The adage graphics terminal

Abstract

Interactive computer graphics applications require that the system present visual displays to the user for his interpretation and that these displays change in response to actions taken by the user as he goes about solving the problem for which he is using the system. Effectiveness of a graphics system is very dependent upon the complexity of the displays which it is able to present and the speed with which it can produce changes in the displayed image. A CRT displaying dynamic images of sufficient complexity for meaningful visual assimilation imposes a data transfer and arithmetic burden very much greater than that imposed by such conventional output media as typewriters, line printers and point plotters.