International projectionist (Jan-Dec 1935)

May 1935 INTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONIST 27 TELEVISION AND THE MOTION PICTURE (Continued from page 16) ing such figures since there are numerous other economic factors involved in a valid comparison. WHILE it is not feasible within the limits of this presentation to give even an outline of the various methods employed in modern television, some numerical data concerned with picture detail may be included as of present interest. These consist first of a personal opinion, in terms of motion picture terminology, of the value and characteristics of television pictures having various numbers of dot-elements composing them. The figures are understood to be merely generally descriptive, but it is believed they are instructive in judging the "motion-picture value" of various television systems: 10,000-element pictures — these give a fair close-up of a single person (head and shoulders) 20,000-element pictures — these can show two persons in a close-up moderately well (though without fine detail) 40,000-element pictures — fair medium shots become possible 80,000-element pictures — good medium shots, and fair long shots can be shown 160,000-eIement pictures — excellent close-ups of several persons, good medium shots, and acceptable long shots (except for unusual "pageant" subjects and the like). 'Sideband' Requirements Taking the last-mentioned type of television picture, and assuming a flickerless transmission, it is found that the required "sidebands" produced by the picture modulation of the ultra-shortwave carrier have a width of the order of 1.5 megacycles (or about 150 times the frequency band required for highfidelity 10,000-cycle sound reproduction) ! Passing to the subject of topic (c) above, namely the contacts and cooperative possibilities between motion pictures and television, it is clear from the beginning that there can be a close connection, if such is desired. A person viewing a small picture in motion with synchronized sound might find some difficulty in knowing whether he was viewing a sound motion picture projected from film or a televisiontelephone broadcasting reception. He might be even more puzzled if the subject matter were, say, a newsreel used to control the television-telephone transmitter, an entirely feasible procedure. Obviously the technique of producing a television-telephone broadcast program will closely resemble that of producing a sound motion picture. Methods of costuming, make-up, script construction, "camera" technique, sound pick-up, set construction and illumination, and the „hed '*n thC , ne. colored ^-r;oop.,cture5^o Carbons. *« p*,.*^19** ~ \ r tne same m tor *** ^^_ like may well be similar in the two fields though probably not with the same degree of elaborateness in the case of television. One Sharp Distinction There is one respect in which they will necessarily differ if an original performance (rather than a film record) is broadcast. This is a limitation of television-telephone broadcastings, namely, the possibility of only one "take," to wit, that one which is broadcast. In motion picture production, any reasonable number of takes may be made; not so in broadcasting where the radio wave irrevocably carries the selected performance to all homes. As has been mentioned, sound mo tion picture films may be excellent subject matter for programs from some stations, and may even afford one means of syndicating programs in somewhat the same way electrical transcription (phonograph disc records of programs) are now used. It is not believed, however, that television-telephone syndication operation will be fully satisfactory unless there are also actual interconnecting wires or radio networks between the outlet stations, since there will be many occasions — for example, a speech by the President, a political Convention, an evening prize fight, and the like — where the public can hardly be completely satisfied by any radio performance wrhich does not take place at the same time as the