13 Facts About Computer terminals

Computer terminals terminal is an electronic or electromechanical hardware device that can be used for entering data into, and transcribing data from, a computer or a computing system.

Early Computer terminals were inexpensive devices but very slow compared to punched cards or paper tape for input, yet as the technology improved and video displays were introduced, Computer terminals pushed these older forms of interaction from the industry.

Datapoint 3300 from Computer terminals Terminal Corporation, announced in 1967 and shipped in 1969, was a character-mode device that emulated a Model 33 Teletype.

Great majority of Computer terminals were monochrome, manufacturers variously offering green, white or amber and sometimes blue screen phosphors.

Some dumb terminals had been able to respond to a few escape sequences without needing microprocessors: they used multiple printed circuit boards with many integrated circuits; the single factor that classed a terminal as "intelligent" was its ability to process user-input within the terminal—not interrupting the main computer at each keystroke—and send a block of data at a time .

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Around the mid 1980s most intelligent terminals, costing less than most dumb terminals would have a few years earlier, could provide enough user-friendly local editing of data and send the completed form to the main computer.

The VT100, Heathkit H19 in ANSI mode, Televideo 970, Data General D460, and Qume QVT-108 Computer terminals all followed the ANSI standard, yet differences might exist in codes from function keys, what character attributes were available, block-sending of fields within forms, "foreign" character facilities, and handling of printers connected to the back of the screen.

Smart or intelligent Computer terminals are those that have the ability to process escape sequences, in particular the VT52, VT100 or ANSI escape sequences.

The electronic demands of refreshing display memory meant that graphic Computer terminals were developed much later than text Computer terminals, and initially cost much more.

Some block-mode Computer terminals have both an ? Enter and local cursor moving keys such as Return and New Line.

In contrast, IBM 3270 Computer terminals connected to MVS systems are always required to be in block mode.

Subsequent "smart" or "intelligent" Computer terminals incorporated microprocessors and supported more local processing.

Programmers of block-oriented Computer terminals often used the technique of storing context information for the transaction in progress on the screen, possibly in a hidden field, rather than depending on a running program to keep track of status.