diff --git a/include/ui/hexedit.h b/include/ui/hexedit.h
index 4845568e..57a24dde 100644
--- a/include/ui/hexedit.h
+++ b/include/ui/hexedit.h
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 #include <QMouseEvent>
 #include <QStaticText>
 #include <QStringList>
+#include <QTextCodec>
 
 #include "ui/createchunkdialog.h"
 #include "ui/fileblobmodel.h"
@@ -39,6 +40,12 @@ namespace ui {
 class HexEdit : public QAbstractScrollArea {
   Q_OBJECT
  public:
+  enum class UnprintablesMode {
+    // do not change the order as settings may invalidate.
+    Dots,
+    Windows1250,
+  };
+
   explicit HexEdit(FileBlobModel* dataModel,
                    QItemSelectionModel* selectionModel = nullptr,
                    QWidget* parent = nullptr);
@@ -63,6 +70,8 @@ class HexEdit : public QAbstractScrollArea {
     in_insert_mode_ = in_insert_mode;
   }
   void saveToFile(const QString& file_name);
+  static QString unprintablesModeToString(UnprintablesMode mode);
+  void setUnprintablesMode(UnprintablesMode mode);
 
  public slots:
   void newBinData();
@@ -177,6 +186,9 @@ class HexEdit : public QAbstractScrollArea {
   QScopedPointer<util::encoders::TextEncoder> textEncoder_;
   util::EditEngine edit_engine_;
 
+  UnprintablesMode unprintables_mode_;
+  QTextCodec* windows1250_codec_;
+
   void recalculateValues();
   void initParseMenu();
   void adjustBytesPerRowToWindowSize();
@@ -188,7 +200,10 @@ class HexEdit : public QAbstractScrollArea {
   WindowArea pointToWindowArea(QPoint pos);
   QString addressAsText(qint64 pos);
   QString hexRepresentationFromByte(uint64_t byte_val);
-  static QString asciiRepresentationFromByte(uint64_t byte_val);
+
+  QString asciiRepresentationFromByte(uint64_t byte_val);
+  void updateAsciiCache();
+  void updateHexCache();
 
   static QColor byteTextColorFromByteValue(uint64_t byte_val);
   QColor byteBackroundColorFromPos(qint64 pos, bool modified);
diff --git a/include/ui/hexeditwidget.h b/include/ui/hexeditwidget.h
index fc7a1b08..82602420 100644
--- a/include/ui/hexeditwidget.h
+++ b/include/ui/hexeditwidget.h
@@ -92,6 +92,7 @@ class HexEditWidget : public View {
   void createActions();
   void createToolBars();
   void initParsersMenu();
+  void initUnprintablesMenu();
   void createSelectionInfo();
 
   MainWindowWithDetachableDockWidgets* main_window_;
@@ -127,6 +128,7 @@ class HexEditWidget : public View {
 
   QStringList parsers_ids_;
   QMenu parsers_menu_;
+  QMenu unprintables_menu_;
   QLabel* selection_label_;
 };
 
diff --git a/include/util/misc.h b/include/util/misc.h
index 72455d62..60c84a26 100644
--- a/include/util/misc.h
+++ b/include/util/misc.h
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ inline size_t array_size(T (&/*arr*/)[SIZE]) {
   return SIZE;
 }
 
+char ucharToChar(unsigned char value);
+
 }  // namespace misc
 }  // namespace util
 }  // namespace veles
diff --git a/include/util/settings/hexedit.h b/include/util/settings/hexedit.h
index 54f48c81..1c7181e0 100644
--- a/include/util/settings/hexedit.h
+++ b/include/util/settings/hexedit.h
@@ -16,6 +16,10 @@
  */
 #pragma once
 
+#include <QString>
+
+#include "ui/hexedit.h"
+
 namespace veles {
 namespace util {
 namespace settings {
@@ -25,6 +29,8 @@ int columnsNumber();
 void setColumnsNumber(int number);
 bool resizeColumnsToWindowWidth();
 void setResizeColumnsToWindowWidth(bool on);
+veles::ui::HexEdit::UnprintablesMode unprintablesMode();
+void setUnprintablesMode(veles::ui::HexEdit::UnprintablesMode mode);
 
