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Scanned  from  the  collections  of 
The  Library  of  Congress 


AUDIO-VISUAL  CONSERVATION 
at  The  LIBRARY,?  CONGRESS 


Packard  Campus 
for  Audio  Visual  Conservation 
www.  loc.gov/avconservation 


THE  LiBRMW  Of 

CONGRESS 
srpiai  RECORD 


Iftw  #51951 


JANUARY 


1951 


VOLUME   26 


NUMBER   1 


30c   A   COPY    •    $2.50  A  YEAR 


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MAGNA&C 

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1-KW  TO  70  AMPS 

HY-AX"  ARC  MAGNET 


m 


HY-LUMEN      REFLECTOR 


More  light  at  40  to  70  amperes  than  ever  thought  possible. 
.  .  .  Equals  and  excels  any  reflector  lamp  to  85  amperes,  whether 
they  be  unapproved  water-cooled  or  resurrected  "Hi-Lows".  .  .  . 
Highest  ratio  of  honest  screen  lumens  per  arc  watt  ...  At  70 
amperes,  using  an  accurated  Glass  Hy-Lumen  Reflector*,  with 
a  projector  having  an  efficient  revolving  shutter,  it  develops  the 
maximum  screen  brilliance  that  can  be  used  without  a  heat  filter 
at  no  risk  of  film  damage.  .  .  .  Operating  costs  under  these 
conditions  are  far  below  that  of  85-ampere  lamps. 

Magnarc  Lamps  assure  80%  side-to-center  (SMPE  Standard) 
screen  light  distribution,  not  a  deceptive  60%  or  "Hot  Center." 
.  .  .  They  are  all  Und.  Lab.,  Inc.  listed.  .  .  .  They  are  not  in- 
surance hazards.  .  .  .  They  are  and  have  been  for  years  "The 
First  Choice"  of  large  and  small  theatres,  drive-ins,  and  the 
motion  picture  industry. 

*  Similar  results  are  not  guaranteed  if  all-metal  reflectors  are  used. 


1  I 


FIRST    WITH    THE    FINEST 


/  i 


120-180  AMPERES 


TRADE   MARK    REG 


NEW    MAGNETIC    STABILIZER 

This  modern    lamp  produces   all   the   light  there   is. 

...  It  is  the  standard  equipment  of  the  nation's  largest 

and  finest  theatres.  .  .  .  Used  by  90%  of  the  largest 
Drive-In  Theatres. 

It  is  the  "Omega"  for  maximum  screen  brilliance 
.  .  .  Nothing  can  even  approach  it  in  white  light  volume 
when  used  with  projectors  that  have  efficient  revolving 
shutters. 

Assures  satisfying  projection  for  Drive-Ins  regardless 
of  the  size  of  the  picture,  length  of  throw,  and  under 
all  weather  conditions.  .  .  .  They  are  Und.  Lab.,  Inc 
listed  and,  therefore,  not  insurance  hazards.  .  .  .  Heat 
filter  assures  no  risk  of  film-heat  damage  at  maximum 
arc    amperage    and    maximum    screen    lumens. 


WHY     EXPERIMENT? 
-J.E.McAULEY  MFG. CO.- 

552-554    WEST   ADAMS    STREET 

CHICAGO  6.  ILLINOIS 


I  I 


JBN22I35I  B        2826«6 

^     INTERNATIONAL 

":"TOECTI0NIS1 

With  Which  Is  Combined  Projection  Engineering 


HENRY  B.  SELLWOOD,  Editor 


Volume  26 


y 


JANUARY,  1951 


Number  1 


Index  and  Monthly  Chat 3 

Maintenance    and    Servicing    of 

Motors,  HI   5 

Robert  A.  Mitchell 

Lacquer  Coating  for  Cine  Film         6 

Old,  New  Equipment  Display  a 
G'-od   Exploitation   Stunt    ...        9 

Theater  Television  via  the  RCA 

PT-100  Equipment,   II    10 

RCA  Service  Company 

Standard  16-m  Travel-Ghost  Test 
Film     12 

American  Standards  Assoc. 

Carbon  Arcs  vs.  Inkies  for  Non- 
Theatrical   Projection    13 

Harry  H.  Strong 

This  'Mysterious'  Aerial  Image       15 
Robert  A.  Mitchell 


In  the  Spotlight    16 

Harry  Sherman 

Brush-Up  on  Fundamentals,  II: 
Capacitance 18 

The  Ashcraft  Hydro-Arc  Lamp       19 

New  Technicolor  Lighting  Sys- 
tem Tested  by  Top  Photog- 
raphers         20 

Leigh  Allen 

Projectionist  Examination  Ques- 
tions           20 

National  Carbon  Reduces  Cop- 
per Coating;   Amperage  Cut       21 

Telecasts    22 

IA  Elections   ....  23 

News  Projections   ...  .25 

Technical  Hints 

Miscellaneous  Items 


Published  Monthly  by 
INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST  PUBLISHING  CO.,  INC. 

19  West  44  Street,  New  York  18,  N.  Y. 
Telephone:  MUrray  Hill  2-2948 

R.  A.  ENTRACHT,  Publisher 

SUBSCRIPTION  REPRESENTATIVES 

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Yearly  Subscription:  United  States  and  possessions,  $2.50  (tw<y years,  $4)  ;  Canada  and 
foreign  countries,  $3;  single  copies,  30  cents.  Changes  of  address  should  be  submitted 
two  weeks  in  advance  of  publication  date  to  insure  receipXof  current  issue.  Entered  as 
second  class  matter  February  8,  1932,  at  the  Post  OfhW'at  New  York,  N.  Y,  under  the 
act  of  March  3,  1879.  Entire  contents  copyrighted  v!95l  by  International  Projectionist 
Publishing  Co,  Inc.  International  Projectionist  is  not  responsible  for  personal  opinions 
appearing  in  signed  articles  in  its  columns. 

420 


MONTHLY   CHAT 


IT'S  ironic  that  when  film  exhibitors 
finally  got  around  to  effecting  some  de- 
gree of  cohesion  and  displaying  a  bit  of 
spunk  with  respect  to  a  go-ahead  on 
theater  Tv,  the  defense  needs  of  the 
country  became  so  acute  as  to  render 
their  efforts  futile.  The  same  degree  of 
courage  and  savvy,  if  evidenced  two  or 
more  years  ago,  might  have  created  a 
situation  wherein  the  exhibition  field  to- 
day would  be  in  a  strong  spot  to  battle 
the  inroads  of  network  Tv  upon  the  box- 
office  take. 

It  is  all  very  well  to  announce  that 
theater  Tv  will  be  installed  in  71  houses 
of  a  given  circuit — as  both  RCA  and 
Fox  West  Coast  Theaters  did  in  recent 
weeks — but  it  is  quite  something  else 
to  gain  this  goal  when  one  stops  to 
ponder  the  amount  of  critical  defense 
items  that  necessarily  would  be  included 
in  this  number  of  units. 

It  is  not  our  intent  to  disparage  the 
forward-looking  stand  of  both  RCA  and 
the  exhibition  group,  but  it  seems  a 
pity  that  such  aggressive  action  could 
not  have  been  taken  many  months  ago 
at  a  time  when  the  FCC  was  disposed 
to  look  with  favor  on  the  expansion  of 
a  theater  Tv  chain.  The  present  time, 
which  sees  even  run-of-the-mill  items 
severely  restricted  in  favor  of  defense 
needs,  seems  hardly  the  time  to  announce 
the  creation  of  a  theater  Tv  setup  involv- 
ing upwards  of  a  hundred  units — just  as 
a  start. 

It  is  barely  possible  that  the  interna- 
tional situation  will  suddenly  take  a  turn 
for  the  better;  but  even  if  this  near- 
miracle  should  eventuate,  it  is  sheer  non- 
sense to  suppose  that  Uncle  Sam  would 
cut  drastically  his  rearmament  program. 
It  seems  certain  that  we  face  at  least 
three  years  of  equipment  scarcities,  with 
the  motion  picture  theater  slated  to  en- 
joy no  particular  favors  from  Uncle  Sam. 
The  situation  is  rather  a  tough  one 
for  projectionists  to  accept  with  equan- 
imity, because  the  craft  has  gone  along 
month  after  weary  month  in  the  hope 
that  exhibitors  would  bestir  themselves 
and  really  take  positive  action  anent 
theater  Tv.    Alas,  it  was  not  to  be. 

For  the  present,  therefore,  projection- 
ists must  mark  time  and  nourish  the 
hope  that  somehow  the  theater  field  will 
be  permitted  enough  leeway  to  erect  a 
bulwark  against  those  forces  now 
threatening  the  box-office.  That  the  craft 
will  do  more  than  its  full  share  in  the 
materials  conservation  program  goes 
without  saying.  For  the  rest,  it  can  only 
grimly  get  on  with  its  work  and  hope 
for  the  best. 

And  we  hope  that  this  time  the  con- 
tributions of  the  organized  crafts  will 
not  be  overlooked  when  the  kudos  are 
handed  out  to  the  industry. 


iHi 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     January  1951 


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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     January  1951 


VOLUME  XXVI 


JANUARY  1951 


NUMBER  1 


Maintenance  and  Servicing  of  Motors 


BEFORE  attempting  to  diagnose  mo- 
tor troubles  the  projectionist  should 
make  certain  of  the  type  and  speci- 
fications of  the  motor.  This  informa- 
tion is  usually  given  on  the  nameplate 
of  the  motor. 

(1)  Manufacturer's  name. 

(2)  Serial  number.  This  number  is 
necessary  when  ordering  parts. 

(3)  Type  of  motor,  which  may  be  D.C. 
(shunt,  series,  or  compound)  ;  "universal 
A.C.-D.C. ;  synchronous,  or  induction.  In- 
duction motors  of  the  single-phase  type 
are  usually  described  as  "split-phase," 
"capacitor,"  or  "repulsion-induction"  mo- 
tors, depending  upon  the  principle 
utilized  for  starting. 

(4)  Phase.  Most  motors  designed  for 
operation  on  A.C.  are  single-phase  and 
3-phase. 

(5)  Cycles:  25,  50,  or  60  cycles. 

(6)  Volts:  line  voltage  should  be  with- 
in 10%  of  the  rated  voltage. 

(7)  Horsepower.  Motors  rated  at  %, 
1/6,  1/5,  %,  1/3,  V2,  and  %  H.P.  are 
known  as  "fractional  horsepower  mo- 
tors." 

(8)  R.P.M.  refers  to  the  speed  in  revo- 
lutions per  minute. 

Explanation  of  Indicia 

In  addition  to  these  data,  certain  other 
information  is  sometimes  given  on  the 
nameplate.  The  model  and  the  order 
numbers  of  the  motor,  for  example. 
Temperature-rise  rating  is  a  guarantee 
that  the  motor  will  not  get  hotter  than 
room  temperature  plus  the  stated  tem- 
perature rise,  if  correctly  operated  and 
not  overloaded.  The  rise  rating  for  most 
"open"  motors  is  40°  C.  (104°  F.),  or 
50°  C.  (122°  F.)  Such  a  motor  may 
feel  decidedly  warm  to  the  hand,  but 
not     uncomfortably     hot.       Many     "en- 


By  ROBERTA.  MITCHELL 
III.  Trouble-Shooting  Charts 


closed"  motors  have  a  rating  of  55° 
(131°   F.)   rise. 

The  term  "open"  on  a  nameplate 
means  that  the  end  brackets  have  open- 
ings and  that  the  rotor  shaft  has  vanes 
affixed  to  draw  cool  air  over  the  wind- 
ings and  expel  the  heat  generated.  Such 
a  motor  should  not  be  housed  in  an  air- 
tight compartment,  as  this  would  lead 
to  overheating  of  the  motor. 

Obtain,  if  possible,  the  manufacturer's 
instructions  for  lubricating  and  servic- 
ing each  type  of  motor  used  in  the  pro- 
jection room,  generator  room,  and  back- 
stage. 

The  bearings  are  more  subject  to  wear 
than  any  other  part  of  a  motor,  and  hence 
should  be  periodically  inspected  accord- 
ing to  the  schedule  previously  given.  The 
condition  of  sleeve  bearings  is  in  a  large 
measure  indicated  by  the  air  gap  be- 
tween stator  and  rotor  pole-pieces.  Worn 
bearings  will  lower  the  rotor,  and  may 
even  allow  the  rotor  to  strike  against 
the  stator.  Ball  bearings  should  be 
checked  for  heating  and  noisy  operation. 

Commutators  and  brushes  are  involved 
in  the  servicing  of  D.C,  universal,  and 
repulsion-induction  motors. 

Grooved  and  lop-sided  commutators 
must  be  "trued"  in  a  lathe,  but  minor 
irregularities  may  be  removed  by  using 
a  small  commutator  stone  or  00  sand- 
paper wrapped  on  the  end  of  a  stick  and 
applied  to  the  commutator  while  the  mo- 
tor is  running.  (Never  use  emery  paper 
on  commutators!)  The  mica  insulation 
between  the  commutator  bars  should  be 


undercut  about  1/16  inch,  as  copper 
wears  faster  than  mica.  A  steel  slotting 
tool  is  used  for  undercutting,  and  a  V 
tool  for  giving  the  edges  of  the  copper 
bars  a  very  slight  bevel.  After  the  mica 
slots  have  been  cleaned,  the  mica  sur- 
faces should  be  coated  with  glossy  red 
enamel  of  the  iron  oxide  or  synthetic 
type. 

A  commutator  is  "dressed"  by  clean- 
ing with  a  dry  rag,  applying  a  small 
amount  of  vaseline  to  the  copper  bars 
with  a  clean  rag,  and  then  wiping  off  the 
vaseline.  When  in  good  condition,  a 
commutator  will  have  a  chocolate-brown 
color  due  to  an  extremely  thin  film  of 
copper  oxide.  The  carbon  of  the  brushes 
and  the  oxygen  of  the  air  help  maintain 
this  desirable  brown  coating. 

All  brush  rigging  must  be  kept  clean 
and  in  good  working  order.  The  ten- 
sion of  the  brushes  (about  1%  pounds 
per  square  inch  of  brush  surface)  must 
be  checked  occasionally.  Too  much  ten- 
sion may  cause  chattering  and  rapid 
grooving  of  the  commutator.  The  pig- 
tail connections  must  be  tight. 
Care  in  Brush  Selection 

The  importance  of  using  the  right 
type  and  grade  of  brush  for  each  motor 
cannot  be  overemphasized.  The  brush 
material,  whether  graphite,  electro- 
graphite,  metal  graphite,  carbon  graph- 
ite, or  hard  carbon,  must  have  adefinite 
resistance  in  ohms  per  cubic  inch,  a  cer- 
tain current-carrying  capacity  in  amperes 
per  square  inch  of  brush  face,  and  a 
specified  contact  area.  New  brushes  may 
be  shaped  to  fit  the  curvature  of  the 
commutator  by  placing  a  strip  of  sand- 
paper on  the  commutator  and  working 
back  and  forth  while  the  brush  is  pressed 
down  upon  it. 

Further   servicing  information  is   sup- 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


January  1951 


plied  by  the  accompanying  trouble-shoot- 
ing listings.  These  summaries  give  data 
for  D.C.  and  "universal"  motors,  for 
polyphase  induction  motors  (the  type  of 
motor  most  often  used  in  3-phase  motor- 
generator  sets),  and  for  all  single-phase 
induction  motors.  Most  A.C.  projector 
motors  fall  into  the  last-named  class. 

1.   BEARINGS  TOO  HOT 

Trouble:  Bearing  dry.  Cause:  Insuf- 
ficient lubrication,  or  the  wrong  lubricant. 
Remedy:  Clean  bearings  and  refill  with 
fresh  oil  or  grease  of  the  type  recom- 
mended by  the  manufacturer  of  the  mo- 
tor. On  small  motors,  examine  and  clean 
felt   wipers. 

Trouble:  Bearing  dirty.  Cause:  Dust  or 
dirt  in  oil  or  grease.  Remedy:  Clean  out 
oil  or  grease  reservoir  and  refill. 

Trouble:  Tight  bearing.  Cause:  Insuf- 
ficient lubrication,  or  undersized  bearing, 
if  bearing  has  been  replaced.  Remedy: 
Provide  lubrication.  Polish  shaft  with  fine 
emery  paper,  or  replace  bearing. 

Trouble:  Bearing  binding.  Cause: 
Shaft  "sprung,"  or  too  much  strain  on  pul- 
ley. Remedy:  "True"  the  shaft  in  a  lathe 
and  renew  bearing  in  any  case. 

Trouble:  Loose  bearing.  Cause:  Vi- 
bration and  wear.  Remedy:  Tighten  screws 
holding  bearing.  Replace  worn  bearing. 

2.  ENTIRE  FRAME  TOO  HOT 
Trouble:      Transference    of    heat    from 

bearings  or  armature.  Causes  and  Reme- 
dies: See  Causes  and  Remedies  under 
1   and   3. 

Trouble:      Transference    of    heat    from 
field    coils.     Cause:     Overload,    too    much 
current,    or    shorted    coils.    Remedy:     De- 
crease load  or  increase  size  of  motor.  Op- 
erate  motor   on    correct   voltage.     Replace 
defective  field  windings  with  new  ones. 
When    operating    on    D.C,    a    short-circuited 
field  coil  is  cooler  than  those  adjacent  to  it.  On 
A.C,    the    short-circuited    coil    is    hotter    than 
thoste  adjacent  to  it,  and  may  even   smoke.    If 
difficulty   is   experienced   in    locating-   the   short- 
circuited    coil,    impress    full    voltage    across   the 
windings    and    test    the    magnetic    pull    of    each 
coil  with   a  screwdriver.   The  coil   in  which   the 
magnetic    pull   is  least   is  the  shorted   one. 

3.  ARMATURE   TOO   HOT 

Trouble:  Overload.  Cause:  Driven  ma- 
chine binding,  or  motor  too  small. 
Remedy:  Correct  mechanical  defects  or 
use   larger   motor. 

Trouble:  Armature  out  of  center  be- 
tween poles.  Cause:  Worn  bearings. 
Remedy:     Replace   bearings. 

Trouble:  Moisture  in  coils.  Cause:  Op- 
erating in  a  damp  place.  Remedy:  Dry 
out  by  baking  in  warm  oven  or  running 
with  no  load.  Improve  operating  condi- 
tions. 

4.  SPARKING  OF  BRUSHES 
Trouble:    Brushes  not  properly  set  with 

regard  to  the  field  winding.  Cause:  Mis- 
adjustment  of  brushes,  or  end-bell  shifted 
to  wrong  position.  Remedy:  Shift  the 
brush-holders  or  end-bells. 

The  brush  position  on  universal  motors  of 
small  size  is  fixed  by  the  manufacturer,  and 
cannot  be  changed.  On  the  types  where  the  end- 
bells   can   be    shifted,    there   are   holes    through 


which  the  bolts  holding  the  end-bells  pass.  This 
trouble  is  not  likely  to  be  encountered  except 
when  the  motor  has  been  taken  apart  and 
carelessly  assembled. 

Trouble:  Brushes  cover  too  many  com- 
mutator bars.  Cause:  Brushes  too  thick. 
Remedy:  Use  brushes  of  proper  thick- 
ness. Replace  brush-holders  if  they  show 
signs  of  wear. 

Trouble:  Brushes  too  short.  Cause: 
Wear.  Remedy:  Replace  with  new 
brushes. 

Trouble:  Poor  contact  between  brush 
and  commutator.  Cause:  Oil  or  dirt  on 
commutator.  Grit  in  brush.  Remedy: 
Clean  commutator  with  dry  rag,  then 
"dress"  it  with  a  mere  trace  of  vaseline. 
Use  brushes   of  better   quality. 

Trouble:  Rough  or  uneven  commutator. 
Cause:  Vibration,  different  quality  of  bars, 
and  uneven  ridges  where  brushes  do  not 
wear  the  commutator.  Remedy:  If  the 
trouble  is  slight,  the  roughness  may  be 
removed  with  a  commutator  stone  or  00 
sandpaper  (NOT  emery  paper).  Other- 
wise the  commutator  should  be  trued  in 
a  lathe. 

Trouble:  High,  low,  or  loose  bars. 
Cause:  Clamping  cone  loose.  Commuta- 
tor mishandled.  Remedy:  Press  the  high 
bars  back  into  place,  raise  the  low  bars, 
carefully  tighten  locknut  or  set-screws,  and 
finally  true  the  commutator  in  a  lathe. 

Trouble:  High  mica.  Cause:  Commu- 
tator wear.  (Copper  wears  faster  than 
mica.)  Remedy:  With  a  sharp  steel  tool 
undercut  the  mica  below  the  level  of  the 


copper  bars.  Wipe  free  of  dust  and  dress 
the  commutator. 

Trouble:  Weak  magnetic  field.  Cause: 
Short  circuit  in  field  windings.  Remedy: 
Replace  defective  coils.  (See  fine-print 
note  under  Symptom  2.) 

Trouble:  Excessive  current  in  armature. 
Cause:  Load  too  great  for  size  of  motor. 
Remedy:  Reduce  load  or  obtain  larger 
motor. 

Trouble:  Grounds  in  armature  or  com- 
mutator. Cause:  Defective  insulation. 
Remedy:  Remove  ground  if  possible  or, 
if  not,  cut  out  the  grounded  coil  and 
bridge  grounded  commutator  bar.  (The 
grounded  coil  should  be  rewound,  or  the 
armature  replaced,  at  the  earliest  oppor- 
tunity.) 

Trouble:  Short  circuit  in  armature. 
Cause:  Defective  insulation.  Remedy:  As 
a  temporary  expedient,  cut  out  short-cir- 
cuited coil  and  bridge  across  the  com- 
mutator bar  involved. 

Trouble:  Commutator  bars  short  cir- 
cuited; mica  worn  or  chipped  away,  caus- 
ing deep  pits  between  bars.  Cause:  Cop- 
per or  carbon  dust  between  commutator 
bars,  or  melted  solder  from  leads  be- 
tween the  bars.  Remedy:  Remove  foreign 
matter  from  between  bars  and  paint  the 
exposed  mica  insulation  with  glossy  red 
enamel  of  the  iron  oxide  or  synthetic  type. 

5.   BRUSHES  SING 

Trouble:  Brush  pressure  too  great. 
Cause:    Brush-holder  springs  not  properly 


Lacquer  Coating 
for  Cine  Film 

Equipment  used  to  preserve 
valuable  film  subjects  and 
effect  tremendous  savings  in 
print  costs  (IP  for  Dec, 
1950,  p.  14). 


Corner  of  Escar's  motion  picture 
laboratory,  showing  lacquer  coating 
machine  for  16-  and  35-mm  films. 
Controlled  heat  and  filtered  air 
quickly  dry  coated   film. 

Glass-enclosed  dustproof  lacquer  ap- 
plicator is  shown  at  left.  As  film 
leaves  supply  reel,  it  travels  over 
rotary  applicator  which  deposits  thin 
coat    of    lacquer    on    film    surfaces. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     January  1951 


Left,  the  Eastman  16mm.  Projec- 
tor, Model  25,  brings  16mm.  pro- 
ject/on to  the  professional  level. 
Shown  here,  adapted  for  arc  illu- 
mination, permanently  installed 
alongside  35mm.    equipment. 


Below,  working  parts  of  the  film  move- 
ment mechanism  are  in  constant  view  of 
the  operator  .  .  .  readily  accessible  for 
threading  and  cleaning. 


The   East  m  an 

16mm.    Projector,     m 

Model  25,  adapted  f±r*  ,     flR» 

for     1,000-watt  »•>>'<  V^tf, 

tungsten  light.  ^m  ">  n  ^J' 


Engineered  to  the  Most  Exacting 
Professional  Standards 

The  Eastman  16mm.  Projector,  Model  25 


The  Kodak  Projec- 
tion Ektar  Lens,  in  a 
choice  of  four  focal 
lengths,  insures  supe- 
rior screen  image. 


Exhibitors  of  16mm.  motion  pictures 
have  long  needed  a  professional  quality 
sound  motion  picture  projector  de- 
signed for  permanent  installation  and 
capable  of  continuous,  trouble-free  per- 
formance. 

The  Eastman  1 6mm.  Projector,  Model 
2  5,  fills  this  need.  It  is  designed  for 
permanent  installation.  It  delivers  flaw- 
lessly brilliant  screen  images  of  top 
theatrical  calibre.  It  gives  assured 
trouble-free  performance  on  a  continu- 
ous year-round  exhibitor's  schedule. 

The  Eastman  16mm.  Projector,  Model 
2  5,  can  be  installed  fitted  for  tungsten 
illumination  or  arc-lamp  illumination. 


There  is  a  wide  choice  of  accessories 
which  allows  you  to  assemble  a  com- 
plete, permanent  installation  tailored 
for  your  present  and  future  needs.  Su- 
perb projection  optics,  completely  Lu- 
menized,  are  furnished  by  the  2-inch, 
//1.5  Kodak  Projection  Ektar  Lens,  as 
standard  equipment. 

When  you  want  professional,  trouble- 
free,  continuous-duty,  16mm.  sound 
projection,  specify  the  Eastman  16mm. 
Projector,  Model  2  5.  For  information 
and  prices,  write  directly  to  the  Mo- 
tion Picture  Film  Department,  Eastman 
Kodak  Company,  343  State  Street, 
Rochester  4,  N.  Y.,  or  any  branch  office. 


Motion  Picture  Film  Department,  Eastman  Kodak  Company,  Rochester  4,  N.  Y. 


East  Coast  Division 

342  Madison  Avenue 

New  York  17,  N.  Y. 


Midwest  Division 

137  North  Wabash  Avenue 

Chicago  2,  Illinois 

West  Coast  Division 
6706  Santa  Monica  Blvd. 
Hollywood  38,  California 


EVEN  IN  FAR  OFF  TURKEY 


STRONG  PROJECTION   LAMPS 


The  Lale  Theatre  of  Istanbul;  the  Olimpia  of  Trujillo  City,  Domini- 
can Republic;  the  Austutbaejar  Bio  of  Reykjavik,  Iceland;  theatres 
in  Egypt,  Malaya,  Uruguay,  India,  South  Africa,  France,  Switzer- 
land, Algeria,  Finland,  Spain,  Australia,  Chile,  Norway,  Hol- 
land, Sweden,  Colombia,  Brazil,  Venezuela,  Portugal,  Italy  .  .  . 
in  fact,  theatres  in  practically  every  country  use  them.  Yes,  when 
it  comes  to  projection  lamps.  Strong  is  the  name  that  is  respected 
the  world  over. 


J  —  ■■""> 

G  ,-" 


FAR   LESS   COST  WITH   THE 


STRONG  MIGHTY  "90 


11 


Peer  of  all  lamps,  it  delivers  positively  the  most  light  that  can  be  projected  to  any  screen,  REGARDLESS 
OF  SIZE!  This  75  to  1  30  ampere  reflector  arc  lamp,  at  90  amperes  projects  21 ,000  lumens  with  far  greater 
operating  economy.  «  Exclusive  Lightronic  Automatic  Focus  Control.  «  Forced  air  cooled  feed  mechan- 
ism. «  Bi-Metal  Lightronic  tube  controls  both  carbon  feed  motors.  «  Big  I6V2"  reflector.  «  Air  stream 
arc  stabilization.  «  Rugged  burner  mechanism.  «  Complete  combustion  of  black  soot.  «  White  deposit 
on  reflector  prevented.  «  Unit  construction  permits  instant  removal  of  major  components. 


«* 


O* 


THE  STRONG   ELECTRIC   CORPORATION 

no\n«.  31  CITY  PARK  AVENUE     •     TOLEDO  2,  OHIO 

□  I  would  like  a  demonstration  of  the  Strong  Mighty  "90"  in  my  theatre, 
without  cost  or  obligation. 
Please  send  free  literature  on  the  D  Mighty"90";  □  Mogul  Lamp; 

□  Utility  Lamp;  □  Strong  Arc  Spotlamps;  □  Strong  Rectifiers; 

□  Strong  Reflectors. 

NAME_ 


THEATRE 

STREET 

CITY  &  STATE                                                                                                    !    i 

'                                             ■  .'■'■■ 

INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     • 

January  1951 

adjusted.  Remedy:  Remove  part  of  the 
brush  tension. 

Trouble:  Brushes  of  the  wrong  type 
used.  Cause:  Brushes  probably  too  hard. 
Remedy:  Use  brushes  recommended  by 
the  manufacturer  of  the  motor.  In  lieu 
of  this  information,  try  graphite  brushes 
to  eliminate  singing. 

Trouble:  Dirty  commutator.  Cause: 
Improper  dressing  of  commutator,  dust 
and  dirt  from  air,  over-oiling  of  motor. 
Remedy:  Clean  commutator  with  dry  rag, 
then  rub  a  small  quantity  of  vaseline  on 
the  commutator  with  a  clean  rag,  and 
finally  wipe  off  the  commutator.  (A  prop- 
erly dressed  commutator  will  have  a  thin 
chocolate-brown  film   of   copper   oxide.) 

6.  BRUSHES  CHATTER 

Trouble:  High  bars.  Cause:  The  cone 
or  V-ring  holding  bars  in  place  loose. 
Remedy:  Carefully  drive  high  bars  back 
into  place  and  tighten  cone  at  end  of 
commutator.  Smooth  commutator  with 
stone  or  00  sandpaper,  or  true  in  a  lathe. 

Trouble:  Low  bars.  Cause:  Wearing 
away  due  to  soft  bars  or  short-circuited 
coils.  Remedy:  Loosen  cone  and  lift  low 
bars.  If  mica  insulation  of  cone  is  cut 
through,  replace  to  avoid  short-circuiting 
of  commutator.  True  commutator  in  a 
lathe. 

Trouble:  High  mica.  Cause:  Commu- 
tator worm  (Copper  wears  faster  than 
mica.)  Remedy:  By  means  of  a  sharp 
steel  tool,  cut  mica  about  1/16  inch  below 
level  of  bars.  Clean  the  commutator,  paint 
the  mica  insulation  with  glossy  red  enamel 
of  the  iron  oxide  or  synthetic  type,  and 
finally,  when  the  enamel  is  dry,  dress  the 
commutator  with  a  trace  of  vaseline. 

Trouble:  Loose  bars.  Cause:  Cone  or 
V-ring  loose.  Remedy:  Even  up  the  bars 
and  tighten  the  cone.  As  a  safeguard,  test 
commutator  for  grounds  with  any  circuit- 
testing,  device.  True  the  commutator  in 
a   lathe. 

7.  ARMATURE  MAKES  CLICKING  OR 
POUNDING  SOUNDS 

Trouble:  Armature  striking  or  rubbing 
pole  pieces.  Cause:  Worn  bearings. 
Remedy:    Replace  bearings. 

8.  MOTOR   FAILS  TO    START 
Trouble:    Load  too  great.   Cause:    Motor 

too  small  for  load,  bearings  too  tight,  or 
driven  machinery  binding.  Remedy:  Use 
motor  of  proper  capacity.  Polish  shaft 
with  emery  cloth.  Inspect  driven  machinery, 
and  disconnect  load  to  see  if  motor  runs 
light. 

Trouble:  Open  circuit  in  line.  Cause: 
Fuse  blown.  Wires  broken  or  disconnected. 
Remedy:  Replace  fuse.  Examine  line  and 
connections,  and  restore  circuit.  Open  up 
motor  leads,  and  test  both  line  and  motor 
leads. 

Trouble:  Open  circuit  in  field  or  field 
connections.  Cause:  Disconnected  or 
broken  wires;  burned-out  coil.  Remedy: 
Test   field   connections  with   circuit  tester. 

Trouble:  Open  circuit  in  armature. 
Cause:  Broken  wire,  burned  coil.  Remedy: 
Test  adjacent  commutator  bars  with  cir- 
cuit tester.     Bridge  over  open  coil  as  tem- 


porary expedient,  later  replacing  arma- 
ture. 

Trouble:  Short  circuit  in  field.  Cause: 
Defective  insulation  or,  rarely,  dampness. 
Remedy:  If  the  insulation  is  defective,  the 
field  will  have  to  be  rewound.  This  is 
especially  the  case  when  the  motor  has 
been  exposed  to  a  film  fire.  Bake  the 
field  windings   if  damp. 

Trouble:  Brushes  not  in  contact  with 
commutator.  Cause:  Brushes  fit  too  tightly 
in  holders.  Remedy:  Clean  the  holders, 
and  adjust  brushes  so  that  they  work 
easily. 

Trouble:  Faulty  commutation.  Cause: 
Brushes  not  set  on  neutral  point.  Remedy: 
On  some  motors,  move  end-bells;  on  a 
few  types,  move  stator  core  inside  frame. 
(This  trouble  will  not  occur  unless  the 
motor  has  been  taken  apart  and  wrongly 
assembled.) 

9.   MOTOR  RUNS  BACKWARD 

Trouble:  Reversed  connection.  Cause: 
Field  or  armature  connections  wrongly 
made;  end-bell  shifted  90  degrees  in  com- 


pensated motors.  Remedy:  If  operated  on 
D.C.,  reverse  either  the  field  or  the  arma- 
ture connections.  Do  the  same  with 
straight  series  universal  motors  operated 
on  A.C.  In  motors  having  compensating 
windings,  shift  the  end-bell  90  degrees. 
I  To    be    Continued  I 


French    Film   Theater   Equipment 

As  of  July  1  last,  there  were  5145 
theaters  with  35-mm  equipment  operating  in 
France,  with  a  total  seating  capacity  of 
2,475,177.  There  were  also  about  1250 
theaters  or  halls  operating  with  16-mm 
equipment. 

With  the  renewed  availability  of  materials, 
as  well  as  the  aid  granted  by  the  Govern- 
ment toward  the  refurbishing  of  theaters, 
pre-war  French,  U.  S.  and  other  foreign 
equipment  is  gradually  being  replaced, 
almost  entirely  by  new  French  equipment. 
In  general,  however,  equipment  is  badly 
worn,  much  of  it  is  still  pre-war.  Exchange 
restrictions  render  the  opportunity  for  U.  S. 
equipment  practically  non-existant. 


Old,  New  Equipment  Display  a  Good  Exploitation  Stunt 


DISPLAYS  of  new  and  old  projection 
equipment  in  dealers'  store  windows 
are  not  uncommon,  and  even  theater  lob- 
bies have  exhibited  replicas  of  new 
equipment  that  has  been  installed.  Sel- 
dom, however,  is  there  a  display  of  the 
new  and  the  old  in  theater  lobbies  as  an 
exploitation  move  designed  to  direct  at- 
tention to  the  great  technological  strides 
forward  that  have  been  made  within  the 
past  three  decades,  or  prior  to  the  intro- 
duction of  sound  pictures. 

Just  such  an  unusual  display  was 
staged  recently  at  the  Astoria  Theater, 
Chippenham  in  Wiltshire,  in  the  west  of 
England.  For  the  recent  opening  of  his 
provincial-town  theater,  D.  Shield,  man- 
ager, arranged  a  display  of  various  types 
of    projection    equipment,    ancient    and 


modern.  The  accompanying  illustration 
shows  a  corner  of  this  display  in  which 
is  set  up  an  "ancient"  1920  model  pro- 
jector— the  openwork,  dirt-collecting  type 
— and  the  latest  Westrex  sound  system 
and  associated  equipment. 

