In older video cameras, before the 1990s, a video camera tube or pickup tube was used instead of a charge-coupled device (CCD). Several types were in use from the 1930s to the 1980s. These tubes are a type of cathode ray tube. Some clarification of terminology is in order. Any vacuum tube which operates using a focused beam of electrons is called a cathode ray tube or CRT. However, in the popular lexicon CRT is usually used to refer to the type of tube used as a television or computer monitor pi… (More on Vidicon)