Video Artifacts

Vidicon

Light changes the conductivity of a thin target layer. An electron beam scans the stored electrical pattern line by line, and the resulting current becomes the video signal. The target is therefore both a light-sensitive surface and a short-lived analogue memory.

Light writes a target pattern and an electron beam reads it Scene light enters from the left and reaches a signal plate and photoconductive target. An electron gun on the right scans the target through focusing and deflection coils. Target current leaves as video.01020304SCENE LIGHTFACEPLATESIGNAL PLATEPHOTOCONDUCTIVE TARGETFOCUS + DEFLECTIONELECTRON GUNVIDEO SIGNAL
  1. 01Optical faceFaceplate, signal plate, target surface
  2. 02Target storagePhotoconduction, capacitance, charge decay
  3. 03Beam & deflectionElectron gun, focus, raster geometry
  4. 04Tube outputSignal plate, capacitance, camera hand-off