====================
flat_screen_news.txt
====================

Newsgroups: comp.sys.sun.hardware, comp.unix.solaris
NNTP-Posting-Host: soda.csua.berkeley.edu
NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2005 18:25:01 +0000 (UTC)
References: <dbqvsd$2tf$1@finch.mathcs.emory.edu>
Message-ID: <dbrdlt$4cc$1@agate.berkeley.edu>
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2005 18:25:01 +0000 (UTC)
From: Alan Coopersmith <alanc@alum.calberkeley.org>
Subject: Re: Dell 24" monitor on Sun?

Ken Mandelberg <km@mathcs.emory.edu> writes in comp.unix.solaris:
|
| Has anyone succeeded in running the Dell 24" monitor on Sparc/Solaris at 
| anything greater than 1280x1024 resolution? We have tried with XVR100, 
| XVR500, and XVR600 with no success. Seems to be some sort of sync issue.

I've seen it running at 1920x1200 (which isn't really surprising, since
I believe Dell and Sun buy the same LCD from Samsung to build the 24.1"
monitors), but it had been set up by someone else and I unfortunately
don't know the details.

-- 
________________________________________________________________________
Alan Coopersmith * alanc@alum.calberkeley.org * Alan.Coopersmith@Sun.COM
 http://www.csua.berkeley.edu/~alanc/   *   http://blogs.sun.com/alanc/
  Working for, but definitely not speaking for, Sun Microsystems, Inc.

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The following content mostly dates from the days before flat (non-CRT) screens
were widely deployed on desktop products.

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Newsgroups: comp.terminals,comp.sys.dec,comp.periphs,sci.engr.control,
            comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.video,comp.sys.mac.hardware.video
Subject: Re: info on getting DEC VT terminal working
             in highly magnetic environment.
Followup-To: comp.terminals,comp.periphs
Date: 16 Aug 1995 13:48:44 -0400
From: shuford@cs.utk.edu (Richard Shuford)
Organization: University of Tennessee, Knoxville--Dept. of Computer Science
Expires: 30 Sep 1995 22:11:00 GMT
Message-ID: <40tb1tINN94v@duncan.cs.utk.edu>
References: <40r104$nl6@ixnews7.ix.netcom.com>
            <40sq65$qmk@cronkite.ocis.temple.edu>
Summary: scrap the CRT; you need electroluminescent or plasma display
Keywords: magnetic, Planar, plasma, electroluminescent, CRT, terminal, DEC, IBM

In message <40r104$nl6@ixnews7.ix.netcom.com>,
  Steve Spurlock (spurlock@ix.netcom.com) wrote:
>
> I need information for a VT like terminal to be able handle being in a
> harsh magnetic environment that measures about 200 gauss.
> Would a liquid crystal display work?
>
> I am looking for a low cost solution.  any information on who makes a
> VT terminal to work in such an environment would be appreciated.
>
> We have tried insulating a normal DEC terminal and putting the terminal
> in different enclosures.  no matter what we try the screen gets highly
> distorted.


The fundamental problem with using a standard VT100 video terminal
(or for 1995 hardware, a VT510), is that the cathode-ray-tube display
inherently uses magnetic deflection to paint its raster image.  So
you've got to get rid of the CRT.

While it is possible that an LCD would give better results, I suggest
that you might be better off with one of the two specialized display
technologies long used in rugged environments:

 - plasma displays

 - electroluminescent displays

Plasma displays use high voltages strobed across gas-filled cells to
emit orange light.  These displays have appeared on some models of
laptop computers; I had a circa-1987 Toshiba 3200 that boasted
an orange EGA-compatible plasma display. The famous original Grid
Compass also had a plasma display.  The reason these fell out of use
in portable computers was that the plasma display requires a lot of
power--a fatal flaw in something you'd like to operate from batteries.

Here I started to say that you could use an old Toshiba plasma laptop
computer running MS-Kermit to emulate a VT100, but I suppose that the
high magnetic field would mess up the disk drives in the computer.

There have been various ruggedized plasma-display video terminals
marketed for the industrial-control and military sectors, but I don't
know any current vendor names offhand.  Back in 1983, IBM introduced a
plasma 3270-series terminal that could show 4 logical displays at once on
its 19-inch screen: the "3290 Information Panel".  However, your
application is probably not set up to interact with the necessary IBM
3274 Control Unit that would drive the 3290....

