A form of television camera tube (see camera) in which the beam of light from the scene is focused on to a thin mica plate. One side of the plate is faced with a thin metallic electrode, the other side being coated with a mosaic of small globules of a photoemissive material. The light beam falling on the mosaic causes photoemission of electrons, creating a pattern of positive charges in what is effectively an array of tiny capacitors. A high-velocity electron beam scans the mosaic, discharging each capacitor in turn through the metallic electrode. The resulting current is fed to amplification circuits, the current from a particular section of the mosaic depending on the illumination it has received. In this way the optical information in the light beam is converted into an electrical signal.