For more on digitAl photogrAphy, visit http://www.shortCourses.Com 13
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/dc40/DC40.pdf
digitAl photogrAphy—the pAst And the FutureCCD’s basic structure, defined its principles of operation, and outlined ap-
plications including imaging as well as memory.
By 1970, the Bell Labs researchers had incorporated the CCD into the world’s
first solid-state video camera. In 1975, they demonstrated the first CCD
camera with image quality good enough for broadcast television. CCDs then
quickly went on to revolutionize the fax, scanner, copier, bar code, and medi-
cal photography fields.
One of the more exciting, and demanding applications has been in astrono-
my. Since 1983, when telescopes were first equipped with solid-state cam-
eras, CCDs have enabled astronomers to study objects thousands of times
fainter than what the most sensitive photographic plates can capture, and to
capture in seconds images that would have taken hours using film. Today all
optical observatories, including the Hubble Space Telescope, rely on digi-
tal information systems built around mosaics of ultra sensitive CCD chips.
Researchers in other fields have put CCDs to work in applications as diverse
as observing chemical reactions in the lab and studying the feeble light emit-
ted by hot water gushing out of vents in the ocean floor. CCD cameras also
are used in satellite observation of the earth for environmental monitoring,
surveying, and surveillance.
Image quality has improved dramatically over the years so most people are
now satisfied with the quality and sharpness of their photos. For this rea-
son, the marketing battle, especially in the point-and-shoot or pocket cam-
era categories is now all about features. Since digital cameras are basically
computers, companies can program them to do all sorts of things that older,
mechanical cameras could never do. They can identify faces in a scene to
focus on, detect and eliminate red-eye, and let you adjust colors and tones in
your images. There is a tipping point somewhere in the endless checklist of
possible features where complexity begins to increase rather than decrease
and the usefulness of features begins to decline. We are probably already at
that tipping point and perhaps beyond it. When you read about features ask
yourself how often you would really use them and how much control you
want to turn over to your camera. When considering features, keep in mind
that most of the great images in the history of photography were taken using
cameras that only let you control focus, the aperture, and the shutter speed.Digital photography
started in astronomy
and still serves that
field well. Here is an
amazing photo of gas
pillars in the Eagle
Nebula. The tallest pillar
(left) is about 4 light-
years long from base to
tip. Forming inside are
embryonic stars. Credit:
Jeff Hester and Paul
Scowen (Arizona State
University), and NASA
(http://hubblesite.org).
With cameras now
added to cell phones
like Apple’s iPhone, you
can capture photos and
send them to a friend
or post them on a Web
site. Image courtesy of
Apple.
CrEDiT
the material in this
section about Willard
Boyle and George
Smith is adapted
from material written
by patrick regan of
Bell Labs media rela-
tions.Click to see the
manual for the Kodak
DC40, one of the
first consumer digital
cameras.