Components of an FPV system

There are really only five main components of an FPV system:

• The camera

• OSD (onscreen display)

• Video transmitter (TX)

• Video receiver (RX)

• Monitor

Let's take a look at these one by one. The following image shows you the wiring diagram with an added FPV system so that you can see how it fits into the grand scheme of things (the bottom-left section of the figure):

The Camera

There are so many cameras in the market that can suit your needs. Recommending a camera can be a whole book by itself. So rather than getting into specific models, let's take a look at a few specifications you should look at.

CCD versus CMOS

The whole reason HD cameras have gotten so small and power-efficient is the CMOS chip. Far more cameras use CMOS than CCD sensors to convert light to data. The main difference is that CMOS sensors scan from the bottom-up while CCD sensors capture an entire frame (image) at once. This scanning (by the CMOS chip) method can lead to what's known as shutter roll or jello...