Introduction
This guide titled Video 101 was prepared by the request
of a handful of Sale Representatives for PULNiX America.
The request was brought to our attention at the 1992
National Sales Meeting in San Francisco, California.
This guide is intended for "New Comer's" to the video
world. Also to the new Rep's and Distributors who come
aboard with no prior knowledge of PULNiX video prod-
ucts.
This guide is designed to be "low tech." This does not
mean that a seasoned video GURU cannot used this
primer from time to time to refresh those memory banks.
Hopefully, this guide will open the doors for all you new-
comers to explore the exciting world of Video and Image
processing. If ever the time arises for the need to ask a
question regarding PULNiX products, please call our tech-
nical staff during normal business hours (8-5 Pacific time).
AND REMEMBER, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A
STUPID QUESTION WHEN TALKING TO OUR TECH
STAFF!
CCD (CHARGE COUPLED DEVICE)
The best place to start is probably the front end of the
video camera. The term CCD stands for Charge Coupled
Device. The CCD is a large scale integrated (LSI)
device. We will just call it an imager for short. In a nut-
shell this device has the ability to detect light charges
(photons) and convert this light into electrical charges.
The structure of the sensitive area (array) of the CCD is
that the light sensitive diodes (pixels) are positioned very
accurately in horizontal and vertical rows to make up what
we call a matrix array. The CCD array also contains shift
registers in the horizontal and vertical position. These
shift registers will shift out all of the charge levels for
every single pixel on the array. This process is not an
easy task. If you think about it, the current pixel element
size is 768 horizontal by 493 vertical for a CCD array
which equals 378,624 pixels. That's a lot of shifting.
TYPES OF CCD ARRAYS
PULNiX currently uses two types of CCD arrays in the
main product line up. They are the Frame Transfer and
Interline Transfer CCD types. The main difference
between the two types of arrays is the way the devices
shift out the current charge of pixels. The Interline
Transfer CCD first transfers the current element (pixel)
charges into vertical shift registers. Once the vertical shift
has taken place, the horizontal registers begin shifting out
into a horizontal shift register. This is where each hori-
zontal line of video begins its journey through the camer-
a's electronics to make it a RS-170 standard video signal.
By the way, RS-170 is the standard that makes the video
signal acceptable so that it will interface to various video
equipment such as a video monitor.
The second type of CCD is the Frame Transfer type. This
type of CCD transfers vertically within its own axis. This
means that the pixel area acts like a shift register itself.
You should notice that the frame transfer CCD has a stor-
age area where the electrical charge is temporarily stored
until it can be shifted out through the horizontal register.
Also, it should be noted that the position of the actual
(32 pages)
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