Systems and components for detecting electromagnetic radiation and displaying images produced thereby

Claim 1

A system for detecting electromagnetic radiation and displaying images produced thereby, comprising: a first housing; imaging means associated with said first housing to provide an image of an object; a first base element rotatably mounted inside said first housing in substantial coaxiality with said imaging means; at least one first array of mutually spaced input elements located on, and rotatable together with, said first base element, said input elements, when rotating, collectively defining an image surface onto which surface image is disposed; means for imparting to said first base element a continuous rotary movement whereby said array of input elements rotating together with said first base element is made to scan image points of said image, each scanned image point being converted into a video signal; a plurality of video signal transmission means leading through first converter means via coupling means to at least one output terminal for connection to image recording and/or displaying means, and further comprising: a second housing; a second base element rotatably mounted in said second housing; at least one input terminal for connecting to a source of video signals; at least one second array of mutually spaced output elements located on, and rotatable together with, said second base element; a plurality of signal transmission means feeding said signals through second converter means via coupling means from said input terminal to said array of output elements; means for imparting to said second base element a continuous rotary movement, whereby said output elements, adapted to convert said video signals into lights signals, rotating together with said base element and responding to said signals, create the impression of a continuous output image, and connecting means for connecting said output terminal to said input terminal, characterized in that: said first and said second housing are positionally independent of one another, being connected via cable means attachable to said output terminal on the one hand and said input terminal on the other; said first array comprises a plurality of N input elements and said first converter means is a parallel-to-serial converter comprising N input channels and M output channels; said output terminal and said input terminal provide connection for M channels; said second converter means is a serial-to-parallel converter comprising M input channels and N output channels, wherein N>>M; and further characterized in that the spacing of said output elements in said second array is larger than the spacing of said input elements in said first array, whereby said output image is rendered larger than the input image as provided by said imaging means.

Claim 2

A system for detecting electromagnetic radiation and displaying images produced thereby, comprising: a first housing; imaging means associated with said first housing to provide an image of an object; a first base element rotatably mounted inside said first housing in substantial coaxiality with said imaging means; at least one first array of mutually spaced input elements located on, and rotatable together with, said first base element, said input elements, when rotating, collectively defining an image surface onto which surface image is disposed; means for imparting to said first base element a continuous rotary movement whereby said array of input elements rotating together with said first base element is made to scan image points of said image, each scanned image point being converted into a video signal; a plurality of video signal transmission means leading through first converter means via coupling means to at least one output terminal for connection to image recording and/or displaying means, and further comprising: a second housing; a second base element rotatably mounted in said second housing; at least one input terminal for connecting to a source of video signals; at least one second array of mutually spaced output elements located on, and rotatable together with, said second base element; a plurality of signal transmission means feeding said signals through second converter means via coupling means from said input terminal to said array of output elements; means for imparting to said second base element a continuous rotary movement, whereby said output elements, adapted to convert said video signals into lights signals, rotating together with said base element and responding to said signals, create the impression of a continuous output image, and connecting means for connecting said output terminal to said input terminal, characterized in that: said first and said second housing are positionally independent of one another, being connected via cable means attachable to said output terminal on the one hand and said input terminal on the other; said first array comprises a plurality of N input elements and said first converter means is a parallel-to-serial converter comprising N input channels and M output channels; said output terminal and said input terminal provide connection for M channels; said second converter means is a serial-to-parallel converter comprising M input channels and N output channels, wherein N>>M; and further characterized in that the spacing of said output elements in said second array is larger than the spacing of said input elements in said first array, whereby said output image is rendered larger than the input image as provided by said imaging means.