Hacking with Style: TrueType VT220 Font (2009) (opens in new tab)

(sensi.org)

104 pointsgrae_QED3y ago33 comments

33 comments

dmd3y ago

A lot more information here, including how the phosphor decay is part of the font and you won't get the right appearance if you don't take it into account: https://www.masswerk.at/nowgobang/2019/dec-crt-typography

mattigames3y ago

With CSS (text-shadow to be exact) you can get pretty close, here is my shot at it: https://codepen.io/ivanca/pen/oNPZMLx

masswerk3y ago

Here's the "workbench implementation" mentioned in the blog post (too much blur/bleed), using a character generator of its own:

https://www.masswerk.at/rterm/VT/

And a rather fancy version of the same thing: https://www.masswerk.at/rterm/VT/fancy.html

rodgerd3y ago

I do wonder if a sufficiently clever person could coerce OpenType's Variable Font extension to simulate phosphor behaviour.

masswerk3y ago

There was a time when blurred fonts were some of a (small) hype. The tricky part is that phosphor response isn't linear, but sinusoidal, and that you had to scale this with font size… (You could make this an axis with variable fonts, though.)

1 more reply

nickdothutton3y ago

My formative years at uni were spent on VT320s, the smell of hot dust on CRT, the tick, tick, key click sound, the subtle off-white colouring, the tasteful thickness of it…

chasil3y ago

MAME will actually emulate a VT240.

We spend a bundle, both on Charon VAX emulation and Bluezone Rocket terminal emulation. We used to run the Reflections terminal emulator, but that is up to $500/seat.

I was actually looking for a functional UTS-20 emulator for our OS2200, but that is another story.

MAME will tie the rs232 to an outgoing socket, and I ran it over stunnel to login to my VAX VMS.

It was a really slow Friday.

naikrovek3y ago

how well did it work?

chasil3y ago

It was a little slow.

No text cut and paste.

The baud rate actually has to be set correctly in the firmware before the connection works.

The command line to invoke for the IP address 1.2.3.4 port 23 is:

  mame -rp . vt240 -window -nothrottle -host null_modem -bitb socket.1.2.3.4:23

These are some useful articles that I read in getting it working.

http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/terminal/

https://github.com/larsbrinkhoff/terminal-simulator/issues/1

https://www.mail-archive.com/simh@trailing-edge.com/msg09086...

https://forums.bannister.org/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Num...

https://simh.trailing-edge.narkive.com/qgzCvrl8/dec-vt-emula...

1 more reply

naikrovek3y ago

Pro tip for people who make fonts:

if you have a webpage for the font, include quality, high resolution pictures of the font.

spindle3y ago

Fans of this might enjoy https://github.com/Swordfish90/cool-retro-term

rbanffy3y ago

And it comes with my 3270 font!

mrlonglong3y ago

I use this font all the time with my gnome terminal set at 132x43 to remind me of my good times with OpenVMS using a VT220.

bitwize3y ago

I used to love this font but the fake scanline effect was eyehurty after a while. DEC Terminal Modern is the same font with a nice vector look that won't interfere with the scanlines when you use it in cool-retro-term.

suprjami3y ago

https://www.dafont.com/dec-terminal-modern.font

Does this have any particular size it's supposed to be used at?

bitwize3y ago

Nah, it's good for all sizes. The glyphs have been completely vectorized.

1 more reply

woefblaf1233y ago

The source site at vtxemu.com has been squatted though :( Any other source to download it?

1 more reply

epilys3y ago

Here's how to do the same thing in Fontforge (with .otf file ready for download) https://gist.github.com/epilys/95869773037d3d2235d324bd5a048...

johnea3y ago

I built it into a package for arch AUR, then when I loooked at it, I have to agree. The scan lines built into the font are not desirable.

I installed the DEC Terminal Modern package 8-/

Cool notes on the rendering process by the author though...

stkai3y ago

I installed this font, set my default foreground color to #FDDF7D, and am feeling like I've transported back to 1984.

ggm3y ago

You need something to emulate flyback whine. Which I can't hear any more having old ears.

Maybe a bit of horizontal hold wobble too

kreelman3y ago

Neat. It does look just like the font I had on that terminal.... back in the day.

There's some interesting design in it.

beej713y ago

De Anza College in the early 1990s--we had quite a few VT220s. Super nostalgia...

jpl563y ago

Thanks! Just installed the font.

