Operation
Within the iconoscope, an image was projected onto a plate containing a mosaic of electrically isolated photosensitive granules separated from a common plate by a thin layer of isolating material, each granule constituting a tiny capacitor with the common plate that accumulated and stored electrical charge in response to the light striking it. Emission of photoelectrons from each granule in proportion to the amount of light received resulted in a charge image being formed on the mosaic. An electron beam was then swept across the image plate from an electron gun, effectively scanning the stored image and discharging each capacitor in turn such that the electrical output from each capacitor was proportional to the average intensity of the light striking it between each discharge event. The accumulation and storage of photoelectric charges during each scanning cycle greatly increased the electrical output of the iconoscope relative to non-storage type image scanning devices. In the 1931 version, the electron beam scanned the granules; while in the 1925 version, the electron beam scanned the back of the image plate.
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