Albert Einstein

The scientist whom I respect most is Albert Einstein. Among his many innovating and thought-provoking theories, one of which should perhaps make him “the father of digital imaging”.

In December 2009 Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith accepted a Nobel Prize in Physics for their work on the first digital image sensor, the charge-coupled device (CCD). When light passes through a camera's lens, it hits the CCD's photoelectric cells which convert that light into electrons. The more light a photocell is exposed to, the more electrons it holds. This effect, known as the photoelectric effect, earned Albert Einstein a Nobel Prize in 1921. This is the technology that makes digital imaging possible.

Boyle and Smith first came up with the idea of the CCD as a form of electronic memory at Bell Labs in 1969, 14 years after Einstein passed away. The first prototype digital camera to include a 10000 pixel CCD was invented by Kodak in 1975. Sony made their first digital camera, known as Mavica (Magnetic Video Camera) with a 0.28 million-pixel CCD in 1981. Canon first marketed their 0.1 million-pixel CCD digital camera (RC-701) in 1981. Nikon built their first prototype SVC (still video camera) with a 0.3 million-pixel CCD in 1986.