Multi-image television camera

Claim 1

A multi-image television camera comprising optical means for projecting a plurality of optical images of a subject of transmission on to an optical image-receiving member of a cathode-ray camera tube, so that said images are adjacent to one another, said cathode-ray camera tube having a means for producing a single cathode-ray beam; scanning means for causing the single cathode-ray of said tube to scan at a given frequency a plurality of different electrical images corresponding to said optical images in similar line rasters; interrupting means for interrupting said beam during scanning at an interrupting frequency which is high in relation to said given frequency; and waveform, means for deflecting said beam at a frequency corelated with said interruption frequency, between said electrical images whereby, although said electrical images are similarly scanned in lines, output video signals which occur successively in time are developed from points in different electrical images; and wherein said scanning means comprise means for deflecting the cathode-ray beam in the field deflection direction, the last-said means producing a sawtooth waveform of an amplitude suited to the height of any one of the plurality of images, and said deflecting means comprises means for superimposing a shift field deflection waveform on said sawtooth waveform said shift field deflection waveform having a frequency high in relation to line deflection frequency and having a plurality of discrete values, one for each of the said electrical images whereby said cathode-ray beam is caused to shift between corresponding points on the said electrical images during line scans; and said interrupting means comprise means for interrupting the cathode-ray beam during transitions between the discrete values output signal is obtained in which succeeding elements of which are derived from each of the plurality of electrical images in turn.