Tektronix 4054A with Option 30+31 Color Dynamic Vector Graphics Demo

Tektronix introduced the 4054 Desktop Vector Graphics Computer with 19 inch direct view storage tube in 1979 and also introduced the Option 30 Dynamic Graphics card at the same time. This video shows the Dynamic Graphics coprocessor drawing refresh vector graphics at over 1000 vectors per second on my 4054A computer which also has the Option 31 Color Dynamic Graphics CRT which was introduced in 1982.
The Color Dynamic Graphics CRT contains both green and red phospors and the red phospor has very short persistence while the green phospor can be written at higher energy and persist on the CRT. At lower beam energy for refresh vectors - both green and red phospor glow with a combined color of orange.
I recovered all of the Option 30 demo programs from a tape from the estate of Jack Everson, a Tektronix sales engineer. In this demo - all the programs have been saved to my GPIB Flash Drive - which completely replaces the need for a working DC300 tape - and supports saving and loading 100's of tapes in separate directories on a microSD flash card!
This video will demonstrate all the programs on the Option 30 Demo Tape in COLOR on my 4054A with Option 31 Color Enhanced Dynamic Graphics CRT!

[@grossteilfahrer]

Wow. What you are doing is archaeology. Computing history must be preserved now unless we want to lose it to the pioneers dying off

[@TEK-Vectors]

Thanks Ronny! I used a Tektronix 4051 at my first job after university in 1977. It was my first personal computer and I loved it. I collected my 4052 and 4054 in 2000 and upgraded the 4054 to the 4054A - but I had NEVER heard of a color storage tube display Option 31, NOR the Option 30 Dynamic Graphics coprocessor until I recovered the Option 30 demo tape from an estate collection of dozens of tapes. Tektronix 4050 computers don't get the kind of recognition they deserve - compared to the consumer PCs.

[@grossteilfahrer]

@@TEK-Vectors I have renovated a 4006-1, and our computer club has a working 4014, that is where my interest comes from.

[@4wheelwarrior]

No doubt. Those early pioneers did it RIGHT, and we need to learn from them. Modern Computers are Dog Sh*t.

[@michaelfingers7726]

​@@4wheelwarriorfunny how you spout this bullshit on a video where the creator had to use an ARDUINO to get this aging tech to function properly.

[@DrewskisBrews]

​@@4wheelwarriorgranted, these machines cost as much as a house

[@adriansdigitalbasement]

Thanks for showing off the demo, it really is magical to see this in operation. I don't think when I was a kid with my VIC-20 that something could produce such crisp and sharp graphics like this machine can.

[@frog58079]

As an owner of Vectrex (I've coded several demos for it) I envy you :) 4054 - awesome machine!

[@arduous222]

This is wonderful! Thank you for making this demonstration. I work in astronomy, and we have a lot of programs that dates back to 70s. I have been always wondering why certain programs have horrible graphical interfaces despite them being updated in recent years, and what was the original purpose of those graphics that looks horrible in pixel-based graphics. Assuming they were intended to be displayed on screens like this one, I believe they make far more senses.

[@soviet9922]

Truly amazing system, could be cool how the tube looks in 4k quality video :D

[@AtariAlive]

Coolest computer I’ve seen

[@TR-707]

holy sh this looks cool. You should do a patreon or some service wher eyou draw and video submitters images. this is so cool

[@TEK-Vectors]

I had not thought about a patreon service - very interesting 😁

[@jimbass1664]

Did they use this on the original Battlestar Galactica? Drawing looks the same.

[@happybank5688]

bro i want know Tektronix 1720or 1741a can do this?

[@TEK-Vectors]

check out this website using a 1720 to play vector arcade games like Tempest! trmm.net/Tek_1720/ and these two links trmm.net/Category%3AVector_display/ trmm.net/Category%3AVector_display/#vector-displays-with-mame and his v.st board webpage: trmm.net/V.st/

[@happybank5688]

@@TEK-Vectors I don't have any maintenance experience T T,

[@heavysystemsinc.]

The one thing going through my mind was how Tron's world in certain scenes is drawn into existence this exact same way. I thought it was a stylistic choice, but turns out they were mimicking what happens on a vector workstation like this. Very cool bit of history here.

