![DLP Home Theatre Projector](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/DLP_Home_Theatre_Projector.jpg)
A projector or image projector is an
optical
Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultraviole ...
device that projects an image (or moving images) onto a surface, commonly a
projection screen
A projection screen is an installation consisting of a surface and a support structure used for displaying a projected image for the view of an audience. Projection screens may be permanently installed, as in a movie theater; painted on the ...
. Most projectors create an image by shining a light through a small transparent lens, but some newer types of projectors can project the image directly, by using lasers. A
virtual retinal display
A virtual retinal display (VRD), also known as a retinal scan display (RSD) or retinal projector (RP), is a display technology that draws a raster display (like a television) directly onto the retina of the eye.
History
In the past similar sy ...
, or retinal projector, is a projector that projects an image directly on the
retina
The retina (from la, rete "net") is the innermost, light-sensitive layer of tissue of the eye of most vertebrates and some molluscs. The optics of the eye create a focused two-dimensional image of the visual world on the retina, which then ...
instead of using an external projection screen.
The most common type of projector used today is called a
video projector
A video projector is an image projector that receives a video signalling (telecommunication), signal and projects the corresponding image on a projection screen using a lens (optics), lens system. Video projectors use a very bright ultra-high-per ...
. Video projectors are digital replacements for earlier types of projectors such as
slide projectors
A slide projector is an opto-mechanical projector, device for showing photography, photographic reversal film, slides.
135 film, 35 mm slide projectors, direct descendants of the larger-format magic lantern, first came into widespread use ...
and
overhead projector
An overhead projector (often abbreviated to OHP), like a film or slide projector, uses light to project an enlarged image on a screen, allowing the view of a small document or picture to be shared with a large audience.
In the overhead project ...
s. These earlier types of projectors were mostly replaced with digital video projectors throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, but old analog projectors are still used at some places. The newest types of projectors are
handheld projector
A handheld projector (also known as a pocket projector, mobile projector, pico projector or mini beamer) is an image projector in a handheld device. It was developed as a computer display device for compact portable devices such as mobile ph ...
s that use
laser
A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fir ...
s or
LED
A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor Electronics, device that Light#Light sources, emits light when Electric current, current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy i ...
s to project images.
Movie theater
A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall ( Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...
s used a type of projector called a
movie projector
A movie projector is an optics, opto-mechanics, mechanical device for displaying Film, motion picture film by projecting it onto a movie screen, screen. Most of the optical and mechanical elements, except for the illumination and sound devices ...
, nowadays mostly replaced with
digital cinema
Digital cinema refers to adoption of digital technology within the film industry to distribute or project motion pictures as opposed to the historical use of reels of motion picture film, such as 35 mm film. Whereas film reels have to b ...
video projectors.
Different projector types
Projectors can be roughly divided into three categories, based on the type of input. Some of the listed projectors were capable of projecting several types of input. For instance: video projectors were basically developed for the projection of prerecorded moving images, but are regularly used for still images in
PowerPoint
Microsoft PowerPoint is a presentation program, created by Robert Gaskins and Dennis Austin at a software company named Forethought, Inc. It was released on April 20, 1987, initially for Macintosh computers only. Microsoft acquired PowerPoi ...
presentations and can easily be connected to a video camera for real-time input. The
magic lantern
The magic lantern, also known by its Latin name , is an early type of image projector that used pictures—paintings, prints, or photographs—on transparent plates (usually made of glass), one or more lenses, and a light source. Because a si ...
is best known for the projection of still images, but was capable of projecting moving images from mechanical slides since its invention and was probably at its peak of popularity when used in
phantasmagoria
Phantasmagoria (, also fantasmagorie, fantasmagoria) was a form of horror theatre that (among other techniques) used one or more magic lanterns to project frightening images, such as skeletons, demons, and ghosts, onto walls, smoke, or semi- ...
shows to project moving images of ghosts.
Real-time
*
Camera obscura
A camera obscura (; ) is a darkened room with a aperture, small hole or lens at one side through which an image is 3D projection, projected onto a wall or table opposite the hole.
''Camera obscura'' can also refer to analogous constructions su ...
*
Concave mirror
A curved mirror is a mirror with a curved reflecting surface. The surface may be either ''convex'' (bulging outward) or ''concave'' (recessed inward). Most curved mirrors have surfaces that are shaped like part of a sphere, but other shapes are ...
