Otto H. Schade (April 27, 1903 – April 28, 1981) was a television pioneer, best known for his work on evaluating the gradation, graininess and sharpness in

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

and

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

images, and his

aperture In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. An opt ...

theory that mathematically modeled the system performance of

photographic lens A camera lens (also known as photographic lens or photographic objective) is an optical lens or assembly of lenses used in conjunction with a camera body and mechanism to make images of objects either on photographic film or on other media capab ...

es, films, television tubes, and electrical circuits. Schade was born in

Schmalkalden Schmalkalden () is a town in the Schmalkalden-Meiningen district, in the southwest of the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is on the southern slope of the Thuringian Forest at the Schmalkalde river, a tributary to the Werra. , the town had a popula ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, graduated in 1922 from the Reform-Real-Gymnasium in Halle, Germany, then worked at Telephonfabrik A.G. vorm. J. Berliner in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

(1922–1924), and at the Ratig company in Berlin (1924–1925). He then emigrated to the United States to work at A. Atwater Kent in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

(1926–1931). In 1931 Schade joined the Radio Corporation of America (

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

), where he spent the remainder of his career. From 1944 to 1957, he developed a unified theory of image analysis and specification, including practical methods for measuring the

optical transfer function The optical transfer function (OTF) of an optical system such as a camera, microscope, human eye, or projector specifies how different spatial frequencies are captured or transmitted. It is used by optical engineers to describe how the optics pro ...

and noise in optical, photographic, and electronic imaging systems. In 1958 he began a study leading to the

Nuvistor The nuvistor is a type of vacuum tube announced by RCA in 1959. Nuvistors were made to compete with the then-new bipolar junction transistors, and were much smaller than conventional tubes of the day, almost approaching the compactness of ea ...

low-noise tubes for television receivers. He retired from RCA in 1968, continuing as a consultant until 1974. Schade was a member of the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy ...

, and a Fellow of the

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operation ...

and the

Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) (, rarely ), founded in 1916 as the Society of Motion Picture Engineers or SMPE, is a global professional association of engineers, technologists, and executives working in the m ...

. He received 85 patents and numerous awards, including an honorary Doctorate of Engineering from

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute () (RPI) is a private research university in Troy, New York, with an additional campus in Hartford, Connecticut. A third campus in Groton, Connecticut closed in 2018. RPI was established in 1824 by Stephen Van ...

(1953), Modern Pioneer Award of the National Association of Manufacturers (1940), the RCA Victor Award of Merit (1946), the

IEEE Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Award The initially called Morris Liebmann Memorial Prize provided by the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE), the IEEE Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Award was created in 1919 in honor of Colonel Morris N. Liebmann. It was initially given to awardees who h ...

(1950), the first

David Sarnoff David Sarnoff (February 27, 1891 – December 12, 1971) was an American businessman and pioneer of American radio and television. Throughout most of his career, he led the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in various capacities from shortly afte ...

Gold Medal Award (in 1951),
SMPTE Sarnoff Medal list David Sarnoff Outstanding Achievement Award (1968), and the Vladimir K. Zworykin Award (1969). The

Society for Information Display The Society for Information Display (SID) is an industry organization for displays, generally electronic displays such as televisions and computer monitors. SID was founded in September 1962. Its main activities are publishing technical journals ...

awards a prize in his honor.

References

National Academy of Engineering memorial tribute

Proceedings of the IRE, April 1943
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schade, Otto H. Television pioneers Fellows of the IEEE Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering 1903 births 1981 deaths People from Schmalkalden Engineers from Thuringia