1. SIMS-IS146 – 17.03.2005 1 History and Technology of Digital Imaging Visual material used from the film Minority Report, TM and © 2002 Twentieth Century Fox and Dreamworks

2. SIMS-IS146 – 17.03.2005 2 Image reading Visual communication is always coded –“It seems transparent only because we know the code already, at least passively — but without knowing what it is we know, without having the means for talking about what it is we do when we read an image.” Our culture is moving from textual to visual –“Until now, language, especially written language, was the most highly valued, the most frequently analyzed, the most prescriptively taught and the most meticulously policed code in our society.” Visual “literacy” is not taught and needs to be –“If schools are to equip students adequately for the new semiotic order, if they are not to produce people unable to use the 'new writing' actively and effectively, then the old boundaries between 'writing' on the one hand, traditionally the form of literacy without which people cannot adequately function as citizens, and, on the other hand, the 'visual arts', a marginal subject for the specially gifted, and 'technical drawing', a technical subject with limited and specialized application, should be redrawn.”

3. SIMS-IS146 – 17.03.2005 3 Image technology Painting VERMEER VAN DELFT, c. 1665, Oil on canvas, 46,5 x 40 cm, Mauritshuis, The Hague Photo (1830)  development of technology (e.g. colour, brushes, canvas, etc.)  development of presentation techniques (e.g. central perspective) Digital image (1950)  development of technology (e.g. camera, film stock, etc.)  development of presentation techniques (e.g. illumination)  development of technology (e.g. camera, compression, manipulation)  development of presentation techniques (e.g. automatic collage)

4. SIMS-IS146 – 17.03.2005 4 The eye Capture Transcoding

5. SIMS-IS146 – 17.03.2005 5 Vision – A matter of light Newton’s experimentum crucis „no colour" 780 520 380 Wavelength 550 nm 500 480

6. SIMS-IS146 – 17.03.2005 6 The camera Analog camera produces a continuous image, simulating the capture of the eye. Negative (reverse reality) Actual image (various manipulation processes) Analog technology is expensive and complicated to handle.

7. SIMS-IS146 – 17.03.2005 7 The digital image The image is a matrix of values, representing the colour, texture, dimension, etc.

8. SIMS-IS146 – 17.03.2005 8 The digital image - colour RGB: Red, Green and Blue light get mixed Use in screens or cameras CMY(K): Fraction of white light is removed Cyan R B und G Magenta G R und B Yellow B R und G Used in printing HSB: Hue (Wavelength value) Saturation (Amount of hue in a colour) Brightness Used in image editing software

9. SIMS-IS146 – 17.03.2005 9 The digital image - Texture The distinctive physical composition or structure of something, especially with respect to the size, shape, and arrangement of its parts structural analysis : small units and rules for composition statistical analysis : local grey values, regularity, contrast

10. SIMS-IS146 – 17.03.2005 10 The digital image - size 1 Bit -> black and white 8 Bit -> greyscale 16 Bit -> 64.000 colours (High Colour) 24 Bit -> 16 Mil. colours (True Colour) File size for True Colour 640 x 480 x 3 = 0,87 MB 800 x 600 x 3 = 1,37 MB 1024 x 768 x 3 = 2,25 MB 1280 x 1024 x 3 = 3,75 MB

11. SIMS-IS146 – 17.03.2005 11 The digital image - manipulation Pixel or vector Image format Resolution Mode File type Image enhancement resize colour enhancement artistic filters establishing planes any other sort of manipulation ALWAYS ask: what do I intend to do with the image now AND in the future?

12. SIMS-IS146 – 17.03.2005 12 The digital image - Questions Are there ways a digital image can keep its integrity? If so, why should it? What does the Cartesian grid representation of an image tell us semantically/semiotically?