A One-Tube Color Television Camera

This paper will describe a single-vidicon color television camera. This camera, shown in Fig. 1, was designed with the idea that it will eventually be used in the consumer home entertainment market. The basic requirements, therefore, are low cost, small size, high reliability, NTSC compatible, and requiring little or no technical skill to operate. It is fully automatic with the only operating control being the ON-OFF switch. A self contained electronic viewfinder is included to display what is being televised, as well as provide instant playback of signals recorded on a VTR. The output signal is a 1 VPP NTSC compatible video signal with a 75 ohm output impedance. A standard -65 dbm audio signal is also available on a separate output. The entire system is line operated and draws a total of 50 watts. The camera head (including viewfinder and 4:1 zoom lens) weighs 6.9 lbs. while the video processor unit weighs 8.8 lbs. The output video S/N ratio is better than 40 db for a normally lighted living room scene.