Image processing system for electron linac beam diagnosis

For diagnosis of electron linac beams, image signals from a TV camera viewing a ceramic screen monitor were processed and analyzed using a waveform digitizer and a personal computer. The black-and-white TV camera used has a zoom lens with a remote-controllable iris; the automatic gain control circuit was switched off to obtain tolerable linearity of the output video signal against the brightness of the beam spot on the screen. The video signals are taken by the waveform digitizer with a sampling rate of 4 MHz; the digitized picture is transmitted to the personal computer via the GPIB and is analyzed to derive spatial intensity distribution of the beam. The sync signal of the TV camera is externally synchronized with the electron linac beam timing