If you have ever felt limited on the 2068 with only eight colors, here is a way to create up to fifteen NEW colors and twelve new shades of the ones you already have. What’s the catch? Well, actually there are two. One, you are limited to the new color being the size of the 8 x 8 character grid. Two you have to be using an RGB monitor.
We are not actually creating a new color, we are only making our eyes think they are seeing new color. The first thing we must do is to re-create the graphic character they forgot to bring up from the TS 1000. Remember the gray (first clue) “hash” mark they had? In the 8×8 grid, the pixels alternated white and black. With their close proximity, the character as a whole appeared to be gray. With this character on the 2068, if we make the INK yellow and the PAPER red, we get orange.
We need an RGB monitor to see this because of its increased resolution over composite monitors. You can try this on a composite monitor, but most likely you will only get squiggly color lines over this character.
To generate the character, you need to define a graphic character as shown in chapter 18 in the 2068 manual. Use BIN 10101010 = 170 decimal and BIN 01010101 = 85 decimal alternately. Enter the program as shown using the GRAPHICS A where you see the “hash” mark. You can try only making this half of a character to create higher res. graphics of your own.
The new colors can really brighten up your displays and give a new dimension of color possibilities on the 2068. For those who built the RGB interface shown last month now have the opportunity to really see the difference between their old composite screen and an RGB one!