Mythbusters

[Johnny Pneumatic]

On the show Mythbusters they have a high speed digital video camera that runs at about 1,000 frames per second. Where do you get these kind of cameras and how much do they cost?

 

[BillC]

I couldn't find a price online, but these people sell high speed video cameras going to almost 5000 frames a second at 800x600 resolution! This site has some neat videos of high-speed action. Very handy for anyone who wants to build a tokamak in their back garden and then film it....

I guess the fact that no-one online was publishing prices for these cameras mean that buyers need to have very deep pockets.

 

[Ove]

As some of you know i work in the test lab at Bang & Olufsen (Hi fi and video high end products). We toyed with the idea of gettin such a camera some years ago but we couldn't justify the cost. I don't recall the exact price but it was in exess of 10000$.
We have one test called the "impact test" basically you swing a sack of lead shot (30Kg) into the front of a TV simulating a child tumbling, and we wanted to see how the glass broke but we discovered that we could do this reasonably well with a standard video camera.

 

[Iconoclast]

We have one test called the "impact test" basically you swing a sack of lead shot (30Kg) into the front of a TV simulating a child tumbling, and we wanted to see how the glass broke but we discovered that we could do this reasonably well with a standard video camera.

Wouldn't a strobe light and a high quality 35mm stills camera be a much cheaper and more reliable solution? This assumes that having all the frames superimposed does not get in the way of the analysis.

Ove, I've heard that if you can smash a TV screen dead on centre you can make the gun shoot out the front of the tube as it implodes. Have you ever seen this happen?

 

[Johnny Pneumatic]

I guess the fact that no-one online was publishing prices for these cameras mean that buyers need to have very deep pockets.

Hey thanks. I guess I'll put off buying one until I get my Graphic Arts major(I'm going to be a videographer/photographer) They'll be high resolution and dirt cheap in a few years probably. The way of high technology.

 

[teddygrahams]

Vertical resolution can be traded for higher frame rate in some slower/cheaper ($2000) cameras. You can also rent the camera.

But even if you do get the camera, you will still need something to capture the output, which will be a PC plug in card, which will also be $$$$$.

 

[Ove]

Ove, I've heard that if you can smash a TV screen dead on centre you can make the gun shoot out the front of the tube as it implodes. Have you ever seen this happen?

No fortunately not But i HAVE heard this story too. It is a violent thing when a picture tube implodes fortunately it very rarely happens theese days. Back in the 50's it was mandatory to have an extra glass plate in front of the picture tube because of this risk but theese days it isn't nescessary. I've seen many tubes "go" and what happens is that a small leak opens in the area of the neck, it goes pffffffffftt - and that's that. I believe it is designed with a deliberate weak spot so that this spot will open first, thus not letting the tube implode.

An amusing anecdote, there is one corridor in one of our factories that has been nicknamed "implosion alley". The story is that in the early 60's they recieved some picture tubes that was VERY prone to implode spontaneously during the first 14 days. All sets produced was parked in this corridor and left there for a month before being packed, or having the picture tube changed. They say that you can still find glass splinters in the ceiling over there.

 

[Ove]

Wouldn't a strobe light and a high quality 35mm stills camera be a much cheaper and more reliable solution? This assumes that having all the frames superimposed does not get in the way of the analysis.

I have done something similar with a digital camera, we have one that can shoot 6 pictures in a row and with a good flash i succeded in getting some good snaps. The 35mm idea i dont think will work because the sack swings back and will blur the picture. It has to be some sort of moving film.

 

[The Don]

No fortunately not But i HAVE heard this story too. It is a violent thing when a picture tube implodes fortunately it very rarely happens theese days. Back in the 50's it was mandatory to have an extra glass plate in front of the picture tube because of this risk but theese days it isn't nescessary. I've seen many tubes "go" and what happens is that a small leak opens in the area of the neck, it goes pffffffffftt - and that's that. I believe it is designed with a deliberate weak spot so that this spot will open first, thus not letting the tube implode.

An amusing anecdote, there is one corridor in one of our factories that has been nicknamed "implosion alley". The story is that in the early 60's they recieved some picture tubes that was VERY prone to implode spontaneously during the first 14 days. All sets produced was parked in this corridor and left there for a month before being packed, or having the picture tube changed. They say that you can still find glass splinters in the ceiling over there.

A long time ago I used to work for a TV tube maker (Mullard Colour Tubes, part of Phillips) and I ran a study into why there was a relatively high implosion rate in the machine which evacuated the tubes. I found out that the reason was due to the fact that the previous stage, where the gun is attached to the tube, was not being performed to specification. The tubes were being slung into the machine rather than being placed gently and the neck of the tube was being scratched.

I was going to recommend a change to the loading processes until it was pointed out that a 1% failure rate was better than a 30% drop in production. Ahhhhh, the callowness and stupidity of youth.

Walking around the machine waiting for tubes to implode ended up giving me a very mild case of shell shock. All the implosions were catastrophic.

 

[Crossbow]

On the show Mythbusters they have a high speed digital video camera that runs at about 1,000 frames per second. Where do you get these kind of cameras and how much do they cost?

How about this?

The unique SpeedCam Visario LT 400 High-Speed Video Camera from Weinberger shows itself to be absolutely unique. Its intelligent system supports recording rates of up to 4,000 frames per second and accurately captures the fastest of occurrences at a resolution of 768 x 512 pixel. High-Speed-Insight for a clearer vision.

www.weinbergervision.com