diff --git a/js/term_screen.js b/js/term_screen.js
index 4ab3efb..891ea1b 100644
--- a/js/term_screen.js
+++ b/js/term_screen.js
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ const EventEmitter = require('events')
 const $ = require('./lib/chibi')
 const { mk, qs, parse2B, parse3B } = require('./utils')
 const notify = require('./notif')
+const { themes, buildColorTable } = require('./themes')
 
 // constants for decoding the update blob
 const SEQ_REPEAT = 2
@@ -26,54 +27,9 @@ module.exports = class TermScreen extends EventEmitter {
       'Z': '\u2128'
     }
 
-    this.themes = [
-      [ // Tango
-        '#111213', '#CC0000', '#4E9A06', '#C4A000', '#3465A4', '#75507B', '#06989A', '#D3D7CF',
-        '#555753', '#EF2929', '#8AE234', '#FCE94F', '#729FCF', '#AD7FA8', '#34E2E2', '#EEEEEC'
-      ],
-      [ // Linux
-        '#000000', '#aa0000', '#00aa00', '#aa5500', '#0000aa', '#aa00aa', '#00aaaa', '#aaaaaa',
-        '#555555', '#ff5555', '#55ff55', '#ffff55', '#5555ff', '#ff55ff', '#55ffff', '#ffffff'
-      ],
-      [ // xterm
-        '#000000', '#cd0000', '#00cd00', '#cdcd00', '#0000ee', '#cd00cd', '#00cdcd', '#e5e5e5',
-        '#7f7f7f', '#ff0000', '#00ff00', '#ffff00', '#5c5cff', '#ff00ff', '#00ffff', '#ffffff'
-      ],
-      [ // rxvt
-        '#000000', '#cd0000', '#00cd00', '#cdcd00', '#0000cd', '#cd00cd', '#00cdcd', '#faebd7',
-        '#404040', '#ff0000', '#00ff00', '#ffff00', '#0000ff', '#ff00ff', '#00ffff', '#ffffff'
-      ],
-      [ // Ambience
-        '#2e3436', '#cc0000', '#4e9a06', '#c4a000', '#3465a4', '#75507b', '#06989a', '#d3d7cf',
-        '#555753', '#ef2929', '#8ae234', '#fce94f', '#729fcf', '#ad7fa8', '#34e2e2', '#eeeeec'
-      ],
-      [ // Solarized
-        '#073642', '#dc322f', '#859900', '#b58900', '#268bd2', '#d33682', '#2aa198', '#eee8d5',
-        '#002b36', '#cb4b16', '#586e75', '#657b83', '#839496', '#6c71c4', '#93a1a1', '#fdf6e3'
-      ]
-    ]
-
     // 256color lookup table
     // should not be used to look up 0-15 (will return transparent)
-    this.colorTable256 = new Array(16).fill('rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)')
-
-    // fill color table
-    // colors 16-231 are a 6x6x6 color cube
-    for (let red = 0; red < 6; red++) {
-      for (let green = 0; green < 6; green++) {
-        for (let blue = 0; blue < 6; blue++) {
-          let redValue = red * 40 + (red ? 55 : 0)
-          let greenValue = green * 40 + (green ? 55 : 0)
-          let blueValue = blue * 40 + (blue ? 55 : 0)
-          this.colorTable256.push(`rgb(${redValue}, ${greenValue}, ${blueValue})`)
-        }
-      }
-    }
-    // colors 232-255 are a grayscale ramp, sans black and white
-    for (let gray = 0; gray < 24; gray++) {
-      let value = gray * 10 + 8
-      this.colorTable256.push(`rgb(${value}, ${value}, ${value})`)
-    }
+    this.colorTable256 = buildColorTable()
 
     this._debug = null
 
@@ -356,7 +312,7 @@ module.exports = class TermScreen extends EventEmitter {
    * @type {number[]}
    */
   get palette () {
-    return this._palette || this.themes[0]
+    return this._palette || themes[0]
   }
   /** @type {number[]} */
   set palette (palette) {
@@ -1425,8 +1381,8 @@ module.exports = class TermScreen extends EventEmitter {
    */
   load (str, theme = -1) {
     const content = str.substr(1)
-    if (theme >= 0 && theme < this.themes.length) {
-      this.palette = this.themes[theme]
+    if (theme >= 0 && theme < themes.length) {
+      this.palette = themes[theme]
     }
 
