A beam profiling system consisting of a silicon vidicon detector and an image processing computer is described, and results of measurements to characterize the system are presented. For the transmission and display of geometrically accurate images, a unique relationship was found to exist between pixel clock frequency, channel time and channel length. The vidicon target's dark current and 1.06 μm detection sensitivity were found to have peak-to-peak variations of 5.6% and 3.75%, respectively, throughout the target's central 3.75 × 3.13 mm region. Signal-to-noise levels were optimum at a target temperature near 0° C. Without being optimized, cathode voltage switching improved the pulsed-mode dynamic range of the system to approximately 4.