In a raster scan system, the electron beam scans across rows of the screen from top to bottom, turning intensity on and off to illuminate spots and form an image. The image definition is stored in a refresh buffer memory that holds intensity values for screen points. In a random scan system, an application and graphics package are stored in memory, and graphics commands are translated into a display file that a display processor accesses to refresh the screen. Graphics patterns are drawn by directing the electron beam along picture lines one at a time, positioning it between coordinate-defined endpoints to fill each line.