Otto H. Schade was a noted television pioneer, best known for his work on evaluating the gradation, graininess and sharpness in film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 and television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 images, and his aperture

Aperture

In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture of an optical system is the opening that determines the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. The aperture determines how collimated the admitted rays are,...

 theory that mathematically modeled the system performance of photographic lens

Photographic lens

A camera lens is an optical lens or assembly of lenses used in conjunction with a camera body and mechanism to make images of objects either on photographic film or on other media capable of storing an image chemically or electronically.While in principle a simple convex lens will suffice, in...

es, films, television tubes, and electrical circuits.

Schade was born in Schmalkalden

Schmalkalden

- Notable people :*Christoph Cellarius, scholar, born 22 November 1638, died 4 June 1707 in Halle*Christian Karl August Ludwig von Massenbach, colonel, born 16 April 1758, died 21 November 1827 at Białokosz...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, graduated in 1922 from the Reform-Real-Gymnasium in , then worked at Telephonfabrik A.G. vorm. J. Berliner in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 and Düsseldorf

Düsseldorf

Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...

 (1922-1924), and at the Ratig company in Berlin (1924-1925). He then emigrated to the United States to work at A. Atwater Kent

A. Atwater Kent

Arthur Atwater Kent, Sr. was an inventor and prominent radio manufacturer based in Philadelphia, usa. In 1921, he patented the modern form of the automobile ignition coil.-Biography:...

 in Philadelphia (1926-1931).

In 1931 Schade joined the Radio Corporation of America (RCA

RCA

RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...

), where he spent the remainder of his career. From 1944-1957 he developed a unified theory of image analysis and specification, including practical methods for measuring the optical transfer function

Optical transfer function

The optical transfer function of an imaging system is the true measure of resolution that the system is capable of...

 and noise in optical, photographic, and electronic imaging systems. In 1958 he began a study leading to the Nuvistor

Nuvistor

The nuvistor is a type of vacuum tube announced by RCA in 1959. Most nuvistors are basically thimble-shaped, but somewhat smaller than a thimble. Triodes and tetrodes were made, although tetrode nuvistors are rare. The tube is made entirely of metal and ceramic. Making nuvistors requires special...

 low-noise tubes for television receivers. He retired from RCA in 1968, continuing as a consultant until 1974.

Schade was a member of the National Academy of Engineering

National Academy of Engineering

The National Academy of Engineering is a government-created non-profit institution in the United States, that was founded in 1964 under the same congressional act that led to the founding of the National Academy of Sciences...

, and a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is a non-profit professional association headquartered in New York City that is dedicated to advancing technological innovation and excellence...

 and the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers

Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers

The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE , founded in 1916 as the Society of Motion Picture Engineers or SMPE, is an international professional association, based in...

. He received 85 patents and numerous awards, including an honorary Doctorate of Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Stephen Van Rensselaer established the Rensselaer School on November 5, 1824 with a letter to the Rev. Dr. Samuel Blatchford, in which van Rensselaer asked Blatchford to serve as the first president. Within the letter he set down several orders of business. He appointed Amos Eaton as the school's...

 (1953), Modern Pioneer Award of the National Association of Manufacturers (1940), the RCA Victor Award of Merit (1946), the IEEE Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Award

IEEE Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Award

The initially called Morris Liebmann Memorial Prize provided by the Institute of Radio Engineers , the IEEE Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Award was created in 1919 in honor of Colonel Morris N. Liebmann. It was initially given to awardees who had "made public during the recent past an important...

(1950), David Sarnoff Gold Medal Award (1951), David Sarnoff Outstanding Achievement Award (1968), and the Vladimir K. Zworykin Award (1969).