Includes bibliographical references (p. 231-236) and index.

Contenidos: Introduction: “Friedrich Kittler’s Light Shows” (by John Durham Peters) 


Acknowledgements 


Preface 


1. Theoretical Presuppositions 


2. Technologies of the Fine Arts 


  2.1 Camera Obscura and Linear Perspective
    2.1.1 Prehistory
      2.1.1.1 Greeks and Arabs
    2.1.2 Implementation
      2.1.2.1 Brunelleschi
      2.1.2.2 Alberti
    2.1.3 Impact
      2.1.3.1 Perspective and Letterpress
      2.1.3.2 The Self‑Printing of Nature
      2.1.3.3 Europe’s Colonial Power

  2.2 Laterna Magica and the Age of the World Picture
    2.2.1 Magic Lanterns in Action
    2.2.2 Implementation
    2.2.3 Impact
      2.2.3.1 Propaganda
      2.2.3.2 Heidegger’s “Age of the World Picture”
      2.2.3.3 Jesuits and Optical Media
      2.2.3.4 Travelling People
      2.2.3.5 Jesuit Churches
      2.2.3.6 Jesuit Theatre

  2.3 Enlightenment and Image War
    2.3.1 Brockes
    2.3.2 Phenomenology from Lambert to Hegel
    2.3.3 Ghost-Seers
      2.3.3.1 Schiller
      2.3.3.2 Hoffmann
    2.3.4 Romantic Poetry 


3. Optical Media 


  3.1 Photography
    3.1.1 Prehistory
    3.1.2 Implementation
      3.1.2.1 Niépce and Daguerre
      3.1.2.2 Talbot
    3.1.3 Painting and Photography: A Battle for the Eyeballs

  3.2 Film
    3.2.1 Preludes
    3.2.2 Implementation
      3.2.2.1 Marey and Muybridge
    3.2.3 Silent Film
    3.2.4 Sound Film
    3.2.5 Color Film

  3.3 Television 



4. Computers 
Scribd


Bibliography 


Index 

Optical Media presents a sweeping overview of the evolution of visual media—from the techniques of Renaissance painting to the machinery of digital image production. Friedrich Kittler explores how optical perception has been shaped by innovations such as linear perspective, the camera obscura, and the magic lantern. He delves into the interplay between photography and painting, the rise of cinema, television, and, ultimately, the digital computer. Throughout, Kittler examines how these media technologies have transformed not only visual culture, but also the broader relationships between text, image, and communication in modern society.

Translation of: Optische Medien.