Multi-standard observation camera and a surveillance system using the camera

A surveillance system including a multi-standard observation camera, said system comprising:

• a detector having a predetermined length and being photosensitive to a predetermined spectrum band, said detector including a plurality of sensor elements arranged in horizontal rows along the predetermined length of said detector;
• an optomechanical projector and scanning system for projecting an observed image onto a focal plane coinciding with the plane of the detector, said image having a width substantially equal to said predetermined length of the detector, said projection and scanning system scanning said image across said detector in a vertical direction;
• a read circuit connected to said detector, said read circuit receiving charges output from said plurality of sensors which charges are proportional to illumination received by said plurality of sensors;
• a clock sequencer for controlling the transfer and multiplexing of said charges, said clock sequencer operating in synchronization with a vertical scan wherein said read circuit outputs a video signal to a display monitor operating in a predetermined television standard, said standard being defined by one of a line frequency and a sampling frequency characteristic of the images displayed,
• wherein said clock sequencer, said read circuit and said detector are in a cryostat and wherein said clock sequencer includes programmable time-counting resources to define periods over which said charges are integrated and instants at which said charges are transferred and multiplexed, after integration, into said read circuit, said counting resources being preset by a memory positioned outside said cryostat, said memory containing instructions for synchronizing the integration periods and transfer and multiplexing instants with said one of said line frequency and said sampling frequency chosen from several standards preselected in said memory and corresponding to a display monitor standard.