History of the Invention of digital camera


In 1969, Willard Sterling Boyle and George Elwood Smith invented the first successful imaging
technology using a digital sensor, a CCD (Charge-Coupled Device). CCD would allow the rapid
development of digital photography.


In the winter of 1975, Steven Sasson, a young engineer working in the Applied Research Lab at
Kodak, tested out a new device for the first time. Now known as the first true digital camera, it
was cobbled together using leftover parts he found in the lab. Thirty five years later, President
Obama awarded Sasson the National Medal of Technology and Innovation for his invention.
The camera was about the size of a breadbox and took 23 seconds to take a single black and
white image, which was then stored on a cassette tape. While the invention was far from the
digital cameras we now use, it sparked a sea change in the way images are captured. Some
argue that Sasson's invention was where digital photography begins. But to say that would be
to neglect the most important part of Sasson' rudimentary camera, buried deep inside its scrap
parts: the Charge Coupled-Device.



For centuries, scientists and inventors had tried to reproduce images mechanically, attempting
to turn light into digital information. Over the years, great strides were taken to achieve this
goal, many coming from research into space exploration, as well as spy satellites. Who would
have thought that America's Cold War with Russia would, in part, give birth to our digital
cameras? But no step was more important than the invention of the Charge-Coupled Device, or
CCD. 
As the story goes, George E. Smith and Willard Sterling Boyle, who would later win a Nobel
Prize in Physics for their invention, were working in the AT&T Bell Labs during a time where
different camps were working on different methods of memory technology. In 1969, they were
approached by their VP, Jack Morton, who gave them an ultimatum: make something to
compete with the current technology, or funds are going to be allocated elsewhere.
Under the gun, Smith and Boyle went into an office and, in one hour, emerged with the basic
plans for the CCD, the sensor still used in digital photography today. A CCD works like this: Light
hits a tiny grid of photosensitive silicon cells, each which build a charge proportional to the
intensity of the light hitting it. This charge can be measured precisely and we can know exactly
how bright that portion should be. Add filters, and color can be discerned too.
These photo elements, or "pixels" as they came to be, make up the digital image. If one zooms
in on a photograph far enough, you can see these tiny squares that make up an image. The
more pixels, the more detailed the photo is. Pixels in an image directly relate to the pixels of a
CCD. No one quite knows why picture elements began to be called "pixels," though it is
assumed to come out of Bell Labs in the 60's. 
These CCD's were the essential element in Sasson's digital camera at Kodak six years later.  
After news of Sasson's invention spread, technology companies quickly began looking into how
they might create their own digital cameras. Still it took six years for the first digital camera to
hit the consumer market, and even then, it wasat very close to what we see today. The Sony

Mavica (Magnetic Video Camera) was unveiled in 1981 and, it used a CCD, it was not technically
a digital camera, as it recorded television signals as single images to a floppy disc. It didn't fare
very well on the market and was not widely released. 
The first digital camera made available in the United States was the Dycam Model 1, shipped in
late 1990. It was also a failure, due to its lack of color, terrible resolution, and hefty $1,000 price
tag. In 1991, Kodak introduced a modified Nikon F3 which could capture images digitally and
store them on a hard drive carried on the photographer's shoulder. This camera was the first
digital camera with the ability to change lenses (now known as a DSLR) and it cost a whopping
$30,000. It also had the honor of being taken aboard NASA spacecraft and used in space.
Sadly, Kodak did not move quickly enough on Sasson's invention, opting to focus on its popular
film cameras instead of developing these new digital photographic techniques. By the time they
realized the technology's potential, it was too late. In 2012, Kodak filed for Chapter 11
bankruptcy.
 While most people don't think of Apple as a major player in the digital photography game, they
are credited by many with having released the first mainstream and successful consumer digital
camera, the Quicktake 100, in 1994. Its images, in color, were able to be downloaded to a
computer via a USB port. 
From here, the technology grew at a rapid pace. The Casio QV-10, released in 1995, was the
first camera to incorporate an LCD screen on the back that would preview images for the user.
The mobile photography craze can be traced back to 1997, when inventor Philippe Kahn, an
already successful tech pioneer, created a prototype of the first ever cell phone camera and
shared a picture of his newborn daughter to 2,000 friends and family over his wireless
network. 
"The options the average person has today for imaging is unlimited. You walk around with your
cellphone or your digital camera today and the pictures are excellent, they're reliably produced,
you can share them instantly. I like to say to inventors,;Be aware that your invention is in an
environment where the rest of the world is inventing along with you. By the time your idea
matures, it will be in a totally different world.; I think that was the case with the digital camera,"
Steven Sasson recently told Fast Company.
In 2015, digital cameras and digital imaging are used all over the world for myriad reasons. They
have become integral in virtually every industry imaginable, making creating, storing, and
disseminating images.
In the medical profession, doctors utilize digital photography by documenting, cataloging, and
sharing photographs, allowing for better diagnoses. They also work with technology, such as
tiny digital cameras in pill form, to see in real time places in the body they never could see
before.
From the very beginnings of digital imaging, space exploration has been a driving force. Today,
digital cameras are used aboard spacecraft to view and document findings. On the ground,
galaxies and planets light-years away are photographable, thanks to new technology in the
digital-imaging field.





Elsewhere, digital photography is used to capture and analyze data in thousands of other fields
as well, from nature photographers documenting never-before-seen flora and fauna to
revolutionaries snapping and sending photos that will spark change, proving that digital
photography truly is one of the most important advancements in the history of technology.  
At Photokina in 1986, Japanese company Nikon revealed a prototype for the first DSLR
camera, the Nikon SVC. In 1988, Nikon released the first commercial DSLR camera, the QV-
1000C.