22 Jan
2012
22 Jan
'12
2:27 p.m.
ADM-3A was for a long time the lowest common denominator in the terminal world. The VT-100
came later but became the next lowest common denominator. (Ignoring the VT52 in between.)
VT640 is a VT100 with a third-party (Retrographics) graphics board fitted into it. They
were the cat's meow for plotting and graphics if you didn't have a real Tek 4010
on your desk. I am guessing that there are additional graphics features the Synclavier
could use on a VT640 but that's just a guess.
ADM3A and/or VT100 emulation are pretty much expected on any terminal you would've
bought in the late 70's onwards. And most all terminal emulation software for PC's
claims to do them too (with different degrees of fidelity; MS-DOS Kermit really remains
one of the best, with most windows terminal emulation packages choosing to emulate other
terminal emulation packages rather than the real terminal!)