Traffic of the past, technology of today
07/21/2020
Around 110 years ago, there were already (a few) automobiles, but film recording technology was still pretty antiquated. The films were of course black and white and the recordings jerked during playback, speed changes (sometimes too fast, sometimes too slow) resulted in the typical silent movie effects we know from Charlie Chaplin films.
In modern times, a lot of technology (keyword: machine learning) has been developed that makes it possible to restore and improve such old film documents. From a historian's point of view, this may be as questionable as modernizing a vintage car, but the films are much more enjoyable to watch.
Enthusiasts have started to improve hours and hours of material. The photos in this film show excerpts from a 1906 strip taken during a streetcar ride along Market Street. Images were added, sharpened, retouched and colorized.
Here is the whole movie, rendered for 4K and 60 FPS. Impressive! It should also be mentioned that people back then would probably have been thrilled if they had reached an average speed of 30 km/h ...