The  photo  is  reproduced  here  through 
the  cooperation  of  H.  B.  Allinsmith,  man- 
aging director  of  Westrex  Corp.  of  Eng- 
land. 

This  stunt  should  commend  itself  to 
supply  dealers  and  exhibitors  everywhere 
as  a  most  interesting  exhibit  for  the  aver- 
age theatergoer,  particularly  those  men 
who  are  mechanically  minded  and  who 
seldom,  if  ever,  have  had  an  opportunity 
to  inspect  a  modern  sound  projection 
outfit.  It  follows,  of  course,  that  any  such 
effort  should  have  the  unstinted  coopera- 
tion of  the  projectionist  craft. 


Set-up  for  old  and  new  projection  equipment  an  effective  lobby  display. 


INTFBNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     January  1951 


Theater  Television 


via  the  RCA  PT-100  Equipment 


By  TECHNICAL  PRODUCTS  DIVISION,  RCA  SERVICE  CO.,  INC. 


II.    Tracing  the  Signal  Through  the  Equipment 


IN  LOCATIONS  where  a  standard 
broadcast  television  signal  of  good 
quality  and  ample  strength  is  avail- 
able, and  noise  interference  is  negligible, 
it  will  occasionally  be  desirable  to  use 
such  broadcast  signal  as  program  source. 
To  enable  this  to  be  readily  accomplished, 
a  specially  constructed  receiver  is  built 
into  the  RCA  PT-100  Tv  projector.  This 
receiver  is  capable  of  reception  on  any 
of  the  12  standard  Tv  broadcast  channels. 
When  maximum  performance  for  air 
pickup  is  required,  a  separate,  highly 
directional  antenna  may  be  installed  tor 
each  channel  desired,  and  a  plug-and- 
jack  switchboard  installed  near  the  Tv 


RCA  PT-100  THEATER  Tv  UNITS 

Top:    Projector    Control    panel. 
Bottom:  Video-audio  switching  panel. 


projector  control  rack  to  allow  selection 
of  antenna  for  connection  to  the  receiver. 

Program  Selection  Switching 

The  PT-100  theatre  Tv  projector  is 
provided  with  twin  interlocking  pushbut- 
ton switches  to  permit  the  projectionist 
to  select  his  program  material  from 
either  of  two  incoming  lines,  or  to  in- 
stantaneously change  from  one  line  to 
the  other.  The  pushbuttons  are  inter- 
locked so  that  pushing  either  will  release 
the  other,  if  it  has  been  previously  de- 
pressed. This  prevents  mixing  the  two 
incoming  programs,  which  would  occur 
if  both  buttons  were  depressed  simul- 
taneously. 

One  pair  of  these  switches  is  for  sound 
signal  input  and  one  pair  for  video  sig- 
nal (picture)  input.  The  equipment  is 
shipped  from  the  factory  with  the  sound 
and  picture  signal  outputs  of  the  Tv  re- 
ceiver connected  respectively  to  line 
No.  1  audio  switch  and  line  No.  1  video 
switch.  When  these  two  buttons  are 
pushed,  these  outputs  of  the  Tv  receiver 
are  connected  to  the  projector. 

Video  signal  from  a  coaxial  line  or  an 
uhf  radio  relay  link  can  be  connected 
to  video  line  No.  2,  and  its  corresponding 
sound  to  audio  line  No.  2.  When  these 
two  buttons  are  pushed,  coaxial  line  sig- 
nal will  be  fed  into  the  projector. 

When  either  one  of  the  two  "projector 
audio"  buttons  is  pushed,  sound  signals 
from  the  corresponding  input  line  are 
fed  to  the  audio  volume  control,  which 
is  located  on  the  projector  control  panel. 
From  the  output  of  the  audio  volume 
control,  the  sound  signals  pass  into  a 
special  input  switch  connected  to  the 
regular  theatre  sound  system.  Here  they 
are  amplified  and  sent  to  the  regular 
stage  speakers  just  as  in  the  reproduc- 
tion of  sound  from  film. 

The  audio  volume  control  on  the  pro- 
jector control  panel  is  provided  to  allow 
the  operator  to  properly  adjust  the  sound 
volume  in  the  auditorium  without  leav- 
ing the  Tv  projector  control  rack. 

An  "audio  monitor  jacV  is  located  on 
the  signal  selector  panel.  This  permits 
headset  monitoring  of  the  incoming  audio 


signal  on  either  line,  merely  by  pressing 
the  corresponding  audio  monitor  button, 
regardless  of  whether  one  of  the  audio 
projector  buttons  is  depressed.  The  two 
monitor  buttons  also  are  interlocked  so 
that  pressing  one  releases  the  other. 

Path  of  Video  Signal 

The  video  signal  coming  from  the  re- 
ceiver (line  No.  1)  or  from  the  coaxial 
cable  or  uhf  beam  line  (line  No.  2), 
whichever  is  selected  by  the  projector 
video  pushbuttons,  then  goes  through  a 
pre-amplifier  and  to  the  video  gain  con-, 
trol.  This  control  is  located  on  the  pro- 
jector control  panel,  at  the  left  of  the 
audio  gain  (volume)  control.  This  con- 
trol allows  the  operator  to  adjust  the 
brightness  of  the  white  picture  areas  on 
the  screen  to  obtain  proper  contrast. 

From  the  video  gain  control,  the  video 
signal  goes  through  coaxial  cable  to  the 
video  amplifier  in  the  projector  barrel 
located  in  the  auditorium.  Here  the  sig- 
nal is  amplified  to  high  enough  voltage 
to  fully  control  the  beam  current  of  the 
7NP4  projection  Kinescope.  This  output 
voltage  is  then  applied  to  the  control 
electrode  of  the  Kinescope,  where  it  var- 
ies the  current  in  the  electron  beam,  and 
thus  the  brightness  of  the  light  spot  on 
the  Kinescope  face,  while  this  spot  is 
being  swept  electronically  across  the  tube 
face  to  produce  the  picture. 

To  enable  the  operator  to  see  the  pic- 
ture before  it  is  put  on  the  screen,  and 
to  check  on  the  operation  of  the  video 
amplifier,  a  video  monitor  is  provided 
on  the  monitor  rack.  This  contains  a  7- 
inch  Kinescope,  with  associated  equip- 
ment. A  set  of  three  interlocking  push- 
buttons is  provided  on  the  signal  selector 
panel.  Pushing  the  appropriate  button 
connects  the  video  monitor  input  to  in- 
coming line  No.  1,  incoming  line  No.  2, 
or,  through  a  coaxial  cable,  to  the  out- 
put of  the  video  amplifier  in  the  pro- 
jector barrel.  The  monitor  Kinescope  and 
the  7NP4  Kinescope  in  the  auditorium 
projector  therefore  show  the  same  pic- 
ture. 

Of  course,  if  no  video  signal  is  being 
fed  to  the  video  amplifier,  or  if  the  am- 
plifier for  any  reason  is  inoperative,  the 
monitor  will  show  this  fact  by  lack  of 


10 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     January  1951 


On  Earth! 

STRONG  TROUPER 

High  Intensity  Arc  Spotlight 


— is  being  used  by  theatres,  night  clubs, 
coliseums,  arenas,  stadiums,  circuses,  ice 
shows,  schools,  universities,  colleges,  TV 
studios,   industrial    shows   and   conventions. 

Assures  a  sharp,  steady,  uniformly  bril- 
liant, dazzling  snow-wh'.'e  spot.  Draws  only 
10  amperes  from  any  110-voIt  A.C.  conven- 
ience outlet.  Adjustable,  self-regulating 
transformer  is  an  integral  part  of  the  base. 
No  heavy  rotating  equipment  necessary. 
Automatic  arc  control  maintains  a  constant 
arc  gap,  free  from  hiss.  Carbon  trim  burns 
80  minutes  at  21  volts  and  45  amperes. 

Silvered  glass  reflector.  Two-element 
variable  focal  length  lens  system.  Hori- 
zontal masking  control  angles  45°  in  each 
direct-ion.  Color  boomerang  contains  6 
slides  and  ultraviolet  filter  holder. 

Portable.  Mounted  on  casters.  Easily 
disassembled  for  shipping. 

SEE    THE     TROUPER     AT    THESE     DEALERS    OR    SEND    COUPON    FOR    LITERATURE 


ALBANY,  N.  Y.—  Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Albany 
Theatre  Supply 

ATLANTA—  Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

ATLANTIC  CITY— Boardwalk  Film  Enterprises 

AUBURN,  N.  Y. — Auburn  Theatre  Equipment 

BALTIMORE— J.  F.  Dusman  Co.;  Nat'l  Thsatre  Sup- 
ply Co. 

BOSTON— J.  Cifre,  Inc.;  Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

BUFFALO — Dion  Products;  Nat'l  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

CHARLOTTE— Nat'l  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Standard 
Theatre  Supply  Co. 

CHICAGO — Abbott  Theatre  Equipment  Co.;  Gardner 
Jansen,  Inc.;  Hollywood  Stage  Lighting  Co.;  Mid- 
west Stage  Lighting  Co.;  Midwest  Theatre  Service 
and  Equipment  Co.;  Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

CINCINNATI— Nat'l  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

CLEVELAND— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

DALLAS — Hardin  Theatre  SuDply  Co.;  Modern  Thea- 
tre Equipment  Co.;  Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

DENVER — Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Graham  Bros. 

DES  MOINES— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

DETROIT— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

FORTY  FORT,  PA.— V.  M.  Tate  Theatre  Supplies 

GREENSBORO,   N.  C— Standard  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

HOUSTON — Southwestern  Theatre  Equipment  Co. 

INDIANAPOLIS— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

KANSAS  CITY,  MO.— Shreve  Theatre  Supply;  Nafl 
Theatre  Supply  Co. 

LOS  ANGELES— J.  M.  Boyd;  C.  J.  Holzmueller;  Nafl 
Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Pembrex  Theatre  Supply  Corp. 

LOUISVILLE— Falls  City  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

MEMPHIS— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 


MILWAUKEE— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  R.  Smith  Co. 

MINNEAPOLIS— Minneapolis  Theatre  Supply;  Nafl 
Theatre  Supply  Co. 

NEW  HAVEN— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

NEW  ORLEANS— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

NEW  YORK  CITY— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

NORFOLK— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

OKLAHOMA  CITY— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Okla- 
homa Theatre  Supply  Co. 

PHILADELPHIA— Blumberg  Brothers;  Nafl  Theatre 
Supply  Co. 

PITTSBURGH— Atlas  Theatre  Supply;  Nafl  Theatre 
Supply  Co. 

SALT  LAKE  CITY— Inter-Mountain  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

SAN  FRANCISCO— C.  J.  Holzmueller;  Not' I  Theatre 
Supply  Co.;  W.  G.  Preddey  Theatre  Supplies 

SEATTLE— B.  F.  Shearer  Co.;  Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 


SIOUX  FALLS — American  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

ST.  LOUIS— City  Electric  Co.;  Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

TOLEDO — Theatre  Equipment  Co. 

WESTERLY,  R.  I.— G.  H.  Payne  Motion  Picture  Service 

CANADA— 

Dominion  Sound  Equipment,  Ltd. 

Montreal,  Quebec 
General  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

Montreal,  Quebec 
Perkins  Electric  Co.,  Ltd. 

Montreal,  Quebec 
Perkins  Electric  Co.,  Ltd. 

Toronto,  Ontario 
General  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

Winnipeg 
Sharp's  Theatre  Supplies,  Ltd. 

Calgary,  Alberta. 


THE 

STRONG 

ELECTRIC  CORP. 

"Th»  World's  largot  Manu- 


Please  send  free  literature  and  prices  on  the  Strong  Trouper 
Spotlamp. 


NAME- 


COMPANY. 
STREET 


CITY   &   STATE_ 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


January  1951 


11 


Picture   signal    path    through    RCA    Pt-100   theater   Tv    projector. 


picture  when  the  projector  button  is  de- 
pressed. This  condition  will,  of  course, 
be  found  to  exist  if  the  video  gain  con- 
trol is  set  at  zero. 

Oscilloscope  Input  Check 

An  additional  check  on  the  video  sig- 
nal is  always  desirable  and  sometimes 
required.  The  incoming  video  signal  must 
have  a  minimum  value  of  one  volt,  peak- 
to-peak,  in  order  to  provide  sufficient 
picture  brightness.  A  3-inch  diameter 
standard  oscilloscope  tube,  and  associ- 
ated circuits,  is  mounted  in  the  projec- 
tor control  panel.  The  input  to  this  os- 
cilloscope may  be  obtained  from  input 
line  No.  1,  input  line  No.  2,  or  from  the 
output  of  the  video  amplifier  in  the  pro- 
jector barrel,  by  means  of  another  set  of 
three  interlocking  pushbutton  switches. 
However  this  3-inch  oscilloscope  shows 
the  waveform  of  the  video  signal,  instead 
of  converting  it  into  a  picture  as  the 
video  monitor  does.  The  height  of  this 
waveform  pattern  is  proportional  to  the 
peak-to-peak  value  of  the  input  voltage. 

By  turning  the  oscilloscope  input  con- 
trol knob  from  "operate"  to  "calibrate," 
a  one-volt  peak-to-peak  standard  signal 
produces  two  horizontal  lines  on  the  face 
of  the  scope.  The  vertical  distance  be- 
tween these  lines  will  be  the  same  as  the 
vertical  height  of  the  video  signal  when 
its  value  is  the  required  one  volt  peak-to- 
peak.  Thus,  either  of  the  two  incoming 
video  signals,  or  the  output  of  the  video 
amplifier,  may  be  quickly  checked  for 
proper  voltage. 

A  built-in  voltage  reducer,  or  attenua- 
tor, reduces  the  high  output  voltage  of 
the  video  amplifier  to  one  volt  before  ap- 
plying it  to  the  oscilloscope  or  the 
monitor. 

Part  of  the  video  signal  is  tapped  off 
ahead  of  the  video  gain  control.  This 
part  is  amplified,  "clipped,"  and  its 
blanking  pulses  used  to  control  the  black- 


level  voltage  at  the  projector.  Its  sync 
pulses  are  used  to  control  the  picture 
synchronization,  and  are  applied  to  the 
vertical  and  horizontal  deflection  ampli- 
fiers. Here  they  serve  to  keep  the  verti- 
cal and  horizontal  beam  deflection  vol- 
tages in  step  with  the  corresponding 
voltages  at  the  transmitter. 

[The  next  installment  of  this  series  of  six  arti- 
cles will  deal  with  the  manner  in  which  the 
picture  is  formed  and  projected  from  the  Kine- 
scope to  the  screen.] 


Kodak  Liberalizes  Pension  Plan 

Changes  liberalizing  certain  parts  of  the 
Eastman  Kodak  Co.'s  pension  plan  have  been 
announced.  They  include: 

1 — Increased  minimum  payments. 

2 — A  provision  enabling  women  to  earn 
greater  pension  credits. 

3 — Elimination  of  the  former  length  of 
service  requirement  for  pensions  at  age  65. 

4 — Supplemental  payments  under  some 
conditions. 

New  Minimum  Payment:  At  least  $75  a 
month,  plus  social  security,  for  those  with 
30  or  more  years'  service  if  retired  on  or 
after  Jan.  1,  1950.  Those  with  less  than  30 
years  will  get  an  amount  equal  to  $2.50  per 
month  for  each  year  of  service,  plus  social 
security. 

Omit  Service  Requirement 

Service  Requirement:  For  employees  who 
reach  65  there  will  be  no  length  of  service 
requirement,  regardless  of  how  brief  their 
time  with  the  company.  Thus  every  person 
hired  before  65  may  retire  on  the  pension 
he  or  she  has  earned  at  65.  Previously,  re- 
quirements were  20  years  for  men,  15  years 
for  women. 

Supplemental  Payments:  Under  certain 
conditions  Kodak  will  make  extra  payments 
to  Kodak  people  already  retired  or  who  will 
retire  in  the  future.  In  general  these  will  be 
made  when  the  rise  in  social  security 
amounts  to  less  than  25%  of  the  company 
pension,  and  in  certain  disability  and  early 
retirement  cases. 


Standard  16-mm  Travel-Ghost  Test  Film 

Promulgated  by  American  Standards  Association 


1.  Scope  and  Purpose 

1.1  This  standard  describes  a  method  of 
determining  freedom  from  travel-ghost  in 
16-mm   sound   motion   picture  projectors. 

2.  Definition 

2.1  Travel-ghost  is  a  blurring  effect  seen 
on  the  screen  and  evidenced  by  vertical  tails 
oi  light  streaks  added  to  the  projected 
images  of  the  transparent  areas  on  the  test 
film.  It  is  caused  by  the  projector  shutter 
being  out  of  synchronism  with  the  inter- 
mittent mechanism,  either  by  faulty  adjust- 
ment or  faulty  design. 

3.  Test  Film 

3.1  The  test  film  used  for  determining 
freedom  from  travel-ghost  shall  carry  a  pat- 
tern of  small  transparent  areas  upon  a  dark 
background.  There  shall  be  at  least  six 
transparent  areas,  three  of  which  shall  be 
located  not  farther  than  1/32  inch  from  the 
top  of  the  frame,  and  three  not  farther  than 
1  /32  inch  from  the  bottom  of  the  frame. 
Four  of  the  areas  shall  have  their  edges  1/32 
inch  from  a  side  edge  and  either  the  top 
or  bottom  edge  of  the  frame.  The  density 
of  the  transparent  areas  shall  be  less  than 
0.2,  and  the  density  of  the  dark  background 
shall  be  greater  than  2.2. 

3  1.1  Standard  Length  of  Film.  The  stand- 
ard length  of  test  film  shall  be  100  feet. 


3.1.2  Leader  and  Trailer.  Each  test  film 
shall  have  a  suitable  leader,  title,  and  trailer. 

4.    Test  Method 

4.1  A    test    film    in    accordance    with    2.1 

shall  be  projected  at  standard  sound  speed 

of   24   frames   per   second    (±2%)    upon   a 

white  matte  screen,  the  projected  image  of 

the  projector  picture  aperture  being  of  such 

size  that  a  screen  brightness  of  10-foot  1am- 

berts  is  obtained  with  the  projector  shutter 

running,  but  with  no  film  in  the  gate.  The 

screen  image  of  the  test  film  shall  be  viewed 

from  a  distance  equal  to  twice  its  width,  and 

the  presence  or  absence  of  travel-ghost  noted. 

[NOTE:  A  test  film  in  accordance  with  this 
standard  is  available  from  the  Society  of  Motion 
Picture   &   Television   Engineers.] 

Typical   travel-ghost  pattern   for   16-mm   film, 
magnified  about  8  diameters. 


12 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     January  1951 


Carbon  Arcs  vs.  Inkies  for 
Non-Theatrical  Projection 


UNDER  what  conditions  should  arc- 
lamps,  rather  than  incandescent  fila- 
ment lamps,  be  employed  in  motion  pic- 
ture projection?  This  question  is  in  the 
minds  of  many  of  those  in  charge  of  films 
in  the  school  and  in  the  business  worlds. 
Since  there  are  so  many  borderline  cases 
and  unusual  combinations  of  influencing 
factors,  manufacturers  have  been  reluc- 
tant to  set  down  a  formula  for  making 
final  decisions. 

However,  the  use  of  carbon  arclamps 
has  so  enlarged  the  scope  of  usefulness 
of  16-mm  picture  projection,  and  the 
many  advantages  of  this  brighter  light 
source  have  been  so  stressed,  that  a  set 
of  guides  is  definitely  needed. 

Just  where  should  16-mm  projection 
and  35-mm  projection  be  employed? 

Any  Conflict  Unnecessary 

First,  there  should  be  no  conflict  nor 
competitive  situation  between  these  two 
film  gauges.  In  fact,  the  trend  is  to  limit 
the  use  of  35-mm  prints  wherever  pos- 
sible. Many  motion  picture  people  deny 
this,  however,  maintaining  that  the  nar- 
rower film  does  not  offer  enough  detail 
for  the  larger  size  screens. 

The  big  advantage  of  35-mm  film  is 
that  timely  subjects  (newsreels,  docu- 
mentary films,  etc.,  are  available  to  non- 
theatrical  accounts  much  sooner  than 
they  can  be  had  on  16-mm.  In  addition, 
schools  may  rent  35-mm  entertainment 
pictures  for  projection  in  auditoriums  at 
recess  periods.  This  has  been  with  the 
consent  of  theatermen  in  some  locations, 
who  feel  that  the  exhibition  does  not 
really  constitute  competition  to  their  es- 
tablished business  or  perhaps  are  afraid 
that    refusal    to    waive    such    protection 


By  HARRY  H.  STRONG 
Strong   Electric  Corporation 

The  intense  brightness  of  carbon 
arclamps  can  greatly  extend  the 
use  of  16-mm  films.  Larger  audi- 
ences can  attend  showings,  since 
a  much  bigger  and  clearer  picture 
may  be  projected  than  can  be  ob- 
tained   with    incandescent    lamps. 

would  result  in  bad  public  relations. 

In  any  event,  the  school  which  elects 
to  use  inflammable  35-mm  film  must  do 
so  only  in  an  auditorium  where  a  fire- 
proof projection  room  is  provided,  never 
in  a  classroom.  However,  16-mm  film  is 
non-inflammable  and  may  be  projected 
anywhere  without  restrictions. 

For  this  and  other  reasons,  interest  has 
been  mounting  in  the  use  of  arclamps 
for     16-mm     projection.     Arclamps     de- 


llNCaNDESCENTH 

CARBON  ARC 

Typical   division   of   room   space. 


Relative  screen  sizes  that  can  be  illuminated 
to   the   same    brightness. 

signed  for  16-mm  projectors  are  usually 
a  smaller  counterpart  of  the  lamps  em- 
ployed in  theaters.  The  arc  lamps  meas- 
ure, in  inches,  about  23  by  13  by  13. 
They  project  five  times  the  light  of  in- 
candescent filament  lamp  equipment  at 
less  than  one-half  the  operating  cost! 

When  1500  lumens  of  light  are  pro- 
jected, brilliant  pictures  are  possible  in 
large-size  screens  and  greater  audiences 
can  witness  each  showing.  In  fact,  six 
times  as  many  persons  on  attend  if  the 
room  be  large  enough.  Furthermore,  the 
use  of  larger  and  brighter  images  on  the 
screen  "blows  up"  subject  matter  in  pic- 
tures which  would  otherwise  be  indistin- 
guishable on  a  smaller  screen. 

The  switch  from  incandescent  filament 
lamp  projection  to  arclamps  has  been 
rapidly  accelerating.  Some  schools  al- 
ready have  classrooms  and  auditoriums 
which  can  accommodate  this  improved 
projection ;  while  others  are  making  pro- 


visions for  the  changeover.  Manufactur- 
ers are  urging  those  who  are  planning 
new  schools  to  have  the  architects  in- 
clude small  projection  rooms  connected 
to  each  of  the  larger  classrooms. 

Determining  Factors 

The  factors  which  determine  whether 
incandescent  filament  lamp  projection 
or  arclamps  should  be  used  are:  size  of 
the  room  and  the  audience,  ambient  light, 
portability  of  equipment,  simplicity  of 
operation,   and  operating  costs. 

The  illusion  of  reality  in  a  picture 
presentation  is  best  achieved  when  the 
screen  is  just  large  enough  to  be  in- 
cluded in  the  normal  viewing  angle  of 
the  eye.  A  larger  picture  necessitates 
undue  visual  fatigue  in  following  the 
action  of  the  picture  across  the  screen; 
while  a  smaller  picture  introduces  the 
impression  of  remoteness.  The  result  of 
the  practical  application  of  these  princi- 
ples is  a  picture  having  a  width  equal  to 
one-sixth  the  distance  from  the  screen 
to  the  back  row  of  seats.  For  example, 
in  calculating  the  correct  screen  size  in 
a  room  35  x  40  feet,  where  the  rear  row 
of  seats  is  36  feet  from  the  screen,  the 
picture  should  be  6  feet  wide. 

Because  of  aisles  and  areas  where 
oblique  viewing  causes  distortion  of  the 
screen  image,  the  usable  seating  area  of 
the  room  seldom  exceeds  two-thirds  of 
the  total  floor  area. 

A  35  x  40  foot  room  with  a  floor  area 
of  1400  square  feet  offers  no  more  than 
1000  square  feet  of  usable  seating  space. 
Since  about  10  square  feet  is  required 
per  person,  this  room  will  not  seat  more 
than  100  people  for  a  screen  showing. 

Comparative  Brilliancies 

The  attainment  of  satisfactory  results 
with  16-mm  equipment  requires  a  light 
source  of  sufficient  power  to  afford  a 
screen  brilliancy  comparable  with  that 
of  commercial  theaters.  (Brilliancy  is  in 
direct  proportion  to  the  volume  of  light 
projected,  and  inversely  proportionate  to 
the  area  of  the  projected  picture.) 

An  incandescent  filament  lamp  pro- 
jecting 300  lumens  of  light  results  in 
10-foot-candles  over  the  30  square  foot 
area  of  a  screen  6%  feet  wide,  which 
just  meets  the  accepted  standard  for 
pleasing  picture  brilbance. 

Pictures  larges  than   7   feet  wide  re- 

INCANOESCENT 
CARBON    ARC 

ILLUMItv 

INCANDESCENT 

CARBON   ARC 

COST  OF   OPERATION 

Comparison  of  illumination  and  cost  of  opera- 
tion  as  between   incandescent  and  carbon  arc 
operation. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     January  1951 


13 


TABLE  I 

Viewing  Distance 

Screen 

Boom 

Tola] 

Audience 

from  Rear  Seat 

Width 

Size 

Area 

Size 

24 

4 

23  by  28 

650 

40 

36 

6 

35  by  40 

1,400 

95 

42 

7 

40  by  45 

1,800 

120 

54 

9 

50  by  60 

3,000 

200 

72 

12 

70  by  80 

5,600 

375 

90 

15 

85  by  100 

8,500 

575 

108 

18 

100  by  120 

12,000 

800 

quire  a  brighter  light  source  than  is 
obtainable  with  the  incandescent  fila- 
ment lamp  without  sacrificing  clarity. 
Accordingly,  the  use  of  an  arclamp  is 
required.  The  carbon  arc  projects  1500 
lumens,  or  five  times  the  300  lumens 
projected  by  an  incandescent  filament 
lamp,  and  accordingly  delivers  10  foot- 
candles  of  light  over  an  area  of  150 
square  feet,  which  is  the  area  of  a  screen 
five  times  as  large,  or  15  feet  in  width. 
A  screen  of  this  size  is  large  enough  for 
an  audience  of  575. 

The  snow-white  quality  of  the  light 
projected  by  the  high-intensity  carbon 
arc  gives  a  sparkling  brilliance  to  the 
picture  and  imparts  the  illusion  of  even 
higher  intensity,  permitting  a  satisfac- 
tory projection  of  pictures  as  wide  as 
18  feet.  A  screen  of  this  size  is  large 
enough  for  an  audience  of  800  people. 

Other  Important  Aspects 

From  the  foregoing  formula  and  the 
available  floor  area,  the  seating  capacity, 
screen  size,  and  necessary  light  source 
may  be  calculated.  Table  I  will  aid  in 
determining  the  requirements  under  vari- 
ous conditions.  Where  it  is  impossible  to 
exclude  extraneous  light  to  attain  an 
ideal  darkness,  as  in  many  school  audi- 
toriums, the  apparent  brilliancy  of  the 
picture  is  reduced  and  more  light  must 
be  projected.  Tn  many  caes,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  use  arclamps  for  projecting  pic- 
tures even  smaller  than  6  feet  in  width. 

In    every    installation    the    projection 


This  table  has  been 
calculated  on  ideal 
conditions,  that  is, 
where  the  room  is 
as  dark  as  a  movie 
theater.  Where  it 
is  impossible  to  ex- 
elude  extraneous 
light,  as  in  many 
school  auditoriums, 
the  picture  is  less 
brilliant  and  more 
light  is  required. 


distance  depends  on  where  the  equip- 
ment can  be  located,  and  to  attain  the 
required  picture  size,  a  lens  of  the  cor- 
rect focal  length  must  be  used.  If  there 
is  a  choice  of  location,  the  projector 
should  be  placed  at  a  distance  from  the 
screen  that  permits  the  use  of  a  2-inch 
focal  length  lens,  because  this  standard 
size  lens,  which  passes  the  maximum 
amount  of  light  is  a  lower  priced  pro- 
duction item  and  is  readily  obtainable. 

Although  not  as  readily  portable  as 
the  incandescent  filament  lamp  projec- 
tor for  frequent  moving  from  room  to 
room,  the  carbon  arc  projector  may  be 
easily  moved  to  out-of-the-way  locations 
when  not  in  use. 

Carbon  Arc   Not  Complicated 

The  carbon  arc,  as  compared  with  the 
incandescent  filament  lamp,  seems  vastly 
more  complicated  to  the  casual  observer. 
The  truth  is  that  the  operation  of  the 
carbon  arc  is  no  more  complicated  than 
threading  a  projection  machine.  The  ex- 
pendable carbons  are  replaced  easily 
and  quickly. 

Operating  costs  of  the  carbon  arc  are 
less  than  one-half  that  of  incandescent 
lamp  equipment,  based  on  a  cost  of  $6 
for  an  incandescent  bulb  having  10  hours 
life,  or  60  cents  and  hour,  as  compared 
with  a  cost  of  24  cents  for  a  pair  of  car- 
bons which  burn  one  hour.  This  repre- 
sents a  saving  of  10  hours  of  service 
weekly,  or  approximately  $200  a  year. 


Canadian  Film  Equipment  Data 

U.  S.  equipment  has  long  predominated  in 
Canadian  theaters.  While  there  has  been  no 
significant  change  during  the  past  year,  there 
has  been  a  continuation  of  the  trend  toward 
manufacturing  in  Canada  (often  by  VS.  sub- 
sidiaries) of  a  greater  portion  of  the  less 
specialized  machinery;  and,  where  equip- 
ment is  partially  manufactured  in  Canada, 
the  tendency  is  steadily  to  give  it  more 
Canadian  content. 

The  only  foreign  competitor  of  the  TJ.  S. 
in  this  field  is  the  United  Kingdom.  British 
products  are  currently  getting  a  slightly 
larger  share  of  the  Canadian  market  than 
formerly,  owing  to  the  price  advantage  they 
enjoy  as  well  as  the  price-depressing  effect 
of  the  devaluation  of  the  pound  in  Septem- 
ber, 1949. 

Aggressive  British  Selling 

Of  course,  the  117  theaters  owned  and 
operated  by  a  British  theater  chain  are  al- 
most entirely  equipped  with  British  projec- 
tion and  sound  machinery.  Canadian  inde- 
pendent theater  owners  seemingly  find  the 
British  equipment  satisfactory,  although  the 
majority  prefer  the  U.  S.  product. 

Distributors  of  British  equipment  are  in- 
tense and  aggressive  in  their  efforts  to  ex- 
pand sales  in  this  market! 

The  British  share  of  the  Canadian  market 
is  approximately  15%,  and  its  oudook  for 
expansion  is  favorable. 

Equipment  dealers  had  a  good  year  in 
1950.  In  fact,  every  year  since  the  end  of 
the  war  has  been  good.  Responsible  in  a 
large  measure  for  the  favorable  market  for 
motion  picture  equipment  during  the  past 
several  years,  has  been  the  unprecedented 
theater  building  boom.  From  1939  to  1946. 
construction  of  motion  picture  houses  was 
rigidly  restricted  by  wartime  controls.  Upon 
the  termination  of  hostilities,  however,  re- 
strictions on  construction  of  places  of  amuse- 
ment were  among  the  first  to  be  bfted,  and 
theaters  have  been  opened  at  a  record  rate 
since.  From  the  beginning  of  1946  to  Oc- 
tober 20,  1950,  a  total  of  471  new  theaters 
have  been  opened  in  Canada,  131  were  under 
construction,  and  126  were  planned. 


16mm  Projector 

Lens  Focal  Length 

(distance  from  film 
to  center  of  lens) 

34" 
1" 

Wi" 

2" 
21/2" 

3" 

3V2" 
4" 

8' 

10' 

12' 

20' 

TABLE  II 

Distance  in  Feet  from  Screen 
25'         32'         36'         40'        50' 

75' 

100' 

125' 

150' 

4'0" 
30" 
20" 
1'6" 
1'2" 

50" 
3'9" 
2'6" 
110" 
1'6" 
1'3" 
10" 

60" 
4'6" 
30" 
2'3" 
1'9" 
1'6" 
1'3" 
11" 

100" 
7'6" 
50" 
3'9" 
30" 
2'6" 
2'1" 
110" 

12'6" 

9'4" 

6'3" 

4'8" 

3'9" 

31" 

2'8" 

2'4" 

Wid 

th  of  P 

icture 

1111" 
80" 
60" 
4'9" 
4'0" 
3'5" 
30" 

13'5" 
90" 
6'9" 
5'4" 
4'6" 
310" 
3'3" 

1411" 
100" 
7'5" 
60" 
50" 
4'3" 
3'9" 

12'6" 
9'4" 
7'6" 
6'3" 
5'4" 
4'8" 

140" 
11  '3" 
9'4" 
8'0" 
7'0" 

18'9" 
150" 
12'6" 
10'8" 
9'4" 

23'5" 
19'8" 
15'7" 
13'4" 
11'8" 

281" 
22'5" 
18'8" 
160" 
14'0" 

This  table  is  a  handy  guide  in  determining  the  type  of  lens  required 
to  project  pictures  of  different  sizes  at  various  distances.  For  ex- 
ample, in  a  room  where  the  projector  is  set  10  feet  from  the  screen, 
it  would  be  impossible  to  obtain   any  picture  by  using   a   lens  having 


a  focal  length  of  4  inches.  However,  in  an  auditorium  where  the  dis- 
stance  from  the  projector  to  the  screen  is  150  feet  and  the  screen 
width  is  14  feet,  the  same  lens  would  be  ideal.  Other  factors,  of 
course,  contribute  importantly  to  over-al!  optimum   results. 


14 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     Janucry  1951 


THE  theory  of  projection  optics, 
simple  at  first  thought,  complex  in 
fact,  has  been  made  bewildering  by 
misconceptions  entertained  even  in 
high  projector-manufacturing  circles.  It 
seems  incredible  that  any  manufacturer 
should  be  guilty  of  crass  ignorance  con- 
cerning a  technical  subject  which  has 
been  reposing  on  his  own  doorstep  for 
quite  a  number  of  years. 

A  sound  knowledge  of  projection 
equipment  is  built  upon  an  acquaintance 
with  the  mechanical,  optical,  and  elec- 
trical fundamentals  involved  in  the  func- 
tioning of  that  equipment.  Now  that  the 
art  of  projection  has  passed  the  half- 
century  mark,  it  would  seem  that  the 
optical  theory  of  projection  would  be 
an  old,  old  story  to  everyone.  Recent  con- 
tributions touching  upon  this  subject, 
however,  lead  us  to  believe  that  such 
is  not  the  case. 

