We describe a photon‐counting readout system for microchannel‐plate spectrometers that uses a delay line and timing circuit for the wavelength coordinate and a wedge–wedge charge division system for the orthogonal spatial coordinate. A novel zigzag layout allows these two anode patterns to coexist on a common planar substrate and share the charge from each photoevent, thereby simultaneously localizing the photon in each of its two dimensions. Unlike wedge‐and‐strip or resistive anode encoders, the delay line offers a spatial resolution that is relatively independent of the format length. Unlike discrete anode systems, the delay line readout system’s complexity is also independent of the field of view size. These facts make the delay line readout system advantageous in large format detectors. We have assembled a testbed detector having a delay line propagation speed of 2.2 mm/ns and a time resolution of 33 ps FWHM. Ultraviolet testing shows a Gaussian event distribution having a 70 &mgr;m FWHM width; the readout system blur contribution is less than 50 &mgr;m FWHM.