Telnet - What is the Network Virtual Terminal

Telnet is a protocol that allows users to access the services of a remote system and communicate using a virtual terminal type called Network Virtual Terminal (NVT). NVT is a common format that is shared by many different types of real terminals and operating systems. It enables Telnet clients and servers to exchange data, commands, and server output without worrying about the compatibility of the terminal types. NVT uses an 8-bit character set, with the 7 lowest-order bits identical to ASCII and the highest bit indicating whether the character is data or control. Control characters are used to communicate commands between the computers, and they are preceded by a special character called Interpret as Control (IAC). NVT was created to make communication viable between different types of terminals with different operating systems