor
register. The CUREN signal will be output either on all scan lines of a
character row or on a single line; you specify your choice as part of the mask-
program m ing procedure. Typically, the CU REN signal is logically ORed with
the output of the video shift register to produce the appropriate pattern for the
cursor at the proper location on the screen.
T here are two pins of the DP8350 which we have not yet discussed and
whose use and purpose are rather m urky. Pin 5 is shown in som e of the
m anufacturer’s literature as a pin which is not to be connected (NC) and pin 17
is given the nam e External C haracter/L ine Rate Clock (EC /L R C ) but is d e
scribed in m anufacturer’s literature as a test input. Pin 5 actually perform s a
very specific function: if it is connected to a logic “ 1,” then it has no effect
w hatsoever, but if it is connected to a low or logic “ 0 ,” the n um ber of character
rows you have specified during m ask-program m ing is cut in half. For exam ple,
if you have specified that the display is to consist of 24 character rows, then
only 12 character rows will be displayed if you apply a low to pin 5. The 12
character rows will be equally spaced on the CRT screen and a full row of
blanks will be interspersed between each displayed row. In addition, the screen
m em ory address outputs will be repeated while this blank row is being dis
played.
THE DP8350 PROGRAMMABLE REGISTERS

The DP8350 provides three user-accessible address registers: the Top
of Page register, the Row Start register, and the Cursor register. All three
are 12-bit registers and are accessed via the bidirectional address lines (AO-
A l l ) . Register selection and loading is controlled by the R SA , RSB, and
RLD signals according to the following table:
RSA RSB RLD Register Accessed
L L L None
L H L Top of Page
H L L Row Start*
H H L Cursor
X X H None
X = d o n 't care
* During vertical blanking, a load to this register also loads
Top of Page
Top of The Top of Page register contains the 12-bit screen memory address of
Page the first word to be displayed on the screen. For exam ple, if the Top of Page
Register register contains 0F 016, then the data contained in screen m em ory location
0F 0 16 will be displayed in the first character position of the first character row
on the screen. This can be illustrated as follows:
D P 83 5 0
The Top of Page register is loaded with all 0’s after system clear, and
its contents w ill not change until or unless you load a new value into this
register. The m ost com m on use of the Top of Page register will be to im ple
m ent scrolling; by loading the Top of Page register with a new value, you effec
tively m ove the data that is displayed on the screen. For exam ple, if our display
consists of 80-character lines, then we could scroll the screen contents up one
line by adding 80 (5016) to the current value held in the Top of Page register.
This can be illustrated as follows:
D P 83 5 0
140 Top of Page Register |
Row Start Register |
Cursor Register |
OFC
14C B "A
Screen M em ory CRT Screen

Row Start The Row Start register contains the screen memory address of the first
Register character that is to be displayed on a given character row. At the beginning
of every video scan line, the D P 8350’s internal screen memory address
counter is loaded with the contents of the Row Start register. This internal
address counter is then increm ented at the character rate to access each
character required along the scan line. Upon com pletion of a scan line, the
internal address counter is once again loaded with the contents of the Row
Start register in preparation for displaying the next scan line of that character
row When the first character row on the screen is being displayed, the Row
Start register contents w ill be the sam e as the Top of Page register as shown
in the following illustration:
D P 83 5 0
Screen Mem ory CRT Screen

After all of the scan lines that comprise the first character row have
been completed, the contents of the Row Start register are incremented to
point to the screen memory location containing the first character of the next
character row. For exam ple, if our display consists of 80-character rows, then
the Row Start register is loaded with a value of 14 0 16 upon com pletion of the
first character row. The D P8350’s internal address counter is then loaded with
this value to access the first character of the second character row:
D P 83 5 0
If the Row Start register is not loaded externally, the screen memory
addresses output by the DP8350 w ill be sequential on a row-by-row basis
beginning with the address specified by the Top of Page register and continu
ing through the last character line on the screen. You can, however, load the
Row Start register with a new value at any time. For exam ple, when the sec
ond character row has been displayed, you could load the Row Start register
with a value of 230l6. T hus the first character displayed on the third row of the
screen would be taken from screen m em ory location 230l6 rather than 190l6.
This can be illustrated as follows:
D P 83 5 0
This ability to display rows of data that are not arranged sequentially
in screen memory can be quite useful for text editing applications. For exam
ple, if you wish to exchange two com plete character rows of data on the screen,
it is not necessary to actually m ove any data in m em ory. Instead you can simply
exchange the order in which the row start addresses are loaded into the Row
Start register. This technique would, of course, require that you m aintain an
external table of Row Start addresses and that you load the desired address into
the Row Start register at the beginning of each character row.
You can load the Row Start register at any tim e, and that new row start
ing address will take effect at the beginning of the next scan line. If you are
m anipulating the Row Start register to accomplish non-sequential row address
ing, you should load the Row Start register with its next value after the start of
video tim e of the last scan line of the current character row. If you load the Row
Start register during vertical blanking, the sam e value will autom atically be
loaded into the Top of Page register since, at the beginning of the display, both
the Row Start register and Top of Page register m ust contain the sam e value.
Cursor The Cursor register holds the address of the position where the cursor
Register is to be displayed. You do not directly specify the screen location where the
cursor is to appear, nor do you store a pattern representing the cursor in screen
m em ory. Instead you load a screen m em ory address into the C ursor register
and, when the contents of that m em ory address location are being displayed,
the C ursor Enable (CU REN ) signal will be generated to cause a cursor symbol
to appear on the screen. For exam ple, if you load the C ursor register with an
address of 14116, then w hen the contents of screen m em ory location 14116 are
being displayed, the cursor will also appear on the screen. This can be illus
trated as follows:
r«D P 83 5 0 1
0F0
140
Screen Mem ory
In this figure we have shown the cursor symbol as occupying a single

scan line beneath the character displayed at that position. The DP8350 can also
display a cursor which occupies all of the scan lines at a given character posi
tion. If this second option is im plem ented, the cursor symbol obliterates any
character which was being displayed at that position.
The Cursor register w ill contain 00016 after a system clear. Its con
tents are changed only when you load a new value into the register.
2 -1 4 The CRT Controller Handbook
THE DP8350 CRT CONTROLLER-MICROPROCESSOR INTERFACE

The interface between the DP8350 and a microprocessor is extrem ely
sim ple in terms of signals that m ust be ex changed. There are only four con
trol inputs to the D P8350: RSA, R SD , RLD, and RAE. RSA and RSD
sim ply select one of the D P 8350’s three programmable registers, and the
RLD signal loads data that is applied via the A O -A ll inputs into the selected
register. The RAM Address Enable (RAE) signal m ust be driven low in
order to place the address outputs in the high impedance mode.
The DP8350 supplies no internal status register which can be read by
the microprocessor to determine what the DP8350 is up to at any given in
stant. The DP8350 also supplies no signals specifically for status purposes.
T here are, how ever, a n um b er of signals output by the DP8350 which can be
used by a m icroprocessor to determ ine the status and progress of DP8350
operations.
The primary information requirement of a microprocessor is to deter
mine when the DP8350 w ill be using the sytem busses. This will, of course,
be greatly dependent on system configuration; if a line buffer is not used to
hold a line of data for presentation to the character generator, th en the DP8350
will require alm ost continuous access to the system busses. Even in this case,
how ever, there are tim es when the DP8350 will not be using the busses. For
exam ple, if a character is seven scan lines high, the total character row might
be com prised of nine or ten scan lines in order to provide spacing between
character rows. D uring these “ spacing” scan lines, no data will be displayed
and therefore the CRT controller does not require access to the screen m em ory
via the system busses. Since the DP8350 outputs four scan line count signals
(LC 0-LC 3), you can simply decode these outputs to generate a bus available
signal during non-display scan lines.
Sim ilarly, since no data is displayed during vertical retrace, you can
use the VBLANK signal as a bus available indication.
If a line buffer approach is used with the D P8350, the bus access
requirements of the CR T controller are greatly reduced. Screen m em ory will
only have to be accessed w hen the line buffer is being loaded with a fresh row
of data. Thus if a character row consists of ten scan lines, the CRT controller
would only require access to the screen m em ory during one of those scan lines
while the line buffer is being reloaded. In this case, the CRT controller requires
access to the system busses for less than 10% of the time.
THE DP8350 CRT CONTROLLER-SCREEN MEMORY INTERFACE

In order to understand and appreciate the interface between the
D P8350 and screen memory, we must discuss it in the context of system
configuration. Since the DP8350 generates such a com plete set of timing sig
nals, not all of them will be relevant in a particular system configuration. Let us
begin with a sim ple system configuration where data from screen memory is
presented directly to character generator logic. This configuration can be
illustrated as follows:
RAE D P 83 5 0
Microprocessor LC0-LC4
Address
A 0 -A 1 1
Bus LCGA LDVSR
iz .
Screen Character
Data
M em ory
a Generator
In this configuration, the DP8350 w ill require alm ost continuous

access to screen memory. At the beginning of each scan line that com prises a
character row, the address contained in the Row Start register will be applied to
screen m em ory and the data from that location will then be presented to the
character generator logic. The return memory addresses will be incremented
at the character rate to access all of the characters that comprise that
character row. This sequence can be illustrated as follows:
Access Access Access -
I-
Row &tart I
Re^ J
L ___1st
^Character
— 2nd — *J
Character
:tpr •
h —Last ^j
Character 1
—
A0-A1 1 ^ Max - 1 | Max J
I « i
Data from
Screen Memory
| Max - 1 J Max J
j • i * ;U -
No other DP8350 tim ing signals are required to access screen memory
and present the required data to the character generator. The RAM A ddress
Enable (RAE) and scan line count signals (LC0-LC3) can be used by bus con
tention logic to determ ine when the m icroprocessor can access screen m em ory
and use the system busses.
2 -16 The CRT Controller Handbook
Screen Memory Access Lead Time

There is one subtle problem with the timing we have just illustrated: it
im plies that data read from screen memory is displayed im m ediately. This
is not the case. To understand the reason for this, we m ust separate out the
various functions that com prise the character generator logic function. The
following illustration shows the three primary elem ents of the character
generator function:
j V ideo S h ift R egister j
i____________________________i
D ata from screen m em ory serve as the symbol or character address
inputs to the character generator. This address is then used to access the ROM
which holds the dot pattern for that symbol. The dot pattern is read out of
ROM and loaded into the parallel-to-serial shift register. T he dot pattern is
then shifted out serially to create the VIDEO signal.
In this sequence, two different memory devices (screen memory and
the character generator ROM ) m ust be accessed and the output from each
memory device latched (into the character generator latch and video shift
register respectively). Consequently, all of the access tim es, setup and hold
tim es, and various settling and delay tim es are cum ulative. Thus you must
begin to access the first character for display on a scan line some tim e in
advance of the point where you m ust actually begin presenting VIDEO to the
CRT monitor. The D P8350 has taken these factors into consideration; it
generates the first screen memory address approximately three character
tim es ahead of the point where the first dot m ust be sent to the CRT m oni
tor. For detailed inform ation on tim ing, refer to the specifications in the data
sheets provided at the end of this chapter.
The DP8350 CRT Controllers 2 -1 7
If we add a character line buffer between screen memory and character

generator logic, we can greatly reduce demands placed on system busses by
the CRT logic. The D P8350 provides two tim ing signals (LBCLK and
LBREN) which sim plify im plem entation of a line buffer. The system con
figuration of a line buffer can be illustrated as follows:
The line buffer has two modes of operation: during those scan lines
which com prise the display portion of a character row, it continuously recircu
lates the data which com prises the character row. Prior to the beginning of the
display portion of a character row, th e line buffer m ust be loaded with the data
which it will then recirculate. When the Line Buffer Recirculate Enable
(LBREN) signal is high, data w ill be recirculated. A low level on LBREN
indicates the time during which the line buffer is loaded with the next row of
characters. The D P8350 sets LBREN low at the start of the horizontal blank
ing interval which precedes the non-display scan line where you want to load
the line buffer. If the C haracter G enerator Program input (C G PR G ) is low,
this will be during the last line of a character row, and if C G PR G is high it will
be during the first line of a character row. T he LBREN signal will rem ain low
until the start of the next scan line.
The timing for the line buffer loading operation can be illustrated as
follows:
Row Start
Register
i 2 t : i m,. - . r ^ n r
»••• — y— ;— »— n r * — i m„ - , i r
ten M e m o ry A A * J * * A
LBCLK
LBREN
--------------------------------------------- # --------------------------------------------
At the beginning of the non-display scan line w here th e line buffer is to

be loaded, the DP8350 outputs the screen m em ory address contained in the
Row Start register. T he contents of this screen m em ory location (the first
character of the character row) are read from screen m em ory and presented to
the input of the line buffer. The LBCLK pulse generated by the DP8350 loads
this first character into the line buffer and shifts the contents o f the buffer one
place to the right. The DP8350 increm ents the screen m em ory address to
access the next character, and then generates an LBCLK pulse to load that
character into the line buffer. This will be repeated, at the character rate, until
all the characters com prising the com plete character row have been read from
screen m em ory and loaded into the line buffer. T he LBCLK signal is not active
during horizontal retrace and the nu m b er of LBCLK pulses generated is equal
to the num ber of characters per row that you have specified.
A fter the line buffer has been loaded with a line of data, the LBREN sig
nal will go high. The D P8350 then outputs an LBCLK pulse prior to the begin
ning of the next scan line w here data is to be displayed. The relationship of the
line buffer tim ing to character generator logic during a scan line is illu s
trated in Figure 2-4.
We have included the screen memory address outputs and the data
access from screen memory in this timing diagram for purposes of estab
lishing reference tim ing only. In actuality, the address outputs would be d is
abled using the RAE signal during this tim e, since the line buffer is provid
ing the data required by the character generator.
You will notice in this figure that the first LCG A signal (which latches
the output from a line buffer into the character generator address latch) occurs
slightly before the active edge of the Line Buffer Clock (LBCLK) and the first
character of data is show n being output from the line buffer at this point. This
might be confusing at first, but recall th at when we loaded the line buffer, it
was shifted a num ber of tim es equal to the n um ber of characters on a line.
W hen we have finished loading the buffer, the first character of a line is present
at the output at that point. This is the stage at which we begin a new scan line,
and therefore the first character is already available from the line buffer.
The DP8350 CRT Controllers
2 -1 9
Figure 2-4. DP8350 Line Buffer and Character Generator Timing

Character Generator Logic Signals

The DP8350 provides all of the signals you w ill require for the inter
face to character generator logic. During our discussion of screen m em ory/
line buffer tim ing, we described two of the character generator interface sig
nals: Latch Character Generator Address (LCGA) and Load Video Shift
Register (LD V SR ). In addition, the DP8350 provides six signals associated
with the scan line input to character generator logic. The signals are Line
Rate Clock (LRCLK), Clear Line Counter (CLRLC), and four line counter
outputs (LC0-LC3). The tim ing relationships between these signals can be
T he LRCLK signal m akes a positive transition near the beginning of

each scan line and a negative transition at the end of the display portion of each
scan line. The line counter outputs (LC0-LC3) are increm ented on the nega
tive transitions of the LRCLK signal. T he line counter outputs give the binary
representation of the current scan line being traced (0 -F 16). T he CLRLC signal
occurs in synchronization with the LRCLK signal during h o rizontal blanking at
the end of the last scan line of any character row. W hen the CLRLC signal goes
low, the line counter outputs will all go low to represent scan line zero, the first
scan line of the next character row.
Some character generator devices include a scan line counter; for these
devices, you only need to use the LRCLK and CLRLC sign als. As we have
m entioned previously, how ever, the line counter outputs (LC0-LC3) may still
be useful for other purposes within your system. If the character generator
logic you are using does not include scan line counters, you w ill need the
LC0-LC3 signals as inputs to the character generator logic.
CRT MONITOR INTERFACE SIGNALS

The DP8350 provides three signals (H SY N C , VSYNC, and CUREN)
that are directly related to the CRT monitor interface, and two others
(LDVSR and LCGA) that w ill be quite useful in im plem enting the inter
face.
tion (VSYNC) signals are the standard signals compatible with three-signal
CRT monitors. The exact tim e at which these pulses are generated and the
width of both pulses are m ask-program m able. T he active logic state (negative
or positive pulses) of both signals is also a mask program m ing specification.
The HSYNC and VSYNC signals can, of course, be com bined with
VIDEO using external com ponents to produce a com posite video signal for the
CRT m onitors that require this type of input.
The Cursor Enable (CUREN) signal is generated by the DP8350
whenever the screen memory address is equal to the address contained in the
Cursor register. Since there is no symbol for the cursor stored in m em ory, the
display of the cursor on the screen m ust be achieved directly by bypassing
character generator logic. The logic to generate a cursor symbol can be illu s
trated as follows:
CUREN
To VIDEO
VIDEO o — -
(From Character Generator
S h ift register)
We could have used a simple OR gate so that VIDEO would be high

w henever a dot was shifted out of the character generator shift register or
w henever CU R EN was high. T hat arrangem ent would be fine if we specified
that the cursor be displayed on only one scan line and either above or below the
scan lines w here the characters are form ed. The effect, in that case, would be
the sam e with either an OR gate or an exclusive-OR gate. H ow ever, if we have
specified that CU R EN is to be high on all scan lines within a character field, the
results would be different. If a standard OR gate were used, in this case, and a
character were being displayed in the field where the cursor is to appear, that
character would simply be overw ritten by the cursor symbol since all dots
within the character field would be on. W ith the exclusive-OR gate, how ever, if
a character is present in a field where the block cursor symbol is to be dis
played, that character will appear in reverse video, since the co-incidence of a
character dot and the cursor dot will cause VIDEO to be low.
For a presentable display, the VIDEO signal to the CRT monitor must
be turned off or low during horizontal and vertical retrace. The D P8350 does
provide a vertical blanking (VBLANK) signal that could be used for this
function during vertical retrace, but no equivalent signal is directly availa-
ble during horizontal retrace. However, the Load Video Shift Register
(LDVSR) signal can be used to im plem ent this function since it is only
active during the display portion of each scan line; it rem ains high during
horizontal and vertical retrace intervals. You will recall that the LDVSR signal
is a negative-going clock pulse which is used to transfer a parallel dot pattern
from the character generator ROM into the parallel-to-serial shift register.
T hus we would not want to use this signal directly to perform the blanking
function because of the transition it m akes during the display portion of the
scan line. H ow ever, we can use the tim ing relationship that ex ists between
LDVSR and the LCGA signal to our advantage. The tim ing relationship be
tween these two signals can be illustrated as follows:
-H orizontal Retrace - -V ide o D isplay- -H orizontal Retrace
The LCGA signal is active at all tim es and its leading edge (negative-to-
positive transition) occurs at the sam e tim e as the trailing edge (negative-to-
positive transition) of LDVSR. Given this relationship, the following circuit
could be used to produce the video blanking signal for both horizontal and
vertical retrace:
CUREN
VIDEO
LDVSR
LCGA
Since both LDVSR and LCG A will be going high at approxim ately the
sam e tim e, you m ust use a flip-flop whose hold tim e requirem ents are near
zero.
The DP8350 CRT Controllers 2 -2 3
MASK-PROGRAMMING OPTIONS
Internally, the DP8350 is controlled by a ROM which determines
many of the operating characteristics of the device. You can specify your
own mask-programmed version of the DP8350 and thus obtain the func
tional characteristics needed for your particular application. Here are the
options that you can specify:
• Character size up to 16 dots in width and 16 scan lines in height

• Characters per row ranging from 5 to 110
• Character rows per frame ranging from 1 to 64
• Dot clock frequency up to 25 M Hz
• VSYNC frequency (fram e refresh rate): two different frequencies
can be program m ed
• HSY NC and VSYNC pulse position, duration, andpolarity
• Cursor type (block or single line)
T im in g Many of these options are interrelated and are based upon the timing
Chain chain that you specify. Y our starting point in specifying the program m able
options will depend on your application and such factors as w hether the m ost
im portant criteria are displaying a large num ber of characters, displaying
characters with great resolution, using widely available low-cost CRT m oni
tors, and so on. Let us begin by seeing what some of the lim its are on the tim
ing chain specification.
The tim ing chain illustration that follows is the generalized one we
developed in Chapter 1 with m axim um allowable values for the DP8350
inserted:
25 MHz (Max)
V
DOTCLK (Video)
-5- 16 (Max) D ots/Character
(2.5 MHz Max)

► Character Clock
-T-1
128
28 (Max) Characters/Scan Line (Including retrace)
► Horizontal Sync
H- 1 6 (Max) Scan Lines/Character Row
-s- 5 1 2 Scan lines/Screen

Data Row Clock
(Max)
-5- 6 4 (Max) Data Rows/Screen (Including retrace)
Vertical Sync
The values shown in this illustration should be viewed as separate

en tities, each representing the m aximum possible value that could be
included in a timing chain developed around that box. The interrelationship
of various elem ents of the tim ing chain also imposes certain lim itations on the
program m ing options you can specify. For exam ple, the m axim um dot clock
frequency perm itted is 25 M Hz and the m axim um character rate frequency is
2.5 MHz. If you are using a 25 M Hz dot clock, the m im im um nu m b er of dots
per character along a scan line is ten, since a lesser nu m b er would produce a
character clock exceeding 2.5 MHz.
There are several programming specification lim itations that are
implied in the m anufacturer’s literature but not directly stated. For exam
ple, we stated at the outset of this discussion that you can specify from 5 to
110 characters per character row. Internally, the DP8350 uses a 7-bit counter
to count character tim es, making the m axim um n u m b er of character tim es per
scan line 128. This upper limit of 128 also includes horizontal retrace tim e,
since the DP8350 uses the character rate clock to tim e this function also.
Rather than stating an upper lim it of 110 characters per row, it is more
m eaningful to state that the number of characters per row, plus horizontal
retrace tim e expressed in character tim es, cannot exceed 128.
A sim ilar lim itation ex ists with the m axim um number of character
lines per frame that you can specify. You can specify that a character row be
com prised of up to 16 scan lines and you can specify as m any as 64 character
rows per fram e. If you specify these m axim um num bers for both, the total
num ber of scan lines per fram e is 1024. H ow ever, the D P8350 uses a 9-bit
counter to count lines per fram e; this imposes an upper limit of 512 scan lines
per fram e, and the tim e required for vertical retrace m ust also be taken out of
the 512 scan line tim es. T hus, while the m aximum values of scan lines per
character and character rows per frame are 16 and 64 as we stated at the out
set, the total number of scan lines per frame including vertical retrace time
cannot exceed 512.
The DP8350 Series Option Program Table

Table 2-1 is a reproduction of the table you use to specify how you want
the DP8350 ROM mask-programmed to obtain the operating characteristics
you require. M ost of the entries in Table 2-1 are self-explanatory and con
sist either of establishing elem ents of the tim ing chain or positioning and
defining the duration of various pulses within the timing chain. We w ill
begin our discussion with the entries at the top of the table. In practice,
how ever, your starting point m ight be elsew here, depending on the primary
operating criteria for your application. For exam ple, if it is im portant that you
be able to use a widely available com m ercial CRT m onitor, you will first estab
lish dot clock, HSYNC, and VSYNC frequencies that are com patible with
those CRT m onitors.
The first four entries in Table 2-1 define the size of characters that
w ill be displayed. Entries 1 and 2 specify the size of the actual character itself,
while entires 3 and 4 define the size of the field within which the character will
be displayed. Entries 1 and 2 are therefore actually irrelevant and do nothing
to determine the operating characteristics of a DP8350; dot tim ing,
character tim ing, scan line tim ing, and so on w ill all be derived from the
specified size of the character field. The character generator logic which you
use in conjunction with DP8350 uses these tim ing signals to produce the
desired character size within the field.
Table 2-1. DP8350 Series Option Program Table
Item
Parameter Value
No.
1 Dots per Character

Character (Font Size)
2 Scan Lines per Character

Character Field (Block Size)
4 Scan Lines per Character
5 Number o f Video Characters per Row
6 Number o f Video Character Rows per Frame
7 Number of Video Scan Lines (Item 4 x Item 6)
8 Frame Refresh Rate (Hz) (two frequencies allowed)
9 Delay after/before Vertical Blank start to start o f Vertical sync ( + / - Number o f Scan Lines) f1 = fO =
10 Vertical Sync W id th (Number o f Scan Lines)
11 Delay after Vertical Blank start to start o f Video (Number o f Scan Lines)
12 Total Scan Lines per Frame (Item 7 + item 11 = 13 Item 8)
13 Horizontal Scan Frequency (Line Rate) (kHz) Item 8 x Item 12
14 Number of Character Times per Scan Line
15 Character Clock Rate (MHz) Item 13 x Item 14
16 Character Time (ns) (1 + Item 15)
17 Delay after/before Horizontal Blank start to Horizontal Sync start ( + / - Character Times)
18 Horizontal Sync W id th (Character Times)
19 Dot Frequency (MHz) (Item 3 x Item 1 5)
20 Dot Time (ns) (1 + Item 19)
Vertical Blanking Stop before start o f Video (Number o f Scan Lines)

21
(Range = Item 4 - 1 line to 0 lines)
22 Cursor Enable on all Scan Lines o f a Row? (Yes or No) If not, w hich Line?
23 Does the Horizontal Sync pulse have Serrations during Vertical Sync? (Yes or No)
W idth o f Line Buffer Clock logic " 0 " state w ithin a Character Time
24
(Number o f Dot Time increments)
25 Serration Pulse W idth, if used (Character Times)
26 Horizontal Sync Pulse Active state logic level (1 or 0)
27 Vertical Sync Pulse Active state logic level (1 or 0)
28 Vertical Blanking Pulse Active state logic level (1 or 0)
Note 1 : If the Cursor Enable, Item 22, is active on only one line o f a character row, then Item 21 m ust be either " 1 ” or “ 0 "
unless it is the same as the line selected fo r Cursor Enable.
N ote 2: Item 2 4 x Item 2 0 should be > 2 5 0 ns.
Note 3: Item 11 m ust be greater than item 4 + 1 .
This table is reprinted by permission of National Semiconductor, Inc.

Table 2-2. DP8350 Program Table*
Item
Parameter Value
No.
p
2 Scan Lines per Character i
Dots per Character r

3
4 Scan Lines per Character 10
5 Number of Video Characters per Row 80
6 Number o f Video Character Rows per Frame 24
7 Number o f Video Scan Lines (Item 4 x Item 6) 240
8 Frame Refresh Rate (Hz) (two frequencies allowed) f1 = 60 fO = 50
9 Delay after/before Vertical Blank start to start o f Vertical sync ( + / - Number o f Scan Lines) 4 30
10 Vertical Sync W id th (Number o f Scan Lines) 10 10
11 Delay after Vertical Blank start to start of Video (Number o f Scan Lines) 20 72
12 Total Scan Lines per Frame (Item 7 + item 1 1 = 1 3 + Item 8) 260 3 12
13 Horizontal Scan Frequency (Line Rate) (kHz) Item 8 x Item 1 2 15.6 KHz
14 Number o f Character Times per Scan Line 100
15 Character Clock Rate (MHz) Item 13 x Item 14 1.56 MHz
16 Character Time (ns) (1 + Item 15) 641 ns
17 Delay after/before Horizontal Blank start to Horizontal Sync start ( + / - Character Times) 0
18 Horizontal Sync W id th (Character Times) 43
19 Dot Frequency (MHz) (Item 3 x Item 1 5) 10.92 MHz
20 Dot Time (ns) (1 + Item 19) 91.6 ns
Vertical Blanking Stop before start o f Video (Number o f Scan Lines) 1

21
22 Cursor Enable on all Scan Lines o f a Row? (Yes or No) If not, w hich Line? Yes
23 Does the Horizontal Sync pulse have Serrations during Vertical Sync? (Yes or No) No
24 4
(Number of Dot Time increments)
25 Serration Pulse W idth, if used (Character Times) N/A
26 Horizontal Sync Pulse Active state logic level (1 or 0) 1
27 Vertical Sync Pulse Active state logic level (1 or 0) 0
28 Vertical Blanking Pulse Active state logic level (1 or 0) 1
Note 4: Horizontal and Vertical sync pulses are compatible w ith Ball
Brothers T V -12 or T V -120 series monitors or equivalents.
* 8 0 ch a ra cte rs/ro w x 24 chara cter rows, 7 x 10-ch a ra cte r cell dot m a trix

Item
Parameter Value
No.
1 Dots per Character 7


5 Number of Video Characters per Row 32
6 Number o f Video Character Rows per Frame 16
10 Vertical Sync W id th (Number of Scan Lines) 3 3
11 Delay after Vertical Blank start to start o f Video (Number of Scan Lines) 68 120
12 Total Scan Lines per Frame (Item 7 + item 11 = 13 -5- Item 8) 260 312
13 Horizontal Scan Frequency (Line Rate) (kHz) Item 8 x Item 1 2 15.6 kHz
14 Number of Character Times per Scan Line 50
15 Character Clock Rate (MHz) Item 13 X Item 14 0 .7 8 MHz
16 Character Time (ns) (1 + Item 15) 128 2 ns
17 Delay after/before Horizontal Blank start to Horizontal Sync start ( + / - Character Times) 6
19 Dot Frequency (MHz) (Item 3 x Item 1 5) 7.02 MHz
20 Dot Time (ns) (1 Item 19) 1 42.4 ns
Vertical Blanking Stop before start o f Video (Number o f Scan Lines)

21 0
22 Cursor Enable on all Scan Lines of a Row? (Yes or No) If not, w hich Line? Yes
23 Does the Horizontal Sync pulse have Serrations during Vertical Sync? (Yes or No) Yes
24 5
(Number o f Dot Time increments)
25 Serration Pulse W idth, if used (Character Times) 4
Note 4: Horizontal and Vertical sync pulses are RS1 70 Compatible.
* 32 ch a ra cte rs/ro w x 16 chara cter ro w s, 9 x 1 2-ch a ra cte r ce ll dot m a trix

2-2 8 The CRT Controller Handbook
Item
Parameter Value
No.


