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The Eidoloscope was an early motion picture system created by Eugene Augustin Lauste,
Woodville Latham, one of the creators of the Eidoloscope, was originally a chemistry professor. Woodville's sons were in the business of showing boxing matches and would frequently hear complaints from patrons about how someone should make a machine that projects film on a screen. That way, more people could view the film at the same time, as they could not with the
Woodville Latham
Major Woodville Latham (1837–1911) was an ordnance officer of the Confederacy during the American Civil War and professor of chemistry at West Virginia University. He was significant in the development of early film technology.
Woodville Lath ...
and his two sons through their business, the Lambda Company, in New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
in 1894 and 1895. The Eidoloscope was demonstrated for members of the press on April 21, 1895, and opened to the paying public on Broadway on May 20.
History
Originally called the Pantoptikon (also spelled 'Panoptikon'), it is perhaps the firstwidescreen
Widescreen images are displayed within a set of aspect ratios (relationship of image width to height) used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than t ...
film format, with an aspect ratio of 1.85 to 1. It had a film gauge of 51 mm and an aperture of 37 mm by 20 mm. It was instrumental in the history of film in that it created what became known as the "Latham loop
The Latham Loop is used in film projection and image capture. It isolates the filmstrip from vibration and tension, allowing movies to be continuously shot and projected for extended periods.
Invention of the Latham loop is usually credited to fi ...
", which are two loops of film, one on each side of the intermittent movement, which act as a buffer between continuously moving sprockets
A sprocket, sprocket-wheel or chainwheel is a profiled wheel with teeth that mesh with a chain, track or other perforated or indented material. The name 'sprocket' applies generally to any wheel upon which radial projections engage a chain passi ...
and the jerky motion of the intermittent movement. This relieved strain on the filmstrip and so enabled the shooting and projection of much longer motion pictures than had previously been possible.
Early beginnings
Woodville Latham, one of the creators of the Eidoloscope, was originally a chemistry professor. Woodville's sons were in the business of showing boxing matches and would frequently hear complaints from patrons about how someone should make a machine that projects film on a screen. That way, more people could view the film at the same time, as they could not with the kinetoscope
The Kinetoscope is an early motion picture exhibition device, designed for films to be viewed by one person at a time through a peephole viewer window. The Kinetoscope was not a movie projector, but it introduced the basic approach that woul ...
. It was a much more efficient method of exhibition that would reduce startup costs, since each parlor would need only one machine instead of six. W.K.L Dickson, an employee of Edison's at the same time, joined the Lathams and their project to help raise finances and the knowledge of how to move forward in the business. The Eidoloscope was engineered mainly by Lauste, who also assisted with the design of the Latham loop
The Latham Loop is used in film projection and image capture. It isolates the filmstrip from vibration and tension, allowing movies to be continuously shot and projected for extended periods.
Invention of the Latham loop is usually credited to fi ...
. (Later, Dickson would credit Lauste with the loop's invention).
The Lathams named their company after the Greek letter for "L": lambda
Lambda (}, ''lám(b)da'') is the 11th letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the voiced alveolar lateral approximant . In the system of Greek numerals, lambda has a value of 30. Lambda is derived from the Phoenician Lamed . Lambda gave ri ...
or λ. The features that the Lathams produced were of poor quality and lacked the tilts and pans that other features were beginning to utilize. Unfortunately, the company did not last long since disputes over the copyrights from The Eidoloscope Company shareholders brought the Lathams' demise in 1896.
See also
*List of film formats
This list of motion picture film formats catalogues formats developed for shooting or viewing motion pictures, ranging from the Chronophotographe format from 1888, to mid-20th century formats such as the 1953 CinemaScope format, to more recent f ...
References
{{reflist Audiovisual introductions in 1895 Film and video technology