Motion Picture Herald (Oct-Dec 1956)

preamplifiers became more stable and less complicated. In fact, the entire circuitry and switching necessary between machines, amplifiers and stage were simplified to such an extent that serious trouble teas seldom encountered. Nowadays, however, the entire situation has changed. With the arrival of stereophonic pictures, the carefully standardized sound reproduction setup had to be abandoned. First came the necessity for operating projectors in synchronism. Then came the flood of stereophonic three-, four and six-track magnetic and optical conversions and new installations. These new processes caught the manufacturers and the theatres unprepared for completely integrated new equipment. As a matter of fact, the economics of the industry demanded that as much of the older equipment as possible be absorbed. Today, practically every theatre which was equipped for magnetic sound is faced with the necessity of operating with apparatus considerably more delicate and complicated than it had before. Furthermore, since the previous single optical channel has been increased to three, four or more magnetic channels, the possibility of unbalance, electrical breakdown, or switching trouble has been increased many, many times. This is especially true because often equipment from different manufacturing sources is being used in one installation, thus requiring more complicated switching between the separate systems, such as single optical, three channel Perspecta, parallel magnetic, and three-, four and six-channel magnetic sound on composite prints or separate magnetic film. Looking upon the complexities of the new multi-channel equipment, some people have questioned its possible advantages. All I can say is that, even after three years of field experience, it seems to be the consensus of both technical people and lay listeners that the improvement in quality which can be achieved in a theatre due to multi-channel magnetic reproduction is so great that it should more than compensate for its complications. THE PRICE OF QUALITY The improvement in quality of sound reproduction which may be promised by multi-channel equipment cannot be realized, however, unless the proper equipment has been installed, and unless it is checked and maintained in proper balance. An analogy may be drawn between precision machine products and the new sound equipments. In order to obtain higher quality tools and machines it is necessary to aim for closer and more stringent tolerances in the finishing of materials. This can be obtained only by closer and more frequent inspections. So it is now with our newer type of sound recording and reproduction. If we are to encourage the studios to produce finer recordings we must be able to reproduce sound in theatres under much closer and more stringent tolerances. Obviously this requires thorough and frequent inspections. When “Fantasia” was first released in 1940, it made use of multi-channel optical recording, using three sets of stage horns and a whole series of auditorium surround speakers. At that time it was acclaimed as the greatest advancement in sound reproduction. However, the complications of equipment and its size and cost precluded its common acceptance. Then came Cinerama, making use of seven magnetic tracks and channels, which were considerably improved and simplified over the previous “Fantasia” system. Cinerama’s high quality of musical rendition has a terrific impact upon the audience and has become a guiding example and a trade-mark for the best in multi-channel theatre sound reproduction. It was probably due to the success of these pioneering efforts that CinemaScope was introduced exclusively with THE TRULY AMAZING LIGHT PROJECTING SYSTEM 140-165 AMPERES • 40% MORE LIGHT THAN EVER BEFORE 13.6 MM HIGHER POWER! CARBON ARC LOWER COST! FASTER SPEED OPTICS! CONTROLLED FILM HEAT! NOW YOUR DRIVE-IN CAN HAVE THE BRILLIANT LIGHT OF NDOOR THEATRES U. S. Distribution through INDEPENDENT THEATRE SUPPLY DEALERS • Foreign: WESTREX CORPORATION • Canada: DOMINION SOUND EQUIPMENT, LTD C. S. ASHCRAFT MANUFACTURING CO., INC. 36-32 THIRTY-EIGHTH STREET, LONG ISLAND CITY 1, NEW YORK 12 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, DECEMBER 8, 1956