*
Opaque projector
The opaque projector, epidioscope, epidiascope or episcope is a device which displays opaque materials by shining a bright lamp onto the object from above. A system of mirrors, prisms and/or imaging lenses is used to focus an image of the material ...
*
Overhead projector
An overhead projector (often abbreviated to OHP), like a film or slide projector, uses light to project an enlarged image on a screen, allowing the view of a small document or picture to be shared with a large audience.
In the overhead project ...
*
Document camera
Document cameras, also known as visual presenters, visualizers, digital overheads, or docucams, are real-time image capture devices for displaying an object to a large audience. Like an opaque projector, a document camera is able to magnify and p ...
*
shadow projector
Still images
*
Slide projector
A slide projector is an opto-mechanical device for showing photographic slides.
35 mm slide projectors, direct descendants of the larger-format magic lantern, first came into widespread use during the 1950s as a form of occasional home ...
*
Magic lantern
The magic lantern, also known by its Latin name , is an early type of image projector that used pictures—paintings, prints, or photographs—on transparent plates (usually made of glass), one or more lenses, and a light source. Because a si ...
*
Magic mirror
*Steganographic mirror (see below for details)
*
Enlarger
An enlarger is a specialized transparency projector used to produce photographic prints from film or glass negatives, or from transparencies.
Construction
All enlargers consist of a light source, normally an incandescent light bulb shining thou ...
(not for direct viewing, but for the production of photographic prints)
Moving images
*
Movie projector
A movie projector is an optics, opto-mechanics, mechanical device for displaying Film, motion picture film by projecting it onto a movie screen, screen. Most of the optical and mechanical elements, except for the illumination and sound devices ...
*
Video projector
A video projector is an image projector that receives a video signalling (telecommunication), signal and projects the corresponding image on a projection screen using a lens (optics), lens system. Video projectors use a very bright ultra-high-per ...
*
Handheld projector
A handheld projector (also known as a pocket projector, mobile projector, pico projector or mini beamer) is an image projector in a handheld device. It was developed as a computer display device for compact portable devices such as mobile ph ...
*
Virtual retinal display
A virtual retinal display (VRD), also known as a retinal scan display (RSD) or retinal projector (RP), is a display technology that draws a raster display (like a television) directly onto the retina of the eye.
History
In the past similar sy ...
*Revolving lanterns (see below for details)
History
There probably existed quite a few other types of projectors than the examples described below, but evidence is scarce and reports are often unclear about their nature. Spectators did not always provide the details needed to differentiate between for instance a
shadow play
Shadow play, also known as shadow puppetry, is an ancient form of storytelling and entertainment which uses flat articulated cut-out figures (shadow puppets) which are held between a source of light and a translucent screen or scrim. The cut-ou ...
and a
lantern projection. Many did not understand the nature of what they had seen and few had ever seen other comparable media. Projections were often presented or perceived as magic or even as religious experiences, with most projectionists unwilling to share their secrets. Joseph Needham sums up some possible projection examples from China in his 1962 book series ''Science and Civilization in China''
Prehistory to 1100
Shadow play
The earliest projection of images was most likely done in primitive
shadowgraphy dating back to prehistory. Shadow play usually does not involve a projection device, but can be seen as a first step in the development of projectors. It evolved into more refined forms of
shadow puppetry
Shadow play, also known as shadow puppetry, is an ancient form of storytelling and entertainment which uses flat articulated cut-out figures (shadow puppets) which are held between a source of light and a translucent screen or scrim. The cut-out ...
in Asia, where it has a long history in Indonesia (records relating to
Wayang
, also known as ( jv, ꦮꦪꦁ, translit=wayang), is a traditional form of puppet theatre play originating from the Indonesian island of Java. refers to the entire dramatic show. Sometimes the leather puppet itself is referred to as . Perfor ...
since 840 CE), Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, China (records since around 1000 CE), India and Nepal.
Camera obscura
![Schießscharten als Lochkamera](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Schie%C3%9Fscharten_als_Lochkamera.JPG)
Projectors share a common history with
camera
A camera is an Optics, optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), ...
s in the
camera obscura
A camera obscura (; ) is a darkened room with a aperture, small hole or lens at one side through which an image is 3D projection, projected onto a wall or table opposite the hole.
''Camera obscura'' can also refer to analogous constructions su ...
