Kinematograph year book (1935)

228 The Kinematograph Year Book. The past year has witnessed an improvement in stage equipment, both electrical and mechanical, which is a tribute alike to the manufacturer and the showmanship of the exhibitor. Particularly has progress been noticed in most organ design and the introduction of magnetic remote control and the use of relay control. Further developments in remote control are recorded by Strand Electric, who put one at Covent Garden Opera House, which is the largest electrical remote control board in this country, possibly in Europe. The newly designed Strand Preset board enables not only dimmer position but also the speeds at which the dimmers move to these positions to be present. Early 1935 should see the introduction of the Strand Light Console, a portable stage control employing organ principles. The Holophane Selector Controller replaces with indicator dials the hand-operated dimmer for the mixing of three-colour circuits. It enables even the unskilled operator to obtain the most delicate gradations of colour illumination. A pre-set switch is also provided with each indicator dial, and the fact that the control panel may be sited away from the dimmer mechanism makes for economy in installation when stage control is required from the operating box. Holophane have also produced the Collosa battery for use with 300-unit gasfilled lamps at 11-inch centres with prismatic reflectors. It may be used for cyclorama lights and, with a special type of lamp, for intense acting area illumination. A new range of battery equipment and multiple wing flood control units are other new features of the Holophane product. The Major Equipment report that automatic and semi-automatic switchboards have been in greater demand, and even hand-operated switchboards have received some attention. Switch and dimmer boards with pre-set switching are, of course, some years old now, but several developments have been made with regard to the pre-setting of dimming. On handoperated boards it is possible to determine the direction and extent to which any given dimmer will travel, ' and the same of course also applies to the motor driven type of board. Improvements are also recorded in the major range of battery and stage spots. New apparatus from Strand Electric includes the Double Focus Spot, the first small spotlight using a 1,000-watt incandescent lamp to give an intense spot of light of variable diameter free from filament striation." The Pageant Lantern : a small lantern using a 1,000-watt projector lamp and giving an intense localised beam, and the Cyclorama Lantern : a very efficient circular lantern for cyclorama illumination which has replaced magazine battens and the German cylindrical lantern in this field. The 50-feet cyclorama at the Regal, Edmonton, is lit by a bank of these lanterns. The general tendency of stage illumination is towards the complete elimination of the arc lamp. A new form of lighting control is found in the B.T.-H. thyratron reactor equipment, a form of lighting control made possible by the development of the thyratron, which is a special form of rectifier, in which the direct current output is always governed by the voltage applied to its grid circuit. This equipment is particularly suitable for theatre, stage and auditorium lighting. The reactor equipment can be located in any convenient part of the theatre. Ossicaide Ltd. 447, oxford st., london, w.i SOUND REPRODUCTION Telephone : May/air 1528-9