Manufacturer IBM | Release date March 1984 (1984-03) | |
Also known as IBM 3179G COLOR DISPLAY STATION Introductory price US$2,295 (equivalent to $5,291 in 2016) | ||
The IBM 3179G released in March 1984 is an IBM mainframe computer terminal providing 80×24 or 80×32 characters plus graphics.
3179-G terminals combine text and graphics as separate layers on the screen. Although the text and graphics appear combined on the screen, the text layer actually sits over the graphics layer. The text layer contains the usual IBM 3270-style cells which display characters (letters, numbers, symbols, or invisible control characters). The graphics layer is an area of 720×384 pixels. 'All Points Addressable' or 'vector graphics' is used to paint each pixel in one of sixteen colors. As well as being separate layers on the screen, the text and graphics layers are sent to the display in separate data streams, making them completely independent.
The G10 model is a standard 122-key typewriter keyboard, while the G20 model offers APL on the same layout. Compatible with IBM System/370, IBM 4300 series, 303x, 308x, IBM 3090, and IBM 9370.