By D. Ophir, S. Rankowitz, B. J. Shepherd, R. J. Spinrad
Communications of the ACM,
June 1968,
Vol. 11 No. 6, Pages 415-416
10.1145/363347.363385
Comments
A multiconsole computer display system has been designed that provides very rich displays at low unit cost. Each BRAD (Brookhaven RAster Display) console can plot tens of thousands of points, or up to 4000 characters at 30 frames per second. After an initial display system investment of $50,000, each display, with teletype, cost less than $3,000.
The technique employed is that of programmatically generating a binary image of the desired display in a computer. The image is written on a rotating drum memory. Independent read heads continuously display the picture, which is generated by swept horizontal lines. A standard TV monitor serves as the display device.
The technique has two drawbacks. A computer must compute any image to be displayed. Also, the “pointing” interaction is more difficult. This is because the pointing function gives only the coordinates of the point on the screen. The inverse of the map generation process is required to calculate the coordinates at the input space.
The full text of this article is premium content
No entries found
Log in to Read the Full Article
Need Access?
Please select one of the options below for access to premium content and features.
Create a Web Account
If you are already an ACM member, Communications subscriber, or Digital Library subscriber, please set up a web account to access premium content on this site.
Join the ACM
Become a member to take full advantage of ACM's outstanding computing information resources, networking opportunities, and other benefits.
Subscribe to Communications of the ACM Magazine
Get full access to 50+ years of CACM content and receive the print version of the magazine monthly.
Purchase the Article
Non-members can purchase this article or a copy of the magazine in which it appears.