5 Number o f Video Characters per Row 80
6 Number of Video Character Rows per Frame 25
10 Vertical Sync W id th (Number o f Scan Lines) 3 3
11 Delay after Vertical Blank start to start of Video (Number o f Scan Lines) 20 84
12 Total Scan Lines per Frame (Item 7 + item 11 = 13 + Item 8) 320 384
13 Horizontal Scan Frequency (Line Rate) (kHz) Item 8 x Item 1 2 19.20 kHz
14 Number o f Character Times per Scan Line 102
15 Character Clock Rate (MHz) Item 13 x Item 14 1 .9584 MHz
16 Character Time (ns) (1 Item 15) 5 10 .6 ns
17 Delay a fter/before Horizontal Blank start to Horizontal Sync start ( + / - Character Times) 5
19 Dot Frequency (MHz) (Item 3 x Item 1 5) 17 .6 2 5 6 MHz
20 Dot Time (ns) (1 Item 19) 56.7 ns
Vertical Blanking Stop before start o f Video (Number o f Scan Lines) 1

21
22 Cursor Enable on all Scan Lines of a Row? (Yes or No) If not, w hich Line? Yes
23 Does the Horizontal Sync pulse have Serrations during Vertical Sync? (Yes or No) No
W idth o f Line Buffer Clock logic " 0 ” state w ithin a Character Time
24 5
(Number of Dot Time increments)
25 Serration Pulse W idth, if used (Character Times) N /A
Note 4: Horizontal and Vertical sync pulses are compatible w ith Motorola M 3 0 0 0 series m onitors or equivalents.
* 8 0 ch a ra cte rs/ro w x 2 5 chara cter ro w s, 9 x 1 2-ch a ra cte r cell dot m a trix

The DP8350 CRT Controllers 2 -29
Item # 5 in the option program table specifies the number of d is

played characters per row. This in turn establishes the number of LDVSR
pulses per line. Item # 1 4 is the number of character tim es per scan line
and includes the horizontal retrace delay. T hus, item # 5 plus the horizontal
retrace delay stated in character tim es is equal to item # 1 4 , which in turn
determines the character clock rate for the DP8350.
Item # 7 indicates the number of displayable scan lines per frame
and is the product of scan lines per character (item # 4 ) and character rows
per fram e (item # 6 ) . As we discussed earlier, this value, plus the vertical
retrace tim e expressed in scan lin es, cannot exceed 512; thus, the m aximum
value for item # 1 2 is 512.
Vertical retrace takes place during vertical blanking, which is au to m at
ically initiated at the end of the last displayed scan line. The duration of the
non-video portion during vertical retrace is defined in terms of scan lines in
item # 1 1 . The starting point for the VSYNC pulse and its duration are
defined by item s # 9 and # 1 0 respectively. The following illustration
shows the relationships betw een VBLANK, VSYNC, and the video portion of
each frame:
1 scan lin e --------------------------------.
tim e 1
fy
(27) VBLANK
■ ih
0 to ( @ - 1)
- ih scan lines
VSYNC
L
Video
-tt-
Last displayed 1st displayed scan line/ / ^

scan line o f frame o f frame
Item s # 2 7 and # 2 8 sim ply specify the polarity, or active logic

state, for the VBLANK and VSYNC signals.
The HSY NC frequency is specified in item # 1 3 . It is the product of

vertical refresh rate (item # 8 ) tim es total scan lines per fram e (item # 1 2 ).
It can also be derived, of course, by dividing the character clock rate
(item # 1 5 ) by the num ber of character tim es per scan line (item # 1 4 ),
depending on which direction you are working along the tim ing chain. The
position and duration of the HSYNC pulse in relation to the horizontal
blanking or non-video portion of each scan line are specified in item s # 1 7
and # 1 8 respectively. This relationship can be illustrated as follows:
Last character 1st character
on scan line^. on next scan line.
LCGA f \
U '
Hblank
— @ — j. - --
@ HYSNC
'
@ @
------------------© --------------- A
The polarity of the HSYNC pulse is specified in item # 2 6 .

Items # 2 3 and # 2 5 define whether the H SY NC pulse is to have serra
tions during vertical retrace time. T hese serrations may be required with
som e m onitors and, if so, the pulse widths of the serrations are specified in
item #25.
The following illustration shows how the various entries in the

DP8350 series option program table relate to the generalized timing chain
which we developed in Chapter 1.
Option Program
Table Entry #
19
©
15
14
Scan lines/Screen
(Including retrace)
Tables 2-2, 2-3, and 2-4 are option program tables for the prepro
gram m ed devices available.
DATA SHEETS
This section contains specific electrical and tim ing data for the DP8350.
The DP8350 CRT Controllers 2-3 3
DP8350
Crystal Inputs X1 and X2: The “ Pierce’ -type oscillator Table 4. Typical Crystal Specifications
is controlled by an external crystal providing parallel
resonant operation. Connection of external bias compo Specification
Parameter
nents is made to pin 22 (X1) and pin 21 (X2) as shown in DP8350 I DP8352 DP8353
Figure 6. It is important that the crystal be mounted in
close proximity to the X1 and X2 pins to ensure that Type At-Cut
printed circuit trace lengths are kept to an absolute mini Frequency 10.92MHz | 7.02MHz | 17.6256MHz
mum. Typical specifications for the crystal are shown in
Tolerance 0.005% at 25 °C
Table 4 for each of the standard products, DP8350,
DP8352, and DP8353. When customer mask options re Stability 0.01% from 0°C to +70°C
quire higher frequencies, it may be necessary to change Resonance Fundamental, Parallel
the crystal specifications and biasing components. If Maximum Series
the CRTC is to be clocked by an external system dot Resistance 50Q
clock, pin 22 (X1) should be driven directly by Schottky
Load
family logic while pin 21 (X2) is left open. The typical
Capacitance 20 pF
threshold for pin 22 (X1) is Vcc/2.
C1
TO INTERNAL
LOGIC
CRYSTAL
Figure 6. Dot Clock Oscillator Configuration with

Typical External Bias Circuitry Shown
Custom Order Mask Programmability: The DP8350 Table 5. Mask Programming Limitations
Series CRT controller is available in three standard op
tions designated DP8350, DP8352, and DP8353. The
Desig Min. Max.
nation Parameter Value Value
functional format of these devices was selected to meet
the typical needs of CRT terminal designs. In order to f DOT Dot Rate Frequency DC 30 MHz
accommodate specific customer formats, the DP8350 ^CHAR Character Rate Frequency DC 2.5 MHz
series CRT controller is mask programmable with a Line Buffer Clock Logic “0”
diverse range of options available. The items listed in Width (Item 20 x Item 24) 200 ns
the program table worksheet indicate the available Item 3 Dots per Character Field
options, while Table 5 tabulates the programming con Width 4 16
straints. Item 4 Scan Lines per Character
Field 2 16
Item 12 Scan Lines per Frame 512
Item 14 Character Times Video 5 122
per Row Blanking 6 123
Item 11 Scan Lines per Vertical (Item 4)
Blanking +2
If the cursor enable o utput, Item 22, is active on only one
line of a character row, then Item 21 value must be either
“ 1” or "O” or equivalent to the line selected for the
cursor enable output.
Data sheets on pages 2 -3 3 through 2 -3 8 reprinted by permission of National Semiconductor Corporation.

DP8350
Absolute Maximum Ratings (Note i> Operating Conditions (Note 6)
Supply Voltage, VCc 7.0V Min. Max. Units
Input Voltage 5.5V Vcc. Supply Voltage 4.75 5.25 V
Output Voltage 5.5V Ta, Ambient Temperature 0 *70 °C
Storage Temperature Range 165°C to S150°C
Lead Temperature (soldering, 10 seconds) 300°C
Electrical Characteristics ,
vcc = 5 v ± 5 % , t a = o ° c to + 7 o °c (Notes 2 3 , and 5)
Parameter Conditions Min. Typ. Max. Units
V|H Logic “ 1” Input Voltage

All Inputs Except X1, X2 RESET 2.0 V
RESET 2.6 V
V,L Logic “0” Input Voltage

All Inputs Except X1, X2 0.8 V
VHYS RESET Input Hysteresis 0.4 V
^clamp Input Clamp Voltage

All Inputs Except X1, X2 lm = -1 2 m A -0 .8 -1 .2 V
IlH Logic “ 1” Input Current

A0-A11 Enable Input = 0 V ,
Vcc = 5.25V, VIN = 5.25V 10 100 mA
All Other Inputs Except X1, X2 Vcc = 5.25V, V|N = 5.25V 2 20 mA
I.L Logic “0 ” Input Current

A o-A n Enable Input = 0V,
Vcc = 5.25V, V,N = 0.5V -2 0 -1 0 0 mA
All Other Inputs Except X1, X2 Vcc = 5.25V, V,n = 0.5V -2 0 -1 0 0 mA
VOH Logic “ 1” Output Voltage Ioh = —100 jiA 3.2 4.1 V

Iqh = _ 1 mA 2.5 3.3 V
VOL Logic “0 ” Output Voltage l0L = 5m A 0.35 0.5 V
•os Output Short Circuit Current Vcc = 5V, Vqut = 0V (Note 4) 10 40 100 mA
'cc Power Supply Current Vcc = 5.25V 185 260 mA

Note 1: “ A bsolute M axim um R atings” are those values beyond w hich the safety of the device cannot be guaranteed. They are not
meant to im ply tha t the device should be operated at these lim its. The table of “ E lectrical C h aracte ristics” provides co nd itio ns for
a ctual device operation.
Note 2: Unless otherw ise specified, min./m ax. lim its apply across the 0°C to +70°C tem perature range and the 4.75V to 5.25V power
supply range. A ll typical values are for TA = 25°C a n d V cc = 5-OV and are intended for reference only.
Note 3: All currents in to device pins are shown as positive; all currents out of device pins are shown as negative; all voltages are refer
enced to ground, unless otherw ise specified. All values shown as max. or min. are so classifie d on absolute value basis.
Note 4: Only one o utp ut at a tim e should be shorted.
Note 5: Electrical sp e cifica tio n s do not apply to pin 17, external char/line clock, as this pin is used for production testin g only.
Note 6: Functional operation of device is not guaranteed when operated beyond specified operating co nd itio n lim its.
Switching Characteristics vc c = 5 . o v ± 5 % , T A = 2 5 oc(N ote7)
Load
Parameter Circuit Notes Min. Typ. Max. Units
Symmetry Dot Rate Clock Output High

Symmetry With Crystal Control 1 50% - 4 5 0 % -2 50% + 1 ns
tpdl XI Input to Dot Rate Clock
Output Positive Edge 1 17 22 ns
tpdO XI Input to Dot Rate Clock
Output Negative Edge 1 21 26 ns
tD1 Dot Clock to Load Video Shift
Register Negative Edge 1 6 10 ns
*D2 Dot Clock to Load Video Shift
Register Positive Edge 1 11 15 ns
*D3 Dot Clock to Latch Character

Generator Positive Edge 1 8 13 ns
*D4 Dot Clock to Latch Character
Generator Negative Edge 1 6 10 ns
The DP8350 CRT Controllers 2 -35
DP8350
Switching Characteristics (cont’d)vCc=5.ov±5%,TA=25oc(Note7)
Load
Parameter Circuit Notes Min. Typ. Max. Units
^D2~^D3 Latch Character Generator Positive

Edge to Load Video Shift Register
Postive Edge 1 0 3 ns
*D5 Dot Clock to Line Buffer Clock
Negative Edge 1 23 35 ns
*PW1 Line Buffer Clock Pulse Width 1 8,9 N(DT) N(DT)+8 N(DT)+12 ns
*D6 Dot Clock to Cursor Enable Output
Transition 1 24 36 ns
*D7 Dot Clock to Valid Address Output 1 15 25 ns
*D8 Latch Character Generator to Line
Rate Clock Transition 1 8 380 + DT 500 + DT ns
*D9 Latch Character Generator to
Clear Line Counter Transition 1 8 480 + DT 700 + DT ns
*010 Line Rate Clock to Line Counter
Output Transition 1 60 120 ns
^dh Line Rate Clock to Line Buffer
Recirculate Enable Transition 1 195 300 ns
*D12 Line Rate Clock to Vertical
Blanking Transition 1 160 300 ns
*D13 Line Rate Clock to Vertical Sync
Transition 1 220 300 ns
*D14 Latch Character Generator to
Horizontal Sync Transition 1 96 150 ns
*S1 Register Select Set-up Before
Register Load Negative Edge 0 ns
Register Select Hold After Register
Load Positive Edge 0 ns
*S2 Valid Address Input Set-Up Before
Register Load Positive Edge 250 ns
*H2 Valid Address Hold Time After
Register Load Positive Edge 0 ns
*PW2 Register Load Required Pulse Width 150 65 ns
*LZ> *HZ Delay from Enable Input to Address
Output High Impedance State from
Logic “0” and Logic “1” 2 15 30 ns
*ZL> *ZH Delay from Enable Input to Logic
“0” and Logic “ 1” from Address
Output High Impedance State 2 17 30 ns
Note 7: Typical values are for VCC = 5.0V and TA = 25°C and are meant for reference only.
Note 8: "D T ” denotes dot rate clock period tim e, item 20 from o ption form at table.
Note 9: “ N ” denotes value of item 24 from o ptio n form at table.
Switching Load Circuits
Note: CL includes probe and jig capacitance. All diodes are 1N914 or equivalent.
DP8350
Switching Waveforms tr = tf < 10 ns
X2 (PIN 21) = OPEN
I tpdl I tpdO
DOT RATE CLOCK

V 5> [ ~
Figure 7. Dot Rate Clock Output Waveform Symmetry Figure 8. XI Input to Dot Rate Clock Output
with Crystal Control Propagation Delay
DOT COUNT
DOT RATE CLOCK
LINE BUFFER CLOCK
] i - j ______ : : : _____ 1 ________ a

_____ _______ I X
Note 1: All m easurement points are 1.5V
Figure 9. Dot/Character Rate Timing
VERTICAL SYNC
HORJZONTAL SYNC
Note 1: A ctual p ola rity and position of the horizontal sync start and stop p oints is a function of the particula r device form at.
Note 2: All m easurement points are 1.5V.
Figure 10. Character/Line Rate Timing

DP8350
Switching Waveforms (cont’d)
|—
—tpW2--|
REG ISTER
LOAD
\ J
3V -
REGISTER
S E LEC T
A AND B
OV - r z r x
ADDRESS
BUS
3 o e
Note 1: All measurement p oints are 1.5V.
Note 2: t r = tf < 1 0 n s .
Note 3: Address enable (pin 37) = 0V.
Figure 11. Register Select and Load Waveforms Figure 12. Address Output Enable/Disable
Waveforms
Timing Diagrams
f*" BLANKING ” T* TIME BLANKING ”
\i o o r i r T r i ^ n r ~ L ] ^ n r “i r a r i ^
i i „ i
r U « y « y
I
I
xn d |n x z i _ n i I n i
--eH— -1----
—
r
----- r
---1—^ i
-------- 1-------r -^<h------ 1
i i—^ __ i _L_ -~rH H - _ i_
Note 1: One full row before start of video the line counter is set to zero state — this provides line counter synchronization in cases
where the number of lines in vertical blanking are not even m ultiples of the number of lines per row.
Note 2: The position of the line buffer recirculate enable logic low level is a function of the logic level of the address mode input (see
Table 3).
Note 3: The stop point of the vertical blanking output active signal is a function of device type or custom option, and will always be
within one row prior to video.
Note 4: The transition start and stop points of the vertical sync output signal are a function of device type or custom option.
Figure 14. Line/Frame Rate Functional Diagram
—l- i—
HORIZONTAL
SYNC
OUTPUT
__ n _ n ____n U LJ— LTL _ R _
<•— SERRATION PULSE ENVELOPE— I
I— T2|— — -| T1 | -T 2 * |
VERTICAL (NOTE 1) I (NOTE 2)

SYNC -
OUTPUT
P= HORIZONTAL SCAN TIME PERIOD (ITEM 14 FROM PROGRAM TABLE)
H= HORIZONTAL SYNC WIDTH (ITEM 18 FROM PROGRAM TABLE)
S= SERRATION PULSE WIDTH (ITEM 25 FROM PROGRAM TABLE)
T1 = P-H (MAX)
T2 = H-1 CHARACTER TIME (MAX)
Note 1: The vertical sync transition point is always coincident with the beginning of horizontal blanking.
Note 2: T1 and T2 intervals represent the range of alignm ent offset between the vertical sync pulse and the serration pulse envelope
and is a function of the horizontal sync position with respect to the beginning of horizontal blanking.
Figure 15. Serration Pulse Format

DP8350
3
The 8275 CRT Controller
The 8275 CRT controller represents an interesting contrast to the

DP8350 device described in the preceding chapter. The designers of these
two chips have taken com pletely different approaches to im plem enting the
controller function. W hile both devices allow you to specify many options,
such as character size and tim ing chain parameters, the 8275 options are
specified under program control instead of being mask-programmed as in
the DP8350.
The unique feature of the 8275 CRT controller is the inclusion of two
80-character buffers w ithin the device. The presence of these data buffers and
the m icroprocessor interface logic provided by the 8275 imply, and in fact
dem and, a very specific system configuration — one that is quite different from
that which would be used with the DP8350.
Figure 3-1 illustrates those logic functions of the idealized CRT con
troller, which we described in Chapter 1, that are provided by the 8275. The
two most notable aspects of this figure are the presence of line buffer logic
and the absence of any refresh memory addressing logic. The 8275 device will
often be used in conjunction with a DM A controller such as the 8257. The
DM A controller generates the screen m em ory addresses and loads the data
that is to be displayed into the 8275’s row buffers.
Figure 3-1 indicates that the 8275 device provides memory contention
logic, but no scrolling logic. The memory contention logic actually consists of
those signals used to interface to the DM A controller; the 8275 device
sim ply waits for external logic (such as a DMA controller) to provide it with
data it has requested. The scrolling function is also performed via external
logic; scrolling is easily im plem ented in an 8275 system but is perform ed
transparently so far as the 8275 device itself is concerned.
Figure 3-1. 8275 CRT Controller Function Logic
The 8275 does not provide any dot timing logic but does generate the
lower frequency scan line counter signals and H SY NC and VSYNC timing
signals. The cursor logic and blanking logic provided by the 8275 is quite
extensive and allows you to easily im plem ent a number of options with a
m inim um of external circuitry. Light pen logic is also provided by the 8275.
T he sole m anufacturer of the 8275 device is:
INTEL CORPO RA TIO N

3065 Bowers A venue
Santa Clara, CA 95051
The 8275 CRT Controller 3-3
THE 8275 CRT CONTROLLER PINS AND SIGNALS

Figure 3-2 shows the pin assignm ents and signals for the 8275. We
w ill provide a brief description of each signal since this w ill serve as a good
introduction to, and overview of, the capabilities of the 8275. We will discuss
the uses of the signals and their interrelationships in m ore detail later in this
chapter.
The 8275 signals may be divided into three categories: signals used to
interface the controller to the microprocessor and system b usses, signals
used to interface the controller to character generator logic, and signals
directly related to the controller-CRT monitor interface.
The microprocessor system -controller interface signals are described
below.__
Microprocessor CS is a standard chip select input signal which would typically be
Interface generated by system address decoding logic. CS m ust be low in order to read
Signals status from , or write com m ands to, the 8275. Note that the CS signal must
remain inactive when writing display data into the 8275’s row buffers since
this is performed under control of external (DM A) logic.
AO is the register address input that specifies which of the 8275’s
internal registers is to be accessed by a read or write operation.
RD is the Read signal that controls the output of status data or
parameters from the 8275 onto the data bus.
WR is the Write signal that must be low when command or parameter
information is to be written into one of the 8275’s internal registers. It is
also active when data is written into the row buffers.
D B0-DB7 are the data bus lines used to exchange 8-bit parallel bytes
of information between the 8275 and the microprocessor system . These 8 tri
state lines are bidirectional.
IRQ is an Interrupt Request output. You can program the 8275 so that
an interrupt request will be generated at the end of each fram e when the last
display row of the screen is begun.
DRQ is the DM A Request signal used to request transfer of data from
memory to the 8275 row buffers.
The DACK input is the DM A Acknowledge signal from a DM A con-
troller and indicates that the DM A cycle requested by DRQ has been granted.
DA CK serves as the chip select input when data from screen m em ory is being
loaded into the 8275 row buffers.
CCLK is the Character rate Clock used to time all of the internal
operations of the 8275. This clock signal m ust be derived from external dot
tim ing logic. T hus it is not truly a m icroprocessor system interface signal, but is
associated m ore with the video and character generator logic. N onetheless, we
have grouped it with the other m icroprocessor interface signals since it is the
primary tim ing input to the 8275 device.
Vcc and GND are the standard power ( + 5 volts) and ground connec
tions. v
1 40
2 39
3 38
4 37
5 36
6 35
7 34
8 33
9 32
10 8275 31
11 30
12 29
13 28
14 27
15 26
16 25
17 24
18 23
19 22
20 21
Pin Name D escrip tion Type
E CS Chip Select Input

© A0 Register Address Input
«>
> (0
n RD Read Control Signal Input
</> C
WR W rite Control Signal Input
8
(A Q)
55 DB0-DB7 Data Bus Lines Bidirectional, Tristate
® O IRQ Interrupt Request Output
o 5 DRQ DMA Request Output
CL ®
o £ DACK DMA Acknowledge Input
o “ CCLK Character Rate Clock Input
i V c c , GND Power (+ 5 V) and Ground
» O »
m 2 * CC0-CC6 Character Code (Inputs to Character Generator) O utput
2 ® E,
<0 c .? LC0-LC3 Scan Line Counter Output
-c a> co
o a
HRTC Horizontal Retrace (HSYNC) Output

(0
c VRTC Vertical Retrace (VSYNC) Output
o>
(/j VSP Video Suppression (blanking) Output
LTEN Light Enable (cursor) O utput
.? RVV Reverse Video Indicator Output
O HGLT H ighlight Indicator Output
2 LAO, LA1 Line A ttrib u te Code Signals Output
H
a GPAO, GPA1 General Purpose A ttribute Code Signals Output
o LPEN Light Pen Detect Signal Input
Figure 3-2. 8275 CRT Controller Pins and Signals

Character There are two sets of signals associated directly with character genera
Generator tor logic: CC0-CC6 and LC0-LC3.
Signals CC0-CC6 are the Character Code Outputs from the 8275 which will be
used as inputs to character generator logic. The 7-bit character codes are
simply the contents of the 8275’s internal character row buffers and typically
represent ASCII characters. N ote that you load the internal row buffers with 8-
bit data characters from m em ory but only output 7-bit character codes; the
m ost significant bit of the m em ory data word is used to differentiate between
special control codes and data for display and is not output on the character
code lines. The m ost significant bit of data that is to be displayed m ust be set to
0. W ith the rem aining 7-bit character codes you can represent 128 different
characters. These are typically address inputs to the character generator.
The LC0-LC3 outputs are scan line counter signals which are used by
character generator logic to select the proper dot pattern for the particular
scan line currently being output. These are typically additional address
inputs to the character generator.
CRT Monitor The 8275 provides an abundance of CRT monitor-related signals.
Signals Some of these signals are the familiar ones we have encountered and discussed
in previous chapters, while others are unique, special-purpose signals. Let us
begin with the standard CRT monitor signals.
HRTC and VRTC are the Horizontal and Vertical Retrace signals
which, in more standard nomenclature, are usually named Horizontal Syn
chronization (H SY N C ) and Vertical Synchronization (V SY N C ). The d u ra
tion of both of these signal pulses is program m able and is established using the
Reset com m and.
VSP is the Video Suppression or blanking output that external logic
can use to blank the video signal to the CRT monitor. The prim ary function
of this signal is to suppress video during horizontal and vertical retrace opera
tions, and it is autom atically set high by the 8275 during these intervals. There
are several other program m able functions for this signal which we shall discuss
further when we describe the CRT m onitor interface.
LTEN is the Light Enable signal which can be used to override
character generator logic and present a continuous stream of dots to the CRT
monitor. The primary function of this signal is to produce a cursor symbol at
a program m ed position on the screen. The signal can also be used in conjunc
tion with special visual attribute codes to produce graphic (non-alphanum eric)
symbols.
RVV is the Reverse Video signal which can be used by external logic to
cause an inversion of the normal video signal. The result of this inversion is
that a white character on a black background is displayed as a black character
on a white background. You can also specify a reverse video cursor block
instead of an underscore cursor: the RVV signal would be used to produce the
reverse video symbol.
HGLT is the H ighlight output signal which can be used by external
logic to produce a dual-intensity display. The 8275 outputs H G LT high at
screen positions that you specify u n d er program control. It is then up to ex ter
nal logic or CRT m onitor electronics to intensify the electron beam at those
points on the screen.
LAO and LAI are Line Attribute signals which can be decoded by
external logic to generate a set of predefined horizontal and vertical line
com binations to produce a lim ited set of 11 graphic sym bols. These two sig
nals are autom atically activated by the 8275 when one of the special control
codes is read from screen m em ory.
GPAO and GPA1 are General Purpose Attribute signals which can be
used by external logic to generate special graphic sym bols beyond those pro
vided by the LAO and LAI codes. Since these signals have no predeterm ined
functions, you can also use them for other system control functions. These sig
nals are also activated autom atically by the 8275 when appropriate control
codes are read from screen m em ory.
LPEN is the Light Pen detect input signal which, in conjunction with
exernal logic, can be used to im plem ent a light pen circuit. A positive edge on
the LPEN input causes the 8275 to capture and store the present row and col
um n screen position inform ation that it m aintains in its internal counters.
As you can see from the preceding paragrahs, many of the CRT m oni
tor interface signals require external logic in order to perform the function
that they are intended for. We shall describe in som e detail how these func
tions might be im plem ented later in this chapter when we discuss the CRT
m onitor interface. We will also see that m any of these signals could be used to
im plem ent functions other than those indicated by their nam es, since all you
are really doing is turning the signals on and off u nder program control at
specified screen positions.
THE 8275 CRT CONTROLLER PROGRAMMABLE REGISTERS

The 8275 provides a number of internal registers which can be
accessed under program control to direct the operation of the device and to
obtain information from the device concerning its operation. The 8275
registers are illustrated in Figure 3-3.
The three prim ary reg ister types are S ta tu s, C om m and, and
Parameter. The X®, TO), WR, and CS signals determine which register w ill
be accessed. The conditions for accessing these registers are listed in Table
3-1. The Status register is a read-only register, the C om m and register is a
write-only register, while som e of the Param eter registers are read-only and
others are write-only. The Command and Status registers can be directly
accessed by the microprocessor at any tim e, but the Parameter registers can
only be accessed as part of a command sequence. The Param eter registers are,
effectively, a secondary set of internal registers. To access these secondary
registers, you m ust first write a com m and byte into the C om m and register and
then follow that com m and with read or write operations directed to the desired
secondary registers.
We will defer a discussion of the individual bit assignm ents of the C om
m and register and the secondary set of registers until we discuss the 8275 com
m ands in detail. At this point, we w ill lim it our discussion to the individual
bit assignm ents of the Status register.
AO CS
□ Primary Registers
□ Secondary Registers
Figure 3-3. CRT Controller Registers

Table 3-1. 8275 Register Select Logic
CS AO RD/WR Register Accessed
L H RD Status
L H WR Command
L L RD Parameter Reg.
L L WR Parameter Reg.
H X X — none —
Status Figure 3-4 shows the bit assignm ents for the 8275 Status register. The
Register Status register is a read-only register and its contents can be read by the
microprocessor at any tim e.
Status register bit 0 is the FIFO (first-in-first-out) Overrun bit. In
addition to the two 80-character row buffers provided by the 8275, there are
two internal 16-character FIFO registers. These FIFOs are used when you
assign special attributes to character fields within a row and want to have that
assignm ent or control code be invisible. If you attem pt to assign m ore than 16
of these invisible field attribute control characters to a single character row,
then bit 0 of the Status register will be set. We will give a fuller discussion of the
invisible field attributes later in this chapter when we describe screen com posi
tion definitions. Bit 0 of a Status register will be reset when you perform a read
of the Status register contents.
Bit 1 of the Status register is the DM A Underrun bit, and w ill be set to
1 if a D M A transfer requested by the 8275 has not been completed within the
allotted time. (You specify under program control the tim e between DM A
requests; if a preceding request has not been acknowledged by the tim e the
next request is m ade, a DM A underrun condition exists.) T he DM A underrun
bit is reset w henever you read the contents of the Status register.
Bit 2 of the Status register is the Video Enable bit and will be set
whenever the video operation of the CRT is enabled. This bit is set by issuing
the Start Display com m and to the 8275 and is reset by issuing a Stop Display or
Reset com m and.
Bit 3 of the Status register is the Improper Command bit and indicates
that an error was made when issuing a command to the 8275. If you issue or
attem pt to read an incorrect num ber of param eter bytes (either too few or too
many) following a com m and, this bit is set. The Im proper C om m and bit is a u
tomatically reset after you read the contents of the Status register.
Status register bit 4 is the Light Pen Input bit and is set when a nega-
tive-to-positive transition is detected on the LPEN input to the 8275. Since
detection of the LPEN input transition does not generate an interrupt, the
m icroprocessor m ust check the state of Status register bit 4 to determ ine
w hether the LPEN signal has been detected. This bit is reset after you read the
contents of the Status register.
Bit No.
rm
0 IE IR LP 1C VE DU FO Status Register
FIFO (Field Attributes) Overrun
DMA Underrun
Video Enable
Improper Command
Light Pen Input
Interrupt Request
Interrupt Enable
Figure 3-4. 8275 CRT Controller Status Register Bit Assignments
Bit 5 of the Status register is the Interrupt Request bit and w ill be set,
if you have enabled interrupts, when display of the last character row of a
frame is begun. This bit is set at the sam e tim e that the IRQ output signal goes
high and is reset after you read the contents of the Status register.
Bit 6 of the Status register is the Interrupt Enable bit and indicates
whether the 8275 w ill generate interrupts at the end of each frame. In ter
rupts are autom atically enabled, and this bit is set, w hen you issue the Start
Display com m and to the 8275. T here are also separate Enable Interrupt and
D isable Interrupt com m ands that can be used to m anipulate this bit. In addi
tion, the Interrupt Enable bit will be cleared and interrupts disabled when you
issue a Reset com m and to the 8275.
Bit 7 of the Status register is not used and w ill always be 0 when you
read the contents of the Status register.
THE 8275-MICROPROCESSOR SYSTEM INTERFACE

