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Im building a VGA (640x480@60Hz) adapter for my homebrew project but i dont have enought memory to store a framebuffer. Since im using 8 bit memory i plan to do 8 bit color, but 8 colors would be enought for my project.

How is the most efficient way to implement a character mask (8x8 pixels) using only memory and TTL? I was thinking about using a memory bank (6264) to store the character mask, another bank linked to that to select wich mask i want to use in a sequency using binary counters. Then using a PISO Shift Register (74166) at 25MHz to feed a multiplexer (74157) that selects background or foreground color stored at another memory bank. But this seems overcomplicated.

Since only the 74166 and the 74157 would be running at 25MHz i can get off with HC ones? Or better to run with another model (they are harder to find here).

I want to avoid FPGAs. Use only TTL, SRAM and microcontrollers.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Traditionally, people augmented the TTL with a 6845 video controller. \$\endgroup\$
    – user16324
    Commented Dec 19, 2017 at 11:20
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    \$\begingroup\$ I guess, you'd better not avoid FPGA. \$\endgroup\$
    – Marko Buršič
    Commented Dec 19, 2017 at 11:33
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    \$\begingroup\$ If your aim is to have a standard VGA connector to plug a monitor into you have a whole world of work ahead of you. If you just want a simple display, buy an LCD module with an SPI or parallel interface and a built-in buffer. \$\endgroup\$
    – Finbarr
    Commented Dec 19, 2017 at 12:01
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    \$\begingroup\$ Atmel seem to have some: mouser.com/ds/2/268/DOC0425-1066264.pdf ("easily" is relative!) \$\endgroup\$
    – pjc50
    Commented Dec 19, 2017 at 12:02
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    \$\begingroup\$ I chose it because it was actually in stock at Mouser :) \$\endgroup\$
    – pjc50
    Commented Dec 19, 2017 at 12:16

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You are definitely on the right track.

For example, the J. B. Ferguson "Big Board" (CP/M) computer used exactly that technique and technology to produce a 25×80 text display. It has 2k of SRAM to hold the characters and 2k of EPROM as a character generator, which could just as well be SRAM too. All of the timing and control is done using LSTTL logic. It uses a clever address mapping technique (requiring just one additional mux chip) that allows the character RAM to be addressed by rows and columns instead of as a linear memory space.

If you want to investigate further, I scanned the documentation some time ago and put it online here.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Yes. That documentation will be really helpful. Im using SRAM because i will add a microcontroller on the back to allow the user to change the character font. Allowing to create fonts to games scenery. Creating a sort of tiled scenery generation from 80's consoles. \$\endgroup\$
    – h0m3
    Commented Dec 19, 2017 at 12:50
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    \$\begingroup\$ I really should re-scan the schematics and convert everything to PDF, now that I have the technology to do so. As I said, that was a long time ago! \$\endgroup\$
    – Dave Tweed
    Commented Dec 19, 2017 at 12:57
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    \$\begingroup\$ If I was designing that now with RAM chips and the like I'd program a microcontroller to generate all the timing signals. Massive reduction in component count, power consumption and complexity. \$\endgroup\$
    – Finbarr
    Commented Dec 19, 2017 at 13:39
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Finbarr, I will. Most of timing will be done by the microcontroller. But i dont have a fast micro, so i will reduce the load by using some counters and shift registers. Probably the micro will be running at the same 25MHz that i will output to display. \$\endgroup\$
    – h0m3
    Commented Dec 19, 2017 at 15:10

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