All-solid-state camera for the 525-line television format

Abstract

A charge-coupled image sensor of the vertical frame transfer type has been fabricated with three-phase three-level polysilicon electrodes. The device has 496 vertically interlaced rows of elements and 475 resolution elements/line. The imaging area, measuring 12.8/spl times/9.6 mm/SUP 2/, corresponds to that of a 1-in vidicon. Defect-free devices have not yet been fabricated, but with an appropriate effort such devices seem feasible. The device is operated in a self-contained camera, measuring 6/spl times/6/spl times/15 cm, containing the countdown circuitry, and implemented with commercially available TTL. The clock line drivers are built with discrete transistors. The camera produces a suitably filtered black-and-white video signal in the standard 525-line television format, which includes the necessary blanking periods and synchronization signals. Large-scale integration (LSI) of these circuits could readily lead to a camera which could be smaller by more than a factor of two.