Journal of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (1950-1954)

Section and Subsection Meetings A meeting of the Southwest Subsection was held on November 20, 1953, at the Continental National Bank auditorium, Fort Worth, Texas. Guest speakers were George H. Brown, Director, Systems Research Laboratory, Princeton, N.J., and Robert E. Shelby, Director, Color TV Systems and Development, NBC New York, who discussed "Compatible Color Television and Its Relationship to the Broadcaster." Their discussion covered the NTSC compatible color television signal in terms of brightness signal combined with a color subcarrier which conveys hue and saturation information, and reviewed a number of the factors which influenced the choice of the color subcarrier frequency as well as some which influenced compatibility. Some transmitter requirements and related measuring equipment and methods were also described. Attendance was over 80, including some IRE members as guests. W. W. Gilreath, Secretary-Treasurer, Southwest Subsection, 3732 Stanford St., Dallas, Texas. The Pacific Coast Section met on Tuesday evening, November 17, 1953, at Republic Studios in the San Fernando Valley. The program included a description and tour of the new Republic sound stage units, a screening of selections from a recent Republic wide-screen production, and a discussion of stereophonic sound by one of the top experts in the field. Members were particularly impressed by the new television film production sound stages and the excellent technical discussion by Dan Bloomberg concerning their design and use. The color quality of a reel of daily rushes from the current production, Johnny Guitar, starring Joan Crawford and processed by Consolidated Film Industries, was also most impressive. Following the opening film, William B. Snow discussed "Stereophonic and PseudoStereophonic Sound in Motion-Picture Production," including an explanation of the use of such clues as intensity, quality and arrival time in creating the stereophonic illusion. Factors which aid in pickup were shown to cause complications in the listening room. Particular emphasis was given to the relationship between true stereophonic pickup and the pseudostereophonic methods employing electrical controls during re-recording to produce sound movement. Approximately 450 persons attended the meeting. The Pacific Coast Section is very grateful to Mr. Bloomberg and his staff for their excellent cooperation in making the many arrangements necessary for handling a meeting of this size.— Philip G. Caldwell, Secretary-Treasurer, Pacific Coast Section, ABC Television Center, Hollywood 27, Calif. The January 5th meeting of the Pacific Coast Section, held at the NBC Television Studios, Burbank, was an unusually interesting and popular program — an operating demonstration of color television, including the new NBC Mobile Color TV Unit brought to Southern California for the color telecast of the New Year's Day Rose Parade. The meeting was conducted informally with a demonstration running continuously from 2:00 to 4:30 p.m., and during this time the audience was free to visit the exterior pickup location where two color cameras were in use, the mobile pickup unit and a stage where four color receivers were in operation. Attendance was about 600, and response to the picture quality and color was enthusiastic. This very successful program was made available to the Section through the courtesy of O. B. Hanson, Vice-President and Chief Engineer of NBC New York, and A. H. Saxton, Manager, Technical Network Operations, NBC Hollywood. — E. W. Templin, Secretary-Treasurer, Pacific Coast Section, c/o Westrex Corp., 6601 Romaine St., Hollywood 38, Calif. The Central Section held a meeting at the Western Society of Engineers building on January 21. The large auditorium was used and some 80 members were in attendance. "Basic Chemistry of Photography," a paper presented by Thomas T. Hill, Chief Photographic Chemist, Ringwood Chemical Corp., outlined the role of chemistry and of chemicals in the photographic process from the standpoint of motionpicture engineering. After describing the 184