Tektronix 4050

They also include a GPIB parallel bus interface for controlling lab and test equipment as well as connecting to external peripherals.

This allows the screen to retain images drawn to it, eliminating the need for a framebuffer, computer memory devoted to the display.

External storage units were available: Two sizes of the 4956 graphics tablet (20"x20", 36"x48") offered a slow process for inputting from paper drawings.

The original demo included an artillery game which was later adapted by high school students at Lindbergh High School in Renton, Washington to the HP 9830, and also adapted by Hewlett-Packard for the HP 2647 intelligent graphics terminal demo tape and eventually similar games in Microsoft BASIC for the IBM PC.

Other games for the Tektronix included Weather Wars, with users directing lightning bolts and tornados against opponents in an environment affected by wind.

Because the direct view storage tubes do not flicker as do conventional CRTs, and because the BASIC programming interface allowed simple, rapid rendering of vector graphic displays, the 405x series were used in many theatrical contexts.