. Camera obscura (
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
for "dark room") is the natural optical phenomenon that occurs when an image of a scene at the other side of a screen (or for instance a wall) is projected through a small hole in that screen to form an inverted image (left to right and upside down) on a surface opposite to the opening. The oldest known record of this principle is a description by
Han Chinese
The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive va ...
philosopher
Mozi
Mozi (; ; Latinized as Micius ; – ), original name Mo Di (), was a Chinese philosopher who founded the school of Mohism during the Hundred Schools of Thought period (the early portion of the Warring States period, –221 BCE). The ancie ...
(ca. 470 to ca. 391 BC). Mozi correctly asserted that the camera obscura image is inverted because
light
Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 tera ...
travels in straight lines.
In the early 11th century,
Arab physicist Ibn al-Haytham
Ḥasan Ibn al-Haytham, Latinized as Alhazen (; full name ; ), was a medieval mathematician, astronomer, and physicist of the Islamic Golden Age from present-day Iraq.For the description of his main fields, see e.g. ("He is one of the prin ...
(Alhazen) described experiments with light through a small opening in a darkened room and realized that a smaller hole provided a sharper image.
Chinese magic mirrors
The oldest known objects that can project images are
Chinese magic mirrors. The origins of these mirrors have been traced back to the Chinese Han dynasty (206 BC – 24 AD) and are also found in Japan. The mirrors were cast in bronze with a pattern embossed at the back and a
mercury
Mercury commonly refers to:
* Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun
* Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg
* Mercury (mythology), a Roman god
Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to:
Companies
* Merc ...
amalgam laid over the polished front. The pattern on the back of the mirror is seen in a projection when light is reflected from the polished front onto a wall or other surface. No trace of the pattern can be discerned on the reflecting surface with the naked eye, but minute undulations on the surface are introduced during the manufacturing process and cause the reflected rays of light to form the pattern. It is very likely that the practice of image projection via drawings or text on the surface of mirrors predates the very refined ancient art of the magic mirrors, but no evidence seems to be available.
Revolving lanterns
Revolving lanterns have been known in China as "trotting horse lamps"
馬燈since before 1000 CE. A trotting horse lamp is a hexagonal, cubical or round lantern which on the inside has cut-out silhouettes attached to a shaft with a paper vane impeller on top, rotated by heated air rising from a lamp. The silhouettes are projected on the thin paper sides of the lantern and appear to chase each other. Some versions showed some extra motion in the heads, feet and/or hands of figures by connecting them with a fine iron wire to an extra inner layer that would be triggered by a transversely connected iron wire. The lamp would typically show images of horses and horse-riders.
In France, similar lanterns were known as "lanterne vive" (''bright'' or ''living lantern'') in Medieval times. and as "lanterne tournante" since the 18th century. An early variation was described in 1584 by Jean Prevost in his small
octavo
Octavo, a Latin word meaning "in eighth" or "for the eighth time", (abbreviated 8vo, 8º, or In-8) is a technical term describing the format of a book, which refers to the size of leaves produced from folding a full sheet of paper on which multip ...
book ''La Premiere partie des subtiles et plaisantes inventions''. In his "lanterne", cut-out figures of a small army were placed on a wooden platform rotated by a cardboard propeller above a candle. The figures cast their shadows on translucent, oiled paper on the outside of the lantern. He suggested to take special care that the figures look lively: with horses raising their front legs as if they were jumping and soldiers with drawn swords, a dog chasing a hare, etcetera. According to Prevost barbers were skilled in this art and it was common to see these night lanterns in their shop windows.
A more common version had the figures, usually representing grotesque or devilish creatures, painted on a transparent strip. The strip was rotated inside a cylinder by a tin impeller above a candle. The cylinder could be made of paper or of sheet metal perforated with decorative patterns. Around 1608
Mathurin Régnier
Mathurin Régnier (December 21, 1573 – October 22, 1613) was a French satirist.
Life
Régnier was born in Chartres, capital city of the current department of Eure-et-Loir, in Centre-Val de Loire region .
His father, Jacques Régnier, was a b ...
mentioned the device in his ''Satire XI'' as something used by a
patissier
A pastry chef or pâtissier (; the French female version of the word is pâtissière ), is a station chef in a professional kitchen, skilled in the making of pastries, desserts, breads and other baked goods. They are employed in large hotels, bi ...
to amuse children. Régnier compared the mind of an old nagger with the lantern's effect of birds, monkeys, elephants, dogs, cats, hares, foxes and many strange beasts chasing each other.
