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The IBM 3270 PC (model 5271), released in October 1983, was an IBM PC XT containing additional hardware which could emulate
Terminal emulator

A terminal emulator, terminal application, term, or tty for short, is a program that emulates a "dumb" video Computer terminal within some other display architecture....
 the behaviour of an IBM 3270
IBM 3270

The IBM 3270 is a class of computer terminal made by IBM since 1972 normally used to communicate with IBM mainframes. As such, it was the successor to the IBM 2260 display terminal....
 terminal. It could therefore be used both as a standalone computer, and as a terminal to a mainframe
Mainframe computer

Mainframes are computers used mainly by large organizations for critical applications, typically bulk data processing such as census, industry and consumer statistics, Enterprise Resource Planning, and financial transaction processing....
.

IBM later released the 3270 AT (model 5281), which was a similar design based on the IBM PC AT.

additional hardware occupied nearly all the free expansion slots in the computer.






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The IBM 3270 PC (model 5271), released in October 1983, was an IBM PC XT containing additional hardware which could emulate
Terminal emulator

A terminal emulator, terminal application, term, or tty for short, is a program that emulates a "dumb" video Computer terminal within some other display architecture....
 the behaviour of an IBM 3270
IBM 3270

The IBM 3270 is a class of computer terminal made by IBM since 1972 normally used to communicate with IBM mainframes. As such, it was the successor to the IBM 2260 display terminal....
 terminal. It could therefore be used both as a standalone computer, and as a terminal to a mainframe
Mainframe computer

Mainframes are computers used mainly by large organizations for critical applications, typically bulk data processing such as census, industry and consumer statistics, Enterprise Resource Planning, and financial transaction processing....
.

IBM later released the 3270 AT (model 5281), which was a similar design based on the IBM PC AT.

Technology

The additional hardware occupied nearly all the free expansion slots in the computer. It included a video card
Video card

A video card, also known as a graphics accelerator card, display adapter, or graphics card, is an expansion card whose function is to generate and output images to a display....
 which occupied 1-3 ISA slots (depending on what level of graphics support was required), and supported CGA
Color Graphics Adapter

The Color Graphics Adapter , originally also called the Color/Graphics Adapter or IBM Color/Graphics Monitor Adapter, introduced in 1981, was International Business Machines's first color graphics card, and the first color computer display standard for the IBM PC....
 and MDA
Monochrome Display Adapter

The Monochrome Display Adapter introduced in 1981 was International Business Machines's standard video display card and computer display standard for the IBM PC....
 video modes. The display resolution was 720×350, either on the matching 8-color monitor (model 5272) or in monochrome on an MDA monitor.

A further expansion card intercepted scancode
Scancode

A scancode is the data that most computer keyboards send to a computer to report which keys have been pressed. A number, or sequence of numbers, is assigned to each key on the keyboard....
s from the 122-key 3270 keyboard, translating them into XT scancodes which were then sent to the normal keyboard connector. The final additional card provided the communication interface to the host mainframe. Please note that the 3270 PC pictured above has an original PC keyboard attached and not the 122-key 3270 keyboard.

Models

  • 3270 PC (model 5271) - original 3270 PC
  • 3270 PC/G - 3270 PC with improved graphics hardware and mouse support
  • 3270 PC/GX - Extended graphics support; 19-inch color or monochrome monitor.
  • 3270 AT (model 5281) - corresponds to the 3270 PC, but based on an IBM AT.
  • 3270 AT/G - corresponds to the 3270 PC/G, but based on an IBM AT.
  • 3270 AT/GX - corresponds to the 3270 PC/GX, but based on an IBM AT.


See also

  • IBM PC XT
  • IBM PC AT
  • 3270 emulator
    3270 emulator

    A 3270 Emulator is a computer program that duplicates the functions of an IBM 3270 Computer terminal on a Personal computer or similar microcomputer....


External links