A phenakistoscope disc by Eadweard Muybridge (1893).

Simulated mirror view of the above disc.

The phenakistoscope (also spelled phenakistiscope) was an early animation device, the predecessor to the zoetrope. It was invented in 1831 simultaneously by the Belgian Joseph Plateau and the Austrian Simon von Stampfer. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 600 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (3000 × 3000 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 600 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (3000 × 3000 pixel, file size: 1. ... Eadweard Muybridge Muybridges The Horse in Motion. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 600 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (800 × 800 pixel, file size: 2. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 600 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (800 × 800 pixel, file size: 2. ... The bouncing ball animation (below) consists of these 6 frames. ... A modern replica of a Victorian zoetrope. ... Leopold I 1831 (MDCCCXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Plateaus phenakistiscope Joseph Antoine Ferdinand Plateau (October 14, 1801 - September 15, 1883) was a Belgian physicist. ...

One variant of the phenakistoscope was a spinning disc mounted vertically on a handle. Around the center of the disc a series of pictures was drawn corresponding to frames of the animation; around its circumference was a series of radial slits. The user would spin the disc and look through the moving slits at the disc's reflection in a mirror. The scanning of the slits across the reflected images kept them from simply blurring together, so that the user would see a rapid succession of images with the appearance of a motion picture. Another variant had two discs, one with slits and one with pictures; this was slightly more unwieldy but needed no mirror. Unlike the zoetrope and its successors, the phenakistoscope could only practically be used by one person at a time. It has been suggested that video frame be merged into this article or section. ... For other uses see film (disambiguation) Film refers to the celluliod media on which movies are printed Film — also called movies, the cinema, the silver screen, moving pictures, photoplays, picture shows, flicks, or motion pictures, — is a field that encompasses motion pictures as an art form or as...

The word "phenakistoscope" comes from Greek roots meaning "deceiving viewer".

The Special Honorary Joseph Plateau Award, a replica of Plateau's original phenakisticope, is presented every year to a special guest of the Flanders International Film Festival whose achievements have earned a special and distinct place in the history of international film making.

See also

• Stroboscope
• Praxinoscope
• Zoetrope
• Thaumatrope

A stroboscope , also known as a strobe, is an instrument used to make a cyclically moving object appear to be slow-moving or stationary. ... The Praxinoscope was an animation device, the successor to the zoetrope. ... A modern replica of a Victorian zoetrope. ... A thaumatrope is a toy that was popular in Victorian times. ...

External links

• Collection of simulated phenakistiscopes in action - Museum For The History Of Sciences
• A picture and further information - North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics (NCSSM)
• An exhibit of similar optical toys, including the zoetrope (Laura Hayes and John Howard Wileman Exhibit of Optical Toys in the NCSSM)