cathode ray oscilloscope

cath·ode ray os·cil·lo·scope (CRO),

the common form of oscilloscope, in which a varying electrical signal (y) vertically deflects an electron beam impinging on a fluorescent screen, while some other function (x or time) deflects the beam horizontally; the result is a visual graph of y plotted against x or time with negligible distortion by inertia.