Professional video camera
By the fifties, electronic miniaturization had progressed to the point where some monochrome cameras could operate standalone and even be handheld.
But the studio configuration remained, with the large cable bundle transmitting the signals back to the camera control unit (CCU).
The CCU in turn was used to align and operate the camera's functions, such as exposure, system timing, video and black levels.
The first color cameras (1950s in the US, early 1960s in Europe), notably the RCA TK-40/41 series, were much more complex with their three (and in some models four) pickup tubes, and their size and weight drastically increased.
The Ikegami HL-33,[1] the RCA TKP45[2] and the Thomson Microcam[3] were portable two piece color cameras introduced in the early 1970s.
Portable video tape production also enabled much faster turnaround time for the quick completion of news stories, compared to the need to chemically process film before it could be shown or edited.
At first all these cameras used tube-based sensors, but charge-coupled device (CCD) imagers came on the scene in the mid-80s, bringing numerous benefits.
The thick multi-core cables connecting the camera head to the CCU were replaced in the late seventies with triax connections, a slender video cable that carried multiple video signals, intercom audio, and control circuits, and could be run for a mile or more.
As the camera innards shrunk, the electronics no longer dictated the size of the enclosure, however the box shape remained, as it is necessary to hold the large studio lenses, teleprompters, electronic viewfinder (EVF), and other paraphernalia needed for studio and sports production.
Some high-end consumer cameras also do this, producing a higher-resolution image, with better color fidelity than is normally possible with just a single video pickup.
The CCU, along with genlock and other equipment, is installed in the central apparatus room (CAR) of the television studio.
These cameras have no recording ability on their own, and transmit their signals back to the broadcast truck through a fiber optic, triax, radio frequency or the virtually obsolete multicore cable.
These cameras are mounted on pan and tilt heads, and may be placed in a stationary position, such as atop a pole or tower, in a corner of a broadcast booth, or behind a basketball hoop.
They can also be placed on robotic dollies, at the end of camera booms and cranes, or "flown" in a cable supported harness, as shown in the illustration.
The sensor block and lens are separated from the rest of the camera electronics by a long thin multi conductor cable.
