NAEB Newsletter (Aug 1957)

over other program material. (See photo.) A third device, accomplished by simple circuitry, is a means of reducing normal picture information to outline form for animated supers. This process cer¬ tainly has some interesting possibilities since it pro¬ vides a means of reducing normal picture information to a pencil drawing or to a white outline which may be supered over other picture information. Mr. Southworth will be happy to correspond with anyone in NAEB who is interested in these or other special effects devices of a similar or related nature. If you are interested in more detail, write to him in care of KWSC, State College of Washington, Pullman, Wash. * * * * We have available a very practical eight-page paper on “Kinescope Recording,” written by Mr. Southworth, which we are mailing to chief engineers of ETV stations and production centers. This paper was written from his experience at the Army Signal Corps’ television center at Ft. Gordon, Georgia, where his kinescope work covered a year’s time and some fifty TV shows. We have extra copies, which we will be glad to send to others upon request. * * * * In the mailing mentioned above, we are also send¬ ing a very fine booklet on “Television Signal Anal¬ ysis,” prepared by the American Telephone and Tele¬ graph Co. To quote from its introduction, “this book¬ let was written especially for telephone employees concerned with the analysis of television signals transmitted over AT&T facilities. Its principal objective is to promote a common understanding of both signal forms and their nomenclature.” “It first discusses satisfactory monochrome and color television signals as they appear in standard oscilloscope and picture monitor representations. Various types of test signals are also discussed'. The major types of video signal impairments are then listed and each type is considered separately. Sig¬ nificant features, as they appear to monitoring ob¬ servers in both oscilloscope and picture monitor pre¬ sentations, are illustrated and discussed. Finally, a glossary of video terms is presented.” We will have available only enough copies for chief engineers. Others who wish copies of this highly informative booklet may address their requests to: Mr. F. R. Mac Farland, Division Commercial Man¬ ager, American Telephone and Telegraph Co., 250 Park Ave., New York 17, N. Y. * * * * The April 1957 Journal of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers contains three pa¬ pers on Video Tape Recorder Design. They constitute the first published technical discussions of the Ampex video tape recording system. Various problems en¬ countered in the development are discussed and the steps taken toward solutions are described in detail. Titles of the papers are “Comprehensive Description of the Ampex Video Tape Recorder,” by Charles P Grusberg; “The Modulation System of the Ampex Video Tape Recorder,” by Charles E. Anderson; “Rotary Head Switching System in the Ampex Video Tape Recorder,” by Ray M. Dolby. In the same issue of the SMPTE Journal, there is an excellent discussion of “Techniques of Television Lighting,” by David Thayer of the Television Center, State University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa. * * * * An interesting paper in the July 1957 SMPTE Journal describes a system of “Wide Screen Tele¬ vision,” by Seymour Rosin and Madison Cawein. In this system, known as “Scanoscope,” the conventional 4x3 television aspect ratio is changed to an 8 x 3 presentation. A “Scanoscope” lens is used on the camera to squeeze the image on the image orthicon from which it is transmitted over a 9 me bandwidth system. At the television monitor, the image is un¬ squeezed electronically. The July SMPTE Journal also contains a listing of U. S. colleges and universities offering courses in motion picture introduction. This report by Desmond P. Wedberg, editor of Film and A-V World magazine also gives a detailed listing of M-P courses. A future article will cover television instruction. * * * * Robert F. Lewis of WFBE at Flint, Mich., sends along a tip ou installing coaxial connectors on RG59/U cable. He states that he has found it un¬ necessary to solder the shield of the cable when using PL259 plugs and UG176/U reducing adapters. Here is his method: “After stripping the outer polyethylene jacket AUGUST, 1957 5