Abstract: A system is provided for the high speed reading of an image formed on the CCD sensor where the useful zones are formed of bands parallel to one of the directions of the matrix, and separated from each other by a gap without useful video information, each band and each gap being formed of several scanning lines, the geometrical arrangement of the bands on the matrix being known beforehand. The lines of each gap are transferred in succession into the register and the corresponding noise signals are not taken into account. The lines of each band are also transferred in succession so as to provided, pixel by pixel, the video signals summated in analog form for the band considered. The system applies more particularly to multichannel recording systems with streak camera.

Abstract: The photonic sampler device increases the dynamics of analysis of the transients by increasing the number of samples, and comprises a recording tube formed so as to receive a single optical channel at the input. Thus, the photocathode is of reduced size. In addition, the fluorescent screen is coupled to a single detector strip which has a high number of cells and whose longitudinal axis corresponds to the scanning direction. The magnification of the tube is determined so as to be adapted to the dimensions of the detector cells. The light amplification obtained may easily reach 250 and the number of samples may for example be 1728.

Abstract: A precision and high-speed analogue-to-digital converter has two separate groups of comparators linked by an intermediate network comprising a digital-to-analogue converter made up of current generators which are controlled by the logical outputs from the first group of comparators. These outputs represent the higher-order bits of the digital equivalent of the analogue input signal which is transmitted to the second group of comparators via a delay line. The digital-to-analogue converter causes a change in the threshold voltages applied to the comparators in the second group, which supply the lower-order digits of the coded input signal. The linking network further comprises means to compensate for errors at the inputs of the second group of comparators due to variations in the biasing currents of its comparators and also in the setting of their thresholds.