A Kinetoscope is a device that shows older films or motion pictures through a viewing window. The device predates the movie projector and housing the viewing window in a cabinet. The kinetoscope’s basic concept served as the basis for movie projectors that were developed later. The kinetoscope produces the illusion of movement or animation by using perforated film strips that have sequential images that comprise the movie or film frames that are moved over a light source with a high-speed shutter.

Who Invented the Kinetoscope?

Thomas Edison was originally credited with the kinetoscope’s invention. However, William Kennedy Laurie Dickson, who worked for Edison, is now credited with inventing the device between 1889 and 1892. He was also credited with inventing the Kinetograph, a camera with rapid film movement that was used for Edison Labs’ experiments and was later incorporated into the commercially produced Kinetoscope. The original Kinetoscope patent was filed in August, 1894 and the width of film was specified as 35 mm. The Kinetograph (the camera for the device) was also included on this patent application.

When was the Kinetoscope First Used?

The Kinetoscope was first demonstrated publicly at the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences in May, 1893. Blacksmith Scene, a film produced at Edison studio, was the first to be shown in public on the device. Over the course of 1893 and 1894, the device continued to garner hype and resulted in the first kinetoscope parlor being opened in October, 1894. Since Edison did not properly protect the invention’s patent rights, a number of copies of the device were produced that resulted in a number of innovations that significantly changed the movie industry as it was known at the end of the 19th century.