News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Breaking copy protection on a 1983 game for Apple 2. Parent comment

Re:Breaking copy protection on a 1983 game for Apple 2 by dwheeler on Friday August 25, 2023 @02:19PM (#37265269)
Yes, by default the screen width is 40 characters.

Many had an "80 column card" and later versions included it. However, TV screens of the time could not readably display 80 character wide screens.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Breaking copy protection on a 1983 game for Apple 2 by DerekL on Friday August 25, 2023 @08:07PM (#37268574)
This is a limitation of the NTSC composite signal. Eighty columns of text will never be readable through a composite connection, no matter how good the monitor is.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Breaking copy protection on a 1983 game for Apple 2 by ddingus on Saturday August 26, 2023 @12:04AM (#37269849)
Well, that is true for a color signal.

Monochrome monitors take composite and can deliver 600 lines or so,

[ Parent | on HN ]