Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers (1930-1949)

group here to achieve substantial unanimity respecting a much greater number of so-called Draft Proposals than anyone had thought possible. Committee PH22 derives its authority from two sources. First, the Committee is "sponsored" by the SMPTE. This is a conventional arrangement, typical of many other ASA Sectional Committees. The sponsor is responsible for the agenda, and submits his recommendation to ASA respecting the chairman. He is ordinarily required to supply secretarial service, which is very capably done for PH22 by the very versatile Henry Kogel, SMPTE Staff Engineer. Kogel is unusually well fitted for this task, since he also serves as secretary for all the Engineering Committees of SMPTE, previously described. Within the ASA structure, Committee PH22 is one of five Sectional Committees under the general jurisdiction of a Photographic Standards Board (PSB), of which Paul Arnold of Ansco is the Chairman. The other Committees in this group are: PHI, Photographic Films, Plates and Papers; PH2, Photographic Sensitometry; PH3, Photographic Apparatus; and PH4, Photographic Processing. These four represent divisions of the earlier ASA Sectional Committee Z38 on Photography, which became too cumbersome in its operations to continue as a single group. When this reorganization of Z38 into four separate Committees was under consideration by the ASA, the creation of a new correlating Board was also proposed, to which these new PH committees would report in a manner conventional in the ASA with other groups. The SMPTE was asked to agree to a revision of the then independent status of ASA Sectional Committee Z22 on Motion Pictures, so that it too would report to the new correlating Board. This was agreed to, and the designation accordingly changed from Z22 to PH22. Objections were raised at the time to inserting another in the long chain of reviewing agencies between the technical working body on the one end and the Standards Council on the other. However, SMPTE received assurance from the ASA that this was purely an organizational detail within ASA, and that the new Correlating Committee would exercise no significant authority over the affairs of PH22. Correlation is naturally required at some stage to prevent possible duplication of effort between PH22 and the four other PH Committees, and this the new Photographic Standards correlating Board does with very good effect all around. Thus while the rules of procedure of the ASA give correlating Boards in general the right to exercise a considerable degree of authority, this is frequently not used, and it is anticipated that the existence of the PSB will have little effect on the operations of PH22, so long as the SMPTE does a competent job as sponsor. This then is the present picture of the activities in which the Engineering Vice-President represents the interests of the SMPTE. It is a continual pleasure to work with such a fine, cooperative group of technical people, and particularly with the very refreshing international experience with ISO/ TC36 so clearly in mind, it seems altogether tragic and unnecessary that similar progress is not made along political lines. The scientists, however, are showing an ever increasing concern in the study of human reactions, for example in their interest in many phases of the science of color, and the determination of preferred motion picture viewing conditions — so they may yet bring their talents and impartial scientific viewpoints to bear on the troublesome social problems of the world. Having seen the fine cooperative giveand-take in our many Committees, with 176 September 1952 Journal of the SMPTE Vol. 59