Television cameras convert light into electrical signals to produce high-quality images.
A television camera converts the image received through its lens into electrical signals containing the data necessary for the image to be reconstructed for broadcast. A TV camera repeatedly scans an image, then transmits these scans to its camera control unit to provide viewers with the illusion of fluid, continuous motion onscreen. While early television cameras were enormous devices that were difficult to transport, modern components are small and lightweight, allowing camera crews to easily shoot footage in any location with portable units.
Lens and Viewfinder
A TV camera's lens collects the white light reflected from the objects the camera's operator points it toward, which then passes on to the camera's beam splitter. Camera operators have a variety of lenses to choose from and may opt to use lenses with long focal length for close-up shots of distant objects, or short focal length lenses for wide-angle shots. The television camera's viewfinder serves as a tiny monitor for the camera operator, displaying the image being shot with the same visual quality that viewing audiences will see.
Beam Splitter
The beam splitter separates the white light entering through the lens into the primary colors of red, green and blue by passing the light through a collection of prisms. The light then passes on to the camera's three imaging devices, each of which processes one of the primary color beams.
Imaging Devices
Imaging devices are sensors that convert the light from the beam splitter into electrical signals. Modern TV cameras use CCD and CMOS sensors for signal conversion, both of which contain millions of pixels that convert information about the brightness and color of the light they receive into a specific electrical impulse. The aggregate information from the pixels contains the necessary data to reconstruct the complete image, and the more pixels within an imaging device, the sharper and brighter the image will be. The imaging devices then send each impulse to the production booth in the order they were scanned, ensuring an accurate reproduction of the original image.
Camera Control Unit
The camera control unit allows the operator to white-balance the camera, ensuring that contrast and brightness levels are optimal, and that colors are reproduced accurately. A production engineer at a studio's control room or remote production facility usually controls the CCU's functions, though camera operators may handle the CCU on occasion. Production crew can also control the camera remotely through the CCU, adjusting settings such as lens focus and zoom from the control room.
Tags: electrical signals, into electrical, into electrical signals, beam splitter, camera control unit, camera operator, control room