Kinematograph year book (1949)

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Technical Developments. 475 cannot be expected, it is anticipated that a gradual change-over will become effective within the next three years. But for some years old films on nitrate base will continue to circulate, and therefore an early demise of the Cinematograph Act regulations cannot be looked for. A second major development of the past few months has been the permission accorded to the industry to reproduce on kinema screens the BBC television programmes. (4) A point which was apparently not made clear to the trade representatives in their former negotiations with the Television Advisory Committee and the Post Office was that a licence could not be granted to a monopoly (in this case the Rank Organisation) — a point I made eignteen months ago in the Ideal Kinema. It was more than chance that the interest of ABC in kinema television should have coincided with the granting of the permission for public reproduction. Television in the Kinema There is, however, a tendency to over-estimate the immediate effect of this development upon the industry. It is probable that not more than three or four G-B theatres will be equipped at first — of course with Cinema-Television's apparatus. No statement at the time of writing had been made as to the apparatus to be adopted by ABC ; only two other manufacturers outside the Rank group are known to be interested in the development of kinema equipment, and my information is that neither is in a position to consider installations for a considerable time to come. In any case, only those exhibitors in the London area will be at present able to receive programmes with sufficient certainty, although exhibitors in the Midlands will be within the area of the new transmitting station now under construction at Birmingham, and due to be working early in the year. Present indications are that the television projector will in all cases have to be placed in the stalls, since it is not practicable as yet to construct optical equipment which will permit of the full throw from the projection room. It may be assumed that the requirements to be included in the draft regulations concerning the protection of the television projector will not be enforced, but stringent precautions are essential, in view of the high voltages used in the equipment. While no particulars have been given of any equipment that EMI may have developed, and little information concerning the Pye projector^5) A.G.D. West has given considerable details of the latest Cinema-Television apparatus which has been functioning for some months at a Bromley (Kent) kinema (6) and which was demonstrated to the trade in December. The available light is stated to be from 800 to 1,000 lumens, which on a directional screen of normal kinema size is sufficient to produce a picture of a brightness falling within the range of the BS specification for screen brightness. Representations have been made that the trade should be permitted to inaugurate its own transmissions ; three pairs of wave-bands (that is to say, three picture and sound channels) have been requested, but at the moment it seems very unlikely that any such concession will be granted. The superior picture quality of transmissions from the CinemaTelevision studio, compared with that of the B.B.C. transmissions, lends force to such demands. It is frequently noticeable on home receivers that film transmissions are technically the worst part of the programme. This is largely due to the fact that the transmitting equipment still used by Alexandra Palace is that originally installed in 1936, comprising Mechau non-intermittent projectors operating with normal television cameras. Both CinemaTelevision(') and EMI(8) have developed film transmitters employing continuously moving film, and likely to overcome the present difficulties. Magnetic Sound \et a third major development, the influence of which must not be overlooked , is magnetic sound recording. While metallic tape and wire have proved incapable of a sufficiently high quality of reproduction, the