DEC VT240 terminal

[Tony Duell]

> > 1) One site i looked at said a VT240 is a monochrome unit, a VT241 is the 
> > colour version. Is the only difference the monitor? Can I use a colour 
> > monitor with my base unit?
> 
> Doubtful.  The electronics for color cost significantly more than the
> electronics for grayscale.

Why? Assuming the same number of bits-per-pixel, and the same total 
number of physical colours available, then almost all the circuitry -- 
grpahics controller, RAM, CLUT, etc -- would be the same. The only 
difference would be in the final DAC stage between the output of the CLUT 
and the monitor.

It comes down to, say, a single 8-bit DAC for a greyscale display and 3 
separate DACs, say 2 off 3 bit and 1 off 2 bit for colour. I am not 
convinced the latter is significantly more expesnive.

-tony