I'm pretty sure the DEC VT100 didn't have it. It was very memory -limited - the standard was 80x 24 and if you wanted 132 x 24 you had to buy the advanced video option.
There was a demo program that made it look like it recovered data that had been scrolled off the top of the screen, but I think it was just re-sent form the computer. cheers, Nigel Nigel Johnson, MSc., MIEEE, MCSE VE3ID/G4AJQ/VA3MCU Amateur Radio, the origin of the open-source concept! Skype: TILBURY2591 [email protected] On 2020-12-13 9:37 p.m., Stan Sieler via cctalk wrote: > Hi, > > First, apologies if I asked this years ago (I've searched my archives, no > hits :) > > When was the concept of memory "above" the screen invented for terminals? > > I.e., previously displayed data that had scrolled up and off the screen ... > but could be retrieved (usually by scrolling down). > > (Sometimes called "scrollback", or "offscreen memory".) > > (BTW, I'm talking about terminal-local memory, not a scrollback implemented > by the computer to which the terminal is connected.) > > The HP 2640A, 1974, had (IIRC) several pages of memory available ... the > user could scroll > backwards and see what had been on the screen before it scrolled off (as > long > as it hadn't been lost by having too much subsequent output). > > I suspect the DEV VT100, 1978, had it, but I can't find definitive proof > online (sure, I can find VT102 emulators that have scrollback, but reading > an old VT102 manual doesn't make it clear that it has it.) > > thanks, > > Stan
