--- konsole-4.7.2/src/Character.h
+++ konsole-4.7.2/src/Character.h
@@ -67,8 +67,9 @@
   inline Character(quint16 _c = ' ',
             CharacterColor  _f = CharacterColor(COLOR_SPACE_DEFAULT,DEFAULT_FORE_COLOR),
             CharacterColor  _b = CharacterColor(COLOR_SPACE_DEFAULT,DEFAULT_BACK_COLOR),
-            quint8  _r = DEFAULT_RENDITION)
-       : character(_c), rendition(_r), foregroundColor(_f), backgroundColor(_b) {}
+            quint8  _r = DEFAULT_RENDITION,
+	    bool _real = true)
+       : character(_c), rendition(_r), foregroundColor(_f), backgroundColor(_b), isRealCharacter(_real) {}
 
   union
   {
@@ -92,6 +93,17 @@
   /** The color used to draw this character's background. */
   CharacterColor  backgroundColor;
 
+  /** Indicate whether this character really exists, or exists simply as place holder.
+   *
+   *  TODO: this boolean filed can be further improved to become a enum filed, which
+   *  indicates different roles:
+   *
+   *    RealCharacter: a character which really exists
+   *    PlaceHolderCharacter: a character which exists as place holder
+   *    TabStopCharacter: a special place holder for HT('\t')
+   */
+  bool isRealCharacter;
+
   /** 
    * Returns true if this character has a transparent background when
    * it is drawn with the specified @p palette.
--- konsole-4.7.2/src/Screen.cpp
+++ konsole-4.7.2/src/Screen.cpp
@@ -65,7 +65,8 @@
 Character Screen::defaultChar = Character(' ',
         CharacterColor(COLOR_SPACE_DEFAULT,DEFAULT_FORE_COLOR),
         CharacterColor(COLOR_SPACE_DEFAULT,DEFAULT_BACK_COLOR),
-        DEFAULT_RENDITION);
+        DEFAULT_RENDITION,
+        false);
 
 //#define REVERSE_WRAPPED_LINES  // for wrapped line debug
 
@@ -663,6 +664,7 @@
     currentChar.foregroundColor = effectiveForeground;
     currentChar.backgroundColor = effectiveBackground;
     currentChar.rendition = effectiveRendition;
+    currentChar.isRealCharacter = true;
 
     int i = 0;
     int newCursorX = cuX + w--;
@@ -678,6 +680,7 @@
         ch.foregroundColor = effectiveForeground;
         ch.backgroundColor = effectiveBackground;
         ch.rendition = effectiveRendition;
+        ch.isRealCharacter = false;
 
         w--;
     }
@@ -813,7 +816,7 @@
     int topLine = loca/columns;
     int bottomLine = loce/columns;
 
-    Character clearCh(c,currentForeground,currentBackground,DEFAULT_RENDITION);
+    Character clearCh(c,currentForeground,currentBackground,DEFAULT_RENDITION,false);
 
     //if the character being used to clear the area is the same as the
     //default character, the affected lines can simply be shrunk.
--- konsole-4.7.2/src/TerminalCharacterDecoder.cpp
+++ konsole-4.7.2/src/TerminalCharacterDecoder.cpp
@@ -102,8 +102,15 @@
     
     for (int i=0;i<outputCount;)
     {
-        plainText.append( QChar(characters[i].character) );
-        i += qMax(1,konsole_wcwidth(characters[i].character));
+        if ( characters[i].isRealCharacter )
+        {
+    	    plainText.append( QChar(characters[i].character) );
+    	    i += qMax(1,konsole_wcwidth(characters[i].character));
+    	}
+    	else
+    	{
+    	    ++i;  // or, shoulw we 'break' directly here?
+    	}
     }
     *_output << plainText;
 }