 }  // namespace hexedit
 }  // namespace settings
diff --git a/src/ui/hexedit.cc b/src/ui/hexedit.cc
index a9e3a5ca..4b0ca3fb 100644
--- a/src/ui/hexedit.cc
+++ b/src/ui/hexedit.cc
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 #include "util/encoders/factory.h"
 #include "util/misc.h"
 #include "util/random.h"
+#include "util/settings/hexedit.h"
 #include "util/settings/theme.h"
 
 using veles::util::misc::array_size;
@@ -127,7 +128,9 @@ HexEdit::HexEdit(FileBlobModel* dataModel, QItemSelectionModel* selectionModel,
       cursor_pos_in_byte_(0),
       cursor_visible_(false),
       in_insert_mode_(false),
-      edit_engine_(dataModel_) {
+      edit_engine_(dataModel_),
+      windows1250_codec_(QTextCodec::codecForName("windows-1250")) {
+  // TODO(mkow) Log warning if codec is unavailable (== nullptr)
   auto font = util::settings::theme::font();
   setFont(font);
 
@@ -142,16 +145,9 @@ HexEdit::HexEdit(FileBlobModel* dataModel, QItemSelectionModel* selectionModel,
   recalculateValues();
 
   // Initialize hex & ASCII text cache.
-  for (size_t i = 0; i < array_size(hex_text_cache_); i++) {
-    hex_text_cache_[i].setPerformanceHint(QStaticText::ModerateCaching);
-    hex_text_cache_[i].setText(hexRepresentationFromByte(i));
-    hex_text_cache_[i].setTextFormat(Qt::PlainText);
-  }
-  for (size_t i = 0; i < array_size(ascii_text_cache_); i++) {
-    ascii_text_cache_[i].setPerformanceHint(QStaticText::ModerateCaching);
-    ascii_text_cache_[i].setText(asciiRepresentationFromByte(i));
-    ascii_text_cache_[i].setTextFormat(Qt::PlainText);
-  }
+  unprintables_mode_ = util::settings::hexedit::unprintablesMode();
+  updateAsciiCache();
+  updateHexCache();
 
   connect(verticalScrollBar(), &QAbstractSlider::valueChanged, this,
           &HexEdit::recalculateValues);
@@ -602,6 +598,27 @@ void HexEdit::saveToFile(const QString& file_name) {
   saveDataToFile(0, edit_engine_.dataSize(), file_name);
 }
 
+QString HexEdit::unprintablesModeToString(UnprintablesMode mode) {
+  switch (mode) {
+    case UnprintablesMode::Windows1250:
+      return "Windows-1250";
+    case UnprintablesMode::Dots:
+    default:
+      return "Dots";
+  }
+}
+
+void HexEdit::setUnprintablesMode(UnprintablesMode mode) {
+  if (mode == UnprintablesMode::Windows1250 && windows1250_codec_ == nullptr) {
+    QMessageBox::warning(this, "Error", "Windows-1250 encoding is unavailable.",
+                         QMessageBox::Ok);
+    return;
+  }
+  unprintables_mode_ = mode;
+  updateAsciiCache();
+  viewport()->update();
+}
+
 void HexEdit::discardChanges() {
   edit_engine_.clear();
   recalculateValues();
@@ -643,10 +660,56 @@ QString HexEdit::addressAsText(qint64 pos) {
 }
 
