MSX character set

Nowadays, MSX character set has become very relevant in the _var2 area. Its importance has transcended borders and has captured the attention of experts in the field, as well as the general public. MSX character set has been the subject of numerous studies and investigations that seek to understand its impact on _var3, and its influence on _var4. In this article we will explore different aspects related to MSX character set, from its origin and evolution, to its implications in today's society. In addition, we will analyze its relevance in the _var5 context and its future projection.

MSX character set
Language(s)Arabic, Portuguese, German, English, Japanese, Korean, Russian
Created byMicrosoft
Based oncode page 437
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This article contains uncommon Unicode characters. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of the intended characters.

MSX character sets are a group of single- and double-byte character sets developed by Microsoft for MSX computers. They are based on code page 437.

Character sets

The following table shows the MSX character set. Each character is shown with a potential Unicode equivalent if available. Control characters and other non-printing characters are represented by their names.

Character set differences exist, depending on the target market of the machine. These are the variations:

  • Arabic
  • Brazilian
  • German DIN
  • International
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Russian

The German DIN and International character sets are identical, apart from the style of zero (0) character. The international character set has a zero with a slash, while the DIN character set has a dotted zero.

The MSX terminal is compatible with VT52 escape codes, plus extra control codes shown below.

MSX International
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F
0x NULL graph WB ceol WF BEEP BS TAB LF home CLS RET eol
1x INS DL select ESC ⇨ ⇦ ⇧ ⇩
2x  SP  ! " # $ % & ' ( ) * + , - . /
3x 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 : ; < = > ?
4x @ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O
5x P Q R S T U V W X Y Z [ \ ] ^ _
6x ` a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o
7x p q r s t u v w x y z { | } ~ DEL
8x Ç ü é â ä à å ç ê ë è ï î ì Ä Å
9x É æ Æ ô ö ò û ù ÿ Ö Ü ¢ £ ¥ ₧ ƒ
Ax á í ó ú ñ Ñ ª º ¿ ⌐ ¬ ½ ¼ ¡ « »
Bx à ã Ĩ ĩ Õ õ Ű ű IJ ij ¾ ∽ ◊ ‰ §
Cx ▂ ▚ ▆ 🮂 ▬ 🮅 ▎ ▞ ▊ 🮇 🮊 🮙 🮘 🭭 🭯 🭬
Dx 🭮 🮚 🮛 ▘ ▗ ▝ ▖ 🮖 Δ ‡ ω █ ▄ ▌ ▐ ▀
Ex α ß Γ π Σ σ µ τ Φ Θ Ω δ ∞ ⌀ ∈ ∩
Fx ≡ ± ≥ ≤ ⌠ ⌡ ÷ ≈ ° ∙ · √ ⁿ ² ■ cursor
  1. ^ moves the cursor to the previous word
  2. ^ deletes the line to the right of the cursor
  3. ^ moves the cursor to the next word
  4. ^ places the cursor at top left of the screen
  5. ^ moves the cursor to the end of the line
  6. ^ insert key
  7. ^ deletes the line where the cursor is located
  8. ^ Special key. Its function can vary amongst applications
  9. ^ moves the cursor one character to the right
  10. ^ moves the cursor one character to the left
  11. ^ moves the cursor up
  12. ^ moves the cursor down
  13. ^ could also be Ő
  14. ^ could also be ő
MSX International
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F
4x NBSP ☺ ☻ ♥ ♦ ♣ ♠ • ◘ ○ ◙ ♂ ♀ ♪ ♫ ☼
5x ⟊ ┴ ┬ ┤ ├ ┼ │ ─ ┌ ┐ └ ┘ ╳ ╱ ╲ 🮯

Brazilian variants

Gradiente custom charset

The Brazilian manufacturer Gradiente have initially included a modified MSX character set on their v1.0 machines to allow writing correct Portuguese. Differences are shown boxed. The symbol at 0x9E (158) is the currency symbol for the Brazilian cruzado which is not used anymore.

MSX Brazilian
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F
8x Ç ü é â Á à ¨ ç ê Í Ó Ú Â Ê Ô À
9x É æ Æ ô ö ò û ù ÿ Ö Ü ¢ £ ¥ Cz ƒ

BRASCII

Later Brazilian MSX models (v1.1 or higher) included a standardized character set named BRASCII, which solved the accentuation incompatibility problems amongst the different makers.

References

  1. ^ a b "MSX.TXT" (PDF), L2/19-025: Proposal to add characters from legacy computers and teletext to the UCS, 2019-01-04
  2. ^ a b Rderooy; Tvalenca; Gdx (2016-12-16). "MSX font". Microcomputer & Related Culture Foundation. Archived from the original on 2017-07-24. Retrieved 2017-07-24.
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