[@johnsmith1953x]

I was thinking the same. Quite unique.

[@antonliakhovitch8306]

Don't quote me on it, but I heard somewhere that they actually used Tektronix workstations in part of the VFX pipeline for Tron!

[@8BitNaptime]

You have convinced me sir, I would like to purchase this fine graphics workstation.

[@TEK-Vectors]

You are about 40 years too late to buy a new one 😁

[@8BitNaptime]

@@TEK-Vectors What is your price for a used one? These things look cool but probably hard to keep running and tube is wearing out ... oh well.

[@TEK-Vectors]

@@8BitNaptime I purchased my 4054 computer on EBAY in 2000 and my 4052 computer from a medical school auction in 2000. These computers still turn up on EBAY - but very rarely.

[@AppliedCryogenics]

I love this machine. I guessed right that it has AMD 2901 bit slice processors, but was surprised to read that it is microcoded to emulate some 6800 CPU features for backwards compatibility. Thanks for preserving this quite classy (and aesthetically superior) bit of history! ;D

[@TEK-Vectors]

I love it too - an as my first personal computer experience - on the Tektronix 4051 introduced in 1975 - was a great, easy to use microcomputer. When I decided to find one in 2000 - I found my 4052 and 4054A - both of which have the second generation custom 16-bit bit-slice CPU introduced in 1979 to provide an average of 10x boost in performance over the 800KHz 6800 CPU in the 4051.

[@GrahamToal]

These so outperform the Vectrex that I doubt we could even emulate that many of them. Wonderful old tech. Glad you're keeping them alive. At the risk of sounding morbid, I think we old guys need to make sure these are disposed of properly in our wills so they don't end up at Goodwill etc when we're gone. We need to specify that these go to some suitable computer museum where they'll be kept running. (And I need to take my own advice and do likewise).

[@TEK-Vectors]

Graham, I agree. After exhibiting my Tektronix 4054A at Vintage Computer Festival West 2022 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View California last August, I plan to donate my Tektronix 4054A to CHM. I did not see any Tektronix computers at CHM and believe they were an important part of the history of microcomputers and graphics. My first experience with personal microcomputers was the Tektronix 4051 vector graphics computer with Motorola 6800 in the late 1970's at my first job in the USAF Satellite Control Facility. I learned BASIC programming and wrote many BASIC programs: visualization, simulation and even submitted my Cubic Spline Interpolation program to the Tektronix 4050 Applications library. The 'instant on' experience with the 4051 was very impressive and when I worked at Compaq Computer - I missed that experience and the amazing vector graphics as I helped design and architect their Deskpro 286, 386, 486 and Systempro PCs in the 1980's.

[@pjcnet]

Amazing for the time, vector displays were a great way to maximize graphics with the minimal processing power and memory that they had available in those days, this would have been at the cutting edge of technology however and definitely wasn't cheap.

[@miked4377]

fascinating...the vectors remind me of tron...do you have a video of what this machine looks like??

[@TEK-Vectors]

Hmm - I have not made a video of my Tektronix 4054A - good idea! Here is a photo of my exhibit of my 4054A at VCF Southwest 2022 in Dallas Texas with a young boy playing the Tektronix BASIC Artillery game: drive.google.com/file/d/1pwsBQFhgdyz4ubUXUN2gZHReNHXUYY9M/view?usp=sharing Here is a link to another person's 4054A Workstation youtube video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2bHf39mqtVlfqM showing it running a CAD application.

[@gavinvales8928]

I wish this display technology was developed further, but i don't think moving electrons around on a phosphorous screen lends itself to being used in portable devices

[@victorc2869]

This is amazing. Thanks for posting this. I remember my dad showing me this with early cad applications. I tried explaining vector graphics to my computer high-school teacher and he couldn't grasp any other concept other than pixels.😅

[@lordterra1377]

Someone needs to make a synthwave music video bur use this computer to animate it.

[@TEK-Vectors]

I am thinking of adding an audio circuit to this computer😁

[@vbifusful]

Really amazing, especially for 1979!