     switch (str[0]) {
diff --git a/js/themes.js b/js/themes.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d54a81e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/js/themes.js
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+
+exports.themes = [
+  [ // Tango
+    '#111213', '#CC0000', '#4E9A06', '#C4A000', '#3465A4', '#75507B', '#06989A', '#D3D7CF',
+    '#555753', '#EF2929', '#8AE234', '#FCE94F', '#729FCF', '#AD7FA8', '#34E2E2', '#EEEEEC'
+  ],
+  [ // Linux
+    '#000000', '#aa0000', '#00aa00', '#aa5500', '#0000aa', '#aa00aa', '#00aaaa', '#aaaaaa',
+    '#555555', '#ff5555', '#55ff55', '#ffff55', '#5555ff', '#ff55ff', '#55ffff', '#ffffff'
+  ],
+  [ // xterm
+    '#000000', '#cd0000', '#00cd00', '#cdcd00', '#0000ee', '#cd00cd', '#00cdcd', '#e5e5e5',
+    '#7f7f7f', '#ff0000', '#00ff00', '#ffff00', '#5c5cff', '#ff00ff', '#00ffff', '#ffffff'
+  ],
+  [ // rxvt
+    '#000000', '#cd0000', '#00cd00', '#cdcd00', '#0000cd', '#cd00cd', '#00cdcd', '#faebd7',
+    '#404040', '#ff0000', '#00ff00', '#ffff00', '#0000ff', '#ff00ff', '#00ffff', '#ffffff'
+  ],
+  [ // Ambience
+    '#2e3436', '#cc0000', '#4e9a06', '#c4a000', '#3465a4', '#75507b', '#06989a', '#d3d7cf',
+    '#555753', '#ef2929', '#8ae234', '#fce94f', '#729fcf', '#ad7fa8', '#34e2e2', '#eeeeec'
+  ],
+  [ // Solarized
+    '#073642', '#dc322f', '#859900', '#b58900', '#268bd2', '#d33682', '#2aa198', '#eee8d5',
+    '#002b36', '#cb4b16', '#586e75', '#657b83', '#839496', '#6c71c4', '#93a1a1', '#fdf6e3'
+  ]
+]
+
+let colorTable256 = null
+
+exports.buildColorTable = function () {
+  if (colorTable256 !== null) return colorTable256
+
+  // 256color lookup table
+  // should not be used to look up 0-15 (will return transparent)
+  colorTable256 = new Array(16).fill('rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)')
+
+  // fill color table
+  // colors 16-231 are a 6x6x6 color cube
+  for (let red = 0; red < 6; red++) {
+    for (let green = 0; green < 6; green++) {
+      for (let blue = 0; blue < 6; blue++) {
+        let redValue = red * 40 + (red ? 55 : 0)
+        let greenValue = green * 40 + (green ? 55 : 0)
+        let blueValue = blue * 40 + (blue ? 55 : 0)
+        colorTable256.push(`rgb(${redValue}, ${greenValue}, ${blueValue})`)
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  // colors 232-255 are a grayscale ramp, sans black and white
+  for (let gray = 0; gray < 24; gray++) {
+    let value = gray * 10 + 8
+    colorTable256.push(`rgb(${value}, ${value}, ${value})`)
+  }
+
+  return colorTable256
+}
diff --git a/js/utils.js b/js/utils.js
index 8c7a3a4..9a9e973 100755
--- a/js/utils.js
+++ b/js/utils.js
@@ -31,16 +31,6 @@ exports.bool = function bool (x) {
   return (x === 1 || x === '1' || x === true || x === 'true')
 }
 
-/** Safe json parse */
-exports.jsp = function jsp (str) {
-  try {
-    return JSON.parse(str)
-  } catch (e) {
-    console.error(e)
-    return null
-  }
-}
-
 /** Decode number from 2B encoding */
 exports.parse2B = function parse2B (s, i = 0) {
   return (s.charCodeAt(i++) - 1) + (s.charCodeAt(i) - 1) * 127