As  Larry  Davee*  points  out  (IP  for 
October,  1950,  p.  12)  a  motion  picture 
lens,  even  though  complicated  by  sev- 
eral glass  elements  inserted  for  the 
purpose  of  correcting  chromatic  and 
spherical  aberration,  works  exactly  the 
same  as  a  simple  lens.  Because  this  is 
true,  we  can  employ  single  -  element 
lenses  in  diagrams  intended  to  illustrate 
the  principle  of  projectors  and  cameras. 

Pickup  From  Every  Point 

Figure  1  illustrates  optical  projection 
under  the  most  simple  conditions.  The 
"object"  (film-photograph  or  lantern 
slide)  is  evenly  illuminated  by  light  from 
an  ordinary  bulb.  A  ground-glass  plate 
is  interposed  between  the  bulb  and  the 
transparent  picture  in  order  to  insure 
perfect  diffusion  of  the  light. 

It  will  be  readily  appreciated  that 
light  from  every  point  of  the  picture  is 
picked  up  by  the  entire  surface  of  the 
projection  lens  and  thrown  onto  the 
screen  to  form  an  enlarged  image.  It 
may  be  seen  also  that  the  lens  inverts 
the  image,  hence  the  picture  must  be 
placed  upside-down  in  the  projejctor  in 
order  to  show  right-side  up  on  the  screen. 

The  paths  of  the  light  rays  which 
determine  the  boundaries  of  the  beam 
emerging    from    the    lens    are    indicated 

*  Century  Projector  Corp. 


Frosted 


glassy    °*J>' 


Top  of  picture 


FIG.  1.  Optical  projection  under  the  simplest 
conditions.  Because  the  illumination  is  dif- 
fused by  the  frosted  glass,  no  secondary  image 
is  formed  between  the  lens  and  the  screen. 
Inexpensive  photographic  enlargers  have  this 
type  of  optical   system. 


This 

'Mysterious' 

Aerial  Image 


By  ROBERT  A.  MITCHELL 


by  straight  lines.  The  beam,  therefore, 
has  its  smallest  diameter  close  to  the 
lens. 

Figure  1.  however,  does  not  represent 
the  optical  conditions  peculiar  to  the 
standard  motion  picture  machine! 

Factual  Optical  Conditions 

In  motion  picture  projection,  the 
illumination    is    furnished    by    a    mirror 


FIG.    2.     The   formation    of   a    reduced    image 

of    the    mirror — an    "aerial    image" — in    front 

of  the  lens  of  a  motion  picture  projector. 

or  condenser  of  limited  size  placed  at 
a  considerable  distance  behind  the  pro- 
jector aperture.  Although  we  seldom 
give  it  a  thought,  the  mirror,  itself,  is 
an  "object"  which  is  "imaged"  by  the 
projection  lens.  Because  the  distance  be- 
tween ;  mirror  and  projection  lens  is 
greater  than  the  focal  length  of  the  lens, 
the  image  of  the  mirror  must  be  a  re- 
duced image.  And  it  must  lie  somewhere 
between  the  lens  and  the  theatre  screen. 

The  projector,  therefore,  forms  two 
optical  images  at  the  same  time:  an 
enlarged  image  of  the  film  on  the  distant 
screen,  and  a  reduced  image  of  the 
mirror  only  a  few  inches  in  front  of  the 
lens. 

In  forming  an  image  of  the  mirror,  the 
projector  acts  just  like  a  snapshot 
camera  pointed  at  the  moon.  The  camera 
lens  brings  all  the  rays  it  receives  from 
the  moon  to  a  focus  on  a  film  or  plate. 
And  because  the  distance  of  the  moon 
from   the   camera    lens   is   much    greater 


than  the  focal  length  of  the  lens,  the 
image  of  the  moon  is  vastly  smaller 
than  the  actual  size  of  the  moon. 

All  this  is  very  obvious,  indeed;  but 
it  must  especially  be  emphasized  that 
the  camera  lens  (if  it  be  a  good  one) 
does  not  scatter  and  lose  any  of  the 
moon's  rays,  but  collects  all  of  them 
into  an  image  of  the  moon.  No  moonlight 
will  fall  anywhere  on  the  plate  except 
within  the  boundaries  of  the  little  moon 
image. 

Orienting  the  Aerial  Image 

So  it  is  with  the  movie  projector.  All 
of  the  light  which  reaches  the  lens  from 
the  mirror  must  be  collected  into  the 
little  mirror  image  which  hangs  unseen 
in  space  from  2  to  4  inches  in  front  of 
the  lens  barrel.  To  see  this  "aerial 
image"  of  the  mirror  one  need  only 
hold  a  piece  of  cardboard — preferably 
dark — in  the  plane  where  the  aerial 
image  is  formed.  The  hole  in  the  mirror 
and  the  positive  carbon  support  will  be 
clearly  visible,  though  the  image  is  up- 
side-down. 

The  cardboard  is  then  strictly  analo- 
gous to  the  plate  of  the  camera  photo- 
graphing the  moon.  Fig.  2  shows  what 
the  light-beam  would  look  like  if  all 
of  the  projector  except  the  arc  mirror, 
carbons,  and  projection  lens  could  be 
made  invisible.  The  optical  diagram  im- 
mediately below  this  picture  indicates 
how  the  rays  form  the  aerial  image  in 
front  of  the  lens. 

Is  it  not  as  plain  as  day  that  no  light 
reaches  the  theatre  screen  from  the  pro- 
jector except  that  which  has  passed 
through  the  aerial  image? 

Figure  1  cannot  represent  the  actual 
paths  of  the  light-rays  because  no  aerial 
image  is  formed  under  the  conditions  of 
perfectly  diffused  illumination.  We  can- 
not merely  substitute  an  arc  mirror  for 
the  bulb  and  frosted  glass,  as  in  Fig.  3. 
and  get  a  true  diagram. 

In  fact,  Fig.  3  is  completely  false, 
as  may  be  gathered  from  the  vari- 
ous question-marks  which  indicate  our 
skeptical  state  of  mind.  From  what 
source  of  illumination,  we  ask,  do  the 
rays  indicated  by  the  heavy  dotted 
lines  come?  Certainly  not  from  the  arc- 
lamp  mirror,  because  the  mirror  sub- 
( Continued  on  page  28) 


c/ln    "  Optical  fiooby-  Trap  " 

FIG.  3.  You  won't  win  a  prize  by  finding  the 
errors  in  this  diagram,  but  you'll  find  out 
how  even  experts  have  been  tripped  up  by 
projection  optics.  See  text  for  the  solution 
of  this  puzzle. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     January  1951 


15 


IN  THE 


SPOTLIGHT 


By 

HARRY 

SHERMAN 


THIS  department  accords  top  priority 
for  this  issue  to  a  topic  which  has  been 
the  subject  of  considerable  private  and 
union-meeting  discussion  among  IA  mem- 
bers during  the  past  several  years — the 
institution  of  some  form  of  welfare  plan 
for  the  organized  workers  in  the  amuse- 
ment crafts. 

Oddly  enough,  while  the  stage  em- 
ployes, whose  members  generally  are 
older  men,  were  most  vocal  in  pressing 
for  welfare  plans,  it  remained  for  a  pro- 
jectionist unit — Local  110  of  Chicago — to 
put  the  lid  on  the  stove,  so  to  speak,  and 
conclude  the  first  hard-and-fast  complete 
welfare  coverage  for  its  members. 

Much  valuable  data  on  employe  wel- 
fare plans  is  contained  in  a  brochure 
issued  recently  by  Bankers  Trust  Co.,  of 
New  York,  which  is  already  administer- 
ing pension  plans  for  nearly  200  leading 
commercial  and  industrial  organizations. 
This  report  indicates,  we  think,  certain 
definite  trends  in  welfare  plans  which 
are  worthy  of  summarization  here. 

The  report  contains  two  sections:  one 
dealing  with  what  are  termed  "unilat- 
eral" plans  which  are  instituted  and  ad- 
ministered by  the  employer,  and  the  "ne- 
gotiated" plan  which  is  a  matter  for 
agreement  between  the  employer  and  the 
union  and  is  usually  administered  jointly. 
Of    late,    unions    have    shown    a    strong 


preference  for  the  negotiated  plan,  par- 
ticularly with  respect  to  its  administra- 
tive feature. 

Quite  apparent  in  both  plans  within 
the  past  two  years  has  been  the  trend 
toward  a  liberalization  of  eligibihty  re- 
quirements as  to  age  level  and  years  of 
service.  A  great  majority  of  the  plans, 
whether  new  or  already  in  effect,  have 
been  liberalized  by  an  average  of  five 
years  on  both  these  counts.  While  65 
years  of  age  continues  to  be  the  retire- 
ment level  for  a  great  majority  of  plans 
now  in  effect,  there  is  every  indication 
that  amendments  lowering  this  figure  by 
five  years  will  be  effected.  Service  re- 
quirements average  out  at  about  25  years, 
although  many  plans  provide  for  a  lesser 
payment  pro  rata  upon  earlier  retirement. 

In  the  negotiated  plans  the  pattern  has 
been  such  as  to  estabbsh  standard  re- 
tirement benefits.  The  $100-a-month  bene- 
fit, including  Social  Security  payments, 
has  become  practically  standard  in  nego- 
tiated plans  in  which  the  employer  pays 
the  entire  cost.  This  assumes  that  the 
employe  retires  with  25  or  30  years  of 
service  and  was  paid  at  a  rate  not  in 
excess  of  $3500  per  year. 

Most  plans  deduct,  in  addition  to  So- 
cial Security  benefits,  payments  received 
by  the  employe  from  "other  sources," 
such   as    other   pension    plans   to   which 


NOTABLES  PRESENT  AT  THE  INSTALLATION  OF  25-30  CLUB  OFFICERS  FOR  1951 


Left   to    right:   Walter   Green,   president,    National   Theater   Supply   Co.;    Harry   Sherman    of    IP; 
Admiral    R.     B.    Tompkins,    president,    Internat'onal    Projector    Corp;    Allen    G.    Snvth,    N.T.S. 
New   York   branch   manager;    B.    Passman,   chief   engineer   for    I.P.C.,   and    Arthur   Meyer,   vice- 
president  and   general   sales   manager   of    I.P.C. 


the  company  may  have  contributed,  dis- 
missal and  unemployment  payments,  and 
similar  benefits  to  which  he  may  be  en- 
titled. 

The  steel,  rubber  and  aluminum  plans 
have  no  compulsory  retirement  provision 
and  allow  an  employe  to  work  as  long 
as  he  is  physically  able.  The  other  pat- 
terns provide  an  automatic  or  compulsory 
retirement  age,  but  two  permit  the  em- 
ployer to  retire  workers  (except  for  in- 
ability to  work  efficiently)  as  early  as 
age  65.  In  several  of  the  plans  having 
this  compulsory  or  automatic  feature,  the 
employes  who  were  over  or  close  to  that 
age  on  the  effective  date  are  not  being 
forced  to  retire  immediately  but  are 
being  permitted  to  continue  work  for 
periods  of  up  to  five  years. 

All  of  the  plans  include  a  provision  for 
disability  benefits,  most  of  which  are  lim- 
ited to  total  and  permanent  disability, 
and  no  benefit  is  provided  for  disability 
of  a  temporary  or  partial  character. 
Benefits  in  most  of  the  plans  do  not  start 
until  total  and  permanent  disability  has 
been  established  over  a  six-month  period. 

Of  course,  practically  all  the  data  con- 
tained in  the  Bankers  Trust  Co.  report 
applies  to  industries  which  are  of  a  to- 
tally different  character  from  that  of 
the  amusement  field.  While  there  are 
many  instances  where  an  amusement 
worker  may  stay  on  one  job  for  one  em- 
ployer for  a  long  span  of  years,  there 
are  countless  other  instances  where  the 
worker  may  have  anywhere  from  five  to 
ten  different  employers  over  a  period  of 
years.  This  is  particularly  true  of  studio 
workers  and  of  stage  employes,  with  a 
given  job  lasting  only  for  the  duration 
of  production  or  for  the  run  of  the  show. 
Projectionists  are  on  a  somewhat  more 
stable  basis. 

On  this  basis,  it  would  seem  that  bene- 
fit plans  for  IA  workers  could  hardly 
ever  be  satisfactorily  negotiated  on  a  na- 
tional scale,  and  certainly  not  on  the 
basis  of  including  all  the  various  crafts 
with  widely  fluctuating  terms  of  emoloy- 
ment.  Of  course,  there  is  the  possibility 
of  writing  into  every  I A  contract,  irre- 
spective of  for  what  craft,  a  provision  for 
payment  of  a  certain  percentage  of  total 
wages  into  a  general  welfare  fund.  Such 
a  plan  would  necessitate  exclusive  con- 


16 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     January  1951 


trol  of  the  funds  thus  accumulated  by 
the  union,  probably  the  General  Office — 
which  would  pose  a  terrific  administra- 
tive problem. 

Craft,  Area  Likely  Basis 

Overall,  it  seems  practically  certain 
that  any  benefit  plan  for  IA  workers 
would  have  to  be  negotiated  on  the  basis 
of  craft  and  local  area,  much  after  the 
pattern  of  the  Chicago  Local  110  set-up. 
Moreover,  it  seems  equally  certain  that 
administration  of  such  benefit  funds 
would  have  to  be  vested  solely  in  the 
union,  in  view  of  the  character  of  the 
work  performed  by  its  members. 

The  foregoing  data  is  offered  solely  to 
stimulate  thinking  on  the  part  of  IA 
craftsmen  and  in  the  hope  that  it  may 
help  to  "jell"  the  craft's  thinking  anent 
this  extremely  important  topic. 

•  The  prolonged  strike  of  San  Antonio 
Locals  76  and  407  against  the  Zaragoza 
Amusement  Co.  came  to  an  end  last 
month  with  the  signing  of  contracts 
between  the  circuit  and  Local  Union  of- 
ficials. Intensive  picketing  and  court 
actions  marked  the  21-month  deadlock 
between  these  groups,  and  the  final  settle- 
ment of  this  dispute  is  a  signal  victory 
for  the  union.  The  Alameda  Theatre  is 
the  first  in  the  Zaragoza  chain  to  em- 
ploy union  projectionists — three  men, 
each  man  to  receive  $85  per  week,  two 
weeks  on  and  one  week  off,  with  a  $5 
per  week  increase  to  become  effective 
in  six  months. 

Ernest  (Frenchy)  Biencourt,  Roy  Cog- 
dill,  business  representatives  for  Locals 
76  and  407,  respectively,  and  Henry  Van 
Archer,  attorney,  represented  the  union 
in  the  negotiations. 

•  Tom  Canavan,  brother  of  former  IA 
President  Bill  Canavan,  was  once  more 
elected  a  delegate  to  the  Variety  Club 
national  convention,  representing  St. 
Louis  Variety  Tent  No.  4. 

•  History  has  a  way  of  repeating  itself. 
Five  sons  of  Bill  Thompson,  popular 
business  representative  for  Pittsburgh 
Local  171,  served  with  our  armed  forces 
d  uring  World  War  II.  Recently,  his 
youngest  son,  Richard,  was  inducted 
into  service,  and  another  son,  Robert,  is 
stationed  in  Kentucky. 

•  IA  President  Richard  Walsh  emphati- 
cally denied  a  statement,  attributed  to 
him  by  a  widely-read  theatrical  weekly, 
that  projectionist  Local  Unions  through- 
out the  country  are  "for  the  most  part 
satisfied  with  their  present  scales  and 
are  not  likely  to  be  coming  up  with  new 
demands."  At  a  recent  press  conference, 
President  Walsh,  in  response  to  a  query 
by  a  reporter  for  the  weekly,  said  that 
no  drive  for  projectionists'  wage  in- 
creases was  being  made  by  the  General 
Office  because  each  Local  has  the  right 
to  negotiate  its  own  contracts. 


Walsh  said  that  his  statement,  as  it 
appeared  in  the  weekly,  was  misquoted, 
was  untrue  and  harmful;  that  "if  we  ever 
reach  the  time  when  groups  of  employes, 
or  employers,  in  America  really  do  stop 
striving  for  a  better  income,  then  we  may 
be  sure  that  this  country  we  have  loved 
and  believed  in  has  started  to  decline." 
The  IA  leader  asked  that  the  trade  press 
generally  publish  an  accurate  statement 
of  his  views. 

•  As  an  aftermath  to  the  trial  and  con- 
viction last  year  of  the  11  top  national 
Communist  leaders,  Harry  Sacher,  one 
of  the  defense  attorneys,  was  ousted  as 
attorney  for  New  York  Local  306,  a 
post  he  has  held  for  the  past  several 
years.  The  retention  of  Sacher  as  coun- 
sel for  Local  306  had  long  been  the  sub- 
ject of  hot  debates  in  and  out  of  the 
meeting  rooms,  and  a  vote  taken  at  the 
January  3rd  meeting  culminated  in  his 
ouster.  Sacher  was  attorney  for  a  num- 
ber of  unions  in  and  around  New  York 
City,  and  his  dismissal  from  Local  306 
is  one  of  several  in  the  past  few  months. 

•  An  amicable  settlement  reached  be- 
tween IA  Representative  Eddie  Miller, 
who  is  also  business  representative  of 
Houston  Local  279,  and  Julius  Gordon, 
president  of  East  Texas  Theatres,  Inc.. 
ended  the  120-day-old  strike  of  projec- 
tionists in  the  Baytown  area.  Picket 
lines  were  withdrawn  and  the  projec- 
tionists returned  to  work. 

•  Congratulations  to  our  very  good 
friends,  Nettie  and  Hector  Stewart,  Buf- 
falo Local  233,  who  celebrate  their  22nd 
wedding  anniversary  on  Hector's  56th 
birthday,  January  25.  Hector's  mem- 
bership in  the  Local  dates  back  many 
years,  and  we  know  that  the  double  cele- 
bration will  be  a  very  joyous  one  for  the 
Stewarts. 

•  The  TMA  (Theatrical  Mutual  Asso- 
ciations) will  hold  its  32nd  biennial 
convention  at  the  Neil  House,  Columbus. 
Ohio,  July  9-11  next.  The  installation  of 
officers  and  a  dinner  party  will  be  held 
on  Wednesday,  July  11. 

•  The  IA  Executive  Board  will  hold  its 
mid-winter  session  at  the  Santa  Rita 
Hotel,  Tucson,  Arizona,  the  week  begin- 
ning February  5. 

•  Completing  30  years  of  service,  Jack 
Hauser  resigned  from  the  office  of  busi- 
ness representative  for  Local  96,  Wor- 
cester, Mass.  However,  he  is  still  work- 
ing at  the  Poli  Theater,  where  he  has 
been  employed  for  many  years. 

•  The  AF  of  L  lost  a  grand  old  man 
when  Joseph  N.  Weber,  84,  president 
emeritus  of  the  American  Federation  of 
Musicians,  died  last  month  at  his  home 
in  Beverly  Hills,  Calif.     Joe  Weber  held 


the  office  of  president  of  the  musicians' 
international  union  for  40  years,  until 
his  retirement  in  1940.  His  union  worked 
in  close  cooperation  with  the  IA  back 
in  the  days  of  Charlie  Shay  and  Bill 
Canavan,  and  many  a  time  Weber  pulled 
his  men  out  of  theaters  and  kept  them 
out  until  IA  contracts  were  signed.  Our 
organization  cooperated  in  the  same  man- 
ner. 

Joe  Weber  celebrated  his  59th  wedding 
anniversary  September  1950,  and  at  the 
AF  of  L  69th  convention  in  Houston  last 
September  he  was  called  to  the  conven- 
tion platform  where  he  was  congratulated 
by  President  Green  and  was  given  an 
ovation  by  the  delegates. 


Ten-Year  Film  Theater  Data 

Motion  picture  theaters  in  the  U.  S.  re- 
ported receipts,  including  taxes,  of  $1,569 
million  for  1948,  a  gain  of  133%  over  the 
1939  figure  of  $673  million,  reports  the  U.  S. 
Dept.  of  Commerce.  Data  for  drive-in  and 
portable  motion  picture  theaters  are  not  in- 
cluded in  these  figures.  The  total  number  of 
film  theaters  increased  from  15,115  in  1939 
to  17,689  in  1948,  an  increase  of  17%.  In- 
dividual theaters  doubled  their  dollar  volume 
of  receipts,  the  average  establishment  taking 
in  $88,693  in  1948,  compared  with  $44,528 
in  1939. 

Employment  in  motion  picture  theaters  in- 
creased from  128,857  to  181,322  for  the  work- 
week ended  nearest  November  15  in  both 
Census  years.  For  the  country  as  a  whole, 
annual  payroll  in  theaters  rose  from  $132 
million  in  1939  to  $295  million  in  1948.  Em- 
ployees shared  in  the  industry's  growth  with 
their  average  annual  wage  (full  and  part- 
workweek  combined)  increasing  from  $1,021 
to  $1,625  during  the  period  1939  to  1948. 

Dollar  Volume  Soars 

Increases  in  dollar  volume  of  receipts  were 
general  throughout  the  country  and  a  larger 
number  of  theaters  was  recorded  by  most 
States.  The  largest  increases  in  receipts  were 
reported  by  Florida  (251%),  Alabama 
(208%),  and  Arkansas  (205%).  Mississippi, 
Arkansas,  and  Alabama  led  the  Nation  in 
gains  in  the  number  of  theaters  for  1948  over 
1939,  reporting  increases  of  69%,  68%,  and 
58%,  respectively. 

New  York,  California,  Pennsylvania,  and 
Illinois,  each  reporting  motion  picture 
theaters  receipts  in  excess  of  $100  million  in 
1948,  accounted  for  25%  of  the  number  of 
establishments,  39%  of  the  dollar  volume, 
and  42%  of  the  payroll  of  the  entire  coun- 
try for  this  industry.  Comparable  figures  for 
these  same  States  in  1939  were  26%,  41%, 
and  42%. 


Westrex  Corp.  Personnel  Busy 

Reeve  O.  Strock,  recording  manager  of 
Westrex  Corp.,  subsidiary  of  Western  Elec- 
tric Co.,  has  returned  to  the  New  York  office 
after  a  world-wide  trip  concerned  with  sales, 
engineering  and  general  contact  work.  Latest 
Westrex  installation  is  a  new  sound  record- 
ing unit  at  Bell  Productions  &  Television 
Films,  in  Miami,  Fla. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     January  1951 


17 


Brush-up  on  Fundamentals 


II.  CAPACITANCE.  Another  in  the  series  of  articles  designed  to  serve  as  a  refresher  course 
in  certain  technological  fundamentals  and  their  application  to  new  equipments  and 
processes  which  may  be  utilized  in  the  motion  picture  theater  field  in  the  near  future. 


CAPACITANCE,  which  is  manufac- 
tured commercially  and  is  known 
as  a  condenser,  is  equally  impor- 
tant in  radio  as  is  inductance.  Not  all 
capacitance,  however,  is  found  in  the 
form  of  commercial  units;  sometimes  it 
exists  between  certain  radio  components. 
More  often  than  not  such  capacitance 
results  in  poor  performance  in  a  radio 
receiver  and  steps  are  taken  to  eliminate 
or  reduce  it.  Capacitance  of  this  kind  is 
known  as  "stray  capacitance." 

Whenever  two  conductors  of  electricity 
are  separated  by  an  insulator,  a  con- 
denser is  created.  The  insulator  in  a  con- 
denser is  often  called  a  "dielectric."  The 
dielectric  may  be  a  vacuum,  air,  glass, 
mica,  waxed  paper,  oil,  ceramics,  or  a 
chemical  deposit  such  as  aluminum  oxide. 
The  conductor  is  usually  constructed  of 
steel,  aluminum,  tinfoil,  brass,  or  metal- 
lic paint. 

Condenser  types  usually  are  designated 
with  respect  to  the  kind  of  dielectric  that 
they  contain.  For  example,  a  paper  con- 
denser contains  a  paper  dielectric,  and  a 
mica  condenser  contains  a  sheet  of  mica 
as  the  dielectric. 

Action  of  a  Condenser 

The  action  of  a  condenser  will  now  be 
considered.  Let  us  suppose  that  a  con- 
denser is  connected,  as  shown  in  Fig.  1. 
This  is  a  series  circuit  consisting  of  a 
condenser,  a  battery,  a  zero  center  scale 
galvanometer  which  reads  to  the  right  or 
left,  depending  upon  the  direction  of 
current  through  the  meter  (similar  to  an 
ammeter  in  an  automobile) ,  and  a  switch. 

When  the  switch  is  open  the  condenser 
does  not  have  any  charge  on  it ;  and  when 
the  condenser  is  not  charged  it  is  said 
to  be  in  a  neutral  state.  At  the  instant 
that  the  switch  is  closed,  electrons  rush 
from  the  upper  plate  of  the  condenser 
into  the  positive  terminal  of  the  battery. 
It  should  be  remembered  that  a  battery 
is  a  source  of  electrical  pressure  and  is 
capable  of  forcing  free  electrons  to  move. 
The  positive  terminal  of  the  battery  is 

FIG.     1.    Charging   a   condenser. 


CONDENSER 


GALVANOMETER 


deficient  in  electrons.  When  it  is  con- 
nected to  the  condenser  it  will  draw  some 
free  electrons  from  the  plate  of  the  con- 
denser to  which  it  is  connected. 

The  negative  terminal  of  the  battery 
has  an  excess  of  electrons.  These  excess 
electrons  will  now  move  into  the  lower 
plate  of  the  condenser  because  this  plate 
is  connected  to  the  negative  terminal  of 
the  battery.  The  direction  of  electron  flow 
is  indicated  by  the  arrows  in  Fig.  1, 
and  because  electrons  flow  through  the 
galvanometer  it  will  give  an  indication. 

The  atoms  which  make  up  the  con- 
denser have  been  disturbed  from  their 
neutral  condition  due  to  the  transfer  of 
electrons  from  one  of  the  plates  to  the 
other.  This  disturbance  will  create  lines 
of  electrostatic  force  between  the  plates 
of  the  condenser,  and  these  lines  of  force 
result  in  a  dielectric  field  between  the 
plates. 

Storage  Characteristics 

All  condensers  are  capable  of  storing  a 
certain  amount  of  electrical  energy  (di- 
electric field)  depending  upon  their  ca- 
pacity (size).  When  the  condenser  in 
Fig.  1  has  stored  all  the  energy  of  which 
it  is  capable,  the  electrons  in  the  circuit 
will  cease  to  flow.  The  condenser  is  then 
charged  to  the  same  voltage  as  the  bat- 
tery, and  the  circuit  is  similar  to  one 
which  contains  two  batteries  of  equal 
voltage  in  parallel.  In  practice,  it  takes 
only  a  fraction  of  a  second  to  charge  a 
condenser  to  the  voltage  of  the  charging 
source. 

Because  the  flow  of  electrons  is  only  in 
evidence  for  a  very  short  period  of  time, 
the  galvanometer  will  act  in  the  following 
manner.  At  the  instant  the  switch  is 
closed  the  needle  of  the  meter  will  kick 
to  the  right  and  then  return  to  zero.  This 
indicates  that  the  current  in  the  circuit 
flows  for  only  a  very  short  period.  If  the 
battery  were  now  removed  from  the  cir- 
cuit the  dielectric  field  would  still  remain. 

Effect  of  Closed  Switch 

Theoretically,  the  field  should  remain 
indefinitely  if  the  condenser  is  not  dis- 
turbed. In  practice,  however,  the  field 
deteriorates  rapidly  when  the  battery  is 
disconnected,  because  the  electrons  which 
have  left  the  upper  plate  of  the  con- 
denser desire  to  return  to  it  and  will  do 
so  by  leakage  through  the  dielectric  or 
through  the  air. 

Figure    2    is   very   much   like   Fig.    1, 


except  that  now  the  battery  has  been  re- 
moved from  the  circuit.  When  the  switch 
is  open  the  dielectric  field  still  exists  be- 
tween the  plates  of  the  condenser.  Let  us 
suppose  that  the  switch  in  Fig.  2  is 
closed.  The  electrons  from  the  lower 
plate  of  the  condenser  will  now  return  to 
the  upper  plate  from  which  they  came 
originally.  The  direction  of  current  in 
the  circuit  has  now  reversed  from  that 
in  Fig.  1,  and  the  meter  will  kick  to  the 
left  and  then  return  to  zero  when  all  of 
the  electrons  have  returned  to  the  upper 
plate. 

The  condenser  is  now  said  to  be  dis- 
charged and  the  dielectric  field  will  dis- 
appear completely.  Although  the  elec- 
trons have  moved  in  the  circuit,  none  have 
actually  passed  through  the  condenser, 
because  the  plates  of  the  condenser  are 
separated  by  an  insulator  and  the  elec- 
trons cannot  move  through  an  insulator. 

When  D.C.  is  impressed  upon  a  con- 
denser, current  flows  in  the  circuit  for 
only  a  fraction  of  a  second  and  then  be- 
comes zero.  Because  current  flows  for 
only  a  fraction  of  a  second,  it  is  said 
that  D.C.  does  not  allow  current  to  flow 
in  any  circuit  which  contains  a  condenser. 
As  we  shall  see  a  little  later,  A.C.  will 
allow  current  to  flow  in  a  circuit  that 
contains  a  condenser. 

Filter  Condensers 

A  condenser  is  very  useful  in  radio 
circuits  for  separating  direct  currents 
from  alternating  currents.  A  condenser 
has  a  smoothing  effect  when  placed 
across  a  direct  current  that  is  varying 
slightly  in  amplitude  (pulsating  D.C.) 
and  these  condensers  are  commonly  used 
in  the  power  supply  section  of  radio  re- 
ceivers. In  this  application,  they  are 
known  as  "filter  condensers." 

When  an  exciter  lamp  in  a  motion  pic- 
ture projector  is  operated  from  rectified 
A.C,  a  great  deal  of  filtering  is  necessary 
in  order  to  remove  the  60-cycle  hum  which 
would  show  up  in  the  sound.   Large  con- 

FIG.   2.    Discharging  a  condenser. 


GALVANOMETER, 


18 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


January  1951 


deneers  are  used  for  this  purpose.  When- 
ever circuits  which  contain  a  large 
amount  of  inductance  are  opened,  a  great 
deal  of  sparking  results  at  the  switch 
contacts.  This  is  true  of  D.C.  circuits 
which  feed  motors,  generators,  spark 
coils,  relays,  and  automobile  ignition 
systems. 

Since  inductance  tends  to  keep  the  cur- 
rent flowing  when  the  switch  is  opened,  a 
hot  spot  develops  on  the  switch  contacts. 
This  hot  spot  burns  the  contacts  and 
carries  away  from  them  small  particles 
of  copper.  This  action  results  in  prema- 
ture wear  on  the  switch  and  lowers  its 
efficiency  as  a  switch  because  of  pitted 
contacts.  If  a  condenser  is  placed  across 
the  switch  contacts,  the  condition  is  soon 
remedied.  The  reason  for  this  is  that  the 
energy  set  flowing  by  the  inductance  in 
the  circuit  charges  the  condenser  and 
eliminates  sparking. 

Condenser  Size  Factors 

The  amount  of  energy  that  the  dielec- 
tric field  of  a  condenser  can  store  depends 
upon  the  size  of  the  condenser — the  larger 
the  condenser,  the  greater  the  energy. 
The  size  of  a  condenser  depends  upon 
four   factors : 

(1)  The  area  of  the  plates  facing  each 
other. 

(2)  The  number  of  plates  that  are 
connected  in  parallel. 

(3)  The  distance  between  the  plates 
or  the  thickness  of  the  dielectric,  and 

(4)  The  type  of  dielectric  used. 

If  the  quantities  in  the  first  and  second 
factors  listed  are  increased,  the  capaci- 
tance of  the  condenser  will  increase,  as 
will  its  ability  to  store  energy.  If  the  dis- 
tance between  the  plates  were  increased, 
the  capacitance  would  decrease  because 
the  concentration  of  the  dielectric  field 
would  be  less  dense. 

The  type  of  dielectric  used  in  a  con- 
denser is  very  important  in  determining 
its  size.  The  atomic  structure  of  some 
dielectrics  is  such  that  they  aid  the  di- 
electric field  more  than  others  when  an 
electrical  pressure  acts  upon  them.  This 
quality  has  been  designated  as  the  "di- 
electric constant." 

The  didelectric  constant  of  air  is  1. 
and  the  dielectric  constants  of  other  ma- 
terials differ  widely.  Mica,  for  example, 
has  a  dielectric  constant  of  approximately 
6.  Let  us  see  what  significance  this  has. 
It  means  that  if  an  air  condenser  has  a 
certain  capacitance  and  if  mica  were  sub- 
stituted for  air,  the  capacitance  of  the 
condenser  would  increase  six  times. 

Dielectric  Strength 

The  dielectric  strength  of  an  insulating 
material  is  the  minimum  value  of  elec- 
tric field  intensity  required  to  rupture  it. 
Dielectric  strength  usually  is  expressed 
in  kilovolts  per  centimeter  of  dielectric 
thickness.  Heating  of  the  dielectric  leads 
to    rapid    deterioration,    particularly    if 


moisture  is  present,  and  ultimate  break- 
down. Most  dielectrics  will  withstand  a 
much  higher  voltage  for  a  very  brief 
period  than  voltage  applied  for  a  longer 
period. 

These  effects  have  dictated  two  tests 
for  condensers:  a  high  flash-test  voltage 
of  very  brief  duration,  and  the  applica- 
tion of  a  much  lower  voltage  for  a  longer 
period. 

If  too  large  a  voltage  is  impressed 
upon  a  condenser,  its  dielectric  may  be 
pierced  by  a  spark  which  jumps  through 
it.  In  condensers  using  paper,  mica,  or 
glass  as  the  dielectric,  the  puncture  of 
the  dielectric  by  too  great  a  voltage  will 
prove  fatal  and  will  render  the  condenser 
useless  for  radio  work.  A  condenser  using 
oil,   a  wet  electrolyte    (borax   solution), 


or  air,  will  heal  itself  after  the  excessive 
voltage  is  removed.  This  excessive  volt- 
age is  known  as  the  "breakdown  voltage." 

Condensers  should  never  be  operated 
with  such  a  high  voltage  across  them.  The 
safe  voltage  which  may  be  impressed 
across  a  condenser  is  called  the  "work- 
ing voltage."  Lower  voltages  may  be 
used,  but  voltages  higher  than  the  work- 
ing voltage  should  never  be  used  for 
more  than  a  brief  period. 

A  condenser  can  be  made  to  withstand 
very  high  voltages  by  increasing  the 
thickness  of  the  dielectric,  but  this  is  not 
always  feasible  because  the  capacitance 
of  the  condenser  decreases  as  the  thick- 
ness of  the  dielectric  increases.  In  order 
(Continued  on  page  26) 


The  Ashcraft  Hydro-Arc  Lamp 


COVERING  a  wide  range  of  operat- 
ing current,  the  new  Ashcraft  Hydro- 
Arc  lamp  has  proved  its  flexibility  under 
actual  field  conditions,  whether  used  in 
the  larger  enclosed  theaters  or  for  the 
medium-sized  drive-ins.  The  lamp  was 
designed  when  it  became  apparent  that 
many  exhibitors  were  attempting  "con- 
version" of  existing  lamps,  with  badly 
mismatched  optical  systems,  in  an  effort 
to  obtain  increased  light  output. 

