SEAC and the start of image processing at the National Bureau of Standards

Abstract

The National Bureau of Standards Electronic Automatic Computer, SEAC, completed in 1950, was the first electronic computer with an internally stored program in the U.S. government. This paper describes how scanning and computer processing of images began at the National Bureau of Standards in 1956 and how the use of SEAC made possible experiments that led to the widespread use of image processing and many other computer innovations.