Re: Linux console internationalization

[James S. <jsi...@in...>]

> > > Interesting, but any plan to support more than 512 characters?
> > 
> > Not within VGA text modes.
> > 2^9 is a hardware restriction based on text framebuffer's data semantic.
> 
> I see.  It is since MS/PC-DOS version 6.x (so-called "DOS/V") that
> IBM-compatible PC began to be able to display Japanese characters on
> text screen.  (Before then Japanese local PC was used which has
> hardware Japanese support.)
> 
> I imagine the MS/PC-DOS used VGA graphic mode.  (I heard that "V"
> in the name "DOS/V" came from "VGA".)

The trick was to put the VGA hardware into a VGA graphical state. Usually 
planar 4bpp mode. Then the limitations of how many characters you could 
have would go away.