Obscure #PC98 #Retrocomputing lore: Font ROMs
The PC-98 series of computers had a very unique video system that allowed it to display Japanese characters very fast. This was done via a 282kb font ROM on normal res models. The master GDC would overlay the text onto the slave GDC's graphics output, meaning that nearly every PC-98 game had the distinct font as well.
Emulators also require this ROM file (FONT.ROM) for proper text output, the font extracted into a bitmap file, or a clone of it such as FREECG98.bmp.
However here's an interesting tidbit about the font ROM. While unknown to many except heavy Wikipedia posters and PC-98 enthusiasts, Epson actually cloned the PC-98 line and after a lawsuit over the original models that used a ROM that was too close to NEC's (and likely were never sold), Epson brought to the market a PC-98 compatible called the PC-286 with a clone of the PC-98 ROMs. Epson would then make these machines until 1995, when they decided to only make PC Compatibles from then on.
Due to the inevitable copyright issues with using the same ROM font that NEC did, Epson also created a different font ROM, giving PC-98 software run on Epson machines a different look.
Emulators really don't care what FONT.ROM file you use since a font is a font after all, which means that with NP21w or DOSBOX-X you can plug in any font rom or bmp you want and it will render text with that. Epson's font ROM is lesser known, due to the fact that the APC III and most extracted PC-98 font TTF files are based on the NEC ROM and not the Epson ROM.
How much different is the font ROM? Well there's subtle differences, but the first screenshot is using the NEC ROM and the second is using Epson's ROM.
Some PC-98 enthusiasts prefer Epson's font ROM due to the unique look it has, and many letters are clearly distinct from NEC's implementation.
https://makai.chaotic.ninja/files/a0f61053-36ec-4a0d-93f0-87ecef38b48c
https://makai.chaotic.ninja/files/41f0c977-d0ec-40cf-85f5-642c47e65a15
Pawlicker /
npub19d…vs79f
2024-06-16 21:59:00
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npub19dadj4kg36hzxshvunusswzpaeu7kq0669xukehm406w4ku5244slvs79fPublished at
2024-06-16 21:59:00Event JSON
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"content": "Obscure #PC98 #Retrocomputing lore: Font ROMs\n\nThe PC-98 series of computers had a very unique video system that allowed it to display Japanese characters very fast. This was done via a 282kb font ROM on normal res models. The master GDC would overlay the text onto the slave GDC's graphics output, meaning that nearly every PC-98 game had the distinct font as well.\n\nEmulators also require this ROM file (FONT.ROM) for proper text output, the font extracted into a bitmap file, or a clone of it such as FREECG98.bmp. \n\nHowever here's an interesting tidbit about the font ROM. While unknown to many except heavy Wikipedia posters and PC-98 enthusiasts, Epson actually cloned the PC-98 line and after a lawsuit over the original models that used a ROM that was too close to NEC's (and likely were never sold), Epson brought to the market a PC-98 compatible called the PC-286 with a clone of the PC-98 ROMs. Epson would then make these machines until 1995, when they decided to only make PC Compatibles from then on. \n\nDue to the inevitable copyright issues with using the same ROM font that NEC did, Epson also created a different font ROM, giving PC-98 software run on Epson machines a different look. \n\nEmulators really don't care what FONT.ROM file you use since a font is a font after all, which means that with NP21w or DOSBOX-X you can plug in any font rom or bmp you want and it will render text with that. Epson's font ROM is lesser known, due to the fact that the APC III and most extracted PC-98 font TTF files are based on the NEC ROM and not the Epson ROM. \n\nHow much different is the font ROM? Well there's subtle differences, but the first screenshot is using the NEC ROM and the second is using Epson's ROM. \n\nSome PC-98 enthusiasts prefer Epson's font ROM due to the unique look it has, and many letters are clearly distinct from NEC's implementation.\nhttps://makai.chaotic.ninja/files/a0f61053-36ec-4a0d-93f0-87ecef38b48c\nhttps://makai.chaotic.ninja/files/41f0c977-d0ec-40cf-85f5-642c47e65a15\n",
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