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Projection Engineering, June, 1930
Page 9
has been made which though rather slow is encouraging. Three producers are including reservation of television rights in their contracts. According to estimates by Jenkins about 20,000 amateurs are receiving radio movies which are broadcast from station W3XK, Washington. Other new television stations are WENE, Chicago, operated by the Great Lakes Broadcasting Company, and W2XCR, Jersey City, and W2XCD, Passaic. The last two named stations synchronized radio with the pictures and though the images were said to be hazy, the lip movements were stated to be discernible with the sound.
A new cathode ray tube of receiver giving a picture 4 inches by 5 inches has been described by Zworykin. The method eliminates the high-frequency motor previously necessary for synchronization, together with its power amplifier. No moving parts are used. A fluorescent screen aids the eye's persistence of vision and makes possible a reduction of the number of images per second without noticeable nicker. The transmitter is a modified motion picture projector with means for horizontal scanning.
A camera capable of taking 40,000 pictures per second by means of a drum having 180 mirrors, revolving 225 times per second was exhibited at a Scientific Congress in Tokyo. The camera was designed by the Institute for Physical Research of the University of Tokyo. Lawrence and Dunning of the University of California have been studying the characteristics of the high voltage spark by means of a camera which has a shutter speed equivalent to the taking of 250,000 pictures per second.
Cinematographic methods were used to time the high speed Schneider Cup airplane races held at Calshot, England, in the fall of 1929. A motion picture camera made pictures of the plane as it crossed the start and finish line and also recorded simultaneously the face of a calibrated Veeder counter which was actuated by a timing fork vibrating 10 times per second.
Pictures in Color
As noted earlier in this report the use of motion pictures in color continues to expand and a number of new processes have appeared although technical descriptions of them have been rather meager. An estimate has been made that 15 per cent of all pictures made in 1930 will be in color.
Newsreels made by a new color process were released by Pathe in March 1930. The process is claimed to be equally as rapid in production as black and white prints and to avoid the use of filters and prisms. Pictures of the New Orleans Mardi Gras floats were made and shown in New York the following week.
In the Raycol two-color additive process, demonstrated in England, light entering the camera is divided into two parts by means of a beam
splitter and is then caused by a system of rhomboids to form two images one-quarter normal size in opposite quarters of the frame on standard size film, one through an orange filter and the other through a blue-green filter. A twin lens projector with the appropriate filters over the lens superimposes the two positive images on the screen.
The Kodel camera exposes four pictures on each frame of 16 mm. film by a mechanism which introduces an alternate horizontal and vertical movement on a rear projector screen, the images being reflected from a shielded mirror onto the screen. McKay described methods of producing distortion effects by exposing motion pictures through ophthalmic prisms and an auxiliary lens.
A non-intermittent amateur projector employs a 12 sided prism in a cylindrical mount which revolves between the aperture and the objective.
A passenger airplane flying from Columbus, Ohio, to Los Angeles was equipped to show motion pictures on 16 mm. film en route. The projector was operated with dry cells and a daylight screen was used.
An unbreakable film was described which consisted of strips of 16 mm. film, 4% inches long, scaled between thin pieces of steel which had holes cut through for the pictures and the fllm perforations. These strips were projected by stacking them in a projector magazine where an electromagnet picks up the top strip which is then moved intermittently past a horizontal aperture. A mirror deflects the image along a horizontal axis onto a translucent screen.
One-Half of Total Theatres Wired
A recent survey made by the secretaries of the 32 Film Boards of Trade of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America revealed that there were 22,624 motion picture theatres operating in the United States. About half the total number were wired for sound pictures. There were reported to be 57,743 theatres in the world as shown by a census taken by the Motion Picture Division of the U. S. Department of Commerce. With the increased total for the United States shown in the Board of Trades report, the world total would be 59,867.
It was estimated that a half billion dollars were invested in sound motion picture development during 1928 and 1929. Exports of film increased in 1929 over 1928, 282,000,000 feet being shipped out in 1929 as compared with 222,000,000 feet in 1928.
Pictures made in studios of American companies represent 85 per cent of all film entertainment, although United States producers make less than half of the world's feature product. The yearly payroll of Hollywood producers reaches $100,000,000, averaging $2,000,000 weekly.
Progress of S.M.P.E.
The society holds two conventions a year, one in the spring and one in the fall, the meetings being generally of four days' duration each, and being held at various places. At these meetings papers are presented and discussed on various phases of the industry, theoretical, technical, and practical. Demonstrations of new equipment and methods are also often given. A wide range of subjects is covered, and many of the authors are the highest authorities in their distinctive lines.
A glance at the society's Transactions reveals many highly scientific papers dealing with the theory and fundamentals of light and of optical projection. Theoretical optics and spectro-photometric analyses of the light from carbon arc lamp cores together with the distribution of energy in the light beam at the aperture plate are perhaps a long way from the finished picture on the screen; nevertheless, it is just such things that form the basis of methods and equipment which produce the most satisfactory results on the screen.
Attendance at the meetings is of great benefit to the members; one comes in personal contact with the men who are improving the fundamentals of the motion picture. The meetings are not entirely devoted to work. Ample opportunity is given and arrangements made for entertainment; and many of the men bring their wives with them. One is enabled to meet and become personally acquainted with men from all over the country; men with whom contact would otherwise be impossible; men who in their own shop or office would probably be too busy to discuss freely what they are thinking, and doing, and planning.
The friendships that are being formed through the S. M. P. E. are being reflected in the changing attitude of competitors. Tolerance and friendly co-operation are replacing the old feeling of suspicion that was all too prevalent. Better understanding and confidence in each other is probably one of the biggest things the Society is promoting among its members. ▲ BOOK REVIEW
TELEVISION TODAY AND TOMORROW—By Moseley and Chappie. Isaac Pitman & Sons, New York — Price, $2.50.
The generalities of television from its very inception up to and including the present, together with its possibilities in the future, are clearly defined by these Englishmen.
In presenting the story of Baird television, tele-cinema and tele-talkies, the authors treat the subject in a technical, although practical, vein.
Sound and light projection men would do well to become versed in this embryo field. Can you foresee a projectionist in Chicago putting on a show in Kalamazoo via tele-cinema? Don't answer this one until you've read "Television Today and Tomorrow."