 QString HexEdit::asciiRepresentationFromByte(uint64_t byte_val) {
-  if (byte_val >= 0x20 && byte_val < 0x7f) {
-    return QChar::fromLatin1(byte_val);
+  if (byte_val > 0xff) {
+    return ".";
+  }
+  if (windows1250_codec_ != nullptr &&
+      unprintables_mode_ == UnprintablesMode::Windows1250) {
+    bool is_undefined_windows1250 = byte_val == 0x81 || byte_val == 0x83 ||
+                                    byte_val == 0x88 || byte_val == 0x90 ||
+                                    byte_val == 0x98;
+
+    if (is_undefined_windows1250) {
+      return " ";
+    }
+
+    char a = veles::util::misc::ucharToChar(byte_val);
+    QChar unicode_repr = windows1250_codec_->toUnicode(&a, 1).at(0);
+
+    // 0x7f decodes to DEL in CP1250 which is unprintable
+    if (unicode_repr.isSpace() || unicode_repr.isNull() || byte_val == 0x7f) {
+      return " ";
+    }
+
+    // printable ASCII chars
+    if (byte_val >= 0x20 && byte_val < 0x7f) {
+      return QChar::fromLatin1(byte_val);
+    }
+
+    // unprintable ASCII chars
+    return byte_val > 0x7f ? windows1250_codec_->toUnicode(&a, 1)
+                           : QChar(static_cast<uint>(byte_val) +
+                                   0x180);  // greek for < 0x20
+  }
+  // dots mode
+  return (byte_val >= 0x20 && byte_val < 0x7f) ? QChar::fromLatin1(byte_val)
+                                               : QString(".");
+}
+
+void HexEdit::updateAsciiCache() {
+  for (size_t i = 0; i < array_size(ascii_text_cache_); i++) {
+    ascii_text_cache_[i].setPerformanceHint(QStaticText::ModerateCaching);
+    ascii_text_cache_[i].setText(asciiRepresentationFromByte(i));
+    ascii_text_cache_[i].setTextFormat(Qt::PlainText);
+  }
+}
+
+void HexEdit::updateHexCache() {
+  for (size_t i = 0; i < array_size(hex_text_cache_); i++) {
+    hex_text_cache_[i].setPerformanceHint(QStaticText::ModerateCaching);
+    hex_text_cache_[i].setText(hexRepresentationFromByte(i));
+    hex_text_cache_[i].setTextFormat(Qt::PlainText);
   }
-  return ".";
 }
 
 QColor HexEdit::byteTextColorFromByteValue(uint64_t byte_val) {
diff --git a/src/ui/hexeditwidget.cc b/src/ui/hexeditwidget.cc
index c6b1f001..ad281ef5 100644
--- a/src/ui/hexeditwidget.cc
+++ b/src/ui/hexeditwidget.cc
@@ -84,6 +84,9 @@ HexEditWidget::HexEditWidget(
   setParserIds(dynamic_cast<VelesMainWindow*>(
                    MainWindowWithDetachableDockWidgets::getFirstMainWindow())
                    ->parsersList());
+
+  initUnprintablesMenu();
+
   selectionChanged(0, 0);
 }
 
@@ -282,6 +285,18 @@ void HexEditWidget::createToolBars() {
   addToolBar(edit_tool_bar_);
 
   view_tool_bar_ = new QToolBar(tr("View"));
+
+  auto unprintables_tool_button = new QToolButton();
+  unprintables_tool_button->setMenu(&unprintables_menu_);
+  unprintables_tool_button->setPopupMode(QToolButton::InstantPopup);
+  unprintables_tool_button->setIcon(QIcon(":/images/brightness.png"));
+  unprintables_tool_button->setText(tr("&Unprintables"));
+  unprintables_tool_button->setToolTip(tr("Appearance of unprintable bytes"));
+  unprintables_tool_button->setAutoRaise(true);
+  auto unprintables_widget_action = new QWidgetAction(view_tool_bar_);
+  unprintables_widget_action->setDefaultWidget(unprintables_tool_button);
+
+  view_tool_bar_->addAction(unprintables_widget_action);
   view_tool_bar_->addAction(remove_column_act_);
   view_tool_bar_->addAction(add_column_act_);
   view_tool_bar_->addSeparator();
@@ -302,6 +317,21 @@ void HexEditWidget::initParsersMenu() {
   }
 }
 
