A flexible Videoscope or Video Borescope is an advanced type of borescope that houses a very small CCD chip 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 borescope and fiberscope. Borescopes use hard optical relay components to transfer the image from the tip to an eyepiece and Fiberscopes use coherent image fiberoptics to relay the image to one's eye through an eyepiece. The image quality of a videoscope is superior to a fiberscope and could be compared to that of a high-end Video Camcorder.
Videoscopes are normally 10 mm or less in diameter and come in lengths up to 15 m (50 ft). Several integral features include the insertion probe section, the articulated tip, articulation controls (up down left right) on the control handle, lighting bundle, high intensity external light source and cable interface with outputs to the display (LCD or CRT) and external media recording device such as computer hard disk or compact flash card. The system normally will record either live video or still photos.
As either an AC or DC portable visual inspection system, the components are designed to be compact and be hand carried without shipping cases on wheels or large boxes.