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

equalization curves to the industry as a standard for motion-picture sound recording. I would like, at this time, to make a motion that a copy of this statement be referred to the Magnetic Recording Subcommittee for evaluation and adoption. Mr. Hi/Hard: There's no motion necessary. It will be submitted and I can assure you that there will be a very lively discussion on this matter, because preand post-equilization are not new with any part of the motion-picture industry and you can anticipate that it will be fully discussed tomorrow in the Standards Committee. The reason for reading this communication at this time is so that those members who are interested and wish to discuss it are certainly invited and urged to attend the Standards meeting tomorrow and go over this particular item as well as many of the other things that are to be discussed. Malcolm G. Townsley (Bell & Howe// Co.): The Subcommittee on Magnetic in the morning is a good place for that. Mr. Hi/Hard: Yes. Richard Norton ( Warner Pathe News) : I'd like to ask you gentlemen, jointly, if a definite standard has been arrived at for the separation of the picture gate and the actual soundhead. Is it standard between all your different soundheads or does it vary from one manufacturer to the other? Would that preclude the possibility of using a Super Simplex head with an RCA Stereophonic Reproducer? And likewise other combinations, or would a particular soundhead be required to complement the same manufacturer's picture head? Mr. Athey: Obviously we designed our soundhead to fit directly on the most expensive and best Simplex projector. It is, however, also designed for adaptation to other projectors and I believe that is true of the rest of the people here. I believe that the Ampex device is designed for the Simplex XL, can be adapted very simply to the Simplex E7, and with adaptor plates, to other projectors. In addition to projector adaptation, there's another little problem which is adaptation to 18-in. and 25-in. magazines of various manufacturers, but I believe that in one way or another all the manufacturers have managed to cope with this problem. William Youngs (International Motion Pic-^ lures, Washington): Is this system compatible with 3-D? In other words, would the addition of the stripes on the film cause an increase in thickness, which in turn would cause film distortions in matched prints? In particular, would a theater be still required to install a magnetic dummy for reproduction of stereophonic sound on 3-D, or could this same thing be worked on that? Mr. Ryder: I believe this procedure is not even compatible with standard 2-D. The system that has here been suggested is based upon a picture placement and picture centerline which are different from the standard. If a standard picture were to be projected on the equipment when it is lined up for this system, the centerline of the picture would not align with the centerline of the screen. This is a serious problem. Mr. Athey: Do you mean by that, that with the higher accuracy required of 3-D pictures for minimum eyestrain and the like, the mechanical changes caused by the stripes might cause some defect in projection which would affect the 3-D effect? Mr. Youngs: Yes, I do. You know, the air getting in between the layers of the film, and the resulting warpage on it and your film going in and out, further aggravation caused by the high-intensity lights and sometimes film stored on trucks just overnight, or in film vaults when the prints are not in use, absorbs moisture. Mr. Athey: Of course, we do not have very extensive experience with these things. I would, however, suggest, that the amount of light that is being poured through CinemaScope films to get a bright picture on a big screen is enough to cause as much distortion, if it is going to occur, as the fight for light with 3-D. It is my belief that the critical nature of the anamorphic lens system is such that you can tolerate very little more, and perhaps less, distortion in the CinemaScope process than in 3-D before film flutter or out-of-focus becomes very serious. This is strictly a personal observation from many hours spent in a number of projection booths in the last few weeks. E. S. Carpenter (Escar Motion Picture } Cleveland): Have there been experiments Stereophonic Equipment Discussion 233