The  Hydro-Arc  permits  the  easy  ex- 
change of  reflectors  and  carbon  jaws,  de- 
pending upon  the  light  output  desired:  a 
15-inch  reflector  is  standard  equipment 
with  the  9-mm  carbon,  while  a  14-inch 
mirror  is  used  with  the  8-mm  carbon. 
A  large  lamphouse  helps  overcome  the 
problem  of  excessive  heat. 

Wide  Current  Range  Possible 

When  the  9-mm  carbon  is  used,  the 
Hydro-Arc  utilizes  water  cooling  for  the 
carbon  jaws.  This  unit  is  not  used  when 
8-mm  carbons  are  employed.  Only  three- 
fourths  of  a  pint  of  water  per  minute 
flows  through  the  cast  bronze  jacket  sur- 
rounding  the    carbon   to    cool    both    the 


shoes  and  carbon.  Rated  capacity  for 
the  Hydro-Arc  is  80-85  amperes  with  the 
9-mm  carbon,  and  60-75  amperes  with 
the  8-mm  carbon. 

Erratic  positioning  is  avoided  when 
manual  reflector  adjustments  are  made 
because  of  its  mounting  in  a  heavy  cast 
aluminum  ring  which  is  swiveled  to  the 
back  plate  by  means  of  a  large  ball  and 
socket.  The  negative  carriage  is  slide- 
mounted  in  a  heavy  cast  aluminum  hous- 
ing which  may  be  moved  vertically  or 
laterally  on  the  compartment  separation 
baffle  by  external  controls  for  negative 
carbon  tip  positioning. 

The  entire  arc  control — feed  motor, 
rheostat  speed  control,  gearing  and  nega- 
tive cam  levers — is  constructed  as  a  unit 
and  is  placed  vertically  on  the  rear  left- 
hand  side  of  the  lamphouse  casting.  All 
shafts  operate  on  precision  roller  bear- 
ings to  eliminate  friction  and  wear.  The 
motor  is  equipped  with  angular  ball 
thrust  bearings. 

More  detailed  information  anent  the 
Hydro-Arc  is  available  from  C.  S.  Ash- 
craft Mfg.  Co.,  36-32  Thirty-Eighth  St., 
Long  Island  City  1,  New  York. 


Exterior  view  of 

Ashcraft    Hydro-Arc 

as  viewed   from 

the   rear   and 

showing   the   outside 

positioning  of  the 

entire  arc  control 

assembly. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


January  1951 


19 


From  the  Production  Front 

New  Technicolor  Lighting  System  Tested 
by  Top-Flight  Cinematographers 

Rigid  tests  of  new  color  filming  system  have  been  completed  ;n  five 
major  Hollywood  studios,  according  to  the  appended  report  by  American 
Cinematographer.      Sharp  gains   in  economy  and   photographic  quality 
are  seen,  based  on  preliminary  tests  of  this  new  system. 

By  LEIGH  ALLEN 


FOLLOWING  the  general  announce- 
ment by  Technicolor  of  its  new  low- 
light  level  photographic  system,  a  dem- 
onstration of  some  of  the  tests  photo- 
graphed by  five  Hollywood  studios  with 
the  new  system  was  given  recently  be- 
fore members  of  the  American  Society  of 
Cinematographers.  The  test  footage 
screened  was  photographed  by  director 
of  photography  Charles  Rosher,  at 
M-G-M  studios;  by  Arthur  Arling,  at 
20th  Century-Fox  studios;  and  by 
Charles  Boyle,  at  Universal-International 
studio. 

Initial  photographic  research  on  the 
system  began  at  M-G-M  under  the  di- 
rection of  John  Arnold.  One  of  the 
largest  single  users  of  Technicolor,  this 
studio  considered  it  to  their  interest  to 
explore  the  possibilities  of  materially 
reducing  photographing  costs  when  film- 
ing in  color,  a  substantial  item  of  which 
involves  the  lighting  and  set  operation 
time  required  to  place  the  great  number 
of  lighting  units  normally  used.  The 
"old"  method  of  Technicolor  photography 
demanded  a  working  illumination  of 
around  400  to  500  foot-candles. 

The  objective  was  to  find  a  means  for 
shooting  Technicolor  using,  if  possible 
no  more  light  than  is  generally  used 
for  black-and-white  pictures.  To  ac- 
complish this  would  mean  that  the  stu- 
dios would  be  able  to  produce  more 
pictures  in  Technicolor  without  ma- 
terially adding  to  production  costs.  The 
main  objective  at  the  beginning,  accord- 
ing to  Arnold,  was  to  develop  a  system 
that  would  enable  studios  to  photograph 
Technicolor  interiors  entirely  with  low- 
level,  unfiltered  incandescent  light  in- 
stead of  arc  light. 

This  led  first  to  a  revision  by  Techni- 
color in  the  emulsion  characteristics  of 
the  film  used  in  the  camera,  a  step  which 
led  naturally  to  the  n°xt — an  important 
technical  change  in  the  optical  system 
of  Technicolor  cameras.  The  final  major 
step  involved  changes  and  improvements 
in  the  Technicolor  film  processing  pro- 
cedure. Thus,  the  whole  new  process  in- 
volves and  depends  upon  a  chain  of  im- 
provements, each  dependent  upon  the 
other. 

For  the   director   of  photography,   the 


new  Technicolor  system  involves  no  im- 
portant change  in  procedure  other  than 
the  use  of  incandescent  instead  of  arc 
light,  as  at  present.  Most  of  those  present 
during  screening  of  the  test  films  ex- 
pressed the  view  that  the  new  Techni- 
color system  rendered  a  more  pleasing 
overall  tone,  less  harsh  than  the  current 
system. 

Adequate  Light,  Well  Distributed 

The  tests  photographed  by  Rosher  con- 
sisted of  three  sequences  of  scenes  staged 
and  directed  by  George  Sidney,  and 
utilized  three  different  sets.  The  first  was 
a  bedroom  scene  in  which  a  girl  enters, 
bids  her  escort  goodbye  at  the  door, 
then  retires,  turning  out  the  room  lights 


so  that  the  only  illumination  is  that  filter- 
ing through  the  windows  from  out  of 
doors.  The  keylight  for  this  set  was  100 
foot-candles.  With  regular  Technicolor 
it  would  have  been  400  foot-candles. 

When  the  room  lights  were  extin- 
guished, the  keylight  dropped  to  30  foot- 
candles  in  the  closeup  of  the  girl.  At 
all  times  the  illumination  is  adequate, 
well  distributed,  and  obviously  carries 
to  the  depths  required  by  the  set. 

The  second  set  was  a  low-key  church 
interior.  The  girl  is  kneeling  before  the 
altar  and  facing  the  camera.  Camera 
alternates  between  closeup  and  medium 
shot.  Keylight  for  this  sequence  was  75 
foot-candles.  A  marked  pictorial  effect 
was  that  of  the  vari-colored  light  from 
the  stained  glass  windows  falling  on  the 
floor  of  the  church  behind  the  girl. 

The  third  set  was  a  full  day  exterior 
of  a  garden  with  the  girl  singing — -first 
in  closeup,  then  in  medium  and  long 
shots  as  she  alternated  between  dancing 
and  sitting  on  the  garden  wall.  Key- 
light  for  these  shots  was  100  foot-candles 
with  cross  lights  of  125  foot-candles. 

Color  Temperature  All-Important 

According  to  Rosher,  he  began  these 
tests  on  a  purely  experimental  basis,  pro- 
ceeding on  the  basis  that  color  tempera- 
ture was  all-important  with  the  new  sys- 
tem. "Color  temperature  must  be  cor- 
rect  in   the   light   falling  on   faces,"   he 


Projectionist  Examination  Questions 

Based  on  Examinations  by  Leading  U.  S.  Municipalities 


1.  Having-  a  circuit  1000  feet  long 
carrying  60  amperes  with  a  vo'tage 
drop  of  8%,  the  circular  mil  area  is 
33,100,  the  voltage  is  110.  What  is 
the  resistance  of  the  circuit? 

2.  Having  a  220-volt  source,  four 
Mazda  lamps  are  connected  across  it 
with  resistances  of  (a)  100  ohms  (6) 
200  ohms  (c)  300  ohms,  and  (d)  400 
ohms.  What  is  the  amperage  of  each 
lamp.  Of  each  circuit?  What  am- 
perage would  they  draw  if  they  were 
one  lamp? 

3.  If  you  had  three  resistances 
of  3.25  ohms,  4%  ohms  and  5  ohms, 
what  is  their  combined  resistance  in 
series?     In  parallel? 

4.  If  you  had  three  condensers  of 
2  mfd,  6  mfd  and  4  mfd,  what  would 
be  the  capacitive  reactance  if  they 
wrre  connected  in  parallel? 

5.  A  50  H.P.,  440-volt  motor  has 
a  full-load  efficiency  of  92%  and  a 
power  factor  of  0.8.  How  much  cur- 
rent is  required  for  single  phase? 
Two  pha^e?     Three  pha«e? 

6.  A  50  H.P.  single-phase,  440-volt 
motor  having  a  full-load  efficiency  of 
92%  and  a  power  factor  of  0.8  is  to 
be   operated   at   a   distance   of   1000 


feet  from  the  alternator,  the  wires 
are  to  be  spaced  6  inches  apart,  the 
frequency  is  60  cycles  with  a  5% 
loss.  Determine  the  electrical  H.  P., 
the  watts,  the  apparent  load,  size  of 
wires,  voltage  drop,  and  voltage  at 
the  alternator. 

7.  Give  the  allowable  current  car- 
rying capacity  of  at  least  five  dif- 
ferent sizes  of  wire  with  which  you 
are  familiar. 

8.  What  size  wire  should  be  used 
for  from  zero  to  100  amperes,  101  to 
200  amperes,  201  to  500  amperes, 
and  for  over  500  amperes? 

9.  How  would  you  change  the  di- 
rection of  rotation  of  a  three-phase 
A.C.  induction  motor? 

10.  How  many  volts  are  lost  in  a 
circuit  carrying  120  amperes  and 
having  a  resistance  of  1/30  of  an 
ohm?  What  wire  size  would  be  re- 
quired for  such  a  circuit  if  it  were 
400  feet  long? 

11.  How  would  you  wire  four  25- 
ampere  rheostats  on  a  220-volt  source 
so  as  to  get  approximately  60  am- 
peres at  the  arc? 

12.  Why  is  D.C.  preferred  over 
A.C.  to  supply  projection  arcs? 


20 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     January  1951 


said,  "regardless  how  it  is  elsewhere  on 
the  set.  If  color  temperature  in  other 
parts  of  the  scene  is  slightly  up  or  down, 
it  is  relatively  inconsequential." 

Implementing  the  incandescent  lamps 
were  spun  glass  diffusers  and  frosted 
gelatins.  Arnold,  in  preliminary  photo- 
graphic tests  with  the  new  Technicolor 
sytsem,  had  already  established  the  fact 
that  China  silk  diffusers  often  prove 
detrimental  because  of  their  tendency  to 
bleach  and  burn,  thus  changing  the  color 
temperature  of  the  light. 

The  sequences  of  tests  photographed 
at  Fox  by  Arthur  Arling  were  made  on 
three  different  sets.  Arling's  aim  was  to 
put  the  new  system  to  test  following 
customary  production  routine.  Thus  he 
chose  scenes  and  setups  approximating 
those  normally  used  in  regular  Techni- 
color production. 

Fox  Tests  of  High  Artistry 

The  first  set  was  a  night  interior  of 
a  living  room  in  which  a  girl  and  young 
man  meet.  The  camera  ranges  from 
closeup  to  medium  shots.  The  keylight 
registered  125  foot-candles.  The  action 
was  repeated  and  photographed  several 
times,  each  time  with  the  illumination 
setup  altered  slightly  but  without  chang- 
ing the  keylight  level. 

The  second  sequence  of  shots  elicited 
considerable  comment  for  their  lighting 
artistry.  The  set  was  a  full  night  in- 
terior of  a  bedroom  with  soft  moonlight 
falling  on  a  window  at  the  rear.  A  girl 
on  a  couch,  turns  out  the  room  light, 
arises  and  goes  to  the  window  where 
she  opens  the  shutters,  admitting  moon- 
light. For  this  scene  a  keylight  of  150 
foot-candles  was  used.  This  dropped  to 
100  foot-candles  when  the  room  light 
was  extinguished.  An  arc  with  four 
scrims  was  used  back  of  the  window  for 
the  moonlight  effect  in  the  closeup  of 
the  girl  at  the  window;  for  the  medium 
shot  of  the  moonlight  effect,  a  Senior 
was  used  with  a  Macbeth  filter. 

The  third  sequence  was  a  full-lit  day 
interior  of  a  living  room  with  shots  rang- 
ing from  medium  to  closeup.  Here  again, 
the  keylight  was  150  foot-candles. 

"These  initial  tests,"  said  Arling, 
"prove  the  great  need  at  this  time  for  a 
good  1000-watt  CP  incandescent  globe. 
For  the  new  Technicolor  system,  the 
present  2000-watt  globes  are  too  power- 
ful, requiring  diffusion  to  cut  down  illu- 
mination intensity.  With  the  1000-watt 
lamp  we  could  dispense  with  diffusers 
and  get  correct  color  temperature  and 
light  intensity  at  the  same  time." 

Filtering  Losses  Regained 

"When  we  filter  incandescent  lamps 
for  regular  Technicolor,"  he  added,  "we 
lose  60%  of  the  light.  With  the  new 
system,  using  incandescent  light,  we 
gain  back  this  lost  60%  and  have  the 
advantage  of  the  full  100%  of  the  lamp's 


National  Carbon  Reduces  Copper  Coating 
as  a  Defense  Aid;  Operating  Amperage  Cut 


National  Carbon  Co.  has  moved 
swiftly  to  cooperate  with  the  Govern- 
ment in  its  attempt  to  conserve  copper 
for  strategic  defense  needs,  as  outlined 
in  Copper  Order  N.P.A.  M-12,  which 
calls  for  a  reduction  in  copper  for  non- 
military  needs. 

In  order  to  provide  an  adequate  sup- 
ply of  carbons  and,  at  the  same  time, 
cut  copper  usage,  the  thickness  of  the 
copper  coat  is  being  reduced  in  two  of 
the  most  popular  projector  carbon 
trims.  This  action  is  similar  to  the 
measures  taken  during  World  War  II, 
and  these  carbons  will  again  be  known 
as  "Victory"  Carbons.  They  will  be 
identified  by  white  ink  showing  the 
trade-mark  and  the  five-ampere  reduc- 
tion in  the  maximum  current  rating  to: 


65  amperes  on  the  8mm-7mm  trim 
45  amperes  on  the  7mm-6mm  trim 

The  unit  package  and  the  5-unit  case 
will  be  conspicuously  labeled  with  the 
word  "Victory"  and  will  indicate  the 
reduction  in  current  rating. 

If  a  "Victory"  carbon  is  paired  with 
a  heavier  copper-coated  carbon,  it  may 
be  necessary  to  make  a  slight  adjust- 
ment in  the  rate  of  the  feed  to  compen- 
sate for  the  change  in  burning  ratio, 
and  the  maximum  current  marked  on 
the  "Victory"  carbon  should  not  be 
exceeded. 

The  price  of  "Victory"  carbons  is 
the  same  as  that  of  the  heavier  copper- 
coated  carbons  which  they  replace.  It 
is  to  be  emphasized  that,  as  in  World 
War  II,  the  supply  of  projector  car- 
bons will  be  adequate. 


potential  illumination.  Where  arcs  are 
used  with  the  new  Technicolor  system 
which  requires  use  of  filters,  resultant 
light  loss  from  filtering  is  around  30% 
— an  amount  easily  expendable." 

The  test  sequences  photographed  by 
Charles  Boyle  at  U-I  consisted  of  ward- 
robe and  makeup  tests.  The  takes 
ranged  from  closeups  to  medium  shots, 
with  an  occasional  two-shot,  and  were 
filmed  with  a  keylight  of  150  foot-candles. 
All  illumination  on  the  sets  was  by  2000- 
and  500-watt  globes  of  3450  K  tempera- 
ture. Spun  glass  and  frosted  gelatin 
diffusers  were  used.  An  incandescent 
broad  was  used  with  a  silk  diffuser. 

Commenting  upon  the  new  system, 
Boyle  said:  "It  is  the  most  important 
development  in  Technicolor's  history. 
After  shooting  Technicolor  for  13  years, 
I  just  couldn't  believe  that  such  results 
were  possible  until  I  tried  it.  Working 
with  Technicolor  with  a  keylight  of  only 
150  foot-candles,  I  just  kept  my  fingers 
crossed  until  I  saw  the  results.  It  means 
big  things  for  color  film  production  in 
general." 

Arcs  Still  to  Be  Used 

Lest  it  be  interpreted  from  the  fore- 
going that  arc  lighting  is  doomed  to 
oblivion,  insofar  as  color  photography  is 
concerned,  it  should  be  stated  here  that 
in  the  opinion  of  most  directors  of  pho- 
tography the  general  scheme  for  set 
lighting  will  probably  be  as  follows  for 
the  new  Technicolor  system: 
A — Small  sets:  practically  all  unfiltered 
incandescents. 

B — Medium  sets:  unfiltered  incandes- 
cents with  some  filtered  arcs. 


C — Large  sets:  unfiltered  incandescents 
with  a  larger  percentage  of  filtered  arcs 
than  used  on  medium  sets. 
D — The  use  of  arcs  will  vary  with  the 
cameraman  as  at  present  with  black-and- 
white  photography. 

As  to  the  general  availability  of  the 
new  Technicolor  system,  the  corporation 
is  said  to  be  aiming  for  full  conversion 
to  the  new  process  within  four  to  six 
months.  It  can  handle  some  small  Hol- 
lywood production  sequences  imme- 
diately. 

NPA  Theater  Equipment  Group 

A  task  group  of  six  members  has  been 
appointed  by  National  Production  Au- 
thority (NPA)  to  study  the  problem  of 
conservation  of  and  substitution  for 
critical  materials  used  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  motion  picture  equipment.  The 
group,  which  is  to  report  within  30  days, 
includes: 

R.  B.  Tompkins,  International  Pro- 
jector Corp.,  chairman;  O.  B.  Rendahl, 
National  Carbon;  Fred  C.  Matthews, 
Motiograph;  E  J.  Vallen,  Vallen,  Inc.; 
Leonard  Satz,  Raytone  Screen,  and  Jim 
Elderkin,  Forest  Mfg. 

Another  task  group  which  will  offer 
recommendations  leading  to  possible 
controls  covering  35-mm  equipment  simi- 
lar to  those  used  during  World  War  II, 
should  such  a  move  become  necessary, 
is  comprised  of: 

Henry  Fisher,  DeVry  Corp.;  C.  S. 
Ashcraft,  Ashcraft  Mfg.;  W.  D.  Hausler, 
Century  Projector;  H.  B.  Engel,  GoldE 
Mfg.;  P.  F.  Thomas,  Altec-Lansing,  and 
R.  H.  Heacock  RCA.  This  group  will 
also  report  its  findings  within  30  days. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     January  1951 


21 


TO  A    Stymied    by    FCC    Inter-City    Facility    Deferment 


ON  THE  same  day  (Jan.  10)  that  the 
Theater  Owners  of  America  called 
upon  the  FCC  to  give  recognition  to  the 
need  for  the  use  of  inter-city  transmission 
facilities  for  theater  video,  the  latter 
body  announced  the  indefinate  postpone- 
ment of  hearings  on  inter-city  facilities 
which  would  have  permitted  A.  T.  &  T. 
and  the  Tv  networks  to  try  out  a  re- 
cently  reached   agreement. 

The  FCC  decision  was  a  severe  blow 
to  the  exhibitor  body,  which  had  enter- 
tained high  hopes  that  an  immediate 
start  could  be  made  on  a  solution  to  the 
serious  problem  of  Tv  network  broad- 
casts inroads  on  theater  admissions. 

The  exhibitor  brief  declared  that 
prompt  FCC  action  was  necessary  be- 
cause "to  do  otherwise  would  be  to 
deprive  the  public  of  programming  which 
they  have  demonstrated  a  desire  to  have 
and  would  discriminate  against  the  small 
user." 

Basis  of  TOA  Petition 

TOA  petitioned  the  FCC  in  August, 
1949,  for  institution  of  a  rule  maknig 
proceedings  looking  toward  the  alloca- 
tion of  facilities  for  theater  Tv  service, 
declaring  that  "Theater  Tv  is  a  new 
medium  (which  has)  potentialities  of 
becoming  one  of  the  greatest  and  most 
important  techniques"  for  accomplishing  the 
declared  objectives  of  the  Federal  Communi- 
cations Act. 

The  FCC,  the  petitioner  reminds,  has  al- 
ways encouraged  experimentation  in  new 
techniques  for  harnessing  radio  frequencies 
so  their  usage  will  redound  to  the  benefit  of 
the  general  public — citing  frequency  modula- 
tion and  television — the  latter  in  its  early 
days  "only  a  few  years  ago"  when  it  was 
highly  experimental,  sporadic  and  geographi- 
cally limited.  The  result,  said  TOA,  was 
phenomenal  growth  of  Tv. 

Continuing:  "Theater  Tv  has  developed 
to  the  same  point  where  Tv  broadcasting 
was  three  or  four  years  ago.  Common  car- 
riers, by  definition,  cannot  discriminate  be- 
tween the  large  or  small  or  the  frequent  or 
sporadic  user. 

Cites  Present  Theater  Tv 

"Today  there  are  about  15  theater  Tv  in- 
stallations in  about  10  key  Metropolitan 
areas.  The  investment  in  this  equipment  is 
considerable,  and  many  exhibitors  are  hesi- 
tant to  commit  themselves  to  the  costs  in- 
volved before  they  have  some  assurances  that 


programs  are  available  and  that  the  means 
for  the  transmission  of  programs  will  be 
available  at  reasonable  cost. 

"TOA  believes  that  the  ultimate  solution 
to  the  quest  for  a  nationwide  theater  Tv 
service  lies  in  the  allocation  of  special  fre- 
quencies for  this  purpose.  In  the  meantime 
and  until  the  Commission  holds  the  theater 
Tv  hearings  and  issues  a  decision  in  that 
proceeding,  those  who  desire  to  render  such 
a  service  are  completely  dependent  upon 
A.  T.  &  T.  facilities. 

Network    Aid   Minimized 

"The  prospects  of  any  of  the  networks  re- 
linquishing time  to  theater  Tv  is  even  dim- 
mer now  than  before.  The  amount  of  time 
left  for  theater  Tv  experimentation  during 
periods  which  are  practical  in  terms  of 
theater  operations  is  rapidly  diminishing." 
the  FCC  was  told. 

*  *        * 

Theater  Tv  for  71  Coast  Houses? 

News  from  two  responsible  sources  in- 
dicate that  serious  consideration  is  being 
given  to  installing  theater  Tv  equipment 
in  more  than  70  theaters  on  the  West 
Coast.  First,  Frank  Folsom,  president  of 
RCA,  stated  flatly  that  "one  large  theater 
circuit  is  planning  for  installations  of 
video  equipment  in  71  theaters  from 
Yuma,  Ariz.,  to  San  Francisco." 

Folsom's  obviously  referred  to  Fox 
West  Coast  Theaters,  the  president  of 
which,  Charles  Skouras,  only  a  few  days 
earlier  had  stated  that  installations  of 
Tv  units  in  "selected  showcases"  would 
begin  within  six  months.  Negotiations 
are  in  progress  for  the  exclusive  rights 
to  athletic  and  public  events  for  theater 
Tv,  r-aid  Skouras. 

*  *       * 

First  Theater  Tv  on  West  Coast 

First  theater  Tv  showing  West  of  Chi- 
cago was  staged  at  the  Orpheum  Theater, 
Los  Angeles  on  Dec.  27  last,  the  program 
fare  being  a  half-hour  show  emanating 
from  the  Palladium  Ballroom  in  Holly- 
wood which  is  a  regular  feature  of  Tv 
station  KLAC,  with  which  the  theater 
tieup  was  made. 

The  program  was  interpolated  into  the 
Orpheum's  usual  screen  show,  utilizing 
RCA  theater  Tv  equipment.  The  Tv  pro- 
jector was  mounted  at  the  rear  of  the 
loge,  with  the  control  panels  installed  in 


the  projection  room,  in  accordance  with 
the  usual  RCA  procedure.  The  screen 
image  was  15  x  20  feet. 

Orpheum  theater  officials  plan  to  stage 
periodic  Tv  showings  over  the  RCA 
equipment,  installed  at  a  reported  cost 
of  $40,000,  in  an  effort  to  gauge  public 
reaction  over  a  somewhat  lengthy  period 
before  proceeding  with  other  installations 
on  the  same  circuit. 

*       *       * 

National  Ads  on  RCATheaterTv 

A  new  twist  to  the  RCA  campaign  to 
promote  more  wider  use  of  theater  Tv 
was  the  appearance  in  national  magazines 
of  ads  extolling  the  benefits  to  be  derived 
by  the  general  public  from  attendance  at 
theater  Tv  showings.  Caption  for  the 
illustration  showing  a  theater  audience 
viewing  a  prizefight  is:  "New  RCA  thea- 
ter television  system  projects  15  x  20-foot 
pictures  of  television  programs." 

The  text  below  is  headed:  "Giant  Size 
Television" — "Shot  From  a  Barrel!" 
Then  the  body  copy:  "You've  seen  tele- 
vision. Now  you'll  see  it  in  its  finest  form 
— giant  projections  of  special  events, 
transmitted  only  to  theaters  on  private 
wires  or  radio  beams  to  make  movie- 
going  better  than  ever. 

Technical  Data  Included 

"Success  of  the  system  comes  from  a 
remarkable  RCA  kinescope,  and  some- 
thing new  in  projection  lenses.  The  kine- 
scope ...  is  in  principle  the  same  as  the 
one  on  which  you  see  regular  telecasts. 
But  it  is  small — only  a  few  inches  in 
diameter — and  produces  images  of  high 
brilliance.  These  are  magnified  to  15  x  20 
feet  by  a  'Schmidt-type'  lens  system  like 
those  used  in  the  finest  astronomical  tele- 
scopes. 

"Because  of  its  size  and  shape,  the  new 
projector  is  referred  to  by  engineers  as 
the  'barrel.'  It's  already  going  into  thea- 
ters, where  you'll  be  seeing  giant  tele- 
vision— shot  from  a  barrel." 

The  ad  emphasizes  that  Tv  programs 
in  theaters  will  be  transmitted  only  via 
private  wires  and  radio   beams,  not  by 
pickup  from  a  regular  Tv  broadcast. 
*       *       * 

Radio,  Tv  Materiels  Cutback 

The  radio  and  television  producing  in- 
dustry has  been  told  by  the  National  Pro- 
duction Board  that  a  major  problem  to- 


22 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


January  1951 


day  is  a  shortage  of  certain  basic  ma- 
teriels.  In  order  to  assure  adequate  sup- 
plies of  these  materiels  to  meet  defense 
and  related  requirements,  NPA  stated 
that  it  has  under  consideration  limita- 
tions on  the  non-military  use  of  nickel, 
copper,  and  aluminum.  Tentative  plans 
call  for  cut-backs  in  the  use  of  these  ma- 
teriels up  to  possibly  20  or  30%  below 
the  average  rate  of  use  during  an  appro- 
priate base  period,  which  is  to  be  de- 
termined. 

NPA  stressed  that  such  a  program  will 
apply  "across-the-board"  to  all  users  of 
the  materials  in  their  primary  forms,  but 
will  in  no  way  affect  permitted  consump- 
tion by  product  or  end  use.  Each  user 
affected  will  decide  what  types  of  prod- 
ucts will  be  manufactured. 


Fire  Risk  Due  to  TV  Lenses 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  the  sun's  rays, 
if  concentrated  through  a  magnifying  lens 
and  directed  upon  readily  combustible  ma- 
terial, can  cause  fire.  An  example  of  this  has 
been  quoted  where  the  sun's  rays,  passing 
through  a  transparent  plastic  door  handle, 
ignited  a  bath  robe.  Heath  and  forest  fires 
have  been  attributed  to  the  concentration  of 
the  sun's  rays  through  broken  glass  and 
bottles  and,  today,  a  new  medium  has  been 
introduced  into  daily  life  by  means  of  which 
"'insolation"   (as  it  is  called)   can  occur. 

Radio  dealers  are  displaying  in  their  show 
windows  new  types  of  magnifying  lenses  for 
attachment  to  television  sets.  Already  some 
incidents  have  occurred  where  insolation  has 
set  fire  to  the  contents  of  radio  dealers'  win- 
dows where  lenses  are  displayed. — Fire  Pro- 
tection Association  Journal,  July,  1950. 


IA     ELECTIONS 

LOCAL  25,   ROCHESTER,   N.   Y. 

Charles  Redes,  pres.;  M.  Torrey,  vice- 
pres.;  William  Hogan,  sec;  Frank  Higgins, 
treas.;  Mike  J.  Mungovan,  bus.  rep. 

LOCAL  96,  WORCESTER,  MASS. 

John  E.  Murphy,  pres.;  William  Sullivan, 
vice-pres.;  Walter  Quist,  rec.-sec;  S.  Michael 
Haddad,  fin.-sec;  Harold  Wyman,  treas.; 
J.  E.  Murphy,  bus.  rep.;  Philip  Gruen, 
W.  Sullivan,  George  Gravel,  John  Cummins, 
Thomas  Cummins,  Roger  Kavanaugh,  exec, 
board;  Thomas  McGualey,  sgt.-at-arms. 

LOCAL  105,  LONDON,  ONT. 

S.  Shaw,  pres.;  W.  Hewitt,  vice-pres.; 
C.  Mills,  sec.-treas.;  W.  Shaw,  rec.-sec; 
W  Drennan,  bus.  rep.  {projectionists)  ; 
J.  Garnet,  bus.  rep.  (stagehands)  ;  C.  Mills, 
S.  Bradford,  S.  Shaw,  exam,  board;  W.  Dren- 
nan, W.  Hewitt,  H.  Allaster,  trustees; 
W.  Shaw,  M.  Rehder,  auditors;  C.  Johnson. 
sgt.-at-arms. 

LOCAL    150,    LOS   ANGELES,   CALIF. 

John  Maynard,  pres.;  Frank  McBryde, 
vice-pres.;  Charles  A.  Vencill,  sec.-treas.; 
George  J.  Schaffer,  bus.  rep.;  Harold  Angel, 
Frank  C.  Champlin,  Clem  J.  Marchand,  C.  C. 


SIIPEIE  SNAPMTE 


•  GREATER  LIGHT  •  GREATER  CONTRAST  •   GREATER  SHARPNESS 

Watch  your  "B.  A."  climb  when  you  install  Super  Snaplite 
Lenses.  Give  your  patrons  the  benefit  of  pictures  at  their  best. 
You  can't  beat  the  Super  Snaplite  f/1 .9  when  it  comes  to 
putting  a  clear,  sharp  picture  on  your  screen. 

Super  Snaplites  give  you  a  true  speed  of  f/1 .9  in  every  focal 
length  up  to  7  inches.  Ask  for  Bulletins  207  and  209. 


'You  Get  More  Light  with  Super  Snaplite' 


\J/attcai  CORPORATION 


2  Franklin  Avenue 
Brooklyn  11,  New  York 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     January  1951 


23 


Piper,  H.  C.  Smith,  exec,  board;  C.  C.  Bo- 
linger,  Virgil  Crowell,  E.  J.  (Red)  Schmidt, 
exam,  board;  Duane  Adams,  Henry  Kearney, 
Ray  Richards,  trustees;  Tom  Veith,  guide; 
Tom  Gillum,  sgt.-at-arms. 

LOCAL  154,  SEATTLE,  WASH. 

Fred  Jiencke,  pres.;  Harold  Simpson,  vice- 
pres.;  Thomas  Watters,  sec.;  Robert  C.  Cam- 
eron, fin.-sec. ;  James  McNabb,  bus.  rep. 

LOCAL   173,  TORONTO,   ONT. 

James  Sturgess,  pres.;  Arthur  Milligan, 
vice-pres.;  Pat  Travers,  rec.-sec;  George  H. 
Jones,  sec.-treas.;  William  P.  Covert,  bus. 
rep.;  Norm  Tanner,  Jack  Hills,  Lou  Lodge, 
R.  O'Connor,  exec,  board;  D.  Cameron,  J. 
Stronger,  E.  Whyatt,  trustees. 

LOCAL  175,  TACOMA,  WASH. 
O.   J.   Carlson,   pres.;    J.    R.   Burke,    vice- 


Bed      Wiike* 

for     a 

J-^roSperoui     1951 

LOCAL  NO.  449 
Stamford,  Conn. 

VVVtVVVVtVVVVVVV  vvvvv%*vvvv 


pres.;  Jack  Shepherd,  rec.-sec;  C.  J.  Ka- 
leel,  fin.-sec.  "and  bus.  rep.;  J.  L  Jarmon, 
Orin  M.  Jacobson,  Carl  Ellis,  A.  E.  Brad- 
shaw,  B.  F.  Yost,  exec,  board;  R.  L.  Knee- 
land,  Carl  Ellis,  B.  F.  Yost,  trustees;  0.  M. 
Dennis,  reading  clerk;  R.  L.  Kneeland,  sgt.- 
at-arms. 

LOCAL  182,  BOSTON,  MASS. 

Joseph  Nuzzolo,  pres.;  Bernard  J.  Lynch, 
vice-pres.;  James  M.  Gibbons,  rec.-sec;  Leon 

A.  Narbut,  fin.-sec.;  Joseph  Caplan,  treas.; 
Walter  F.  Diehl,  bus.  rep. ;  William  Kaitz, 
Patrick  J.  Kelly,  Alexander  S.  Tradd,  Fred 
S.  Jones,  Henry  Perry,  seniority  board; 
Harold  Armistead,  William  Dwyer,  Ralph 
Frazier,  exec,  board;  Michael  J.  Driscoll, 
Benjamin  Bearman,  trustees. 

LOCAL  219,  MINNEAPOLIS,  MINN. 

S.  S.  Parrish,  pres.;  Frank  Rogers,  vice- 
pres.;  Rudy  Peterson,  sec;  Joe  Ellwood,  fin.- 
sec;  Frank  Schilken,  Jr.,  bus.  rep.;  Wallace 
j.  Yutzy,  A.  W.  Harris,  L.  G.  Cowan,  W.  H. 
Smith,  exec,  board. 

LOCAL   307,   PHILADELPHIA,    PENNA. 

