An electron tube having a light-sensitive receptor that converts an optical image into an electrical television video signal. The tube is used in a television camera to generate a train of electrical pulses representing the light intensities present in an optical image focused on the tube. Each point of this image is interrogated in its proper turn by the tube, and an electrical impulse corresponding to the amount of light at that point of the optical image is generated by the tube. This signal represents the video or picture portion of a television signal. Television camera tubes are designed for broadcast television to pick up live programs, indoors or outdoors, as well as to reproduce motion pictures and other filmed material.