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computer terminal

Computer input/output device; an electronic or electromechanical hardware device that is used for entering data into, and displaying data from, a computer or a computing system update programming

EntityQ216640

Also known as terminal · konsol

Subclass of: device
, peripheral

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

A computer terminal is an electronic or electromechanical hardware device that can be used for entering data into, and transcribing data from, a computer or a computing system. Most early computers only had a front panel to input or display bits and had to be connected to a terminal to print or input text through a keyboard. Teleprinters were used as early-day hard-copy terminals and predated the use of a computer screen by decades. The computer would typically transmit a line of data which would be printed on paper, and accept a line of data from a keyboard over a serial or other interface. Starting in the mid-1970s with microcomputers such as the Sphere 1, Sol-20, and Apple I, display circuitry and keyboards began to be integrated into personal and workstation computer systems, with the computer handling character generation and outputting to a CRT display such as a computer monitor or, sometimes, a consumer TV, but most larger computers continued to require terminals.

Overview

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25 statements · 36% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Members / parts: computer monitor

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statements

36%

externally sourced

Source last edited September 27, 2026. AIDB refreshes this page daily.

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AIDB. (2026). computer terminal (Q216640). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/computer-terminal-Q216640