VGB20/VGB25 Video Terminal Programmer Information

This document, titled "VGB20/VGB25 Video Terminal Programmer Information" (Order Number: EK-VGB20-RM. A01), is a comprehensive guide published by Digital Equipment Corporation in July 1994. It is intended for advanced users, consultants, programmers, software product support personnel, and hardware systems engineers.

The manual provides detailed information on the operation, configuration, and programming of the VGB20 and VGB25 (color model) video terminals. Key features and capabilities covered include:

• Multi-session Support: The terminals can support up to four virtual sessions, capable of sharing a single communication port using the Terminal Device/Session Management Protocol (TD/SMP).
• Extensive Emulation Modes: Supports various terminal emulations, including ANSI (VT-series up to VT520/525), SCO Console, and a range of ASCII terminals (such as WYSE, Televideo, and ADDS).
• Flexible Keyboard Options: Offers a choice of VT or enhanced PC keyboard layouts, with reprogrammable keys, a user-defined key editor, and support for multiple keyboard languages and character composition.
• Diverse Character Set Support: Includes traditional Digital, ISO Latin, Cyrillic, Greek, Hebrew, Turkish, other Eastern European, and PC character sets, with capabilities for Dynamically Redefinable Character Sets (DRCS).
• Comprehensive Communication & Printer Features: Equipped with three bidirectional serial communication ports and a Centronics parallel printer port, supporting various baud rates (300 to 115.2K baud) and expanded flow control options (XON/XOFF, DTR/DSR).
• Desktop Productivity Tools: Features built-in utilities like a calculator, clock, character set display, review of previous lines, and copy/paste functionality.
• Enhanced Set-Up: Provides a menu-based configuration system that is host-controllable and available in multiple languages (English, French, German, Italian, Spanish).
• Ergonomics: Designed with features like a flat-face, antiglare CRT, 72 Hz refresh rate, and full overscan.
• Field-Upgradable Firmware: Allows for firmware updates via ROM cartridge.

The document is structured into three main parts:

• Part I (VGB20 Video Terminal): Covers an overview of the terminal, its setup procedures, and desktop features.
• Part II (VGB20 ANSI Mode): Details ANSI control functions, character sets, keyboard processing, communications, and printer port functionalities.
• Part III (VGB20 ASCII Emulation): Explains ASCII emulations, escape sequences, and defining/loading ASCII character fonts. Appendices provide supplementary information such as keyboard legend data, ASCII keycodes, Termcap data, and an ANSI control function index.