爱迪生的影片广受欢迎，所以他需要找到一个向大众展示这些影片的方法。洁金斯(C. Francis Jenkins)及阿默(Thomas Armat)发明了一种称为维太放映机(Vitascope)的影片投影机并要求爱迪生提供影片及以他的名义生产这部投影机。最后，爱迪生公司终于开发出自己的投影机，又名“放映视镜”(Projectoscope)，并立即停止销售维太放映机。1896年4月23日，美国首部于“电影院”播放的电影正式在纽约市(New York City)上映。


Edison's films were so popular that he needed a way to show them to large groups of people. C. Francis Jenkins and Thomas Armat invented a film projector called the Vitascope and asked Edison to supply the films and manufacture the projector under his name. Eventually, the Edison Company developed its own projector, known as the Projectoscope, and stopped marketing the Vitascope. The first films shown in a "movie theater" in America were presented to audiences on April 23, 1896, in New York City.

4 / 4 页