Acoustooptic light deflectors are finding their way into a wider range of applications by offering a viable means for fast and accurate beam scanning with sufficient resolution to make them very attractive for such applications as TV recording, laser-addressed light valves, large-bandwidth facsimile systems, and flying spot scanners and displays. There are a variety of materials available for light deflection, among these being Paratellurite (TeO2), which, by exploiting its birefringence to circularly polarized light, has emerged as a most attractive acoustooptic material for laser scanning in the visible range. Its high figure of merit (M2 = 525) and anomalously low shear wave velocity (vs = 0.0617 × 105 cm/sec) make possible light-deflector designs which offer high resolution and efficiency. The anisotropic Paratellurite also offers a substantially expanded angular range over which Bragg interaction can take place thus allowing operation deeper into the Bragg regime. For example, an anisotropic Paratellurite deflector with a 0.225-cm interaction length can achieve 70% deflection efficiency with 40 mW of rf drive power and is capable of 525 linearly resolvable spots with a 0.5-cm optical aperture. The assets and liabilities of using this material for light deflection are discussed in detail.