ChuckT wrote:
The SECONS µVGA unit has more pixels but the ASCII Terminal is probably more flexible and cheaper letting the user do more of what he / she wants to do.
More pixels, at least in the case of the µVGA, doesn't translate into a better display. The widely used WYSE 60 terminal has a lower display resolution than that of the µVGA (the 60's design dates to the mid-1980s), but has as good an appearance.
The flexibility of Geoff Graham's design is what got my attention, especially since it's built from a pile of readily-available parts. Also, the VT-100 implementation looks to be more complete in most respects than µVGA's. As the source code for the PIC is available, one could add features, assuming the PIC has enough memory to hold the expanded code. For example, this design doesn't support multiple text colors—color has to be selected via jumpers on the PCB. I suppose one could modify the design to individually drive the color signals, complemented by extra code to support ANSI escape sequences for changing color.
I may consider building one of these after I get POC V2 up and running, as it seems to be a relatively easy thing to put together (it could be built on perf board). V2's console port can be jumper-set to be a true TIA-232 port or a TTL serial port. The latter setup was concocted to allow me to use my µVGA module as a console, along with a PC keyboard and VGA monitor. The TTL setup, with a minor modification, should work equally well with Graham's design.
Quote:
I think it is a spin off of the Maximite which has eight colors. It is the chip that can do this. I think anyone can reprogram it.
The core of the whole design is the code that Graham wrote to run in the PIC controller. He originally published it in the Maximite project.
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