Harry  J.  Abbott,  pres.;  Abbott  Oliver, 
vice-pres.;  Joseph  H.  Abrams,  rec.-sec; 
Charles   Humphries,   fin.   sec.-treas.;    Horace 

B.  Johns,  bus.  rep.;  Frank  J.  Adams,  Robert 
Bloch,  Benjamin  Green,  Parker  Kennedy, 
exec,  board. 

LOCAL  366,  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY,  N.  Y. 

Nat    Storch,   pres.;    James   Maloney,   vice- 


pres.;  Joseph  Yans,  rec.-sec;  Morris  Stein- 
berg, fin.-sec;  Joe  Monaco,  bus.  rep.;  An- 
thony Popp,  Anthony  Aquino,  trustees. 

LOCAL  401,  CENTRALIA,  WASH. 

North  D.  Stark,  pres.;  Harry  A.  Kirk- 
patrick,  vice-pres.;  Rex  Kinsey,  rec.-sec; 
Charles  W.  Wheeler,  sec.-treas. ;  C.  E.  Staples, 
bus.  rep.  Centralia-Chehalis ;  Ross  V.  Kinsey, 
bus.  rep.  Vancouver-Camas;  J.  R.  Spiker,  bus. 
rep.  Longview-Kelso ;  C.  Staples,  H.  Kirk- 
patrick,  J.  J.  Cunlisk,  N.  Stark,  C.  Wheeler, 
exec,  board;  R.  V.  Kinsey,  sgt.-at-arms. 

LOCAL  451,  NEW  CASTLE,  PENN. 

Norman  Freeborne,  pres. ;  Frank  N.  Eakin, 
vice-pres.;  William  J.  McCormick,  sec; 
William  F.  Hall,  treas.;  John  Brogan,  bus. 
rep.;  George  Kalata,  R.  0.  Woodring,  Paul 
Walter,  trustees. 

LOCAL  521,  LONG  BEACH,  CALIF. 

Vernon  (Mike)  Martz,  pres.;  Marvel  Fair- 
child,  vice-pres.;  Alonzo  S.  Bennett,  sec.- 
treas.;  Gilbert  A.  Lahlum,  bus.  rep.;  Ward 
LaBar,  LeRoy  A.  Ward,  M.  Fairchild;  Ralph 
Addy,  A.  S.  Bennett,  V.  G.  Mart2,  Elliott 
Kirby,  exec,  board;  Everett  L.  Covington, 
Claude  E.  Leyman,  Jr.;  Michael  Petrich, 
trustees;  Addy,  Bennett,  Roy  Heckman, 
exam,  board;  Jack  N.  Ward,  sgt.-at-arms. 

LOCAL  586,  COLUMBUS,   HASTINGS, 
NORFOLK,  and  GRAND  ISLAND,  NEBR. 

W.  E.  Snyder,  pres.;  F.  L.  Kerwood,  vice- 
pres.;  Conrad  Krieger,  sec;  E.  0.  Hart,  fin.- 
sec;    L.    Christofferson,    treas.;    Leo    Tews, 


OH  Typ«  lens 


lOU  can  see  the  difference  . . . 
Your  AudieflCeS  can  see  the 

difference ! 


Replace  NOW  with  new  Bausch  &  Lomb  f/2.0 
Super  Cinephor  Lens 

Brilliant  illumination,  44%  to  100%  brighter  .  .  .  "edge-to- 
edge"  contrast  and  sharpness  .     .  better  vision  at  all  ranges, 
all  angles.  Those  are  the  advantages  of  equipping  now  with  new 
Bausch  &  Lomb  Super  Cinephor  Lenses.  Show  larger,  brighter 
pictures  to  bigger  audiences.  Build  steady  patronage . . .  steady,  larger 
profits  .  .  .  with  B&L  quality  images. 

WRITE  for  complete  information  to  Bausch  &  Lomb  Optical  Company, 
616-1  St.  Paul  Street,  Rochester  2,  N.  Y. 

FOR  TOP  IMAGE  QUALITY  ON  YOUR  SCREEN  .  .  .  THE WTRADEMARK  ON  YOUR  LENS 


Bausch  &  Lomb 


Projection  lenses 


24 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     January  1951 


kits,  rep.;  R.  Q,  B.erg€;r,  exec,  board;  A, 
Brooke,  F.  Driskell,  J.  B.  Smith,  trustees; 
O.  P.  McCurdy,  sgt.-at-arms. 

LOCAL  771,  NEW  YORK,  N.  Y. 
(MOTION   PICTURE  FILM   EDITORS) 

Fred  Ahrens,  pres.;  Jack  Bush,  vice-pres.; 
Bob  Dworsky,  sec;  Larry  Sherman,  Jr., 
tieas.;  Charlie  Wolfe,  bus.  rep.;  Leonard 
Hein,  Edward  Wyant,  Jr.,  John  Oxton,  Bob 
Klaeger,  trustees;  Fred  Edwards,  sgt.-at-arms. 


NEWS    PROJECTIONS 

RATE  of  Tv  set  production,  al- 
ready curtailed  to  some  extent 
by  major  manufacturers,  may  be 
trimmed  to  50%  by  early  Spring, 
according  to  the  video  trade.  Also, 
price  hikes  for  sets  are  inevitable, 
possibly  by  25%,  to  balance  recent 
and  anticipated  excise  levy.  Ex- 
aples :  Admiral  has  cut  production  by 
10%,  Olympia  and  Emerson  by  20%, 
Andrea  by  40%,  and  RCA  by  an  un- 
disclosed figure.  .  .  .  Mid-week  clos- 
ing of  theaters,  with  operation  only 
from  Friday  through  Monday,  are 
considered  as  likely  by  the  TOA  of 
New  Jersey.  Reason :  dearth  of  top- 
flight pictures  for  week-long  opera- 
tion. .  .  .  Zooming  Govt,  orders  for 
raw  film  stock  forecast  a  tight  sup- 
ply situation  for  the  future.  News- 
reels  have  been  using  DuPont  stock 
for  some  months  now,  following 
Eastman's  total  conversion  to  ace- 
tate (safety) .  Tv  daily  newsreels  may 
have  to  discontinue  if  the  shortage 
grows  acute. 

WPIX,  New  York  Tv  station 
owned  by  the  Daily  Neivs,  now  has 
a  staff  of  11  editors  and  photogra- 
phers, plus  a  complete  laboratory, 
and  is  broadcasting  60  regularly- 
scheduled  news  periods  a  week,  in  ad- 
dition to  bulletins  and  special  fea- 
tures. .  .  .  Film  leaders  encouraged 
by  Dept.  of  Justice  favoring  of  a 
voluntary  arbitration  system  within 
the  framework  of  the  anti-trust  con- 
sent decrees  now  being  negotiated. 
.  .  .  Madison  Square  Garden,  New 
York's  nationally  -  known  sports 
arena,  is  mulling  banning  televising 
of  its  events,  citing  falling  box-of- 
fice receipts.  Garden  management 
would  like  an  outlet  direct  to  large- 
screen  theater  Tv,  with  its  accom- 
panying fat  receipts.  .  .  .  About  three- 
quarters  of  those  owning  Tv  sets 
are  in  the  broad  lower  and  middle 
income  brackets,  comprising  the 
great  bulk  of  movie-going  fami- 
lies, according  to  a  recent  Wall  St. 
survey.  .  .  .  M-G-M,  evidently  un- 
deterred by  the  industry-wide  Tv  jit- 
ters, has  32  features  scheduled  to  roll 
within   the   next    six   months.      Ma- 


Movies  are  better  than  ever! 
—but  how  good  is  the  HEART 
of  your  theatre  ? 


It  costs  so  little  to  protect  so  much 

The  advantages  of  RCA 
Service  are  yours  at  a 
cost  so  low,  a  few  ad- 
missions daily  pay  for  it. 
Write  for  free  folder — 
"Performance  Security." 


It's  good  showmanship  to  make  sure  that 
your  projection  room  equipment — the  heart 
of  your  theatre — operates  at  peak  form  .  .  . 
at  top  efficiency.  Even  with  the  best- 
designed  and  best-made  picture  projection 
equipment  and  sound  reproduction  system, 
constant  usage  causes  wear  and  tear.  If  not 
properly  maintained,  projection  room 
equipment  may  cause  trouble  .  .  .  run  up 
costly  repair  bills  .  .  .  result  in  a  "blackout" 
and  loss  of  box-office  receipts. 

With  RCA  Service  you  can  be  sure  the 
heart  of  your  theatre  is  maintained  in  a  thor- 
oughly dependable  condition.  RCA  Service 
technicians  are  skilled  in  the  systematic 
point-to-point  checkup  and  maintenance 
of  all  types  of  projection  and  sound  equip- 
ment regardless  of  make.  RCA  Service 
Plans  combine  expert  technical  assistance 
with  comprehensive  parts  and  repair  pro- 
visions for  motion  picture  and  theatre  TV 
equipments. 


RCA  SERVICE  COMPANY,  INC. 

A  RADIO  CORPORATION  of  AMERICA  SUBSIDIARY 
CAMDEN,  NEW  JERSEY 


CLAYTON  BALL-BEARING 

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For  all  projectors  and  sound  equipments 

411  take-ups  wind  film  on  2,  4  and  5  inch  hub  reels. 
Silent  Chain   Drives 

THE  CLAYTON  REWINDER 

For  perfect  rewinding  on  2000-foot  reek. 

CLAYTON    PRODUCTS    CO. 


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New  York  63,  N.  Y. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     January  1951 


25 


jority  of  films  will  be  in  Technicolor. 
.  .  .  Next  major  worry  for  the  film 
exhibition  field  is  possibility  of  a 
state  tax  on  admissions,  plus  an  in- 
crease in  the  present  Federal  tax. 


EFFICIENT  •  DEPENDABLE 


RECTIFIERS 

for  Every  Type  Projection  Lamp 

2 -Tube 
4-Tube 
6-Tube 

Single  and 

Three  Phase 

Models  for 


Angular  Trim 
High   Intensity 
•  Copper  Coat- 
ed   Coaxial 
High   Intensity 
•  1  K.W.  High  Intensity 
•  Low  Intensity 
Smooth  Output  Current    •     Long  Life 
Low  Operating  Temperature 
Flexibility  in  Control 
Write  today  for  literature  or 
free  demonstration. 


31  CITY  PARK  AVENUE 

TOLEDO  2,   OHIO 

PROJECTION  LAMPS     •      RECTIFIERS 
SPOTLIGHTS     •     REFLECTORS 


BRUSH-UP  ON   FUNDAMENTALS 

(Continued  from  page  19) 

to  make  up  for  the  loss  in  capacitance 
it  would  be  necessary  to  increase  the 
area  of  the  plates,  thereby  making  a  very 
bulky  condenser. 

Mica  condensers  of  this  type  have  been 
used  recently  in  some  radar  equipment. 
They  were  about  ten  times  larger  than 
ordinary  "postage  stamp"  mica  condens- 
ers and  were  capable  of  withstanding 
from  2500  to  5000  volts. 

The  amount  of  voltage  that  a  con- 
denser can  safely  withstand  is  clearly 
marked  thereon.  These  voltage  ratings 
vary  for  different  kinds  of  condensers: 
for  mica  condensers  the  values  range 
from  500  to  5000  volts;  for  paper  con- 
densers from  150  to  2500  volts,  and  for 
electrolytics  from  25  to  600  volts. 

Rating  of  Condensers 

The  size  of  a  condenser  is  known  as  its 
"capacitance"  and  the  unit  of  capaci- 
tance is  the  "farad,"  named  so  in  honor 
of  the  English  scientist,  Michael  Fara- 
day. This  unit  is  much  too  large  for 
practical  work.  In  practical  work  the 
micro-farad  (one  millionth  of  a  farad) 
and  the  micro-microfarad  also  called  the 
pica-farad  (one-millionth  of  one-millionth 
farad)  are  used.  The  farad  is  the  amount 
of  capacitance  present  when  one  coulomb 
of  energy  is  stored  in  a  dielectric  field 
under  a  pressure  of  one  volt. 

Paper  and  electrolytic  condensers  usu- 
ally are  rated  in  micro-farads;  while 
mica  condensers  are  rated  in  micro- 
microfarads.  The  electrical  symbol  for 
the  micro-farad  is  juid,  and  the  symbol 
for  micro-microfarad  is  ja/^fd.  The  Greek 


A  good  sound  system  should  be  cap- 
able of  reproducing  the  entire  sound 
frequency  range  recorded  on  the  film 
from  the  lowest  40  cycle  tones  of  the 
bass  viol  to  the  10,000  cycle  tones  of 
the  flute. 


mOTIOGRflPH  S0UI1D  SySTEITlS  fycattuttee 

the  best  balanced,  most  complete  tonal  range;  life-like  reproduction;  deli- 
cate shadings  of  voice;  musical  qualities  never  before  approached;  uniform 
sound  level  throughout  the  theatre. 

14  models  for  indoor  theatres  from  500  to  5,000  seats  and  drive-ins  from  200 

to  over  1,000  cars  —  ALL  built  to  the  one  same  high  standard  of  quality. 

for  free  literature  address 

MOTIO     GRAPH,  INC. 

"America's    Oldest    Manufacturer    of    Projection    Equipment' 


4431    WEST    LAKE    STREET 


CHICAGO   24.    ILLINOIS 


letter  p   (Mil)   is.  used  to  represent  the 
word  micro. 

Some  manufacturers  used  the  letter 
"m"  in  place  of  the  Greek  letter  /*,  so 
that  micro-farad  would  be  written  "mfd," 
and  the  micro-microfarad  would  be  writ- 
ten "mmfd."  Sometimes  the  "d"  in  mfd 
or  mmfd  is  omitted. 

Electrolytic  condensers  usually  are 
from  4  mfds  up;  paper  condensers  are 
from  .001  mfd  (1000  mmfd)  to  5  mfds; 
and  mica  condensers  run  from  1  mmfd 
(.000001  mfd)  up  to  1000  mmfd  (.001). 
The  size  is  clearly  stamped  on  paper  and 
electrolytic  condensers;  and  on  mica  con- 
densers the  size  is  sometimes  stamped 
but  more  often  it  appears  by  means  of  a 
color  code  which  has  become  standard 
for  the  industry. 

The  capacitance  of  a  parellel  plate 
condenser  may  be  calculated  by  the  fol- 
lowing formula: 

0.0885  x  K  x  A  x  (N—l) 

C  = 

■    t 
Where  C  is  the  capacitance  of  the  con- 


26 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


January  1951 


denser  in  micro-microfarads,  K  is  the 
dielectric  constant  of  the  insulator  be- 
tween the  plates,  A  is  the  area  of  one 
plate  in  square  centimeters,  N  is  the  total 
number  of  plates,  and  t  is  the  distance 
between  the  plates  or  thickness  of  the 
dielectric  in  centimeters. 

Construction  of  Condensers 

One  of  the  most  common  of  commer- 
cial condensers  is  the  variable  air  type. 
This  is  the  device  you  turn  when  you 
tune  in  a  station  on  your  radio  receiver. 
The  variable  condenser  consists  of  two 
sections  of  brass  or  aluminum  plates,  one 
set  being  free  to  turn  and  called  the 
"rotor,"  and  the  other  set  being  fixed  and 
called  the  "stator."  When  the  rotor  is 
turned,  the  effective  area  of  the  con- 
denser plates  is  changed,  and  this  varies 
the  capacitance.  For  this  reason  the  con- 
denser is  known  as  a  "variable"  con- 
denser. 

Condensers,  the  capacitance  of  which 
cannot  be  varied  at  will  are  known  as 
fixed  condensers.  A  mica  condenser  falls 
under  this  type.  This  condenser  consists 
of  several  plates  of  steel,  brass,  tin  foil, 
or  aluminum,  each  set  of  plates  being 
separated  by  a  sheet  of  India  mica.  Each 
alternate  set  of  plates  is  connected  to- 
gether and  two  leads  are  brought  out 
from  the  condenser.  The  metal  and  mica 
combination  is  then  molded  in  bakelite 

TABLE  OF  DIELECTRIC  CONSTANTS 

The  following  is  a  table  of  approxi- 
mate dielectric  constants  for  some  mate- 
rials that  are  commonly  used  as  insulators 
in  condensers. 

Celluloid,  photographic  film.  6.7 

Cellulose  nitrate    3.8 

Fiber    4.8 

Fused  quartz   4.0 

Glass    6.5 

Pyrex  4.9 

Hard  rubber 3.0 

Isolantite   6.1 

Mica,  India 6.0  to  8.69 

Paper  2.6 

Polystyrene 2.6 

Porcelain 7.0 

Wood 2.5  to  6.8 

or  some  other  type  of  moisture-proof 
binder. 

Some  mica  condensers  are  variable  and 
are  known  as  trimmers  or  padders.  These 
condensers  are  not  enclosed  in  a  molded 
binder,  and  have  instead  a  little  set 
screw  running  through  the  plates,  but 
insulated  from  them.  Changing  the  set- 
ting of  the  screw  brings  the  plates  closer, 
or  further  apart,  thereby  changing  the 
capacitance. 

Trimmers  vary  in  size  from  5  to  50 
mmfd,  and  padders  run  up  to  around  250 
mmfd.  Paper  condensers  consist  of  two 
plates  of  tin  fo.'l  separated  by  waxed  pa- 


per. In  order  to  obtain  a  great  deal  of 
capacitance  in  a  small  space,  the  tinfoil 
and  paper  are  rolled  up  and  the  result- 
ing condenser  is  incased  in  a  jacket  of 
cardboard.  Two  leads  are  brought  out — 
one  from  each  plate.  The  ends  of  the  con- 


denser are  covered  with  sealing  wax  to 
keep  out  dirt  and  moisture. 

The  paper  dielectric  is  usually  made 
up  from  several  separate  sheets  of  very 
thin  waxed  paper  instead  of  just  one 
sheet  of  proper  thickness.    This  type  of 


7^  U  tie    CARBON     SAVER 


THE   CRON-O-MATIC 

FULLY    AUTOMATIC 

CARBON  SAVER 

It's  the  big  talk  because  here  at 
last  is  a  carbon  saver  THAT 
REALLY  WORKS!  It  uses  up  car- 
bons of  all  sizes  with  no  prepara- 
tion of  the  stubs  being  required. 
You  simply  insert  the  stub  in  the 
holder  and  forget  it.  It  in  no  way 
interferes  with  the  regular  opera- 
tion of  the  lamp.  Take  advantage 
of  this  new  and  easy  way  to  save 
real  money.  Install  a  Cron-O-Matic 
and  CUT  YOUR  CARBON  COSTS 
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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     January  1951 


27 


construction   minimizes    the    chances    for 
voltage  breakdown. 

There  are  two  types  of  electrolytic  con- 
densers— wet  and  dry.  One  plate  of 
loosely    rolled    aluminum    which    is    im- 


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mersed  in  an  electrolytic  solution,  such 
as  borax,  is  found  in  the  wet  electrolytic 
condenser.  After  a  few  seconds  use,  a 
thin  film  of  aluminum  oxide,  and  insu- 
lator, forms  on  the  aluminum  plate  and 
acts  as  the  dielectric.  The  container, 
which  is  usually  made  of  zinc  and  forms 
a  housing  for  the  solution,  forms  the 
other  plate.  The  aluminum  is  carefully 
insulated  from  the  container  by  a  strip 
of  celluloid. 

This  condenser  must  be  mounted  in  an 
upright  position  because  of  the  danger 
of  spilling  the  solution.  Electrolytic  con- 
densers have  polarity,  the  aluminum  plate 
being  positive,  the  zinc  container  being 
negative. 

Proper  Connection  Vital 

The  condenser  will  be  ruined  if  it  is 
not  connected  in  accordance  with  the 
polarity  which  is  clearly  marked  or  color- 
coded.  Wet  condensers  can  stand  up  un- 
der severe  overloads  and  are  self-healing 
after  a  temporary  breakdown.  The  dry 
electrolytic  condenser  contains  an  elec- 
trolyte, in  the  form  of  a  paste  and  may  be 
mounted  in  any  position  because  it  can 
not  spill.  Dry  electrolytics  are  not  self- 
healing  and  must  be  discarded  after  a 
breakdown. 

The  electrolytic  condenser  is  widely 
used  on  direct  or  pulsating  direct  cur- 
rents because  it  contains  a  large  amount 
of  capacitance  in  a  very  small  space. 
The  reason  for  this  is  because  the  dielec- 
tric film  is  very  thin,  only  a  few  thou- 
sandths of  an  inch.  Dry  electrolytics  are 
usually  made  up  in  multiple  sections  con- 
taining as  many  as  five  condensers  in  one 
container.  The  negative  terminal  usually 
is  common  for  all  sections. 


PROJECTORS 

HAVE  EVERYTHING 

CENTURY'S  high-efficiency  projector  with  ' 
the  NEW  4-inch  diam.  lens  provides  pic% 
tures  of  increased  brightness  and  appeal—.; 
for  even  the  largest  drive-in  screens. 

CENTURY'S  water-cooled   aperture  gives.j 
as  much  light  with  a  90  ampere  arc  as 
other  projectors  using  a  180  ampere  arc 
and  heat  filters!— Reduce  power  cost— Get ; 
sharper  pictures— Save  film. 

CENTURY'S  sealed,  oil-less  bearings  and 
glass-hard  gears  reduce  maintenance 
costs.  No  oil  sprays  or  baths  to  mess  up 
film  or  projection  room. 

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New  York,  N.  Y. 


'MYSTERIOUS'  AERIAL  IMAGE 

(Continued  from  page  15) 

tends  a  much  smaller  angle  as  viewed 
from  the  lens. 

The  truth  of  the  matter  is  that  these 
rays  are  a  draftsman's  fabrication — they 
do  not  exist  in  any  motion  picture  pro- 
jector! And  because  these  rays  have  no 
real  existence,  the  corresponding  rays 
between  the  lens  and  the  screen  (drawn 
with  heavy  lines)  also  do  not  exist. 

Figure  3  is  an  "optical  booby-trap," 
designed  to  snare  the  unwary.  No  less 
a  personage  than  Century's  Mr.  Davee 
has  been  caught  in  this  trap:  Fig.  4 
of  his  contribution*  is  based  upon  the 
same  erroneous  reasoning.  The  error 
in  his  diagram  is  not  self-evident,  how- 
ever, because,  to  add  still  another  mis- 
take, the  aperture  was  placed  closer  to 
the  arc-lamp  mirror  than  to  the  projec- 
tion lens.  The  result  achieved  was  total 
destruction  of  the  angular  relationships 
involved. 

With  one  foot  in  this  booby-trap,  Mr. 
Davee  places  his  other  foot  in  a  treacher- 
ous bog.  He  declares:  "The  light  which 
forms  the  mirror  image  ...  is  scattered 
and  utterly  lost  to  the  motion  picture 
screen."   Being  justifiably   proud  of  the 


MftlOHM- 

0s  every  Need 

tor 
and 


NATIONAL 


28 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


January  1951 


Aerial  image  of 
mirror . 


FIG.  4.  The  twofold  optical  function  of  the 
motion  picture  projector.  Images  of  both  the 
photograph  on  the  film  and  the  lamphouse 
mirror  are  formed  simultaneously,  but  in  dif- 
ferent  focal    planes. 

quality  of  their  lenses,  optical  manufac- 
turers may  find  this  challenging  state- 
ment sufficient  cause  for  considerable 
eyebrow-lifting. 

The  foregoing  discussion  has  demon- 
strated, as  well  as  words  and  diagrams 
can  tell  the  story,  that  the  aerial  mirror 
image  is  the  orifice  through  which  all 
light  must  pass  on  its  way  to  the  screen, 
where  it  forms  a  second  image  — the 
image  of  the  film  in  the  aperture.  Dis- 
counting the  effects  of  dust  and  scratches 
on  the  lens,  no  light  is  ever  scattered 
and   utterly  lost  to  the  screen! 

It  may  be  thought  that  the  silver 
grains  in  the  film  emulsion  effectively 
scatter  light,  thus  creating  rays  which 
follow  the  course  of  the  rays  shown  in 
Fig.  1.  This  scattering,  due  to  both  dif- 
fraction and  multiple  reflections,  does 
exist;  but  tests  indicate  conclusively  that 
the  amount  of  light  thus  scattered  is 
very  much  less  than  0.1%  of  the  total 
light  flux — far  too  little  to  be  visible 
on  the  screen.  In  fact,  oil,  dirt,  and 
scratches  on  the  film  are  the  principle 
cause  of  this  scattered  light  in  many 
cases. 

Technicolor  prints  are  interesting  in 
this  connection,  since  the  dye  images  are 
perfectly  transparent,  as  far  as  freedom 
from  diffraction  effects  is  concerned, 
throughout  the  entire  density  range. 
Technicolor  films,  it  may  be  said,  scatter 
no  light  at  all. 

For  all  practical  purposes,  therefore, 
we  write  off  scattering  of  light  by  the 
film  as  non-existant.  The  film  can  be 
considered  as  a  true  transparency,  ab- 
sorbing  radiation   in   certain   areas,   but 

CARE  Aid  Urged  for  Korea 

Contributions  in  any  amount  sent  to  CARE 
for  Korea,  20  Broad  St.,  New  York  5,  N.  Y., 
or  any  local  CARE  office  in  this  country, 
will  be  used  by  the  non-profit  agency  to 
deliver  gift  packages,  in  the  name  of  the 
donors,  to  destitute  Korean  families  chosen 
on  the  basis  of  greatest  need. 

Six  types  of  CARE  packages  are  available: 
Food,  underwear  and  socks,  or  woolen  suit- 
ing, at  $10  each;  knitting  wool,  $13;  woolen 
blanket  and  cotton  fabrics,  $7  each.  Contri- 
butions less  than  the  cost  of  a  complete 
package  will  be  pooled.  All  donors  will  re- 
ceive a  CARE  receipt. 

The  CARE  campaign  was  undertaken  at 
the  request  of  the  Advisory  Committee  on 
Voluntary  Foreign  Aid  of  the  U.S.  Dept.  of 
State  and  has  been  endorsed  by  President 
Truman. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     January  1951 


allowing  more  or  less  light  to  pass 
through  other  areas  of  the  picture  with 
unchanged   direction. 

A  correct  diagram  of  the  light  rays  in 
motion  picture  projection  must  take  into 
account  the  formation  of  both  mirror 
and  film  images.  The  diagram,  to  be 
absolutely  correct,  must  also  show 
that  all  the  rays  which  reach  the  screen 
first  form  the  aerial  mirror  image — they 
cannot  by-pass  the  aerial  image.  Also, 
no  rays  can  be  drawn  which  do  not  origi- 
nate from  some  point  of  the  mirror. 

Mirror  is  Controlling  Factor 

Figure  4  is  such  a  diagram,  careful 
examination  of  which  reveals  that  all 
conditions  have  been  fulfilled  and  repre- 


sented faithfully.  Every  ray  picked  up 
by  the  lens  and  projected  to  the  screen 
through  the  aerial  image  can  be  traced 
back  to  the  mirror,  the  sole  source  of 
illumination. 

The  aerial  image,  itself,  possesses  little 
practical  importance  for  the  projection- 
ist in  these  days  of  rear  shutters.  In 
the  old  days,  when  front-shutter  mechan- 
isms were  the  rule,  the  aerial  image 
was  a  factor  to  be  reckoned  with.  By 
positioning  the  shutter  in  the  plane  of 
the  aerial  image  (from  2  to  4  inches  in 
front  of  the  lens  tube)  the  cutoff  of  the 
light-beam  occurs  at  its  narrowest  point, 
hence  is  the  most  rapid  cutoff  possible 
with  a  front  shutter.  With  the  shutter 
working    in    the    aerial    image,    it    was 


n  n/id 


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FIG.  5.  The  form  of  the  light-beam  when 
lenses  of  different  diameters,  but  having  the 
same  focal  length,  are  used.  If  the  lens  has 
a  diameter  greater  than  that  of  the  aerial 
image,  an  "hourglass"  constriction  of  the  beam 
is  produced. 

possible  to  trim  the  shutter  blades  to 
their  minimum  width,  enabling  even 
more  light  to  reach  the  screen  than  is 
possible  with  a  single-disc  rear  shutter — 
another  type  of  shutter  now  obsolete. 

If  the  front  shutter  were  moved  out 
of  the  aerial-image  plane,  either  toward 
the  screen  or  toward  the  lens,  travel- 
ghost  would  appear,  necessitating  & 
widening  of  the  shutter  blades  in  ordei 
to  improve  the  quality  of  the  picture. 
The  importance  of  the  aerial  image  in 
the  positioning  of  front  shutters  is  often 
overlooked — even  by  "experts." 

Lens  Diameter  Influence 

In  many  cases,  the  position  of  the 
aerial  image  in  the  light-beam  is  indi- 
cated by  an  hourglass-form  of  the  beam. 
The  aerial  image  exists  in  the  constric- 
tion of  the  hourglass.  In  other  cases, 
however,  no  such  constriction  can  be 
seen — the  light  appears  to  travel  out 
straight  for  a  few  inches,  and  then  spread 
out  into  the  familiar  cone-shaped  beam. 
Fig.  5  illustrates  both  cases.  It  is 
assumed  in  this  drawing  that  the  same 
lamp  is  used  with  both  machines,  and 
that  the  two  lenses  have  the  same  focal 
length.  The  only  difference  is  the  di- 
ameter of  the  lenses. 

The  machine  in  the  top  panel  of  Fig. 
5  utilizes  a  small-diameter  lens.  If  the 
diameter  of  the  lens  is  no  greater  than 
the  diameter  of  the  aerial  image  (indi- 
cated by  the  dotted  line),  no  hourglass 
form  will  exist. 

The  lower  panel  shows  an  identical 
machine  using  a  "faster"  lens.  Since  the 
diameter  of  this  lens  exceeds  that  of 
the    aerial    image,    an    hourglass    is    dis- 


tinctly seen.  The  aerial  image  here  has 
the  same  diameter  as  that  in  the  top 
panel. 

Locating   the  Aerial  Image 

The  aerial  image  may  be  located  with 
great  accuracy  by  placing  a  dark  card 
square  to  the  lens,  and  then  moving  it 
away  from  the  machine,  holding  it  in 
the  light  beam  all  the  time.  At  a  certain 
point  a  clear  reduced  image  of  the  lamp- 
house  mirror  will  be  formed.  The  card 
is  then  in  the  plane  of  the  aerial  image. 

Here  is  still  another  method  for  locat- 
ing the  aerial  image.  If  the  light  beam 
is  gradually  intercepted  and  finally  cut 
off  entirely  by  a  card  moved  down  into 
the  beam,  the  light  on  the  screen  will, 
of  course,  gradually  fade  out  into  total 
darkness.  ;  $ 

Now,  if  the  card  is  moved  down  into 
the  beam  between  the  lens  and  the  aerial 
image,  the  light  will  not  fade  out  on 
the  screen  uniformly  but  will  be 
shadowed  first  at  the  bottom  of  the 
screen,  the  blurry  shadow  moving  up. 
If  the  card  is  moved  down  into  the  beam 
on  the  far  side  of  the  aerial  image,  the 
blurry  shadow  will  move  down  on  the 
screen.  Only  when  the  card  intercepts 
the  beam  in  the  exact  plane  of  the  aerial 
image  will  the  light  fade  uniformly  all 
over  the  screen's  surface,  the  shadow 
moving  neither   up   nor   down. 

This  method  of  finding  the  aerial 
image  may  remind  the  reader  of  the 
so-called  "flicker  test"  sometimes  used 
for  focusing  soundhead  optical  tubes. 
The  principle  involved  is  exactly  the 
same. 


1 


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INTERNATIONAL    PROJECTIONIST. 

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30 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


January  1951 


"Back  in  1942  I  joined  the  Payroll 
Savings  Plan  at  the  U.  S.  Naval 
Ordnance  Plant  where  I  work  as  an 
executive  secretary.  I  put  10%  of 
my  salary  into  bonds  to  help  win 
the  war.  And  I  still  buy  bonds." 


"Through  careful  managing,  the  twins 
and  I  have  lived  comfortably  and 
saved  too.  This  fall  the  twins  will 
enter  Butler  University — thanks  to 
U.  S.  Savings  Bonds,  the  best  way 
to  save  I  know!" 


HOW  U.S.  SAVINGS  BONDS  ARE  PAYING  OFF  FOR 
MRS.  MARY   GALLON    OF    INDIANAPOLIS,    INDIANA 

"Meet  Janet  and  Jack,  my  twin  reasons  for  buying  bonds,"  says 
Mary  Callon.  "Even  though  I'm  a  widow,  these  children  are 
going  to  have  a  college  education.  The  U.  S.  Savings  Bonds  I 
bought  will  see  them  through!" 

Month  Plan  where  you  bank.  You 
may  save  as  little  as  $1.25  a  week  or  as 
much  as  $375  a  month.  If  you  can  set 
aside  just  $7.50  weekly,  in  10  years 
you'll  have  bonds  and  interest  worth 
$4,329.02  cash! 


What  Mary  Callon  did,  you  can  do, 
too  —  and  just  as  easily!  Just  take 
these  three  simple  steps  —  today: 

1.  Make  one  big  decision  —  to  put 
saving  first,  before  you  even  touch  your 
income. 

2.  Decide  to  save  a  regular  amount 
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3.  Start  saving  automatically  by  sign- 
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FOR  YOUR  SECURITY,  AND  YOUR 
COUNTRY'S  TOO,  SAVE  NOW— THROUGH 
REGULAR  PURCHASE  OF  U.  S.  SAVINGS  BONDS! 


Your  government  does  not  pay  for  this  advertisement.  It  is  donated  as  a  public  service  by 

The  Advertising  Council  and  the  Magazine  Publishers  of  America  through  the  co-operation 

of  Foote,  Cone  &  Belding  and  this  publication. 


FEBRUARY 


1951 


VOLUME  26 


NUMBER  2 


30c   A   COPY    •    $2.50  A  YEAR 


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HY-LUMEN"    REFLECTOR 


More  light  at  40  to  70  amperes  than  ever  thought  possible. 
.  .  .  Equals  and  excels  any  reflector  lamp  to  85  amperes,  whether 
they  be  unapproved  water-cooled  or  resurrected  "Hi-Lows".  .  .  . 
Highest  ratio  of  honest  screen  lumens  per  arc  watt  ...  At  70 
amperes,  using  an  accurated  Glass  Hy-Lumen  Reflector*,  with 
a  projector  having  an  efficient  revolving  shutter,  it  develops  the 
maximum  screen  brilliance  that  can  be  used  without  a  heat  filter 
at  no  risk  of  film  damage.  .  .  .  Operating  costs  under  these 
conditions  are  far  below  that  of  85-ampere  lamps. 

Magnarc  Lamps  assure  80%  side-to-center  (SMPE  Standard) 
screen  light  distribution,  not  a  deceptive  60%  or  "Hot  Center." 
.  .  .  They  are  all  Und.  Lab.,  Inc.  listed.  .  .  .  They  are  not  in- 
surance hazards.  .  .  .  They  are  and  have  been  for  years  "The 
First  Choice"  of  large  and  small  theatres,  drive-ins,  and  the 
motion  picture  industry. 

*  Similar  results  are  not  guaranteed  if  all-metal  reflectors  are  used. 


