IBM 5250

[2] 5250 devices can be directly attached to the host or communicate remotely using Synchronous Data Link Control (SDLC) at up to 9600bit/s.

The devices generate an audible clicking sound as the user types, similar to the electronic typewriters of the era.

The 5250 data stream definition has been refined over time to include GUI elements such as pop-up windowing, check and option boxes, mouse handling, and pull-down menus.

The IBM 3180 added support for seven colors - pink, red, blue, yellow, green, white, and turquoise.

A protocol called the IBM 5250 Data Stream interpreted field attributes such as blinking, non-display, high intensity, reverse image, underline, and column separators and was used in combination to create colors.

No physical 5250 terminals with their bulky twinax cables still exist, although they were occasionally still used to provide a "connection of last resort," hard-wired to the host computer.

IBM 5251, connected to an AS/400 system
IBM 5251 display station on front of IBM 5120 system
IBM 3486 Terminal, a later terminal with 5250 functionality, capable of supporting two independent sessions concurrently, and with an amber screen . The keyboard is a 122-key variant of the Model M ; the original 5251-1 had a much smaller beam-spring keyboard. [ 4 ]
Main Menu of IBM i 7.1 on a TN5250 emulator