Since the 8275 device was originally designed to operate w ithin a
system using direct memory access (D M A ), we w ill discuss the 8275-
microprocessor system interface from this aspect. But it is not essential that a
DM A device be utilized for 8275 support. A design exam ple in which a
m icroprocessor fully supports the 8275 is given by Intel in Application N ote
AP-62. In that application note, an external PROM is used to produce the
D M A -type handshake signals needed to load data into the 8275’s row buffers.
Regardless of w hether you use a standard DM A controller device or provide
other external logic to im plem ent that function, the tim ing sequences we d e
scribe in the following paragraphs will still apply.
Figure 3-5 show s, in a sim plified form, the relationship between the
8275 device, a DM A controller, a microprocessor, and system memory. The
8275 com m unicates with the m icroprocessor to obtain com m and and
param eter inform ation and to pass status and param eter inform ation back to
the m icroprocessor. Transfers of data for display on the CRT screen go from
screen m em ory to the 8275 under the control of the DM A controller. Let us
first look at com m unications between the m icroprocessor and the 8275.
M icroprocessor When the microprocessor needs to issue commands and parameters to
Interface the 8275 or to read the contents of the 8275 Status register, it sim ply
accesses the device using a standard I/O read or I/O write operation. The
timing for these transactions is quite straightforward. Tim ing for a write
operation which would be used to issue a command to the 8275 or load a
parameter into one of the internal 8275 registers can be illustrated as
follows:
“ i n . ____________________________ n ~
specified register
The Chip Select (CS) signal m ust be low, the AO register select input
m ust be stable, and the data th at is to be written into the selected register m ust
be valid before the write (WR) signal returns high. This tim ing is the sam e as
that which would be used with any I/O port or m em ory device.
System
Microprocessor
M em ory
A. /S
System Busses
(Data/Address/Control)
SIS
±2.
DRQ
CRT Monitor
DMA 8275
DACK and Character
Controller CRT Controller
Generator
Figure 3-5. 8275 CRT Controller Functional Position in a Microprocessor System
A register read operation which would be used by the microprocessor to

obtain status or parameter information from the 8275 device is equally
straightforward and can be illustrated as follows:
"■A' Ti f
specified register
D M A Controller M ost com m unications between the m icroprocessor and the 8275 will
Interface take place at system startup when you establish such initial values as screen
form at, data transfer m odes and so on. The m icroprocessor m ust also access
the 8275 directly to m ove the cursor and to initiate and term inate display. The
bulk of system involvem ent with the 8275, how ever, will be in transferring
data that is to be displayed on the screen from system (screen) m em ory to the
CRT controller. This activity can proceed with alm ost no microprocessor
involvem ent and is conducted by interaction between the D M A controller
and the 8275. System activity during this DM A transfer of display data from
memory to the CRT controller can be illustrated as follows:
The 8275 CRT Controller 3-1 3
As the 8275 requires data for its character row buffers, it generates DMA
requests by setting its D RQ signal high. The DM A controller responds by gain
ing control of the system busses, reading a byte of data from system m em ory
(using M E M R ), and sim ultaneously writing that byte into the 8275’s character
row buffer (using IOW ). The tim ing for this DM A transfer of data can be
MEMR
(From DMA Controller)
The 8275 DM A R equest (DRQ) signal is reset when the D A CK and WR

signals are received back from the DM A controller. This com bination of sig
nals loads the byte of data being presented to the 8275 on its DB0-DB7 pins
into the character row buffer. N ote that the Chip Select (CS) input into the
8275 rem ains high during D M A operations. This is logical, since the address
inform ation on the system busses, which would norm ally be used to generate
the CS signal, contains screen m em ory addresses during these DM A cycles.
T hus the D A CK signal perform s the chip select function during DM A opera
tions.
The preceding illustration showed the transfer of a single byte of data

from memory to the 8275. T hese DM A cycles m ust, of course, be repeated fre
quently to load and reload the character row buffers as data is sent to the CRT
m onitor. You have two options in im plem enting these D M A cycles. One
option is to perform data transfers on a byte-by-byte basis with each DM A
cycle being individually initiated. This mode of operation can be illustrated
as follows:
0 - 5 5 character times
between DRQ's
Cycle Cycle Cycle
Burst Mode As the 8275 requires a byte of data for its character row buffer, it sets the
DRQ signal high and the DM A controller supplies th e requested data. You
specify the interval betw een DM A cycles as one of the R eset com m and
param eters. The alternate mode of DM A operation is to operate in a burst
mode where several bytes of data are transferred to the 8275 in response to a
single request. The tim ing for this mode of operation can be illustrated as
follows:
r - 1 - 5 5 character times
between bursts
_0ne DM A Burst _ -N e x t Burst

2, 4 or 8 Bytes
DRQ
\ iH
r« "
DACK
WR
H ere the 8275 sets the DRQ signal high and keeps it high until the DM A
controller has transferred either 2, 4, or 8 bytes of data from screen memory.
Of course, the DM A controller you are using m ust be capable of responding to
this continuous DM A request. The 8257 and 8237 DM A controllers, which the
8275 was designed to operate with, operate in this burst mode.
The DM A mode of operation that you use w ill depend on the needs of
your system . The ability to program the 8275 so that it can operate in either
single cycle or burst m ode, com bined with flexible spacing between DMA
operations, gives you great flexibility in fitting the bus access requirem ents of
the 8275 into your system.
The DM A timing signals that we have illustrated are only those which
directly affect the 8275. There w ill, of course, be a number of other signals
exchanged w ithin the system to obtain control of the bus and to read data
from memory. Since these signals will be determ ined by the particular
m icroprocessor and DM A controller you are using, they are beyond the scope
of our discussion here.
There are two aspects of the DM A operation that we have not yet d is
cussed: how the DM A controller obtains the starting address for screen
memory accesses, and what the timing relationships are between DM A
operations and display of data on the CRT screen.
The DM A controller m ust receive the screen memory starting address
from the microprocessor as part of the system initialization operation. Then,
when the 8275 m akes its first DM A request, the DM A controller reads the first
byte of data that is to be displayed from screen m em ory, and transfers it to the
8275’s character row buffer. After each access of screen m em ory, the DM A
controller m ust increm ent its address counter so that when the next DM A
request is received, the next character in screen m em ory will be accessed. The
DM A controller will simply continue to increm ent the screen m em ory
addresses as each DM A request is received from the 8275 until all of the data
that is to be displayed on the screen has been read from m em ory and sent to
the 8275. At that point, the DM A controller m ust once again be given the
starting address for screen m em ory, since it would otherw ise simply continue
increm enting its address counter. The 8275 handles this situation by generat
ing an interrupt when display of the last row of characters on the screen is
begun. This interrupt can be used to inform the microprocessor that it must
once again reload the D M A controller address register with the starting
address of screen memory in preparation for display of the next frame of
data.
DM A operations can proceed continuously w hile data is only being
sent to the CRT monitor by the 8275 because of the dual character row
buffers. Let us look now at how these row buffers operate.
Internal The two internal recirculating buffers provided by the 8275 can each
Character hold up to 80 bytes of data. While one buffer is being loaded from refresh
Buffers m em ory under the control of the DM A controller, the contents of the other
buffer are being recirculated and presented to external character generator
logic as each scan line of a character row is sent to the CRT m onitor.
Obviously, the first character buffer must be filled before the first character
row of data on the screen is to be displayed. The first DM A request of a
frame is generated by the 8275 one character-row time before the end of ver
tical retrace. (Vertical retrace is program specified to be from one to four
character rows in duration.) T hus during this last character-row tim e of vertical
retrace, the first character row buffer is being filled. This can be illustrated as
follows:
You have one character-row tim e (from one to sixteen horizontal-

scan-line tim es) in which to fill the character buffer. Display of the contents
of that character buffer then commences with the contents of the buffer
being presented to character generator logic via the CC0-CC6 outputs. M ean
w hile, character buffer #2 is being filled using DM A from screen memory as
shown in the following illustration:
DB0-DB7 ►C C 0 -C C 6
(From Screen Memory) (To character
generator logic)
The 8275 CRT Controller 3 -1 7
W hen all of the scan lines com prising the first character row have been
sent to the CRT m onitor, the contents of character buffer #2 will be connected
to the CC0-CC6 pins for the second character row of the screen, while buffer #1
is being refilled from screen m em ory with the new data that will com prise the
third character row. This can be illustrated as follows:
This switching back and forth between character row buffers con
tinues until all character rows of a frame have been completed. DM A will
then cease during vertical retrace until one character-row tim e before the
beginning of the next fram e. The cycle we have ju st described will then be
repeated. Note that the 8275 controls the switching back and forth between
the two characer row buffers; this operation is transparent as far as the
microprocessor system is concerned. The system need only guarantee that the
D M A rate is sufficient to finish loading each row buffer in the tim e required to
present the preceding character row to the CRT m onitor.
THE 8275-CHARACTER GENERATOR INTERFACE

The logic provided by the 8275 to interface to character generator logic
consists of three groups of signals: LC0-LC3, CC0-CC6, and LAO, LA I. The
two signals LAO, LAI which are more closely related to creation of the video
signal, come into play if you utilize the lim ited built-in graphics capability of
the 8275. Let us begin with the more straightforward aspects of the
character generator logic.
The Character Code outputs (CC0-CC6) and Line Count outputs
(LC0-LC3) w ill be used as address inputs to character generator logic. (For a
com plete discussion of character generator logic, refer to C hapter 1.) CC0-CC6
are simply the outputs from the 8275’s internal character row buffer. This row
buffer is recirculated at the Character Clock (CCLK) rate during each scan line
so that the code for each character position on the scan line is output to the
character generator. The tim ing for these Character Code outputs is shown in
Figure 3-6.
The internal character row buffer contents are shifted at the Character
Clock (CCLK) rate to present the appropriate character code outputs to the
character generator logic. Since the character row buffer can contain from two
to eighty characters (you specify the n um ber of characters un d er program con
trol), the num ber of tim es the row buffer will be shifted per scan line will be
from 2 to 80. After the last character has been output to the character generator
logic, recirculation of the row buffer continues during horizontal retrace but
VSP goes active to blank any m eaningless video inform ation.
Scan Line The scan line counter outputs (LC0-LC3) to the character generator
Counter logic are held steady during each horizontal scan line w hile the character
Modes codes are being output. Upon completion of each scan line, the line counter
outputs are incremented to address the next line of dots for the character
codes that w ill be output. The 8275 scan line counter has two modes of opera
tion: in Mode 0 the output of the line counter is the sam e as the scan line
number of the character row, w hile in Mode 1 the counter is offset by 1 from
the line number. The counting progression that occurs for a character row in
each of the two modes can be illustrated as follows:
Scan Line # M ode 0 M o de 1
0 000000000 0000 1011

000010000 0001 0000
2 OOOIOIOOO 0010 0001
3 0 01000100 0011 0010
4 0 10000010 0100 0011
5 0 10000010 0101 0100
6 o ee ee etto 0110 0101
7 010000010 0111 01 10
8 010000010 1000 0111
9 010000010 1001 1000
10 • • • • • • • • • 1010 1001 Underline in
11 000000000 1011 1010 Scan Line # 1 0
In M ode 0, the line count output during the first scan line (line num ber
0) will always be 0000. In M ode 1, how ever, the line count ou tp u t during the
first scan line will be the m axim um line count that you have specified, and the
count will then go to 0000 for scan line num ber 1. You specify the line counter
m ode of operation you desire under program control as part of the Reset com
m and. The m ode you select will depend on the type of character generator you
are using. For exam ple, if a character generator expects a line count address of
1 for the first row of dots, you might use M ode 0 so that an address of all zeros
would not select the character generator, but instead would produce the line of
dots used for inter-character row spacing. Similarly, if a character generator
expects a line count address of zero to access the first row of dots, then you
m ight use line counter M ode 1.
Graphic Let us now look at the lim ited capabilities provided by the 8275 via the
Capabilities Line Attribute (LA0-LA1) signals.
The line attribute signals are m anipulated by writing special character
Character attribute codes to the 8275. You do not have to issue special commands to the
Attribute 8275 in order to m anipulate the line attribute outputs; you sim ply store the
Codes special character codes in screen memory. You will recall th at data in screen
m em ory consists of 8-bit bytes. N orm al data codes have the m ost significant bit
set to 0. If the 8275 receives a byte of data from screen memory with the most
significant bit set to 1, it recognizes this as some type of control code. There
are three types of control codes: character attribute codes which cause the
line attribute outputs to be m anipulated; field attribute codes which affect
the visual characteristics of a group of characters that are to be displayed;
and special codes which affect DM A and screen blanking. At this point, we
w ill lim it our discussion to the character attribute codes. The format for the
character attribute codes is as follows:
1 o -B it No.
1 -C haracter A ttribute Byte

'
-H ig h lig h t
1 = Set HGLT high
0 = Set HGLT low
“ Blink
1 = Blink VSP
0 = Do not blink
-C haracter A ttribute Code

(See Table 3-1)
Bits 7 and 6 of the character attribute byte m ust both be set to 1. Bits 0
and 1 can be set to m anipulate the Highlight (HG LT) signal and to cause the
character to blink by m anipulating the Video Suppression (VSP) signal. We
shall discuss the highlight and blink functions later when we describe the in ter
face to the CRT m onitor. Let us now concentrate on the character attribute
cooes which are contained in bits 5 through 2 of the byte.
Table 3-2 describes the effects of the various character attribute codes
on the L A I, LAO, V SP and LTEN output signals and also indicates the
resultant sym bols which can be created. Creation of these sym bols requires
the use of very specific external logic. The logic you must provide is illu s
trated in Figure 3-7. T he shift register shown in the figure is a 9-bit parallel-to-
serial shift register, and thus each character space in this exam ple would be 9
dots in width. W hen LAO and LA I are both output high from the 8275, five l ’s
would be loaded into the least significant bits of the shift register and four 0 ’s
would be loaded into the four m ost significant bits of the shift register. W hen
the contents of the shift register are shifted out serially and sent to the CRT
m onitor, a horizontal line is produced on the left half of the character space.
Similarly, w hen LAO is low and LA I is high, this causes a horizontal line on the
right half of the character space to be produced. W hen LA I is low and LAO is
high, a 1 bit is loaded only into the center bit of the shift register, and 0 ’s are
loaded in the four least significant and four m ost significant bits of the shift
register. If this is repeated for all scan lines com prising the character, a vertical
line down the center of the character position is produced. Vertical line seg
m ents on the upper or lower half of a character space are produced by setting
L A I low and LAO high for every scan line on the character row, and then
activating the Video Suppression (VSP) signal during those scan lines above or
below the underline position. W hen VSP is high, it disables th e output from
the shift register via the N O R gate, so that no dots are sent to the CRT m oni
tor.
Table 3-2. 8275 CRT Controller Character Attribute Codes and Resultant Symbols
Character A ttrib u te Code Outputs
Bits For Symbol Description

Scan Lines LA1 LAO VSP LTEN
5432
Above Underline 0 0 1 0
0000 Underline 1 0 0 0 Top Left Corner
Below Underline 0 1 0 0 r
0001 Underline 1 1 0 0 i Top Right Corner
Below Underline 0 1 0 0 n i
Above Underline 0 1 0 0 I
0010 Underline 1 0 0 0 I__ Bottom Left Corner
Below Underline 0 0 1 0
0011 Underline 1 1 0 0 _liIi Bottom Right Corner
0100 Underline 0 0 0 1 —i— Top Intersect
Below Underline 0 1 0 0 1
Above Underline 0 1 0 0 Ii
0101 Underline 1 1 0 0 H Right Intersect
Below Underline 0 1 0 0 1i
Above Underline 0 1 0 0 Ii
0110 Underline 1 0 0 0 \— Left Intersect
Above Underline 0 1 0 0 |
1
011 1 Underline o o o 1 Doiiommierseci
1000 Underline 0 0 0 1 ------------ Horizontal Line
1001 Underline 0 1 0 0 Vertical Line
Above Underline 0 1 0 0 1i
1010 Underline 0 0 0 1
H \— Crossed Lines
Below Underline 0 1 0 0 1r
101 1 Underline 0 0 0 0 Not Recommended*
1 100 Underline 0 0 1 0 Special Codes
Above Underline
1 101 Underline Undefined Illegal
Below Underline
Above Underline
1110 Underline Undefined Illegal
Below Underline
Above Underline
1111 Underline Undefined Illegal
Below Underline
Character Attribute Code 1011 is not recommended for normal operation. Since none of the attribute outputs are active, the
character generator will not be disabled, and an indeterminate character will be generated.
Character Attribute Codes 1 101, 1 1 1 0 , and 1111 are illegal.
Horizontal
© Left Half © Horizontal Line
Vertical
© Line
© Suppress
Vertical Line
Horizontal
© Right Half
Figure 3-7. External Logic Required to Implement Graphics Provided by the 8275 CRT
Controller
This is a good point to note that the symbols shown in Figure 3-1 imply
that the horizontal and vertical line segm ents run through the center of a
character space. This is not necessarily true: the position of the vertical line
or line segm ents is determined by the bit position where you load the
appropriate code-produced signals into the shift register. In Figure 3-7 we
loaded the vertical line signal into the center bit of a 9-bit shift register and
caused it to appear in the center of a character location. The horizontal lines or
line segm ents will appear on only one scan line of the character row, and will be
on the scan line w here you have program m ed the underline to be displayed.
The underline position is program-established using the R eset command
and can be on any scan line w ithin a character row. Thus, for exam ple, if you
have specified that the underline is to be displayed on line number 9 of a
character row comprised of 12 scan lin es, the first two sym bols shown in
Table 3-1 would appear as follows:
Top Left Corner
Top Right Corner
A horizontal line com pletely across a character location is produced

using the Light Enable (LTEN) signal. Both the L A I and LAO outputs will
be low during the creation of a com plete horizontal line. The horizontal line
will be produced on the scan line where you have specified that the underline is
to appear.
We intentionally kept the logic shown in Figure 3-7 as sim ple as p ossi
ble so that we could focus more clearly on the logic in our discussion. In
actual use, however, additional logic would be required since the other
character generator logic present in the system would utilize the sam e video
shift register to produce the VIDEO signal. The additional logic required to
select between the line attribute-produced characters and standard character
generator logic is shown in Figure 3-8. A NOR gate is used to disable the o u t
puts from the character generator logic if either L A I or LAO is high. T he inputs
to the shift register are then from OR gates which have as their inputs the L A I/
LAO-produced signals or the outputs from the character generator logic.
W hile the logic required to im plem ent the line attribute graphics of the
8275 is not com plicated, it is still quite a bit of circuitry to simply produce
eleven lim ited graphic characters. If som e graphic capabilities are required, it
may prove easier simply to utilize a character generator which can produce the
required symbols.
Field Attribute Designations

The character attribute logic we have just described applies only to a
single character position on the screen; when a character from screen
memory contains l ’s in the two most significant bit positions, it is
interpreted by the 8275 as being a special character that affects that particu
lar character location on the screen. The 8275 also recognizes Field Attribute
Control bytes when read from screen memory, t h e s e bytes have the format
shown in Figure 3-9.
Field The Field Attribute Control byte is sim ilar to the Character Attribute
byte with the significant difference that it affects all data bytes which follow
until another control byte is read from screen memory. Thus all the charac
ters between these control bytes, the “ field,” w ill have the characteristics
defined by the Field Attribute Control byte. The two least significant bits of
the Field A ttribute C ontrol byte are the sam e as those of the character attribute
codes which we described earlier: bit 0 causes H G LT to be set high or low, and
bit 1 causes blinking by m odulating the VSP signal at a frequency equal to the
screen refresh frequency divided by 32. T he difference is that both of these sig
nals will be m aintained as designated for an entire field until an o th er control
byte, or the end of the screen, is encountered.
Bits 2 and 3 of the Field Attribute Control byte can be used to m anipu
late the two General Purpose Attribute signals (GPAO, GPA1) of the 8275.
The use of these two signals is entirely up to the system designer; they will
simply be output at the designated levels until the next control byte is en co u n
tered. Some possible uses for these signals include control of colors in color
CRT m onitors or selection of alternate character generator logic to im plem ent
special characters within a field.
Bit 4 of the Field Attribute Control byte m anipulates the RVV
(Reverse Video) signal from the 8275, while bit 5 m anipulates the LTEN
(Light Enable) signal. W hile the signal names assigned to these two bits
(and pins) imply very specific u ses, they may also be put to general purpose
use if your system requires it. The only lim itation to using these two signals as
general purpose signals is the fact that both may be used during creation of the
cursor sym bol, and the LTEN signal is also used during creation of the graphic
symbols provided by the Character A ttribute Codes.
The presum ed purpose of the RVV and LTEN bits and signals is to cause
the characters following the Field A ttribute Code to be presented in reverse
video (if RVV is high) an d /o r to be underlined (if LTEN is high).
^ ------------ Bit No.
Field A ttribute Byte
Highlight
1 = Set HGLT high
0 = Set HGLT low
Blink
1 = Blink VSP
0 = Do not blink
General Purpose A ttribute Signals

00 = GPA1, GPAO low
01 = GPA1 low, GPAO high
10 = GPA1 high, GPAO low
11 = GPA1, GPAO high
Reverse Video
1 = Set RVV high
0 = Set RVV low
Underline
1 = Set LTEN high
0 = Set LTEN low
Figure 3-9. 8275 CRT Controller Field Attribute Control Byte

Visible/Invisible The 8275 provides you with two options with regard to the field
Field Attribute attributes: the Field Attribute Control bytes read from screen memory can
Control Codes occupy a visible position on the screen, or they can be made invisible and
sim ply affect the subsequent character field. You specify the desired mode
as part of the Reset command. If you specify the visible field attribute m ode,
the Field A ttribute C ontrol bytes read from screen m em ory will occupy a posi
tion on the screen although they will appear as blanks, since th e 8275 will au to
matically cause the Video Suppression (VSP) signal to be activated during that
character position. The designated field attribute will then be activated after
this blank character position. This visible field attribute mode can be illu s
trated as follows:
The visible field attribute m ode may be perfectly acceptable in m any

applications w here changes from one type of field to another are also accom
panied by som e space betw een fields. The acceptability of this m ode will
depend, to som e extent, on how crowded the screen is and how critical this
w aste of screen space is to your application.
If you select the invisible field attribute mode for the 8275, then the
internal First-In-First-O ut (FIFOs) registers of the 8275 are activated.
Each of the 8275’s internal character row buffers has an associated 16-
character FIFO. In this m ode of operation, when a Field A ttribute C ontrol byte
is loaded into a row buffer, the 8275 recognizes it as such and places the follow
ing data character in the FIFO. W hen the tim e com es to display that character
row, the 8275 once again recognizes the Field A ttribute C ontrol byte before it
is to be sent to the CRT m onitor, and substitutes the appropriate following
character byte from the FIFO on the Character Code outputs. Sim ultaneously,
the 8275 activates the specified field attribute control signal(s). An exam ple of
invisible field attributes can be illustrated as follows:
Several problems are introduced by the use of the Field Attribute Con
trol bytes. First of all, whether you use the visible or invisible mode, the
Field Attribute Control bytes w ill occupy locations in screen memory. Since
the num ber of attribute control bytes per display row may vary, the fixed rela
tionship between character positions on the screen and system m em ory
address pointers to the beginning of the screen, beginning of row, etc., may no
longer be constant. Therefore system software required to keep track of
screen locations w ill be complicated since it m ust also keep track of the n u m
ber of Field A ttribute Control bytes in each row while pointer locations are
being m anipulated. In addition, each Field Attribute Control byte increases
the size of screen memory since it occupies a location in that m em ory. DM A
transfers and character deletion or insertion routines may also be compli
cated by the presence of Field Attribute Control bytes w ithin data fields.
Finally, you must be aware that since the 8275 stores the character which
im m ediately follows a field attribute control byte in a FIFO, and subsequently
outputs that following character to the CRT, you cannot follow a Field
Attribute Control byte with any of the character attribute bytes or other
special codes that the 8275 would otherwise recognize.
SPECIAL CONTROL CODES

In addition to the character attribute codes and field attribute control
codes which we discussed earlier, the 8275 recognizes four additional special
control characters which affect DM A operations and blanking of the screen.
Just as with the character attribute and field attribute codes, these special
control codes are sim ply placed in screen memory and are recognized by the
8275 as control codes because their most significant bit is set to 1. The for
mat for these codes is illustrated in Figure 3-10.
The four most significant bits m ust be set to 1, bits 4 and 3 must be
0’s, and the two least significant bits specify the control function.
End of Row The End of Row code (00) causes the remainder of the current
Control Code character row to be blanked. This is accom plished by setting the Video Sup
pression (VSP) signal high, and holding it high from that character position
w here the control code is located to the end of the character row. This is a very
sim ple way of clearing a portion of a character row which would otherw ise have
to be done by writing the character code for blanks or spaces into the corres
ponding screen m em ory locations. One drawback of this code is that it applies
from the point where it is detected to the end of the character row; you cannot
ju st blank out the m iddle portion of a character row.
Stop D M A The End of Row-Stop DM A code (01) affects the display in the same
Control Code way as the End of Row code, and also causes the 8275 to stop generating
D M A requests for the remainder of that character row. This com bination
m akes a great deal of sense, since if you are not going to display data beyond
the End of Row code, there would be no reason why you would still want to
access data from screen m em ory. You thus reduce the DM A dem and on the
system busses.
End of Screen The End of Screen code (10) has the same effect as the End of Row
Control Code code but it applies for all characters from the point of encounter until the end
of the frame. Once again the VSP signal is used to perform the blanking opera
tion.
The End of Screen-Stop DM A code (11) affects the display in the sam e
way as the End of Screen code and also causes the 8275 to cease generating
DM A requests for the remainder of the frame. T hus you can blank all of the
screen, from the point w here the code is encountered to the end of the screen,
with a single control code, instead of writing all spaces into the appropriate
positions in screen m em ory.
If you do not use the Stop DM A feature with the End of Row or End of
Screen codes, DM A requests w ill continue to be generated by the 8275 for
the remainder of the row or screen. The characters read from screen m em ory,
how ever, are simply ignored by the 8275. The exception is that after an End of
Row character, the 8275 will still recognize and respond to an End of Screen
character. A fter an End of Screen character, how ever, all subsequent charac
ters will be ignored.
If the Stop DM A features are used, there w ill be a one character delay
before DM A requests w ill be terminated since the 8275 will have already
begun to access the next character when it is recognizing the Stop DM A code.
Thus a dum m y character m ust be placed in screen m em ory after the Stop
DM A character. The exception is if the Stop DM A code is the last character in
a burst or in a character row; in this case, no additional DM A requests will be
generated.
THE 8275-CRT MONITOR INTERFACE

Figure 3-11 illustrates the signals provided by the 8275 to implem ent
the interface to a CRT monitor. Only two of the signals (HRTC, VRTC) are
absolutely essen tial to the CRT monitor interface; the other signals repre
sent special options provided by the 8275, and their im plem entation w ill be
application-dependent.
HRTC (Horizontal Retrace) and VRTC (Vertical Retrace) are the
standard H SYNC and VSYNC signals which we have previously discussed.
The frequency and pulse intervals of both of these signals are program m able
and are specified as part of the R eset com m and.
The RVV (Reverse Video), VSP (Video Suppression), and LTEN
(Light Enable) signals can all be combined with the output from the video
shift register to produce different visual effects on the screen. As we dis
cussed earlier, these signals are som etim es m anipulated directly while
Character A ttribute or Field A ttribute control bytes are read from screen
m em ory; the signals are also m anipulated by the 8275 to create th e cursor. If
you com pare the external logic required to create the cursor for the 8275 to that
which we described for the DP8350 in C hapter 2, you will see th at the logic
here is slightly simplified. The DP8350 provided no reverse video signal and
you had to perform that function externally. T he 8275, on the other hand,
allows you to specify a reversed cursor if you so desire, and activates the RVV
signal if you have so specified. T hus you are sacrificing one pin on the 8275 to
im plem ent this function (although, of course, it is also used to create reverse
video characters or entire fields of characters; its use is not lim ited only to the
cursor sym bol).
The HGLT (H ighlight) signal is autom atically set high or low by the
8275 as specified by control bytes read from display memory. The use of this
signal is completely application-dependent and is not involved with creation of
the cursor or the character attribute code graphic capabilities of the 8275.
HGLT will simply be set high or low as specified for an entire character field.
The LPEN (Light Pen) input to the 8275 requires a negative-to-posi-

tive transition from external circuitry to cause the controller to store its cur
rent character and row counter values in its internal Light Pen registers.
You can then read the contents of the Light Pen registers by issuing the
appropriate com m and to the 8275. Because of the delays inherent in external
light pen circuitry, the values stored in the light pen Character C ount register
will be offset by at least three characters from the actual position where the
light pen was physically positioned on the screen. T herefore, your software will
have to adjust this value accordingly.
Table 3-3. 8275 CRT Controller Command Summary
C om m and Byte N um ber of