I  I 


FIRST    WITH    THE    FINEST 


i  i 


120-180  AMPERES 


TRADE   MARK   REG. 


NEW     MAGNETIC    STABILIZER 

This   modern    lamp  produces   all   the   light   there   is. 

...  It  is  the  standard  equipment  of  the  nation's  largest 

and  finest  theatres.  .  .  .  Used  by  90%  of  the  largest 
Drive-ln  Theatres. 

It  is  the  "Omega"  for  maximum  screen  brilliance 
.  .  .  Nothing  can  even  approach  it  in  white  light  volume 
when  used  with  projectors  that  have  efficient  revolving 
shutters. 

Assures  satisfying  projection  for  Drive-Ins  regardless 
of  the  size  of  the  picture,  length  of  throw,  and  under 
all  weather  conditions.  .  .  .  They  are  Und.  Lab.,  Inc. 
listed  and,  therefore,  not  insurance  hazards.  .  .  .  Heat 
filter  assures  no  risk  of  film-heat  damage  at  maximum 
arc   amperage   and    maximum   screen    lumens. 


1  1 


WHY     EXPERIMENT? 


J.E.McAULEY  MFG. CD 

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/  i 


B    "    28JJ578 

INTERNATIONAL 

PROJECTIONIST 


With  Which  Is  Combined  Projection  Engineering 


HENRY  B.  SELLWOOD,  Editor 


Volume  26 


FEBRUARY,  1951 


Number  2 


Index  and  Monthly  Chat    3 

5 


Optics  of  the  Projection 

Arclamp    

Robert  A.  Mitchell 


Theater  Television  via  the  RCA 
PT-100  Equipment,  HI  .... 
RCA  Service  Company 


8 


Projectionist  Examination 

Questions    10 

Motion  Picture  and  Television 

Screens    13 

Francis  Berger 

Maintenance   and    Servicing   of 

Motors,  IV 16 

Robert  A.  Mitchell 


The    Cathode-Ray   Tube:    Basic 

Data,  II    18 

John  F.  Rider  and 
Seymour  D.  Uslan 

In  the  Spotlight 20 

Harry  Sherman 

Report  on  IA-IP  Amateur  Radio 

Contest    21 

Amos  Kanaga 

First  Month's  Phonevision 

Chicago  Test    22 

News  Projections 23 

IA  Elections 24 

News  Notes 

Technical  Hints 

Miscellaneous  Items 


Published  Monthly  by 
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appearing  in  signed  articles  in  its  columns. 

420 


MONTHLY  CHAT 


GOOD  news  for  projectionists,  and 
for  laboratory  and  exchange  work- 
ers as  well,  issued  from  Eastman  Kodak 
Company  recently  in  the  form  of  a  no- 
tification that  the  problem  of  proper 
identification  of  nitrate  and  safety  film, 
the  topic  of  numerous  complaints  from 
the  field,  has  been  given  long  and  serious 
thought  and  that  a  new  system  of  iden- 
tification has  been  adopted.  These  data 
have  not  yet  been  released  by  Eastman, 
thus  a  detailed  report  thereon  will  have 
to  await  an  official  nod  from  Rochester. 
It  was  generally  agreed  in  advance 
that  the  gradual  replacement  of  nitrate 
prints  with  safety  stock  would  prove 
more  than  a  bit  troublesome,  and  to  this 
end  Eastman  spared  no  effort  or  ex- 
pense (ably  abetted  by  IP,  if  we  must 
say  so)  to  get  precise  operating  instruc- 
tions into  the  hands  of  thousands  of  pro- 
jectionists. Of  paramount  importance, 
of  course,  was  a  means  for  quick  identi- 
fication of  both  types  of  prints. 

A  safe  and  simple  method  for  identi- 
fying prints  is  not  as  easy  as  it  might 
seem.  Edge-marking  of  prints  with  the 
words  "Nitrate  Film"  and  "Safety 
Film"  was  adequate  so  long  as  only  ni- 
trate film  was  used  for  professional  35-mm 
theater  films.  The  rub  developed  when 
both  types  of  prints  were  circulating 
side  by  side,  caused  mainly  by  printing 
through  from  a  safety  negative  onto  a 
nitrate  print,  or  vice  versa.  It  soon  be- 
came obvious  that  the  existing  system  of 
identification  just  wouldn't  do;  and  jit- 
tery projectionists  were  always  fearful 
that  a  given  print  handled  in  approved 
cashion  would  come  apart  at  the  seams 
while  in  transit  through  the  projector. 

Many  observers  wondered  why  the  ex- 
clusive use  by  projectionists  of  "all-pur- 
pose" film  cement  would  not  banish  the 
bugaboo  of  splices  coming  apart,  and 
they  proceeded  to  demonstrate  in  the 
laboratory  how  simple  the  splicing 
process  was.  So  far,  so  good;  but  we 
know  that  this  "simple"  lab  process  just 
didn't  do  the  trick  in  the  field.  It  could 
be  that  the  manufacturers  of  all-purpose 
cements,  badgered  by  mounting  com- 
plaints, started  to  experiment  with  their 
formulas  and  thus  further  complicated 
matters. 

Whatever  the  reason  for  the  existing 
state  of  affairs,  it  would  seem  that  East- 
man has  finally  evolved  a  method  which 
will  go  far  to  end  the  many  difficulties 
experienced  thus  far  in  handling  both 
types  of  stock.  Once  projectionists  are 
reassured  as  to  the  proper  identifica- 
tion of  a  given  print — as  seems  likely 
under  the  proposed  plan — they  can 
banish  their  jitters  and  proceed  in  nor- 
mal fashion.  Maybe  the  makers  of  film 
cement  will  also   find  the   going  easier. 

Eastman  is  to  be  congratulated  for 
meeting  a  difficult  problem  head-on, 
without  quibbling  or  evasion.  Full  de- 
tails herein  when  they  are  available. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     February  1951 


For  super-brilliant  pictures  on  large  screens  AT  LOWER  OPERATING 
COST,  you'll  buy  this  75  to  130  ampere  high  intensity  reflector  type  lamp. 


T  Air-cooled  rotating  positive  carbon  feeding 
mechanism. 

T  16'/2"  reflector. 

▼  Automatic  arc  crater  positioning. 

V  Stable  burning  and  complete  combustion  at  the 
arc,  to  avoid  any  black  soot,  are  attained  by  a  jet 
of  air  directed  just  above  the  arc. 

y  White  smoke,  which  would  otherwise  cloud  the 
mirror,  is  also  diverted  by  this  air  stream. 

V  Unit  construction  permits  instant  removal  of 
components  for  cleaning. 

Distributed  by 


NATIONAL 


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'THERE'S  A   BRANCH  NEAR  YOU" 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     February  1951 


VOLUME  XXVI 


FEBRUARY   1951 


NUMBER  2 


Optics  of  the  Projection  Arclamp 


NOTEWORTHY  advances  have  been 
made  in  projection  lighting  in  re- 
cent years.  First  there  was  the 
Beck  "high-intensity"  arc.  Higher  pow- 
ered lamps  have  been  developed  for  mo- 
tion picture  applications;  and  improved 
burner  construction  has  resulted  in  ro- 
tating-positive  mirror  lamps  which  make 
earlier  attempts — notably  the  old  "Hi-Lo" 
--seem  very  crude,  indeed. 

Very  important,  also,  has  been  the  suc- 
cessful production  of  automatic  focus 
controls  which  make  possible  unprece- 
dented accuracy  in  the  positioning  of  the 
positive  crater  without  the  continued  in- 
tervention of  the  projectionist. 

There  is,  however,  a  dark  side  to  this 
bright  and  shining  cloud.  The  fall-off  in 
screen-illumination  uniformity  which 
marked  the  transition  from  L-I  to  H-I 
projection  about  two  decades  ago  re- 
mains a  serious  defect  in  projection 
quality. 

The  arclamp  mirrors  which  are  stand- 
ard equipment  at  the  present  time  are 
elliptical  mirrors  designed  and  applied 
according  to  a  definite  theory  which  has 
held  sway  ever  since  the  inception  of  re- 
flector lamps  for  projection  lighting.  This 
sacrosanct  (?)  theory  demands  that: 

Standard  Reflector  Practice 

1.  The  geometric  focus  (crater-mirror 
distance)  and  the  working  distance 
(mirror-aperture  distance)  shall  be 
such  that  the  image  of  the  crater  at  the 
aperture  shall  be  only  a  little  larger 
than  the  aperture  opening. 

2.  A  reasonably  true  optical  image  of 
the  crater  shall  be  reflected  onto  the 
aperture  by  making  the  mirror  a  con- 


By  ROBERT  A.  MITCHELL 

cave   ellipsoid   with   the   crater   at   one 

"focus"  and  the  center  of  the  aperture 

opening  at  the  other  "focus." 

Figure  1  shows  what  all  this  means. 

The    cross-section    of    the    mirror    is    a 

curve    which,    when    continued,    forms    a 

closed  oval  figure  called  an  ellipse.   The 

imaginary  ellipse  is  marked  out  on  the 

drawing  by  the  heavy  curved  line. 

The  Points  of  Foci 

Now,  every  ellipse  has  inside  it  two 
definite  points  called  foci.  The  sum  of 
the  distances  from  the  two  foci  to  any 
point  on  the  ellipse  is  always  the  same 
— this  is  the  unique  property  of  the 
ellipse. 

Condition  (2)  aforementioned  is  ful- 
filled by  having  the  positive  crater  at 
one  focus  and  the  aperture  at  the  other, 
as  stated.  This  is  shown  in  Fig.  1.  Con- 
dition   (1)    is    fulfilled    by    taking    into 


FIGURE    1. 

The  curved   surface 

of  an  elliptical 

mirror    is    produced 

in   theory   by   rotating 

an    ellipse    around 

its   major  axis. 

Ordinarily,  the 

crater  of  the 

positive    carbon    is 

placed  at  one  focus 

of   the   ellipse,   and 

the   projector 

aperture  at  the  other. 


consideration  the  diameter  of  the  posi- 
tive crater  and  selecting  the  proper  re- 
lation between  the  geometric  focus  and 
the  working  distance. 

When  reflector  arcs  were  first  made, 
this  simple  optical  theory  worked  like 
a  charm.  By  having  a  nearly  perfect 
image  of  the  crater  mirrored  onto  the 
aperture,  the  shortest  possible  geometric 
focus  could  be  used,  thus  increasing  the 
"solid  angle"  of  light  picked  up  by  the 
mirror. 

Of  course,  the  image  of  the  crater  on 
the  aperture  —  the  "spot"  —  was  never 
really  perfect,  as  small  unavoidable 
humps  and  hollows  in  the  mirror  scat- 
tered the  light  to  a  certain  extent.  Tins 
was  a  good  thing  from  the  standpoint  of 
uniform  screen  illumination,  however. 

Mechanics  of  L-I  Operation 

The  L-I  mirror  lamp  worked  so  well 
because  the  soft  core  of  the  positive 
carbon  caused  the  middle  of  the  crater 
to  be  somewhat  less  luminous  than  the 
outer  zones.    The  inevitable  tiny  humps 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     Februory  1951 


Crater   of  13  mm.  L.I. 
positive.     (40  amps.) 


Crater  of  13.6  mm.  H.I. 
positive.    (150  amps.) 


FIG.  2.  Brilliancy  distribution  in  low-  and  high- 
intensity    arc    craters. 

and  hollows  in  the  mirror  smoothed  the 
light  out  to  give  the  effect  of  a  crater  of 
perfectly  uniform  brilliancy  all  over  its 
surface.  Moreover,  if  in  certain  cases  the 
spot  was  actually  a  trifle  brighter  at  its 
edges  than  in  its  center,  the  "vignetting 
effect"  of  the  early  small-diameter  pro- 
jection lenses  was  effectively  neutralized. 
Low-intensity  lighting  was  admittedly 
yellowish  and  dim,  but  it  at  least  illu- 
minated the  picture  uniformly. 

Figure  2  shows  the  appearance  of  the 
positive  crater  of  both  a  13-mm  L-I  car- 
bon burning  at  40  amps,  and  a  13.6-mm 
H-I  carbon  burning  at  about  150  amps. 
The  graphs  underneath  the  drawings  in- 
dicate the  actual  luminosity  of  the  vari- 
ous regions  of  these  craters  in  candle- 
power  per  square  millimeter. 

Note  that  the  H-I  crater  has  "hot-spot" 
luminosity  characteristics — the  center  is 
much  brighter  than  the  edge  zones. 
These  characteristics  are  responsible  for 
all  our  light-distribution  difficulties  with 
the  H-I  arc! 

Naturally,  we  have  no  way  to  make 
the  H-I  crater  uniformly  brilliant.  The 
ball  of  luminous  vapor  is,  by  the  nature 
of  things,  brightest  at  its  greatest  thick- 
ness— the  central  region  of  the  ball.  To 
do  away  with  this  luminous  ball  would 
be  to  destroy  the  H-I  effect.  The  L-I 
crater  had  no  such  ball  of  brilliant  gas, 
but  depended  only  on  the  incandescence 
of  white-hot  carbon  for  its  comparatively 
feeble  light. 

Mirror   Characteristics   Control 

Obviously,  any  changes  aimed  at  im- 
proving the  light-distribution  character- 
istics of  the  H-I  lamp  must  be  made  in 
the  mirror. 

As  an  experiment,  we  may  try  out 
mirrors  of  different  curvatures  in  a  high- 
intensity  lamp  to  see  what  improvement, 
if  any,  can  be  egected  in  the  uniformity 
of  screen  illumination.  We  shall  select 
mirrors  having  approximately  the  same 
overall  focal  length  in  order  to  keep  the 
working  distance  constant. 

The  so-called  "spherical"  mirror  is  a 
good  one  to  begin  with.  If  it  fails  to  im- 
prove screen  illumination,  it  at  least  may 


indicate  the  failings  of  the  orthodox 
elliptical  mirrors. 

A  spherical  mirror  is,  as  its  name  im- 
plies, the  concave  section  of  a  perfect 
sphere.  By  using  such  a  mirror,  the 
ellipse  shown  in  Fig.  1  becomes  a  circle. 
Now,  a  circle  has  only  one  "focus,"  and 
this  coincides  with  the  center  of  the 
circle.  Naturally,  the  arc  and  aperture 
cannot  be  placed  together  at  the  same 
point,  so  a  compromise  is  made  by  hav- 
ing the  center  of  the  circle  between  the 
crater  and  the  aperture,  leaving  the  work- 
ing distance  practically  unaltered. 

The  results  are  manifestly  disappoint- 
ing. The  sharpest  "spot"  we  are  able  to 
obtain  at  the  aperture  looks  like  A  in 
Fig.  3;  and  the  resulting  screen  illu- 
mination, illustrated  in  the  right-hand 
panel,  has  such  a  pronounced  fadeaway 
that  the  sides  and  corners  of  the  picture 
are  barely  discernible.  This  is  "hot-spot 
projection"  at  its  worst!  And  all  of  the 
light  which  does  not  pass  through  the 
aperture,  but  which  splays  out  over  the 
cooling  plate,  is  utterly  wasted,  and 
serves  only  to  make  the  projector  mech- 
anism uncomfortably  hot. 

'Why'  of  Spherical  Aberration 

What  is  the  matter  with  the  spherical 
type  of  mirror?  All  projectionists  know 
the  answer — an  optical  defect  known  as 
spherical  aberration.  This  aberration 
stretches  the  crater  image  out  along  the 
optical  axis  in  highly  distorted  form. 
Accordingly,  no  definite  focal  plane  ex- 
ists with  this  type  of  mirror,  and  the 
formation  of  a  definite  spot  is  impossible. 

The  specific  reason  for  this  unhappy 
slate  of  affairs  is  that  the  outer  zones  of 
the  mirror  "curve  in"  too  much,  forming 
an  image  of  the  crater  behind  the  aper- 
ture; while  the  central  zones  do  not 
have  enough  curvature,  and  thus  form  an 
image  somewhat  beyond  the  aperture. 
The  resultant  poor  light  distribution  and 
wasteful  splaying  of  light  all  over  the 
back  of  the  mechanism  cannot  be  avoided 
with  this  unsatisfactory  type  of  mirror 
unless  a  Schmidt  lens  is  used  in  con- 
junction with  it — something  we  had 
rather  not  bother  with. 

Spherical  mirrors  are  never  used  in 
projection  except  in  Mazda  lamphouses. 
They  serve  in  this  application  because 
the  filament  of  the  bulb  and  the  super- 
posed image  of  the  filament  both  lie  in 
the  single  focal  plane  of  the  spherical 
mirror. 

The  Elliptical  Mirror 

B  in  Fig.  3  illustrates  the  type  of  spot 
and  quality  of  screen  illumination  ob- 
tained with  the  orthodox  elliptical  mirror 
adjusted  for  maximum  efficiency.  The 
spot  is  larger  than  would  seem  abso- 
lutely necessary,  but  this  is  because  only 
the  brighter  central  areas  of  the  crater 


image  are  utilized  for  illuminating  the 
picture. 

If  the  spot  were  made  smaller  (requir- 
ing a  mirror  of  longer  focal  length),  the 
corners  and  edges  of  the  picture  would 
be  lost  in  darkness.  As  it  is,  the  side-to- 
center  distribution  of  light  on  the  screen 
is  only  55  to  80%  when  the  standard 
elliptical  mirror  is  used  with  the  H-I 
arc.  Due  to  the  fact  that  the  crater  of 
this  arc  is  a  "hot-spot"  crater,  consider- 
able fadeaway  of  screen  illumination  is 
produced  even  though  the  elliptical  mir- 
ror is  free  from  spherical  aberration 
when  arc  and  aperture  occupy  the  foci 
of  the  imaginary  ellipse. 

Uniformity  of  screen  light  could  be 
improved  when  the  ordinary  elliptical 
mirror  is  used  by  having  an  oversized 
spot  (requireing  a  mirror  of  shorter 
focal  length  than  is  customary) .  But 
this  expedient  is  a  poor  one,  as  all  light 
which  does  not  pass  through  the  aper- 
ture is  wasted. 

Here  we  are  at  a  "dead  end,"  ap- 
parently. Even  by  eliminating  all  spheri- 
cal aberration  we  are  unable  to  obtain 
absolutely  uniform  screen  illumination! 
Nevertheless,  there  is  no  reason  to  de- 
spair: several  other  types  of  mirrors  are 
waiting  to  be  given  a  trial. 

' Antispherical'  Aberration 

Let  us  now  try  a  mirror  which  pro- 
duces the  exact  opposite  of  spherical 
aberration.  This  new  kind  of  optical 
distortion  may  be  called  antispherical 
aberration;  and  the  mirror  which  pro- 
duces it,  an  apospherical  mirror.  Op- 
ticians may  prefer  other  terms,  but  mere 
nomenclature  cannot  change  the  sssen- 
tial  character  of  the  mirror. 

The  apospherical  mirror  may  be  ellip- 
tical in  form,  or  parabolic,  or  even  hyper- 
bolic, depending  on  the  luminosity 
gradient  of  arc  crater  which  serves  as 
the  source  of  light.  We  are  primarily 
interested  in  two  requirements:  perfectly 
uniform  screen  illumination,  and  a  mini- 
(Continued  on  page  28) 


FIG.  3.  The  aperture  "spot"  and  resulting 
screen  illumination  produced  by  A  a  spherical 
mirror,  and  B  an  ordinary  elliptical  mirror.  The 
light-scattering  effect  of  spherical  aberration 
is  seen  in  A;  and  the  effect  of  non-uniform 
brilliancy  distribution  in  the  H-I  crater  in   B. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     February  1951 


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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     February  1951 


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III.     Formation  of  the  Theater  TV  Picture 


THERE  is  one  basic  difference  be- 
tween the  projection  of  motion  pic- 
tures from  film  and  from  a  television 
signal,  as  was  pointed  out  in  the  first 
article  of  this  series.  The  film  picture 
is  complete.  Each  frame  consists  of 
many  thousands  of  fine  grains  of  silver, 
so  arranged  that  they  form  the  dark  por- 
tions of  the  picture.  Each  of  these  grains 
may  be  called  an  element  of  the  picture. 

The  television  picture,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  formed  as  it  is  transmitted  from 
the  camera.  Since  a  radio  or  wire  chan- 
nel can  transmit  only  one  bit  of  informa- 
tion at  a  time,  it  is  necessary  to  complete- 
ly go  over  the  whole  picture,  part  by 
part,  and  transmit  information  as  to  the 
relative  brightness  of  each  part  to  the 
receiver.  The  receiver  must  then  build 
up  a  picture  from  the  information  which 
it  receives  from  the  transmitter. 

Three  Requisites  for  Process 

Three  things  are  necessary  for  this 
process.  The  receiver  and  the  camera 
must  both  "scan"  the  picture  in  exactly 
the  same  manner,  and  they  must  do  so 
at  exactly  the  same  time,  in  order  to 
have  the  elements  of  picture  formed  by 
the  receiver  in  the  proper  places  to  corre- 
spond with  the  original  picture.  Also, 
the  receiver  must  produce  brightness 
proportional  to  that  of  the  transmitted 
picture  at  all  points. 

Practically,  the  picture  is  scanned  in 
much  the  same  manner  as  a  person's 
eye  scans  a  page  of  print.  The  electron 
beams  in  the  camera  tube  and  in  the 
Kinescope  are  moved  simultaneously 
from  left  to  right  across  the  top  of  the 
picture,  then  returned  to  the  left  side  of 
the  picture,  but  slightly  below  their  orig- 
inal position,  and  again  moved  across  the 
picture  from  left  to  right.  The  process 
is  then  repeated,  with  the  beams  starting 
out  from  the  leit  side  each  time  slightly 
lower  than  the  preceeding  time,  until 
they  reach  the  bottom  of  the  picture. 
Then  they  returr.'  to  the  top,  and  start 
the  process  over  again. 

As  with  a  person's  eye,  which  effective- 
ly   sees    nothing     vhile    returning    from 


right  to  left  across  the  page,  and  from 
bottom  to  top,  the  scanning  beams  in 
camera  and  Kinescope  are  cut  off  while 
these  beams  make  their  similar  returns. 

Thirty  complete  pictures,  or  frames, 
are  produced  each  second  in  our  tele- 
vision system.  However,  it  is  desirable 
to  reduce  the  flicker  which  would  be  pro- 
duced by  such  a  low  picture  rate.  In- 
creasing the  number  of  frames  per  second 
would  do  this,  but  would  complicate  the 
transmission  circuits  in  a  cable  system, 
and  would  occupy  too  many  channels  in 
a  radio  system.  Therefore,  an  expedient 
equivalent  to  the  flicker  blade  on  a  mo- 
tion   picture    projector    is    utilized. 

Two  'Fields'  Per  Frame 

The  frame  is  made  up  of  two  "fields," 
each  of  1/60  second  duration.  This  is 
accomplished  by  making  the  scanning 
beam  travel  over  alternate  lines  as  it 
goes  down  the  picture.  The  first  time  it 
scans  lines  1.  3,  5,  7,  etc.,  forming  the 
first  field,  and  after  reaching  the  bottom 
of  the  picture  it  returns  to  the  top  and 
scans  lines  2,  4,  6,  8,  etc.,  thus  com- 
pleting the  picture  after  the  second  field. 
This  method  of  scanning  reduces  the  pic- 
ture flicker  below  visibility. 

In  order  to  obtain  and  maintain  ab- 
solute synchronism  between  the  scanning 
beams  in  the  camera  and  receiver  tubes, 
a  "trip,"  or  synchronizing,  signal  is  sent 
while  the  scanning  beam  is  returning 
from  the  right  side  of  the  picture  to  the 
left,  and  while  it  is  returning  from  the 
bottom  of  the  picture  to  the  top.  Be- 
cause the  beam  is  cut  off  during  these 
times,  the  synchronizing  signal  does  not 
produce  any  interference  in  the  picture. 

As  both  beams  are  started  from  the  left 
side  of  the  picture,  and  from  the  top, 
at  the  same  time,  they  will  both  be  in 
the  same  position  on  the  screen  at  all 
times,  and  therefore  the  receiver  will 
produce  its  brightness  changes  at  the 
same  point  as  they  are  scanned  in  the 
camera,  thus  producing  on  the  Kinescope 
screen  a  picture  identical  to— that  in  the 
camera. 
In  order  to   produce   a   picture  on   a 


large  theatre  screen,  the  image  on  the 
face  of  the  Kinescope  must  be  transferred 
to  the  screen.  This  is  essentially  the 
same  thing  that  is  done  with  a  frame  of 
motion  picture  film.  Basically,  this 
means  that  at  every  point  on  the  theatre 
screen  there  must  be  produced  an  amount 
of  light  which  is  proportional  to  the 
amount  which  exists  at  the  correspond- 
ing point  on  the  film  image,  or,  in  the 
case  of  the  television  projector,  the  image 
on  the  face  of  the  Kinescope. 

In  the  film  projector,  light  from  the 
arclamp  is  passed  through  the  film.  After 
passing  through  the  film,  it  goes  into  the 
projection  lens.  The  lens  has  the  prop- 
erty of  bending  light  from  any  point  on 
the  film  to  a  corresponding  point  on  the 
screen.  This  is  true  regardless  of  the 
point  on  the  lens  surface  where  the  bght 
from  any  one  point  on  the  film  image 
strikes  it.  However,  the  best  projection 
lenses  are  not  good  enough  to  be  used  in 
a  television  projector,  where  the  amount 
of  light  from  the  picture  on  the  Kinescop 
screen  is  much  smaller  than  that  pro- 
duced by  an  arclamp,  as  they  would  not 
catch  enough  light  from  the  Kinescope 
image  to  produce  a  well-illuminated 
screen  picture. 

The  RCA  Optical  System 

The  RCA  PT-100  theatre  television 
projector  utilizes  a  reflection  optical  sys- 
tem which  operates  in  a  very  similar 
manner  to  the  mirror  of  a  reflector  arc- 
lamp.  The  Kinescope  face,  with  its  pic- 
ture, occupies  the  same  relative  position 
as  the  positive  carbon  crater  in  such  a 
lamp.  The  mirror  is  26  inches  in  dia- 
meter. Because  it  is  so  much  larger  in 
diameter  than  the  largest  projection  lens, 
and  only  about  one  foot  from  the  Kine- 
scope face,  it  can  intercept  much  more 
light  than  the  lens  could.  Thus,  the 
amount  of  light  which  is  reflected  to  the 
screen  is  greatly  increased. 

Light  from  any  point  on  the  Kinescope 
face  will  reach  some  part  of  the  mirror. 
From  there  it  is  reflected  to  the  screen. 
Light  from  the  bottom  of  the  Kinescope 
face  will  be  reflected  to  the  top  of  the 
screen; .light—from  the  top.ofLthe  Kine-  — 
scope  face  will  be  reflected  to  the  bottom 
of  the  screen;   therefore,  the  picture  on 


8 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     February  1951 


Left,  the  Eastman  16mm.  Projec- 
tor, Model  25,  brings  16mm.  pro- 
jection to  the  professional  level. 
Shown  here,  adapted  for  arc  illu- 
mination, permanently  installed 
alongside   35mm.    equipment. 


Below,  working  parts  of  the  film  move- 
ment mechanism  are  in  constant  view  of 
the  operator .  .  .  readily  accessible  for 
threading  and  cleaning. 


The    E 

16mm.    Projector, 
Model  25,  adapted  t. 
for    1,000-watt 
tungsten  light. 


For  Professional  Quality  Sound  Projection  from  16mtn.  Film 

The  Eastman  16mm.  Projector,  Model  25 


The  Kodak  Projec- 
tion Ektar  Lens,  in  a 
choice  of  four  focal 
lengths,  insures  supe- 
rior screen  image. 


This  projection  instrument — built  to  a 
new  design  concept — eliminates  the 
three  major  obstacles  to  theatrical  qual- 
ity 16mm.  sound  projection  .  .  .  exces- 
sive wear  and  high  maintenance  cost; 
low  signal-to-noise  ratio;  and  excessive 
flutter. 

A  major  cause  of  excessive  wear  and 
poor  quality  sound  is  the  constant  trans- 
fer of  shock  forces  generated  in  the  film 
pulldown  mechanism  to  other  parts  of 
the  system.  In  the  Eastman  16mm.  Pro- 
jector, Model  2  5,  the  intermittent  (film 
advance  mechanism)  is  completely  iso- 
lated and  independently  driven  by  its 
own  1440  r.p.m.  synchronous  motor. 
Thus,  shock  forces  are  sealed  off  from 
the  rest  of  the  instrument.  The  sprocket- 
shutter  system  is  driven  by  its  own  1800 
r.p.m.  synchronous  motor.  Exact  phas- 


ing between  the  two  systems  is  accom- 
plished by  specially  designed  synchro- 
mesh  gears.  In  addition,  the  take-up 
spindle,  rewind  spindle,  and  blower  are 
driven  by  separate  motors. 

A  highly  corrected  microscope  ob- 
jective, adjustable  for  optimum  sound 
quality  from  any  type  of  16mm.  sound 
film,  permits  reproduction  of  variable 
area  or  variable  density  16mm.  sound 
tracks  at  extremely  low  distortion  and 
a  maximum  signal-to-noise  ratio. 

To  get  the  best  out  of  any  16mm. 
sound  film,  project  it  on  an  Eastman 
16mm.  Projector,  Model  25.  For  in- 
formation on  installation,  availability, 
and  prices,  write  directly  to  the  Mo- 
tion Picture  Film  Department,  Eastman 
Kodak  Company,  Rochester  4,  N.  Y., 
or  any  branch  office. 


Motion  Picture  Film  Department,  Eastman  Kodak  Company,  Rochester  4,  N.  Y. 


East  Coast  Division 

342  Madison  Avenue 

New  York  17,  N.  Y. 


Midwest  Division 

137  North  Wabash  Avenue 

Chicago  2,  Illinois 

West  Coast  Division 
6706  Santa  Monica  Blvd. 
Hollywood  38,  California 


WITHOUT  LENS- 
OUT- OF- FOCUS 
POINT - 


CORRECT 
FOCUS 
PRODUCED 
WITH  LENS^ 


'SCHMIDT 'TYPE  PROJECTION   OPTICAL   SYSTEM 
FIG.   1.    The  optical  system  for  the  RCA  PT-100  Theater  Television  system. 


the  Kinescope  screen  must  be  produced 
upside  down. 

Light  from  the  right  and  left  sides 
of  the  Kinescope  picture  will  similarly 
be  reflected  to  the  respective  opposite 
sides  of  the  screen,  reversing  the  picture 
from  left  to  right.  The  picture  on  the 
Kinescope  face  is  therefore  produced 
reversed  from  left  to  right.  Thus,  in 
spite  of  the  use  of  a  mirror  instead  of  a 
lens,  the  picture  on  the  Kinescope  face 
is  reversed  from  top  to  bottom  and  from 
left  to  right  during  projection,  the  same 
as  a  film  picture  projected  through  a 
lens. 

A  mirror  has  another  advantage  over  a 
lens.  Because  the  light  which  it  reflects 
does  not  go  through  any  glass  (the  mir- 
ror is  coated  with  aluminum  on  its  front 
side)  there  is  theoretically  no  chromatic 
aberration — that  is,  light  of  all  colors  is 
reflected  at  the  same  angle.  (In  a  lens, 
where  the  light  goes  through  the  glass, 
different  colors  are  bent  at  different 
angles:  this  requires  the  use  of  different 
kinds  of  glass  to  obtain  partial  correc- 
tion and  nearly  correct  focus  of  different 
colors.) 

Spherical  Aberration  Correction 

There  is  one  fault  which  is  common 
to  both  mirrors  and  lenses — spherical 
aberration.  It  results  in  bending  the 
light  which  strikes  near  the  edge  of  the 
lens  or  mirror  at  a  greater  angle  than  the 
light  which  strikes  nearer  the  center. 
Again,  reducing  this  effect  in  a  lens 
requires  the  use  of  several  individual 
lenses.  With  a  mirror,  however,  a  single, 
thin  lens  will  correct  the  condition. 

This  lens  has  a  very  special  and  pecu- 
liar shape,  as  depicted  in  Fig.  1.     The 


dotted  lines  show  the  path  of  the  light 
as  it  travels  to  and  leaves  the  mirror 
(it  would  continue  to  follow  these  lines 
if  the  lens  were  removed)  ;  the  solid  lines 
show  it  as  it  leaves  the  lens.  Notice  how 
all  solid  lines  come  together,  or  focus, 
at  the  same  distance  from  the  mirror, 
after  the  corrective  lens  has  done  its 
work,  whereas  the  dotted  lines  focus  at 
different  distances  from  the  mirror,  as 
shown,  if  the  lens  were  not  used.  Be- 
cause this  lens  is  very  "weak,"  it  does  not 
introduce  appreciable  distortion  of  its 
own. 
Kinescope  Light  Controlling 

Light  from  any  one  point  on  the  Kine- 
scope face  may  strike  the  mirror  at  any 
point;  however,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
projection  lens,  it  will  be  bent  to  reach 
the  same  point  on  the  screen.  The  same 
thing  is  true  for  light  from  any  other 
point  on  the  Kinescope  face:  light  from 
it  will  all  reach  the  same  point  on  the 
screen,  regardless  of  where  it  strikes  the 
mirror.  This  second  point,  of  course, 
will  be  at  a  different  point  on  the  screen 
from  the  first  one.    The  amount  of  light 


at  any  point  on  the  screen  will  be  pro- 
portional to  the  amount  produced  at  the 
corresponding  point  on  the  Kinescope 
face,  therefore  the  picture  on  the  Kine- 
scope screen  will  be  reproduced  on  the 
theatre  screen. 

Designed  for  'Average'  Throw 

The  curvature  on  the  Kinescope  face, 
the  mirror,  and  the  corrective  lens  are 
all  dependent  on  the  distance  from  the 
projector  to  the  screen,  or  the  "throw" 
distance.  Therefore,  it  is  necessary  to 
assume  an  average  throw  distance  and 
design  the  optical  system  for  proper 
focus  at  this  distance.  The  actual  work- 
ing distance  may  be  increased  or  de- 
creased above  or  below  this  design  value 
by  about  10%  without  appreciable  loss 
of  picture  detail. 

This  somewhat  limits  the  position 
which  the  optical  barrel  must  occupy  in 
a  given  theatre;  usually,  however,  a  posi 
tion  may  be  found  on  the  standee  rail 
balcony  front,  or  other  suitable  point 
so  that  the  throw  will  be  within  the 
acceptable  limits.  As  no  operating  con 
trols  are  located  at  the  optical  barrel. 
access  to  this  unit  during  showtime  is 
not  required  during  normal  operation. 
Fig.  2  shows  the  RCA  PT-100  theatre  Tv 
projection  unit. 

To  further  increase  the  light  from  the 
screen,  it  is  customary  to  use  a  special 
screen  which  reflects  practically  all  light 
from  the  projector  to  the  seating  area. 

[Note:  The  fourth  article  of  this  series  will 
point  out  certain  equipment  features  required 
by  the  nature  of  theater  TV  projectors,  and 
wherein  they  differ  from  non-theatrical  TV 
receivers.] 


