There are a couple key differences between the delay line memory and the dynamic random access memory. The first key difference is how the devices worked. Delay line memory works on the concept of taking an electrical singal and then transducing it into a medium, like mercury or a wire. A mechanical wave would travel through the medium and when it reached the end of the medium, it would transduce back into an electrical singal. There could be many signals that travel through the medium at the same time, but to retrieve any of them one would have to wait until the singals reached until the end of the medium. The dynamic random access memory worked on a different, much simpler concept. The electrical signal would be stored as a bit, in a separate capacitor within an integraded circuit.
The second difference, as already mentioned, is what the devices are made of. Delay line memory had a medium through which it passed which consisted of mercury, magnetostrictive material, or piezoelectric material. Dynamic random access memory consisted of simply a large number of capasitors in an integrated circuit. DRAM memory takes up a lot less space, and it also be used at higher speeds than DLM. DRAM is the type of memory that is most widely used today in devices that require storing data for a short period of time without having to save it for a long time. In the world of today DRAM is used many places which include computers and video game systems.