Param eter Com m and
Com mand (MSB) « - B it Form at — (LSB)
B ytes B yte (Hex)
7 65 43210 (N ote 1)
Reset 000 00000 4W o o 16

Start Display 001 Note 2 - Note 2
Stop Display 010 00000 - * 0 16
Read Light Pen 011 00000 2R 5 °1 6
00
o"
Load Cursor Registers 100 00000 2W
CO
Enable Interrupt 101 00000 - ao 16
Disable Interrupt 110 00000 - B 0 16
Preset Counters 111 00000 — D 0 16
1. The least significant 5 bits of Start Display Command determine DMA rate.
2. W = W rite to 8 2 7 5 , R = Read from 8 27 5 .
THE 8275 CRT CONTROLLER COMMANDS

Table 3-3 shows the bit format for each of the eight commands that the
8275 w ill respond to. Any of the commands can be issued at any time to the
8275; you sim ply perform a write operation (WR low) to the device with the
AO input high and CS input low. The command byte is then input to the 8275
on the D7-D 0 pins. The three most significant bits of the command byte
determine the command that w ill be executed. The five least significant bits
are set to 0 for all but the Start D isplay command. Three of the commands
have parameter bytes associated with them: the Reset and Load Cursor
Register commands require that you write additional parameter bytes to the
8275 after the command byte, while the Read Light Pen command requires
that you read two bytes from the 8275 after issuing the command. If a com
mand has parameters associated with it, these parameters m ust be transfer
red before another command is issued.
The R eset com m and is the m ost complicated to describe, since it is used
to define a num ber of basic operating characteristics for the 8275. Let us
therefore begin our com m and descriptions with it.
The 8275 Reset Command

Figure 3-12 shows the format for the Reset command byte and the four
parameter bytes which m ust follow the command. The Reset command m ust
be issued to the 8275 whenever the system is first initialized, since it deter
m ines many of the basic operating characteristics of the 8275. The command
can also be re-issued while the device is operating to change certain operat
ing characteristics. W hile som e of the characteristics, such as vertical retrace
tim e, would not normally be changed once established at system powerup,
others such as cursor form at or underline placem ent might be altered depend
ing on the data that was to be displayed for a given application.
C om m and S = 0: Normally Spaced Rows

S = 1: Double Spaced Rows
P aram eter 0 H = Characters/Row: 0 - 4 F 16 (1 - 80)
P aram eter 1 V = Vertical Retrace Row Count: 0 0 2 - 1 1 2 (1 -4)

R = Character Rows/Frame: 0 - 3F16 (1 -64)
P aram eter 2 U = Underline Placement: 0 - F16(1 -1 6)
L = Scan Lines/Char. Row: 0 — F16 (1-16)
P aram eter 3
Z = Horizontal Retrace Character Count ( x 2)

0 - F16 (2-32)
C = Cursor form at
0 0 = Blinking reverse video block
01 = Blinking underline
10 = Nonblinking reverse video block
11 = Nonblinking underline
Field A ttribute Mode

0 = Transparent
1 = Visible
Line Counter Mode

0 = Mode 0 (non-offset)
1 = Mode 1 (offset)
Figure 3 -1 2 . 8275 CRT Controller Reset Command Format
The command byte of the Reset command sim ply consists of all zeros
and m ust be followed by writing four parameter bytes.
The seven least significant bits of the first parameter byte specify the
number of characters that are to be displayed on each row. The allowable
range is from 1 to 80 (0-5016). A lthough the seven bits could be used to specify
values as great as 127 (7 F 16), values greater than 80 are invalid since that is the
m axim um capacity of the 8275’s character row buffers.
The most significant bit of the first parameter byte specifies either
normal spacing or double spacing of character rows. In norm al spacing, the
only separation between adjacent character rows is the one or two scan lines at
the top or bottom of each character row which are not used in form ation of the
characters. If you specify double spacing, how ever, each character row is sepa
rated by a com plete row of blank characters. The 8275 accom plishes this by
repeating the row but activating VSP for the entire row. D uring the blanked
row DM A activity is not needed, thus it is not requested.
The second parameter byte of the Reset command specifies the number
of character rows per frame and the tim e allotted to the vertical retrace
operation. The six least significant bits specify the num ber of character rows
per fram e in the range of 1- 64 (0-3F 16). Upon com pletion of display of the last
specified character row ofi the screen, the Vertical Retrace (VRTC) signal is set
high to indicate the beginning of the vertical retrace operation. T he duration of
the high level of the VRTC signal is specified using the two m ost significant
bits of the second param eter byte. The VRTC signal will rem ain true for an
integral num ber of character row tim es from 1 to 4. We should note that while
you can program the duration of a true level of the VRTC pulse, you have no
freedom in positioning the VRTC pulse; it goes true at the end of the last dis
play row, and is set low again at the end of the last retrace row ju st prior to the
beginning of the first displayable row of the next frame. This provides less flex
ibility than the DP8350 which we described in C hapter 2. Accordingly, som e
external circuitry may be needed to generate a VSYNC pulse of a proper d u ra
tion for the CRT m onitor.
The third parameter byte of the Reset command specifies the number
of scan lines that com prises the character row, and the placement of an
underline or cursor on a scan line w ithin a character row. You can specify
that a character row be com prised of from 1 to 16 scan lines. Thus this
specification com bined with the character rows per fram e specification of the
second param eter byte determ ines the total n um ber of displayable scan lines
per frame. The m ost significant four bits of the third param eter byte allow you
to position the scan line within a character row where the LTEN signal should
be activated to create an underline. You can specify that the underline be in
any of the scan lines from 1 to 16 on the character row. There are several rules
that apply to this underline placement specification:
• If the line n um ber you specify for the underline is greater than seven,
both the first and last scan lines of the character row will au to m at
ically be blanked (VSP high) by the 8275.
• If the line n um ber specified for the underline is less than or equal to
seven, the first and last scan lines of the character row will not be
blanked.
• If the line num ber specified for the underline is greater than the m ax
im um num ber of scan lines per character row (specified in the least
.significant four bits of this param eter byte), then the underline will
not appear at all.
The fourth parameter byte of the Reset command specifies four

different operating characteristics for the 8275: HRTC duration, cursor for
mat, field attribute mode, and line counter mode. The four least significant
bits specify, in increm ents of two character counts (or CCLK periods), the
duration of the horizontal retrace (HRTC) pulse. H RTC will be set high after
the last character tim e of a scan line and will rem ain high for a duration of from
2 to 32 CCLK periods. Just as with the VRTC specification, you have no posi
tioning control of the HSYNC pulse within the horizontal retrace tim e. If addi
tional shaping or positioning of the HSYNC pulse is required, then external
circuitry m ust be used to interface to the CRT m onitor.
Bits 5 and 4 of the fourth parameter byte specify the format of the cur
sor that w ill be displayed at the character location specified by the contents
of the Cursor register. T here are four options: the cursor can consist of either
an underline on the scan line specified for underline placem ent in the third
param eter byte, or it can be presented as a reverse video block symbol. The
reverse block cursor symbol is created by activating the RVV signal at the
specified cursor character location. In addition, either the single underline or
the reverse block cursor symbol can be m ade to blink; the blinking is
accom plished by m odulating the VSP output from the 8275 at a frequency
equal to the fram e refresh rate divided by 32.
Bit 6 of the fourth parameter byte specifies whether field attribute
characters are to occupy a position on the screen or whether they are to be
made transparent by utilizing the 8275’s FIFOs. The m ost significant bit of
the fourth param eter byte specifies the scan line counter mode. The scan line
counter m odes and field attribute control character m odes have been described
in the preceding sections of this chapter and we shall not discuss them further
at this point.
The 8275 Start and Stop Display Commands

Figure 3-13 shows the format for the Start D isplay command. This
command requires no subsequent parameter bytes, but does include some
additional control information in the least significant five bits of the com
mand byte. The Start D isplay command would normally follow the Reset
command since, in addition to determining the DM A rate that w ill be used,
it enables the video-related outputs (by setting VSP low) of the 8275 and
sets the Interrupt Enable and Video Enable status bits in the 8275’s Status
register. The DM A rate characteristics are defined in the least significant
five bits of the command byte; we discussed and illustrated the DM A burst
count and burst space tim ing earlier in this chapter w hen we discussed the con-
troller-to-m icroprocessor interface. You should refer to that discussion for tim
ing illustrations.
The Stop D isplay command sim ply causes the Video Suppression
(VSP) signal to be set high, and it rem ains high until you issue a Start D is
play command to the 8275. The other video-related outputs, including
HRTC, VRTC, LC0-LC3, and CC0-CC6, all continue to run despite the Stop
Display command. It is just the high level of the V SP output that must be
used to disable presentation of video to the CRT monitor. The Video Enable
status flag is reset, how ever, so that the m icroprocessor can determ ine the state
of the video-related outputs of the 8275. The Start Display com m and m ust be
issued to reenable these video-related outputs. There are no parameter bytes
required in conjunction with the Stop D isplay command; you sim ply write
the command byte of 4016 to the 8275 with AO set to 1.
AO D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 DO
1 0 0 1
DMA Burst Count

0 0 = 1 Cycle/Burst
01 = 2 Cycles/Burst
10 = 4 Cycles/Burst
1 1 = 8 Cycles/Burst
DMA Burst Space Timing

(Character Clocks between DM A Requests)
000 = 0
001 = 7
010 = 15
01 1 = 23
100 = 31
101 = 39
110 = 47
111 =55
Figure 3-13. 8275 CRT Controller Start Display Command
The 8275 Preset Counter Command

The Preset Counter command (E016) causes the 8275’s internal
character counter and line counter to be preset to a value corresponding to a
screen display position at the top left corner. It requires two character clock
(CCLK) periods to com plete the preset operation. The counters will be held in
this preset state until you issue an o th er com m and to the 8275. Since the in ter
nal counters are not running, the H RTC and VRTC signals will not be gener
ated until another com m and is received by the 8275.
The Preset com m and might be useful for system debugging operations
and could also be used to synchronize m ultiple 8275s that were being used in a
single system . Synchronization between two or m ore 8275s would involve
m ore than simply issuing the Preset com m and, how ever; som e external cir
cuitry would be required.
The 8275 Read Light Pen Register Command

The format for the Read Light Pen Register command is shown in
Figure 3-14. The command byte (6016) causes the 8275 to access its two
internal light pen registers. The contents of these two registers are then
made available on the two ensuing read operations which are performed by
the microprocessor. The first byte read from the 8275 after the com m and is
issued will be the character position on a row, and the second byte read will be
the row num ber where the Light Pen input (LPEN) was detected. As we have
m entioned previously, external delays in the light pen circuitry will cause the
character count read from the Light Pen register to be displaced by three
Command 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
Parameter 0 0 Character Number 0 0 - 4 F 16 (1 -80)
Parameter 1 0 Row Number 0 0 - 3F16 (1 -64)
Figure 3-14. 8275 CRT Controller Read Light Pen Command
characters or m ore from the actual physical position where the light pen was
detected. Y our software m ust therefore adjust its value accordingly. You
should also be aware that the values held in the light pen registers are not
changed by reading them with the Read Light Pen Register com m and. Only
another negative-to-positive transition of the LPEN input will cause the con
tents of these registers to be changed.
The 8275 Load Cursor Register Command

Figure 3-15 shows the format for the Load Cursor Register command.
After the command byte (8016) has been written to the 8275, the
microprocessor must write two additional bytes to the 8275 to load the cursor
position registers. T he first byte specifies the character position (1-80) within
a row where the cursor is to be displayed, while the second byte specifies the
character row (1-64) for the cursor. The type of cursor symbol that will be dis
played at the specified location is determ ined by the Reset com m and.
Command 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Parameter 0 0 Character Number 0 0 - 4 F 16 (1 -80)
Parameter 1 0 Row Number 0 0 - 3F 16 (1 -64)
Figure 3-15. 8275 CRT Controller Load Cursor Register Command
The 8275 Enable/Disable Interrupt Commands

These two commands sim ply set or reset the Interrupt Enable Status
bit in the 8275 Status register, and enable and disable the INT output of the
8275. If the Interrupt Enable bit is reset, then no interrupt will be generated at
the end of the display of one fram e of data. N ote that interrupts are also
enabled or disabled by the Start and Stop Display com m ands. T he Enable
Interrupt com m and is A 0 16, while the Disable Interrupt com m and is C 0 l6.
DATA SHEETS
This section contains specific electrical and tim ing data for the 8275.
8275
ABSOLUTE M A XIM U M RATINGS*
Am bient Temperature Under Bias......................0°C to 70°C

Storage Te m p era ture ................................... -6 5 °C to +150°C *C O M M E N T : Stresses above those listed under "A b s o lu te M axi- 4
Voltage On Any Pin m um R atings" may cause perm anent damage to the device. This iJ a
stress rating o n ly and fu n ctio n a l operation o f the device at these or
With Respect to G ro u n d ............................. -0 .5 V to +7V any o th e r co n d itio n s above those indicated in the operational sec
Power D issip a tio n ........................................................... 1 Watt tions o f this specification is n o t im plied.
D.C. CHARACTERISTICS
T a = 0°C to 70°C; V cc = 5V ±5%
SYMBOL PARAM ETER MIN. M AX. UNITS TEST CONDITIONS
V il Input Low Voltage -0 .5 0.8 V
V IH Input High Voltage 2.0 V CC+0.5V V
V0 L O utput Low Voltage 0.45 V I o l = 2.2 m A
V 0H O utput High Voltage 2.4 V •o h = -4 0 0 n A
IlL Input Load Current ±10 MA V|N = V c c to OV

!o f l O utput Float Leakage ±10 ma V out = V c c t0 ov
•cc V cc Supply Current 160 mA
CAPACITANCE
T A = 25°C; V CC= GND = OV
SYMBOL PARAMETER MIN. MAX. UNITS TEST CONDITIONS
C|N Input Capacitance 10 pF f c = 1 MHz
Cl/0 I/O Capacitance 20 pF Unmeasured pins returned to V$s-
Data sheets on pages 3 -4 0 through 3 -4 4 are reprinted by permission of Intel Corporation.

8275
Other Timing: $
SYMBOL PARAMETER MIN. MAX. UNITS TEST CONDITIONS ' t

XCC Character Code O utput Delay 150 ns CL = 50 pF
tfHR Horizontal Retrace O utput Delay 150 ns CL = 50 pF
*LC Line Count O utput Delay 250 ns CL = 50 pF
*A T C on tro l/A ttrib u te O utput Delay 250 ns CL = 50 pF
tV R Vertical Retrace O utput Delay 250 ns CL = 50 pF
t|R IR Q ! from C C L K ! 250 ns CL = 50 pF
*R I IR Q ! from R d t 250 ns CL = 50 pF
*K Q D R Q t from C C L K l 250 ns CL = 50 pF
tW Q D R Q t from W R t 250 ns CL = 50 pF
tR Q D R Q I from W R I 200 ns CL = 50 pF
tL R DACK4 to WR 4 0 ns
*R L W R t to D A C K t 0 ns
tpR LPEN Rise 50 ns
tPH LPEN Hold 100 ns
N o te: T im in g measurements are made at the fo llo w in g reference voltages: O u tp u t " 1 ” = 2.0V , ” 0 " = 0 .8 V .
W AVEFORMS
JirLruirirLm^^
i __________
FIRST CHAR£iCTER CODE ^ SECOND CHARACTER CODE
I
p - ----- ROM ACCESS-------- ►
Y FIRST CHARACTER Y SECONO CHARACTER
^ A TTR IBU TES &CONTRC)LS FOR FIRST CHAR ^ ^
SHIFT R EG ISTER SETUP -
VIDEO
(FROM SHIFT
REG ISTER ) 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 C
FIRST CHARACTER SECOND CHARACTER
A TTR IBU TES
& CONTROLS
A TTR IBU TES & CONTROLS FOR FIRST CHAR
(FROM
SYNCHRONIZER) DC
•CCLK IS A M ULTIPLE OF THE DOT CLOCK AND AN INPUT TO THE 8275
Typical Dot Level Timing

8275
The 8275 CRT Controller 3 -43
8275
" A
t
LAST RETRACE \ / FIRST RETRACE

CHARACTER ^ CHARACTER
FIRST LIN ECOUNT
U
\ ......
INTERNAL
ROW LAST DISI•LAY ROW
t
COUNTER
--- ~ ■*--------*IR
r
In te rru p t T im in g
DMA Tim ing

8275
A.C. CHARACTERISTICS
T a = 0°C to 70°C; V CC = 5.0V ±5%; GND = 0V
Bus Parameters (Note 1)

Read Cycle:
SYMBOL PARAMETER M IN. M AX. UNITS TEST CONDITIONS
*A R Address Stable Before READ 0 ns
tR A Address Hold Time fo r READ 0 ns
tR R READ Pulse Width 250 ns
*R D Data Delay from READ 200 ns CL = 150 pF
*DF READ to Data Floating 20 100 ns
Write Cycle:
SYMBOL PARAM ETER M IN. M AX. UNITS TEST CONDITIONS
*AW Address Stable Before WRITE 0 ns

*W A Address Hold Time for WRITE 0 ns
tw w WRITE Pulse Width 250 ns
to w Data Setup Time for WRITE 150 ns
tw o Data Hold Time for W RITE 0 ns
Clock Timing:
SYMBOL PARAM ETER MIN. M AX. UNITS TEST CONDITIONS
tCLK Clock Period 320 ns

*KH Clock High 120 ns
t« L Clock Low 120 ns
*KR Clock Rise 5 30 ns
t KF Clock Fall 5 30 ns
Note 1: AC tim ings measured at V q h = 2.0, V q l = 0-8
Write Timing Read Timing
v ....................... .
IN VA LIC ^ VALID INVALID A° . c s ^ )
x:
*AVV Hh—
Wwy-*- ♦ ‘WAi -------► *AR p
— - i ,R Ar —
I t
"•---- --- *RR-----------*> 1
\ — I ----------------------- s / '
'R D ---- ► !
'DW “WD ---- * | |— *DF
v /y //////V ///////////y y /
INVALID VALID ^ INVALID '//Z 'H \G H IMPEDANCE ' DATA V A L I D i ^ ^
! 1 V L Uv-> IMPEDANCES
W ///////////////M < .'A j ■ V /s ,.
i 1
Clock Timing Input Waveforms (For A.C. Tests)
• ------------- »CY
r ..............\
CCLK I
}
tK F — ► <•— *KL — -
f -------- *KR
TEST POINTS -
4
The 6845 CRT controller lies somewhere between the DP8350 device,
described in Chapter 2, and the 8275 device, described in Chapter 3, in its
functional organization and capabilities. It is sim ilar to the DP8350 in the
way that it is positioned functionally w ithin a system ; it coordinates the
flow of data from screen memory to character generator logic and thence onto
the CRT monitor, but data does not actually pass through the 6845 as is the
case with the 8275 device. However, the 6845 is a fully programmable
device, like the 8275, instead of being mask-programmable lik e the DP8350.
troller described in Chapter 1 that are provided by the 6845. T he 6845 pro
vides screen m em ory addressing logic but no m em ory contention logic. The
light pen logic, cursor logic, and scan line counters provided by the 6845 are
sim ilar to those of the 8275, although the scrolling and cursor logic is m ore
lim ited in the 6845. Similarly, the blanking logic provided by the 6845 is
m inim al, although adequate, and does not provide as many options as the
8275. No dot tim ing logic is provided on-chip, as will be true with m ost of the
CRT controllers we will describe, but the H SYNC/VSYNC generation logic is
present on the 6845. We have shown the program m able registers, status, and
control logic only partially shaded in Figure 4-1; while the 6845 provides a full
com plem ent of program m able registers, there are no status or control registers
or signals provided by the 6845 to simplify the m icroprocessor interface.
The sole m anufacturer of the 6845 device is:
M OTOROLA IN C O RPO R A TED

Sem iconductor Products Division
3501 Ed Bluestein Boulevard
A ustin, TX 78721
Figure 4-1. Logic Functions Provided by 6845 CRT Controller


Figure 4-2 shows the pin assignm ents and signals for the 6845. We
w ill provide a brief description of each signal, since this w ill serve as a good
introduction to, and overview of, the capabilities of the 6845. We will discuss
the uses of these signals and their interrelationships in m ore detail later in this
chapter.
The 6845 signals may be divided into three categories: signals used to
interface the controller to the microprocessor and system busses, signals
used to interface the controller to screen memory and character generator
logic, and signals directly related to the controller-CRT monitor interface.
Microprocessor The microprocessor system interface signals are described below.
Interface D 0-D 7 are the bidirectional data lin es used to transfer data between the
Signals m icroprocessor and the 6845’s internal registers.
C 5 is a standard Chip Select input signal which would typically be
generated by system address decoding logic. CS m ust be low to read inform a
tion from or write inform ation into one of the internal registers of the 6845.
RS is the Register Select input to the 6845. The 6845 has 19 internal
registers. R ather than sacrifice five of the 40 available pins to register address
ing, the 6845 uses one of its registers as an address register to access the
rem aining 18 registers. W hen th e RS signal is low, the internal address register
is accessed and can be loaded with the address of the internal register that is to
be accessed next. W hen RS is high, this enables access to the register whose
address is contained in the address register.
R /W is the Read/W rite signal which determ ines whether_data is to be
w ritten into a 6845 register or read out of one of the registers. R /W m ust be low
for a write operation and high for a read operation.
E is the synchronizing clock or Enable signal required by the 6845.
This signal is used to enable the internal I/O buffers and to clock data into and
out of the internal registers via the data buffers. In a 6800-based system the
Enable (E) input would be connected to the system ’s $ 2 signal.
CLK is the Clock input used to synchronize all of the 6845’s control
signals. It will usually be derived from external dot clock logic and is usually
the character rate clock, at least in an alphanum eric application. T hus it is
actually m ore closely associated with the character generator and video inter
face, but we have included it with the m icroprocessor system interface signals
since it is the primary tim ing input to the 6845.
RESET is a standard device Reset signal which initializes the 6845.
W hen RESET goes low, all of the internal counters are cleared and all of the
6845’s output signals are set low. The video display operation of the 6845 is
thus effectively stopped. T he reset operation does not affect the program-
accessible _counters within the 6845, how ever, so that display can be resum ed
when the RESET signal returns high.
Vcc ( + 5 V) and Vss (ground) are standard power supply connections
to the 6845.
____
v s s (GND)
____ 1 40 VSYNC
RESET 2 39 HSYNC
____
LPSTB 3 38 RAO
____ 4/I oQ 7/
MAO RA1
M A1 5 36 RA2
MA2 6 35 RA3
M A3 7 34 RA4
M A4 8 33 DO
MA5 QJ jQO
Z D1
MA6 10 6845 31 D2
M A7 11 30 D3
MA8 19
iz 9Q
zy D4
MA9 IJ Zo D5
J
M A10 14 27 D6
M A1 1 15 26 D7
M A12 16 25 CS
M A13 17 24 RS
DISPEN 18 23 E
CURSOR 19 22 R /W
V CC (+ 5 V) 20 21 CLK
Pin Name D escrip tion Type
. ® D 0-D 7 Data Bus B id ire c tio n a l, T ris ta te

°
io m
<d CS Chip S elect Input
to t RS R egister S elect Input
0) 0
8 s R/W R ea d /W rite S e le ct Input
E Enable S yn ch ro n izatio n Signal Input
1 E
5 2 CLK C haracter Rate Clock Input
RESET Reset Input
s c£/>
V CC' V SS P ow er (+ 5 V) and Ground
> _ ~
o ® c M A 0 -M A 1 3 Screen M e m o ry Address Bus O utput
E o .? R A0-R A4 R aster (Scan Line) Address Signals O utput
a> <o co
5 1 o
£ 5 £
5 g 1
« «S
JO
k. (0 HSYNC H orizontal S ynch ro n izatio n O utput
.tr o> VSYNC V e rtica l S yn ch ro n izatio n O utput
o « DISPEN D isplay (Video) Enable O utput
^ 8 CURSOR Cursor enable O utput
H -2 LPSTB Lig h t Pen Strobe Input
DC *5
O ®
c
F ig u re 4 - 2 . 6845 CRT Controller Pins and Signals

Screen Memory There are two sets of signals provided by the 6845 to im plem ent the
and Character interface to screen memory and character generator logic: M A 0-M A 13 are
Generator the screen Memory Address outputs and RA0-RA4 are the Raster Address
Signals output signals to character generator logic. The 14 screen M em ory A ddress
outputs (M A 0-M A 13) allow the 6845 to access up to 16K bytes of screen
m em ory. The Raster A ddress output lines (RA 0-R A 4) are the outputs from
the 6845’s scan line counter. While the signal nam es used on the 6845 for these
outputs differ from those which we have used elsew here in this book, these
five signals are simply the scan line counts required by character generator
logic to determ ine which scan line of a character row is being displayed.
CRT Monitor The 6845 provides a fairly standard set of CRT monitor interface sig
Signals nals. HSYNC and YSYNC are the standard Horizontal and Vertical Syn
chronization signals required by CRT monitors. D ISPE N is the D isplay
Enable signal and will be set high w henever the video signal to the CRT m oni
tor is to be active. DISPEN will be set low during horizontal and vertical
retrace, and thus m ight also be called the video blanking signal. CURSOR is
the standard cursor enable signal used to create a steady stream of dots on a
CRT screen to produce a cursor symbol.
LPSTB is the Light Pen Strobe input signal which, in conjunction with
external circuitry, can be used to im plem ent a light pen interface between the
CRT monitor and the 6845. W hen the 6845 detects a high level on the LPSTB
signal it saves the contents of the screen m em ory address counter in one of the
internal register sets so that the m icroprocessor can subsequently determ ine
the position at which the light pen was detected.