On the other hand, you could look into electroluminescent (EL) flat-panel
displays.  This is the only display technology available that is
completely solid-state.  EL technology, like plasma, uses high voltage
to cause the emission of light; the voltage is applied by row-and-column
circuitry to a special film between dielectric layers.

The major North American vendor in EL technology is

    Planar Systems Inc.
    1400 N.W. Compton Drive
    Beaverton, Oregon 97006 USA
    +1 503/690-6999

Planar's current product line includes not only the ergonomic yellow
monochrome EL panels, but now also a 9-color VGA-interoperable display.

Your e-mail contact for product information is

    Troy_Severson@planar.com

or you can view the colorful and informative web pages at

    http://www.planar.com/Welcome.html

           [alas, much good material has been removed from Planar's Web site]

If you care to dig into the technological history a bit, you could
look up this old magazine article on how plasma and EL displays stood
10 years ago.

    "Two Flat-Display Technologies" by R. S. Shuford.  BYTE, March
    1985, Vol 10, number 3, pages 130-134+.

If you obtained a Planar display panel, you could attach it to a DEC
VT525 color text terminal.  The Digital VT525 (or its cousin, the
Dorio 25) comes in the form of a "pizza box" (system box) and a PC-type
keyboard, which are usually used with a conventional VGA CRT.  For
marketing information on the VT525, contact Bjorn Waenerlund
<Waenerlund@mro.mts.dec.com>, or call 1-800-293-6746, or inspect

    http://www.digital.com/info/key-terminal-whats-new.html

   [update: now see http://www.boundless.com/ ]

Thank you for asking an interesting question, amid the clutter of
requests  :-(  for the VT100 control codes.

-- 
 ...Richard S. Shuford  | "Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many
 ...shuford@cs.utk.edu  |  advisers they succeed."  Proverbs 15:22 NIV

 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

[1990 update]

A complete electroluminescent-panel terminal, compatible with the DEC VT220,
was introduced in 1990 by 

    Finlux Inc.
    Suite 109-T
    20395 Pacifica Dr.
    Cupertino, CA  95014
    (old?) +1 408/725-1972

The Finlux ELT220 was designed with the monochrome (yellow) EL display
with 640 by 400 resolution, with a viewing angle of 160 degrees.  The
device weighs less than 3 pounds and includes a keyboard similar to the
DEC LK201.

In January 1991, Planar Systems merged with the Finlux Display
Electronics division of Lohja Corporation, based in Espoo, Finland.
The Espoo operation became Planar International Ltd., operating as a
wholly owned subsidiary of Planar Systems, Inc.

 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

A product that I have recent information about is the Deeco ST2200
SealTouch Terminal.

This ruggedized, flat-screen (electroluminescent-panel) terminal is
contained in a sealed, cast-aluminum case to achieve NEMA 4 and NEMA
12 ratings.  For text display, the ST2200 is compatible with the DEC
VT220 terminal.  A keyboard is not required, as the user can simulate
keystrokes by touching the display screen, although it is possible to
attach a keyboard if desired.

Other versions of the product include

 - ST3220 with graphics
 - ST3220 90 VAC to 265 VAC powered
 - ST3222 24 VAC powered
 - ST3225 5 VDC + 12 VDC powered
 - ST3420 front panel mount, sunlight readable



    Lucas Control Systems Products
    (Deeco Systems)
    31047 Genstar Road
    Hayward, CA  94544-7831
    voice: +1 510/471-4700
      fax: +1 510/489-3500

   [2002 update:

    Lucas Control Systems Products has become Computer Dynamics, part
    of GE Fanuc, and has moved to South Carolina. 

            Computer Dynamics
            7640 Pelham Road
            Greenville, SC 29615

    Voice: +1 864/627-8800
      Fax: +1 864/675-0106
      Web:  http://www.cdynamics.com/
    Email:  sales@cdynamics.com

    also see  http://www.micromax.com/industrial/cdi/cdi.htm

   ]

OR 

    Lucas Control Systems Products
    543 Ipswich Road
    Slough, Berkshire SL1 4EG
    United Kindom
    voice: +44 (0)753/537622
      fax: +44 (0)753/823563


 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Flat screens for use with a SPARC workstation are available from

    Integrix, Inc.
    2001 Corporate Center Drive
    Newbury Park, California 91320

    WATS Voice:  1-800/300-8288 
    POTS Voice: +1 805/376-1000
           Fax: +1 805/376-1001

    email:  <sales@integrix.com>
      Web:  http://www.integrix.com

Both active-matrix LCD and plasma screens are available.

