It seems so easy these days to watch a video of almost anything you desire on the Internet. There are videos to teach guitar playing, how to make a campfire, and how to repair parts of a car. Virtually anything can be learned watching videos on the internet. Of course, it was not always so. The video recording itself is a relatively new invention, and its mass distribution via the Internet is even more recent. It all began in the year 1888 with what is now known as the “Roundhay Garden Scene”. This two second video recording is purported to be the first ever moving image capture. The creator, a Frenchman named Louis Le Prince captured the video on paper film, instead of the later used celluloid. From that point forward, many advances were made in video recording technology to the extent that is now possible to record a video from a hand-held device and upload it to the Internet for the world to see – all in a manner of seconds.
There have been many advancements in technology that have shaped video into what we know it as today. In its current form, it is hard to imagine all of the inventions and ideas that have made it possible. With that being said, this history is not all-inclusive, nor is it intended to be. What follows are some of the many major milestones in video recording history that have helped pave the way for modern video media.
1888 – The Roundhay Garden Scene, possibly the oldest (or at least oldest surviving) motion picture recording, is created in Leeds, England by Frenchman Louis Le Prince. Recorded as an experiment, this short recording features people walking around and laughing in a garden.
1895 – Louis Lumiere and his brother Auguste, also Frenchmen, are credited with the invention of the first portable video camera, called the cinématographe. The device also functioned as a projector as well as camera, and eclipsed Thomas Edison's earlier invention of the Kinetoscope.
1906 – The first full length film ever made, The Story of the Kelly Gang, is over 70 minutes in length. Produced in Australia, the film was composed of over 4,000 feet of film. Sadly, only 17 minutes of restored footage are known to survive to this day.
1915 – Edwin S. Porter and William E. Waddell became the first people to demonstrate a 3D video in New York City. Audience members were required to wear glasses with red and green lenses, and the movie was composed of nature and other outdoor scenes.
1926 – Don Juan became the first motion picture created with synchronized sound effects and music. It had been the standard up to that point to use a live orchestra for the sound. Don Juan did not have any spoken dialogue.
1956 – Charles Ginsburg and his team at the Ampex Corporation introduced the first ever videotape recorder. Prior to this, no practical alternatives had been invented. In the same year, CBS became the first television network to use this technology.
1983 – Sony released the Betamovie BMC-100P, the first consumer camcorder. It used the Betamax format and had to be rested on your shoulder due to its size and weight. The same year the JVC Corporation released a camcorder in VHS format. The VHS format inevitably won the market share and edged out Betamax as a video recording format.
1995 – Xing Technology Corporation, later acquired by Real Networks, released the first on demand video system on the Internet. Later referred to as “streaming” video, this invention revolutionized Internet media.
1999 – Kyocera releases its Visual Phone 210, the first cellphone to record and transmit videos over the air. Featuring a camera on the front of the phone, it was the first cellphone to allow videoconferencing. Also featuring the first color screen on a cellphone, it was available only in Japan.
2005 – The domain name Youtube.com is registered and the website's creation begun. Two months after beginning work, the first online video was posted to the site. Titled Me at the Zoo, it was filmed at the San Diego Zoo and uploaded by one of the website's founders.