Thomson EF9345

The EF9345 from SGS-Thomson Microelectronics, Inc., was a semigraphic^[1] microprocessor for video image control,^[1] encapsulated in a 40-pin DIP and used primarily in the Matra Alice 32,^[2] Matra Alice 90^[3] and Philips VG5000 microcomputers.^[4]

EF9345 pinout

The EF9345 was capable of displaying 8 colors (RGB primaries), 128 alphanumeric characters and 128 semigraphic characters.^[5] It had one semigraphic mode and 40- and 80-column text modes.^[5] It was able to address up to 16KB of dedicated video RAM.

Video Modes

• 50/60Hz output
  • Interlaced or progressive scan
• Semigraphics:
  • 128 standard character set with 5x7 pixel font dimensions. User definable 8x10 pixel alphanumeric or semigraphic sets.
• 40 characters x 25 rows text mode (similar to teletext):^[5]
  • 8 x 10 pixel font^[5]
  • Selectable background and foreground colors
  • Styles: double height, double width, blinking, reverse, underline, conceal, insert, accentuation of lowercase characters
• 80 characters x 25 rows text mode:
  • 6 x 10 pixel font^[5]
  • Styles: blinking, underlining, reverse, color
• 8 colors (3-bit RGB palette):

 

On-Chip Character Generator

The on-chip character generator offered several character sets, including alphanumeric and videotext compatible semigraphics.^[1]

G0 Alphanumeric Character Set in 40 or 80 Character/Row Mode
	0x	1x	2x	3x	4x	5x	6x	7x
0	⸮	º	SP	0	@	P	-	p
1	Â	±	!	1	A	Q	a	q
2	É	é	"	2	B	R	b	r
3	£	ë	#	3	C	S	c	s
4	â	ï	$	4	D	T	d	t
5	Ç	ç	%	5	E	U	e	u
6	Ë	û	&	6	F	V	f	v
7	À	à	'	7	G	W	g	w
8	Ù	÷	(	8	H	X	h	x
9	È	è	)	9	I	Y	i	y
A	Œ	œ	*	:	J	Z	j	z
B	Ê	ê	+	;	K	[	k	▏
C	←	¼	,	<	L	\	l	│
D	î	½	-	=	M	]	m	▕
E	→	¾	.	>	N	↑	n	▔
F	↓	ô	/	?	O	▁	o	█

G0 Alphanumeric Character Set in 40 Character/Row Mode - R003
	0x	1x	2x	3x	4x	5x	6x	7x
0	▔	º	SP	0	@	P	-	p
1	¨	±	!	1	A	Q	a	q
2	É	é	"	2	B	R	b	r
3	£	§	#	3	C	S	c	s
4	÷	`	$	4	D	T	d	t
5	Ç	ç	%	5	E	U	e	u
6	Ä	ä	&	6	F	V	f	v
7	Ö	ẞ	´	7	G	W	g	w
8	Ü	à	(	8	H	X	h	x
9	È	è	)	9	I	Y	i	y
A	Œ	œ	*	:	J	Z	j	z
B	ü	ù	+	;	K	[	k	{
C	←	¼	,	<	L	\	l	│
D	î	½	-	=	M	]	m	}
E	→	¾	.	>	N	^	n	~
F	↓	ô	/	?	O	▁	o	█

G0 Alphanumeric Character Set in 40 Character/Row Mode - R005
	0x	1x	2x	3x	4x	5x	6x	7x
0	~	º	SP	0	@	P	-	p
1	§	±	!	1	A	Q	a	q
2	ü	é	"	2	B	R	b	r
3	£	ë	#	3	C	S	c	s
4	â	ï	$	4	D	T	d	t
5	}	ç	%	5	E	U	e	u
6	ä	û	&	6	F	V	f	v
7	ö	à	'	7	G	W	g	w
8	ù	÷	(	8	H	X	h	x
9	ẞ	è	)	9	I	Y	i	y
A	Œ	œ	*	:	J	Z	j	z
B	{	ê	+	;	K	[	k	▏
C	←	¼	,	<	L	\	l	│
D	î	½	-	=	M	]	m	▕
E	→	¾	.	>	N	↑	n	▔
F	↓	ô	/	?	O	▁	o	█

G10 Semigraphic Character Set (videotex compatible)
	4x	5x	6x	7x
0	SP	🬏	🬞	🬭
1	🬀	🬐	🬟	🬮
2	🬁	🬑	🬠	🬯
3	🬂	🬒	🬡	🬰
4	🬃	🬓	🬢	🬱
5	🬄	▌	🬣	🬲
6	🬅	🬔	🬤	🬳
7	🬆	🬕	🬥	🬴
8	🬇	🬖	🬦	🬵
9	🬈	🬗	🬧	🬶
A	🬉	🬘	▐	🬷
B	🬊	🬙	🬨	🬸
C	🬋	🬚	🬩	🬹
D	🬌	🬛	🬪	🬺
E	🬍	🬜	🬫	🬻
F	🬎	🬝	🬬	█

G11 Stroke Set
	0x	1x
0
1	🮡	╵
2	🮣	╶
3	🮥	└
4	🮢	╷
5	🮩	│
6	🮦	┌
7	🮪	├
8	🮠	╴
9	🮧	┘
A	🮨	─
B	🮬	┴
C	🮤	┐
D	🮭	┤
E	🮫	┬
F	🮮	┼

G20 Accentued Character Set
	0x	1x	2x	3x
0		¯	´	`
1		˙	¨	,

G21 Accentued Character Set - R000
	0x	1x
0	-	p
1	a	q
2	b	r
3	c	s
4	d	t
5	e	u
6	f	v
7	g	w
8	h	x
9	i	y
A	j	z
B	k	▏
C	l	│
D	m	▕
E	n	▔
F	o	█

G21 Accentued Character Set - R003
	0x	1x
0	-	p
1	a	q
2	b	r
3	c	s
4	d	t
5	e	u
6	f	v
7	g	w
8	h	x
9	i	y
A	j	z
B	k	{
C	l	│
D	m	}
E	n	~
F	o	█

See also

• Thomson EF936x
• Motorola 6847
• Motorola 6845
• TMS9918
• MOS Technology VIC-II
• List of home computers by video hardware

References

1. Graphic Processors Databook (PDF). SGS Thomson. March 1989. p. 13.
2. "MATRA HACHETTE ALICE". old-computers.com. from the original on 2021-10-03. Retrieved 2021-10-03.
3. "MATRA HACHETTE ALICE 90". old-computers.com. from the original on 2021-10-03. Retrieved 2021-10-03.
4. Hervier, Carl; Vanlierde, Stéphane (2023). "La vidéo du VG5000". La page de fans du VG 5000µ. from the original on 2021-08-21. Retrieved 2021-10-03.
5. EF9345 HMOS2 SINGLE CHIP SEMI-GRAPHIC DISPLAY PROCESSOR (PDF). SGS Thomson. March 1995.

External links

• EF9345 datasheet