 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

 ViewSonic sells a line of flat color-display panels.

 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
[April 1997]

 Here's a reseller with an IBM-and-Macintosh-compatible flat screen:

    http://ww.firstsol.com/cgi-bin/ssis/qume/m104.html

 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Newsgroups: comp.terminals,comp.sys.dec,comp.periphs,sci.engr.control,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.video,comp.sys.mac.hardware.video
Subject: Re: info on getting DEC VT terminal working in highly magnetic environment.
Summary: update on "two other ideas"
Expires: 20 Oct 1995 23:59:59 GMT
References: <40r104$nl6@ixnews7.ix.netcom.com> <40sq65$qmk@cronkite.ocis.temple.edu> <40tb1tINN94v@duncan.cs.utk.edu>
Sender: shuford@cs.utk.edu
Followup-To: comp.terminals,comp.periphs
Distribution: world
Organization: University of Tennessee, Knoxville--Dept. of Computer Science
Keywords: magnetic, Planar, plasma, electroluminescent, CRT, terminal, DEC, IBM

In article <40tb1tINN94v@duncan.cs.utk.edu> responding to
   <spurlock@ix.netcom.com>, I wrote
>
> ...two specialized display technologies long used in rugged environments:
> - plasma displays
> - electroluminescent displays
>
> ...
>
> The major North American vendor in electroluminescent technology is
>
>    Planar Systems Inc.
>    1400 N.W. Compton Drive
>    Beaverton, Oregon 97006 USA
>    +1 503/690-6999
>
> or you can view the colorful and informative web pages at
>    http://www.planar.com/Welcome.html

Well, no sooner had I posted this message than Planar Systems decided
to take its World Wide Web pages apart for reorganization.  Alas! The
old ones really were colorful and informative!

I suspect, however, that you can still establish e-mail contact with
<Troy_Severson@planar.com>.

Another defect in my previous posting was that I let a bad spelling of
"electroluminescent" slip through.  Please forgive me.

Anyway, here is a little bit more information on flat-screen, non-CRT
display products.

 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

A complete electroluminescent-panel terminal, compatible with the DEC
VT220, was introduced in 1990 by

    Finlux Inc.
    Suite 109-T
    20395 Pacifica Dr.
    Cupertino, CA  95014
    +1 408/725-1972

The Finlux ELT220 was designed with the monochrome (yellow) EL display
with 640 by 400 resolution, with a viewing angle of 160 degrees.  The
device weighs less than 3 pounds and includes a keyboard similar to the
DEC LK201.

In January 1991, Planar Systems merged with the Finlux Display
Electronics division of Lohja Corporation, based in Espoo, Finland.
The Espoo operation became Planar International Ltd., operating as a
wholly owned subsidiary of Planar Systems, Inc.

Another product introduced in 1990 was the SealTouch 220 from Lucas DeeCo.
This ruggedized, flat-screen (EL) touch-panel VT220-compatible terminal
is contained in a sealed, cast-aluminum case to achieve NEMA 4 and NEMA 12
ratings.

    Lucas DeeCo
    (Division of Lucas Duralith Corp.)
    31047 Genstar Road
    Hayward, CA  94544-7831
    +1 510/471-4700

I have NOT verified that this information is current, but it may help
somebody in tracking down a solution to this problem or other problems.


 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

2003-04-21
further ELT-220 information from http://www.trsqr.net/terminal/elt220.shtml

The actual terminal hardware and the display control module are
manufactured by Alpha-Point (http://www.alpha-point.com/), whereas the
EL display is manufactured by Planar Systems (http://www.planar.com/).
Finlux just wrapped the product in one box and sold it under the name
of Finlux ELT220. The terminal is actually Alpha-Point AP988200. You
can still find manuals and EPROMs from Alpha-Points homepages. They've
been also very helpful while responding my questions.

[2003 Update: www.alpha-point.com web site seems to be gone, now.]

Technical specifications 

Technology:             CMOS
CPU:                    Z180,  6.144 MHz
EPROM:                  32K, expandable to 64K
RAM:                    32K static, with battery backup
Video controller:       HD63B45 + Custom LCA
Video RAM:              8K character RAM, 8K attribute RAM, static
Character generator:    32K static RAM

Olli Salonen <olli%cabbala.net>

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