[@LavaCreeperPeople]

cool

[@DrDanielHoward]

I remember using the Textronix in 1985 when I started my PhD and even earlier in 1983 doing my Masters degree both in computational mechanics/fluid dynamics/finite element methods. Don't forget we had nothing else. The green light was mesmerizing and it pierced the screen, it was very precise but drawing was slow. It was a wonderful experience that the kids these days who just pick up packages to code and draw never experienced as we did. We wrote all of our software in FORTRAN and used these sorts of tools to display results: streamlines, streaklines, velocity vectors etc.

[@eskwadrat]

It reminds me of HAL9000 screens presented in 2001 Space Odyssey. These must have been rendered using multiple vector terminals.

[@yyyyyeeeee4060]

Hey there! Would you be open to uploading the Option 30 demo programs to the Internet Archive?

[@TEK-Vectors]

My Option 30 demo programs are posted on my github repository for 65 Tektronix 4051/4052/4054 computer tapes I have recovered or created like BMP, Battlestar Galactica: github.com/mmcgraw74/Tektronix-4051-4052-4054-Program-Files/tree/master/4054_Opt_30_Demo2 Since the demo tape programs were saved in Tek 4050 BINARY, I also saved them in ASCII readable text in the ASCII Programs directory of the demo directory.

[@hambergerenjoyer5816]

its insane to see that such tech existed in the 70s, but I have a question, can it run doom? Or maybe the atari Tempest game? It looks similar on the screen as the atari quadrascan

[@TEK-Vectors]

I'm working on getting Atari Asteroids ported - see my work-in-progress video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b6rZn5mcls-joMU and I created a Battlestar Galactica "Cylon Attack" game: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eX3MkI2uhaupp6M

[@manusmcmanus9330]

Reminds me of a game called Mercenary( i think) or tau ceti,or tron etc.Something iconic about " vector space" would be great to have a modern game in vector space landscape or something.

[@UTUBMRBUZZ]

the demo really gives the TRON vibe....

[@suvetar]

This machine is an absolute beast and to think that it's in its 40's too!! Thank you so very much for sharing this with us, I feel privileged to have seen it in action!

[@wigwagstudios2474]

Now i wonder how this would SOUND. Could this be converted to audio?

[@TEK-Vectors]

Check out my latest Battlestar Galactica "Cylon Attack" game video for sound effects 😁

[@johnsmith1953x]

*Was this monitor used in some old mass spectrometer machines in the 1980s??* Varian?

[@TEK-Vectors]

Tektronix did OEM their monitors, so it could be possible. Check out the Tektronix 1983 Catalog - OEM Products section starting on page 117: archive.org/details/bitsavers_tektronixclog1983_247515583/page/n117/mode/2up

[@roystonlodge]

I have the opening theme from The Black Hole running in my head while watching some of these graphics demos. :-)

[@KanalFrump]

Is there any demos showing anything like gerber viewers? The storage tube would seem well suited for rendering such graphics, assuming you could make the fast vector storage effect act like a photoplotter with different size apertures.

[@TEK-Vectors]

I haven't seen an example of a gerber file like for a printed circuit board layout - but I have seen an IC Mask file from a Tektronix 4014 storage terminal. I imagine that IC Mask was designed on a minicomputer or mainframe and the 4014 with 19" storage tube and 4096x3072 vector resolution was used to quickly display the mask during design.

[@JamesSmith-ix5jd]

I like the interface, I mean the lack of it, it conveys that you are a professional and you already know what you are doing, it also look futuristic the blade runner vibes despite it being 50 years old.

[@TEK-Vectors]

I can't take credit for writing the Option 30 Demo - but I agree it is very professional. Tektronix 4050 computers targeted business, government and military customers - so the demo was designed to show off the Option 30 dynamic graphics to each of those potential customers at the launch of the 19-inch Tektronix 4054 and Option 30 in 1979. I successfully recovered all the files on the Option 30 Demo tape a year ago from the estate of a Tektronix Sales Engineer.

[@PlasmaNode]

Wow this is awesome

[@detaart]

I wonder, since this is still a CRT, can it suffer from burn-in as well?

