Photography Tip - Digital Photography tip
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History Of Digital Photography
Author: Nathan
Article:
On October 17, 1969, George Smith and Willard Boyle invented the
charge-coupled device (CCD), the image sensor that's the heart
of all digital cameras, at Bell Labs. But like many inventions
originally designed for one use, Smith and Boyle were attempting
to create a new kind of semiconductor memory for computers. At
the same time they were looking for a way to develop a
solid-state camera for use in video phones. It took just an hour
for them to sketch out the CCD's basic structure, define the
concept of its operation, and outline the applications for which
it would be best suited.
By 1970, Smith and Boyle had built the CCD into the world's
first solid-state video camera. In 1975, they demonstrated the
first CCD camera with image quality sharp enough for broadcast
television.
Today, CCD technology is pervasive not only in broadcasting but
also in video applications that range from security monitoring
to high-definition television, and from endoscopy to desktop
videoconferencing. Facsimile machines, copying machines, image
scanners, digital still cameras, and bar code readers also have
employed CCDs to turn patterns of light into useful information.
It wasn't until 1981, however, that Sony Corporation produced
the first prototype digital camera, the Mavica (Magnetic Video
Camera) electronic still camera, which recorded images as
magnetic impulses on a compact two-inch still-video floppy disk.
The images were captured on the disk by using two CCD
(charge-coupled device) chips. One chip stored luminance
information and the other separately recorded the chrominance
information. This camera provided a 720,000-pixel image. The
images could be stored on the floppy disk either in Frame or
Field mode. When the photographer selected the Frame mode, the
sensor recorded each picture on two tracks. Up to 25 images
could be recorded on each disk.
When the photographer selected the Field mode, the camera
recorded each picture on only one track, allowing up to 50
images to be recorded. Images were less detailed compared to
images recorded in the two-track Frame mode. The MVC-5000 was
considered to be the leader in image quality during its time.
This was then put into a video reader that was connected to a
television monitor or color printer. However, the early Mavica
cannot be considered a true digital camera even though it
started the digital camera revolution. It was a video camera
that took video freeze-frames.
All this made the Mavica camera a bulky affair that looked more
like a floppy disk box than a traditional camera. But,
nevertheless, the race was on to see who could take this
technology to new heights.
Unlike traditional cameras that use film to capture and store
an image, digital cameras use a solid-state device called an
image sensor. These fingernail-sized silicon chips contain
millions of photosensitive diodes called photosites. In the
brief flickering instant that the shutter is open, each
photosite records the intensity or brightness of the light that
falls on it by accumulating a charge; the more light, the higher
the charge. The brightness recorded by each photosite is then
stored as a set of numbers that can then be used to set the
color and brightness of dots on the screen or ink on the printed
page to reconstruct the image.
In 1986, Kodak scientists invented the world's first megapixel
sensor, capable of recording 1.4 million pixels that could
produce a 5x7-inch digital photo-quality print. In 1987, Kodak
released seven products for recording, storing, manipulating,
transmitting and printing electronic still video images. In
1990, Kodak developed the Photo CD system and proposed "the
first worldwide standard for defining color in the digital
environment of computers and computer peripherals." In 1991,
Kodak released the first professional digital camera system
(DCS), aimed at photojournalists. It was a Nikon F-3 camera
equipped by Kodak with a 1.3 megapixel sensor.
Another significant model of camera, XapShot was a Hi-band
still video camera. The XapShot had a built-in flash,
self-timer, and an unusual rechargeable lead acid battery. Also
required was a kit which included one floppy disk, the battery,
and computer interface card with software. The American version
of the XapShot could send a signal to a TV/VCR for playback and
recording of images. There was also a very basic software
utility that worked under System 6/7 for the Mac in conjuction
with the a special video capture card that the camera connected
to. Later, the Xapshot worked with Adobe Photoshop to capture
the images.
In 1990, Logitech came out with the Dycam Model 1
black-and-white digicam, the world's first completely digital
consumer camera. It stored 32 compressed images internally using
1MB RAM on a 376 x 240 pixel CCD at 256 shades of gray in TIFF
format. This simple camera by today's standards had an 8mm
fixed-focus lens, standard shutter speeds of 1/30 to 1/1000
second and a built-in flash. The Dycam worked similarly to the
XapShot except that it included the digitizing hardware in the
camera itself. The user had to connect the camera to a PC to
transfer images.
The first digital cameras for the consumer-level market that
worked with a home computer via a serial cable were the Apple
QuickTake 100 camera, which appeared in 1994. This camera
featured a 640 x 480 pixel CCD which produced eight images
stored in internal memory. It also had a built-in flash.
Unfortunately, having a tiny computer inside a camera presented
problems in their exterior look. Since the camera's onboard
computer-essentially the CCD processor-too up so much space,
early manufacturers like Fuji created square-shaped digital
cameras. These were not only difficult to hold but required the
user to learn a whole new way of using the device. But further
miniaturizing of the camera's sensor and, thus, it's inner
workings, led companies like Kodak, Nikon, Toshiba and Olympus
to produce ever smaller cameras, and ones that a user could hold
in much the same way as traditional cameras.
Today, just a little over 30 years after the invention of the
original CCD sensor, digital cameras of all sizes and
shapes-many of which now look similar to traditional 35mm
cameras-are flooding the market.
About the author:
I am a digital photography expert with 5 years working
experience with the old pinhole photography camera, and since
the emergence of the digital photography, I have been in the
business for quite some years back and have had the opportunity
of giving people intensive and proactical training in the area
of digital photography...You can read more about all you would
like to know about digital photography on
www.digitalphotographix.blogspot.com
www.photography-tip.com
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