A scan-conversion tube utilizing fiber-optics photon transfer

Scan-conversion tubes utilizing fiber-optics photon transfer (FOPT) are currently being developed by the Westinghouse Electric Corporation under contract from the United States Army Electronics Research and Development Laboratory. The tubes consist of three major components: a reading electron gun, a writing electron gun and an interjacent scan-conversion target. The targets consist of a fiber-optics disc coated on one side with a phosphor and on the other with a photoconductor, the reading gun is similar to the low velocity gun of a vidicon and the writing gun is a high velocity cathode-ray tube gun. The majority of targets tested have incorporated a long storage Permachon type photoconductor and a short persistence phosphor; however, other photoconductors and phosphors can be used to perform a variety of video conversions and/or signal enhancements. Operation of these scan-conversion tubes requires only the circuitry normally associated with the driving of a cathode-ray tube and a vidicon; no RF or other type of cancelling circuitry is required to separate the written and read-out signals.