A few years ago AT&T teamed with NEC to develop a revolutionary new videophone. It incorporated a high quality Sony camera module and Sharp color LCD. Unfortunately this new videophone was not quite ready for "Prime-Time" and the brand new video phones and the Sony and Sharp components used in their design remained in sealed boxes in a remote warehouse. They are now available and might just be one of the components you need in that creative electronic project you are planning to develop.  Yes, Doctor Surplus himself, Barry pulled off the deal of the century to get these fine camera units into the hands of experimenters for an incredibly low price. Heck, for the modest price he is charging for the units, get a few extra for high-tek paper weights or fishing sinkers!

Let's get the unit working....I plugged the video output from the camera module into a Snappy connected to my laptop for a quick jpg in low resolution mode. You can see me holding a copy of a postcard from EIO. With a little work, I figured how to make the "fixed" lens adjustable. It has a screw adjustment on the barrel of the lens so the focus can be set closer or father away. At close focus, you can see the dial of my watch which is pretty good considering this Snappy image was taken in the low resolution mode.

The Sony color camera module is a very compact, two-board camera that measures 4" x 2.5" x 1.5". The top module contains a Sony color CCD image sensor and 6 Sony video processing chips to produce all the clock, pulse and signal processing functions. The CCD sensor has a resolution of 510 pixels x 492 lines and is mounted behing a miniature lens. The lens optics are fixed focus however the lens barrel can be removed and the "Lock-Tight", removed from the lens barrel and mating lens mount threads.  This will permit turning of the lens thus varying the focus. The normal factory focus is set at two meters or about six feet providing a depth of field from aproximately 1.5 feet to 9 feet.

The second module in the Sony camera provides all the power generation and video signal mixing which is required since the top module produces Y/U/V component video and Sync, something that cannot be feed to a normal monitor for viewing. It is connected to the mating CCD module by a small 12 pin connector with very flexible lines. This second module converts the Y/U/V and Sync signals into normal NTSC composite video, the standard throughout the United States which can easily be viewed by a conventional monitor. Unfortunately this second module is no longer available.  I looked into reproducing this second borad however determined that it was not cost effective that the value of the camera with out it is restricted to that of a Black and White unit.  Possibly some other hacker with a better solution or a different approach will prove me wrong.  I hope so but doubt it since the cost reduction would be like trying to build a TestaRosa for under a grand...NOT!

Shown on the left is the way I mounted the camera in a small project box with video and power leads out the side. However, I was fortunate enough to get one of the very few second boards for color conversion plus generate the appropriate power for the main board with the CCD.  Those purchasing the single front board with the lens and CCD will have to create their own way to get B&W video plus power to this board.  But, it may be simpler than you think.

Getting More Information.... I am including his pin-out of the jumper cable on the main board.  By uniquely combining the Y video and sync signal together with a couple of resistors it is possible to  produce a very good B & W video output. Believe me,  it does indeed work.  You can get the details on how to do this simply by following  the pin descriptions below.

VCN1- Pin Definition:
.
1. +15V   Analog power supply - 10mA                 7.  B-Y/V   Video Color Component #2
2. +5V    Digital power supply  - 140mA              8.  HDrive  Output: Horizontal Drive
3. -9V    Analog power supply - 10mA                 9.  VDrive  Output: Vertical Drive
4. GRND   Return path for ALL supplies and signals  10.  ??      Unknown - Color Balance?
5. LUMA   Output: Monochrome Video Component        11.  ??      Unknown - Color Balance?
6. R-Y/U  Output: Color Video Component #1          12.  CSYNC   Output: Composite Sync

It would be possible to used several different pl;ug-in wall transformers to obtain the +15, +5 and -9 VDC required to power the board camera.  Remember, since the second board is not available you must genereate these three voltages and feed them to pins 1, 2 and 3 along with ground.  My approach was a little different than trying to use three different wall transformers.  I simply  used three 9 vdc transistor batteries.  Since I plan to use the unit a lot, I purchased three re-chargeable 9 VDC batteries.  I tied two of the batteries together to produce +18 then used some simple regulators to generate the +15 and +5.  (Remember, use only one of the batteries to go from +9 to +5). My third battery was used to provide the -9VDC.  This results in a simple design and most of the parts can be picked up at any electronics store.  I told Barry, Doctor Surplus himself, that he should offer a kit with the battery snaps, regulators, a few caps,  RCA video plug, small circuit board and power on/off switch to make converting the unit a breeze.  Add a case and you have yourself one nice, portable Black and White camera unit! Hey, so what the heck, send Barry and EIO a little busness and buy a few of these units.  Remember there is only 296 more shopping Days till Christmas and these indeed make great stocking stuffers for your geek, electronic friends.  I certaily would prefer this over another pair of plad socks!

By Joe Valencic, Professor of Science and Technology