INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM IN NPIC

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: NGA Records (Formerly NIMA)
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78B04770A002700030012-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 18, 2005
• Sequence Number: 12
• Publication Date: June 14, 1963
• Content Type: MEMO

OPTIONAL FORM NO. 10
50.,-10A
UNITED e~~or tgNR1 i,2 / IA-RDP78B04770A002700030012-8
l Memorandum
TO : Executive Director, NPIC
ATTN : Security Officer
FROM:. Chief, Physical Security Division, OS
14 JUN 196.
SUBJECT: Internal Communications System in NPIC
REF : NPIC/D-61-63 dated 27 May 1963, Same Subject
''" ~e Office of Security has no objection to testing of closed
circuit television and other systems of internal communication within
the confines of NPIC with the proviso that the material used in the
tests is UNCLASSIFIED..
2. A security evaluation will be made of any systems which prove
to be practical from a utilitarian standpoint.
Attachment:
Memo to Tech Division
Declass Review by NGA.
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The Director of Security himself has given an
initial NO to borrowing or purchasing closed
circuit TV for transmission of messages in the
building. They will check further.
25X1
25X1
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FORM NO. 101 REPLACESvFORM 10^101 (47)
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7 March 1963
CCTV Briefing
1. Closed circuit television is not always the complete solution to a.
problem in the transmission of visual information. At times the more common
method of the production and distribution of a large number of copies of the
information may be more useful and more economical. Before a closed circuit
television system can be planned it is necessary that the user's problem can
be solved only by the use of television or that the time element justifies the
expense of television. The potential user must also understand the limitations
of television as well as its capabilities.
2. Some of the problems that may be solved by the application of closed
circuit television are:
a. Briefing of personnel who are located at a relatively great
distance from the briefer.
b. Coordination between two or more people working on the Same
or related projects but separated by a relatively great distance.
c. Referral to visual information located at a distance from the
requester.
d. Surveillance of area, within and surrounding a sensitive in-
stallation.
3. To establish some sort of familiar reference we will use the American
commercial broadcast television system. Broadcast television has been standard-
ized at 525 horizontal lines per frame and at the rate of 30 frames per second.
At this point it is necessary to mention two facts about the use of the word
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"line" in television. A televison "line" is not related to a distance as is
the optical term "lines per millimeter", and, a. TV line is a single line or
element instead of the pair of lines used in optical terminology.
4. Only about 490 of the 525 TV lines will appear on the screen of a
monitor or home television receiver. The time required for the remaining 35
TV lines is used for the transmission of various synchronizing pulses. The
average horizontal scan line displayed on the screen has a definition of
about 350 TV lines or elements over its length. This is not, by our standards,
a high quality image, although the image on the average 525 line closed circuit
TV system monitor has far more quality than you see on a home television receiver.
5. Although the 525 line system is the nationwide standard for commercial
broadcast television, there is no standard line scan rate for a high definition
closed circuit system. Equipment is available with scan rates varying from
600 to 1035 lines per frame. Equipment designed to operate at one scan rate
is not compatible with equipment designed to operate at another scan rate.
6. As an example of high definition closed circuit TV equipment, the
is now selling a. system
with a. 1029 line scan rate. The
dims a horizontal resolution 25X1
of better than 1000 TV lines. This may not seem to be much of an increase in
definition but, to have twice as much definition in both the vertical and
horizontal dimensions of the image, it is necessary to be able to process and
transmit four times as much information in a fixed period of time. The total
amount of definition which can be obtained is limited by the electronic com-
ponents in the television equipment.
in developing an
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electronic image enhancer for Navy PIC, was able to provide a. 2000 line system
only by reducing the number of frames, or complete images, from the standard
rate of 30 per seconla to 15 frames per second. This has resulted in a notice-
able flicker in the image.
7. Even a, small increase in definition can result in a_ large increase in
the original cost of the TV equipment. The following cost data, is for
closed circuit TV equipment without lenses, remote control device, transmission
cables, tripods, installation, etc. The very simplest 600 line system, con-
25X1
sisting of one camera and one monitor, would cost about The same amount 25X1
of equipment, one camera, and one monitor, for a. 1029 line system would cost
II
8. A more complex 600 line system consisting of three cameras, six monitors,
and a means for switching any one of the three cameras to all six monitors would
The same amount of equipment for a 1029 line system would
9. These prices may seem out of proportion to the small gain in definition,
equipment may have features not found in other makes and the prices
were not obtained as a result of competitive bidding.
10. The annual operating costs of a closed circuit television system is
usually estimated at about 30% of the cost of the small receiving type vacuum
tubes plus the cost of the camera pickup tube. A 1" vidicon tube costs about
klla.rs and normally has a warranted life of 500 hours. With reasonable
care this type of tube may have a life of 5000 hours. The 029 line system 25X1
uses a 12" vidicon tube. While I do not know the cost of such a tube it would
probably be in the neighborhood of
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11. From the security viewpoint/ closed circuit television presents many
problems, the greatest of which is the lack of sufficient information. In a
commercial broadcast TV station a piece of equipment, such as a camera. or an
amplifier, may radiate a signal which is strong enough to interfer with other
equipment in the station. When the maintenance personnel have decreased the
strength of the signal to a, level where it no longer
ses interference, they
are satisfied. The radiated signal may, however, be strong enough to be detected
even at a. distance, by more sensitive equipment. The problem is a. matter of
relative values, that is; the strength of the radiated signal at its point of
origin; the attenuation, or decrease in strength, as the signal travels over
a. distance; and the sensitivity of the detection device. Reliable information
can be obtained only by tests on actual equipment by our own personnel.
12. Another security matter is the transmission of visual information over
a, fairly great distance such as between here and the Headquarters Building. A
friend of mine in the Television Branch of the Signal Corps has stated that two
companies in Colorado are working on equipment which will encrypt the TV signal
for secure transmission. He will return next week from a. visit to these com-
panies and will give me a classified briefing on the equipment.
13. To summarize:
r p
a. At present, the cost-benefit ratio is-sm6a3,
b. No answers are available for security problems,
c. It is our considered opinion that any video transmission system
jhould be compatible with electronic viewing and printing equipment when
it becomes operational,
d. Therefore this is not the time to install a high performance
closed circuit TV system.
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1i-. In closing, the Plans and Development Staff will continue to study
closed circuit television in terms of what it can do for the Center, the avail-
ability of high-definition shelf items and the development of even higher
definition systems by industry.
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