enger@seka.scc.com (Robert M. Enger) (03/03/91)
In article <39681@cup.portal.com>, Wingnut@cup.portal.com (Chris Allan Goodey) writes: |> Now my question is, why can't someone write smarter firmware to smooth |> this out by pausing briefly between characters. The more data in the |> buffer, the less you 'smooth' the output. I am sure with a little |> experimenting the jerkiness of the output could be totally eliminated! |> Hi: Who's to say which characters are susceptible to 'jerky' presentation. Not all data appears on the screen. Some characters may be terminal (terminal emulator) control sequences which take some time for the terminal to process. Delivering these characters to the terminal promptly will give it a head start and hopefully it may be done by the time some real (displayable to the user) data comes along from the modem. In reality, the modems are getting so fast now, they are exceeding the speed of the itty bitty processor in most dumb terminals (and the often inefficient terminal emulation software). It won't be long before the burstyness is masked by the overload/lag-behind condition of the terminal! Bob -- Robert M. Enger CONTEL Federal Systems enger@seka.scc.com (Internet)
mju@mudos.ann-arbor.mi.us (Marc Unangst) (03/09/91)
Wingnut@cup.portal.com (Chris Allan Goodey) writes: > Now my question is, why can't someone write smarter firmware to smooth > this out by pausing briefly between characters. The more data in the > buffer, the less you 'smooth' the output. I am sure with a little > experimenting the jerkiness of the output could be totally eliminated! Well, I can tell you that *I'd* never buy a modem with this "feature". Nor would I recommend it for any of my customers. Why? Because by inserting these pauses to "smooth" the output of the modem, you're decreasing the speed at which the computer can receive data. I'm not going to buy or recommend a modem that actually *reduces* your transfer rates for purely cosmetic reasons. -- Marc Unangst | mju@mudos.ann-arbor.mi.us | "Bus error: passengers dumped" ...!umich!leebai!mudos!mju |
rdippold@maui.qualcomm.com (Ron Dippold) (03/12/91)
In article <moLJy2w164w@mudos.ann-arbor.mi.us> mju@mudos.ann-arbor.mi.us (Marc Unangst) writes: >Wingnut@cup.portal.com (Chris Allan Goodey) writes: >> Now my question is, why can't someone write smarter firmware to smooth >> this out by pausing briefly between characters. The more data in the >> buffer, the less you 'smooth' the output. I am sure with a little >> experimenting the jerkiness of the output could be totally eliminated! > >Well, I can tell you that *I'd* never buy a modem with this >"feature". Nor would I recommend it for any of my customers. Why? >Because by inserting these pauses to "smooth" the output of the modem, >you're decreasing the speed at which the computer can receive data. You get the jerkiness because the modem gives the computer the data in bursts. You will quickly get a blast of data, then a pause, then some data, then a pause. The point is that you can make it smooth by distributing that pause among the burst of data when you show it on the screen. The modem will still be sending you data as fast as it can. There is no speed decrease.