John Locke
John Locke (; 29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the "father of liberalism ...
(1632-1704) referred to a similar device when wondering if ideas are formed in the human mind at regular intervals,"not much unlike the images in the inside of a lantern, turned round by the heat of a candle." Related constructions were commonly used as Christmas decorations in England and parts of Europe. A still relatively common type of rotating device that is closely related does not really involve light and shadows, but it simply uses candles and an impeller to rotate a ring with tiny figurines standing on top.
Many modern electric versions of this type of lantern use all kinds of colorful transparent cellophane figures which are projected across the walls, especially popular for nurseries.
1100 to 1500
Concave mirrors
The inverted
real image
{{citations needed, date=June 2019
In optics, an ''image'' is defined as the collection of focus points of light rays coming from an object. A real image is the collection of focus points actually made by converging/diverging rays, while a v ...
of an object reflected by a
concave mirror
A curved mirror is a mirror with a curved reflecting surface. The surface may be either ''convex'' (bulging outward) or ''concave'' (recessed inward). Most curved mirrors have surfaces that are shaped like part of a sphere, but other shapes are ...
can appear at the focal point in front of the mirror. In a construction with an object at the bottom of two opposing concave mirrors (
parabolic reflectors
A parabolic (or paraboloid or paraboloidal) reflector (or dish or mirror) is a reflective surface used to collect or project energy such as light, sound, or radio waves. Its shape is part of a circular paraboloid, that is, the surface generated ...
) on top of each other, the top one with an opening in its center, the reflected image can appear at the opening as a very convincing 3D optical illusion.
The earliest description of projection with concave mirrors has been traced back to a text by French author
Jean de Meun
Jean de Meun (or de Meung, ) () was a French author best known for his continuation of the '' Roman de la Rose''.
Life
He was born Jean Clopinel or Jean Chopinel at Meung-sur-Loire. Tradition asserts that he studied at the University of Paris. He ...
in his part of ''
Roman de la Rose
''Le Roman de la Rose'' (''The Romance of the Rose'') is a medieval poem written in Old French and presented as an allegorical dream vision. As poetry, ''The Romance of the Rose'' is a notable instance of courtly literature, purporting to provid ...
'' (circa 1275). A theory known as the
Hockney-Falco thesis claims that artists used either concave mirrors or refractive lenses to project images onto their canvas/board as a drawing/painting aid as early as circa 1430.
It has also been thought that some encounters with spirits or gods since antiquity may have been conjured up with (concave) mirrors.
Fontana's lantern
Around 1420 the Venetian scholar and engineer
Giovanni Fontana included a drawing of a person with a lantern projecting an image of a demon in his book about mechanical instruments "Bellicorum Instrumentorum Liber". The Latin text "Apparentia nocturna ad terrorem videntium" (Nocturnal appearance to frighten spectators)" clarifies its purpose, but the meaning of the undecipherable other lines is unclear. The lantern seems to simply have the light of an oil lamp or candle go through a transparent cylindrical case on which the figure is drawn to project the larger image, so it probably couldn't project an image as clearly defined as Fontana's drawing suggests.
Possible 15th century image projector
In 1437 Italian humanist author, artist, architect, poet, priest, linguist, philosopher and cryptographer
Leon Battista Alberti
Leon Battista Alberti (; 14 February 1404 – 25 April 1472) was an Italian Renaissance humanist author, artist, architect, poet, priest, linguist, philosopher, and cryptographer; he epitomised the nature of those identified now as polymaths. H ...
is thought to have possibly projected painted pictures from a small closed box with a small hole, but it is unclear whether this actually was a projector or rather a type of show box with transparent pictures illuminated from behind and viewed through the hole.
1500 to 1700
16th to early 17th century
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...
is thought to have had a projecting lantern - with a condensing lens, candle and chimney - based on a small sketch from around 1515.
In his
Three Books of Occult Philosophy
''Three Books of Occult Philosophy'' (''De Occulta Philosophia libri III'') is Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa's study of occult philosophy, acknowledged as a significant contribution to the Renaissance philosophical discussion concerning the power ...
(1531-1533)
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim (; ; 14 September 1486 – 18 February 1535) was a German polymath, physician, legal scholar, soldier, theologian, and occult writer. Agrippa's ''Three Books of Occult Philosophy'' published in 1533 drew ...
claimed that it was possible to project "images artificially painted, or written letters" onto the surface of the moon with the means of moonbeams and their "resemblances being multiplied in the air".
