Microvitec Plc, the Bradford-based terminal and monitor manufacturer best known for the Cub BBC Micro, has released three new DEC-compatible colour terminals. The first two terminals are basically re-jigs of the older 2100 and 2200 models, but the company says that they offer a new level of price-performance in colour computing. The MCG 3100 costs UKP600, and the MCG 3101 is UKP700. They both have an 80-column display and DEC VT100/220 emulation, and the 3101 has four ANSI pages of memory. Microvitec’s new top-end product is the Motorola 68000-based MCG 3320 which costs UKP1,245. Like the other two terminals, the 3320 incorporates the company’s Series 9 monitor, but it provides more functionality, including multiple sessions or hosts, windows, and full VT320 and viewdata emulation. The 3320 runs up to four sessions and three hosts concurrently, and has 12 ANSI pages of memory that can be allocated to sessions, windows, or the host software. Up to 14 moveable and sizeable windows can be displayed on the screen at any one time. The 14 screen is a full colour Series 9 monitor, which the company launched in November last year. It has a 35KHz line rate and 70KHz refresh rate in all modes. The dot pitch is 0.31mm, and the pixel character cell is 16 by 16 with 24 lines and 80 columns, or 12 by 14 with 30 lines and 132 columns. Microvitec predicts that the demand for colour will grow more quickly in the expanding Unix community than it has in the ANSIDEC market, and that where it is targeting the new range. The company says that it aims to sell 2,000 of the things in the first year, via a network of distributors and OEM customers. Microvitec has two subsidiaries, one in West Germany, and another in the US. The 3320 will be available in continental Europe but not in the US at least not in its present form.
