How does Carl Haber's optical scanning recover audio?
We illuminate the surface of the recording medium at a low angle. This creates shadows within the groove, which vary according to the groove's shape. A camera captures these subtle shadow patterns. Digital image processing then analyzes these patterns, extracting the depth and width modulations. Algorithms translate these geometrical variations into an audio signal, essentially recreating the sound that was originally etched into the material.
Ask Carl Haber the follow-up →