20 Oct
2019
20 Oct
'19
12:09 p.m.
On 2019-Oct-20, at 9:14 AM, Nigel Johnson via cctalk wrote:
On 20/10/2019 06:43, Peter Corlett via cctalk wrote:
> On Sat, Oct 19, 2019 at 02:23:46PM -0400, Nigel Johnson via cctalk wrote:
>> Judging by the year, it was probably a teletext terminal. [...]
> It's not Teletext, unless that word means something different on the other side
> of the Pond. Teletext was basically a text system (the hint's in the name) with
> graphics (and indeed colour) being a weird hack that gave it a particular
> appearance, especially in typical implementations which used the SAA5050
> character generator chip.
>
> The palette and colour fringing suggest Apple II to me.
It was called teletext despite the implications, at
least here in Canada. People just couldn't get their tongue around NAPLPS!
It looks just like the teletext systems I worked on, maybe ours was better than yours?
For elucidation, here's an example of a Canadian Telidon terminal with display
examples:
http://madrona.ca/e/telidon/index.html
(The processor is indeed a 6809, as Diane was mentioning.)
Graphics was very much a part of the Telidon/NAPLPS protocol.
(Note: Colour capabilities may differ between terminals, the protocol was such as to
permit a range of compatible implementations.)
While the store directory terminal of the OP 'could' have been a Telidon/NAPLPS
terminal, I'd be placing my bets more on the Apple-II (or similar) as others
mentioned. Strikes me more as a standalone unit. I think using a
videotex/teletext/Telidon/NAPLPS terminal would have been awkward and the economics poor,
there'd either have to be a rented comm line to a remote server, an additional local
server, or storage hacked onto the terminal.
The touch-screen is another issue, while it could have been supported in a proprietary
manner I'm not aware of explicit support for touch-screens in the protocol.
I believe the NAPLPS designation (designation as an industry standard) came rather late in
the game, an attempt to gain some recognition for a dying project. As "Telidon",
it had begun years earlier.