True the Vidicons used a different type of phosphour.. a photo electric reactive type.. my theory on that is now a bit rusty....

I challenge though..
All this was superceded by the invention of the CCD, ...... This lead to the invention of video cameras, and TV cameras adopted them once the quality became good enough.
Video cameras (that is home/domestic) using Vidicon/plumbicon tubes were around long b4 CCD's and certainly CCD's allowed the domestic video camera to reach the pocket of joe average.. CCD's made adifferance as Domestic Video Cameras started to go mainstream..

So theoretically if you modified a small black-and-white telly a bit, stuck an absolutely huge lens on the front (a good distance from the screen) and hooked it up to the appropriate electronics, you could make it into a camera.
kill joy... but you are correct.. there is another problem.. the EHT in a television is (and worse in the newer sets) horrificly noisey/unstable this would make such an idea almost unworkable.
but it was just a thought..


Cheers