Storage tube

Storage tube

Mostly obsolete, a storage tube is a special monochromatic CRT whose screen has a kind of 'memory' (hence the name): when a portion of the screen is illuminated by the CRT's electron gun, it stays lit until a screen erase command is given. Thus, screen update commands need only be sent once and this allows the use of a slower data connection, typically serial—a feature very well adapted to computer terminal use in 1960s and 70s computing. The two main advantages were:

*Very low bandwidth needs compared to vector graphics displays, thus allowing much longer cable distances between computer and terminal
*No need for display-local RAM (as in modern terminals), which was prohibitively expensive at the time.

Generally speaking, storage tubes could be divided into two categories. In the more common category, they were only capable of storing "binary" images; any given point on the screen was either illuminated or dark. The Tektronix Direct-View Bistable Storage Tube was perhaps the most-famous example in this category. Other storage tubes were able to store greyscale/halftoned images; the tradeoff was usually a much-reduced storage time.

Two pioneering storage tube displays were MIT Project MAC's ARDS (Advanced Remote Display Station) which used a Tektronix type 611 storage display unit and Tektronix's 4014 terminal, the latter becoming a de facto computer terminal standard some time after its introduction (later being emulated by other systems due to this status).

ee also

* Direct-View Bistable Storage Tube
* Oscilloscope (for an explanation of how analog storage worked)
* Williams tube and Selectron tube both used the term "storage tube" for early computer memory devices


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • storage tube — noun : memory tube …   Useful english dictionary

  • direct display storage tube — atmenusis tiesioginio atkūrimo vamzdis statusas T sritis radioelektronika atitikmenys: angl. direct display storage tube vok. Direktanzeige Speicherröhre, f rus. запоминающая трубка с прямым воспроизведением, f pranc. tube à mémoire à vision… …   Radioelektronikos terminų žodynas

  • video storage tube — atmenusis vaizdo vamzdis statusas T sritis radioelektronika atitikmenys: angl. video storage tube vok. Bildspeicherröhre, f rus. запоминающая трубка изображения, f pranc. tube vidéo à mémoire, m …   Radioelektronikos terminų žodynas

  • direct-view storage tube — atmenusis regimojo vaizdo vamzdis statusas T sritis radioelektronika atitikmenys: angl. direct view storage tube vok. Direktsichtspeicherröhre, f rus. запоминающая трубка с видимым изображением, f pranc. tube à mémoire à vision directe, m …   Radioelektronikos terminų žodynas

  • graphecon storage tube — grafekonas statusas T sritis radioelektronika atitikmenys: angl. graphecon; graphecon storage tube vok. Graphekon Speicherröhre, f rus. графекон, m; запоминающая трубка типа графекон, f pranc. tube à mémoire du type graphecon, m …   Radioelektronikos terminų žodynas

  • cathode ray storage tube — atmenusis elektroninis vamzdis statusas T sritis radioelektronika atitikmenys: angl. cathode ray storage tube vok. Katodenspeicherröhre, f rus. запоминающая электронно лучевая трубка, f pranc. tube à mémoire à rayons cathodiques, m …   Radioelektronikos terminų žodynas

  • charge storage tube — atmenusis krūvį kaupiantis vamzdis statusas T sritis radioelektronika atitikmenys: angl. charge storage tube vok. Ladungsspeicherröhre, f rus. запоминающая трубка с накоплением заряда, f pranc. tube à accumulation de charges, m …   Radioelektronikos terminų žodynas

  • Direct-View Storage Tube — Tektronix 4014, ein frühes DVST basiertes grafikfähiges Terminal Die Direct View Storage Tube (DVST) („Direktdarstellungs Speicherröhre“) oder Direktadressierröhre ist ein Bildschirmtyp, der Ende der 1960er Jahre entwickelt wurde. DVSTs konnten… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Direct View Storage Tube —   [dt. »Direktdarstellungs und Speicherröhre«], Direktadressierröhre …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Tube cathodique — Photo du tube cathodique se trouvant à l’intérieur d’un téléviseur …   Wikipédia en Français

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