+void HexEditWidget::initUnprintablesMenu() {
+  unprintables_menu_.clear();
+
+  HexEdit::UnprintablesMode modes[] = {HexEdit::UnprintablesMode::Dots,
+                                       HexEdit::UnprintablesMode::Windows1250};
+
+  for (auto mode : modes) {
+    QAction* action = new QAction(hex_edit_->unprintablesModeToString(mode),
+                                  &unprintables_menu_);
+    connect(action, &QAction::triggered,
+            [this, mode]() { this->hex_edit_->setUnprintablesMode(mode); });
+    unprintables_menu_.addAction(action);
+  }
+}
+
 void HexEditWidget::createSelectionInfo() {
   auto* widget_action = new QWidgetAction(this);
   auto* selection_panel = new QWidget;
diff --git a/src/ui/optionsdialog.cc b/src/ui/optionsdialog.cc
index 4a8f6b73..1c736334 100644
--- a/src/ui/optionsdialog.cc
+++ b/src/ui/optionsdialog.cc
@@ -14,10 +14,11 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  *
  */
-#include "ui/optionsdialog.h"
 
 #include <QMessageBox>
 
+#include "ui/hexedit.h"
+#include "ui/optionsdialog.h"
 #include "ui_optionsdialog.h"
 #include "util/settings/hexedit.h"
 #include "util/settings/theme.h"
@@ -48,6 +49,13 @@ void OptionsDialog::show() {
   ui->hexColumnsSpinBox->setValue(util::settings::hexedit::columnsNumber());
   ui->hexColumnsSpinBox->setEnabled(checkState != Qt::Checked);
 
+  ui->unprintablesModeDots->setChecked(
+      util::settings::hexedit::unprintablesMode() ==
+      veles::ui::HexEdit::UnprintablesMode::Dots);
+  ui->unprintablesModeWindows1250->setChecked(
+      util::settings::hexedit::unprintablesMode() ==
+      veles::ui::HexEdit::UnprintablesMode::Windows1250);
+
   QWidget::show();
 }
 
@@ -63,6 +71,15 @@ void OptionsDialog::accept() {
       ui->hexColumnsAutoCheckBox->checkState() == Qt::Checked);
   util::settings::hexedit::setColumnsNumber(ui->hexColumnsSpinBox->value());
 
