Steven Sasson

Steven Sasson

Steven J. Sasson (born 1950) is an electrical engineer and the inventor of the digital camera.

His invention began in 1975 with a very broad assignment from his supervisor at Eastman Kodak Company, Gareth A. Lloyd: Could a camera be built using solid state electronics, solid state imagers, an electronic sensor known as a charge coupled device (CCD) that gathers optical information.

Texas Instruments Inc. had designed an electronic camera in 1972 that was filmless but not digital, using instead analog electronics. After a literature search on digital imaging came up virtually empty, Sasson drew on whatever was available: an analog-to-digital converter adapted from Motorola Inc. components, a Kodak movie-camera lens and the tiny CCD chips introduced by Fairchild Semiconductor in 1973.

He set about constructing the digital circuitry from scratch, using oscilloscope measurements as a guide. There were no images to look at until the entire prototype — an 8-pound (3.6-kilogram), toaster-size contraption — was assembled. In December 1975, Sasson and his chief technician persuaded a lab assistant to pose for them. The black-and-white image, captured at a resolution of .01 megapixels (10,000 pixels), took 23 seconds to record onto a digital cassette tape and another 23 seconds to read off a playback unit onto a television. Then it popped up on the screen.

"You could see the silhouette of her hair," Sasson said. But her face was a blur of static. "She was less than happy with the photograph and left, saying 'You need work,"' he said. But Sasson already knew the solution: reversing a set of wires, the assistant's face was restored.

In 1978, Sasson and Lloyd were issued United States Patent 4,131,919 for their digital camera.

Sasson now works to protect the intellectual capital of his employer, Eastman Kodak Company.

Patents

*US patent|4131919 Patent - Electronic Still Camera

External links

* [http://www.digicamhistory.com/1970s.html History of digital camera]
* [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9261340/ Digital camera turns 30 - sort of]
* [http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/240048_firstdigital09.html Kodak engineer's revolutionary idea]
* [http://www.biz-architect.com/kodaks_missed_moments.htm Kodak milks silver film, ignores its own digital camera]
* [http://purplemedicalblog.blogspot.com/2006/04/people-said-digital-camera-would-never.html Purple Medical Blog:People said digital photography would never happen]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Steven Sasson — Steven J. Sasson (EE.UU., 1950) es un ingeniero eléctrico y el inventor de la cámara de fotografía digital. Contenido 1 Formación 2 Invención 3 Patente y comercialización 4 Reconocimiento …   Wikipedia Español

  • Steven Sasson — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Sasson. Steven J. Sasson …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Steven J. Sasson — Steven Sasson Steven J. Sasson (né en 1950), ingénieur en électricité, a inventé l appareil photographique numérique fin 1975. Il a inventé l appareil photo numérique alors qu il était employé par Eastman Kodak. En 1972, la société Texas… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Sasson — (hebrew: ששון) is a hebrew name which means happiness.The name Sasson can refer to:*Isaac Sasson a Lebanese leader of the Jewish community *Jean Sasson an American *Steven Sasson the inventor of the digital camera *Talia Sasson a member of the… …   Wikipedia

  • Steven J. Sasson — auf der photokina 2010 Steven J. Sasson (* 4. Juli 1950 in Brooklyn) ist ein US amerikanischer Ingenieur der 1975 bei Kodak die erste Digitalkamera konstruierte.[1] Sasson erhielt am 26. Dezember 1978 das …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Sasson — ist der Name folgender Personen: Deborah Sasson (* 1959), US amerikanische Opernsängerin, Musicaldarstellerin Eliahu Sasson (1902–1978), israelischer Politiker und Diplomat Mosche Sasson († 2006), israelischer Diplomat Steven J. Sasson (* 1950),… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Sasson —  Cette page d’homonymie répertorie des personnes (réelles ou fictives) partageant un même patronyme. Sasson: Sasson Gabai Haim Hillel Ben Sasson (1914 1977), un historien du judaïsme et un spécialiste de l histoire du peuple juif Sélim… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Digital camera — Digicam redirects here. For the military camouflauge method using micropatterns, see Military camouflage#Digital camouflauge. A digital camera (or digicam) is a camera that takes video or still photographs, or both, digitally by recording images… …   Wikipedia

  • Eastman Kodak — Infobox Company company name = Eastman Kodak Company company company type = Public (NYSE|EK) slogan = Share Moments. Share Life. foundation = 1888 founder = George Eastman location = Rochester, New York, USA area served = Worldwide key people =… …   Wikipedia

  • Timeline of historic inventions — The timeline of historic inventions is a chronological list of particularly important or significant technological inventions. Note: Dates for inventions are often controversial. Inventions are often invented by several inventors around the same… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”