454

The Tektronix 454 can be seen as an improved 453. The bandwidth is 150MHz, compared to 50MHz for a 453. The 454 uses a CRT with distributed vertical deflection plates. Without distributed deflection plates, a CRT designer is forced to trade off deflection sensitivity for deflection speed. A CRT with low sensitivity requires a vertical amplifier with a large output swing. It is difficult to find transistors that have both large voltage swing and high speed. Most transistors with high Ft values also have quite low collector breakdown voltages. So the most practical solution was to use distributed deflection plates, and that is what Tektronix did. The 454 weighs 29 pounds and consumes about 130 watts. The 454 is the fastest general-purpose scope that Tektronix made that did not use proprietary hybrid circuits.