+  if (ui->unprintablesModeDots->isChecked()) {
+    util::settings::hexedit::setUnprintablesMode(
+        veles::ui::HexEdit::UnprintablesMode::Dots);
+  }
+  if (ui->unprintablesModeWindows1250->isChecked()) {
+    util::settings::hexedit::setUnprintablesMode(
+        veles::ui::HexEdit::UnprintablesMode::Windows1250);
+  }
+
   if (restart_needed) {
     QMessageBox::about(
         this, tr("Options change"),
diff --git a/src/ui/optionsdialog.ui b/src/ui/optionsdialog.ui
index c4d38321..a7106986 100644
--- a/src/ui/optionsdialog.ui
+++ b/src/ui/optionsdialog.ui
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@
    <rect>
     <x>0</x>
     <y>0</y>
-    <width>259</width>
-    <height>229</height>
+    <width>337</width>
+    <height>296</height>
    </rect>
   </property>
   <property name="windowTitle">
@@ -49,42 +49,73 @@
      <property name="title">
       <string>HexEdit defaults</string>
      </property>
-     <layout class="QVBoxLayout" name="verticalLayout_3">
-      <item>
-       <layout class="QHBoxLayout" name="horizontalLayout_2">
+     <layout class="QGridLayout" name="gridLayout">
+      <item row="1" column="1">
+       <layout class="QVBoxLayout" name="verticalLayout_3">
         <item>
-         <widget class="QLabel" name="hexColumnsLabel">
+         <widget class="QRadioButton" name="unprintablesModeWindows1250">
           <property name="text">
-           <string>Columns</string>
+           <string>Windows-1250</string>
           </property>
          </widget>
         </item>
+       </layout>
+      </item>
+      <item row="3" column="1">
+       <layout class="QVBoxLayout" name="verticalLayout_2">
         <item>
-         <layout class="QVBoxLayout" name="verticalLayout_2">
-          <item>
-           <widget class="QSpinBox" name="hexColumnsSpinBox">
-            <property name="minimum">
-             <number>1</number>
-            </property>
-            <property name="maximum">
-             <number>1024</number>
-            </property>
-            <property name="value">
-             <number>16</number>
-            </property>
-           </widget>
-          </item>
-          <item>
-           <widget class="QCheckBox" name="hexColumnsAutoCheckBox">
-            <property name="text">
-             <string>Resize to window width</string>
-            </property>
-           </widget>
-          </item>
-         </layout>
+         <widget class="QSpinBox" name="hexColumnsSpinBox">
+          <property name="minimum">
+           <number>1</number>
+          </property>
+          <property name="maximum">
+           <number>1024</number>
+          </property>
+          <property name="value">
+           <number>16</number>
+          </property>
+         </widget>
+        </item>
+        <item>
+         <widget class="QCheckBox" name="hexColumnsAutoCheckBox">
+          <property name="text">
+           <string>Resize to window width</string>
+          </property>
+         </widget>
         </item>
        </layout>
       </item>
+      <item row="3" column="0">
+       <widget class="QLabel" name="hexColumnsLabel">
+        <property name="text">
+         <string>Columns</string>
+        </property>
+       </widget>
+      </item>
+      <item row="2" column="0" colspan="2">
+       <widget class="Line" name="line">
+        <property name="orientation">
+         <enum>Qt::Horizontal</enum>
+        </property>
+       </widget>
+      </item>
+      <item row="0" column="1">
+       <widget class="QRadioButton" name="unprintablesModeDots">
+        <property name="text">
+         <string>Dots</string>
+        </property>
+       </widget>
+      </item>
+      <item row="0" column="0" rowspan="2">
+       <widget class="QLabel" name="label">
+        <property name="text">
+         <string>Unprintable characters</string>
+        </property>
+        <property name="wordWrap">
+         <bool>true</bool>
+        </property>
+       </widget>
+      </item>
      </layout>
     </widget>
    </item>
@@ -112,8 +143,8 @@
    <slot>reject()</slot>
    <hints>
     <hint type="sourcelabel">
-     <x>290</x>
-     <y>160</y>
+     <x>299</x>
+     <y>286</y>
     </hint>
     <hint type="destinationlabel">
      <x>286</x>
@@ -128,8 +159,8 @@
    <slot>accept()</slot>
    <hints>
     <hint type="sourcelabel">
-     <x>222</x>
-     <y>154</y>
+     <x>231</x>
+     <y>286</y>
     </hint>
     <hint type="destinationlabel">
      <x>157</x>
diff --git a/src/util/misc.cc b/src/util/misc.cc
index b72795e2..fd4d3288 100644
--- a/src/util/misc.cc
+++ b/src/util/misc.cc
@@ -14,10 +14,29 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  *
  */
+
+#include <cstdint>
+
 #include "util/misc.h"
 
 namespace veles {
 namespace util {
-namespace misc {}  // namespace misc
+namespace misc {
+
+/**
+ * This magic performs the only safe method
+ * of casting uchar to char according to the C++ standard.
+*/
+char ucharToChar(unsigned char value) {
+  if (value < 0x80) {
+    return static_cast<char>(value);
+  }
+
+  auto int_value = static_cast<int64_t>(value);
+  int_value -= 0x100;
+  return static_cast<char>(int_value);
+}
+
+}  // namespace misc
 }  // namespace util
 }  // namespace veles
diff --git a/src/util/settings/hexedit.cc b/src/util/settings/hexedit.cc
index 2d7a95fc..36826074 100644
--- a/src/util/settings/hexedit.cc
+++ b/src/util/settings/hexedit.cc
@@ -43,6 +43,20 @@ void setResizeColumnsToWindowWidth(bool on) {
   settings.setValue("hexedit.resizeColumnsToWindowWidth", on);
 }
 
+veles::ui::HexEdit::UnprintablesMode unprintablesMode() {
+  QSettings settings;
+
+  auto default_value =
+      static_cast<int>(veles::ui::HexEdit::UnprintablesMode::Dots);
+  return static_cast<veles::ui::HexEdit::UnprintablesMode>(
+      settings.value("hexedit.unprintablesMode", default_value).toInt());
+}
+
+void setUnprintablesMode(veles::ui::HexEdit::UnprintablesMode mode) {
+  QSettings settings;
+  settings.setValue("hexedit.unprintablesMode", static_cast<int>(mode));
+}
+
 }  // namespace hexedit
 }  // namespace settings
 }  // namespace util