The 6845 provides 19 internal registers which m ust be accessed under
program control to establish operating parameters for the device. Figure 4-3
illustrates the logic involved in accessing the registers. Accessing one of the
18 param eter registers requires a tw o-step sequence: first, th e 5-bit A ddress
register m ust be loaded with the n um ber of the operating param eter that is to
be accessed, and you can then perform a read or write of the addressed register.
The Register Select (RS) signal determ ines w hether it is the A ddress register
that is being accessed or one of the param eter registers. Transfers of address
and param eter inform ation to and from the registers occurs via th e data lines
(D 0-D 7).
Table 4-1 sum m arizes the function of each of the 18 parameter
registers. As you can see, the first group of registers (RO through R3) estab
lishes the horizontal format and tim ing parameters, the next group (R4
through R9) determines vertical format and timing characteristics, and the
rem aining registers (RIO through R17) deal with cursor characteristics,
screen memory addressing, and the light pen interface. Typically, registers
RO through R l l will be loaded when the system is first started up and will not
have to be accessed thereafter. The rem aining six registers (R12 through R17)
will be accessed on an ongoing basis during system operation. R12 and R 13 es
tablish a 14-bit starting (or top of page) address for screen m em ory. The co n
tents of these registers can be m anipulated to perform scrolling of the screen
contents. Registers 14 and 15 establish a 14-bit cursor address to produce the
cursor symbol on the screen. Registers 16 and 17 will be used if the light pen
input is utilized.
Typically, the 6845 w ill occupy two memory or I/O addresses; the RS
signal would be connected to the system ’s least significant address bit (AO).
W hen AO is low, the A ddress register would be accessed to load it with the
num ber of the desired param eter register. That specified register would then be
accessed by setting AO high. Thus a typical register access operation would
consist of two consecutive device write cycles, or a write cycle followed by a
read cycle, and these cycles would be directed to consecutive memory or I/O
locations. Since the contents of the param eter registers determ in e all of the
primary operating characteristics for the 6845, we shall defer a description of
the contents of each register until later in this chapter when we describe pro
gram m ing of the device.
Table 4-1. 6845 CRT Controller Programmable Registers
R egister
Read (R) Rite
BITS Range — U nits
W rite (W)
No. N am e /F un ctio n
_o
Horizontal Total W 8 1 - 2 5 6 (0-FF16)C LK s
o
o
H orizontal
i (01 16) C haracters/Row W 8 1 - 2 5 6 (0-FF16)C LK s
Form at and
T im ing 2 (0 2 16) HSYNC Position W 8 1 - 2 5 6 (0-FF16)C LK s
3 ( 0 3 16) HSYNC W id th W 4 1 - 16 (0-F16)C LK s
4 ( 0 4 16) Vertical Total W 7 1 - 1 2 8 (0 -7 F 16) Character Rows
5 (0 5 16) VSYNC Adjust W 5 1 - 32 (0-1 F t 6) Scan Lines
V e rtica l 6 ( 0 6 16) Character Rows/Frame W 7 1 - 1 2 8 (0 -7 F 16) Character Rows

Form at and
T im ing 7 (0 7 16) VSYNC Position W 7 1 -1 2 8 (0 -7 F 16) Character Rows
8 ( 0 8 16) Interlace Mode W 2 0 -3
9 (0 9 16) Scan Lines/Row W 5 1 - 32 (0-1 F t 6) Scan Lines
1 0 (0 A 16) Cursor S tart Scan Line W 7* 1 - 32 (0-1 F t 6) Scan Lines
1 1 (0 B 16) Cursor Stop Scan Line W 5 1 - 32 (0- 1F-, 6) CLKs
1 2 (0 C 16) (MSB) W 6
Start Address
1 - 1 6 ,3 8 4 (0 0 0 0 -4 F F F 16)
P rim ary 1 3 (0 D 16) (LSB) (Top o f Page) W 8
O perating
R egisters 14(0 E 16) (MSB) R /W 6
Cursor
Un o o 4 \ Un nU nU nU ‘
1D ,QQyi/ /iccc g|\
4rrr-| |
P ositio n
15(0 F 16) (LSB) R /W 8
1 6 (1 0 16) (MSB) Light Pen R 6

Un 1D ,qo qo 4/1 \/ Un Un Un Un - 4/iccc
ic r r r ^ gj\
(LSB) Position
1 7(1 1 16) R 8
* Tw o bits used to specify cursor blink characteristics


Since the 6845 is a member of the 6800 fam ily of devices, the interface
that it provides to the microprocessor system is a standard 6800-type inter
face. The signals used to interface the controller to the microprocessor con
sist of the eight data lines (D 0-D 7), the Chip Select (CS) signal, the
Register Select (RS) signal, the Read/W rite ( R / W ) signal, and the Enable
(E) signal.
The m icroprocessor can transfer param eter inform ation to and from the
6845 simply by issuing standard m em ory write and read com m ands to the
device (recall that the 6800 family uses m em ory-m apped I/O ). Timing for a
m icroprocessor-initiated write operation to load an address into the Address
register or a parameter into one of the parameter registers can be illustrated
as follows:
This timing is completely straightforward with the exception of the E

signal. In a 6800 system , this signal would be driven by the 0 2 clock. This is
a continuous clock signal in 6800 system s and is used to trigger all data transfer
between the system m icroprocessor and its supporting devices. In a system
that uses a CPU other than a 6800 fam ily device or 6502 microprocessor, you
must derive and supply some type of continuous clock signal to drive the E
input to the 6845. Since there is a m axim um allowable cycle tim e for the E
input signal, it is necessary that it be driven by a continuous clock. This may
result in a rather com plicated interface to the m icroprocessor in a non-6800
system.
The timing for a m icroprocessor-initiated read operation to obtain
information from the parameter registers of the 6845 can be illustrated as
follows:
i— \ ______ —i v
Data Out Data V alid

(DO-D7)
Once again, with the exception of the E signal, this tim ing is completely
straightforw ard.
The read and write cycles we have ju st illustrated are the only com
m unication that occurs directly between the m icroprocessor system and the
6845. Unlike som e of the other CRT controllers we have described, the 6845
provides no interrupt signals, DM A or m em ory contention signals, or status
signals. In addition, the 6845 does not include a data register (data for display
goes directly from screen m em ory to character generator logic), a status
register, or a com m and register. The bulk of m icroprocessor interaction with
the 6845 will be during system startup when the param eter register m ust be
loaded with values to establish tim ing characteristics.
THE 6845-SCREEN MEMORY/CHARACTER GENERATOR INTERFACE

The only signals that the 6845 device provides specifically for the
screen memory interface are the 14 memory address outputs (M A 0-M A 13).
At the beginning of a fram e, the 6845’s internal address counter is set to the
value contained in the Start A ddress (or Top of Page) register (R12, R13).
T hereafter, the contents of the 6845’s address counter, and thus of the
m em ory address outputs, are increm ented at the C haracter Clock (CLK) rate
during each scan line. At the end of each scan line, the address register will
once again be set to the start address and the cycle repeated until all scan lines
com prising a character row have been com pleted. U pon com pletion of one
character row, the address counter will be loaded with the address of the first
character on the next character row.
Screen m em ory address tim ing is quite straightforw ard and similar to
that which we have described, and will describe, for other CRT controllers in
this book. The one aspect of the screen memory interface which this timing
does not deal with is memory contention resolution to determ ine when the
m icroprocessor system can access screen m em ory w ithout disrupting the
accesses initiated by the 6845. To see what might be required, we need to
exam ine the position of the 6845 w ithin the system . The following illustra
tion shows the general relationship between the 6845, microprocessor,
screen memory, and character generator logic.
R A 0-R A 4
6845
Address Bus C haracter

M A O -M A 1 3
To CRT
$ G enerator
Logic
M o n ito r
JS Z
Screen
M icro p ro ce sso r M e m o ry
Data Bus
H
D ata will be loaded into screen m em ory under control of the

m icroprocessor and will then be accessed by the 6845 to cause th e contents of
screen m em ory to be presented to character generator logic. This arrangem ent
is similar to that which we encountered with the DP8350 in C hapter 2. Screen
m em ory data does not pass through the 6845, as was the case with the 8275
device described in C hapter 3. N either is the 6845 involved in initiating the
DM A transfers of data within the system.
There are numerous methods which can be used to resolve memory
contention. You can use external logic to decode the scan lines (as indicated by
RA 0-RA 4) to determ ine when the 6845 will not need access to screen
m em ory, and then allow the m icroprocessor access to the busses during these
intervals. You can also use th e horizontal blanking and vertical blanking in ter
vals to grant access to the microprocessor. These techniques are familiar ones
which we discussed in C hapter 1 and have seen with the CRT controllers d e
scribed in Chapters 2 and 3. The point we should m ake here is that the 6845
provides no logic specifically to a ssist you in im plem enting this external cir
cuitry to resolve memory contention.
Interleaved There is one characteristic of the 6845, or m ore accurately of the 6800-
Access to type system s, that can be used to implem ent interleaved access to screen
Screen memory. In a 6800-based system , a tw o-phase clock is used to tim e all tra n
Memory sactions in the system ; the CPU will utilize system busses only during one of
these phases. In such a system , you can use <t>2 as the Enable (E) input to the
6845. The 6845 can then utilize the system busses to access screen memory
during the alternate phases and there will be no interference between the
6845 and the m icroprocessor. The tim ing for this arrangement can be illustr
ated as follows:
6845 M icroprocessor 6 84 5 M icro p ro ce sso r

- Accesses- •— A c c e s s e s — * -A c c e s s e s - •— A c ce sse s------
M e m o ry M e m ory M e m ory M e m ory
E (ct>2)
The interface that the 6845 provides to character generator logic

sim ply consists of the five Raster Address or scan line counter outputs
(RA0-RA4). These outputs form one set of inputs to character generator logic,
while the data from screen m em ory com prises the second set of character code
inputs to character generator logic.
The RA0-RA4 outputs can represent scan line counts ranging from 0
to 31, and thus character rows can be com prised of up to 32 scan lines. Register
R9 specifies the number of scan lines per character row, and thus the m ax
im um count that R A 0-R A 4 will reach before being reset to 0. The scan line
counter w ill be incremented at the Horizontal Synchronization (H SYNC)
rate. Timing for the RA0-RA4 outputs can be illustrated as follows:
-1 s t C haracter R o w - - 2nd C haracter Row -
y— y ii y
R A 0-R A4 oooooj 00001 1 IMax~1yI Ma
HSYNC
_A_A_A^iiL_A_A__A__A_A_
The tim ing illustrated here is for a standard non-interlaced display.
The 6845, how ever, can also operate in two interlaced m odes of operation, and
the scan line counter function is som ew hat dependent on the m ode you
specify. T herefore, let us now discuss the various interlaced and non-interlaced
m odes provided by the 6845.
The 6845 CRT Controller Scan Modes

The 6845 provides three scan modes: standard non-interlaced scans,
interlaced-sync scanning, and interlaced-sync-and-video scanning. You
select the desired mode by loading the appropriate 2-bit code into Register
R8, the Interlace Mode register. These bits specify the mode as shown
below:
B it No.
R8 - Inte rla ce M ode
^ q J- = N orm al M ode (N on-interlace)

01 = Interlace Sync
11 = Interlace Sync and Video
Non-Interlaced Creation of a character in the standard, non-interlaced mode can be

Mode illustrated as follows:
Scan Line
N um b e r R A4-R A0
0 ooooo—
1 00001 — • #
2 00010 —
3 00011 —
4 00100—
5 00101 —
6 00110 —
7 00111 — • # +
8 01000 —
In this m ode, every horizontal scan line is traced during each vertical
scan, and the refresh rate for each dot on the screen is thus the VSYNC fre
quency (for exam ple, 60 H z). This non-interlaced m ode is the m ost com m only
used in alphanum eric term inals and is the only m ode provided by m ost of the
CRT controllers we describe.
Interlaced- In the interlaced-sync mode, the first sweep (the even field) starts at
Sync Mode the upper left-hand corner of the screen and the second sweep (odd field)
starts at the top center of the screen. (For an illustration of interlaced fields
refer to C hapter 1.) In the interlaced-sync mode, the sam e information is
presented on the screen in both the odd and even fields. This can be illu s
trated as follows:
Even Field
R A 4-R A 0
00000 —
00001 -
00010-
00011 -
00100-
00101 -
00110-
00111- • • •
Odd Field
# # •
Combined Fields
—• -
-# —• -
-m—# — • — • -
# — • #■
- • —• — t — • -
Even Odd
Field Field
Interlaced-Sync T he sam e inform ation is repeated in the even and odd fields and the two
Mode Timing fields are displaced vertically from one another by one-half scan line. T hus the
com bined fields im prove resolution by making the letters appear to have nearly
solid vertical lines due to the proximity of the adjacent dots. A problem with
this approach is that each field is refreshed at one-half of the VSYNC rate
(for exam ple, 30 H z). This may result in an unacceptable flicker of the dots
on the screen. As we discussed in C hapter 1, flicker due to low refresh rate can
be overcom e by using long-persistence phosphor CRT screens.
The tim ing for the interlaced-sync mode can be illustrated as follows:
- 1 C o m p lete Fram e -
- 1 C om plete Field (Even F ie ld )- - 1 C om plete Field (Odd F ie ld )-
.TAAAAAAAAAAA________hAAA/VWVAAAA_________
f W W \A /W W V \. [Y.
/\AAAA/W\AAAAAAAAA/lAAAAyVWWVW\A/WV\A.
T M 11 1 ~ II 11
LA A J lA J L A A
I L
'/i Scan Line T im e - i Scan Line T im e -
_ V S Y N C starts here V S Y N C s t a r ts _
in odd field here in ev en field
All scan line counts for every character row will be generated during both
the odd and even fields so that the sam e dot patterns from the character
generator will be output twice — once during each field. The VSYNC pulse for
the odd field occurs one-half scan line tim e earlier during the odd field than it
does during the even field; this is what produces the one-half scan line vertical
separation between scan lines of the odd and even fields.
Interlaced-Sync In the interlaced-sync-with-video mode, dot information is also writ
with-Video Mode ten into both the odd and even fields of a frame. In this case, however, the
same information is not presented in both fields; instead, half of each
character is written in each field so that a character row comprised of eight
scan lines w ill have four scan lines presented in the even field and four in
the odd field. This can be illustrated as follows:
Even Field
0 ------------------------------------------------
2 + ------------------* ----------------- • ------------------»
4» t ♦ ~+ • --------------------+ # +■ -+----
-
6 -----• ------------------• ------------------• ------------------»
Scan Line Odd Field

N um ber
1 • ------------------ • ------------------• # + # ----

3 -------+ ------------------------- * ------------------------- O ------------------------- # -
5 --• ------------------ • ----------------- ♦ --------------• ----

7 ------ • ---------------------------• ------------------------- » t 4 + ------
C om bined Fields
(One Frame)
Interlaced-Sync- This m ode of operation results in the highest screen density, since each
with- Video character row is only half as tall as in the other two m odes we illustrated. This
Mode Timing m ode suffers from the sam e weakness as the interlaced-sync m ode, how ever,
in that each dot will only be refreshed at one-half the VSYNC frequency. The
low refresh rate may be even m ore objectionable in this m ode than in the in ter
laced-sync m ode, since only half the character is being created in each field.
The timing for this interlaced-sync-and-video mode can be illustrated
as follows:
- 1 C o m p lete Frame -
- 1 C o m p lete Field (Even F ie ld )- - 1 C om plete Field (Odd F ie ld )-
• .TAAAM /VW VIA wwvawvwi

r \r \r j\/\l' W W W W W V W l/ l
_ V S Y N C starts here V S Y N C starts _

in odd field here in even field
Since only odd-num bered scan lines are produced during the odd field in
this m ode, RAO is always high during the odd field. D uring the even field, RAO
will be held low so that the dot patterns sent to character generator logic will
only be those for even-num bered scan lines.

Figure 4-4 illustrates the signals provided by the 6845 to implement
the interface to a CRT monitor. The 6845 provides fewer signals and options
than did the 8275 device described in Chapter 3, but gives you more options
than were provided by the DP8350 described in Chapter 2.
tion (VSYNC) signals are the standard signals compatible with three-ter-
m inal CRT monitors. You specify the exact tim e at which these pulses are to
be generated by loading the appropriate values into the param eter registers.
The duration of the H SY NC pulse is also program-specifed. The VSYNC
pulse, however, is of a fixed duration (16 scan line tim es) and thus external
logic may be required to obtain a pulse of the proper duration for a given CRT
m onitor. The HSYNC and VSYNC signals can, of course, be com bined using
external com ponents to produce a com posite SYNC signal or com posite video
signal for those CRT m onitors requiring this type of input.
The CURSOR signal is generated by the 6845 whenever the screen
memory address is equal to the address contained in the 6845’s Cursor P osi
tion register (R14, R 15). This signal is similar to that provided by the DP8350
and 8275 devices. Since there is no symbol for the cursor stored in screen
m em ory, the CURSOR signal m ust be used by external logic to generate a con
tinuous stream of dots to create the cursor symbol on the screen. As we shall
see when we discuss program m ing of the 6845’s registers, you have the option
of specifying that a blinking cursor symbol be generated. The 6845 w ill
accomplish this blinking by not turning on the CURSOR signal on at the
specified character position during some of the refresh operations. This
approach is m ore straightforw ard than that used by the 8275, which m anipu
lated yet another signal (video suppression) to produce a blinking cursor.
The D ISPE N signal w ill be set high during horizontal and vertical
retrace operations and thus can be used as the blanking signal to turn off
VIDEO during these intervals. You specify those points when the DISPEN
signal is to be activated by loading the appropriate values into the param eter
registers. T hose intervals w here DISPEN is to be activated have no fixed rela
tionship to the occurrence of the HSYNC or VSYNC signals. Instead, the DIS
PEN signal will be activated at all tim es except during those intervals where
you have specified that characters are to be displayed on the screen.
Both the CURSOR and D ISPE N signals are synchronized to the
screen memory address outputs; that is, when the screen m em ory address
corresponding to the cursor position, or the position w here the display is to be
blanked, is generated, the CURSOR or DISPEN signal will be activated at that
tim e. However, since som e tim e will be required to access the corresponding
character from screen m em ory and then to generate the dot pattern via
character generator logic and shift it out through the video shift register, the
CURSOR and D ISPE N signals may be activated far before the correspond
ing character is being sent to the screen. Therefore, you may have to
introduce delays using the appropriate logic for both signals to account for
this pipelining effect.
Dot P attern from

Character G enerator
Figure 4-4. 6845 CRT Monitor Interface Signals
The LPSTB (Light Pen Strobe) input to the 6845 requires a negative-
to-positive transition from external circuitry to cause the controller to store
its current screen memory address value in the internal Light Pen registers
(R16, R 17). Storage of the screen m em ory address is synchronized with the
Character Clock (CLK) input to the 6845 as shown in the following illustra
tion:
A fter LPSTB has gone high, the next positive-to-negative transition of

CLK causes the subsequently generated screen m em ory address to be saved in
the Light Pen registers. Since there may be significant delays introduced by the
external light pen circuitry, you may have to adjust the values held on the light
pen registers using software in order to obtain a true screen position value. In
addition, there are two critical tim ing relationships in the preceding illustra
tion: if LPSTB goes high during t, or t2, the 6845 may store a screen memory
address other than the X -I- 2 address illustrated. Therefore you must use
external circuitry to synchronize the presentation of LPSTB with the CLK
signal to ensure that it is presented to the 6845 at the proper tim e. For exact
tim ing specifications, refer to the 6845 data sheets at the end of this chapter.
PROGRAMMING THE 6845 CRT CONTROLLER REGISTERS

The 18 parameter registers provided by the 6845 can be divided into
three groups: those used to establish horizontal format and tim ing, those
used to establish vertical format and tim ing, and those used to establish cur
sor shape and location, screen memory addressing, and light pen address
information. All of the registers, with the exception of the Cursor Position
and Light Pen Position registers, are write-only registers. As we have dis
cussed previously, accessing any of these registers is a tw o-step process; you
m ust first load the address register with the 5-bit address which selects the
param eter register that is subsequently to be accessed.
Horizontal Registers RO through R3 establish horizontal format and timing for
Format the 6845. These registers are usually loaded with the required values at
and Timing system startup and do not have to be changed thereafter.
Registers Figure 4-5 shows the format for the Horizontal Total register (RO).
The contents of this register determine the total tim e allotted for one scan
line in terms of Character Clock (CLK) cycles. This register contains the total
of displayed and undisplayed characters, m inus 1, per horizontal line, thus
determ ining the HSYNC frequency.
Figure 4-6 shows the format for the Character/Row register (R l).
This register specifies the number of characters to be displayed on each
horizontal line. Once again this register is loaded with the total num ber of
characters m inus 1, and the units for this register are C haracter Clocks
(CLKs).
Figure 4-7 shows the format for the HSYNC Position register (R2).
This register establishes the point where the HSYNC signal m akes its nega-
tive-to-positive transition and is specified in term s of C haracter Clocks
(CLKs). The reference point for the beginning of the HSYNC pulse is the left
m ost character position displayed on the scan line.
Figure 4-8 shows the format for the H SY N C Width register (R3).
Only the four least significant bits of this register are used, and they estab
lish the duration of the HSYNC pulse in the range of 1 to 16 C haracter Clocks
(CLKs). This allows you to adjust the HSYNC pulse duration to m eet the
requirem ents of specific CRT m onitors.
The following illustration shows the relationships between the four
horizontal timing and format registers (R0-R3) in terms of tCLK:
Figure 4 -7 . 6845 CRT Controller HYSNC Width Register (R2)

Vertical The next six registers (R4-R9) establish the vertical format and tim
Format and ing. Just as was the case with the horizontal param eter registers, these registers
Timing will usually be loaded with the desired values at system startup and will not
Registers have to be changed thereafter. The point of reference for all of the vertical tim
ing and param eter registers is the topm ost character position displayed on the
screen.
Figure 4-9 shows the format for the Vertical Total register (R4) and
the VSYNC Adjust register (R5). These registers determine the total num
ber of scan line tim es in a frame, including the tim e required for vertical
retrace, and thus specify the overall frame rate or VSYNC frequency. The
Vertical Total register (R4) is a 7-bit register, and the units used are character
rows. Since a character row can consist of up to 32 scan lines, this specification
may be too gross to allow you to establish a refresh frequency close to the line
frequency (for exam ple, 60 Hz). T hus you can use the VSYNC Adjust register
(R5) to fine tune the VSYNC frequency. The VSYNC Adjust register is a 5-bit
register, and the units used are scan line times.
Figure 4-9. 6845 CRT Controller Vertical Total (R4) and VYSNC Adjust (R5) Registers
Figure 4-10. 6845 CRT Controller Character Rows Displayed Register (R6)
Figure 4-10 shows the format for the Character Rows Displayed
register (R6). This 7-bit register allows you to specify that up to 128
character rows be displayed. N ote that this specification does not determ ine
the position of the VSYNC pulse, but instead determ ines that point when the
Display Enable (DISPEN) signal will be set low for the vertical retrace opera
tion.
Figure 4-11 shows the format for the VSYNC Position register (R7).
This 7-bit register determines the point where the VSYNC signal m akes its
negative-to-positive transition to initiate vertical retrace. The VSYNC posi
tion is specified by m eans of the character row tim es m easured from the begin
ning of the first character row on the screen. You can see in Figure 4-11 that
the VSYNC pulse always has a duration of 16 scan line tim es. Since the scan
line frequency will vary from application to application, and since you cannot
adjust the VSYNC pulse duration, you may need external circuitry in order to
achieve a VSYNC pulse that is com patible with the CRT m onitor you are
using.
1st scan line o f

1st ch a ra cte r row
DISPEN
HSYNC
VSYN C
7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
0 0 -7 F 16 (1 - 1 28) C haracter R ow s •
Figure 4-11. 6845 CRT Controller VYSNC Position Register (R7)
Register R8 is the Interlace Mode register which determines whether

an interlaced or non-interlaced scan w ill be used. To see the form at fr this
register, refer to the section earlier in this chapter where the interlaced scan
m odes were discussed in detail.
Figure 4-12 shows the format for Register R9, which determines the
number of scan lines per character row. This is a 5-bit register, and you can
thus specify that a character row be comprised of up to 32 scan lines. The
value you specify in this register determ ines the m axim um count that will be
output on the Raster (scan line) A ddress signals (RA 0-R A 4) which are sent to
the character generator logic. You load R9 with the desired scan line count
m inus 1.
The next two registers in the 6845 determine the type of cursor that is
to be displayed. Figure 4-13 shows the format for the Cursor Start register
(RIO) and the Cursor Stop register ( R l l) . The five least significant bits of
each register determ ine the scan lines within a character row w here the C U R
SOR signal is to be activated. The scan line specified in Register RIO is the first
scan line where the CU RSO R signal is to be set high, and CU RSO R will be set
high for all subsequent scan lines in that character position until the scan line
specified in Register R l l has been com pleted. T hus if you want the cursor
symbol to occupy a single scan line, you must load the sam e value into both
R egisters RIO and R l l . A block cursor symbol w ill be produced if RIO and
R l l contain different values. If you have specified that the 6845 is to operate
in the interlaced-sync-and-video m ode, then the C ursor Start and Stop
registers m ust both be loaded with even or odd values. To see why this is so,
refer to our earlier discussion of the interlaced m odes of operation.
Bits 5 and 6 of the Cursor Start register determine whether a blinking
cursor is to be displayed. You can specify that the Cursor signal be blinked
at 1/16 or 1/32 of the field rate.
Scan Line # Scan Line # Scan Line #
i
o- 0-
1 - 1-
2 - 2-
3 - 3-
4 - 4-
5 - 5-
6 - 6-
7 - 7-
8 - 8-
9 - 9-
10- 10 - 10-
IT - 11 - 11 -
10 - B lin k : 1/1 6 fie ld rate

11 - B lin k: 1 /3 2 fie ld rate
Figure 4 -13. 6845 CRT Controller Start (R10)/Stop (R11) Registers

Primary The remaining six registers (R12-R17) provided by the 6845 can be
Operating considered the primary operating registers, since they may be frequently
Registers accessed and manipulated during operation instead of sim ply being loaded
with values at system startup time. Figure 4-14 shows the format for these
six registers. The six registers are arranged as three 14-bit address registers.
Registers R12 and R13 comprise a 14-bit Top of Page register which specifies
the screen m em ory address containing the first character to be displayed on the
screen. Upon com pletion of the vertical retrace operation, the first screen
m em ory address that is generated will be that which is contained in the Top of
Page register. By changing the contents of the Top of Page register, you can
perform scrolling. Since the 6845 addresses m em ory linearly rather than on a
row /colum n basis, scrolling can be on a character-by-character basis or row-by-
•row.
Registers R14 and R15 comprise a 14-bit Cursor Position register.
W hen the 6845 generates a screen m em ory address on M A0-M A13 that
m atches the contents of this register, and when the scan line counter outputs
(RA 0-R A 4) fall within the boundaries established by Registers RIO and R l l ,
the CURSOR signal will be activated. As we discussed when we described the
interface to the CRT m onitor, you may have to delay the CURSOR signal
using external logic in order to achieve display at the desired character position.
Movement of the cursor on the screen is accomplished by loading new values
into the Cursor Position register. Registers R14 and R15 are the only ones
provided by the 6845 that are read/w rite registers, so you can use this register
pair to keep track of w here the cursor is, rather than having to copy the cursor
position to it from another m em ory location.
Registers R16 and R17 comprise the 14-bit Light Pen register and w ill
be loaded with the screen memory address that corresponds to the screen
position where the LPSTB signal was detected. You should refer to our ear
lier discussion of the LPSTB signal since there are several critical tim ing
param eters involved with this signal and the resultant values that are stored in
the Light Pen register.
Figure 4-15 illustrates the relationship between the programmable
registers of the 6845 and a modified timing chain developed in Chapter 1.
Figure 4-14. 6845 CRT Controller Operating Registers (R12-R17)

f DOT
( [R7] d e te rm in e s pulse)
Figure 4-15. The Relationship between 6845 Programmable Registers and the CRT
Timing Chain
DATA SHEETS
6845
S YS TEM BLOCK D IA G R A M D E S C R IP T IO N
As shown in Figure 1, the prim ary fun ctio n of the number o f approaches are possible fo r solving contentions
CRTC is to generate refresh addresses (M A0-M A13), row for the Refresh Memory.
selects (R A0-R A4), and video m onitor tim ing (HSYNC, 1. Processor always gets p rio rity .
VSYNC) and Display Enable. Other functions include an 2. Processor gets p rio rity access anytime, but can be
internal cursor register which generates a Cursor o utp ut synchronized by an interru p t to perform accesses
when its contents compare to the current Refresh A d only during horizontal and vertical retrace times.
dress. A light-pen strobe input signal allows capture of 3. Synchronize processor by memory w ait cycles.
Refresh Address in an internal light pen register. 4. Synchronize processor to character rate (See Figure
A ll tim ing in the CRTC is derived from the Clk input. 2). The 6800 MPU fa m ily lends itself to this config
In alphanumeric terminals, this signal is the character rate. uration because it has constant cycle lengths. This
Character rate is divided down from video rate by external method provides zero burden on the processor be
High Speed Tim ing when the video frequency is greater cause there is never a contention fo r memory. A ll
than 3 MHz. S hift Register, Latch, and M UX Control accesses are " t r a n s p a r e n t "
signals are also provided by external High Speed Timing. The secondary data bus concept in no way precludes
The processor communicates w ith the CRTC through a using the Refresh RAM fo r other purposes. It looks like
buffered 8-bit Data Bus by reading/writing into the any other RAM to the Processor. For example, using
18-register file of the CRTC. Approach 4, a 64K byte RAM Refresh Memory could
The Refresh Memory address is m ultiplexed between perform refresh and program storage functions trans
the Processor and CRTC. Data appears on a Secondary parently.
Bus which is buffered from the processor Primary Bus. A
FIG U R E 2 - TR A N S P A R E N T REFRESH M E M O R Y
M A X IM U M RATINGS
C O N F IG U R A T IO N T IM IN G USING 6800 MPU F A M IL Y
Rating Sym bol Value U n it
Supply Voltage VCC* -0.3 to +7.0 Vdc
Inp u t Voltage V in * -0.3 to +7.0 Vdc
1 C R T C A ccesses
Operating Temperature Range ta 0 to +70 °C 1 R e fre s h M e m o r y
Storage Temperature Range Tstg -55 to +150 °C
*W ith respect to Vgs (Gnd).
M P U A cces se s |
R e fre s h M e m o r y 1
I
RECOMMENDED OPERATING C O NDITIO NS
Characteristics Sym bol M in Typ Max U n it
_ _ Tc _
S upply Voltage VCC 4.75 5.0 5.25 Vdc ^ 'c y c le
c m
In p u t Low Voltage V |L -0.3 - 0.8 Vdc
w h e re: m ,n a re in te g e rs ;
In p u t High Voltage V |H 2.0 - V cc Vdc T c is c h a r a c t e r p e r io d
Data sheets on pages 4 -3 2 through 4 -41 are reprinted by permission of Motorola Semiconductor Products Inc.
6845
ELECTRICAL CHARACTERISTICS (V q q = 5.0 V ±5% , V s s = 0, = 0 to 70°C unless otherwise noted)
Characteristic Sym bol M in T yp Max U n it

In p u t High V oltage V |H 2.0 V CC V dc
In p u t L o w Voltage V |L -0 .3 0.8 Vdc
In p u t Leakage C urrent ' in - 1.0 2.5 MAdc
Three-State (V c c = 5.25 V) 'tsi -1 0 2.0 10 MAdc
( V jn = 0.4 to 2.4 V)
O u tp u t High V oltage V 0H Vdc
<1load = -2 0 5 mA ) D0-D7 2.4 - -
(1 load = -1 0 0 juA) O ther O utp uts 2.4
O u tp u t L o w V oltage V0 L 0.4 V dc
^ load = 1 -6 mA)
Power Dissipation pd - 600 mW
In p u t Capacitance ^ in pF
D0-D7 - 12.5
A ll others 10
O u tp u t Capacitance A ll O u tp uts Cout - 10 pF
M in im u m Clock Pulse W idth , L ow pWCL 160 ns
M in im u m C lock Pulse W idth, High PWCH 200 - ns
C lock Frequency fc - - 2.5 MHz
Rise and Fall Tim e fo r Clock In p u t l cr* t cf - 20 ns
M em ory Address Delay Tim e *M AD - 160 ns
Raster Address Delay Tim e *RA D - - 160 ns
Display T im in g Delay Tim e *DTD 300 ns
H o rizo n ta l Sync Delay Tim e XHSD - - 300 ns
V ertical Sync Delay Tim e VSD - 300 ns
C ursor Display T im ing Delay Tim e l CDD - - 300 ns
L ig h t Pen S trobe M inim um Pulse W idth PWLPH 100 ns
L ig h t Pen S trobe Disable Tim e t LPD1 120 ns
*LPD2 0 ns
Note: The lig h t pen strobe must fall to low level before VSYNC pulse rises.
BUS TIM IN G CHARACTERISTICS
Characteristic | S ym bol | M in | Max | U n it |
R EAD/W R ITE
Enable Cycle Tim e *cycE 1.0 MS
Enable Pulse W idth, High PWEH 0.45 25 MS
Enable Pulse W idth, L o w PWE L 0.43 MS
Setup Tim e, CS and RS valid to enable positive tra nsition *AS 160 ns
Data Delay Tim e tD D R 320 ns
Data H old Tim e (Read) tH 10 . ns
(w rite) 10 -
Address H old Tim e *AH 10 ns
Rise and Fall Tim e fo r Enable In p u t tEr. tE f 25 ns
Data Setup Tim e *DSW 195 ns
Data Access Tim e rACC 480 ns
6845
FIG URE 4 - R E L A T IO N BETW EEN LPSTB A N D REFRESH M E M O R Y ADDRESS
6845
F IG U R E 3 - CRTC T IM IN G C H A R T
6845
FIG U R E 5 - BUS T IM IN G C H A R T
5a — Bus Read Tim ing (Read Info rm a tio n From CRTC)
5b — Bus W rite Tim ing (W rite Info rm a tio n In to CRTC)

