High speed digital framing camera

An optoelectronic scanning system for recording images, comprising:

• a scanning optical element driven in rotation for scanning an image in a horizontal direction;
• a focusing optical element for focusing linear vertical segments of the image scanned by the scanning optical element, each of said vertical segments being a different portion of said image sequentially scanned by the scanning optical element;
• a detection system having a linear array of optical detectors for detecting segments focused by the focusing optical element;
• a digital system in communication with the detection system for temporarily storing a first quantity of said segments, said digital system further responsive to a trigger signal for temporarily storing a predetermined second quantity of segments so that said digital system includes the first quantity stored before said trigger signal as well as the second quantity stored thereafter.

A method of detecting and storing random high speed events, comprising the steps of:

• scanning an image;
• detecting lines of the image sequentially by a single linear array of photodetectors, each line being a different portion of the image scanned in the scanning step;
• temporarily storing a quantity of the detected lines;
• detecting a trigger signal for temporarily storing a predetermined further quantity of the detected lines;
• and then
• permanently storing the quantity of temporarily stored detected lines.