In 1953 RCA introduced the TK-40 color television camera. It utilized three Image Orthicon tubes, one for each primary color (red, green, and blue), that allowed for the capture of color images.
Prior to 1950 television cameras can be categorized in four distinct stages: mechanical scanning systems, electronic scanning systems, the Iconoscope, and the Image Orthicon.
The first stage, mechanical scanning systems, emerged in the 1920’s. Charles Francis Jenkins, an American inventor, is credited with developing the first mechanical television system in 1923. He created a device called the “Radiovisor,” which used a rotating disk with holes arranged in a spiral pattern to scan an image. This early system, though primitive, paved the way for more advanced scanning methods. Around the same time, Scottish inventor John Logie Baird also developed a mechanical television system that transmitted images using a Nipkow disk, a mechanical scanning device. These mechanical systems, however, were limited in terms of image quality and resolution.
The second stage, electronic scanning systems, came into existence in the 1930’s. Philo Farnsworth, an American inventor, and Vladimir Zworykin, a Russian-born engineer, were the main pioneers in this field. Farnsworth invented the Image Dissector in 1927, a camera that used a photosensitive plate and an electron beam to scan and transmit images. The Image Dissector was first demonstrated in 1928, and it marked the beginning of electronic television. However, the Image Dissector suffered from low sensitivity to light, which limited its practical application.
Zworykin, on the other hand, had been working on his own electronic television system at Westinghouse Electric Corporation and later at RCA. In 1923, he filed a patent for the Iconoscope, an electronic camera tube that would eventually become the basis for modern television cameras. The Iconoscope, officially introduced in 1933, was an innovative design that used a photosensitive mosaic of millions of tiny photoelectric cells, which significantly improved image quality and resolution compared to previous mechanical systems. Zworykin’s Iconoscope was the first practical television camera, and it became the standard for the emerging television industry.
The third stage, the commercialization of television cameras, began in the late 1930’s. Major American networks such as NBC and CBS started using Iconoscope cameras for their broadcasts. In 1939, NBC, owned by RCA, launched its regular television broadcasting service, using the Iconoscope as the primary camera. CBS followed suit, starting its television broadcasting service in 1941.
The fourth stage, the development of the Image Orthicon, took place during World War II. The Image Orthicon was an improved version of the Iconoscope that addressed the sensitivity to light issue. RCA researchers Albert Rose and Paul Weimer developed the Image Orthicon in 1942, and it was first used in 1946. The Image Orthicon camera provided better image quality, higher resolution, and improved sensitivity to light. Consequently, the Image Orthicon soon replaced the Iconoscope as the camera of choice for American television networks.
Television cameras of the 1950’s can be delineated into three main segments: the adoption of the Image Orthicon, the introduction of color television, and the development of the Vidicon camera tube.
The first segment, the continued adoption of the Image Orthicon, extended from the late 1940s into the 1950s. As mentioned previously, the Image Orthicon, developed by RCA researchers Albert Rose and Paul Weimer in 1942, had been introduced in 1946. Throughout the early 1950s, this camera technology became the standard for American television networks such as NBC, CBS, and ABC, due to its superior image quality, resolution, and sensitivity to light compared to the preceding Iconoscope.
The second segment, the introduction of color television, initiated a new chapter in television camera technology. In 1950, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved a color television standard developed by CBS, which utilized a field-sequential color system. This system required a color wheel to be installed in front of the camera’s Image Orthicon tube, synchronizing the captured images with the rotating color filters. However, the CBS color system was incompatible with existing black-and-white television sets, which hindered its widespread adoption.
In response to the limitations of the CBS color system, RCA developed a compatible color television system known as the “dot-sequential” or “shadow-mask” method. In 1953, the FCC adopted the RCA-developed National Television System Committee (NTSC) color standard, which enabled both monochrome and color television broadcasts to be received by the same television sets. This marked the beginning of the transition from black-and-white to color broadcasting in the United States.
To accommodate the new NTSC color standard, RCA introduced the TK-40 and TK-41 color television cameras in 1953 and 1954, respectively. These cameras employed three Image Orthicon tubes, one for each primary color (red, green, and blue), which allowed for the simultaneous capture of color images. NBC, an RCA-owned network, became the first to use the TK-40 and TK-41 cameras for color broadcasts, starting with the “Colgate Comedy Hour” in November 1953. Other major networks, such as CBS and ABC, soon followed suit, adopting these cameras for their color television productions.
The third segment, the development of the Vidicon camera tube, emerged in the late 1950s as an alternative to the Image Orthicon. In 1950, RCA engineer Peter Willard introduced the Vidicon, a camera tube that used a photoconductive layer made of selenium or lead oxide to detect light. The Vidicon was smaller, more affordable, and required less maintenance than the Image Orthicon, making it an attractive option for television networks. However, its image quality and sensitivity to light were inferior to those of the Image Orthicon.
Despite its limitations, the Vidicon gained popularity in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, particularly for applications requiring compact and portable camera systems, such as remote broadcasts and news reporting. While the Image Orthicon remained the preferred choice for high-quality studio productions, the Vidicon represented a technological advancement that would eventually pave the way for the development of solid-state cameras in the 1960’s and 1970’s.
The 1960’s can be divided into three main segments: the evolution of Vidicon camera tubes, the advent of the Plumbicon, and the emergence of solid-state cameras.
The first segment, the evolution of Vidicon camera tubes, commenced in the early 1960s. As mentioned previously, the Vidicon was introduced by RCA engineer Peter Willard in 1950, and it gained popularity due to its compact size, affordability, and reduced maintenance requirements compared to the Image Orthicon. By the 1960’s, Vidicon technology had evolved to include advancements such as the Silicon Intensified Target (SIT) Vidicon and the Saticon. These improved Vidicons offered higher image quality and light sensitivity, making them increasingly attractive to major American networks, such as NBC, CBS, and ABC, for applications in remote broadcasts and news reporting.
