Implementing a 4000 meter HDTV camera system

Summary form only given, as follows. The video systems on MBARI´s Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs), Ventana and Tiburon, are the single most important data source. Real-time images are uplinked for scientific observation, used as data for post mission processing, and provide visual information for the pilots operating the vehicles. Advances in digital electronics and data compression algorithms combined with the United States Governments desire to remain competitive in the international television market has resulted in the approval in 1996 of a new television format, the Digital Television (DTV) standard, that provides a five times increase in video image resolution. The MBARI High Definition Television (HDTV) project is a development effort that is implementing this emerging technology on their ROVs. In order to use DTV 1920 X 1080 standard HDTV equipment on an ROV several technical problems had to be addressed. The major design challenges were uplinking the very high data rate video signal, maintaining the extremely high resolution imaging though the camera housing optical dome correction optics, and repackaging a commercially available camera for 4000 meter ocean depths. The development of the optical uplink for the 1.485 Gb/sec HDTV serial data was constrained by the requirement of having all camera related functions use a maximum of one optical fiber, which provides a direct link from the camera housing itself to the ship based ROV control room. The original camera image quality is preserved to the digital HDTV recorder by conforming to the SMPTE 292M digital video standard for the entire transport and recording system and remaining in the optical domain as much as possible. This is accomplished by placing the optical transceivers within the remote camera housing.