The process for coding characters and associated display attributes in a video system consists in: coding a first cue of character type in a first word; coding a second cue of display attribute type, a so-called parallel attribute, defining the color or aspect associated with a character, in a second word, comprising at least one selection bit whose value indicates whether the parallel display attribute transmitted is a color attribute or a shape attribute; storing the value of the said parallel display attribute; using, for display of the current character, the color attribute, respectively the shape attribute, transmitted at the same time as the current character, or by default, the color attribute, respectively the shape attribute, stored during transmission of a previous character.