Next time I need to email a SQL query, I will use it <3

woefblaf1233y ago

Nice font but I wish it didn't consist of lines like that.

rbanffy3y ago

That’s more or less how it shows on the terminal screen. Scanlines were part of the experience.

You can manually trace over the ROM bitmaps and make the contour - I did that with my 3270 font.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

33 comments

dmd3y ago

mattigames3y ago

With CSS (text-shadow to be exact) you can get pretty close, here is my shot at it: https://codepen.io/ivanca/pen/oNPZMLx

masswerk3y ago

Here's the "workbench implementation" mentioned in the blog post (too much blur/bleed), using a character generator of its own:

https://www.masswerk.at/rterm/VT/

And a rather fancy version of the same thing: https://www.masswerk.at/rterm/VT/fancy.html

rodgerd3y ago

I do wonder if a sufficiently clever person could coerce OpenType's Variable Font extension to simulate phosphor behaviour.

masswerk3y ago

1 more reply

nickdothutton3y ago

My formative years at uni were spent on VT320s, the smell of hot dust on CRT, the tick, tick, key click sound, the subtle off-white colouring, the tasteful thickness of it…

chasil3y ago

MAME will actually emulate a VT240.

We spend a bundle, both on Charon VAX emulation and Bluezone Rocket terminal emulation. We used to run the Reflections terminal emulator, but that is up to $500/seat.

I was actually looking for a functional UTS-20 emulator for our OS2200, but that is another story.

MAME will tie the rs232 to an outgoing socket, and I ran it over stunnel to login to my VAX VMS.

It was a really slow Friday.

naikrovek3y ago

how well did it work?

chasil3y ago

It was a little slow.

No text cut and paste.

The baud rate actually has to be set correctly in the firmware before the connection works.

The command line to invoke for the IP address 1.2.3.4 port 23 is:

  mame -rp . vt240 -window -nothrottle -host null_modem -bitb socket.1.2.3.4:23

These are some useful articles that I read in getting it working.

http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/terminal/

https://github.com/larsbrinkhoff/terminal-simulator/issues/1

https://www.mail-archive.com/simh@trailing-edge.com/msg09086...

https://forums.bannister.org/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Num...

https://simh.trailing-edge.narkive.com/qgzCvrl8/dec-vt-emula...

1 more reply

naikrovek3y ago

Pro tip for people who make fonts:

if you have a webpage for the font, include quality, high resolution pictures of the font.

spindle3y ago

Fans of this might enjoy https://github.com/Swordfish90/cool-retro-term

rbanffy3y ago

And it comes with my 3270 font!

mrlonglong3y ago

I use this font all the time with my gnome terminal set at 132x43 to remind me of my good times with OpenVMS using a VT220.

bitwize3y ago

suprjami3y ago

https://www.dafont.com/dec-terminal-modern.font

Does this have any particular size it's supposed to be used at?

bitwize3y ago

Nah, it's good for all sizes. The glyphs have been completely vectorized.

1 more reply

woefblaf1233y ago

The source site at vtxemu.com has been squatted though :( Any other source to download it?

1 more reply

epilys3y ago

Here's how to do the same thing in Fontforge (with .otf file ready for download) https://gist.github.com/epilys/95869773037d3d2235d324bd5a048...

johnea3y ago

I built it into a package for arch AUR, then when I loooked at it, I have to agree. The scan lines built into the font are not desirable.

I installed the DEC Terminal Modern package 8-/

Cool notes on the rendering process by the author though...

stkai3y ago

I installed this font, set my default foreground color to #FDDF7D, and am feeling like I've transported back to 1984.

ggm3y ago

You need something to emulate flyback whine. Which I can't hear any more having old ears.

Maybe a bit of horizontal hold wobble too

kreelman3y ago

Neat. It does look just like the font I had on that terminal.... back in the day.

There's some interesting design in it.

beej713y ago

De Anza College in the early 1990s--we had quite a few VT220s. Super nostalgia...

jpl563y ago

Thanks! Just installed the font.

Next time I need to email a SQL query, I will use it <3

woefblaf1233y ago

Nice font but I wish it didn't consist of lines like that.

rbanffy3y ago

That’s more or less how it shows on the terminal screen. Scanlines were part of the experience.

You can manually trace over the ROM bitmaps and make the contour - I did that with my 3270 font.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse