Moving Picture World (Jan-Jun 1910)

4i8 THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD The Optics of the Moving Picture. Ch \i'ii.K J. — Introductory. "Let there be light." This, if we may quote therefrom, is a sentence that occurs in the first chapter of Genesis. Light, therefore, is essential to life. If there were no light, why then we should not be dictating this article If there were no light, no moving picture would be taken and certainly no moving picture would ever be shown The optics of the moving picture, then, simply means tin relationship of light to the taking and the production of the picture. What wc want to do then in this series of short articles, is to have a little elementary talk on the nature of light and how it is to be controlled in the propei exhibition of the picture. We do not wish to deal with the actual making of the negative. That is a manufacturer's matter ; we want to treat of light from the point of view of the operator who has to show the picture We want the operator to know something of the nature of light, generally, and to understand more clearly the lenticular agency that has to be employed for utilizing his light in projecting his picture on the screen. And by lenticular agency we mean, in simple phraseology, the lenses : the condensers and the objective. First of all as to the nature of light. Let it be clearl} understood that between sunlight, gaslight, lamplight or electric light there is a number of points of resemblance which outnumber the points of difference. In fact it may be roughly said that all light, no matter how it i; produced, has pretty well much the same origin, that of incandescence. To take the case of the light on which we are looking this minute, namely the sunlight, we shall get roughh as good an idea of what light is as if we studied the electric arc, incandescent electricity, acetylene, illuminating gas or any other illuminant. Situated roughly 90,000,000 of miles from the earth, the sun may be looked upon as a vast mass of heat or incandescence which coming from that great distance looks to the human eye a comparatively small ball or point of light. It sends out in all directions, lines of pencils of brightness which we call light rays. These are variously called radiations, light waves or sensations. They strike on the eye and produce the effect of sight just as sound waves or sensations strike on the ear or aural nerves and produce the effect of sound. For our present purpose it will be useful to regard light simply as a liquid perfectly within our own control. Wc can admit it to our houses in greater or lesser degree by increasing or diminishing the number of windows. If we want to concentrate light rays and bring them to a very sharp point on the hand or the coat sleeve we can do so by what is commonly called a burning-glass. In other words, a double convex lens. Then we might bring the rays or pencils of light so close together in a bundle, as it were, -which would so compress them that the pressure of these compressed light waves on the coat would burn it or would pain our hand. This would show what power a little optical instrument like a burning-glass or double convex lens gives over the rays of the sun. It brings those scattered rays to the sharpest of sharp points. Similarly if underneath that burning-glass we should hold a glass of an opposite character, that is double concave or hollow on each side, we would throw the light outwards. It would cease to be a point, the rays would scatter and there would be no burning of our coat or hand. This, then, should show the operator that all light is easily controlled. Pursuing the analogy of a liquid, we can imagine light to be water coming out of a narrow tube, falling upon a perforated metal surface, scattering instead of cohering, then being got into another tube and then being condensed or restricted in volume. To enter deeply into the nature and property of light would be foreign to our present purpose, which is, as we have said, by a series of simple similes, to instill into the minds of tho^e who have not had an education in physics that after ail for the purpose of moving picture projection the essential facts about light which it is necessary for the operator to thoroughly understand are few. These essential facts are that light is a very controllable phenomenon comparable in some respects, as we have said, to liquid such as water. You can condense, increase or diminish it at will. And the agencies by which these changes are effected are very simple, indeed. What we desire, then, in this introductory chapter to emphasize is that all light, no matter how it is produced, is of a common nature and has the properties of adaptability to almost all requirements of illumination, especially in projecting pictures on the screen. {To be continued.} MOTION PICTURE PATENTS COMPANY VS. INDEPENDENT MOVING PICTURES COMPANY AND PANTOGRAPH CORPORATION. The following opinion was handed down, on March 8, by Judge Noyes, of the Supreme Court. Shorn of its legal phraseology, the learned judge's opinion is that the injunction should be granted, but he would not take the responsibility of so ordering until the case had been finally argued before the Circuit Court of Appeals, which, in a previous case, had sustained the validity of the patents controlled by the complainants. Assuming the appeal, he advised that counsel come together and agree upon the amount of bond to be deposited by each litigant to protect the respective interests. The text of Judge Noyes' opinion follows: The validity of the patent in suit has been adjudicated by the Circuit Court of Appeals for this circuit (151 Fed. 767) and infringement on the part of the defendant corporations is conceded, consequently a preliminary injunction should issue, unless this court is convinced First: Of the probability that had the evidence of new disclosures and uses been brought before the Circuit Court of Appeals its conclusion would have been different; or, Second, That the complainant is without title to the patent. The evidence concerning the Levison disclosure and the Greene patent, or invention, is however insufficient to convince me that had it been introduced in the former case a different conclusion would probably have been reached. I am also of the opinion that the charge, if established, that the complainant is, itself, or is a member of a combination in violation of the Federal anti-trust statute is not a defense available in an action for the infringement of a patent and fails to show a defect in the complainant's title. An injunction against the corporation defendants may, therefore, issue. The proof of personal infringement by the defendant Faenimle is, however, deemed insufficient to warrant the issuance of an injunction against him, and it is denied; but this action is without prejudice to the' right of the complanants to renew its application in case future acts of personal infringement are disclosed. This case seems to be fully presented upon affidavits and it is assumed that the defendants will desire to appeal from this order of the court, which, in view of its previous decision, can best pass upon the matter. Such apneal being privileged a speedy hearing can be obtained. I am inclined to suspend the issuance of an injunction until after a determination of the appeal, provided, First: The appeal is brought on for a hearing at the May session of the Circuit Court of Anneals; and, Second, That the corporation defendants furnish an adequate bond to pay damages and account for profits during the pendency of the appeal if it is unsuccessful. If the issuance of the injunction is not suspended pending the appeal a bond by the complainants to answer all damages occasioned by the issuance of the injunction would seem proper. Counsel may present memoranda and affidavits upon these suggestions and the amount of bond necessary for the nrotection of the respective interests.