[Simh] Simulating a GT40

[Timothe Litt]

On 03-Sep-18 13:37, Al Kossow wrote:
>
> On 9/3/18 10:29 AM, Timothe Litt wrote:
>
>> For most purposes, the GT40 was superseded by devices like the VT105 (VT100 + b/w graphics), VT125, GiGi, & VT240.  But
>> those are all raster scan devices - which can't match the quality of a vector display.  And none of them had a lightpen.
> In the vector world, the replacement was the (really expensive) VS-60, made by Sanders.
> That competed with Vector General, E&S, and Megatek
>
> There was also the weirdo VSV-11, a low-res raster display that talked VT-11 opcodes.
>
>
Once our CAD group moved off the -10s, the next step was Sun
workstations for schematic capture (VALID).

I think VLS (the in-house VAX Layout System) used Megatek displays.

The VS8000 (I acquired one surplus - internally) incorporated graphics
from Evans & Sutherland.  It was some sort of joint venture.  Besides
the 3D graphics pipeline, it had a marvelous peripheral - a keyboard
length & 2x KB high panel with, IIRC, 8 knobs each slightly smaller than
the hockey puck mouse.  One used them for 3-D pan, zoom & rotate.  (Yes,
it has a mouse, too).  It was really impressive. 

Unfortunately, I had no interest in the graphics capabilities, so I
removed the display hardware to make room for a bunch of disks - it
became a disk server for my LAVC.  And, since it uses an 8250, I could
add a processor (or two?) to make it a SMP VAX for one of my group's
projects.  And the only SMP VAX that could run in an an office (cube)
environment.  (I doubt that was a supported configuration.)

Sanders was a -10 customer of mine in the early 80s, but while I knew
about their graphics displays, I wasn't involved with that LOB.


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