Legacy Graphics Range for Char8.js

The Terminals Working Group proposed a new Unicode range earlier this month (Jan. 4, 2019) for the purpose of retrocomputing and emulation. As of version 1.1, the newly proposed glyphs are already included in the Char8.js library for generating 8-bit characters from Unicode.

Here’s a sample, rendering the new glyphs in double height using a 16 × 8 character matrix:

The proposed range incorporates glyphs from various legacy systems, including

• Sextant Characters (Mattel Aquarius, Minitel, Teletext, Prestel)
• Smooth Mosaic Characters (Minitel, Teletext, Prestel)
• Commodore PETSCII (block and fill elements)
• Atari 8-bit and Atari ST
• MSX Systems
• Amstrad CPC
• Apple II MouseText
• Acorn RISC OS
• TRS-80 (Models I-4)

Related Links:

• Proposal to add characters from legacy computers and teletext to the UCS (PDF)
• Char8.js