Videoscope

A flexible Videoscope or Video Borescope is an advanced type of

borescope A borescope (occasionally called a boroscope, though this spelling is nonstandard) is an optical instrument designed to assist visual inspection of narrow, difficult-to-reach wikt:cavity#Noun, cavities, consisting of a rigid or flexible tube with ...

that houses a very small

image sensor An image sensor or imager is a sensor that detects and conveys information used to make an image. It does so by converting the variable attenuation of light waves (as they pass through or reflect off objects) into signals, small bursts of curr ...

embedded into the tip of the scope. The video image is relayed from the distal tip and focusable lens assembly back to the display via internal wiring. This is unlike a traditional rigid borescope and flexible

fiberscope A fiberscope is a flexible optical fiber bundle with an eyepiece on one end and a lens on the other that is used to examine and inspect small, difficult-to-reach places such as the insides of machines, locks, and the human body. History Guid ...

. Rigid borescopes use hard optical relay components to transfer the image from the tip to an eyepiece and flexible fiberscopes use coherent image fiber optics to relay the image to one's eye through an eyepiece. The image quality of a videoscope is superior to that of a fiberscope and can be compared to that of an intermediate

camcorder A camcorder is a self-contained portable electronic device with video and recording as its primary function. It is typically equipped with an articulating screen mounted on the left side, a belt to facilitate holding on the right side, hot-swa ...

. Videoscopes are normally up to 10 millimeters in diameter and come in lengths up to 15 meters (49 feet, inches). Several integral features include an insertion probe section, an articulated tip, articulation controls (up, down, left, right) on the control handle, a lighting bundle, a high intensity external light source and cable interface with outputs to the display (LCD or CRT) and an external media recording device such as a

hard disk drive A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating platters coated with magnet ...

or a

CompactFlash CompactFlash (CF) is a flash memory mass storage device used mainly in portable electronic devices. The format was specified and the devices were first manufactured by SanDisk in 1994. CompactFlash became one of the most successful of the e ...

card. Newer videoscopes also make use of

USB flash drive A USB flash drive (also called a thumb drive) is a data storage device that includes flash memory with an integrated USB interface. It is typically removable, rewritable and much smaller than an optical disc. Most weigh less than . Since firs ...

s or SD cards for storage. The system normally will record either live video or still photos. As either an AC or DC portable

visual inspection Visual inspection is a common method of quality control, data acquisition, and data analysis. Visual Inspection, used in maintenance of facilities, mean inspection of equipment and structures using either or all of raw human senses such as vision, ...

system, the components are designed to be compact and be hand carried without shipping cases on wheels or large boxes. {{Electrical and electronic measuring equipment Medical equipment Optical devices Nondestructive testing