Merged with master (and added a blog post on the VT100)

_posts/2016-08-03-the-vt100-terminal.md

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+---
+layout: post
+title: The VT100 Terminal
+date: 2016-08-03 18:00:00
+permalink: /blog/2016/08/03/
+machines:
+  - type: pc8080
+    id: vt100
+    debugger: true
+    config: /devices/pc8080/machine/vt100/machine.xml
+---
+
+Summer has been filled with distractions, but I've finally begun making headway on a
+[DEC VT100 Terminal](/devices/pc8080/machine/vt100/) simulation.
+
+Unlike other VT100 emulators, this isn't simply an emulation of VT100 protocols.  It's a simulation of the terminal's
+8080 CPU, running the original [VT100 Firmware](/devices/pc8080/rom/vt100/) inside the [PC8080](/modules/pc8080/)
+CPU emulator, along with other key components that the CPU interacts with to drive the display, keyboard, and serial UART.
+
+It's not operational yet, but as you can see below, pieces are starting to fall into place, including a test screen that
+displays most of the VT100 font variations, built on-the-fly from the original VT100 Character Generation ROM, and LEDs that
+respond to the firmware's commands.  When you start the simulation, it briefly displays a "WAIT" message as it processes the
+VT100's Non-Volatile RAM (NVR), and then it spins, awaiting further stimulus.
+
+The initial goal for the simulation is to provide a virtual serial terminal that can communicate with other PCjs machines
+and provide a realistic serial terminal experience, all from the comfort of your web browser.
+
+In the interim, there's still a lot of debugging to do, because while DEC's Technical Manuals were excellent, they were
+not comprehensive; there are no commented source-code listings, for example, like those that IBM used to provide in their
+early Technical Reference manuals.  I also plan to increase the resolution of the font rendering, so that the characters
+look more like the original VT100's, with its discrete glowing dots.
+
+{% include machine.html id="vt100" %}
+
+*[@jeffpar](http://twitter.com/jeffpar)*  
+*Aug 3, 2016*