Pythagoras
Pythagoras of Samos ( grc, Πυθαγόρας ὁ Σάμιος, Pythagóras ho Sámios, Pythagoras the Samos, Samian, or simply ; in Ionian Greek; ) was an ancient Ionians, Ionian Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher and the eponymou ...
would have often performed this trick.
In 1589
Giambattista della Porta
Giambattista della Porta (; 1535 – 4 February 1615), also known as Giovanni Battista Della Porta, was an Italian scholar, polymath and playwright who lived in Naples at the time of the Renaissance, Scientific Revolution and Reformation.
Giamba ...
published about the ancient art of projecting mirror writing in his book ''
Magia Naturalis
' (in English, ''Natural Magic'') is a work of popular science by Giambattista della Porta first published in Naples in 1558. Its popularity ensured it was republished in five Latin editions within ten years, with translations into Italian (1560 ...
''.
Dutch inventor
Cornelis Drebbel
Cornelis Jacobszoon Drebbel ( ) (1572 – 7 November 1633) was a Dutch engineer and inventor. He was the builder of the first operational submarine in 1620 and an innovator who contributed to the development of measurement and control systems, op ...
, who is a likely inventor of the microscope, is thought to have had some kind of projector that he used in magical performances. In a 1608 letter he described the many marvelous transformations he performed and the apparitions that he summoned by the means of his new invention based on optics. It included giants that rose from the earth and moved all their limbs very lifelike. The letter was found in the papers of his friend
Constantijn Huygens
Sir Constantijn Huygens, Lord of Zuilichem ( , , ; 4 September 159628 March 1687), was a Dutch Golden Age poet and composer. He was also secretary to two Princes of Orange: Frederick Henry and William II, and the father of the scientist C ...
, father of the likely inventor of the magic lantern
Christiaan Huygens
Christiaan Huygens, Lord of Zeelhem, ( , , ; also spelled Huyghens; la, Hugenius; 14 April 1629 – 8 July 1695) was a Dutch mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor, who is regarded as one of the greatest scientists of ...
.
Helioscope
![Sheiner Viewing Sunspots 1625](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Sheiner_Viewing_Sunspots_1625.jpg)
In 1612 Italian mathematician
Benedetto Castelli
Benedetto Castelli (1578 – 9 April 1643), born Antonio Castelli, was an Italian mathematician. Benedetto was his name in religion on entering the Benedictine Order in 1595.
Life
Born in Brescia, Castelli studied at the University of Padua and l ...
wrote to his mentor, the Italian astronomer, physicist, engineer, philosopher and mathematician
Galileo Galilei
Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He was ...
about projecting images of the sun through a
telescope
A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, absorption, or reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally meaning only an optical instrument using lenses, curved mirrors, or a combination of both to observe ...
(invented in 1608) to study the recently discovered sunspots. Galilei wrote about Castelli's technique to the German Jesuit priest, physicist and astronomer Christoph Scheiner.
[
From 1612 to at least 1630 ]Christoph Scheiner
Christoph Scheiner SJ (25 July 1573 (or 1575) – 18 June 1650) was a Jesuit priest, physicist and astronomer in Ingolstadt.
Biography Augsburg/Dillingen: 1591–1605
Scheiner was born in Markt Wald near Mindelheim in Swabia, earlier markgrava ...
would keep on studying sunspots and constructing new telescopic solar projection systems. He called these "Heliotropii Telioscopici", later contracted to helioscope
A helioscope is an instrument used in observing the sun and sunspots.
The helioscope was first used by Benedetto Castelli (1578-1643) and refined by Galileo (1564–1642). The method involves projecting an image of the sun onto a white sheet of pa ...
.
Steganographic mirror
The 1645 first edition of German Jesuit scholar Athanasius Kircher
Athanasius Kircher (2 May 1602 – 27 November 1680) was a German Jesuit scholar and polymath
A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans ...
