The Screen Display - AMSTRAD cpc 6128 User Instruction

The screen display
PEN
BORDER
PAPER
The 80 R D E R is the area surrounding the PAP ER. (Note that when the computer is
first switched on, the 80 R D E Rand PAP E R are both blue). The characters on the
screen can only appear inside the border. The PA PER is the background area behind
a character, while the PEN writes the character itself.
Now we will explain how the colours that you see on the screen are selected, and how
you can change these to your own choice.
When you first switch on, or reset the computer, the 80 R D E R is always set to colour
number 1. Look up number 1 on the master colour chart, and you will see that colour
number lislHue. The colour of the border can be changed by using tlie command:
80 R D E R followed by the colour number. To change the border to white, type in:
border 13
[RETURN]
So far, so good. Now for the tricky bit ....
When you first switch on, or reset the computer, PAP E R number 0, and PEN number
1 are always automatically selected. This does NOT mean that you look up numbers
o
and 1 on the master colour chart
a~d
away you go ....
The important thing to remember is that 0 and 1 are PAP E Rand PEN numbers;
they are NOT ink colour numbers. To understand this, imagine having 4 pens on your
desk numbered 0,1,2, and 3, and being able to fill each of these pens with any colour of
your choice out of27 bottles of ink, numbered 0 to 26. It can be seen therefore, that pen
number 1 is not necessarily always the same colour; as it can be filled with a different
ink, in fact you could fill each of the 4 pens with the same ink.
Foundation Course Chapter 1 Page 49