Williams Tube in case, c. 1950.

Made:
1945-1955 in England and Manchester
maker:
Ferranti Limited
Refurbished single Williams tube storage unit from a Ferranti

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Refurbished single Williams tube storage unit from a Ferranti
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Refurbished single Williams' tube storage unit from a Ferranti Mark 1 computer

Refurbished single Williams tube storage unit from a Ferranti Mark I computer. The Williams Tube is a memory device for storing digital information in computers. The device is named after F. C. Williams (1911-1977) who developed it in Manchester towards the end of World War II. Information is stored as an electrostatic charge held by the phosphor coating on the screen which glows when struck by electrons. The pattern of charges is continuously refreshed and represents the digital information being stored.

Details

Category:
Computing & Data Processing
Object Number:
1974-408
type:
memory devices
credit:
Leicester Museums and Art Gallery