VT100
The VT100 is a video terminal, introduced in August 1978 by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). It was one of the first terminals to support ANSI escape codes for cursor control and other tasks, and added a number of extended codes for special features like controlling the LED lamps on the keyboard. This led to rapid uptake of the ANSI standard, becoming the de facto standard for terminal emulators.
The VT100s, especially the VT102, was extremely successful in the market, and made DEC the leading terminal vendor for some time. The VT100 series was replaced by the VT200 series starting in 1983, which proved just as successful. Ultimately, over six million terminals in the VT series would be sold, based largely on the success of the VT100s.
Description
The VT100 was introduced in August 1978, replacing the VT50/VT52 family. Like the earlier models, it communicated with its host system over serial lines at a speed selectable between 50 and 19,200 bit/s. It used the ASCII character set and control sequences. Unlike the VT52's custom control sequences, the VT100 used sequences standardized by ANSI. The VT100 was also the first Digital mass-market terminal to incorporate "graphic renditions" (blinking, bolding, reverse video, and underlining) as well as 80 or 132 column displays. The VT100 also introduced an additional character set containing various bits of graphics that allowed the drawing of on-screen forms. All setup of the VT100 was accomplished using interactive displays presented on the screen; the setup data was stored in non-volatile memory within the terminal.