History Of Digital Photography - A Snapshot Over Time

Where does the history of digital photographycharge-coupled device (CCD), and the origins of
really start? Looking at various historicalthe CCD can be traced back to October 1969.
overviews, it quickly becomes clear that theThis was when George Smith and Willard Boyle,
starting point depends quite a bit on your point oftwo of the role-players in the history of digital
view...Digital cameras use image sensors instead ofphotography, invented the charge-coupled device
film to sample light. They do this thanks to theat Bell Labs, where they were at the time
photoelectric effect in which some metals releaseattempting to create a new kind of
electrons when exposed to light.You couldsemiconductor memory for computers.The
probably argue that Albert Einstein - who won thehistory of digital photography demonstrates that
1921 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on thethe CCD played quite a central role in the
photoelectric effect - got the ball rolling in thedevelopment of the digital camera. This
history of digital photography!Often incorporatedtechnology is today also used in broadcasting, and
into the history of digital photography, is thein video applications that range from security
camera designed by Texas Instruments Inc. inmonitoring to high-definition television. Facsimile
1972. However, this camera was not digital, butmachines, copying machines, image scanners, and
an analog-based, film-less device.The next step inbar code readers also make use of CCDs to turn
the history of digital photography came in 1972,light into useful information.After the Mavica, it
when Steven Sasson of Kodak was instructed bywas only in 1994 that Apple introduced the first
his supervisor to try and find a way to build adigital camera for consumers, another milestone in
camera using solid-state image sensors. Thesethe history of digital photography.The QuickTake
chips use photosensitive diodes called photosites100 (this camera was co-developed with Kodak)
to record light.An important marker in the historyworked with a home computer via a serial cable
of digital photography was when Sasson snappedand featured a 640 x 480 pixel CCD. It could
the first digital picture in December 1975.produce eight images stored in internal memory,
According to Sasson the image took 23 secondsand also featured a built-in flash.Because of
to record onto the cassette, and then another 23constraints around the size of the processor the
seconds to read off a playback unit onto aQuickTake 100 looked more like a set of
television.However, no consumer camera wasbinoculars, but this soon changed. As the history
released at that stage by the company. Later, inof digital photography will show, modern digital
1986, Kodak invented the world's first megapixelcameras soon took on the familiar shape of film
sensor, capable of recording 1.4 million pixels thatcameras.All this technology was developed in little
could produce a 5x7-inch digital photo-qualitymore than thirty years. Just imagine how the
print.You can probably safely say that the historynext few decades will shape subsequent
of digital photography indicates that the firstinstallments of the history of digital
prototype digital camera was the Mavicaphotography!For more information visit
(Magnetic Video Camera), released by SonyBest-Digital-Photography.comRika Susan of
Corporation in the early 1980's. This wasresearches, writes, and publishes full-time on the
essentially an electronic video camera thatWeb. Copyright of this article: 2006 Rika Susan.
produced still images which were recorded onThis article may be reprinted if the resource box
two-inch floppy disks.The Mavica used aand hyperlinks are left intact.