An Experimental Telecine Using a Line-Array CCD Sensor

Abstract

Conventional telecine equipment uses either camera tubes or flying-spot cathode-ray tubes to analyze the film image. Both methods can produce excellent results but suffer from a number of basic problems. Electron beam deflection and focusing always involves some compromises with uniformity of focus and other aberrations of the scanning spot, and both camera tubes and flying spot tubes introduce other signal distortions such as image lag and afterglow effects. A slow deterioration of performance is also inevitable as tubes age and regular replacement and realignment is necessary. With the advent of CCD (charge-coupled-device) technology and its application to solid-state image sensors, it is now possible to consider using such sensors for scanning film to produce pictures of full broadcast standard. This paper describes the progress that has been made towards achieving an all-solid-state telecine. The stage has now been reached where it is possible to produce excellent quality 625-line, 50-fields/s monochrome pictures with a 1024-element array, and color operation is being implemented.