earliest graphics display system in your collection?

[Chuck Guzis]

On 4/18/2006 at 10:45 PM Richard wrote:

>OK, what's the earliest graphics display system held by any of you
>collectors?
>
>"graphics display system" is anything that creates a graphics image
>with a display: calligraphic, storage tube, plasma, raster, etc.
>Block character graphics don't count (or I would include my Commodore
>CBM 8032 and all the stupid terminals :).

Graphics displays are very old and I suspect that they go back to the very
early digital computer days in the form of a simple x-y vector display on
an oscilloscope.  Analog computer use may go back even further.  I suspect
that as a display technology, rather than as a printing technology,
graphics displays precede alphanumeric displays by a good long time.
Certainly pre-war process control systems could drive x-y chart
recorders--and what's a closed-loop process controller but an analog
computer? 

Cheers,
Chuck