New to my vintage broadcasting collection, an early 1980's Philips 1" Diode-Gun Plumbicon tube, type XQ2075/02R, an extended-red channel lead-oxide video pickup tube.
Plumbicons were a staple in the broadcasting industry from their introduction in 1965 all the way through the early to mid 1990's. Created by the Dutch company, N.V Philips, it was an evolution of RCA's Vidicon charge-storage pickup tube, created in the 1950's as a cheaper alternative to the large and expensive Image Orthicon tube. Using a photo-conductive imaging target made of lead-oxide, the Plumbicon revolutionized color television upon its introduction. It's colorimetry proved superior to the IO tube, and was vastly cheaper to produce, though early tubes suffered from picture instability due to difficulties in producing stable targets. Plumbicons were fickle in manufacturing, and sometimes suffered from "holes and blemishes" appearing during the operational life of the tube, which would often require them to be replaced.
During the heyday of the Plumbicon, the design was gradually evolved to meet performance improvements in resolution, and mitigation of undesirable traits, a-la, lag, burn-in, and comet-tailing from bright lights. Early tubes were integral mesh targets, but soon separate mesh targets came into the loop, allowing higher beam current reserves to mitigate comet-tails. In the early 1970's, tubes with "Anti Comet-Tail Guns" (ACT) allowed dynamic beam circuits in the cameras to flood-discharge the tube during the beam fly-back cycle, improving picture quality. Bias-lighting introduced on cameras improved sensitivity, and minimized input/decay lag.
In 1980, the Diode-Gun Plumbicon was introduced, followed by the Low Output Capacitance Diode-Gun type. In both cases, positive voltage applied to G1 (Grid 1), in respect to the tube's cathode, produced an electron beam that was finer and "cooler", improving resolution, and offering higher beam reserves to minimize comet-tailing and lag. Low Output Capacitance (LOC) type tubes have the imaging target capacitance reduced to ground, improving noise artifacts, especially in high contrast scenery.
These tubes, along with the rival Saticon type, were supplanted by solid state CCD and much later, CMOS type imaging sensors, beginning in the late 1980's. While early chip cameras were vastly inferior to tubes, the second generation of CCD's spelled the end of the vacuum tube in the imaging pickup of cameras; with their virtually burn-proof operation, superior colorimetry, and drastically low power consumption, they relegated tubes to history.
Plumbicons were a staple in the broadcasting industry from their introduction in 1965 all the way through the early to mid 1990's. Created by the Dutch company, N.V Philips, it was an evolution of RCA's Vidicon charge-storage pickup tube, created in the 1950's as a cheaper alternative to the large and expensive Image Orthicon tube. Using a photo-conductive imaging target made of lead-oxide, the Plumbicon revolutionized color television upon its introduction. It's colorimetry proved superior to the IO tube, and was vastly cheaper to produce, though early tubes suffered from picture instability due to difficulties in producing stable targets. Plumbicons were fickle in manufacturing, and sometimes suffered from "holes and blemishes" appearing during the operational life of the tube, which would often require them to be replaced.
During the heyday of the Plumbicon, the design was gradually evolved to meet performance improvements in resolution, and mitigation of undesirable traits, a-la, lag, burn-in, and comet-tailing from bright lights. Early tubes were integral mesh targets, but soon separate mesh targets came into the loop, allowing higher beam current reserves to mitigate comet-tails. In the early 1970's, tubes with "Anti Comet-Tail Guns" (ACT) allowed dynamic beam circuits in the cameras to flood-discharge the tube during the beam fly-back cycle, improving picture quality. Bias-lighting introduced on cameras improved sensitivity, and minimized input/decay lag.
In 1980, the Diode-Gun Plumbicon was introduced, followed by the Low Output Capacitance Diode-Gun type. In both cases, positive voltage applied to G1 (Grid 1), in respect to the tube's cathode, produced an electron beam that was finer and "cooler", improving resolution, and offering higher beam reserves to minimize comet-tailing and lag. Low Output Capacitance (LOC) type tubes have the imaging target capacitance reduced to ground, improving noise artifacts, especially in high contrast scenery.
These tubes, along with the rival Saticon type, were supplanted by solid state CCD and much later, CMOS type imaging sensors, beginning in the late 1980's. While early chip cameras were vastly inferior to tubes, the second generation of CCD's spelled the end of the vacuum tube in the imaging pickup of cameras; with their virtually burn-proof operation, superior colorimetry, and drastically low power consumption, they relegated tubes to history.
Category All / All
Species Unspecified / Any
Gender Any
Size 1280 x 847px
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