Modern Mechanix is a blog with some interesting article scans of obsolete technology and it has a good TV/video section here the rest is good for a laugh as well!

heres my favorite

Early Television History

Television as a medium has (much like radio did for audio arts) been influential beyond its content the method of reception, the the qualities of the images and the collective experience have effected video and visual art for anyone who came in to contact with it. It's interesting then that the medium supplanting (or maybe incorporating) television (the internet) allows us to look back at it's history and machinery. If you are interested in this sort of thing then I urge you to visit the Early Television Museum website

and If you live in London there is always The British Vintage Wireless and Television Museum in West Dulwich which I have never been to but always wanted to check out

I'm working on a fuller list of interesting TV history websites and  museums as there are loads but ill save that for a later post when it's more complete!

MOON CAMERA

The black and white camera used by Apollo 11 astronauts ! more info via thedvshow

Vidicon Tube Sun Burn In

Older TV/video cameras used tubes to convert light in to an electrical signal instead of the now ubiquitous CCD, these tubes were quite limited and had many operational problems but they still have a cult following today due to there unique characteristics. The feedback produced for the original Doctor Who series was done by pointing a camera with a video tube at its own monitor. Similar effects can be produced with other technologies such as CCD but they are not as fluid and have a different esthetic. Another problem with Vidicon camera tubes is that very bright sources can damage their surface resulting in areas where the tube "goes blind"

I think that this is actually kind of cool almost like drawing with light as seen in David Hall's 1973 Vidicon Inscriptions here

here is a video from videolabguy on youtube demonstrating this problem his other videos and website are an amazing collection of useful info on vintage video gear