's book ''Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae'' included a description of his invention, the steganographic
Steganography ( ) is the practice of representing information within another message or physical object, in such a manner that the presence of the information is not evident to human inspection. In computing/electronic contexts, a computer file, ...
mirror: a primitive projection system with a focusing lens and text or pictures painted on a concave mirror reflecting sunlight, mostly intended for long distance communication. He saw limitations in the increase of size and diminished clarity over a long distance and expressed his hope that someone would find a method to improve on this. Kircher also suggested projecting live flies and shadow puppets from the surface of the mirror. The book was quite influential and inspired many scholars, probably including Christiaan Huygens who would invent the magic lantern. Kircher was often credited as the inventor of the magic lantern, although in his 1671 edition of ''Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae
''Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae'' ("The Great Art of Light and Shadow") is a 1646 work by the Jesuit scholar Athanasius Kircher. It was dedicated to Ferdinand IV, King of the Romans and published in Rome by Lodovico Grignani. A second edition was pub ...
'' Kircher himself credited Danish mathematician Thomas Rasmussen Walgensten for the magic lantern, which Kircher saw as a further development of his own projection system.
Although Athanasius Kircher claimed the Steganographic mirror as his own invention and wrote not to have read about anything like it,[ it has been suggested that Rembrandt's 1635 painting of "]Belshazzar's Feast
Belshazzar's feast, or the story of the writing on the wall (chapter 5 in the Book of Daniel), tells how Belshazzar holds a great feast and drinks from the vessels that had been looted in the destruction of the Solomon's Temple, First Temple. A ...
" depicts a steganographic mirror projection with God's hand writing Hebrew letters on a dusty mirror's surface.
In 1654 Belgian Jesuit mathematician André Tacquet
André Tacquet (23 June 1612 Antwerp – 22 December 1660 Antwerp, also referred to by his Latinized name Andrea Tacquet) was a Brabantian mathematician and Jesuit priest. Tacquet adhered to the methods of the geometry of Euclid and the phi ...
used Kircher's technique to show the journey from China to Belgium of Italian Jesuit missionary Martino Martini
Martino Martini () (20 September 1614 – 6 June 1661), born and raised in Trento (Prince-Bishopric of the Holy Roman Empire), was a Jesuit missionary. As cartographer and historian, he mainly worked on ancient Imperial China.
Early years
Mart ...
. It is sometimes reported that Martini lectured throughout Europe with a magic lantern which he might have imported from China, but there's no evidence that anything other than Kircher's technique was used.
Magic lantern
By 1659 Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens
Christiaan Huygens, Lord of Zeelhem, ( , , ; also spelled Huyghens; la, Hugenius; 14 April 1629 – 8 July 1695) was a Dutch mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor, who is regarded as one of the greatest scientists of ...
had developed the magic lantern, which used a concave mirror to reflect and direct as much of the light of a lamp as possible through a small sheet of glass on which was the image to be projected, and onward into a focusing lens at the front of the apparatus to project the image onto a wall or screen (Huygens apparatus actually used two additional lenses). He did not publish nor publicly demonstrate his invention as he thought it was too frivolous.
The magic lantern became a very popular medium for entertainment and educational purposes in the 18th and 19th century. This popularity waned after the introduction of cinema in the 1890s. The magic lantern remained a common medium until slide projector
A slide projector is an opto-mechanical device for showing photographic slides.
35 mm slide projectors, direct descendants of the larger-format magic lantern, first came into widespread use during the 1950s as a form of occasional home ...
s came into widespread use during the 1950s.
1700 to 1900
Solar microscope
A few years before his death in 1736 Polish-German-Dutch physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit
Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit FRS (; ; 24 May 1686 – 16 September 1736) was a physicist, inventor, and scientific instrument maker. Born in Poland to a family of German extraction, he later moved to the Dutch Republic at age 15, where he spent ...
reportedly constructed a solar microscope, which basically was a combination of the compound microscope with camera obscura projection. It needed bright sunlight as a light source to project a clear magnified image of transparent objects. Fahrenheit's instrument may have been seen by German physician Johann Nathanael Lieberkühn who introduced the instrument in England, where optician John Cuff improved it with a stationary optical tube and an adjustable mirror. In 1774 English instrument maker Benjamin Martin introduced his "Opake Solar Microscope" for the enlarged projection of opaque objects. He claimed:
The solar microscope, was employed in experiments with photosensitive silver nitrate
Silver nitrate is an inorganic compound with chemical formula . It is a versatile precursor to many other silver compounds, such as those used in photography. It is far less sensitive to light than the halides. It was once called ''lunar caustic' ...
by Thomas Wedgwood in collaboration with Humphry Davy
Sir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet, (17 December 177829 May 1829) was a British chemist and inventor who invented the Davy lamp and a very early form of arc lamp. He is also remembered for isolating, by using electricity, several elements for t ...
in making the first, but impermanent, photographic enlargements. Their discoveries, regarded as the earliest deliberate and successful form of photography, were published in June 1802 by Davy in his ''An Account of a Method of Copying Paintings upon Glass, and of Making Profiles, by the Agency of Light upon Nitrate of Silver. Invented by T. Wedgwood, Esq. With Observations by H. Davy'' in the first issue of the ''Journals of the Royal Institution of Great Britain''.