[@TEK-Vectors]

Yes it is a CRT and yes it can suffer from burn-in - I actually caused some when I first got this computer running last year. All the Tektronix 4050 series vector graphics computers had storage-tube CRT displays that could burn-in the persistent image on the screen if left on for more than 15 minutes. So all these computers had automatic screen erase after 15 minutes of inactivity. I was debugging my program to draw Space Station file and kept the display active for over an hour by pressing the shift key and have found this caused a little burn-in.

[@detaart]

@@TEK-Vectors Thank you for explaining this. I was wondering about this, since the beam isn't scanning over the activated areas anymore, but the phosphor remains excited. I thought either, no burn-in because no electrons, or more burn-in, because the phosphor never decays like it would between scans in a normal CRT. Interesting stuff!

[@rman6746]

Very cool!

[@suvetar]

@Monty Hiya, just wanted to ask, if you don't mind, what are the running costs of a system like this? I was wondering what the options are to get something running like this in the UK? Would it need a significant mod for the PSU or is its voltage selector easy? Also interested in power consumption of that storage tube? Thank you once again for your work with these simply fabulous inventions - would that vector/storage tubes got the attention they clearly deserve!

[@TEK-Vectors]

The Tektronix 4054 computer consumes 360W according to the service manual. The AC input voltage is selected using a small card in the AC input connector to 90-110 volts, 108-132 volts, 198-242 volts, and 216-250 volts. I would imagine the storage tube may be half or less of the power.

[@TEK-Vectors]

I don't leave the 4054A running all the time.

[@GeorgesChannel]

Great video, Monty! Really enjoyed it. Very impressive for a storage tube computer. What would have your sydtem have cost in this configuration?

[@TEK-Vectors]

From a June 1983 Tektronix Catalog, my 4054A list price was $20,100, Option 01 Data Communication Interface $1400, 64KB RAM $290, Option 30 Dynamic Graphics $3315, Option 31 Color Enhanced Dynamic Graphics $5315 for a total of $30130. In 2022 dollars it would be $89684.75! according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Calculator: data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl

[@GeorgesChannel]

@@TEK-Vectors Thats a lot of money :)

[@TEK-Vectors]

@@GeorgesChannel The only fair comparison to the Tektronix 4054/4054A at that time would the Tektronix 4114A30 Desk Configuration that was just introduced in the June 1983 Tektronix catalog: 19" 4114A storage tube terminal installed in a desk ($21400) with 64KB RAM ($600), Option 31 Color Enhanced Refresh CRT ($2000). This version of the 4114A included a microcomputer (8086?) running CPM-86 and a Fortran 86 compiler. Total 1983 price $24000 - which would be $73279 in 2022. The older (1979) 4054 used a custom 16-bit bit-slice microprocessor design that included hardware floating point instructions and backwards compatibility to the Motorola 6800 which was used in the original 4051 computer introduced in 1975. The biggest tradeoff between the 4054A and 4114A would have been the extensive software available for the 4054A including customer programs versus writing new programs or recompiling customer Fortran programs.

[@GeorgesChannel]

@@TEK-Vectors You could also make a video about the prices of the systmes you mentioned. Its an interesting topic...

[@dondonMMD]

Imagine that, the Concorde jet and SR-71 even born 10 years earlier than this thing, how those engineers made it.

[@TEK-Vectors]

Both the SR-71 and Concorde were introduced in the 1960's about 10 years before the introduction of the Tektronix 4050 vector graphics computers. This wikipedia article en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcomp_plotter indicates the Calcomp 565 drum plotter was introduced in 1959 and was also marketed by IBM as its IBM 1627 plotter for use with its scientific computers 1620 and 1130. Another wikipedia article en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_CAD_software indicates the term "computer-aided design" was coined by an MIT researcher in 1959, and the first CAD software was introduced in the 1960's primarily targeting the automotive and aerospace industries. So both the SR-71 and Concorde jet designs could have used CAD in their designs. This article also indicates the MIT Sketchpad computer program was written by Ivan Sutherland in 1963 for his PhD thesis and was the first computer program to utilize a complete graphical user interface. The Tektronix 4050 vector graphics computers were true personal computer workstations with the entire CPU, vector graphics CRT, keyboard and tape drive for storing programs and data in a single enclosure. They could also be used as vector graphics terminals connected to mainframe or mini-computers like the earlier Tektronix 4010 series vector graphics terminals.

