A converter, so a chip with 12.5 micron square pixels would basically have a 25 micron resolution which would translate into about 1000 lines per inch. The bandwidth for transmitted tv is about 4mhz video bandwidth, this translates to about 200 lines per inch, if you notice there is a horizontal and vertical component in determining the bandwidth limitation for transmission, This will determine how the resolution target is made, if you look at the target when it is put up on the web you will see that the lines determining the resolution are not pure horizontal and vertical put are tapered at a specific angle that has both certain horizontal and vertical components, now since we are not transmitting a signal that has to conform to bandwidth limitations, the analog video bandwidth is higher so we get more resolution on our images, the limiting factor is the actual bandwidth of the camera itself, the same CCD can be in different cameras of different qualities having different resolutions. This will explain why some of you are seeing better results than you expected, I have seen mentioned the fact that VHS is only good for 200 or so lines per inch, guess what, that is the minimum allowed specification, The maximum will be determined by the quality of the video bandwidth of the components and tape heads, and since much better components are showing up on the market you will see better resolution, Now I am not saying that this is going to be as good as HDTV because there will be limitations on analog as opposed to digital, I have another camera that has a much higher resolution and I am going to try it in the same setup later and will post the results.
Resolution is probably the most misunderstood and abused term in video and television.
It needs to be defined depending on what you are referring to. Like many other specifications in electronics, the various pieces that contribute to, enhance or limit the resolution will determine overall system resolution at the output. Another aspect that needs to be understood is the difference between detail and resolution. You have either a 525 NTSC raster or a 625 PAL raster. You do not have 525 or 635 lines resolution.