VDC (Video Display Controller) reference

VDC register access:
    7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
$D600 (R)SR UR LRF VRT unused Version
$D600 (W)CR unused VDC register select
$D601 (R/W)DR VDC register data

VDC register set:
    7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
$00 (R/W)HT Horizontal Total (Clock cycles per rasterline - 1)
$01 (R/W)HD Horizontal Displayed (Visible character columns)
$02 (R/W)HP Horizontal Sync Position
$03 (R/W)VW/HW Vertical Sync Width (rasterlines) Horizontal Sync Width (characters+1)
$04 (R/W)VT Vertical Total (Character rows per frame - 1)
$05 (R/W)VA unused ¹ Vertical Total Adjust (Rasterline count finetuning)
$06 (R/W)VD Vertical Displayed (Visible character rows)
$07 (R/W)VP Vertical Sync Position
$08 (R/W)IM unused ¹ Interlace mode
$09 (R/W)CTV unused ¹ Rasterlines per character row - 1
$0A (R/W)CM/CS unused ¹ Cursor mode Cursor start
$0B (R/W)CE unused ¹ Cursor end
$0C (R/W)DS Display Start Address (A15-A8)
$0D (R/W)DS Display Start Address (A7-A0)
$0E (R/W)CP Cursor Address (A15-A8)
$0F (R/W)CP Cursor Address (A7-A0)
$10 (R/W)LPV Vertical light pen position
$11 (R/W)LPH Horizontal light pen position
$12 (R/W)UA VDC memory update address (A15-A8)
$13 (R/W)UA VDC memory update address (A7-A0)
$14 (R/W)AA Attribute address (A15-A8)
$15 (R/W)AA Attribute address (A7-A0)
$16 (R/W)C?H Character width including gap (pixels - 1) Character width (pixels)
$17 (R/W)CDV unused ¹ Character height (rasterlines - 1)
$18 (R/W)VSS Fill/Copy Reverse Blink freq Vertical smooth scroll
$19 (R/W)HSS Bitmap Attributes Gap fill Pixel clock Horizontal smooth scroll ³
$1A (R/W)FG/BG Foreground color Background color
$1B (R/W)AI Address increment per row
$1C (R/W)CB Character base address (A15-A13) RAM-Type unused ¹
$1D (R/W)UL unused ¹ Underline scan line
$1E (R/W)WC Block copy/fill word count
$1F (R/W)DA Data register
$20 (R/W)BA Block copy source address (A15-A8)
$21 (R/W)BA Block copy source address (A7-A0)
$22 (R/W)DEB Display enable begin
$23 (R/W)DEE Display enable end
$24 (R/W)DRR unused ¹ DRAM refresh cycles per rasterline
$25 (R/W)  HSYNC ² VSYNC ² unused ¹

¹ - Unused bits read back 1
² - Only available on VDC 8568
³ - Different on VDC 8568


VDC character attributes:
Mode 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Characters Alternate Reverse Underline Blink Foreground color
Bitmap Background color Foreground color


VDC color palette (RGBI):
0 2 4 6 8 A C E
VDC color palette
1 3 5 7 9 B D F


Status Register:

URUpdate ReadySet when memory update finished
LRFLightpen Register FullCleared when reading LPV or LPH
VRTVertical RetraceSet if vertical blanking or retrace area is drawn
VersionVersion1 = VDC 8563, 2 = VDC 8568


© 2010 Graham