6845
F IG U R E 6 - BUS T IM IN G TEST L O A D
R L = 2 .4 k
M M D 6150
o r E q u iv .
C = 1 3 0 pF fo r D 0 -D 7
= 3 0 pF fo r M A O -M A 13, R A 0 -R A 4 ,
D IS P E N , H Y S N C ,
V S Y N C , and C U R S O R
R = 1 1 k f i fo r D 0 -D 7
= 2 4 k f 2 f o r A ll O t h e r O u t p u t s
FIG URE 7 - PIN A S S IG N M E N T
R o w A d d re s s e s
fo r C h a ra c te r
G e n e r a to r s
( P ro c e s s o r
I n te rfa c e
6845
6845
6845
6845
5
The 6545 CRT controller is the 6500-equivalent of the 6845 device

which we described in Chapter 4. The two devices are pin-compatible and
functionally equivalent, except that a few additional functions have been
added to the 6545. Because the differences are few, we w ill not provide a
complete description of the 6545 CRT controller; instead, we w ill discuss
only those aspects of the 6545 device that are different from the 6845 CRT
controller.
troller, described in Chapter 1, that are provided by the 6545 device. If you
compare this figure to the equivalent one for the 6845 device (Figure 4-1),
you w ill see that the only differences are that the blocks labeled Programma
ble R egisters, Status, and Control are completely shaded for the 6545 rather
than partially shaded, and that the memory contention logic which was not
present on the 6845 is provided on the 6545. While m ost of th e program m able
registers provided by the 6545 are identical to those of the 6845, the 6545
device also provides a Status register which can be read by the m icroprocessor
to ascertain the progress of operations within the device. The 6845 provided no
such status register. Because of its presence on the 6545 device, we have shown
the logic block in Figure 5-1 as being fully present. A m ore significant
difference is in the m em ory contention logic function. The 6845 provided
absolutely no logic specifically to simplify m em ory contention within the
system. The 6545 device, on the other hand, provides som e rather unusual
logic that can be used to resolve m em ory contention between th e CRT con
troller and the microprocessor.
There are two sources for the 6545 CRT controller:
SYNERTEK, INC. ROCKW ELL IN TER N A TIO N A L

1901 Old M iddlefield Way M icroelectronic Devices
M ountain View P.O. Box 3669, RC55
CA 94043 A naheim , CA 92803
Figure 5-1. 6545 CRT Controller Functional Logic

Figure 5-2 shows the pin and signal assignm ents for the 6545 CRT
controller. Only those signals which are shaded in the figure are different
from those of the 6845, and they are the only ones we w ill discuss here.
The <l>2 signal is the system clock input to the 6545 and was nam ed the
Enable (E) signal on the 6845 device. This signal is used to trigger all data
transfers between the m icroprocessor and the 6545, th u s performing the same
function as the E signal on the 6845. There is one potentially significant
difference, however: the 6845’s E signal had a m axim um cycle tim e specified
and thus had to be driven by a continuous clock signal. The <£2 signal on the
6545, on the other hand, has no m axim um lim it for cycle tim e and thus need
not be driven by a continuous clock. This will simplify the m icroprocessor
interface to the 6545 in non-6500-com patible system s.
The screen Memory Address outputs (M A 0-M A 13) have a second set
of signal nam es associated with them. The eight least significant address
signals are labeled CC0-CC7 and can function as Character Column address
outputs, w hile the six m ost significant signals can serve as Character Row
address outputs (CR0-CR6). You have the option of specifying that the 6545
address screen memory in the straight binary sequence, using M A 0-M A 13,
or in a row/colum n addressing sequence using CC0-CC7/CR0- CR5.
V s s (GND)- 1 40
RESET- 2 39
L P S TB - 3 38
CCO/MAO^ 4 37
C C 1 /M A 1 - 5 36
C C 2/M A 2-* 6 35
C C 3 /M A 3 - 7 34
C C 4 /M A 4 - 8 33
C C 5 /M A 5 - 9 32
C C 6 /M A 6 - 10 6545 31
C C 7/M A 7 + 11 30
CRO/MA8 -< 12 29
C R 1 /M A 9 - 13 28
C R 2 /M A 1 0 -* 14 27
C R 3 /M A 1 1 - 15 26
C R 4 /M A 1 2 16 25
C R 5 /M A 1 3 - 17 24
D ISPEN - 18 23
CURSOR 19 22
vcc <+5V)- 20 21
□ These signals d iffe r from 6 8 4 5 signals
Pin Nam e D escrip tion Type
D0-D7 Data Bus Bidirectional, Tristate

CS Chip Select Input
<
®* r® RS Register Select Input
o £ R /W Read/W rite Select Input
System Synchronization Signal Input
s i CCLK Character Rate Clock
o ** Input
i (/)
> RESET Reset Input
VCC' V SS Power (+5 V) and Ground
M A 0 -M A 1 3 Screen M em ory Address Bus (Linear) Output

s s ! t n U - ln o i Screen M em ory Colum n/Row Addresses u u ip u i
1 1 .1 R A0-R A3 Raster (Scan Line) Address Signals Output
® <8 (/)
nMH/ O 1D
□ AA/CTR n a S I o i nQOreSS/ U p u a i u A Q Q iu S S O liO D o Oi itm it
V/UlpUl
2 5 o
g o ;
® -o ®
1 § s
V) HSYNC Horizontal Synchronization Output

i- (0 VSYNC Vertical Synchronization Output
o C
£ c» DISPEN Display (Video) Enable Output
£
o S
w
5
CURSOR Cursor Enable Output
o LPSTB Light Pen Strobe Input
t- 5
OC
o ®
c

The most significant Raster Address output (RA4) has also been
assigned a secondary signal name: Strobe (STB). This signal is associated
with the memory contention logic provided by the 6545. If you program the
6545 to operate in a transparent m em ory adressing m ode, the STB signal can
be used to inform external logic of those intervals when a memory update
address (as opposed to a m em ory display address) is being output on the
M A 0-M A 13 lines. We will discuss the STB signal in m ore detail when we d e
scribe the screen m em ory interface provided by the 6545 device. You should
note that if the transparent m em ory addressing option is utilized, external logic
m ust be supplied if you need to use this signal as RA4. We will describe the
required logic later in this chapter.

The programmable registers provided by the 6545 are, for the most
part, identical to those of the 6845; there are, however, a few minor changes
and several significant additions. Figure 5-3 illustrates the logic involved in
accessing the programmable registers of the 6545, and Table 5-1 sum m ar
izes the function of each of the programmable registers. In both Figure 5-3
and Table 5-1, those areas that are shaded are the only ones that differ from
the corresponding functions of the 6845 and w ill be the only functions which
we w ill discuss here.
The programmable registers of the 6545 are accessed in the same way
as in the 6845: you first load the A ddress register with a 5-bit address which
subsequently is used to specify the P aram eter register that is to be accessed.
The following table sjiows how the Chip Select (CS), Register Select (R S),
and R ead/W rite (R/W ) signals are used to select the various registers:
cs RS R /W Function
H X X D evice not se le cte d
L L L W rite data in to Address R egister
L L H Read data fro m S tatus R egister
L H L W rite data in to re g is te r s p e c ifie d by A ddress R egister
L H H Read data fro m re g is te r s p e c ifie d by A ddress R egister
Status This logic is the sam e as with the 6845 with the exception of the Status
Register register; the 6845 provided no status register. The 6545 Status register can
be accessed by the microprocessor at any time and provides three bits of
information. The bit assignm ents for the Status register are shown in Figure
5-4. The five least significant bits are not used and will also be zero when you
read the contents of the Status register.
R egister Parameter
S e le ct Signals Registers
□ Logic d iffe re n t from 6 8 4 5
Figure 5-3. Accessing the 6545 CRT Controller Registers

Table 5-1. 6545 CRT Controller Programmable Registers
Register
Read (R)
Bits Range — Units
W rite (W)
No. Name/Function
0 ( 0 0 ! 6) Horizontal Total W 8 1 - 2 5 6 (0-FF16) CCLKs
Horizontal 1 (0 1 16) Characters/Row W 8 1 - 256 (0-FF16) CCLKs

Format and
Timing 2 ( 0 2 16) HSYNC Position w 8 1 - 256 (0-FF16) CCLKs
3(03-16) H SY N C /V S Y N C W id th w 4 + 4 1 - 16 (0-F16) CCLKs
4 ( 0 4 16) Vertical Total w 7 1 - 1 2 8 (0 -7 F 16) Character Rows
5 (0 5 16) VSYNC Adjust w 5 1 — 32 (0-1 F-j 6) Scan Lines
Vertical 6 (0 6 16) Character Rows/Frame w 7 1 - 1 2 8 (0 -7 F 16) Character Rows

Format and
Timing 7 (0 7 16) VSYNC Position w 7 1 - 1 2 8 (0 -7 F 16) Character Rows
8{08-|g) M o de Control w 3 See Figure 5 -7
9 (0 9 16) Scan Lines/Row w 5 1 - 3 2 (0 -1 F16) Scan Lines
1 0 (0 A 16) Cursor Start Scan Line w 7* 1 - 32 (0 -1 F16) Scan Lines
11 (0B16) Cursor Stop Scan Line w 5 1 - 32 (0-1 F16) CCLKs
1 2 (0 C 16) (MSB) w 6
Start Address 1 - 1 6 ,3 8 4 (0 0 0 0 -4 F F F 16)
1 3 (0 D 16) (LSB) (Top o f Page) w 8
14(0 E 16) (MSB) R /W 6

Cursor
Primary 0 - 16 ,3 8 4 (0 0 0 0 -4 F F F 16)
P ositio n
Operating 1 5(0 F 16) (LSB) R /W 8
Registers
cn^
_o
R 6
05
(MSB) Light Pen

0 - 16,384 (0000-4FFF16)
Position
17(1116) (LSB) R 8
1 8 (1 2 16) (MSB) Update W 6

0 - 1 6 ,3 8 4 (0 000-4FFF16)
Location
1 9 (1 3 16> (LSB) W 8
31 (1F16) Increment Update - N /A
* Tw o bits used to specify cursor blink characteristics
j ~| Functions d iffe re n t from 6 8 4 5

7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 ^ ---------- Bit No.
Register
id (always 0)
Blanking
0 = Scan currently in display
area o f screen
1 = Scan currently in vertical
blanking interval
■LPEN Register Full

0 = R16 or R1 7 has been read
by m icroprocessor
1 = LPEN strobe detected
■Update Ready
0 = R31 read or w ritten by
m icroprocessor
1 = Update Strobe (RA4/STB)
generated
Figure 5-4. 6545 CRT Controller Status Register
Bit 5 of the Status register is the Vertical Blanking status bit and w ill
be set to 1 during vertical retrace operations w hile vertical blanking takes
place. The timing for this bit is illustrated in Figure 5-5. This bit can be
checked by the m icroprocessor to determ ine when it can access screen m em ory
w ithout disturbing the contents of the screen, since the 6545 does not require
access to screen m em ory while the vertical blanking bit is set. To reduce the
possibility of tim ing conflicts near th e end of the vertical blanking interval, bit 5
will be reset five CCLK periods before the end of the vertical blanking interval,
so that m icroprocessor access to screen m em ory can be term inated before the
6545 begins to access screen m em ory for the first scan line on the screen.
Bit 6 of the Status register is the LPEN Register full bit. W henever a
negative-to-positive transition on the LPEN input to the 6545 is detected,
this bit w ill be set to 1 and w ill remain set until you read the contents of the
Light Pen Position register (R16 or R 17). The presence of this bit corrects a
logic deficiency of the 6845, since th ere was no way, with that device, of d eter
m ining when a new value had been stored in the Light Pen Position register.
Bit 7 of the Status register is the Update Ready bit. If you have
specified operation in the transparent screen memory addressing mode, this
bit w ill be set whenever an update strobe is sent out on the R A 4/ST B pin.
The bit will be reset w hen you access the U pdate Increm ent (R31) register. We
shall defer further discussion of bit 7 and its use until we discuss the screen
m em ory interface in detail.
If you refer once again to Figure 5-3 and Table 5-1, you w ill see that
five of the Parameter registers are shown shaded. Two of these registers (R3
and R8) have enhanced functions beyond their equivalent registers in a
6545, while the last 3 registers (R18, R19, and R31) are new registers
beyond those provided by the 6845.
-1 Complete Fram e- -1 Complete Fram e-
_ Vertical _ Vertical
-V e rtical Display Area- --------- Vertical Display A re a ---------- ►-
Blanking Blanking
DISPEN
MAAAAAA ^lAAAAAAAj ,AAA
VBLANK
(Status \ \
Bit 5)
Set Bit 5 Reset Bit 5

at end o f last five CCLKs before end
displayed scan line of Vertical Blanking
Figure 5-5. 6545 CRT Controller Vertical Blanking Status Timing
Figure 5-6 shows the bit assignm ents and functions of the H S Y N C /
VSYNC Width register (R 3). The 6845 device used only the four least signifi
cant bits of this register to define the HSYNC duration. This function is the
sam e on the 6545, but the 6545 device also uses the four most significant bits
to define a pulse duration for the VSYNC pulse. You can specify that VSYNC
be from 1 to 16 scan lines in duration, which may elim inate the need for ex ter
nal logic to interface the 6545 to a CRT m onitor.
Figure 5-7 shows the bit assignm ents for the Mode Control register
(R8). In the 6845 device, only the 2 least significant bits of this register were
used, and they specified the interface m ode that the device was to operate in.
These two bits serve the sam e function in the 6545 controller and you should
refer to C hapter 4 for a description of the interlace m odes of operation availa
ble.
Bit 2 of the Mode Control register specifies the screen memory
addressing mode that is to be used. If this bit is set to 0, the M A 0-M A 13 out
puts w ill generate straight binary addresses for screen memory. If bit 2 is set
to a 1, row/colum n addressing w ill be used and the screen memory address
outputs w ill be generated on a Character Column (CC0-CC7) and Character
Row (CR0-CR5) basis. The straight binary addressing allows m ore efficient
use of m em ory while the row /colum n addressing is better suited for m anipula
tion of screen data. For a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of
each m ethod, refer to C hapter 1.
Bit 3 of the Mode Control register defines the screen memory access
mode that is to be used; if this bit is 0, it specifies shared memory accessing,
and if set to 1, transparent memory accessing is specified. In the shared
m em ory access m ode, the m icroprocessor and the 6545 utilize the sam e
address bus to access screen m em ory, and external logic m ust be provided to
resolve m em ory contention. This is the sam e approach used with the 6845
device, which provided no internal m em ory contention logic. The transparent
m em ory accessing m ode utilizes the logic provided by the 6545 to resolve
m em ory contention; it results in transparent, unim peded access to screen
m em ory by both the m icroprocessor and the 6545 with m inim al external logic
required. We will discuss this technique in detail when we describe the in ter
face to screen m em ory later in this chapter.
1 st scan line o f
11st character row
DISPEN
Ji a a Aa
HSYNC
VSYNC
-u -
DISPEN
HSYNC
7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
“ 0 -F 16(1 -1 6) CLK
-1 -F16(1 -16) Scan Lines -

(If all zeros, = 16 Scan Lines)
Figure 5-6. 6545 CRT Controller HYSNC/VSYNC Width Register (R3)

7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 ^ ---------- Bit No.

R8 - Mode Control Register
Interlace Mode
0 0 j- Non-interlace
01 = Interlaced Sync
11 = Interlaced Sync and Video
Screen M em ory Addressing Mode
0 = Straight binary
1 = Row/Colum n
Screen Mem ory Access Mode

0 = Shared Memory
1 = Transparent Memory
DISPEN Skew
0 = No delay
1 = Delay DISPEN 1 CCLK
CURSOR Skew
0 = No delay
1 = Delay CURSOR 1 CCLK
RA4/STB Function (Transparent Mode Only)

0 = RA4 as Raster (Scan Line) Address
1 = STB as Update Strobe
■Update Mode (Transparent Mode Only)

0 = Updates during horizontal and
vertical retrace w ith STB
1 = Interlaced updates during <J>1
Figure 5-7. 6545 CRT Controller Mode Control Register (R8)

Dot P a ttern from

C h aracter G enerator
1 CCLK delay can be introduced by bits 4 and 5 o f Mode Control Register (R8)
Figure 5-8. Logic Function of CURSOR/DISPEN Skew Bits in the

6545 Mode Control Register
Bits 4 and 5 of the Mode Control register allow you to introduce a 1

CCLK delay in the generation of D ISP E N and CURSOR signals and thus
skew or displace these signals one character tim e to allow for delays introduced
by screen m em ory access and character generator logic. Figure 5-8 shows the
interface between the 6545 device and a CRT monitor and the logic function
that can be implemented by setting bits 4 or 5 of the Mode Control register.
Bit 6 of the Mode Control register is used if the 6545 is operating in the
transparent screen m em ory access m ode, and specifies whether the R A 4/ST B
output signal is to function as a Raster (scan line) Address output to
character generator logic or as an update Strobe (STB) signal. Once again we
will defer a detailed discussion of th e use of this bit until we describe the screen
m em ory interface.
Bit 7 of the Mode Control register is also associated with screen m em ory
logic. It specifies the update technique that is to be used when the 6545 oper
ates in the transparent screen memory addressing mode. You can specify that
CPU m odification of screen m em ory data occurs only during horizontal or ver
tical retrace, or that m icroprocessor accesses to m em ory be interleaved with
those of the 6545.
Registers R18 and R19 comprise the 14-bit Update register. This
register can be loaded by the m icroprocessor with a screen m em ory address
which can then be subsequently output by the 6545 on the M A 0-M A13 lines.
The register is used in the transparent m em ory addressing m ode and is the
major elem ent in the m em ory contention circuitry provided by the 6545
device. We shall describe in detail how this register is used when we discuss the
screen m em ory interface provided by the 6545. It is nam ed the U pdate register
since its primary function w ill be to specify a screen memory location — and
thus a physical screen location — that is to be updated by writing new data
at that location.
THE 6545-SCREEN MEMORY INTERFACE

There are two general types of interfaces to screen memory that can be
im plemented in a 6545 system : shared memory and transparent memory
interfaces. In the shared memory interface, both the microprocessor and the
6545 address and access screen memory directly. This type of interface can
be illustrated as follows:
R A0-RA4
6545
MAO-MA1 3
Address r -
Bus 1 M emory
Contention
Logic
Character
Screen
Microprocessor Generator --------- ► To VIDEO
M em ory
Logic
Data Bus
S__Jf
Since both the microprocessor and the 6545 m ust be able to address
screen memory, you m ust supply some sort of external memory contention
logic to resolve conflicts between the two. This is the sam e configuration d e
scribed for the 6845 and m any of the other CRT controllers. You should refer
to our description of the 6845 screen m em ory interface for a discussion of how
m em ory contention can be resolved. T hat discussion also applies to the 6545
although there is one additional aid provided by the 6545; you can check the
status of bit 5 of the 6545’s Status register to determine when vertical
retrace is being performed. You can then grant unlim ited screen m em ory
access to the m icroprocessor during this vertical retrace interval. The 6845
device provided no such status bit and you therefore had to use additional
external logic to determ ine when vertical retrace occurs.
In all other respects, the 6545 operates in the sam e way as the 6845 in
this shared m em ory configuration. Let us now tu rn our attention to the
transparent m em ory addressing m ode available with the 6545.
System
Data Bus
Figure 5-9. 6545 CRT Controller Transparent Memory Addressing Configuration
The 6545 CRT Controller Transparent Memory Addressing Mode

Figure 5-9 shows the general system configuration that is implied by
the 6545’s transparent memory addressing mode. In this mode, the
microprocessor does not directly address screen memory. Instead, all screen
memory addresses are generated by the 6545 and sent out on the MAO-
MA13 pins. The address that is output can come from one of two sources:
the 6545’s internal screen address counter which is increm ented at the
character rate as each scan line is displayed, or from the Update register-pair
(R 1 8 ,R 1 9 ). T he U p d ate re g iste r-p a ir is th e m ean s by w hich th e
m icroprocessor specifies screen m em ory locations that it needs to access. The
6545 then takes care of resolving m em ory contention and outputs the address
from the Update register at the appropriate time. The obvious advantage of this
m ethod of addressing is that screen m em ory does not consum e m icroprocessor
address space.
T here are two different schem es that can be used in this transparent
addressing mode: the 6545 can output the address contained in the Update
register-pair during <t>2 of every clock cycle, or the update address can be o u t
put during horizontal and vertical blanking intervals. You specify which of
these schem es is used via bit 7 of the M ode Control register (R8). Let us first
look at the <£>1/02 interleaved schem e.
Interleaved The timing for the interleaved type of transparent memory addressing
Transparent can be illustrated as follows:
Addressing
M icroprocessor m M icroprocessor t
Cy<cle Cycle
* 4* 1" ----
<t>2 Clock 1
/ 1
MAO-MA1 3 ¥
A
Display
Address A
Update
Address
V
1
Display
Address
V
A
Update
Address I
During the $ 1 portion of the clock cycle, the 6545 w ill output the con
tents of its internal scan address counter to access data that is to be displayed
on the screen. During the <£>2 portion, the M A 0-M A 13 pins from the 6545
w ill contain the address from the Update register. Thus th e m icroprocessor
can indirectly access screen m em ory during this 4>2 portion of every cycle. This
technique is the same as we described in C hapter 4 for the 6845, but in this case
the 6545 perform s the m ultiplexing of the addresses and no external logic is
required. However, this scheme is not quite so straightforward as the timing
diagram above im plies. To see what is involved, let us exam ine a typical
sequence that m ust occur for the microprocessor to write a byte of data into
screen memory.
First, the microprocesser m ust load the Update register-pair in the
6545 with the screen memory address where data is to be read from or writ
ten into. This process requires that you direct four successive write opera
tions to the 6545 as listed in the following table:
I/O C ycle R/W RS D 0-D 7 C ontents
1 L L 1 8 10 (R1 8 address)
2 L H Update address (MSB)
3 L L 19 10 (R1 9 address)
4 L H Update address (LSB)
After this 4-write cycle sequence has been com pleted, the 6545 will o u t
put the address that has ju st been loaded into the Update register during the <1>1
portion of each clock cycle. Now, to actually write a byte of data into the
desired screen memory location, the microprocessor must perform one more
write operation. During this write cycle, the microprocessor can treat screen
memory as an I/O location. This m eans that the m icroprocessor m ust gener
ate an address which will produce a chip select signal for screen m em ory, sup
ply the write signal to load the data into m em ory, and present the data on the
data lines to mem ory. The 6545 will, how ever, generate the address signals
required to specify the location within screen m em ory where the data is to be
loaded.
Auto-Increment This is a rather lengthy and involved sequence simply to load one byte of
of Update data into screen m em ory. The operation becomes much sim pler, however, if
Register additional bytes of data are to be written into screen memory in consecutive
locations. In this case you can utilize the 6545’s capability of autom atically
increm enting the contents of the Update register-pair. In order to increm ent
the contents of the U pdate register-pair, you m ust access register R31 in the
6545. Each access of this “ dum m y ” register causes the contents of the Update
register-pair to be increm ented. Of course, you m ust first load the 6545’s
A ddress register with 31 m in order to select this A utom atic Increm ent register.
Our 4-step sequence which we illustrated earlier would now consist of 5
steps as shown in the following table:
I/O C ycle R /W RS D 0-D 7 C ontents
1 L L 12 16 (R18 address)
3 L L 13 16 (R1 9 address)
5 L L 1F-j g (R31 address)
After the five write cycles shown in the preceding illustration have
been performed, the microprocessor can begin writing data to screen
memory. Once again screen memory can be treated by the microprocessor as
an I/O port. If the chip select signal derived from the microprocessor
address bus to select memory is also used to generate the CS input to the
6545, and if RS is high, then a dummy access of R32 w ill be performed caus
ing the contents of the Update register-pair to be incremented. From that
point on, each write operation perform ed to transfer a byte of data from the
m icroprocessor to screen m em ory would also select R31 in the 6545 device to
increm ent the contents of the U pdate register. T hus, as long as you are loading
data into consecutive screen m em ory locations, only one write cycle is required
to perform each data transfer and the 6545 will output the appropriate update
address during the 4>2 tim e. So, a total of 6 write operations are required to
transfer the first byte of data from the microprocessor to screen memory, but
thereafter only a single write cycle is required to transfer each byte of data,
as long as consecutive memory addresses are being accessed. This sequence
is illustrated in the following table.
I/O Cycle R /W RS D 0-D 7 C ontents
1 L L 1 2 16 (R1 8 address)
3 L L 1 3 16 (R19 address)
5 L L 1F16 (R31 address)
Data to M em ory and

