Kinetoscope

The kinetoscope was a device that was created prior to the movie projector . This projector was invented by Thomas Alva Edison and William Dickson in the late 1880s, based on Edward Muybridge’s version of the zoopraxiscope . This device was intended to give an individual view of continuous image bands, but without the possibility of being projected on a screen. The film that had a permanent movement had to go through an electric lamp and also underneath a rotating disk which, in turn, was perforated and illuminated each passing frame for a short time, freezing the motion of the film at the same time, thus providing around 40 images per second.

What is the kinetoscope for?

The kinetoscope was very popular in its time and it was a device that was created with the aim of providing an individual view of endless bands of images , although not despite this, it did not allow their projection on a screen. It consisted of a vertical wooden box with a series of reels on which 14 m of film ran in a continuous loop. This film was constantly rotating, the images it generated passed in front of an electric lamp and under a magnifying glass that was placed in the upper part of the box. Between the lamp and the film there was also a rotating disc shutter, which was perforated with a narrow slot, which illuminated each frame so briefly that it froze the motion of the film, and in this way managed to provide about 40 images per second. The films in use at that time were ¾ of an inch, approximately 19 mm, and were moved by means of an interesting horizontal feed mechanism. The images they generated were circular in shape and the viewfinder began to work when a moderator was introduced that was in charge of activating the electric motor and gave a visualization of about 20 seconds.

History of the kinetoscope

In February 1888, Muybridge was in charge of giving a conference through which he introduced a device called a zoopraxiscope , which was an original version of the first device to reproduce images in continuous movement. The kinetoscope was invented by Thomas Edison and William KL Dickson. The purpose of this invention created by Edison was to create an audiovisual systemabsolute with which you could see and hear a work as if we were in the place. This interesting machine has been considered as the first cinema projecting machine. In the early 1890s its use began in the movies and quickly became popular at carnival parties and attractions. The Kinetoscope was a device designed for the individual vision of endless bands of images, but which did not allow their projection on a screen. It was a vertical wooden box with a series of coils on which they ran 14 m. of film in a continuous loop.

Inventor of the kinetoscope

The inventor Thomas Edison was the owner and lord of a patent, which belonged precisely to a filming device that he called a kinetoscope . Edison built it in 1891, driven by his interest in moving images after meeting photography pioneer Eadweard Muybridge and his work. Later, in France , it is believed that Edison’s meeting with the physiologist Etienne-Jules Marey helped steer the work in the right direction. Marey was able to produce a sequential series of still images using continuous film rolls, calling this technique chronophotography . And this is how the kinetoscope was created. The prototype was presented on May 20, 1891. 18 mm wide films were used, which according to the author David Robinson, “slid horizontally between two reels, at a constant speed.”