3 ms·

Mind that IBM 5150 had still a TV output (as well as a cassette port and BASIC in ROM), much like the home computers of the time.

rbanffy 5y ago
Still, they could use something derived from the 3270’s more elegant font… IIRC, you could use dip switches to select different character ROMs. My CGA had a horrible font with single pixel wide stems.
- GekkePrutser 5y ago
  I think all CGAs did have that font by default because CGA just had just poor resolution that they didn't have space for better characters. Most CGA adapters switched to MDA or Hercules mode when displaying text, which offered much better rendering. But if you needed to mix graphics and text this didn't work. So you got stuck with the piss-poor 320x200. And the two hideous colour palettes. I never understood how anyone could design that and think it was a good idea or something.
  - rbanffy 5y ago
    This is how EGA and VGA behave. CGA can’t change the vertical resolution.
- masswerk 5y ago
  The PC (5150) wasn't a "real" IBM design, but was developed externally. Even more so, IBM was quite cautious to not put their more valuable assets on risk by this "small" office machine (a strategy, which eventually came to nothing with the advent of the i386 generation). So there wasn't much "trickle-down" and the 3270 stuff was still dedicated to "genuine" IBM assets. You couldn't even run a 3270 terminal emulation. This required an expensive extra card or later a special XT model. – Just consider this: the 5150 was actually some sort of plan B, where plan A would have been to acquire Atari and sell (a possible somewhat improved version of) the Atari 800 as the IBM PC (there are photos of prototypes for the repackaged design by Bill Lowe [1]). Which may also shed some light on what the original specs for the 5150 may have looked like. [1] https://twitter.com/yesterbits/status/975119004531679232/photo/1 https://twitter.com/yesterbits/status/975119004531679232/pho...

rbanffy 5y ago

Still, they could use something derived from the 3270’s more elegant font… IIRC, you could use dip switches to select different character ROMs. My CGA had a horrible font with single pixel wide stems.

GekkePrutser 5y ago
I think all CGAs did have that font by default because CGA just had just poor resolution that they didn't have space for better characters. Most CGA adapters switched to MDA or Hercules mode when displaying text, which offered much better rendering. But if you needed to mix graphics and text this didn't work. So you got stuck with the piss-poor 320x200. And the two hideous colour palettes. I never understood how anyone could design that and think it was a good idea or something.
- rbanffy 5y ago
  This is how EGA and VGA behave. CGA can’t change the vertical resolution.
masswerk 5y ago
The PC (5150) wasn't a "real" IBM design, but was developed externally. Even more so, IBM was quite cautious to not put their more valuable assets on risk by this "small" office machine (a strategy, which eventually came to nothing with the advent of the i386 generation). So there wasn't much "trickle-down" and the 3270 stuff was still dedicated to "genuine" IBM assets. You couldn't even run a 3270 terminal emulation. This required an expensive extra card or later a special XT model. – Just consider this: the 5150 was actually some sort of plan B, where plan A would have been to acquire Atari and sell (a possible somewhat improved version of) the Atari 800 as the IBM PC (there are photos of prototypes for the repackaged design by Bill Lowe [1]). Which may also shed some light on what the original specs for the 5150 may have looked like. [1] https://twitter.com/yesterbits/status/975119004531679232/photo/1 https://twitter.com/yesterbits/status/975119004531679232/pho...