Primitive television systems used a "flying spot." A thin beam of light scanned the scene, and its reflected brightness as it crossed light and dark areas was turned by a photosensitive cell into an electrical signal. Changed back into light, the signal produced an image that bore a vague resemblance to the original scene.
Such a system had many failings, most of which came from the clumsiness of the mechanical moving parts. They were replaced by the modern television camera tube, which has no moving parts except a beam of quickly obedient electrons. But the flying spot did not die entirely. Last...
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