Importance

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Abstract

The invention relates to an inexpensive telecommunications device utilizing existent components located in the home or office, such as a television receiver and a telephone, for creating an interactive display terminal for accessing information stored in remote computer databases. In one embodiment according to the invention, the terminal is configured with the necessary logic components to communicate with a host computer system via telephone lines. Alternatively, the device may be directly connected to an inhouse data retrieval network. The terminal is software controlled at the host database and can be dedicated to a particular host computer database system, or may be utilized with various host systems. A multiple screen memory, which is programmable at the host database, may be utilized for storing multiple television screens of information. Peripheral components, such as a printer or disk drive, may be attached to the terminal. The device, when disconnected from the host database, may be programmed to operate in a stand-alone capacity. A data compression technique is employed to reduce the communication time between the host computer system and the terminal.

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First Claim