Fernseh KCP-40 FarbKamera

[BrianSummers]

Originally Posted by cbenham

In the late 1960s Ampex made a two tube color camera

Hi Cliff, do you recall the model number?

Brian Summers

[J Ballard]

Hi all-

The Fernseh design was interesting on many fronts. Yes, it was a Y R B camera that had to work with existing monochrome cabling in Europe, so the R/B channels were multiplexed on carriers on one coax. Later, in the KCK, triax and coax links could be used. I believe also that Fernseh was the first to have a fiber link option, but none were sold in the US.

Fernseh did not feel digital memory was relaible at the time, so the adjustment pots in the camera head were all motor driven. If power was lost, the pots didn't move.

The blue channel also featured a "mimifier" that reduced the scanning area that helped reduce lag.

On the downside, the camera produced a very pastel look. I don't recall what matrixing was available, but green was derived from the other channels. In the Quartercam cameras, Bosch went to a conventional RGB pickup design. Asked about the change, a Bosch engineer replied to me, "Well the colorimetry in the older cameras was not so good!"

The BBC must have been very critical of the Bosch colorimetry.

Bosch Fernseh cameras sold well into PBS stations and several OB companies in the US.

Regards,

J Ballard