The+Kinetograph+and+the+Kinetoscope

Thomas Edison's Amazing New Inventions The Kinetograph and the Kinetoscope  The Kinetograph Thomas Edison’s most recent innovative invention, the Kinetograph pushes the boundaries of the science of recording images. What exactly does “Kinetograph” mean? “Kineto” means motion and “graph” means to write, therefore defining this machine as a “writer of motion.” It can record anything, such as a person’s facial expressions or their motions. The Kinetograph uses rapid intermittent film movement in order to record the movement of images, and these recording can be reproduced on the Kineograph’s sister invention, the Kinetoscope. It works by taking pictures in quick succession (forty-six photographs in one second), which are intended to be played back at a speed that creates an illusion of motion. To record this, it uses a motor to quickly run gelatine film over a photographic lens and this process can be continued non-stop for up to thirty minutes. The Kinetograph’s motion recording abilities can be united with a phonograph (a recorder of sound) to combine the subject’s speech with its motions. The Kinetograph is sure to revolutionize how we live our lives, and can bring events to viewers, instead of bringing viewers to events. .  

The Kinetoscope The sister invention to the Kinetograph, the Kinetoscope is a machine into which a person can look in and view a series of images that are played at a speed that produces an illusion of motion. Much like the Kinetograph, the word Kinetoscope describes the function of this machine, “kineto” meaning motion and “scope” meaning to watch. To the untrained eye, the Kinetoscope would appear to be no more than a normal cabinet. But what the standard passerby does not know is that inside of this cabinet is a fifty foot piece of perforated film that is carried past a magnifying glass with a small motor. The movement of these images past the magnifying glass makes the images appear to be in motion, and a person can look inside a peephole in the kinetograph and see the motion picture, which could be anything ranging from an opera to a prize fight. This fantastic creation does for the eye what the phonograph does for the ear. Soon, Kinetoscope parlors will begin to appear in towns around you, where customers can view a “peep show” for a coin, and new ways to improve and expand upon the idea of the Kinetoscope are constantly being thought up by genius inventors like Thomas Edison himself. 

Who is Thomas Edison?   Thomas Edison is a world-renown American inventor and the mastermind behind the Kinetoscope and Kinetograph. He has invented many influential and groundbreaking devices, including the lightbulb, the automatic telegraphy machine, and the phonograph. Also, he has been bestowed with hundreds of patents, the first of which he received in 1869 (he was twenty-two) for a device that electronically recorded the voice votes cast in a legislative assembly. While this device was not his largest success, it was a milestone on his path to fame. Eight years later in 1877, Edison created the phonograph, which was essentially a record player and could reproduce sound. Two years after the invention of the phonograph, Edison improved the incandescent lightbulb and made it available to the common folk, thus putting his name into the mainstream as America was lit up by his improved lightbulbs.  Edison’s newest inventions are the Kinetograph and the Kinetoscope, instruments that are bound to create quite a splash across America as they break into the public eye with their astounding “moving pictures” and according to Edison, the Kinetoscope “ does for the eye what the phonograph does for the ear.” 

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