Otto H. Schade (April 27, 1903 – April 28, 1981) was a television pioneer, best known for his work on evaluating the gradation, graininess and sharpness in film and television images, and his aperture theory that mathematically modeled the system performance of photographic lenses, films, television tubes, and electrical circuits.
He then emigrated to the United States to work at A. Atwater Kent in Philadelphia (1926–1931).
In 1931 Schade joined the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), where he spent the remainder of his career.
From 1944 to 1957, he developed a unified theory of image analysis and specification, including practical methods for measuring the optical transfer function and noise in optical, photographic, and electronic imaging systems.
In 1958 he began a study leading to the Nuvistor low-noise tubes for television receivers.