British Kinematography (1951)

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142 Vol. 18, No. SOUND FILM EQUIPMENT IN THE FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN TELEKINEMA A. Bowen,* J Moir* and H. Turner* THE Telekinema for the Festival of Britain' was planned to demonstrate to the public the most up-to-date techniques in the motion picture and television field, and it was considered a legitimate opportunitv to obtain public reaction to advanced ideas that have interested the technician for some time without finding adequate public expression. Though this paper is concerned with the sound film equipment, large screen television equipment2 and the associated camera chain are also installed, and specially recorded interval music is reproduced by equipment provided by other organisations. Early discussion with the Festival Office followed by preliminary demonstrations in our laboratories resulted in agreement to provide the following features: 1. Projection of ordinary "flat " black-andwhite and colour sound films. 2. Replacement of the standard black screen border by an illuminated surround projected from the picture mechanism, the intensity and colour of the surround being related to the average picture content. 3. A strreoscopic picture using polarised light 4. A stereophonic sound system with additional " front of screen " sound effects. Production of the special films required for stereo picture and sound was arranged by the Festival Office. I. STANDARD SOUND FILM Two standard SUP A 35 mm. film projectors3 (Fig. 1) are installed for projection of normal sound films, the modifications necessary for the projection of the Halochrome border, stereo picture film and other special features being added to the basic machine. The only modification required when projecting black-and-white sound film was the addition of a neutral light absorbing filter in front of the projector to reduce the light intensity on the screen. Messrs. Stableford * British Thomson Screens, Ltd., having installed a special directional screen of high gain for the benefit of the television projector, it became necessary to reduce the screen luminance to tolerable values when showing film. This filter and the Polaroid filter required for the stereo picture are mounted in a disc mounted in a special housing bolted to the front of the projector, selection being made by rotating the disc to the required position. 2. HALOCHROME BORDER Some pre-war investigations in the B.T.H. Research Laboratories in Rugby clearly demonstrated the disadvantage of the black masking border, the present standard practice of the industry. The war interfered with the commercial application of the alternative proposals, but the ideas were pursued for the Telekinema installation. The black border is a relic of the early days of the kinema industry when screen illumination was low and picture edges rather ragged, but it has become so much a part of a standard kinema picture presentation that it? presence is hardly questioned. That lusty newcomer television, having a similar problem in masking off the picture tube, tried the kinema industry's solution, but abandoned it after a few" months, in favour of a light-coloured surround. Visual acuity is at its maximum when the detail to be appreciated presents the maximum contrast tc the background, but the presence of a black border ensures that the maximum contrasts occur at the edges, thu> i educing the sensitivity of the eye to the detail in the picture. In addition to the loss of definition, the darker tones, especially of colour films, in the picture are degraded by presenting them in comparison with the real blackness of the masking. •Houston Co., Ltd.