# Philips prism

> Two dichroic prisms peel blue and red off a white beam so green goes straight — the RGB split inside a 3CCD camera.

![Philips prism](https://www.loomrume.com/optics/stills/philips-prism.png)

**Philips** · 1972 — colour-separating prism (US 3,659,918)

A dichroic coating reflects one band of colour and lets the rest through. Two such prisms with a glass spacer make a trichroic block: blue peels off first, red next, green goes straight. That is the RGB split inside a 3CCD camera — not the dispersion of a [Newton prism](https://www.loomrume.com/examples/newton-prism.md).

Philips patented this colour-separating prism in 1972 for three-tube television cameras; later 3CCD camcorders put a sensor on each exit face. This bench is the same idea in the open: white in, three coloured beams out onto three screens.

## Sources

- [Dichroic prism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dichroic_prism)
- [Three-CCD camera](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-CCD_camera)

## Links

- [HTML](https://www.loomrume.com/examples/philips-prism)
- [Open in Studio](https://www.loomrume.com/experiments/new?template=philips-prism)
- [llms.txt](https://www.loomrume.com/llms.txt)