[@4wheelwarrior]

Wow, thanks for recovering that from tape and posting it! What an incredible display ...

[@shmehfleh3115]

Does that machine use anything like a penetron CRT? I've heard of old military radar displays that used two-color penetron tube displays to show orange, green, or any combination of the two depending on how intense the electron gun hit the phosphor surface.

[@TEK-Vectors]

I'm not familiar with the penetron CRT - but a quick look at the wikipedia article on penetron tells me there is some similarity with my Tektronix 4054A Option 31 Color Dynamic Vector Graphics. If I understand the penetron correctly - the writing beam must write all the vectors of one color at one energy level and then write all the other color vectors at a different energy level. Biggest difference I see in the penetron and this CRT is the green phosphor in this CRT is written once by a high energy writing gun and then is continuously illuminated by low energy flood guns near the face of the CRT - which is how all the Tektronix storage tubes work. The red phosphor in this CRT is being illuminated by the using the writing gun at a slightly lower energy (too low to energize the green phosphor), and it is refreshed 37 times a second by the Option 30 graphics coprocessor from a vector list in its memory. The writing gun is now only being used to write the 'red' vectors.

[@theears995]

I wonder if I can find an emulator for this system somewhere!

[@TEK-Vectors]

Yes, we have a Tektronix 4051 emulator that runs with Chrome web browser here: github.com/Twilight-Logic/Tek405xEmulator This emulator has Tektronix 4051 R12 and other option ROMs and includes support for my Tektronix 4050 GPIB Flash Drive which supports accessing a complete set of files I have posted in this zip file here: github.com/mmcgraw74/Tektronix-4051-4052-4054-Program-Files/blob/master/Flash_Drive latest zip file I have posted in that directory. Follow my instructions in this post to run the Pictures program folder in the 4051 Emulator since the Emulator supports only one directory at a time: forum.vcfed.org/index.php?threads/tek-405x-web-browser-emulator.62548/post-1265672 There are many other folders in that zip - however the Emulator can only run the programs for the 4051 - and cannot run the program in this video.

[@serqetry]

I need one of these so badly.

[@jakubkrcma]

❤❤❤

[@bloodmapedit]

Impressive! Wasn't this computer also used in Battlestar Galactica 1978?

[@TEK-Vectors]

Yes - the first generation Tektronix 4051 vector graphics computer (introduced in 1975) was used in Battlestar Galactica original TV series. See this 1978 TekWeek article 7vmc31.p3cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/BattlestarGalactica_TW_060291978.pdf Also see other movies and shows displaying Tektronix products here: vintagetek.org/tektronix-in-movies-shows/

[@MichaelKingsfordGray]

Another impressive demo, for the time.

[@abdelazizdaoui5257]

Türkçe altyazıyı koyan kişinin eline sağlık ö-ö-ö-ö-ö-ö-ö-ö-öptüm bayy, gö-gö-gö-gö-gö-gö-gö-gö-gömmdüm say

[@ismaelabdulwadud]

with red-green glasses you can even see the objects in 3d. really very impressive. super high resolution as in ultra hd. Thank you for this great video.👋

[@MohammedIrfan-eq2ix]

better place, I want to take tNice tutorials seriously and tryhard my way into tNice tutorials industry. The people who put in the most work are the most

[@Waffle4569]

How does the green persist if the beam isn't actively drawing it, but also able to be cleared at any time? I see it flashes the entire screen green while resetting, but how does the green fade fast on reset but not during normal operation?

[@TEK-Vectors]

Check out this Tektronix Tekniques newsletter article explaining how the vectors are stored on the CRT and how the write-thru or refresh vectors in "orange" work on my Option 31 Color Dynamic Graphics CRT starting on page 2 in the Tektronix Tekniques Vol 5 No 3 Summer/Fall 1981 issue: www.bitsavers.org/pdf/tektronix/tekniques/vol5/Tekniques_Vol_5_No_03.pdf