Evan on Engineering Software

Prior to the 4014, most computer graphics was done with vector graphics displays that continuously repainted the image under computer control. This required a very high bandwidth connection to the computer, which generally meant the display could be no more than a dozen or so meters from the computer. The modern approach of having a local memory in the display that stores a value for each pixel would have been prohibitively expensive in the 1970s. Tektronix solved this problem by developing the Direct View Bistable Storage Tube (DVBST) CRT, which allowed the use of a slower, serial, data connection combined with a vector graphics generator that only needed to write the vectors (the graphic data) to the CRT once. Having had data written, the CRT itself remembered the data.

Individual portions of the image could not be erased, however. Instead, the entire stored image was erased as a whole and the process caused the entire screen to flash bright green. This led to the 4014 terminal being nicknamed the mean green flashin' machine.

For graphics input, the terminal used a pair of thumb wheels on the keyboard to control the position of a cursor. The cursor was displayed using a lower intensity of the electron beam that was insufficient to store the cursor's image. Instead, the cursor was dynamically refreshed by the electronics of the terminal.

The 4014 had a series of commands for drawing both text and graphics. The 4014 command set became a de facto standard and when personal computers with graphics displays became common in the 1990s, many communications packages included the ability to accept Tektronix 4014 commands. Because of this the designation "(Tektronix) 4014" has entered the traditional computing vocabulary, leading to the memory of the terminal long after the actual hardware became obsolete and otherwise disappeared.

Dr. Jami Shah, Director of Arizona State University's Design Automation Lab, said this, when I told him about Dr. Hanratty's 4014:

I am surprised anybody still has a Tek 4014. Brings back old (and awful) memories. I had actually written my own graphics pkg called PLOTEK to be able run my code that was using PLOT10 libraries.

The particular 4014 that Dr. Hanratty owns was used by him a number of years ago to demonstrate prior art in a patent suit, brought against a "big company." Though I can't tell you who the "big company" was, Dr. Hanratty' was able  to demonstrate that his software, developed in the 1970s (based on algorithms he developed in the 1960s), predated the claims in patents filed decades later.  The "big company" was spared from a judgment that could have cost them hundreds of millions of dollars.

Dr. Hanratty has no need for the 4014 anymore, and rather than junking it, he'd like to see it go to a good home. It's a fully functioning unit, and includes all documentation.

I've already talked to the Computer History Museum about it, and their curators are meeting next tuesday to decide whether they would like it.  If you can suggest an alternative (deserving) home for it, please send me an email, at evan@yares.com.  The terninal weighs 150 pounds, and can be blanket-wrapped or crated for shipping.  All costs will be borne by the recipient.

As an aside,  I might mention that, if you work for a computer graphics (CAD or otherwise) company, and are having to deal with patent trolls, you ought to talk to Dr. Hanratty.  Not only is he one of the true pioneers of computer graphics, he has meticulous records of his work (and inventions) dating back to the mid-1950s.  I should also mention that you should be prepared to pay handsomely for his attention.  That's because if you need the kind of help only he can provide, any amount of money that you might pay him would be a drop in the bucket compared to the legal costs and potential damages you'd otherwise face. (Disclaimer: Dr. Hanratty didn't ask me to post this rather blatent advertisement.)