Projectionist  Examination  Questions 

Based  on  Examinations  by  Leading  U.  S.  Municipalities 


FIG.  2.  Projection  unit  for  RCA  PT-100  system, 
usually  mounted  on  the  front  of  first  balcony. 


1.  What  will  cause  a  wire  terminal 
to  heat  up? 

2.  Show  by  diagram  two  arcs  con- 
nected to  a  110-220  volt,  two-wire 
circuit. 

3.  Show  by  diagram  two  arcs  con- 
nected to  a  110-volt,  two-wire  circuit. 

4.  What  necessary  appliances  does 
the  110-volt  D.C.  arc  pass  through 
from  the  main  switch  to  the  arc? 

5.  Show  by  diagram  a  balanced 
load  of  two  arcs,  two  meters,  and  two 
rheostats  on  a  three-wire,  110-220  volt 
line. 

6.  Explain  "voltage  drop." 

'  7.  Having  an  alternator  with  12 
poles  and  a  speed  of  1200  R.P.M.  and 
a  frequency  of  60  cycles,  at  what  speed 
must  a  synchronous  motor  travel  to 
be  in  step  with  it  if  it  has  8  poles? 


8.  If  you  had  a  220-volt  trans- 
former with  50  amperes  on  the  primary 
side  and  110  volts  on  the  secondary 
side,  what  amperage  would  you  have 
on  the  secondary  side,  presuming  that 
it  had  an  efficiency  of  90%? 

9.  Does  the  resistance  of  an  ordi- 
nary wire  conductor  change  if  it  is 
forced  to  carry  current  beyond  its  nor- 
mal rated  capacity? 

10.  How  would  you  determine  the 
size  of  the  wire  to  be  brought  into  a 
new  theater  to  supply  the  projection 
and  house  lighting  circuits? 

11.  How  would  you  connect  two 
transformers  in  series? 

12.  What  is  the  resistance  of  a  wire 
having  a  3%-volt  drop  when  carrying 
45  amperes? 


10 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


February  1951 


?    ^*  „rtV\Ao  vote  ? 

Sw/fcA  now  to  National 


TRADE-MARK 


High  Intensity  Projector  Carbons! 


i 


values  in  "NATIONAL" 

PROJECTOR  CARBONS 

•  Brightest,  whitest  light  available 
in  this  size  carbon 

#  Steadier  burning,  greater 
dependability 

•  Perfect  color  balance 

#  Complete  technical  service  by 
National  Carbon  specialists 

#  Always  readily  available 
through  your  local  dealer 

#  Economical  to  operate 

If  you  are  now  using  old-fashioned  projection  lamps  of  any  type, 
get  rid  of  them.  Switch  to  the  finest  and  most  modern  projection 
in  the  world,  with  "National"  High  Intensity  projector  carbons. 
"National"  "Suprex"  carbons  provide  the  brightest  light  for 
their  size  and  current  input  that  you  can  obtain.  This  light  is 
perfect  in  color  balance.  It  throws  a  vivid,  detailed  and  thor- 
oughly satisfactory  picture  on  the  screen. 


When  Y°° 


•    »«r  carbons— 
Nl  ^"'nATIONAI" 


Ns.1050 


EVEREADY 


a«NU8HT  B«rH«' 

FOR  WOUSTHIU 
i    -      USES 


SLASH  BATTERY  COSTS  IN   HALF 

With  the  revolutionary  new  "Eveready"  No.   1050  Flashlight 
Battery  you  get  these  big  exclusive  features: 

•  More  than  twice  as  much  light 

•  Whitest,  brightest  light  available  from  a  flashlight  battery 

•  Half  the  cost  for  light  output 

•  Leakproof — no  metal  can  to  leak  or  corrode 

•  Will  not  swell,  stick  or  jam  in  a  flashlight 


Why?  Because  of  the  exclusive  "inside-out"  construction  of  the 
"Eveready"  No.  1050  battery.  Instead  of  being  the  container  for 
the  cell,  the  2inc  electrode  is  on  the  inside  to  make  the  battery- 
last  longer,  while  the  new  outside  carbon  jacket  makes  the  battery  leakproof. 
Order  a  supply  of  No.  1050s  today. 


The  terms   "National" ,   "Suprex"  and  "Tiveready" 
are  registered  trade-marks  of 

NATIONAL  CARBON  DIVISION 

UNION  CARBIDE  AND  CARBON  CORPORATION 

30  East  42nd  Street,  New  York  1 7,  H.  Y. 

District  Sales  Offices:  Atlanta,  Chicago,  Dallas, 

Kansas  City,  New  York,  Pittsburgh,  San  Francisco 

In  Canada:  National  Carbon,  Ltd.,  Toronto  4 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     February  1951 


11 


Give  up?  .  .  .  well,  in  the  center  you  have  the  Strong  Trouper  and  at  either  side  you  see  Micki 
Folger,  also  a  real  trouper  and  one  of  the  reasons  why  so  many  thousands  are  flocking  to  see  the 
current  edition  of  "Holiday  on  Ice."    (The  photographer  managed  to  get  her  in  the  above  picture  twice.) 

The  Strong  Trouper  High  Intensity  Arc  Spotlamp  (eight  of  which  are  used  by  "Holiday  on  Ice") 
has  been  widely  adopted  by  not  only  ice  shows  but  also  theatres,  night  clubs,  circuses,  coliseums, 
schools,  arenas,  TV  studios,  and  stadiums. 

It  assures  a  knife-sharp,  dazzling  snow-white  spot.  It's  easy  to  operate.  The  automatic  arc 
control  maintains  a  constant  arc  gap,  free  from  hiss  or  flicker.  A  trim  of  carbons  burns  one  hour 
and  twenty  minutes  at  21  volts  and  45  amperes. 


It  draws  only  10  amperes  from  any  110-volt  A.C.  convenience 
outlet  and  makes  the  use  of  heavy  rotating  equipment  unnecessary. 
The  adjustable,  self-regulating  transformer  is  an  integral  part  of  the 
base.  The  Strong  Trouper  is  mounted  on  casters,  is  easily  portable 
and  as  easily  disassembled  for  shipping. 


A  horizontal  masking  control  can  be  angled  at  45  degrees  in  each 
direction.  A  color  boomerang  contains  six  slides  and  an  ultra-violet 
filter  holder. 

The  optical  system  utilizes  a  silvered  glass  reflector  and  a  two- 
element  variable  focal  length  lens  system. 


SEE  ANY  OF  THE  FOLLOWING  DEALERS  OR  USE  COUPON  FOR  OBTAINING  LITERATURE 


ALBANY,  N.  Y.—  Nofl  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Albany 
Theatre  Supply 

ATLANTA— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

ATLANTIC  CITY— Boardwalk  Film  Enterprises 

AUBURN,  N.  Y. — Auburn  Theatre  Equipment 

BALTIMORE— J.  F.  Dusman  Co.;  Nat'l  Theatre  Sup- 
ply Co. 

BOSTON— J.  Cifre,  Inc.;  Nat'l  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

BUFFALO — Dion  Products;  Nat'l  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

CHARLOTTE— Nat'l  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Standard 
Theatre  Supply  Co. 

CHICAGO — Abbott  Theatre  Equipment  Co.;  Gardner 
Jansen,  Inc.;  Hollywood  Stage  Lighting  Co.;  Mid- 
west Stage  Lighting  Co.;  Midwest  Theatre  Service 
and  Equipment  Co.;  Nat'l  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

CINCINNATI— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

CLEVELAND— Nat'l  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

DALLAS — Hardin  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Modern  Thea- 
tre Equipment  Co.;  Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

DENVER— Nat'l  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Graham  Bros. 

DES  MOINES— Nat'l  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

DETROIT— Nat'l  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

FORTY  FORT,  PA.— V.  M.  Tate  Theatre  Supplies 

GREENSBORO,   N.   C— Standard  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

HOUSTON — Southwestern  Theatre  Equipment  Co. 

INDIANAPOLIS— Nat'l  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

KANSAS  CITY,  MO.— Shreve  Theatre  Supply;  Nat'l 
Theatre  Supply  Co. 

LOS  ANGELES— J.  M.  Boyd;  C.  J.  Holzmueller;  Nat'l 
Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Pembrex  Theatre  Supply  Corp. 

LOUISVILLE— Falls  City  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

MEMPHIS— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 


MILWAUKEE— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  R.  Smith  Co. 

MINNEAPOLIS— Minneapolis  Theatre  Supply;  Nafl 
Theatre  Supply  Co. 

NEW  HAVEN— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

NEW  ORLEANS— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

NEW  YORK  CITY— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

NORFOLK— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

OKLAHOMA  CITY— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Okla- 
homa Theatre  Supply  Co. 

PHILADELPHIA— Blumberg  Brothers;  Nafl  Theatre 
Supply  Co. 

PITTSBURGH— Atlas  Theatre  Supply;  Nafl  Theatre 
Supply  Co. 

SALT  LAKE  CITY— Inter-Mountain  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

SAN  FRANCISCO— C.  J.  Holzmueller;  Nafl  Theatre 
Supply  Co.;  W.  G.  Preddey  Theatre  Supplies 

SEATTLE— B.  F.  Shearer  Co.;  Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 


SIOUX  FALLS — American  Theatre  Supply  Co. 
ST.  LOUIS— City  Electric  Co.;  Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 
TOLEDO — Theatre  Equipment  Co. 
WESTERLY,  R.  I.— G.  H.  Payne  Motion  Picture  Service 
CANADA— 
Dominion  Sound  Equipment,  Ltd. 

Montreal,  Quebec 
General  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

Montreal,  Quebec 
Perkins  Electric  Co.,  Ltd. 

Montreal,  Quebec 
Perkins  Electric  Co.,  Ltd. 

Toronto,  Ontario 
General  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

Winnipeg 
Sharp's  Theatre  Supplies,  Ltd. 
Calgary,  Alberta. 


THE 

STRONG 

ELECTRIC  CORP. 

"The  World's  Largest  Manu- 
facturer of  Projection 
Arc  Lamps" 


14  City  Park  Avenue 
Toledo  2,  Ohio 


Please  send  free  literature  and  prices  on  the  Strong  Trouper 
Spotlamp. 


NAME_ 


COMPANY. 


STREET- 


CITY  &  STATE- 


Motion  Picture 
and 


Television  Screens1 

By  FRANCE  B.  BERGER 
General  Precision  Laboratory 

Two  fundamental  factors,  brightness  gain  and  reflectance  or  transmittance,  determine  the 
suitability  of  a  screen  material  in  any  particular  application.  High  brightness  gain,  which 
necessarily  implies  a  narrow  viewing  angle,  may  be  desirable  in  one  application  but  not  in 
another.  The  reflectance  or  transmittance  of  the  screen  material  is  a  measure  of  the  light 
efficiency.  Comparative  figures  for  several  commonly  used  screen  materials  are  presented. 
Both  front  and  rear  projection  screens  are  considered.  The  figures  are  considered  to  be 
within  5%,  reasonable  agreement  with  the  few  published  figures  available. 


AT  VARIOUS  times  in  the  past  we 
have  needed  quantitative  informa- 
tion regarding  particular  screen 
materials  used  in  motion  picture  and  tele- 
vision projection.  A  search  of  the  litera- 
ture on  the  subject  revealed  very  few 
published  figures  and  very  little  unifor- 
mity in  the  nature  of  the  figures  chosen 
■for  presentation. 

The  lack  of  uniformity  may  be  attrib- 
uted to  the  fact  that  there  are  several 
systems  of  photometric  units  in  common 
use,  and,  further,  that  certain  photometric 
terms  have  been  defined  differently  by 
various  authors.  The  necessity  for  subse- 
quent interpretation  of  published  data  de- 
tracts from  the  value  of  the  information. 

The  brightness  of  a  screen  as  viewed  by 
art  observer  depends  not  only  upon  the 
illumination  falling  on  the  screen  but  also 
upon  the  directional  properties  of  the 
screen.  Observers  at  different  positions  in 
the  audience  may  see  different  brightness 
levels,  depending  upon  the  angle  from 
which  they  view  the  screen. 

The  screen's  performance  in  this  re- 
spect is  governed  by  certain  fundamental 
optical  properties  of  the  screen  material. 
Before  these  properties  can  be  discussed, 
though,  optical  terms  which  apply  alike 
to  all  projection  screens  should  be 
defined.  Following  the  definitions,  the 
basic  optical  characteristics  will  be  de- 
scribed in  as  non-mathematical  a  manner 
as  possible.  An  exact  treatment  requires 
a  mathematical  approach,  but  since  the 
mathematics  may  often  obscure  the  physi- 

t  J.  Soc.  Mot.  Pict.  and  Tv  Eng.,  August,  1950, 
p.  131. 


cal  concepts  under   discussion,  they  are 
relegated  to  appendixes. 

General  Screen  Characteristics 

Of  the  total  incident  light  projected 
onto  a  screen,  some  is  transmitted  through 
the  screen,  some  is  reflected  or  scattered 
from  the  screen,  and  the  rest  is  absorbed 
by  the  screen.  The  fraction  of  the  total 
incident  light  that  passes  through  the 
screen  is  called  the  transmission  factor 
or  the  transmittance  of  the  screen.  The 
fraction  which  is  reflected  from  the  screen 
is  called  the  reflection  factor  or  the  re- 
flectance. The  fraction  which  is  neither 
transmitted  nor  reflected  is  called  the 
absorptance. 

These  three  quantities  are  often  ex- 
pressed as  percentages,  their  sum  being, 
of  course,  100%.  For  a  front  projection 
screen  a  large  reflectance  is  desirable, 
and  the  transmittance  is  generally  small. 
For  a  rear  projection  screen,  large  trans- 
mittance and  small  reflectance  are  desir- 
able. The  absorptance  should  be  small  in 
either  case. 

The  color  of  a  screen  depends  upon  the 
spectral    composition    of   the    light    pro- 


jected onto  the  screen,  and  also  upon  the 
reflecting  or  transmitting  properties  of 
the  screen  material  itself.  Strictly  speak- 
ing, the  transmittance,  the  reflectance  and 
the  absorptance  of  a  screen  depend  upon 
the  wavelength  of  the  incident  light. 

For  most  purposes  a  projection  screen 
should  be  "white,"  that  is,  it  should  re- 
flect or  transmit  to  the  same  extent  light 
of  all  visible  wavelengths.  For  the  present 
purpose  we  shall  assume  that  we  are 
dealing  with  white  light  and  with  white 
screens. 

Specular,  Diffuse  Materiels 

A  screen  material  may  be  characterized 
as  either  specular  or  diffuse.  The  light 
transmitted  by  a  sheet  of  glass,  which 
passes  through  unchanged  in  its  direc- 
tion of  propagation,  is  an  example  of 
regular  transmission.  The  light  reflected 
by  a  mirror  leaves  at  a  definite  angle  with 
relation  to  the  angle  of  the  incident  light. 
Such  reflection  is  referred  to  as  specular. 
For  convenience  the  term  specular  will  be 
used  in  referring  to  either  regular  trans- 
mission or  specular  reflection. 

In  contrast  to  specular  effects,  a  beam 
of  light  falling  on  a  blotter  is  reflected 
from  the  illuminated  spot  in  all  direc- 
tions. A  beam  of  light  passing  through 
a  sheet  of  ground  glass  emerges  in  all 
directions.  Such  reflection  and  transmis- 
sion are  commonly  referred  to  as  diffuse. 
Diffusely  transmitted  or  diffusely  reflected 
light  is  referred  to  as  scattered  light. 

Both  the  transmittance  and  the  reflec- 
tance of  a  material  can  be  separated  into 
two  parts,  the  specular  and  the  diffuse. 
When  this  distinction  between  specular 
and  diffuse  transmittance  or  reflectance 
is  not  made,  the  term  total  transmittance 
or  total  reflectance  may  be  used  to  so 
indicate.  Most  materials  that  are  suitable 
for  projection  screens  have  small  specu- 
lar coefficients,  and  one  simply  refers  %o 
the  "transmittance"  or  "reflectance"  of 
the  screen. 

Polar  Distribution  Data 

The  relative  amount,  or  intensity,  of 
light  scattered  in  the  various  directions  is 
conveniently  represented  by  a  polar  dis- 
tribution diagram.  Different  screens  have 
different  scattering  properties  and  are, 
therefore,  represented  by  different  distri- 
bution diagrams.  A  distribution  diagram 
such  as  in  Fig.  1A  characterizes  a  dif- 
fusely-transmitting screen.  A  screen  ma- 
terial having  appreciable  specular  trans- 


FIGURE  1 

Polar  intensity  distribution 
diagrams  of  rear  projection 
screens:  A,  diffusely  transmit- 
ting screen;  B,  screen  exhib- 
iting regular  (or  specular)  as 
well    as   diffuse    transmission. 


LENGTH  OF  LINE 

PROPORTIONAL  TO 

INTENSITY 


Sljnttll 


DIFFUSE 
'  TRANSMISSION 


REGULAR  (OR  SPECULAR) 
TRANSMISSION 


•INCIDENT   BEAM 
A 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST    •     February;  1951 


n 


DIRECTION  OF  MAXIMUM 
SCATTERED  INTENSITY 


DIRECTION  OF  MAXIMUM 
SCATTERED  INTENSITY 


DIRECTIONS  OF  INCIDENCE 
AND  MAXIMUM  SCATTERED 
INTENSITY   COINCIDE 


DIRECTION  OF  MAXIMUM 
SCATTERED  INTENSITY 


FIGURE  2 
Some  of  the  possible  types  of 
intensity  distributions  for  front 
projection  screens:  A,  medium 
brightness  gain  screen  with 
pattern  asymmetrical  with  re- 
spect to  the  normal;  B,  dif- 
fusing screen  with  brightness 
gain  less  than  unity;  C,  beha- 
vior typical  of  beaded  screens; 
D,  high  brightness  gain  screen 
exhibiting  marked  specular 
behavior   characteristics. 


mission  in  addition  to  diffuse  transmis- 
sion is  represented  by  Fig.  IB. 

Strictly  speaking,  polar  distribution 
"diagrams"  must  be  three-dimensional 
diagrams  and  the  distribution  "curves" 
are  really  surfaces.  If  the  distribution  is 
symmetrical  about  the  normal  to  the  sur- 
face, a  simple  plane  diagram  completely 
describes  the  directional  scattering  prop- 
erties of  the  screen.  If  the  distribution 
is  unsymmetrical,  and  many  practical 
screens  have  such  unsymmetrical  direc- 
tional characteristics,  the  distribution  is 
commonly  represented  by  two  plane  dia- 
grams: one  for  the  distribution  in  a 
vertical  plane,  the  other  for  the  distribu- 
tion in  a  horizontal  plane. 

In  the  examples  cited,  it  has  been 
tacitly  assumed  that  the  maximum  in- 
tensity of  the  scattered  light  is  observed 
in  the  direction  normal  to  the  screen  sur- 
face. This  may  often  be  the  case,  but  is 
by  no  means  always  true.  In  particular, 
if  the  direction  of  illumination  is  oblique 
to  the  screen  surface,  the  maximum 
illumination  is  often  observed  to  be  in  a 
direction  other  than  normal  to  the  screen 
surface.  Certain  possible  situations  are 
represented  by  the  diagrams  in  Fig.  2. 
which  pertain  to  front-projection  screens. 

Choice  of  Screen  Material 

The  choice  of  a  screen  for  use  in  a 
given  situation  depend?  on  how  the  audi- 


PATTERN  FOR  SINGLE 
DIRECTION    OF  INCIDENCE 


ence  is  distributed  about  the  screen.  The 
screen  should  direct  as  much  light  as  pos- 
sible toward  the  audience,  and  as  little 
light  as  possible  in  other  directions.  A 
screen  which  is  "tailored"  to  the  audience 


SMOOTH  -SURFACE 
PLASTIC    SCREEN 


will  make  the  most  efficient  use   of  the 
available  light  from  the  screen. 

It  is  evident  that  the  vertical  and  the 
horizontal  distribution  diagrams  of  the 
screen  need  not  be  the  same.  A  screen 
which  confines  the  scattered  light  to  the 
minimum  vertical   and  horizontal  angles 


CONE    OF 

CONVERGENT 

RAYS 


M's  ARE  DIRECTIONS  OF 
MAXIMUM  SCATTERED 
INTENSITIES 


FIG.  3 

A  diagrams  the  broadening  of  the  intensity  diagram  that  results  when  light  is  incident  over  an 

appreciable   range  of  angles;  B   illustrates  the  variation   in   relative  brightness  accompanying   a 

variation   in  angle  of  incidence  across  the  screen. 


consistent  with  the  particular  require- 
ments will  have  maximum  usable  bright- 
ness gain.  A  screen  with  a  lower  bright- 
ness gain  will  not  utilize  the  available 
light  to  the  greatest  advantage. 

A  screen  which  appears  equally  bright 
to  all  observers  within  the  intended  region 
of  coverage  of  the  screen  and  which  has 
zero  brightness  to  observers  situated 
outside  this  region  cannot  be  achieved  in 
practice.  Screen  materials  can,  however, 
be  chosen  to  approximate  this  condition 
reasonably  well. 

Parameters  which  are  useful  in  making 
such  a  choice  are  the  horizontal  and  ver- 
tical angles  of  coverage.  The  brightness 
gain  of  a  screen  is  related  to  these  angles 
of  coverage,  usually  defined  as  the  angles 
between  the  directions  in  which  the  screen 
has  half  its  maximum  brightness. 

Incident  Light  Characteristics 

It  is  frequently  assumed  that  the  light 
incident    on    the    screen    comes    from    a 


SMOOTH -SURFACE 
PLASTIC    SCREEN 


FIGURE  4 

Brightness   and 
intensity  patterns 
for  a  "perfect" 
screen  and  the 
smooth   surface 
plastic  screen. 
On    the 
brightness 
diagram,  A,  the 
radial  scale 
gives  foot- 
Lamberts  per 
foot-candle; 
on    the    intensity 
diagram,  B, 
radial  scale 
gives  candles 
per  ir  square  feet 
of  screen   area 
per  foot-candle 
of  illumination. 


single  well-defined  direction.  This  as- 
sumption should,  however,  be  used  with 
care.  In  practice,  the  light  incident  on 
any  point  of  the  screen  consists  of  a 
cone  of  rays  coming  from  the  projec- 
tion lens  aperture  and  converging  at  the 
point  on  the  screen.  Further,  the  rays 
falling  on  the  edges  and  corners  of  the 
screen  have  a  different  angle  of  inci- 
dence than  the  rays  at  the  center. 

In  motion  picture  projection,  the  cone 
of  rays  converging  at  any  point  on  the 
screen  is  very  small,  and  the  rays  to  op- 
posite corners  of  the  picture  make  a 
rather  small  angle  with  each  other.  More- 
over, low  brightness  gain  (wide  angle) 
screens  which  closely  approximate  Lam- 
bert scatterers  are  generally  used.  There- 
fore, in  motion  picture  practice,  the  as- 
sumption is  valid. 

In  television  projection,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  angles  involved  are  quite  large 
and  high-brightness-gain  screens  are  gen- 
erally employed.  The  range  of  angles  of 
incidence  of  the  light  rays  at  the  screen 
may  be  comparable  to  or  larger  than  the 


14 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


February  1951 


angular  width  of  the  distribution  dia- 
gram. When  the  incident  convergent 
cone  of  rays  is'  large,  the  effective  dis- 
tribution diagrams  are  broadened  and 
the  effective  brightness  gain  is  lowered, 
as  shown  in  Fig.  3A. 

When  the  angle  of  incidence  changes 
sufficiently  over  the  screen  area,  the  dis- 
tribution diagram  differs  correspondingly 
for  different  regions  of  the  screen.  This 
generally  will  result  in  nonuniform 
brightness  over  the  screen  area,  the 
effect  becoming  more  noticeable  at  high 
brightness  gain  figures  and  at  large 
oblique  viewing  angles.  Curved  screens, 
auxiliary  optical  elements  such  as  a  Fres- 
nel lens,  non-homogeneous  screens,  or 
other  innovations  may  offer  advantages 
in  these  cases. 

Table  I  gives  the  results  of  labora- 
tory measurement  on  a  number  of  screens 
and  of  several  miscellaneous  materials. 
Some  of  the  materials  were  measured  by 
the  intensity  method  and  others  were 
measured  by  both  the  intensity  and  the 


FIGURE  5 

Brightness  patterns  for  a  typical  beaded 
screen  and  for  a  metallized  screen.  The 
pattern  for  a  "perfect"  screen  is  shown 
for  comparison.  The  radial  scale  is 
graduated  in  foot-Lamberts  per  foot- 
candle  of  illumination. 


brightness  methods.  All  data  piesented 
refer  to  measurements  made  with  inci- 
dent illumination  normal  to  the  screen 
surface.  All  of  the  screens  are  homo- 
geneous, except  the  ribbed  plastic  screen 
with  Fresnel  lens;  measurements  on  the 
latter  pertain  to  the  central  region  only. 
Some  of  the  laboratory  measurements 
are  presented  in  Figs.  4  and  5. 

List  Requisites  for  Survival  of 
the  Motion  Picture  Theater 

"Although  home  Tv  seems  to  be  ac- 
quiring a  mass  audience,"  Benjamin 
Schlanger  and  William  Hoffberg,  theater 
architectural  and  engineering  consult- 
ants, told  the  recent  SMPTE  meeting, 
(Fall,  1950,  convention  at  Lake  Placid, 
N.  Y.)  "there  will  always  be  a  motion 
picture  theater  and  theater  Tv  audience 
consisting  of  those  who  wish  to  see  enter- 
tainment not  available  in  other  mediums; 
those  who  wish  to  avoid  advertising  in- 


TABLE  1.    Characteristics  of 

Representative  Screen  Surfaces 

Effective 

Screen                                      Brightness 

Reflec- 

Trans- 

Brightness 

Gain 

tance 

mittance 

Gain 

Miscellaneous  Materials 

Perfect  screen 

1.0 

100 

100 

1.0 

Magnesium  carbonate 

1.1 

88 

— 

0.97 

Traceolene  paper 

13.6 

— 

87 

11.8 

Opal  glass 

1.0 

— 

48 

0.48 

White  blotting  paper 

1.4 

61 

— 

0.85 

Brushed  aluminum 

4.5 

65 

— 

2.9 

Motion  Picture  Screens 

Smooth-surface  plastic  (perforated) 

1.15 

72 

— 

0.83 

Beaded 

16.4 

35 

— 

5.7 

Nylon  cloth 

1.2 

49 

— 

0.6 

Metallized  directional  (perforated) 

2.5 

70 

— 

1.8 

Glass  cloth 

1.7 

47 

— 

0.8 

Commercial  Television  Screens 

Translucent  plastic  #1 

12. 

— 

54 

6.5 

Translucent  plastic  #2 

6.2 

— 

62 

3.9 

Diffusing  cloth 

4.2 

— 

47 

2.0 

Diffusing  glass 

5.1 

— 

70 

3.6 

Ribbed  glass 

7.0 

— 

49 

3.2 

Ribbed  plastic  with  Fresnel  lens 

8.0 

— 

43 

3.2 

Metal  beaded 

7.5 

61 

— 

4.6 

trusions;  those  desiring  a  respite  from 
home  entertainment;  those  satisfying 
their  gregarious  instincts,  and  those  who 
prefer  the  dramatic  impact  of  the  large 
theater   screen   cinematography." 

New  and  existing  theaters  which  offer 
the  seating,  air  conditioning,  projection 
and  sound  transmission  comforts  now 
available,  and  which  add  to  these  the 
increased  screen  image,  the  luminous 
screen  field,  the  increased  flexibility  and 
scope  of  motion  picture  cinematography, 
the  feelings  of  intimacy  within  the  audi- 
torium, and  stereoscopy  of  sound  and 
vision,  should  survive  within  the  forests 
of  home  antennae,  they  concluded. 


New  Optical  Theory  Described 

A  new  mathematical  theory  expected 
to  be  an  aid  to  lens  designers  was  de- 
scribed recently  by  Dr.  Max  Herzberger 
at  a  physical  colloquium  at  Syracuse  Uni- 
versity. Dr.  Herzberger  is  a  scientist  at 
Kodak  Research  Laboratories.  His  new 
formula  is  said  to  provide  a  complete 
solution  for  image  errors  in  lens  systems. 

Exact  Computation  Possible 

Basically,  the  theory  reduces  the  vari- 
ous possible  errors  for  each  light  ray 
passing  through  a  lens  system  to  two 
errors  which  can  be  computed  exactly. 
When  one  of  these  errors  is  eliminated,  a 
symmetrical  image  is  formed.  Removal 
of  both  errors  gives  a  sharp  image.  The 
theory  is  a  generalization  of  the  Seidel 
image-error  theory.  It  will  be  valuable  in 
the  design  and  evaluation  of  lenses  be- 
cause it  will  allow  a  lens  designer  to  learn 
the  limitations  of  a  new  lens  system  while 
it  is  still  on  the  drawing  board,  Dr.  Herz- 
berger said. 

Dr.  Herzberger  is  the  author  of  Strah- 
lenoptik  (Ray  Optics),  published  in  Ber- 
lin in  1932,  and  of  150  papers  in  the  field 
of  geometrical  optics  and  mathematics. 
He  holds  several  patents  dealing  with 
optics  and  photography. 


More  Stringent  Copper  Restrictions 

March  1  is  the  effective  date  for  the  strin- 
gent copper  conservation  order  issued  re- 
cently by  the  NPA.  The  order  permits  the 
use  of  copper  where  it  serves  a  "functional" 
purpose  and  where  no  practical  substitute  is 
available.  It  will  not  be  used  where  it  is 
non-functional — that  is,  for  ornaments  or 
decorative  purposes.  Previous  NPA  actions 
on  copper,  providing  for  use  of  a  certain 
percentage  of  the  total  used  in  previous 
years,  remain  in  force. 


Netter  Heads  Altec  Service  Sales 

L.  D.  Netter,  Jr.,  has  been  appointed  gen- 
eral sales  manager  for  Altec  Service  Corp. 
In  addition  to  his  responsibilities  to  the 
service  company,  Netter  will  oversee  product 
sales  made  by  the  company  in  its  role  as 
manufacturer's  sales  agent  for  Altec  Lansing 
Corp.     Netter  joined  Altec  in  Nov.,  1947. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     February  1951 


15 


Maintenance  and  Servicing  of  Motors 

By  ROBERT  A.  MITCHELL 

The  fourth  and  concluding  installment  of  a  series  of  articles  on  the  types 

of  motors  used  in  the  projection  field,  with  special  emphasis  upon  the 

recognition  and  correction  of  various  troubles  encountered. 

CHART  II.    POLYPHASE  INDUCTION  MOTORS 


1.  BEARINGS  TOO  HOT 

Trouble:  Bearing  dry.  Cause:  Insufficient 
lubrication;  oil  rings  not  working.  Rem- 
edy: Clean  bearings  with  kerosene,  flush 
with  oil,  then  refill  with  fresh  oil  or  grease 
of  the  proper  type.  Check  action  of  oil 
rings. 

Trouble:  Bearing  dirty.  Cause:  Dust  or 
dirt  in  oil  or  grease.  Remedy:  Wash  out 
oil  or  grease  reservoir  with  kerosene  and 
refill  with  the  proper  lubricant. 

Trouble:  Tight  bearing.  Cause:  Provide 
clean  lubricant,  replace  rings  with  rings 
not  too  tight.  (If  ring  sticks  or  runs  slowly, 
bevel  it  with  a  fine  file.)  Polish  shaft  with 
emery  paper,  or  replace  bearing. 

Trouble:  Bearing  binding.  Cause:  Sprung 
shaft.  Remedy:  True  the  shaft  in  a  lathe 
and  replace  the  bearings. 

Trouble:  Loose  bearing.  Cause:  Vibra- 
tion and  wear.  Remedy:  Tighten  screws 
which  hold  bearing.  Replace  bearing. 

2.  ENTIRE  FRAME  TOO  HOT 
Trouble:     Transference     of     heat     from 

bearings,  rotor,  or  stator.  Causes  and  Rem- 
edies: See  directly  following,  and  Causes 
and  Remedies  under  Symptoms  1,  3,  4,  5, 
6,  and  7. 

Trouble:  Heat  transferred  from  rotor 
or  stator.  Cause:  Motor  overloaded.  Rem- 
edy: Test  each  phase  with  an  ammeter, 
and  if  readings  are  abnormally  high,  re- 
duce the  load  or  obtain  more  powerful 
motor. 

Trouble:  Motor  running  single-phase. 
Cause:  One  fuse  blown,  or  one  overload 
relay  out  of  order.  Remedy:  Replace  fuse 
or  adjust  relay  and  take  ammeter  readings 
of  each  phase. 

3.  SMOKE  ISSUES  FROM  ROTOR  WIND- 
INGS; WEDGES  OVER  CERTAIN  COILS 
ARE  CHARRED 

Trouble:  Rotor  not  centered  in  stator. 
Cause:  Bearings  worn.  Remedy:  If  noticed 
before  coils  are  damaged,  renewal  of  the 
bearings  and  inserting  new  wedges  will 
correct  the  fault;  otherwise  coils  will  need 
to  be  replaced. 

4.  EVERY  THIRD  COIL  IN  A  3-PHASE 
MOTOR  STATOR  IS  HOTTER  THAN 
ADJACENT  COILS 

Trouble:  Insufficient  impedance  in  phase 
which  is  hottest,  causing  unbalanced  cur- 
rents in  phases.  Cause:  One  or  more  coils 
of  one  phase  short-circuited  within  them- 
selves. Remedy:  Replace  short-circuited 
coil.   (Do  not  jump  the  coil!) 


Trouble:  One  phase  grounded  inside 
motor.  Cause:  Dampness  or  damage.  Rem- 
edy: Eliminate  ground  by  lifting  coil  and 
re-insulating. 

5.  MOTOR  RUNS  HOT,  AND  EXPLO- 
SIONS, SOMETIMES  ACCOMPANIED 
BY  FIRE,  OCCUR  IN  WINDINGS 

Trouble:  Temporary  ground  or  short- 
circuit.  Cause:  Dampness,  which  allows 
currents  to  circulate  between  coils  and  be- 
tween any  coil  and  ground.  Remedy:  Bake 
rotor  and  stator  until  all  dampness  disap- 
pears, then  paint  all  coils  with  insulating 
varnish  (which  needs  to  be  baked)  or 
Glyptol  (which  dries  in  air) .  If  coils  are 
punctured,  replace  with  new  coils. 

6.  STATOR  COILS  OF  ONE  OR  MORE 
PHASES  HOT  IN  SPOTS,  WHILE  COOL 
IN  OTHERS 

Trouble:  Part  of  windings  inoperative. 
Cause:  Short  circuits  between  adjacent  sta- 
tor coils.  Remedy:  Replace  short-circuited 
coils,  as  they  will  usually  be  found  to  be 
badly  burned. 

7.  MOTOR  RUNS,  BUT  ROTOR  HEATS 
UP  WHILE  THE  STATOR  IS  COOL 

Trouble:    Abnormal    currents    in    rotor. 


