Inventor: Vladimir Zworykin

• Invented in 1923
• An early form of television camera tube in which an image is converted into electrical impulses

The invention of the iconoscope allowed the experimenter to imitate the human eye; it consists of a sheet with millions of light sensitive elemental capacitors that mimic the receptors of the human eye. When an image is projected, the capacitors of the iconoscope are charged at different degrees; this basically provides a sort of code that translates into a replication of the original image. The iconoscope was later replaced by other inventions, but it was important in that it had provided the first steps that led to the full development of early television cameras.

Picture from http://www2.fht-esslingen.de/telehistory/pics/ikonoskp.gif

Sources:
Schoch, Wolfgang. History of Telecommunications-Iconoscope. 9 April 2004. <http://www2.fht-esslingen.de/telehistory/ikonoskp.html>

• This site has good information and pictures of the iconoscope

Encarta. Msn Encarta Dictionary-Iconoscope. 9 April 2004. <http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861619919/iconoscope.html>

• This site gives a good overview of the iconoscope's history

Bellis, Mary. Vladimir Zworykin-Electronic Television System. 9 April 2004. <http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blzworykin.htm>

• This site gives good information about the inventor Vladimir Zworykin