6-n L H
Increment R 1 8 /R 19
Figure 5-10. 6545 Timing Sequences for Interlaced, Transparent Addressing

with Auto-Increment
The timing for this sequence is illustrated in Figure 5-10. The circled
numbers (2) through (6) , shown w ithin the microprocessor address bus
in this figure, correspond to the steps in the preceding table. You will also
note in this figure that we have shown two different chip select signals (CSO,
C S1) being output on the m icroprocessor address b us. W hen the
microprocessor is writing the update data to screen memory, it must gener
ate chip select for both screen memory and the 6545 if the automatic incre
menting of the Update register is to occur. Figure 5-11 illustrates the general
chip select logic demanded for this transparent addressing with auto-incre-
ment operation. The CSO signal would select the 6545 to access its Address
register or one of the P aram eter registers. The CS1 signal generates chip select
for both the 6545 and screen m em ory. This would be used to cause the con
tents of the U pdate register in the 6545 to be increm ented as a byte of data is
transferred to screen m em ory.
Retrace The second method of transparent screen memory addressing availa-
Transparent ble with the 6545 is to allow the microprocessor access during horizontal and
Addressing vertical retrace intervals. The configuration implied in this mode of
transparent memory addressing is illustrated in Figure 5-12.
There are many sim ilarities between the interleaved transparent mode
which we just described and this retrace mode. In both cases, the 6545 pro
vides all addresses to screen m em ory, but here the contents of the U pdate
register will be output to screen m em ory only during horizontal and vertical
retrace intervals instead of being interleaved during 4>l/4>2 clock periods. The
contents of the Update register-pair can also be autom atically increm ented, as
we described for the interleaved m ode, by ensuring that when the
RS CS1 CSO
L H L 6 5 4 5 Address Register (R/W low)
H H L 6 5 4 5 Parameter Register
H L H Screen Memory and 6 5 4 5
Figure 5-11. Chip Select Logic for 6545 CRT Controller Transparent Addressing
m icroprocessor selects screen m em ory (as an I/O p o rt), it also causes a select
signal to be sent to the 6545 to address the U pdate register-pair. In addition,
this m ode of operation will require the sam e m ulti-step sequence to prepare for
the transfer of a first byte of data, but subsequent transfers require only a single
cycle so long as consecutive screen m em ory locations are being accessed.
Therefore, you should refer to our earlier discussion of chip select logic
and the preliminary steps required to load the Update register-pair for a d is
cussion of these set-up conditions.
The one significant difference between Figure 5-12 and Figure 5-9,
which showed the configuration for interleaved transparent addressing, is the
addition of a data hold latch between screen memory and the microprocessor.
The latch w ill be required since the microprocessor w ill not always have
immediate access to screen memory; therefore the latch is used to hold data
temporarily. The Update Strobe (UPSTB) signal from the 6545 is used to load
data into the latch from screen m em ory, or to gate data written into the latch by
the m icroprocessor into screen mem ory.
System
Data Bus
Figure 5-12. 6545 CRT Controller Transparent Memory Addressing Configuration for
Retrace Mode
Figure 5-13 shows the timing for the UPSTB signal. As soon as a n o n
display interval is entered, the 6545 outputs the contents of the update register
on the M A0-M A13 lines. This update address will be output for 3 Character
Clock (CCLK) periods. The UPSTB pulse is 1 CCLK period in duration and is
centered within the update address interval.
The tim ing illustrated in Figure 5-13 shows how data already loaded into
the holding latch would be strobed into screen m em ory at the appropriate tim e.
This timing does not, however, illustrate how the microprocessor can deter
mine when it can load another byte of data into the latch. This is where the
Ready bit in the 6545 status register comes into play.
Ready Figure 5-14 illustrates the operation of bit 7, the Ready bit, in the
Status Bit 6545’s Status register. W hen the 6545 is first pow ered-up, bit 7 will be set to a
1. W henever you load a byte of data into the data latch, you m ust
sim ultaneously access register R31 within the 6545 device. This access causes
the Ready bit to be reset. W hen the 6545 subsequently enters a non-display
interval, it outputs the update address and generates the UPSTB signal to load
that data into screen m em ory. Two CCLK periods later, the Ready bit will once
again be set high by the 6545. The m icroprocessor m ust then poll the 6545
device, by reading the contents of the Status register, to check the state of the
Ready bit. If this bit is low, it m eans that new data from screen m em ory has not
yet been loaded into the latch. W hen this bit is set high, it indicates that data
from screen m em ory has been loaded into the latch and can be read from the
latch by the microprocessor. W hen the m icroprocessor subsequently issues a
read to the data latch, the read operation should also access register R31 in the
6545. The operation will both capture data from the latch and increm ent the
contents of the 6545’s Update register so that the next consecutive screen
m em ory location can be accessed. The Ready bit in the Status register will be
v/m ai v j i iiv/ai n c u a v / c i ^ u i r L / i D f j i a y
Display
J " 1J ~ ]
lT jT /\A A - n _ r ij i _ n
Display
.
DISPEN
Screen Display
Screen Display Addresses Addresses
MAO- V ¥ 1 r Update Address (UA) 1
M A 13 A A (from R18, R 19)
UPSTB
,
Figure 5-13. 6545 CRT Controller Update Strobe (UPSTB) Timing
reset by this access of register R31. T hus, the Ready bit in the Status register
indicates to the m icroprocessor when data is available, while the UPSTB signal
from the 6545 effects the transfer of addressed data from refresh m em ory into
the data latch.
While the chip select logic required for this m ode of operation is quite
similar to that of the interleaved transparent addressing m ode, there are m inor
differences. For exam ple, a read operation initiated by the m icroprocessor
m ust cause a chip select signal or buffer enable signal to be generated for the
data latch, instead of for screen m em ory, while it sim ultaneously selects the
6545 to access register R31.
The tim ing for successive write operations in this transparent mode of
operation during non-display portions is not quite as straightforward as with
read operations. Figure 5-15 illustrates the sequence for two successive
write operations. Successive write operations effectively cause a double
update cycle, since read operations are autom atically initiated by the 6545
and interleaved with each of the write operations. As you can see, the con
tents of the U pdate register-pair will only be increm ented by the occurrence of
UPSTB after register R31 has been accessed as part of a m icroprocessor-initi
ated write operation. The 6545 operates in this way so that a byte of data is
always available from screen memory in the data latch, should the
microprocessor perform a read operation. If instead, the m icroprocessor per
form s a write operation, data that was previously read from screen m em ory is
simply ignored. The microprocessor m ust still poll the 6545 by reading the
contents of the Status register to determine the state of the Ready bit. In this
case, when the Ready status bit is low, it indicates that the 6545 is waiting to
store data held in the data latch in the location addressed by the contents of the
Update register-pair. W hen the Ready status bit goes high, it indicates that data
held in the latch has been w ritten into screen m em ory and the microprocessor
can then send another byte of data to the latch.
5-20
Figure 5-14. 6545 Ready Status Timing for Successive Read Operations
Figure 5-15. 6545 Ready Status Timing for Successive Write Operations
5-21
System
Figure 5-16. Using the 6545 CRT Controller’s Dual-Function RA4/UPSTB Signal
As you can deduce from the tim ing in Figure 5-15, the hardw are
required to im plem ent the data latch is not quite as straightforw ard as implied
by the tim ing for read operations. T he data latch m ust also include som e way of
storing the fact that the m icroprocessor perform ed a write into the latch. T hen,
a following update strobe can gate data from the latch into screen m em ory and
supply the required write signal to m em ory at the tim e of the UPSTB strobe.
W hen you are using the 6545 in the retrace-transparent-addressing
m ode, you can utilize both functions of the RA 4/U PSTB signal and thus
achieve character sizes greater than the 16 scan line limit that is im posed if you
use only RA 0-RA 3. Internally, the 6545 generates the RA4 and UPSTB signals
separately; it simply uses the sam e pin to output the two signals. D uring n o n
display (retrace) intervals, the internal RA 4 signal is always low. If the retrace-
transparent-addressing m ode has been specified, UPSTB will be output during
retrace intervals. The DISPEN signal will always be low during retrace and thus
can be used to reconstruct the separate RA4 and UPSTB signals external to the
6545. Figure 5-16 shows the external logic needed to create separate RA4 and
UPSTB signals. With the logic show n, RA4 will only be active during display
tim es and disabled during retrace tim es, while UPSTB will only function during
retrace or non-display tim es.
DATA SHEETS
6545
M A X IM U M R A T IN G S COMM ENT
Stresses above those listed under "A b s o lu te M a xim u m R atings"
Supply Voltage, Vcc -0 .3 V to +7.0V
may cause perm anent damage to the device. These are stress
In p u t/O utpu t Voltage, Vjn -0 .3 V to +7.0V ratings o n ly. F unctional o peration of this device at these or any
Operating Temperature, T q p 0°C to 7 0 °C other co n d itio n s above those indicated in the opera tion a l sec
Storage Temperature, TgjG -55°C to 150°C tio ns o f this specification is n ot im plied and exposure to absolute
m axim um rating co n d itio n s fo r extended periods may affect
device re lia b ility .
All inputs contain protection circuitry to prevent damage
due to high static discharges. Care should be exercised
to prevent unnecessary application o f voltages in excess
of the allowable limits.
E L E C T R IC A L C H A R A C T E R IS TIC S ( V c c = 5 .0 V ± 5%, T a = 0 - 7 0 ° C, unless otherwise noted)
Symbol Characteristic Min. Max. U nit
V|H Input High Voltage 2.0 V CC V
V|L Input Low Voltage -0.3 0.8 V
1IN Input Leakage (02, R/w, RES, CS, RS, LPEN, CCLK) - 2.5 mA
•t s i Three-State Input Leakage (DB0-DB7) - 10.0 /uA

V |N = 0.4 to 2.4V
V OH O utput High Voltage 2.4 V

*L O A D = 205|uA (DB0-DB7)
•l o ad = 100/iA (all others)
V0 L O utput Low Voltage — 0.4 v

• LO A D = 1 -6 m A
PD Power Dissipation - 800 mW
C|N Input Capacitance

02, R/w, RES, CS, RS, LPEN, CCLK - 10.0 pF
DB0-DB7 12.5 pF
C OUT O utput Capacitance - 10.0 pF
TE S T LO A D
VCC
R= 11K« FOR DB0DB7

=24KS2 FOR ALL OTHER OUTPUTS
Data sheets on pages 5 -2 4 through 5 -2 6 are reprinted by permission of Synertek, Incorporated.

6545
MPU BUS IN T E R F A C E C H A R A C T E R IS T IC S
W RITE CYCLE READ CYCLE
W R IT E T IM IN G C H A R A C T E R IS T IC S (Vcc = 5.0V ± 5%, TA = 0-70°C , unless otherwise noted)
SY6545 SY6545A
Symbol Characteristic Min. Max. Min. Max. U nit
t CYC Cycle Time 1.0 - 0.5 - US
02 Pulse Width 470 - 235 - ns
XA C \N Address Set-Up Time 180 - 90 - ns
t CAH Address Hold Time 0 - 0 - ns
X\NC\N R/W Set-Up Time 180 - 90 - ns
t CWH R/W Hold Time 0 - 0 - ns
t DCW Data Bus Set-Up Time 300 - 150 - ns
XH\N Data Bus Hold Time 10 - 10 - ns
(tr and tf = 10 to 30 ns)
R E A D T IM IN G C H A R A C T E R IS T IC S (V cc = 5.0V ± 5%, T/\ = 0-70°C , unless otherwise noted)
SY6545 SY6545A
Symbol Characteristic Min. Max. Min. Max. U nit
tC Y C Cycle Time 1.0 - 0.5 - MS
*C 02 Pulse W idth 470 - 235 - ns
tA C R Address Set-Up Time 180 - 90 - ns
tC A R Address Hold Time 0 - 0 - ns
*WCR R/W Set-Up Time 180 90 - ns
tC D R Read Access Time (Valid Data) - 395 - 200 ns
tH R Read Hold Time 10 - 10 - ns

tC D A Data Bus Active Time (Invalid Data) 40 - 40 - ns
( tr and t f = 10 to 30 ns)
6545
6
The 5027 CRT controller was one of the first of the LSI controller
devices introduced. The functions provided by the 5027 may appear to be
somewhat more elem entary than those available with devices introduced
more recently. N onetheless, the 5027 still provides several interesting func
tions not available on any of the other devices we have described.
Figure 6-1 shows those portions of the idealized CRT controller, which
we developed in Chapter 1, that are provided by the 5027. If you compare this
figure to the equivalent ones for other CRT controllers we have described, it
may appear that the amount of logic provided by the 5027 is approximately
equal to that provided by the other devices. However, as we shall see when
we describe the logic of the 5027 in detail, many of the functions are im ple
mented in a m inim al fashion. For exam ple, Figure 6-1 indicates that cursor
logic is provided on the 5027, but the logic provided simply generates a con
tinuous stream of dots at a specified cursor location. You cannot cause the cur
sor to autom atically blink, nor do you have any options in specifying the shape
of the cursor symbol as was the case with som e other CRT controllers. We
should note that this will not necessarily be a disadvantage since many
character generators (for exam ple, the 8002, a com panion part to the 5027) can
provide the logic necessary to create different types of cursor symbols.
On the other hand, the SYNC generation logic provided by the 5027
exceeds that which is provided by most of the other devices. Not only are
HSYNC and VSYNC generated by the device, but a composite synchroniza
tion (CSYNC) signal is also available.
The 5027 provides no memory contention logic to sim plify access to
screen memory by both the microprocessor and the CRT controller. In addi
tion, the screen memory addressing logic provided by the 5027 always
addresses screen memory on a row/colum n basis; it cannot generate linear
memory addresses.
Figure 6-1. 5027 CRT Controller Functional Logic
One unique feature of the 5027 which is not indicated in Figure 6-1 is a
self-load capability which allows the device to be sem i-autom atically
initialized during startup time.
The primary manufacturer of the 5027 CRT controller is:
SMC MICROSYSTEM S CO RPO RA TIO N

35 M arcus Boulevard
H auppauge, NY 11787
Second sources for the 5027 are:
TEXAS IN STRU M EN TS, INC.

P.O. Box 225012
Dallas, TX 75265
SOLID STATE SCIEN TIFIC, INC.
M ontgom eryville Industrial C enter
M ontgom eryville, PA 18936
MOSTEK CORPO RA TIO N
1215 W est Crosby Road
Carrollton, TX 75006
The T M S9927 The device produced by SMC M icrosystem s, Solid State Scientific,
CRT Controller and M ostek is designated the 5027, w hile the Texas Instrum ents device is
called the TM S9927. The two devices are functionally identical although
there are minor differences in signal nomenclature. Throughout this chapter
we shall sim ply refer to this CRT controller as the 5027 except where we
point out minor differences in signal naming conventions. It is worth noting
here that no other device described in this book is available from such a large
number of manufacturers. This is due both to the length of tim e that the
5027 has been in existence, and to its wide use and acceptance.

Figure 6-2 shows the pin assignm ents and signal nam es for the 5027
CRT controller. The signals may be divided into th ree categories: signals used
to interface the CRT controller to the m icroprocessor and system busses (stan
dard power and tim ing input signals are included in this group), signals used to
Microprocessor interface the controller to screen m em ory and character generator logic, and
Interface Signals signals directly related to the CRT m onitor.
The microprocessor-CRT controller interface signals are described
below.
CS is a standard Chip Select signal and must be set high in order to
access one of the 5027’s internal registers or to issue a command to the 5027.
A 0-A3 are the register/com m and address inputs and determ ine which
of the 5027’s internal registers will accessed or which of the com m ands recog
nized by the 5027 is to be executed.
DS is the Data Strobe input and m ust be pulsed low to accomplish a
register access or com m and initiation. N ote that the 5027 has no read or write
control signal inputs; the DS signal is the functional com bination of RD and
W R signals.
D B0-DB7 are the Data Bus lines used to exchange 8-bit parallel bytes
of information between the 5027 and the microprocessor system . These eight
lines are bidirectional pins used as inputs to the control registers of the 5027
and outputs from the cursor address registers of the 5027. You will note in
Figure 6-2 that the 9927 device labels the m ost significant bit of the data bus as
DB0, and the least significant bit as DB7. This convention is used in all devices
made by Texas Instrum ents but is the opposite of that used by m ost m anufac
turers. T hroughout this chapter, we will use the m ore standard convention,
with DB0 representing the least significant bit and DB7 the m ost significant bit.
DCC is the Dot Counter Carry input signal used to tim e all of the
internal operations of the 5027. This is the character rate clock signal
derived from external dot timing logic; thus it is not truly a m icroprocesser
system interface signal, but is m ore closely associated with the video and
character generator logic. N onetheless, we have grouped it with the other
m icroprocessor interface signals since it is the primary tim ing input to the 5027
device.
VCc ( + 5 V ), VDD ( + 12 V) and GND are standard power and ground
connections. The 5027 device is the only controller described in this book
which requires both + 5 V and + 1 2 V. This will not necessarily be a disadvan
tage since m ost term inals will have + 1 2 V, which is needed for an RS-232
interface.
(S I) A2' 1 40 -A1 (S2)

(SO) A3 2 39 -AO (S3)
CS 3 38 -HO (H7)
(RO) R3- 4 37 ►H1 (H6)
(R1) R2 5 36 *H 2 (H5)
GND- JO -H 3 (H4)
(R2) R1- 7 0/1 *H 4 (H3)
(R3) RO 8 00
Jo -H 5 (H2)
DS 00 -H 6 (H1)
CSYNC 11Un DUZ / 01
o 1 -H 7/D R 5 (H0/DR0)
VSYNC li 9927 on -D R 4 (DR1)
DCC OQ
zy *D R 3 (DR2)
1”3 OQ
Zo "*DR2 (DR3)
V DD
97
z/ *DR1 (DR4)
V CC
HSYNC 1IR
0 26 ►DRO (DR5)
CRV* 16 25 -DBO (D7)
BL* 17 24 ►DB1 (D6)
(DO) DB7 18 23 ►DB2 (D5)
(D1) DB6 19 22 -D B 3 (D4)
(D2) DB5 20 21 •"DB4 (D3)
Pin Name Description Type

System Interface
CS Chip Select Input

Microprocessor
A 0 -A 3 Register Address Input

Signals
DS Data Strobe Input

DB0-DB7 Data Bus Lines B id ire c tio n a l
DCC Dot Counter Carry (Character Clock) Input
VCC' VDD' ^N D Power Supplies (+5 V, + 12 V) and Ground Input

CRT Monitor Screen Memory
and Character
H0-H6 Horizontal (Character Counter) Outputs Output

Generator
Signals
H7/DR5 Horizontal Count Output/Data Row Output Output

DR0-DR4 Data Row Counter Outputs Output
R0-R3 Scan Line Counter Outputs Output
HSYNC Horizontal Synchronization Output

Interface
Signals
VSYNC Vertical Synchronization Output

CSYNC Composite Synchronization Output
CRV Cursor Video Output
BL Blanking Signal Output

There are two sets of signals associated with screen memory address
ing logic (H 0-H 7, D R 0-D R 5) and one set of signals associated with
character generator logic (R0-R 3).
Screen Mem ory and The 5027 addresses screen memory on a colum n/row basis. H 0-H 7 are
Character Generator the horizontal character or column address outputs, and D R 0-D R 5 are the
Signals vertical or data row address outputs. Pin number 31 functions as the most
significant column output (H7) if required; otherwise it is the most sign ifi
cant data row output (D R 5). While this gives you som e flexibility in utilizing
m em ory address space, this colum n/row addressing m ethod will still result in
inefficient use of m em ory space in m ost cases. For a discussion of the advan
tages and disadvantages of row /colum n addressing versus linear m em ory
addressing refer to C hapter 1.
R0-R3 are the Raster or scan line counter outputs which will be used as
inputs to character generator logic to select the proper dot pattern for the
various scan lines com prising each character row.
The 5027 provides a fairly standard set of signals to im plem ent the CRT
m onitor interface. HSYNC and VSYNC are the standard H orizontal Syn
chronization and Vertical Synchronization signals. T he position and duration
of these signals is program m able and is established by loading the desired
values into the 5027’s control registers.
CRT Monitor CSYNC is the Composite Synchronization signal and outputs a pulse
Signals stream which includes both the H SY NC and CSYNC sign als. The CSYNC
signal can only be used if the 5027 is operating in the non-interlaced mode
(we will discuss interlaced and non-interlaced m odes later in this chapter). The
CSYNC signal can be externally m ixed with video to produce a com posite
video output to the CRT m onitor.
CRV is the Cursor Video output signal. The 5027 has two cursor posi
tion registers which can be loaded under program control. W hen the screen
m em ory address is the sam e as the address defined by the cursor position
registers, then the CRV signal will be set high to produce a continuous stream
of dots at that character position. The CRV signal will be set high at that
character position for all scan lines com prising the character row. T hus, the
cursor symbol produced by the 5027 w ill always appear as a block signal as
opposed to an underline cursor symbol. H ow ever, external logic may be
utilized to generate other cursor types using CRV as a condition signal.
BL is the Blanking signal and w ill be output high during vertical and
horizontal retrace. BL w ill also be high during those portions of horizontal
and vertical scan where video data is not to be displayed. You establish those
tim es when BL is to be active under program control by loading the desired
values into the control registers.
Table 6-1. 5027 CRT Controller Registers and Command Summary
Address Read (R) or Control

Register/Command Function
W rite (W) R e g .#
A3 A2 A1 AO
0 0 0 0 W 0 Load Horizontal Character Count Register

0 0 0 1 W 1 Load HSYNC W idth/D elay Register. Set Interlace Mode
0 0 1 0 W 2 Load Characters and Scan Lines Per Data Row Register
0 0 1 1 W 3 Load Data Rows Per Frame and Skew Register
0 1 0 0 W 4 Load Scan Lines Per Frame Register
0 1 0 1 W 5 Load Vertical Data Start Register
0 1 1 0 W 6 Load Last Displayed Data Row Register
0 1 1 1 X Set Processor Self-Load Mode
1 0 0 0 R Read Cursor Row Address
1 0 0 1 R Read Cursor Character Address
1 0 1 0 X Reset
1 0 1 1 X Up Scroll
1 1 0 0 w Load Cursor Character Address
1 1 0 1 w Load Cursor Row Address
1 1 1 0 X Start Timing Chain
1 1 1 1 X Non-Processor Self-Load
X = d o n 't care

The 5027 provides nine internal registers which are illustrated in
Figure 6-3. Seven of the registers (control registers 0-6) are used to define
timing parameters and screen format, and the rem aining two registers
define the screen location where the cursor symbol is to be displayed.
Address inputs A0-A3 specify which of the registers is to be accessed. Table
6-1 lists the 5027’s registers, their functions, and the address assignm ents
for each.
When the register address inputs (A0-A3) are applied to the 5027 and
accompanied by the CS and DS sign als, the 5027 decodes the address inputs
to generate the appropriate register select signals. As you can see in Figure
6-3 and Table 6-1, the register address inputs are also used to issue com
mands to the 5027. Actually, the register address inputs might m ore accurately
be viewed simply as com m and inputs; som e of the com m ands cause data to be
loaded into the control registers while other com m ands do not operate on these
registers but instead cause other control functions (such as reset) to be initi
ated.
The seven control registers are write-only registers. When they are
selected, the data that is to be written into the registers m ust be present on
DB0-DB7 when the Data Strobe (DS) signal is applied. The two cursor posi
tion registers are read/write registers: you write data into the registers to
position the cursor on the screen and you can read the contents of the registers
to ascertain the current cursor position. Since the 5027 provides no signal to
differentiate between register read and write operations, two separate
addresses are used to access each of these cursor registers: one address is
used for write operations and another during read operations.
CS Scroll
DS Reset
Command
Start
Decode Self-Load
and Register
Select Logic
Control Register
0
Control Register
=c> 1
Control Register
2
Control Register
3
Control Register
DBO-DB7
<=> 4
Control Register
=^> 5
Control Register
=?> 6
Cursor Row
o Position(Register7)
Cursor Column
c=o Position(Register8]
Figure 6-3. 5027 CRT Controller Programmable Registers
Since the seven control registers are used to establish basic screen form at
and tim ing characterstics, they will usually be loaded when a system is first
started up and will not have to be accessed thereafter. It is only th e cursor posi
tion registers that will be accessed on any recurring basis.
Since the contents of the control registers determine all of the primary
operating characteristics of the 5027, we w ill defer a description of the con
tents of each register until later in this chapter when we describe program
ming the device.

The interface that the 5027 presents to the microprocessor system is,
for the most part, quite straightforward. The signals used to interface the
controller to the microprocessor consist of the eight Data Bus lines (DB0-
D B 7), the Chip Select (CS) signal, the register address inputs (AO-A 3), and
the Data Strobe (DS) signal.
Figure 6-4 illustrates, in a sim plified form, the interface between the
5027 and the microprocessor system . D ata is passed between th e 5027 and the
m icroprocessor via the eight bidirectional data lines (DB0-DB7). The timing
for a microprocessor write operation to load data into one of the 5027s inter
nal registers or to initiate one of the commands can be illustrated as follows:
AO-A3
r ............. 1
W / JT Z l
DBO-DB7 Data In Stable j

m m
DS
Read/Write The register address inputs (A0-A3) must be stable and the Chip
Operations Select (CS) signal m ust be high before the Data Strobe (DS) signal is driven
low. As we have indicated in Figure 6-3, the DS signal would typically be the
logical NOR of the microprocessor-generated Read (RD) and Write (WR)
signals. The tim ing requirem ents for DS, so far as pulse width is concerned,
are identical w hether you are writing data into the 5027 or reading inform ation
from the 5027. Data that is to be loaded into the 5027 m ust be presented on the
DB0-DB7 lines som e m inim al tim e interval before DS m akes its negative-to-
positive transition, and the data m ust be held stable until after th at transition.
The timing for a read operation initiated by the microprocessor to read
the contents of one of the 5027’s cursor position registers is equally
straightforward and can be illustrated as follows:
AO-A3
V/////J
DBO-DB7 y Data Out Valid
DS
a_____ r
Figure 6-4. 5027 CRT Controller-Microprocessor System Interface
If you refer once again to Figure 6-3 you w ill note that both the Chip
Select (CS) and register address (A0-A3) inputs to the 5027 are derived from
the microprocessor system ’s address bus. Thus the 5027 would occupy 16
memory or I/O locations in the microprocessor system ’s addressing space.
Each register/com m and of the 5027 would thus be addressed by the
m icroprocessor as a separate m em ory location or I/O device. D ata can be writ
ten to nine of these locations (the seven control registers and the two cursor
position registers) and read from two of these locations (the cursor position
registers). The rem aining five addresses initiate com m ands, and no transfer of
data is required; for these com m ands, the m icroprocessor could simply per
form a dum m y access to that com m and address location.
When the system is first powered up, a succession of write operations
m ust be directed to the 5027 in order to establish in itial values in all of the
control registers. This initialization process can be accomplished using
microprocessor-initiated write operations as we have ju st described. T here
are two other m ethods of establishing these initial control register values for
the 5027. First, if volume ju stifies it, you can order mask-programmed ver
sions of the 5027 which w ill have the values that you specify permanently
set into the control registers. For exam ple, the 5047 device produced by SMC
M icrosystem s has a fixed form at of 24 data rows with 80 characters per row. It
is thus the functional equivalent of the pre-program m ed DP8350 described in
Chapter 2. W ith one of these pre-program m ed versions, th e m icroprocessor
would only need to access the 5027 to load the cursor registers or read the con
tents of the cursor position registers. Of course, this approach perm anently
fixes the operating characteristics of the 5027.
The 5027 CRT Controller Self-Load Operation

Another method of establishing initial values for the control registers
in the 5027 is to use the self-load capability of the device. Figure 6-5 shows,
in a generalized form, the logic configuration required for the self-load
operation. An external PROM device is used to store the values that are to be
loaded into the 5027’s control registers and cursor position registers. Although
only nine bytes will be required to load the registers, we have show n a 32 x 8
PROM since that is the sm allest such device widely available. During the self
load operation, the address inputs to the PROM w ill be supplied by the 5027
via its raster address (R0-R3) outputs.
The self-load operation is initiated by presenting the command (11112)
on the AO-A3 inputs to the 5027. The CS input m ust also be high. The se lf
load operation begins when the DS signal is pulsed. T hus the system
initialization logic m ust be capable of producing a signal (nam ed SLOAD in
Figure 6-5) which will select the 5027 and present the self-load com m and on
the address inputs. This external logic m ust also generate the DS pulse. Once
the self-load command has been initiated, the 5027 w ill begin outputting the
PROM addresses on the R0-R3 lin es. T he first seven addresses output will be
00002 through 0 1 102 and the data output from the PROM for each of these
address locations will be loaded by the 5027 into its seven control registers
(R0-R6). W hen the scan counter outputs are 01112 and 10002, the PROM data
that is accessed will be loaded into the C ursor C haracter A ddress register and
Cursor Row A ddress register respectively. N ote that these last two scan
counter output addresses do not correspond to the Cursor Position register
addresses defined in Table 6-1.
The A0-A3 and CS inputs to the 5027 m ust be held high for the dura
tion of the self-load operation. The tim e required for this operation will
depend on the frequency at which the 5027 is being operated; th at is, the DCC
or character clock input frequency to the device. The R0-R3 outputs which are
used to address the PROM are increm ented at the HSYNC frequency. After all
of the required values have been read from PROM and loaded into the 5027,
the tim ing chain of the 5027 is initiated by rem oval of the “ all o n es” state from
the A0-A3 inputs; this initiation is independent of the state of the DS input.
The self-load operation we have just described is the non-processor
self-load procedure. The processor-initiated self-load is identical to this pro
cedure except that the command code is 01112 and the timing chain is not au
tom atically initiated when the command code is removed from the A0-A3
inputs. Instead, the processor must issue the Start Timing Chain command
in order to place the 5027 into full operation.
Tri-State From
Inverters System
I--------------- 1
CS
i> ° -
AO
-f> °-
A1
- |> >
A2
A3
-[> > ■
5027
____ | Enable $
DS
Power-Up
Initialization
Logic :!> DBO -DB7
SLOAD
R0-R3
CS
To Character
A 0 -A 3
=> Generator Logic
32 x 8
PROM
A4
ri
Figure 6-5. 5027 CRT Controller Self-Load Logic

THE 5027-SCREEN MEMORY/CHARACTER GENERATOR INTERFACE

The only signals that the 5027 device provides specifically for the
screen memory interface are the eight horizontal character count outputs
(H 0-H 7) and the five vertical or data row counter outputs (D R 0-D R 4).
Thus, 13 address outputs are available to access screen memory. With 13
lines, you can address up to 8K of m em ory; how ever, because the 5027
addresses m em ory on a row /colum n basis instead of using straight linear
addressing, you would only be able to address this m axim um am o u n t of screen
m em ory if the screen were com prised of 32 rows (D R 0-D R 4) of 256 characters
each (H0-H 7) or of 64 rows (D R 0-D R 5) with 128 characters each (H0-H 6).
H ow ever, you do not have com plete flexibility in defining the num ber of
characters per row, as we will see when we discuss program m ing the control
registers. T herefore, the size of screen m em ory that the 5027 can address will
be m ore rigidly limited than was the case with any of the other CRT controllers.
In addition, the row /colum n approach to m em ory addressing, while well suited
for m anipulation of screen data, can result in inefficient use of m em ory. For a
discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of row /colum n m em ory
addressing, refer to C hapter 1.
Figure 6-6 shows the relationship between the 5027 CRT controller,
screen memory, and character generator logic. One significant aspect of this
illustration is the fact that the 5027 provides no logic to deal with memory
contention resolution: external logic m ust be provided to determ ine when the
m icroprocessor can use the address bus to access screen m em ory and when the
5027 can use its H0-H7 and D R 0-D R 4 outputs to access screen mem ory. You
may need to decode the R0-R3 outputs from the 5027 to determ ine those scan
lines when the device will not require access to screen m em ory, or you may be
able to use the BL (Blanking) signal to enable m icroprocessor access to screen
mem ory. You should refer to the discussions of m em ory contention resolution
logic in C hapter 1 for additional details. The point we are m aking here is that
the 5027 provides no logic to specifically aid you in designing external circuitry
for m em ory contention resolution.
Character Generator The interface that the 5027 provides to character generator logic
Interface Logic sim ply consists of the four raster address or scan line counter outputs (R0-
R 3). These outputs comprise one set of inputs to the character generator
logic, while the data from screen memory comprises the second set of
character code inputs to character generator logic. The R0-R3 outputs can
represent scan line counts ranging from 1 to 16, and th u s character rows can be
com prised of up to 16 scan lines. If you are using the 5027 in the interlaced
m ode, R0 also serves as the odd or even field indicator. You can still have up to
16 scan lines in this m ode, how ever. Operating in the interlaced m ode allows
you to double the density of inform ation on the screen but may result in screen
flicker. For a further discussion of interlaced m odes refer to the general discus
sion in C hapter 1 and the description of the interlaced m odes of the 6845 in
C hapter 4.
Figure 6-6. 5027 CRT Controller Interface to Screen Memory/Character

Generator Logic

Figure 6-7 illustrates the signals provided by the 5027 to im plem ent the
interface to a CRT m onitor. The signals provided are quite com parable to those
provided by the 6845 and the 6545 controllers described in C hapters 4 and 5.
tion (VSYNC) signals are the standard signals compatible with 3-term inal
CRT monitors. You specify the exact tim e when these pulses are to be gener
ated by loading the appropriate values into the control registers. The duration
of the HSYNC pulse is also program m ed-specified. The VSYNC pulse,
how ever, is of a fixed duration (3 scan line tim es) and thus external logic may
be required to obtain a VSYNC pulse of the proper duration for a given CRT
m onitor. It should be noted, how ever, that this 3-scan-line pulse does m eet the
requirem ents of the EIA RS-170 video specification and would allow you to
operate with m ost C R T ’s.
D ot P a tte rn fro m
C haracter G enerator
□ Established via Register R3
Figure 6-7. 5027 CRT Controller-CRT Monitor Interface
The Composite Synchronization (CSYNC) output combines both the

