The history of three-color photography (1925)

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Prismatic Dispersion and Allied Processes 661 J. Rheinberg9 suggested a method of like character, which he called the micro-spectra method of color photography ; but made no actual experiments, and it was not till he had read of the results of Lippmann's and Cheron's work that he actually started practice of this process; but his suggestions practically covered the field. G. Lippmann10 apparently ignorant of previous suggestions, stated the reversibility of the path of the light-rays and then proposed to apply this to color photography as follows: instead of the single slit of a spectroscope, a series of slits very close together were to be used, being fine transparent lines of a ruled screen of 5 to the millimeter. This screen was to be placed in front of a photographic enlarger, that is, a box provided with a sensitive plate at one end, and carrying a converging lens at a plane about midway between its two ends. In front of the lens was to be placed a prism of small angle, with its edge parallel to the transparent lines of the screen. The image to be reproduced was projected on the screen, the sensitive plate exposed, developed and the positive therefrom put in the place of the sensitive plate. On illuminating the apparatus with white light an image was seen in colors. Each line of the screen acted as a slit of a spectroscope and, as the lines were not visible at the distance of distinct vision, the image appeared continuous. It was necessary that the prism be of an angle so small that each spectrum had a length less than the interspaces, otherwise the spectra would encroach on each other. It was also necessary that the positive occupied exactly the same place as the plate in exposure. Were the positive moved in its frame, the colors rapidly changed ; if turned, colored moire effects were obtained. Rapid commercial plates could be used and the exposure would be much shorter than for the interference process. It might be possible to improve the process so as to avoid the use of an apparatus to observe the colors, and to make the plate sufficient in itself. For instance, suppose that a sensitive plate be placed in an ordinary camera, without a prism, but with the screen, and suppose that on a ruled screen, which might have 5 lines to the millimeter, there was superposed a grating of 500 lines to the millimeter ; each luminous point thus projected on to the screen would then spread out as a spectrum, and could be photographed. On applying the screen, with its grating, to the developed positive, one would see the colors of the original if the eye could occupy the place of the lens. P. E. B. Jourdain11 stated that he had conceived in 1898 the idea of using diffraction for obtaining color photographs, and said : "It is well known that, when monochromatic light passes through a narrow slit in an opaque screen, it is diffracted, and if the diffracted light is received on a white screen, or viewed through a small telescope, a band of light of that color is seen and right and left of it a series of similar bands, gradually diminishing in brightness and separated by dark bands. The