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What was inside an old retro camera for TV?
From the 1940s, broadcast cameras used camera tubes, until CCD sensors gradually replaced them from the late 1970s. Each tube had a target that the picture formed on. This guide looks at three well documented families: the image orthicon, the vidicon and the plumbicon.
What was the image orthicon?
The Museum of the Broadcast Television Camera explains that the image orthicon was developed at RCA by Rose, Weimer and Law, whose paper on it was presented in January 1946. It was popular from 1946 until well into the 1970s.
The museum describes the image orthicon tube as large, with many controls to adjust, which made the cameras large and complex too. It says that by the late 1950s the cameras were stable and reliable in use. The tubes had a known weakness: if the camera stayed on a still image, that image could “stick” on the tube. Cameras gained a device called an image orbiter to deal with this, and in 1964 EEV introduced its Elcon target, which the museum says virtually eliminated sticking.
How did the vidicon change things?
The Zahi Hakim Museum at the Lebanese American University, which holds a collection of camera tubes, describes the vidicon as an RCA development from the early 1950s. It was simpler and cheaper, and its smaller size made cameras smaller too. The museum also credits it with making three tube colour cameras possible. It says vidicons were made with 1 inch, 2/3 inch or 1/2 inch targets, and that 2/3 inch was the most common.
Why was the plumbicon prized for colour TV?
Philips introduced the plumbicon in the early 1960s. According to the Zahi Hakim Museum, its target was made of lead oxide, and it offered high definition, a better signal to noise ratio, low lag and less trailing from bright spots in the picture. The museum says plumbicons were offered with 1 inch or 2/3 inch targets.
When did tube cameras disappear?
The Zahi Hakim Museum says CCD sensors began replacing camera tubes from the late 1970s. That is why the tube camera look now belongs to a particular era of television.
Questions people ask
What types of old TV camera tube does this guide cover?
The image orthicon, the vidicon and the plumbicon.
What does “sticking” mean on an old TV camera?
The Museum of the Broadcast Television Camera describes it as a still image staying on an image orthicon tube. An image orbiter and, later, EEV’s Elcon target were used to deal with it.
When were tube cameras replaced?
From the late 1970s, by CCD sensors, according to the Zahi Hakim Museum.
Where Retro CRT Camera helps, and where it does not
Retro CRT Camera is our Android retro camera app. It draws a live old TV camera look on your phone’s camera, inspired by 1950s and 60s broadcast gear: bright lights glow, the Orthicon looks add a dark halo round them, and the picture sits on curved glass with scan lines. You can take full size photos or record short clips, and add an old style caption. The Orthicon Soft and Vidicon Studio looks are free. A one time Pro unlock adds the Orthicon News, Plumbicon, 70s Colour Studio, Quiz CRT, CCTV Vidicon, Amber Monitor and Kinescope looks, more captions and longer clips. It works offline.
What it is good for: fun, quick shots with a vintage broadcast feel on your phone’s live camera view.
What it will not do: the looks are named after and inspired by tube cameras, but they are effects on a modern phone camera, so they will not reproduce any real tube exactly. If you need an authentic tube camera for a film or restoration project, talk to a broadcast camera collector or museum.
Questions or bugs: Email us.
Sources
- Image Orthicon tubesMuseum of the Broadcast Television Camera tvcameramuseum.org
- Lebanese American University, Vidicons and PlumbiconsZahi Hakim Museum medicine.lau.edu.lb