The second segment, the advent of the Plumbicon, introduced a new camera tube that would become the preferred choice for television studio productions. In 1963, Dutch electronics company Philips introduced the Plumbicon, a camera tube that used a lead oxide photoconductive target. The Plumbicon offered several advantages over the Vidicon, including superior image quality, higher light sensitivity, and reduced lag, which made it well-suited for studio applications. The Plumbicon quickly gained popularity in the television industry, and by the late 1960’s, it had become the dominant camera tube for studio production among major American networks.
One notable Plumbicon-based camera was the Norelco PC-70, introduced by Philips in the United States in 1965. The PC-70 was a color camera that employed three Plumbicon tubes, one for each primary color (red, green, and blue), and offered superior performance compared to its Image Orthicon and Vidicon counterparts. The PC-70 saw widespread adoption by American networks, and it played a crucial role in the transition from black-and-white to color television during the 1960’s.
The third segment, the emergence of solid-state cameras, marked the beginning of a new era in television camera technology. In the late 1960’s, researchers began exploring the potential of solid-state imaging devices, such as charge-coupled devices (CCDs) and metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) sensors, for television cameras. These devices promised several advantages over camera tubes, including increased durability, reduced size and weight, and improved image quality. Although solid-state cameras did not see widespread adoption by major American networks until the 1970s, their development during the 1960’s laid the groundwork for the transition from camera tubes to solid-state imaging in the years to come.
Television camera technology in the 1970’s can be divided into three main segments: the rise of solid-state cameras, the advent of ENG systems, and the evolution of color television cameras.
The first segment, the rise of solid-state cameras, was spurred by the development of charge-coupled devices (CCDs) and metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) sensors in the late 1960’s. These solid-state imaging devices offered several advantages over camera tubes, such as increased durability, reduced size and weight, and improved image quality. During the 1970’s, major American networks, including NBC, CBS, and ABC, began transitioning from camera tubes to solid-state cameras for their studio productions, remote broadcasts, and news reporting.
One of the earliest solid-state cameras was the RCA TK-44, introduced in 1972. The TK-44 was a color camera that utilized CCDs, offering improved performance over earlier Plumbicon-based cameras. The TK-44 was quickly adopted by American networks, setting the stage for the widespread use of solid-state cameras in the television industry. Throughout the 1970s, other manufacturers, such as Philips, Sony, and JVC, introduced their own solid-state cameras, further accelerating the transition from camera tubes to solid-state imaging devices.
The second segment, the advent of ENG systems, revolutionized television news gathering and remote broadcasting. ENG systems emerged in the early 1970’s, combining portable solid-state cameras with portable videotape recorders, allowing for the efficient capture and transmission of video content in the field. These systems offered a significant improvement over the earlier film-based news gathering methods, which required film processing and editing before the content could be broadcast. The development of ENG systems enabled American networks to cover news events more quickly and extensively, transforming the way television news was produced and consumed.
The third segment, the evolution of color television cameras, saw refinements in color reproduction, image quality, and camera functionality. Throughout the 1970’s, camera manufacturers introduced innovations such as automatic white balance, improved color processing, and advanced lens systems. These advancements led to the development of cameras with more accurate color reproduction, higher resolution, and greater versatility in a variety of shooting conditions.
One notable camera from this era was the Ikegami HL-33, introduced in 1974. The HL-33 was a portable color camera that utilized MOS sensors and featured a compact, lightweight design. This camera became popular among American networks for its portability and image quality, contributing to the growing prevalence of solid-state cameras in television production.
The period between 1980 and 1995 marked a time of significant technological advancements in television camera technology, characterized by the emergence of high-definition television (HDTV), the development of camcorders, and the refinement of camera components and features.
HDTV signaled a new era in television camera technology. During the early 1980’s, research into high-definition television systems began to gain momentum, driven by the pursuit of superior image quality and resolution. In 1981, Japan’s public broadcaster, NHK, introduced the first HDTV system, which utilized a 1125-line resolution, significantly higher than the 525-line resolution of the NTSC standard used in the United States. The emergence of HDTV spurred the development of new camera technologies capable of capturing high-resolution images.
Throughout the 1980’s and early 1990’s, major American networks, including NBC, CBS, and ABC, began testing and adopting HDTV systems, necessitating the use of high-definition cameras. In 1984, Sony introduced the HDC-100, one of the first high-definition cameras, which utilized CCD sensors and featured a resolution of 1125 lines. As HDTV gained traction, other manufacturers, such as Thomson and Philips, also introduced high-definition cameras, further driving the transition to high-definition television production.
The proliferation of camcorders witnessed the integration of television camera and video recording technologies. In the early 1980s, manufacturers such as Sony and JVC introduced the first camcorders, which combined a solid-state camera with a portable videotape recorder. These camcorders offered significant improvements in portability, convenience, and affordability compared to separate camera and recording systems.
The emergence of camcorders revolutionized television news gathering, remote broadcasting, and video production, as they enabled greater mobility and efficiency in capturing video content. Major American networks embraced camcorder technology for various applications, further diversifying the range of cameras used in television production.
The evolution of camera components and features, saw continuous improvements in image quality, color reproduction, and camera functionality. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, camera manufacturers introduced innovations such as advanced CCD sensors, which offered better light sensitivity and image quality, and sophisticated digital signal processing, which improved color accuracy and noise reduction.
In addition, cameras began incorporating advanced features, such as image stabilization, autofocus, and automatic exposure control, enhancing their versatility and ease of use.
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