Prior to the entry of the digital cameras,
one was used to the film cameras, in its
numerous traditional forms. While they did
provide the ability to capture photographs, yet
most people ended up wasting almost half the
film roll because of the inability to capture
pictures properly due to various reasons.
However, whether manual or automatic the digital
cameras solved this problem, as the concept of
the roll was thrown away and the in-built
corrective mechanisms made for more perfect
picture capturing ability.
The history of digital cameras began with Eugene
F. Lally of Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in the
early 1900s. Eugene published the first ever
description of how one can produce still photos
in a digital domain with the use of a mosaic
photosensor. The purpose of this device was to
provide onboard navigation information to
astronauts while they made missions to planets.
The mosaic array periodically recorded still
photographs of the star and planet locations
while in transit. Then when nearing a planet it
provided additional guiding information for the
orbiting and landing. This concept also had a
camera design with elements that foreshadowed
the first digital camera. However, this was just
a plan and a drawing, but it was not implemented
into being modeled into a photo recording
equipment.
It was later in 1927, Texas Instruments designed
a film-less analog camera. However, there is no
proof with regards to whether it was ever
constructed. From then on, there seems to have
been no recorded developments and inventions, as
such. The old format of photography continued to
be used with more sophistication stepping in.
However, there is recorded evidence that Steve
Sasson, an engineer at Eastman Kodak, made the
first attempt to build a digital camera. The
camera used the CCD chips that were developed by
Fairchild Semiconductor, in 1973. This camera
weighed 3.6 kg and recorded black and white
images to a cassette tape. Each picture had a
resolution of 10,000 pixels. In the month of
December 1975, it took 23 seconds to capture its
first image.
This camera was actually a technical exercise
and there was no intention of further
production. But then, maybe its successful
experimentation has brought it this far, as it
still does exist as of 2007.
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