CHM panel: Pixels and Me 7:00 Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital,rec.photo.digital.slr-systems,comp.arch,comp.graphics.misc (More info?)

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 2005

ODYSSEYS IN TECHNOLOGY
A Computer History Museum Speaker Series Sponsored by Sun Microsystems
Laboratories Presents "Pixels and Me"
With
Richard F. Lyons
Chief Scientist, Foveon, Inc., Spouse Member of the ACM, and Fellow of the
IEEE

Member Reception - 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Lecture - 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM

ABSTRACT
Computers have revolutionized image media. Richard Lyon, one of the current
pioneers of digital cameras, has found that several generations of pioneers
in this field have been entangled with the terms "picture element" and
"pixel" and that studying the history of the terminology is a fruitful
approach to the history of the people and technology. Vladimir Zworykin's
television research group at RCA popularized the term "picture element" in
the 1930s, while the TV researchers at Bell Labs ignored that term,
preferring "image element." Fred Billingsley and others at the the Jet
Propulsion Laboratory developed computerized image processing and propagated
the term "pixel" in the 1960s, while image processing researchers at Bell
Labs ignored that term, preferring "pel." In the early 1970s, "pixel" was
spread through computer image processing publications from NASA, USC, IBM,
Stanford, University of Missouri, and other places, eventually coming to be
applied to elements of image sensor hardware, such as Lyon's optical mouse
in 1980 and digital camera sensors more recently. Many of the people
involved in this convoluted history have provided their personal
recollections and documents to help piece the story together, and more such
inputs will be solicited from the Computer History Museum audience.
This talk is dedicated to Fred Billingsley and George Peterson of the NASA
Jet Propulsion Laboratory.


Hahn Auditorium
Computer History Museum
1401 N. Shoreline Boulevard
Mountain View, CA 94043
http://www.computerhistory.org/eve [...] m_map.html

REGISTRATION
Free. Suggested donation of 10.00 at the door from non-members.
RSVP is required.
http://www.computerhistory.org/pixels_03232005

Call 650-810-1005 for information.

BACKGROUND
Odysseys in Technology, A Computer History Museum Speaker Series Sponsored
by Sun Microsystems Laboratories, presents people and perspectives behind
extraordinary innovations and advancements in the computer
technology-related world. Each event in the Series provides stimulating
interaction with authentic experts whose achievements have transformed how
things are done or viewed, and to examine how their personal stories might
inform the present and future. These programs occasionally feature
technologies or point events, with the objective to apply lessons of history
to present day understanding and inspiration.