Early Television Camera Tube

[j.a.f.e.]

Analog broadcast television is a really complex technology and analog color broadcast even more so. It's really pretty cool if pretty much obsolete anymore. The Iconoscope tube was one of the first and probably the most used camera tube from about 1936 to about 1946 and it was all handmade by RCA.

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This is the lens side of the tube. The image is focused onto the plate.

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The opposite side of the image plate. An electron beam produced in the neck of the tube scans the plate.

[j.a.f.e.]

The primary replacement for the Iconoscope was the Image Orthicon tube developed and made by RCA. This was the main camera tube from the mid 40's to about the mid 60's. Most of the huge TV cameras you see in movies or TV shows about that era used these tubes. The tube is monochrome by in the 50's color television was developed using four of these tubes. The signal was split into four one for each tube. A color filter allowed one tube to get red light, one tube green light and one tube blue light. The fourth tube got an unfiltered image used for brightness. A three tube color signal was developed but four tube schemes were still produced.

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An Iconoscope an Image Orthicon and a later Vidicon tube. The Vidicon was usually used in four tube color.

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A Vidicon tube.

[skfarmer]

really interesting old school tech.

[Uncle Buck]

You don't see stuff like that anymore for sure!

[j.a.f.e.]

No you don't see it anymore. It was very cool tech, a lot of brilliant engineering and a lot of very clever manufacturing.

[Muddy]

Main reason for not making things like that is cost.