{"guid":"7649c47c-30ca-54ad-a308-08a3a7663853","title":"Forgotten graphics technology: the wild workings of the direct-view storage tube CRT","subtitle":null,"slug":"emf2024-43-forgotten-graphics-technology","link":"https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2024/43-forgotten-graphics-technology","description":"It's 1975! You need a high-resolution computer display for fine drawings (e.g. CAD diagrams). Memory's EXPENSIVE, processors are slow: what to do? Here's an analog solution to a digital problem: an unusual cathode-ray tube that preserves whatever it draws with no flickering, fading, or any kind of refresh. A brilliant dot sears emerald trails into the screen, rendering intricate line-art without pixels. No need for video memory when the screen itself remembers!\n\nIt's mesmerising to see this special tube in action; more satisfying still to know how it works. Discover a mechanism Tektronix refined over three decades, growing from palm-sized oscilloscope readouts to 25\" computer-lab behemoths. A wreath of electron guns, kilovolt potentials, microscopic cobalt cones, and transparent anodes set the stage for a nonlinear dance of charges that yields visualisations with style --- and we'll unravel its mysteries with animated diagrams. En route we'll visit notable storage tube applications, from early computer memories to 1978's _Battlestar Galactica_. Of course we'll see a real Tektronix terminal at work, too!\n\nComputer memory is cheap now: by the mid 1980s, modern displays had advantages storage-tube systems couldn't overcome. Nobody's making them anymore, so check out this talk while old stock still works!\n\nLicensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/","original_language":"eng","persons":["Tom Stepleton"],"tags":["43","emf2024","talk","Stage B","2024","Day 3"],"view_count":132,"promoted":false,"date":"2024-06-01T16:30:00.000+02:00","release_date":"2024-12-01T00:00:00.000+01:00","updated_at":"2026-03-25T00:15:03.833+01:00","length":1568,"duration":1568,"thumb_url":"https://static.media.ccc.de/media/events/emf/2024/43-7649c47c-30ca-54ad-a308-08a3a7663853.jpg","poster_url":"https://static.media.ccc.de/media/events/emf/2024/43-7649c47c-30ca-54ad-a308-08a3a7663853_preview.jpg","timeline_url":"https://static.media.ccc.de/media/events/emf/2024/43-7649c47c-30ca-54ad-a308-08a3a7663853.timeline.jpg","thumbnails_url":"https://static.media.ccc.de/media/events/emf/2024/43-7649c47c-30ca-54ad-a308-08a3a7663853.thumbnails.vtt","frontend_link":"https://media.ccc.de/v/emf2024-43-forgotten-graphics-technology","url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/events/7649c47c-30ca-54ad-a308-08a3a7663853","conference_title":"Electromagnetic Field 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