HSYNC and VSYNC signals for CRT monitors that can use such an input.
The way in which H SYNC and VSYNC are combined in the Composite Syn
chronization output can be illustrated as follows:
tal
H ------ --
(H)
H/2
HSYNC
J \ i i rv
VSYNC
CSYNC
(y iLP uAi1j\jy J ' — vr
The Cursor Video (CRV) signal is generated by the 5027 whenever the
screen memory address is equal to the address contained in the cursor posi
tion registers. This signal is similar to that provided by the oth er CRT con
troller devices we described but it is lim ited in that there are no programma
ble options provided to create cursors of different shapes or blinking cursor
sym bols. The CRV signal will simply be output high during all scan lines at the
cursor position, thus creating a block cursor symbol. You can, of course, use
external logic to create a reverse video cursor symbol.
The Blanking (BL) signal w ill be set high during horizontal and verti
cal retrace tim es and thus can be used to turn off VIDEO during these inter
vals. You specify those points w here the BL signal is to be activated by loading
the appropriate values into the control registers. T hose intervals w here BL is to
be activated have no fixed relationships to the occurrence of the HSYNC or
VSYNC signals. Instead, the BL signal w ill be activated at all tim es except
during those intervals when you have specified that characters are to be dis
played on the screen.
The CRV, BL, and HSY NC signals are all synchronized to the screen
memory address outputs: that is, w hen the screen address corresponding to
the cursor position, start of blanking, or HSYN activation point is generated,
then the CRV, BL, or HSYN signal will be activiated at that tim e. However,
since som e tim e will be required to access the corresponding character from
screen m em ory, generate the dot pattern very via character generator logic and
shifted out the the video shift register, the CRV, BL, or H SY N signal may be
activated well before the corresponding character is being sent to the screen.
This effect is known as “ pipelining” and we have discussed it in relationship
to other CRT controllers. The 5027 allows you to introduce skew delays to
account for this pipelining effect by programming the appropriate control
register. In Figure 6-7 we have indicated this program m able delay function for
these three signals with the dotted block across CRV, BL, and HSYNC. Delays
of one or two character tim es can be specified for each of these signals.
PROGRAMMING THE 5027 CRT CONTROLLER REGISTERS

The 5027 provides seven control registers which must be loaded when
the device is first powered up to establish basic operating param eters for the
device. As you will recall from our earlier discussion of the program m able
registers, the register address inputs (A0-A3) are also used to issue com
mands to the 5027. At this point we w ill lim it our discussion to program
ming of the control registers and we w ill discuss the commands executed by
the 5027 separately.
Horizontal Character Figure 6 -8 shows the format for the Horizontal Character Count
Count Register (RO) register (RO). The contents of this register determine the total time allotted
for one scan line in terms of character clock times (DCC). This register
defines the total tim e for a horizontal scan line including the horizontal retrace
tim e and thus determ ines the HSYNC frequency.
HSYNC W idth/Decay Figure 6-9 shows the format for the HSY NC W idth/D elay register
Register (R1) (R l). The least significant 3 bits define the HSYNC delay. This delay is fre
quently called the front porch and is a period between the end of active video
on a scan line and the leading edge of the HSYNC pulse. This delay thus posi
tions the displayed portion horizontally on the CRT screen. Bits 3 through 6
specify the duration or width of the HSYNC pulse. HSYNC can be up to 15
character clocks (DCC) in duration.
The most significant bit of register R l is used to specify whether the
5027 is to operate in the interlaced or non-interlaced mode. You should refer
to our earlier discussion of the interlaced m ode for additional details of the
effects of this specification.
Figure 6-8. 5027 CRT Controller Horizontal Character Count Register (RO)
Figure 6-9. 5027 CRT Controller HSYNC Width/Delay Register (Rl)

One Character Row ■
Vertical Retrace Time
HSYNC
_ r v
- A ctive Video -
Bit No
R2 - Characters and Scan Lines

Per Data Row
-C haracter/D ata Row

000 = 20
001 = 32
010 = 40
011 =64
100 = 72
101 = 80
1 10 = 96
111 =132
Scan Lines/Data Row

0 -F 16 (1-16)
Figure 6-10. 5027 CRT Controller Characters and Scan Lines/Data Row Register (R2)
Character and Scan Figure 6-10 shows the format for the Character and Scan Lines Per
Lines Per Data Row Data Row register (R2). The least significant three bits specify the number
Register (R2) of characters per data row that are to be displayed. As you can see, you have
eight possible choices ranging from 20 to 132 characters per data row. If you
specify a m ask-program m ed version of the 5027, how ever, you can obtain up
to 200 characters per row. The next four bits (3-6) of this register determine
the number of scan lines that shall comprise each data row. A character row
can consist of from 1 to 16 scan lines.
Data Rows Per Figure 6-11 shows the format for the Data Rows Per Frame and Skew
Frame and Skew register (R3). The six least significant bits determine the number of data
Register (R3) rows that shall be displayed on the screen. You can specify that from 1 to 64
rows be displayed. The two most significant bits of register R3 allow you to
specify that the H SY NC , BL, and CRV signals be delayed or skewed to
account for the pipelining effect that results from accum ulated delays through
character generator logic. Refer to Figure 6-7 to see the functional position of
these delays in the CRT m onitor interface.
Scan Lines = [R4] x 2 + 5 1 3

(Odd values only from 5 1 3 to 1 023 lines)
Non-Interlaced Mode
Scan Lines = [R4] x 2 + 2 5 6
(Even values only from 2 5 6 to 7 66 lines)
Figure 6-12. 5027 CRT Controller Scan Lines/Frame Register (R4)
Scan Lines Figure 6-12 shows the format for the Scan Lines Per Frame register
Per Frame (R4). As you can see in the figure, the way in which this register is pro-
Register (R4) grammed is dependent on whether the 5027 is operating in the interlaced or
non-interlaced mode. In the interlaced m ode, the total nu m b er of scan lines,
including the tim e allowed for vertical retrace, is a m inim um of 513, and a
m axim um of 1023 can be specified. In the interlaced m ode, the nu m b er of scan
lines specified m ust be an odd num ber. In the non-interlaced m ode there can
be from 256 to 766 scan lines per fram e, and only even counts are perm itted.
Vertical Start Figure 6-13 shows the format for the Vertical Start register (R5). This
Register (R5) register defines the tim e, in scan lin es, between the beginning of the
VSYNC pulse and the beginning of display of the first scan line of the first
data row on the screen. The duration of the VSYNC pulse itself is always
equal to three scan line tim es. T hus, the vertical scan delay show n in Figure
6-13 is equal to the vertical start delay you specified m inus 3 scan line tim es.
One other delay is show n in Figure 6-13: VSYNC delay. This delay is not
specified directly but can be derived by subtracting the vertical data start delay
plus the total num ber of displayed scan lines per screen (see Register R3 and
Register R2) from the total num ber of scan lines per fram e (see Register R4).
Figure 6-14. 5027 CRT Controller Last Data Row Address Register (R6)
Last Data Row Figure 6-14 shows the format for the Last Data Row Address register
Address Register (R6) (R6). This register defines the row address of the data that is to be displayed
as the bottom row on the screen. T he function of this register should not be
confused with that of Register R3, which defines the total n um ber of displayed
data rows per screen. This register (R6) is associated with the scrolling func
tion of the 5027. For exam ple, if you have defined that th e screen is to display
24 data rows, then the top row on the screen would norm ally have a row
address of 0 and the bottom row on the screen would be row 23. H ow ever, if
you load Register R6 with the num ber 15, in this exam ple, then the bottom
row on the screen would have a row address of 15, the top row on the screen
would be row 16, and rows 0 and 23 would be contiguous in the m iddle of the
screen. T hus, Register R6 simply determ ines the row address that is to be o u t
put (on D R 0-D R 4) for the last displayed row on the screen and th u s also d eter
m ines the first row address that will be output after vertical retrace when the
top row is being accessed from screen mem ory.
The 5027 also provides an Up Scroll com m and which simply increm ents
the value held in R6 by 1. We will now proceed to describe th e 5027 com
m ands, including this Up Scroll com m and.
THE 5027 CRT CONTROLLER COMMANDS

The 5027 CRT controller provides nine different commands which
were summarized in Table 6-1 earlier in this chapter. A portion of this table
is expanded and reproduced here for reference purposes. As you will recall,
these com m ands are issued in the sam e way that the control registers are
accessed: you present the register address on inputs A0-A3 and apply the Chip
Select (CS) and Data Strobe (DS) signals to the 5027.
Address
Com mand Read (R)
Com m and
Code (Hex) W rite (W )
A3 A2 A1 AO
0 1 1 1 7 X Processor-Initiated Self-Load
1 O 0 0 8 R Read Cursor Row Address
1 0 0 1 9 R Read Cursor Character (Column) Address
1 0 1 0 A X Reset
1 0 1 1 B X Up Scroll
1 1 0 0 C W Load Cursor Character (Column) Address
1 1 0 1 D w Load Cursor Row Address
1 1 1 0 E x Start Tim ing Chain
1 1 1 1 F x Non-Processor Self-Load
The two self-load commands are addressed as 7 (Processor Initiated

Self-Load) and F16 (Non-Processor Self-Load). The operation of both of
these commands was described when we discussed the 5027-microprocessor
interface. The only difference betw een the two com m ands is the com m and
code itself and the way that the com m ands term inate. The Processor-Initiated
Self-Load com m and m ust be followed by the start tim ing chain com m and (E 16)
to initiate operation of the 5027. The N on-Processor Self-Load com m and is
term inated by rem oving the com m and code (F 16) from the A0-A3 inputs; this
causes autom atic initiatiation of 5027 operation.
There are four commands associated with the cursor position
registers: command codes 8 and 9 read the contents of the cursor row address
and cursor character or column address registers respectively, and command
codes C 16 and D 16 are used to load the two cursor position registers. You will
recall from our earlier discussion of the program m able registers that there are,
in actuality, only two cursor position registers (the Row A ddress and Colum n
Address registers), but that four addresses are required since th ere is no read/
write input to the 5027. The Cursor C olum n address register is an 8-bit
register, but only the six least significant bits of the C ursor Row Address
register are used. Note that it is possible to load these cursor position
registers with values which will be outside of the display area of the screen.
For exam ple, if you have specified that a data row is to be 80 characters wide
and load the cursor colum n or character position register with a value greater
than 8010, then the cursor symbol would never be displayed. You m ust also
rem em ber that since the 5027 addresses screen m em ory on a row /colum n
basis instead of on a linear basis, your software m ust keep track of where the
end of a row is when it m oves the cursor. You cannot simply continue to incre
m ent the C ursor C olum n A ddress register and cause the cursor to proceed to
the next line on the display. Instead, when you reach the end of a row you m ust
then increm ent the Row Address register to m ove the cursor to the next line.
The R eset com m and (A 15) causes the 5027 tim in g ch ain to be reset.
T he in te rn a l counters w ill be reset to values corresponding to th e top left
position of the screen. The Reset com m and is latched internally by the Data
Strobe (DS) signal and the counters will be held reset until you send the Start
Timing Chain com m and to the 5027.
The S ta rt T im ing C hain com m and (E 16) m u st be used after a R eset or
P ro c esso r-In itiated Self-Load com m and to allow the 5027 to resu m e opera
tion. This com m and releases the tim ing chain approxim ately one scan-line
tim e after it is received.
If you are using the m icroprocessor to in itialize th e 5027 by loading the
control reg isters on s ta rtu p ra th e r th a n using one of the self-load modes,
th en a specific sequence of com m ands is required. T he com m and sequence is
as follow s:
S ta rt T im ing Chain
Reset
Load R egister 0
Load R egister 6
S ta rt T im ing Chain
W hile you m u st follow the sequence of ST A R T , R E S E T , LO AD ,

STA R T to en su re proper in itia liz a tio n , it is not n ecessary to load the control
registers in num erical order.
The Up Scroll com m and (B16) sim ply causes th e content of the L ast
D isplayed D ata Row reg ister (R6) to be increm ented by 1. This will cause the
data displayed on the screen to be scrolled up one row with the form er top line
becom ing the new bottom line on the screen. W hen the co n ten ts of R6 equals
the contents of the lower 6 bits of R3 (Data Rows Per Fram e register), R6 will
be set to 0 w hen the n ex t Up Scroll com m and is received. Thus your software
need not worry about increm enting the contents of R6 to a value greater than
the num ber of data rows on the screen; the 5027 autom atically keeps the m ax
im um value of R6 within the limits defined by R3.
THE 5027 CRT CONTROLLER TIMING CHAIN

Figure 6-15 illu stra te s the rela tio n sh ip betw een the program m able
control reg isters of th e 5027 and the generalized tim in g chain we developed
in C hap ter 1.
Dot Clock
’ Value in bit field 3 through 6 in R2
Figure 6-15. The Relationship between 5027 Programmable Registers

and the CRT Timing Chain
DATA SHEETS
5027
M AXIMUM G UARANTEED RATINGS
Operating Tem perature Range ..................................................................................................................................0°C to + 70°C
Storage Tem perature Range .................................................................................................................................. - 55°C to + 1 50°C
Lead Tem perature (soldering, 10 s e c . ) .................................................................................................................................. +325°C
Positive Voltage on any Pin, with respect to ground ...........................................................................................................+ 18.0V
Negative Voltage on any Pin, with respect to ground ........................................................................................................... -0 .3 V
:: Stresses above those listed may cause perm anent dam age to the device. This is a stress rating only and
functional operation of the device at these or at any other condition above those indicated in the operational
sections of this specification is not implied.
NOTE: W hen p o w e rin g th is d e v ic e from la b o ra to ry o r system p o w e r s upp lie s, it is im p o rta n t that
the A b s o lu te M axim um R a tings not be exc e e d e d o r d e v ic e fa ilu re can result. S o m e p o w e r s u p p lie s
e x h ib it v o lta g e s p ik e s o r “ g litc h e s ” on th e ir o u tp u ts w hen the AC p o w e r is s w itc h e d on and off.
In a d d itio n , v o lta g e tra n s ie n ts on the AC p o w e r lin e m ay app e a r on the DC output. For exam ple, the
bench p o w e r s u p p ly p ro g ra m m e d to d e liv e r + 1 2 v o lts may have la rg e v o lta g e tra n s ie n ts w hen the
AC p o w e r is s w itc h e d on and off. If th is p o s s ib ility e x is ts it is s u g g e s te d that a c la m p c ir c u it be used.
ELECTRICAL CHARACTERISTICS (T a = 0 C to 70:C. V cc= ^ 5 V ± 5 % , Vdd= + 12 V ^5 % . unless otherwise noted)

Parameter Min. Typ. Max. Unit Comm ents
D.C. CHARACTERISTICS
INPUT VOLTAGE LEVELS
Low Level. Vn 0.8 V
High Level, V ih V c c - 1.5 Vcc V
OUTPUT VOLTAGE LEVELS
Low Level— V o l for R0-3 0.4 V Iol =3.2m a
Low Level— V o l all others 0.4 V Ioi = 1,6ma
High Level— V o h for R0-3 2.4 I oh = 80/j.a
High Level— V o h all others 2.4 lo H = 40/xa
IN PU TC U R R EN T
Low Level, In
High Level. Im
INPUT CAPACITANCE
Data Bus, C in 10 Pf
Clock, C in 25 Pf
All other, C in 10 Pf
DATA BUS LEAKAGE in INPUT MODE
Idb
Idb
POWER SUPPLY CURRENT
Icc 80 ma
I dd 40 ma
A.C. CHARACTERISTICS Ta = 25 C
DOT COUNTER CARRY
frequency 0.2 4.0 MHz Figure 1
PW h 35 ns Figure 1
PW l 190 ns Figure 1
tr, tf 10 ns Figure 1
DATA STROBE
PW ds 150 ns Figure 2
ADDRESS, CHIP SELECT
Set-up time 100 ns Figure 2
Hold time 50 ns Figure 2
DATA BUS— LOADING
Set-up time 100 ns Figure 2
Hold time 75 ns Figure 2
DATA BUS— READING
T DEL2 100 ns Figure 2, CL 50pf
OUTPUTS: H0-7. HS, VS, BL, CRV,
C S -T deu 100 ns Figure 1, CL 20pf
OUTPUTS: R0-3. DR0-5
T DEL3 1.0 MS Figure 3, CL 20pf
R estrictio ns
1. Only one pin is available for strobing data into the device via the data bus. The cursor X and Y coordinates are therefore
loaded into the chip by presenting one set of addresses and outputed by presenting a different set of addresses. Therefore
the standard W RITE and READ control signals from most m icroprocessors must be "N O R ed" externally to present a single
strobe (DSJ signal to the device.
2. An even num ber of scan lines per character row must be program med in interlace mode. This is again due to pin count
limitations which require that the least significant bit of the scan counter serve as the odd/even field indicator.
3. In interlaced mode the total num ber of character slots assigned to the horizontal scan must be even to insure that vertical
sync occurs precisely between horizontal sync pulses.
Data sheets on pages 6 -2 6 and 6 -27 are reprinted by permission of SM C M icrosystem s Corporation.
5027
AC TIMING DIAGRAM S
H0-7
H SYNC. V SYNC. BLANK
CURSOR VIDEO.
COMPOSITE SYNC
FIGURE 3 SCAN AND DATA ROW COUNTER TIM ING
Figure 4. SELF LOADING SCHEME FOR CRT 5027 SET-UP

~LT
TO CHARACTER GENERATOR
Index
A lphanum eric characters, 1-5 8275 C RT controller

Back porch, 1-26, 1-27 burst m ode, 3-14
Bit-mapped screen m em ory, 1-33 character a ttrib u te codes, 3-19
Bus access co n ten tio n logic, 1-15 character generator signals, 3-5
com m ands, 3-32
C athode ray tu b e (C R T ), 1-1 -CRT m onitor interface, 3-30
illustration of, 1-2 CRT m onitor signals, 3-5
C haracter address, 1-10 Disable Interrupt com m and, 3-38
C haracter clock, 1-28 D M A controller interface, 3-12
C haracter generator, 1-8, 1-11 Enable Interrupt com m and, 3-38
C haracter row buffer, 1-12 End of Row control code, 3-29
C om posite video, 1-8 End of Screen control code, 3-29
C RT controller block diagram , 1-35 field attribute control codes, 3-27
C RT tim ing chain, 1-26 field a ttribute designations, 3-25
C ursor, 1-16 graphic capabilities, 3-19
D irect m em ory access, 1-25 internal character buffers, 3-16
D ot clock, 1-29 interrupt com m ands, 3-38
DP8350 CRT controller series Load C ursor R egister com m and, 3-37
character gen erato r signals, 2-6, 2-20 -m icroprocessor interface signals, 3-3, 3-10
-C R T interface signals, 2-21 pin assignm ents, 3-4
C RT m onitor signals, 2-7 Preset C o unter com m and, 3-36
C ursor register, 2-13 program m able registers, 3-6
line buffer signals, 2-6 Read Light Pen R egister com m and, 3-36
m ask program m ing options, 2-23 R eset com m and, 3-32
-m icroprocessor interface, 2-14 scan line co u n ter m odes, 3-18
option program table, 2-24 single-cycle D M A transfers, 3-13
pin assignm ents, 2-4 special control codes, 3-29
program m able registers, 2-8 Start Display com m and, 3-35
Row Start register, 2-10 Status register, 3-8
-screen m em ory interface, 2-15 Stop Display com m and, 3-35
screen m em ory signals, 2-5 Stop D M A control code, 3-29
tim ing chain, 2-23 Electron beam , 1-2
Top o f Page register, 2-8 controlling m ovem ent of, 1-3
5027 CRT controller character generator signals, 4-5
C haracter and Scan Lines register, 6-17 C haracter/R ow register, 4-20
-character generator interface, 6-12 C haracter Rows Displayed register, 4-24
character generator signals, 6-5 -CRT m onitor interface, 4-17
com m ands, 6-22 CRT m onitor signals, 4-5
com posite synchronization (C SY N C ), 6-14 C ursor position register, 4-28
-CRT m onitor interface, 6-13 C ursor Start register, 4-26
CRT m onitor interface, 6-13 C ursor Stop register, 4-26
CRT m onitor signals, 6-5 horizontal form at and tim ing registers, 4-19
Data Rows and Skew register, 6-18 HSYNC Position register, 4-28
Horizontal C haracter C ount register, 6-15 HSYNC W idth register, 4-20
HSYNC W idth Decay register, 6-15 Interlace M ode register, 4-25
Last Data Row register, 6-21 interlaced-sync m ode, 4-13
-m icroprocessor system interface, 6-8 interlaced-sync-w ith-video m ode, 4-15
m icroprocessor system signals, 6-3 interleaved access to screen m em ory, 4-10
pin assignm ents, 6-4 Light Pen register, 4-28
program m able registers, 6-6 logic functions provided by, 4-2
read/w rite operations, 6-8 m em ory contentions resolution, 4-9
Scan Lines per Fram e register, 6-19 m icroprocessor interface signals, 4-2
-screen m em ory interface, 6-12 -m icroprocessor system interface, 4-8
screen m em ory signals, 6-5 non-interlaced m ode, 4-12
self-load operation, 6-10 pin assignm ents, 4-4
tim ing chain, 6-23 primary operating registers, 4-28
Vertical Start register, 6-20 program m able registers, 4-5
Fluorescent coating, 1-1 program m ing registers of, 4-19
Front porch, 1-26, 1-27 Scan Lines per Row register, 4-25
scan m odes, 4-11
G raphic C RT display, 1-2
screen m em ory, 4-5
H orizontal scan delay, 1-26 -screen m em ory interface, 4-9
Horizontal scan rate, 1-6 Top of Page register, 4-28
H orizontal synchronization signal (H SY N C ), vertical form at and tim ing registers, 4-22
1-8, 1-26 Vertical total register, 4-22
delay, 1-26 VSYNC Adjust register, 4-22
pulse, 1-26 VSYNC Position register, 4-24
6545 CRT controller
Interlaced m em ory access, 1-25 H SY N C/V SY N C W idth register, 5-8
Interlaced scanning, 1-7 interleaved transparent addressing, 5-14
effect on refresh frequency, 1-6 m em ory contention logic, 5-12
M ode C ontrol register, 5-8
Light pen, 1-16
pin assignm ents, 5-3
Line buffer, 1-12, 1-14
program m able registers. See 6845 program m able
M emory co n ten tio n , 1-25 registers
M emory w raparound, 1-21 ready bit, 5-18
retrace transparent addressing, 5-16
N on-display-tim e access, 1-25
screen m em ory interface, 5-12
P ersistence, 1-2 Status register, 5-4
Phosphor dot, 1-1 transparent m em ory addressing, 5-13
Update register, 5-11
R aster scan, 1-2
Refresh frequency, 1-6, 1-7 TMS9927 C RT controller, 6-3
effect of interlaced scanning on, 1-7
R etrace, 1-3 Vector CRT display, 1-2
Vertical scan rate, 1-6
Scan line address, 1-10
Vertical synchronization signal
Scan rate, 1-6
(V SY N C), 1-8, 1-26, 1-30
Screen m em ory, 1-13
delay, 1-26
addressing, 1-23
pulse, 1-26
bit-m apped, 1-33
VIDEO signal, 1-8
Scrolling, 1-17
character-by-character, 1-18 W raparound, 1-21
6845 CRT controller
-character generator interface, 4-9 X-Y CRT display, 1-2
Other O sborne/M cG raw -H ill Publications
An Introduction to Microcomputers: Volume 0 — The Beginner’s Book, 3rd Edition
An Introduction to Microcomputers: Volume 1— Basic Concepts, 2nd Edition
Osborne 4 & 8-Bit Microprocessor H andbook
Osborne 16-Bit Microprocessor Handbook
8089 I/O Processor Handbook
CRT Controller Handbook
68000 Microprocessor Handbook
8080A/8085 Assembly Language Programming
6800 Assembly Language Programming
Z80® Assembly Language Programming
Z8000® Assembly Language Programming
Running W ild—The Next Industrial Revolution
The 8086 Book
PET®/CBM™ and the IEEE 488 Bus (GP1B)
PET® Personal Computer Guide
CBM™ Professional Computer Guide
Business System Buyer’s Guide
Osborne CP/M® User Guide, 2nd Edition
Apple II® User’s Guide
Microprocessors for Measurement and Control
Some Common BASIC Programs
Some Common BASIC Programs — Atari® Edition
Some Common BASIC Program s— TRS-80™ Level II Edition
Some Common BASIC Programs — Apple II® Edition
Some Common BASIC Programs — IBM® Personal Computer Edition
Some Common Pascal Programs
Practical BASIC Programs
Practical BASIC P rogram s—TRS-80™ Level II Edition
Practical BASIC Programs — Apple II® Edition
Practical BASIC Programs — IBM® Personal Computer Edition
Practical Pascal Programs
CBASIC
CBASIC™ User Guide
Science and Engineering Programs — Apple II® Edition
Interfacing to S-100/IEEE 696 Microcomputers
A User Guide to the UNIX™ System
PET® Fun and Games
Trade Secrets: How to Protect Your Ideas and Assets
Assembly Language Programming for the Apple II®
VisiCalc®: Home and Office Companion
Discover FORTH
6502 Assembly Language Subroutines
Your ATARI™ Computer
The HP-IL System
Wordstar® Made Easy, 2nd Edition
Armchair BASIC
Data Base Management Systems
The HHC™ User Guide
VIC 20™ User Guide
Z80® Assembly Language Subroutines
8080/8085 Assembly Language Subroutines
The VisiCalc® Program Made Easy
Your IBM® PC: A Guide to the IBM® Personal Computers
CRT Controller Handbook
Controlling the Controller
If you are designing a CRT-based term inal or display, you should con
sider one of the recently introduced large-scale-integrated (LSI) CRT con
troller devices; they can greatly sim plify your design and reduce your costs.
This book describes all of the CRT controller devices currently available. It
also includes a tutorial chapter w hich gives a lucid explanation of the
underlying principles of CRT operation which shape the characteristics of all
CRT controllers. This chapter w ill be valuable to anyone who wants to know
how a CRT works and what a CRT controller is expected to do.
The book covers five devices in the same thorough detail you've come
to expect from Osborne/McGraw-Hill publications. The handbook fully
covers pins and signals, programmable registers, microprocessor interface,
screen memory, transparent memory addressing, character generator inter
face, and much more.
Thirteen tables and 149 separate illustrations make this the most
readable and complete book on CRT controllers. This book follows the same
standard format used throughout the Osborne Handbook Series, allowing
the reader to easily compare one device to another.
Devices Covered
Other, m icroelectronics reference books from OSBORNE:

Osborne 4 & 8-Bit Microprocessor Handbook
Osborne 16-Bit Microprocessor Handbook
An Introduction to Microcomputers:
Volume 3 — Some Real Support Devices
8089 I/O Processor Handbook
68000 Microprocessor Handbook
ISBN 0-07-^31045-1

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What are CRT controllers and what do they do?

What are CRT controllers and what do they do?

What are some of the CRT controller devices covered in this book?

What are some of the CRT controller devices covered in this book?

I O SBO R N E /M c G r a w - H ill

O SBO RN E/M cG raw -H ill

67890 CPCP 898765

1. CRT Principles of Operation

4. The 6 8 4 5 CRT Controller

CRT Principles o f Operation

THE CATHODE RAY TUBE

Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)

Figure 1-1. Simplified Representation of a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)

CR T te rm in a ls designed for the display of alp h an u m eric d ata. In this type o f

Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)

Figure 1-2. Controlling the Movement of the CRT Electron Beam

w ill not be sufficiently excited to produce an illum inated trace. T he resultant

T he dotted lines in this illustration represent th e retrace portion of the

We can now represent alphanumeric characters w ithin this 5 x 7

THE CRT CONTROLLER-CRT MONITOR INTERFACE

CRT CHARACTER GENERATOR LOGIC

Figure 1-3. Display of One 80-Character Row of Data

Now, with three row-select inputs to this read-only m em ory (ROM)

Since screen memory must also be accessed by the microprocessor, the

MANIPULATION OF CRT SCREEN DATA

Before Scrolling A fter Scrolling

W ith this approach, no actual m ovem ent of data is required. We have

Scrolling by m anipulation of the contents of the screen m em ory starting

Before Scrolling A fter Scrolling

There is one obvious problem with the type of scrolling operation we

1010 TOP Register

TEXTLINE NUMBER 1 TEXTLINE NUMBER2

1000 TOP Register

Screen Memory Addressing: Linear versus Row/Column

Linear (Binary) Addressing (Decimal addresses)

Row/Column Addressing (Decimal addresses)

Memory Contention Logic

THE CRT TIMING CHAIN

15.6 25 kHz -6 4 /a s (One Scan Line)-

0 HSYNC Delay (Front Porch)

0 Horizontal Scan Delay (Back Porch)

Front The HSYNC delay is often referred to in television literature as the

— 8 dot tim es = 1 C ha ra cte r— ►

-•—►J 1 Dot Time

Figure 1-4. A CRT Timing Chain

In m ost applications, you will want to m aintain a VSYNC frequency of 60

Scan Lines/Character (Data) Row

Scan Lines/Screen 1.8 kh

In this illustration, we have increased the n u m b er of characters per line

GRAPHIC VERSUS ALPHANUMERIC DISPLAYS

Table 1-1. A Summary of CRT Controller Functional Characteristics

Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6

Interlaced Mode No No Yes (2) Yes (2) Yes

Reverse video, Reverse video, Reverse video,

On-chip Buffer No Tw o, 80-Bytes each No No No

Scrolling Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Visual Attributes No Yes No No No

Light Pen Logic No Yes Yes Yes No

Process IIL NMOS NMOS NMOS NMOS