What Does VDT Stand For?

Video Transcript

"I'm Rokosz, your digital lifestyle expert and we're talking a little bit about what VDT is. What that acronym stands for, well VDT can either mean Visual Display Terminal or Video Display Terminal. But they basically come down to the exact same thing. Like my old CRT or Cathode Ray Tube buddy over here, a VDT terminal is different than a workstation, it is simply the monitor and a keyboard or a monitor and some other kind of interface peripheral. Whether it be a mouse or a special application button. Let me paint a picture for you. Let's say this, let's say you're working in a fast food restaurant, alright? And the girl behind the counter takes the order and they need some fries, a Coke and well they want a hamburger. Well they'll take that information head back to a server and put that information up on the board so the shift manager can see it, you probably have seen it if you're in the back everything is sort of broken down into little boxes, but the fry cook will see an order pop up for just his fries, the soda pop guy will see one just for him and then of course the short order chef will see that pop up for just him. Now these guys also have one or two buttons to advance to the next screen or to clear off the order because they've accepted it. So you've got a computer or a server sending out the information to what we could call a terminal but it may be different if you're working in an office you say well I have a VDT, well you may not because if there's a CPU or central processing unit or a DVD or DVD-ROM drive attached to it, then it's more like a terminal as opposed to a VDT. So it can send out the same information. Another example is a call screening computer. If you call into a radio talk show the call screener is going to put your name and what you want to talk about into the computer and the host is going to see it on a monitor in the studio see your name and that and he'll have a couple of buttons, one to accept the call, one to hangup the call and the other one to move on to the next one. He doesn't control the computer, a VDT position does not control the situation, it can advance, it can go back, it can take in some inputs but it's not a terminal or a master control station, it's simply subordinate to the main system. I'm Rokosz, your digital lifestyle expert, I'll see you on your VDT."