Radio age research, manufacturing, communications, broadcasting, television (1941)

SOUNDS OF PROGRESS Application of Radio Devices and Methods to the Recording and Repro- duction of Sound Has Widened Its Use in Motion Pictures and Other Fields— Rodiothcrmics is Neui Seroice to Industry. sound products have resulted from RCA's years of continuous research in the electronic field. Others have been created more recently to meet emergency war needs. Among the newest, and perhaps least generally known of the many RCA electronic products, are those being used in industrial processes, especially in the fields of plastics, metals, and textiles. Older, and more widely known, is the application of electronic sound to silent films, which made the motion picture a more complete and realistic medium of mass en- tertainment. RCA's spectacular contributions to the motion picture field date back to 1928. In that year, which witnessed the birth of the "talkies", the RCA Photophone Company was organized as a subsidiary of the Radio Corporation of America. Sound on Film In the early days of the "talkies", •sound was recorded on phonograph discs and reproduced by playing the discs in synchronization with the moving film. It was RCA engineers who pioneered in developing the technique, which is now standard, of recording sound on the film with the picture. In 1930, RCA contrib- uted the first completely AC-oper- atod motion picture .sound e(iuip- ment. Marked improvements in sound iiuality of motion pictures were effected by RCA developments, such as the Rotary Stabilizer, which insured the smooth, uniform movement of film through both re- cording and reproducing machines. RCA's magnetic drive recorder By Edward C. Cahill General Manager, Industrial & Sou7id Department, RCA Victor Division IN WAR ZONES sizzling with the heat of battle, RCA sound equipment is directing military personnel and helping to protect the lives of our fighting men. In Allied military posts throughout the world, it is training, instruct- ing, orienting and helping to main- tain the morale of both men and women in uniform. On the production front, RCA industrial sound is increasing workers' efficiency and saving val- uable production time, while RCA electronic heating is dramatically increasing the efficiency and speed of many industrial processes. The electronic equipment accom- plishing these spectacular services includes motion picture and sound recording and reproduction equip- ment, public address and plant sound systems, radio-frequency heating, or radiothermics, and other industrial devices. Some of these eliminated "flutter" which had been caused by unsteady film speed in recording. In 1932, RCA's "High Fidelity" sound reproducing sys- tems, newly designed throughout, made their debut and constituted one of the most important contri- bution.s toward bringing realistic sound to the motion picture. Another major advance in mo- tion pictures came in 1935, with RCA's introduction of ultra-violet light recording and printing to overcome photographic distortion of the .sound waves on film. Con- tinuous improvements in RCA loudspeakers have provided in- creasingly greater efficiency in re- production and distribution of the full range of sound. In 1940, RCA introduced an en- tirely new type of motion picture sound recording and reproduction which gave a realistic third-dimen- sional effect of sound and music. Produced for Walt Disney's FAN- TASIA, the new development was christened "Fantasound". Soon after its introduction, a simplified version, called RCA Panoramic Sound, was developed in the RCA research laboratories. This adapta- tion supplements modern standard .sound systems at a small fraction of the cost of the elaborate Fanta- sound system. At the beginning of World War II, RCA was accounting for a large part of all the motion picture the- atre sound equipment sold in the United States. Luxury picture pal- aces and crossroads movie houses on every continent are using RCA equipment, and RCA recording equipment has been adopted by CHEERY WORD.S AND MUSIC PICKED III' BY THE MICROPHONE (RIC.HT) AND UE- I'RODUCED BY THE LOUDSPEAKER (LEFT) IN PLANT BROADCASTING SYSTEMS HAVE ADDED IMMEASURABLY TO WAR PRODUC- TION MORALE AND EFFICIENCY. RADIO AGE 3 6