A Shared Memory Computer Display System

The display system discussed in this paper was implemented to provide a flexible test bed for man-machine interaction. The discussion includes both hardware and software design concepts, and concludes with an evaluation of the system based on operating experience. The two significant organizational features of the hardware are 1) the sharing of memory between a normal computer and a special picture computer (display device), together with 2) the capability of the latter to execute subroutines. The philosophy of design was that hardware should not limit the programmer's flexibility. This idea has been extended to utility software.