Opaque projectors
Swiss mathematician, physicist, astronomer, logician and engineer Leonhard Euler
Leonhard Euler ( , ; 15 April 170718 September 1783) was a Swiss mathematician, physicist, astronomer, geographer, logician and engineer who founded the studies of graph theory and topology and made pioneering and influential discoveries in ma ...
demonstrated an opaque projector
The opaque projector, epidioscope, epidiascope or episcope is a device which displays opaque materials by shining a bright lamp onto the object from above. A system of mirrors, prisms and/or imaging lenses is used to focus an image of the material ...
, now commonly known as an episcope, around 1756. It could project a clear image of opaque images and (small) objects.
French scientist Jacques Charles
Jacques Alexandre César Charles (November 12, 1746 – April 7, 1823) was a French inventor, scientist, mathematician, and balloonist.
Charles wrote almost nothing about mathematics, and most of what has been credited to him was due to mistaking ...
is thought to have invented the similar "megascope" in 1780. He used it for his lectures. Around 1872 Henry Morton used an opaque projector in demonstrations for huge audiences, for example in the Philadelphia Opera House which could seat 3500 people. His machine did not use a condenser or reflector, but used an oxyhydrogen
Oxyhydrogen is a mixture of hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O2) gases. This gaseous mixture is used for torches to process refractory materials and was the first
gaseous mixture used for welding. Theoretically, a ratio of 2:1 hydrogen:oxygen is enough ...
lamp close to the object in order to project huge clear images.
Solar camera
See main article: ''Solar camera
The solar camera, or solar enlarger, is an ancestor of the darkroom enlarger, and was used in the mid-to-late 19th century to make photographic enlargements from negatives.
Other uses
The name ''Solar'' was registered as the brand of an unrela ...
''
Known equally, though later, as a solar enlarger, the solar camera
The solar camera, or solar enlarger, is an ancestor of the darkroom enlarger, and was used in the mid-to-late 19th century to make photographic enlargements from negatives.
Other uses
The name ''Solar'' was registered as the brand of an unrela ...
is a photographic application of the solar microscope and an ancestor of the darkroom enlarger
An enlarger is a specialized transparency projector used to produce photographic prints from film or glass negatives, or from transparencies.
Construction
All enlargers consist of a light source, normally an incandescent light bulb shining thou ...
, and was used, mostly by portrait photographers and as an aid to portrait artists, in the mid-to-late 19th century to make photographic enlargements from negatives using the Sun as a light source powerful enough to expose the then available low-sensitivity photographic materials. It was superseded in the 1880s when other light sources, including the incandescent bulb
An incandescent light bulb, incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe is an electric light with a wire filament heated until it glows. The filament is enclosed in a glass bulb with a vacuum or inert gas to protect the filament from oxida ...
, were developed for the darkroom enlarger and materials became ever more photo-sensitive.
20th century to present day
In the early and middle parts of the 20th century, low-cost opaque projectors were produced and marketed as a toy for children. The light source in early opaque projectors was often limelight
Limelight (also known as Drummond light or calcium light)James R. Smith (2004). ''San Francisco's Lost Landmarks'', Quill Driver Books. is a type of stage lighting once used in theatres and music halls. An intense illumination is created when ...
, with incandescent light bulb
An incandescent light bulb, incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe is an electric light with a wire filament heated until it glows. The filament is enclosed in a glass bulb with a vacuum or inert gas to protect the filament from oxida ...
s and halogen lamp
A halogen lamp (also called tungsten halogen, quartz-halogen, and quartz iodine lamp) is an incandescent lamp consisting of a tungsten filament sealed in a compact transparent envelope that is filled with a mixture of an inert gas and a small ...
s taking over later. Episcopes are still marketed as artists’ enlargement tools to allow images to be traced on surfaces such as prepared canvas.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, overhead projector
An overhead projector (often abbreviated to OHP), like a film or slide projector, uses light to project an enlarged image on a screen, allowing the view of a small document or picture to be shared with a large audience.
