A Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W replaces the CGA font ROM to stream 1bpp video at 60fps over Wi-Fi, including Bad Apple at 25fps.
Key Takeaways
The Pico 2 intercepts font ROM /CE reads to drive a 912x262 1bpp framebuffer synced to CGA VSYNC, no card modification required.
RLE compression cuts per-frame UDP payload from ~30KB to ~7.5KB average, keeping Bad Apple streaming under practical Wi-Fi limits.
ROM passthrough uses the Pico’s PIO pindirs and internal pull-ups to OR framebuffer data over live text mode, enabling graphics overlay impossible on stock CGA.
The MC6845 CURSOR pin lets the Pico track text cursor position, enabling a sprite-following cat animation (AlleyCat homage) with idle and chase states.
A light pen strobe can substitute for cursor tracking, and reading address lines would let the device act as a driver-independent screen reader.
