Abstract: The basic picture phone includes at least one input image intensifier having an image of a picture to be transmitted optically coupled to its input. An intensity amplified version of the image appears at the output of the input intensifier which is transmitted by a coherent fiber optic transmission line to at least one output image intensifier which intensity amplifies the transmitted image and reproduces the amplified transmitted image for presentation to an observer. Speech is converted to speech modulated light which is coupled to the input intensifier for intensity amplification, transmitted together with the transmitted image along the coherent fiber optic transmission line to the output intensifier for intensity amplification and then is converted back to speech for utilization. A monochromatic embodiment, a field sequential color embodiment and a simultaneous color embodiment are disclosed.