In the overhead project ...
s began to be widely used in schools and businesses. The first overhead projector was used for police identification work. It used a celluloid roll over a 9-inch stage allowing facial characteristics to be rolled across the stage. The United States military in 1940 was the first to use it in quantity for training.
From the 1950s to the 1990s slide projector
A slide projector is an opto-mechanical device for showing photographic slides.
35 mm slide projectors, direct descendants of the larger-format magic lantern, first came into widespread use during the 1950s as a form of occasional home ...
s for 35 mm photographic positive film slides were common for presentations and as a form of entertainment; family members and friends would occasionally gather to view slideshows, typically of vacation travels.[Irene V. Small, "Against Depth: Looking at the surface through the Kodak Carousel" in Kaganovsky, L., Goodlad, L. M. E., Rushing, R. A. (2013). Mad Men, Mad World: Sex, Politics, Style, and the 1960s. United Kingdom: Duke University Press.]
Complex Multi-image shows of the 1970s to 1990s, purposed usually for marketing, promotion or community service or artistic displays, used 35mm 35 mm may refer to:
* 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film
* 35 mm movie film, a type of motion picture film stock
* 35MM 35 mm may refer to:
* 135 film, a type of still photography format ...
and 46mm transparency slides (diapositive
In photography, reversal film or slide film is a type of photographic film that produces a positive image on a transparent base. Instead of negatives and prints, reversal film is processed to produce transparencies or diapositives (abbreviat ...
s) projected by single or multiple slide projector
A slide projector is an opto-mechanical device for showing photographic slides.
35 mm slide projectors, direct descendants of the larger-format magic lantern, first came into widespread use during the 1950s as a form of occasional home ...
s onto one or more screens in synchronization with an audio
Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to:
Sound
*Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound
*Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum
*Digital audio, representation of sound ...
voice-over
Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non-Diegetic#Film sound and music, diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, th ...
and/or music track controlled by a pulsed-signal tape or cassette. Multi-image productions are also known as multi-image slide presentations, slide shows and diaporamas and are a specific form of multimedia
Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...
or audio-visual
Audiovisual (AV) is electronic media possessing both a sound and a visual component, such as slide-tape presentations, films, television programs, corporate conferencing, church services, and live theater productions.
Audiovisual service prov ...
production.
Digital cameras
A digital camera is a camera that captures photographs in digital memory. Most cameras produced today are digital, largely replacing those that capture images on photographic film. Digital cameras are now widely incorporated into mobile device ...
had become commercialised by 1990, and in 1997 Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft PowerPoint is a presentation program, created by Robert Gaskins and Dennis Austin at a software company named Forethought, Inc. It was released on April 20, 1987, initially for Macintosh computers only. Microsoft acquired PowerPoi ...
was updated to include image files, accelerating the transition from 35 mm slides to digital images, and thus digital projectors, in pedagogy and training. Production of all Kodak Carousel slide projectors ceased in 2004, and in 2009 manufacture and processing of Kodachrome film was discontinued.
In popular culture
In Mad Men's first series the final episode presents the protagonist Don Draper's presentation (via slide projector) of a plan to market the Kodak slide carrier a 'carousel'.[Irene V. Small, "Against Depth: Looking at the surface through the Kodak Carousel" in Kaganovsky, L., Goodlad, L. M. E., Rushing, R. A. (2013). Mad Men, Mad World: Sex, Politics, Style, and the 1960s. United Kingdom: Duke University Press.]
See also
*Projector phone
A projector phone is a mobile phone that contains a built-in pico projector.
List of projector phones
See also
*List of 3D-enabled mobile phones
This is a list of 3D-enabled mobile phones. The devices on this list typically use autostereosco ...
* Hockney-Falco thesis
*Slide show
A slide show (slideshow) is a presentation of a series of still images (Presentation slide, slides) on a projection screen or electronic display device, typically in a prearranged sequence. The changes may be automatic and at regular intervals o ...
* Multi-image
*Enlarger
An enlarger is a specialized transparency projector used to produce photographic prints from film or glass negatives, or from transparencies.
Construction
All enlargers consist of a light source, normally an incandescent light bulb shining thou ...
*Audio-visual
Audiovisual (AV) is electronic media possessing both a sound and a visual component, such as slide-tape presentations, films, television programs, corporate conferencing, church services, and live theater productions.
Audiovisual service prov ...
Notes and references
{{Authority control
Display technology
Optical devices