Cause:  Rotor  bars  loose  or  grounded; 
wound  rotors  short  circuited.  Remedy: 
Tighten  set  screws  holding  rotor  bars  to 
short-circuiting  rings;  replace  wound  ro- 
tors. 

8.  MOTOR  REFUSES  TO  START,  BUT 
MAKES  A  HUMMING  SOUND 

Trouble:  Motor  tries  to  run  single-phase. 
Cause:  One  fuse  blown,  or  overload  relay 
out  of  order.  Remedy:  Replace  fuse  or  ad- 
just relay. 

Trouble:  Rotor  not  centered  in  stator. 
Cause:  Bearing  worn  or  out  of  adjustment. 
Remedy:  Center  the  bearing,  and  replace 
worn  bearings. 

Trouble:  Open  circuit  in  stator  windings. 
Cause:  Coil  damaged.  Remedy:  Replace 
faulty  coil. 

9.  MOTOR  ISSUES  A  PECULIAR 
SOUND  WHEN  RUNNING  LIGHT,  AS 
IF  A  HEAVY  LOAD  WERE  THROWN 
ON  PERIODICALLY,  WITH  A  SLIGHT 
SLACKENING  OF  SPEED  AT  THESE 
INTERVALS 

Trouble:  Coil  connections  of  one  phase 
reversed.  Cause:  Connected  wrongly  when 
repaired.  Remedy:  Connect  coil  to  its 
proper  group,  and  in  correct  polarity. 

10.  MOTOR  LOSES  POWER  AND  SPEED 
WHEN  FULLY  LOADED 

Trouble:  Rotor  to  one  side  of  magnetic 
center  of  stator.  Cause:  End  play  all  taken 
up  at  one  end  of  shaft;  motor  out  of  level; 
coupling  driven  too  far  on  shaft  if  direct 
coupled.  Remedy:  Readjust  end  play  so 
that  rotor  will  '"float."  Level  motor.  Bring 
coupling   out  to   restore  floating   of  rotor. 


CHART  III.    SINGLE-PHASE  INDUCTION  MOTORS 

Including  Split-Phase,  Capacitor,  and  Repulsion-Induction   Types 


1.  BEARINGS  TOO   HOT 

Trouble:  Bearing  Dry.  Cause:  Insufficient 
lubrication;  oil  rings  or  wool  wick  not 
working.  Remedy:  Wash  bearings  and 
wicks  in  kerosene,  flush  with  oil,  then  refill 
with  fresh  oil  or  grease  of  the  proper  type. 
Check  action  of  rings. 

Trouble:  Bearing  dirty.  Cause:  Dust  or 
dirt  in  oil  or  grease.  Remedy:  Wash  out 
oil  or  grease  reservoir  with  kerosene  and 
refill  with  proper  lubricant. 

Trouble:  Tight  bearing.  Cause:  Insuffi- 
cient lubrication,  grit  in  oil,  oil  rings  not 
working,  undersized  bearing  if  bearing  has 
been  replaced.  Remedy:  Provide  clean 
lubricant,  replace  rings  with  rings  not  too 
tight.  (If  ring  sticks  or  runs  slowly,  bevel 
it  with  a  fine  file.)  Polish  shaft  with  emery 
paper,  or  replace  bearing. 

Trouble:  Bearing  binding.  Cause: 
Sprung  shaft.  Too  much  strain  on  pulley. 
Remedy:  True  the  shaft  in  a  lathe.  Shim 
the  bearing  with  thin  pieces  of  tin  as  a 
temporary  expedient.  Install  new  bearings. 


Trouble:  Loose  bearing.  Cause:  Vibra- 
tion and  wear.  Remedy:  Tighten  set-screws 
holding  bearing.  Replace  worn  bearings. 

2.  ENTIRE  FRAME  TOO  HOT 
Trouble:     Transference     of    heat     from 

bearings,  rotor,  or  stator.  Causes  and  Rem- 
edies: See  directly  following,  and  also 
Causes  and  Remedies  under  Symptoms  1, 

3,  4,  5,  and  6. 

Trouble:  Heat  transferred  from  rotor  or 
stator.  Cause:  Motor  overloaded.  Remedy: 
Lighten  load,  or  use  a  larger  motor. 

Trouble:  Motor  running  on  starting 
winding.  Cause:  Frequency  too  low.  Cen- 
trifugal switch  stuck  or  capacitor  shorted. 
Remedy:  Turn  motor  off  immediately  to 
avoid  burning  up  the  starting  winding! 
Use  proper  motor  for  line  frequency,  re- 
pair centrifugal  switch  by  cleaning,  oiling 
lightly,  and  operating  by  hand  a  few  times. 
Replace  capacitor.  Inspect  stator  windings 
for  possible  damage. 

Trouble:  Motor  heats  up  even  though 
load   is   light,   and   centrifugal   switch   and 


16 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


February  1951 


other  auxiliary  apparatus  are  in  perfect 
working  order.  Cause:  Rotor  not  centered 
in  stator.  Remedy:  Replace  bearings  and 
align  them  properly.  (There  should  he  an 
all-around  clearance  of  0.015  to  0.030  inch 
between  rotor  and  stator  poles.) 

3.  ONE  SECTION  OF  THE  STATOR 
WINDING  HOTTER  THAN  OTHER 
PARTS 

Trouble:  Short-circuited  stator  winding. 
Cause:  Worn  or  deteriorated  insulation; 
mishandling.  Remedy:  Renew  the  short- 
circuited  winding. 

4  MOTOR  RUNS  HOT,  AND  EXPLO- 
SIONS, SOMETIMES  ACCOMPANIED  BY 
EIRE,  OCCUR  IN  THE  WINDING 

Trouble:  Temporary  ground  or  short 
circuit.  Cause:  Dampness,  which  allows 
currents  to  circulate  between  coils  or  be- 
tween any  coil  and  ground.  Remedy:  Bake 
rotor  and  stator  until  all  dampness  disap- 
pears, then  paint  all  coils  with  insulating 
varnish  (which  must  be  dried  by  baking 
in  an  oven  at  115°  C,  or  239°  F.)  or  Glyp- 
tol  (which  dries  in  air  at  room  tempera- 
ture) .  If  coils  are  punctured,  replace  with 
new  coils  or  have  the  stator  rewound. 

5.  MOTOR  RUNS,  BUT  ROTOR  HEATS 
UP,  WHILE  STATOR  REMAINS  REA- 
SONABLY COOL 

Trouble:  Abnormal  currents  in  rotor. 
Cause:  Squirrel-cage  rotor  bars  loose.  Rem- 
edy: Tighten  set  screws  holding  rotor  bars 
to  short-circuiting  ring.  (Most  fractional 
H.P.  motors  have  bars  welded  or  soldered 
to  the  short-circuiting  ring,  making  this 
trouble  impossible.) 

6  REPULSION  ARMATURE  WINDING 
(ON  CERTAIN  TYPES  OF  REPULSION- 
INDUCTION  MOTORS)   HEATS  UP 

Trouble:  Brushes  not  disconnected  when 
motor  picks  up  speed.  Cause:  Centrifugal 
switch  not  functioning.  Remedy:  Overhaul 
switch,  oil  sparingly,  and  operate  it  by 
hand  a  few  times.  Check  tension  springs. 

7.  BRUSHES  (OF  CERTAIN  TYPES  OF 
REPULSION-INDUCTION  MOTORS)  DO 
NOT  LEAVE  COMMUTATOR  WHEN 
MOTOR  IS  NEARLY  UP  TO  NORMAL 
RUNNING  SPEED 

Trouble:  Governor  fails  to  function. 
Cause:  Overload,  low  voltage,  wrong  fre- 
quency, governor  sticking.  Remedy:  Run 
motor  "light"  to  see  if  governor  functions; 
decrease  load  or  increase  size  of  motor. 
Test  line  voltage;  use  motor  designed. for 
line  voltage  and  frequency.  Wipe  excess 
oil  from  governor,  apply  kerosene  spar- 
ingly, loosen  springs. 

8.  BRUSHES  ON  COMPENSATED  WIND- 
ING (OF  CERTAIN  OTHER  TYPES  OF 
REPULSION-INDUCTION  MOTORS)  DO 
NOT  MAKE  CONTACT  WITH  COMMU- 
TATOR WHEN  MOTOR  IS  NEARLY  UP 
TO  SPEED 

Trouble,  Cause  and  Remedy:  See  No.  7. 


9.  ABNORMAL  ARCING  AT  BRUSHES 
OF    REPULSION-INDUCTION   MOTORS 

Trouble:  Short  circuit  in  armature  coil. 
Cause:  Carbon  between  commutator  bars, 
insulation  burned  from  leads  connecting 
segments  to  armature,  short  circuit  in  one 
or  more  armature  coils.  Remedy:  Undercut 
mica  between  segments  with  slotting  tool, 
bevel  slightly  the  edges  of  the  copper  bars, 
and  then  paint  the  exposed  mica  with 
glossy  red  enamel  of  the  iron  oxide  or 
synthetic  type.  Securely  tape  all  leads.  Re- 
wind or  renew  armature. 

Trouble:  Loose  contact  between  the 
short-circuiting  segments  and  commutator 
in  certain  types  of  repulsion-induction 
motor.  Cause:  Segments  jammed  in  hold- 
ers. Remedy:  Sandpaper  the  segments  and 
commutator  with  00  sandpaper  (NOT 
emery  paper!)  and  see  that  the  short-cir- 
cuiting segments  are  not  sticking. 

Trouble:  Loose  contact  between  short- 
circuiting  brushes  and  commutator  in  cer- 
tain other  types  of  repulsion-induction 
motor.  Cause:  Brushes  too  short  or  stick- 
ing in  holders.  Remedy:  Renew  worn 
brushes.  Work  brushes  in  holders  until 
brushes  are  loose.  Sandpaper  commutator 
and  brushes. 

10.  SPEED  OF  MOTOR  FLUCTUATES 
Trouble:     Centrifugal    switch    or    brush 

governor  cuts  in  and  out  frequently.  Cause: 
Switch  or  brush-actuating  mechanism  not 
properly  adjusted.  Low  voltage.  Poor 
switch  contacts.  Remedy:  Wait  for  voltage 
to  come  up  to  normal.  Adjust  tension 
springs,  repair  loose  connections,  clean 
switch  contacts. 

Trouble:  Line  voltage  or  frequency  er- 
ratic. Cause:  Beyond  control  of  operator. 
Remedy:  None.  This  condition  usually  cor- 
rects itself  after  a  few  moments. 

li.  MOTOR  FAILS  TO  START 

Trouble:  Load  too  great.  Cause:  Motor 
too  small  for  load;  friction.  Remedy:  Ob- 
tain a  motor  suitable  for  the  load.  Examine 
motor  bearings,  couplings,  and  mechanical 
condition  of  driven  machinery. 

Trouble:  No  current.  Cause:  Blown  fuse; 
line  open.  Remedy:  Inspect  fuse  and  re- 
place, if  necessary.  Test  line,  repairing  any 
breaks  which  may  be  discovered.  Test 
motor  leads. 

Trouble:  Open  circuit  in  stator.  Cause: 
Rough  usage,  or  burned  coil  or  connection 
which  may  have  opened.  Remedy:  By 
means  of  a  circuit-tester  locate  the  defec- 
tive coil,  which  must  be  replaced.  (Do  not 
jump  the  open  coil!) 

Trouble:  Open  circuit  in  armature. 
Cause  and  Remedy:  See  directly  above. 

Trouble:  Rotor  rubbing  on  stator  core. 
Cause:  Worn  bearings.  Remedy:  Readjust 
(shim)  the  bearings  or,  better,  replace  the 
bearings  with  new  ones. 

Trouble:  Brushes  of  repulsion-induction 
motors  not  in  contact  with  commutator. 
Cause:  Brushes  too  short,  or  brushes  stuck 


in  holders.  Remedy:  Renew  all  brushes, 
which  should  all  be  of  the  same  length. 
Work  brushes  in  holders  to  loosen  them, 
or  sandpaper  brushes.  Sandpaper  commu- 
tator with  No.  00  sandpaper  (NOT  emery 
paper) . 

Trouble:  Consistently  poor  commuta- 
tion. Cause:  Brushes  on  a  neutral  point. 
Remedy:  Shift  the  brushes  to  the  side  of 
"hard  neutral"  which  gives  the  proper  di- 
rection of  rotation. 

Trouble:  Motor  makes  loud  humming 
sound,  but  refuses  to  start.  Cause:  See  di- 
rectly above.  Also,  centrifugal  switch  of 
split-phase  and  of  certain  capacitor  and 
repulsion-induction  motors  not  functioning. 
Starting  winding  burned  out,  starting  re- 
sistor open,  capacitor  shorted,  or  armature 
windings  of  repulsion  types  burned  out. 
Remedy:  Repair,  adjust,  and  clean  gover- 
nor and  centrifugal  switch.  Test  starting 
winding  of  stator  or  repulsion-induction 
armature  coils,  replacing  burned-out  coils 
or  rewinding  same.  Test  starting  resistor. 
Test  capacitor  with  a  D.C.  testing  outfit. 
Replace  any  defective  components. 

12.  MOTOR  RUNS  BACKWARD 

Trouble:  Initial,  or  starting,  torque  turns 
rotor  in  wrong  direction.  Cause:  In  the 
case  of  repulsion-induction  motors,  brushes 
have  been  shifted  to  the  wrong  side  of 
"hard  neutral."  Remedy:  Loosen  set  screws 
holding  brush-holder  rocker  and  shift 
rocker  to  the  correct  side  of  the  neutral 
point. 

Warners'  27  Months  to  Divorce 
in  U.  S.  Consent  Decree 

"Warner  Brothers  has  27  months  in 
which  to  divorce  production-distribution 
from  exhibition  and  to  form  two  new 
companies,  and  up  to  two  years  in  which 
to.  dispose  of  a  maximum  of  approxi- 
mately 80  of  its  theaters,  under  the  terms 
of  a  consent  degree  with  the  U.  S.  gov- 
ernment which  concludes  the  12-year 
anti-trust  suit  against  the  film  company. 

Highlights  of  the  decree,  patterned 
closely  after  the  recent  Paramount  settle- 
ment with  Uncle  Sam,  are: 

Jan.  4,  1951,  the  Effective  Date 

The  present  Warner  Brothers  organi- 
zation will  be  recast  into  separate  produc- 
tion, distribution  and  theater  companies 
within  27  months  from  Jan.  4,  1951. 

Disposal  of  from  55  to  80  theaters  is 
required,  depending  upon  the  number 
of  competitive  theaters  playing  first-run 
product  on  a  regular  basis  in  Warner 
towns  and  cities. 

The  three  Warner  Brothers  and  their 
families  must  dispose  of  their  holdings 
in  one  or  the  other  of  the  new  companies 
within  27  months,  or  put  them  under  con- 
trol of  a  U.  S.  court-appointed  trustee. 

Trade  practice  restraints  in  the  distribu- 
tion of  films — franchises,  pooling  deals, 
profit-sharing  leases,  etc. — are  imposed. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     February  1951 


17 


Current  Without  Conductors: 
When  we  think  of  electric  current 
or  electrons  in  motion,  we  customer- 
ily  associate  the  current  with  some  con- 
fining medium  or  transporting  path,  as, 
for  example,  a  wire:  a  commonplace 
condition  in  electrical  circuitry,  yet  not 
necessarily  a  "must"  condition.  In  other 
words,  it  is  not  necessary  that  a  metallic 
conducting  path  be  present  in  order  that 
electrons  flow  in  a  directed  path  and  con- 
stitute electron  current. 

The  operation  of  a  vacuum  tube  demon- 
strates that  a  metallic  conducting  path  is 
not  essential:  the  grid,  plate,  and  screen 
current  within  the  tube  advance  through 


these  effects  inside  of  many  vacuum-tube 
devices. 

For  example,  an  important  attribute  of 
the  electron  in  motion  is  a  magnetic  field 
which  surrounds  the  moving  charge.  Sel- 
dom do  we  pay  any  heed  to  this  phenom- 
enon in  a  high-vacuum  rectifier  tube,  in 
an  amplifier  tube,  or  in  an  oscillator  tube. 

Admittedly,  the  movement  of  electrons 
through  such  devices  is  not  in  the  form 
of  a  concentrated  beam;  if  it  were  so, 
there  might  possibly  be  a  remote  associa- 
tion with  a  similar  current  through  a 
wire.  In  the  case  of  the  cathode-ray  tube, 
however,  the  electrons  are  confined  into 
a    narrow    path;    therefore,    there    is    a 


that  case  because  the  ordinary  manner  of 
appbcation  of  such  tubes  does  not  re- 
quire recognition  of  this  field.  In  the 
cathode-ray  tube,  not  only  does  the  mag- 
netic field  demand  recognition,  but  it  also 
is  put  to  good  use. 

Stationary  Charges 

Not  all  of  our  dealing  with  electrons 
in  connection  with  the  operation  of  the 
cathode-ray  tube  are  restricted  to  charges 
in  motion — that  is  dynamic  electricity. 
A  good  deal  of  what  takes  place  within 
the  cathode-ray  tube  is  the  result  of  the 
behavior  of  electrons  at  rest,  of  the  posi- 
tive charge  at  rest. 

While  it  is  true  that  we  cannot  create 


The  Cathode-Ray  Tube:  Basic  Data 


By  JOHN  F.  RIDER  and  SEYMOUR  D.  USLAN 
II.    Electrostatic   Deflection    and   Focusing 

Second  of  a  series*,  this  installment  relates  to  the  basic  theory  anent  electrostatic  action — 
data  with  which  all  professional  projectionists  should  be  familiar  if  they  hope  to  cope 
with  the  ever-increasing  complexities  of  electronically-controlled  systems.  Originally 
appearing  in  Encyclopedia  on  Cathode-Ray  Oscilloscopes  and  Their  Uses,  these  data  are 
presented  here  through  the  gracious  cooperation  of  John  F.  Rider**,  publisher  of  the 
massive  (982-page)  aforementioned  authoritative  work. 


"'space"  without  benefit  of  conducting 
paths.  The  physical  conducting  paths  ap- 
pear at  the  elements  and  the  circuits  con- 
nected to  the  elements.  The  cathode-ray 
tube  is  another  example  of  elecron  flow 
through  space. 

These  references  to  conductorless 
paths  for  current  should  not  be  construed 
as  implying  that  a  so-called  open  circuit 
is  an  operative  system.  Direct  electron 
flow  through  space  occurs  only  under 
proper  conditions.  Here,  we  are  con- 
cerned solely  with  electron  currents 
identified  as  conduction  currents  when 
they  advance  through  wires ;  and  we  take 
for  granted  that  wire  circuits  as  paths 
are  complete  in  every  respect.  We  raise 
this  point  because  the  properties  of  elec- 
tron currents  as  associated  with  wire 
conducting  systems  are  applicable  to  like 
currents  which  are  traveling  through 
space. 

Influence  of  Magnetic  Field 

We  speak  freely  about  vacuum-tube 
currents  as  being  electrons  in  motion, 
but  we  seldom  think  of  them  as  having 
the  properties  of  current  in  a  wire  be- 
cause we  have  no  occasion  to  consider 


*  The  first  installment  appeared  in  IP  for  Dec., 
1950,  p.  26. 
**  480  Canal  St.,  New  York  13,  N.  Y. 


closer  similarity  between  a  stream  of 
electrons  moving  through  a  wire  and  one 
advancing  through  this  tube. 

But  it  is  not  this  similarity  which 
forces  us  to  stress  the  condition.  Instead, 
it  is  that  the  electron  stream  within  the 
cathode-ray  tube  not  only  possesses  every 
propery  of  an  electron  current,  especially 
the  associated  magnetic  field,  but  also 
that  the  operation  of  the  tube  depends  in 
part  upon  several  phenomena  which  are 
tied-in  with  the  magnetic  field. 

Electromagnetic  focusing  would  be  im- 
possible without  the  magnetic  attribute 
of  the  electron  beam.  The  same,  is  true, 
of  course,  as  far  as  electromagnetic  de- 
flection is  concerned. 

The  absence  of  a  concentration  of  elec- 
trons in  a  vacuum  tube  does  not  remove 
the  electron  stream  from  the  conditions 
described  as  the  basic  laws  of  electricity 
and  magnetism  as  applied  to  electric  cur- 
rent— those  conditions  which  are,  of  ne- 
cessity, associated  with  the  beam  of  elec- 
trons in  the  cathode-ray  tube.  Both  are 
governed  by  identical  law;  it  is  just  that 
these  laws  are'  of  more  immediate  inter- 
est in  the  cathode-ray  tube  than  in  the 
ordinary  vacuum  tube. 

Electrons  advancing  through  a  conven- 
tional vacuum  tube  are  surrounded  by  a 
magnetic  field,  but  it  is  unimportant  in 


a  positively-charged  plate  without  first 
making  electrons  move  away  from  that 
plate,  leaving  a  residual  net  positive 
charge,  we  ordinarily  ignore  this  tran- 
sient motion  of  the  electron.  Conditions 
are  considered  only  after  the  electron  has 
come  to  rest  somewhere  else,  where  it 
sets  up  a  negatively-charged  surface. 

If  these  statements  remind  you  of 
"charged"  bodies  of  surfaces,  the  basis 
of  operation  of  the  conventional  vacuum 
tube  wherein  the  elements  act  as  charged 
surfaces,  or  even  the  principle  of  opera- 
tion of  a  capacitor,  your  thinking  is  along 
correct  lines. 

Many  of  the  performance  capabiHties 
of  the  cathode-ray  tube  stem  from  the 
creation  of  a  "charged"  state  in  some  of 
the  components  which  are  part  of  its 
structure.  The  electrostatic  fields  and 
lines  of  force  existing  between  these 
charged  surfaces  account  for  such  actions 
as  electrostatic  focusing  and  deflection, 
because  they  determine  the  paths  of  elec- 
trons which  pass  under  their  influence. 

Taking  into  account  the  properties  of 
current  and  the  fields  between  charged 
surfaces,  it  is  evident  that  the  basis  of 
focusing  and  deflection  is  the  establish- 
ment of  certain  paths  for  the  emitted 
electrons  and  the  beam  by  these  phe- 
nomena. A  review  of  the  basic  principles 
of  these  actions  is  essential.  This  can  be 
dene  most  easily  by  grouping  the  actions 
into  electrostatics  and  magnetics,  and 
discussing  each  separately — limited,  of 
course,  to  those  subjects  within  each 
group  which  are  most  directly  associated 
with  the  title  of  this  text. 

Electric  Fields  and  Lines  of  Force 

It  is  a  basic  law  of  physics  that  unlike 
charges  attract,  and  that  like  charges 
repel,  each  the  other.  Originally,  when 
it  was  noted  that  bodies  bearing  charges 


18 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     February  1951 


reacted  in  a  certain  manner  upon  each 
other,  the  general  approach  was  that 
some  sort  of  "action  at  a  distance"  was 
taking  place.  Among  the  early  investiga- 
tors, Faraday  was  a  strong  objector  to 
this  philosophy.  Eventually  he  conceived 
the  idea  that  something  existed  between 
the  bodies  which  displayed  attraction  and 
repulsion  for  each  other.  The  result  was 
the  concept  of  electric  fields  and  lines  of 
force  as  being  in  the  space  between  the 
objects. 


Graphical  presentations  of  the  electric 
field  and  the  lines  of  force  are  strictly 
mental  devices,  to  assist  in  visualizing 
certain  phenomena.  Sometimes  it  is  con- 
venient to  think  of  the  field  lines  or  the 
lines  of  force  as  having  certain  physical 
properties;  but  these  properties  are  only 
explanations  of  what  happens,  not  the 
cause. 

By  accepting  these  concepts  as  a  work- 
ing tool  without  trying  to  demonstrate 
validity,  it  will  be  easier  to  comprehend 


Cron-O-Matic  Carbon  Saver  Utilizes  New  Principles 


The  Model  U.  N.  Cron-O-Matic  carbon- 
saver  utilizes  a  completely  new  positive- 
carbon  assembly  and  includes  devices  here- 
tofore not  employed  with  standard  projec- 
tion arclamps  to  effect  an  entirely  automatic 
unit.  Installation  is  extremely  simple.  All 
insulation  being  self-contained,  the  projec- 
tionist need  only  remove  the  old  post  and 
guide  assembly,  substitute  the  Cron-O-Matic, 
and  discard  the  original  insulation.  Of  uni- 
versal design,  the  base  casting  is  merely  at- 
tached to  the  particular  lamp  for  which  it 
is  intended. 

The  projectioinst  sets  the  "top"  carbon 
by  means  of  the  gauge  furnished  (Fig.  1), 
installs  a  carbon  stub  of  any  length — from 
1%  to  6  inches  (regardless  of  the  number 
of  minutes  the  film  is  to  be  projected) , 
swings  the  carriage  back  to  the  operating 
position,  closes  the  lamphouse  door — and 
operates  as  usual. 

The  "swing-out"  of  the  carbon  head  has 
been  designed  for  quicker  cooling  of  the 
carbons  as  well  as  for  convenience  in  re- 
trimming.  No  drilling  of  carbons,  pins  or 
sleeves  is  required,  nor  is  it  necessary  to 
measure  the  stub  against  the  running  time. 

Precise  Alignment  Assured 

Under  any  circumstances,  the  stub  is  set 
back  on  the  guide  rest,  ready  for  striking. 
The  stub  is  in  exact  alignment  with  the 
negative:  this  is  accomplished  by  raising  or 
lowering  the  entire  assembly  and  by  lateral 
adjustment  made  possible  by  an  eccentric. 

Figure  2  illustrates  how  the  stub  has  been 
consumed  to  the  point  where  the  tail-flame 
of  the  arc  burns  upward  and  onto  the  "top" 
carbon,  preheating  it  to  the  same  tempera- 
ture as  the  stub.  The  carbon  head,  con- 
structed of  heat-resisting,  non-magnetic  alloy, 
is  not  damaged  by  the  flame  and  has  no 
effect  upon  the  original  setting  of  the  per- 
manent  magnet. 

In  Fig.  3  is  shown  how  the  stub  has 
dropped  down  out  of  the  path  of  the  now- 
burning  "top"  carbon.  This  drop  is  accom- 
plished instantaneously  due  to  a  trip-spring 
inserted  into  the  rear  of  the  pivot  action 
post.  The  "top"  carbon  will  burn  for  22 
minutes  at  normal  amperage  for  the  given 
size  used,  making  it  impossible  to  run  out 
of  carbon  on  any  full  double  reel  of  film. 

Figure  4  shows  the  condition  which  exists 
after  the  "top"  carbon  has  burned  for  22 
minutes  at  65  amperes  (8-mm  carbons).  It 
will  be  noted  that  the  extension  arm  drops 


harmlessly  downward  out  of  the  way  of  the 
reflector. 

The  Cron-O-Matic  carbon-saver  is  sold 
through  theatre  equipment  supply  houses 
everywhere.  Detailed  descriptive  literature 
will  be  sent  free  to  anyone  upon  request 
to  the  manufacturer,  Payne  Products,  2454 
W.   Stadium   Boulevard,  Ann  Arbor,   Mich. 


FIG. 
1 


FIG. 
2 


FIG. 
3 


FIG. 
4 


the  subject  of  fields,  and  in  particular  of 
electron  lenses. 

By  an  electrostatic  field  or  electric 
field,  the  physicist  means  a  special  con- 
dition of  space  around  every  elemental 
charge  of  either  polarity.  By  the  special 
condition  of  space,  the  physicist  means 
that  energy,  attributable  to  the  charge, 
exists  around  it.  Moreover,  this  energy 
is  capable  of  exerting  a  force  upon  an- 
other charge. 

The  Vital  'Field  of  Energy' 

Thus,  every  elemental  charge,  whether 
isolated  in  space  or  resting  upon  the  sur- 
face of  a  body,  is  inseparably  associated 
with  an  electrostatic  field,  which  may  be 
called  a  field  of  energy.  Or,  if  we  exam- 
ine the  condition  from  the  viewpoint  of 
the  force  which  it  may  exert  upon  an- 
other charge,  then  the  electrostatic  or 
electric  field  is  a  field  of  force. 

Since  the  field  is  one  of  energy  or 
force,  neither  of  which  is  a  substance, 
the  field  is  invisible,  detectable  only  by 
its  effects.  Such  effects  are  the  forces 
which  the  field  is  capable  of  exerting 
upon  something  susceptible  to  it,  and 
such  a  "something"  is  another  charge  or 
charges. 

Now,  recalling  that  every  elemental 
charge  has  a  field  of  its  own,  and  plac- 
ing a  charge  A  within  the  field  of  another 
charge  B:  if  we  say  that  the  field  of  A  is 
capable  of  exerting  a  force  upon  charge 
B,  we  are  stating  only  a  part  of  the  truth. 
In  reality,  charge  B  also  has  a  field,  so 
that  the  field  of  A  is  acting  upon  B,  and 
the  field  of  B  is  acting  upon  A. 

When  we  speak  about  forces  being 
present  in  a  field  and  being  the  effect  of 
the  field,  it  must  be  remembered  that 
this  is  a  mutual  condition  involving  all 
of  the  fields  due  to  all  of  the  charges. 
The  manifestation  of  these  forces  is  the 
action  described  by  the  basic  laws  of 
physics — the  attraction  between  unlike 
charges  and  the  repulsion  between  like 
charges. 

Directed  Quantity — a  'Vector' 

Now,  force  not  only  has  magnitude  but 
is  also  a  directed  quantity— that  is,  it 
acts  in  a  definite  direction.  (Such  a 
quantity  is  called  a  vector.)  If  we  say 
that  a  field  is  perceivable  by  its  effects 
and  these  effects  are  forces,  then  the  ef- 
fects (forces)  have  both  direction  and 
magnitude.  Here  we  have  a  clue  to  the 
means  of  representing  the  fields  as  a 
whole,  or,  rather,  a  means  of  illustrating 
the  special  condition  of  either  the  space 
around  a  charge,  or  the  condition  of 
space  between  charges. 

What  is  done  is  to  use  lines  which 
show  the  direction  of  action  of  the  forces 
present  in  the  field.  We  might  describe 
these  lines  as  being  the  paths  of  the 
force,  or  the  paths  over  which  the  force 
(Continued  on  page  25) 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     February  1951 


19 


IN  THE 


SPOTLIGHT 


By 

HARRY 

SHERMAN 


ONE  cannot  read  the  recent  government  wage-price  "freeze" 
order  without  experiencing  mixed  feelings  of  relief  at  some 
sort  of  action  after  weary  months  of  delay  and  a  "so-what-the-Hell" 
attitude  mindful  of  the  days  of  World  War  II  in  terms  of  too  little, 
too  late. 

We  motion  picture  people  still  have  a  potent  publicity  outlet  via 
the  newsreels,  personal  appearances  of  stars,  charity  sponsorships, 
collections,  etc. — in  short,  anything  smacking  of  glamour  in  terms  of 
Podunk  and  all  way  stations  to  eject  the  stuffing  from  the  soft  cushions 
which  soothe  the  Washington  crowd  into  thinking  that  they  can  get 
away  with  anything. 

Wage  control  without  price  control — bread,  clothing,  medicine, 
doctors'  bills,  and  the  thousand  and  one  things  necessary  for  the 
mere  business  of  living — all  these  add  up  to  the  ultimate  in  govern- 
mental stalling  and  an  appeal  for  votes  come  1952  which  will  be 
overwhelmingly  repudiated  by  the  working  men  and  women  of 
America. 

Wage  control?  Yes  .  .  .  but  coupled  with  a  control  of  the  price 
structure  that  will  enable  the  average  Joe  America  to  live  and  walk 
the  streets  of  his  native  land  in  a  manner  befitting  one  who,  we  are 
told,  is  privileged  (?)  to  vote  for  those  who  control  his  destiny  by 
sheer  weight  of  executive  office. 

No  wage  controls  without  price  controls — that's  our  stand. 


•  Ernie  Lang,  recording-secretary  for 
New  York  Local  306,  recently  notified 
the  membership  that  the  Local's  Pension 
and  Welfare  Plan  had  been  approved  and 
put  into  effect.  (See  IP  for  Oct.  1950,  p. 
19.)  This  plan,  which  affects  members 
working  in  major  circuit  theaters,  Broad- 
way houses,  downtown  Brooklyn  thea- 
tres, and  many  of  the  independent 
houses,  automatically  reduces  the  union 
dues,  and  eliminates  any  future  assess- 
ments for  old-age  pension  and  death 
benefits.  For  example,  prior  to  the 
inauguration  of  the  new  Pension  and 
Welfare  Plan,  the  union  dues  for  the 
present  quarter  would  have  been  $42.80, 
as  compared  with  $19.25  which  is  now 
payable. 

All  members  of  the  Local,  retiring  after 
January  17,  1951,  will  receive  a  weekly 
pension  of  $30  (an  increase  of  $9  per 
week  over  the  previous  pension  allow- 
ance), which  is  independent  of  any  gov- 
ernment pension  or  Social  Security  al- 
lowance he  may  be  entitled  to. 

In  lieu  of  a  wage  increase  paid  direct 
to    Local    306    members,    the    aforemen- 


tioned theaters  have  agreed  to  contribute 
5%  of  the  men's  basic  wage  scale  to  the 
Local's  Welfare  Fund.  Payments  for 
hospitalization  and  medical  care  for  the 
members  and  their  wives  will  be  made 
from  this   fund. 

Since  negotiations  for  this  plan  were 
started  several  months  ago,  it  will  not  be 
affected  by  the  recent  government  wage- 
freeze   order. 

•  Bill  Kunzmann,  convention  vice-pres- 
ident for  the  SMPTE,  advised  us  that 
the  next  meeting  of  the  Society  will  be 
held  at  the  Hotel  Statler,  New  York  City, 
April  30-May  4  next.  We  hope  that  the 
Society  will  justify  its  bid  for  projection- 
ist members  by  devoting  at  least  one  ses- 
sion to  matters  of  interest  to  the  projec- 
tion craft. 

•  As  an  example  of  what  we  consider 
smart  public  relations,  we  point  to  the 
line  followed  by  Local  586,  Nebraska 
(Grand  Island,  Columbus,  Norfolk,  Hast- 
ings, and  York),  in  effecting  a  more 
harmonious     relationship     between     the 


Local  and  the  various  civic,  educational, 
and  religious  organizations  in  its  juris- 
diction. In  trying  to  overcome  the  many 
deep-seated  and  unfair  prejudices  against 
labor  unions,  the  members  of  Local  586 
gave  generously  of  their  time  and  experi- 
ence to  these  organizations  whenever 
they  put  on  a  show.  Eventually,  a  bar- 
rier of  many-years'  standing  was  com- 
pletely broken  down,  and  today  Local 
586  has  their  confidence  and  respect. 
Today,  whenever  an  entertainment  is 
planned,  the  Local  furnishes  the  needed 
men,  at  regular  pay. 

Many  thanks  to  Conrad  Krieger,  sec- 
retary of  the  Local,  for  forwarding  this 
information — which  might  be  emulated 
with  profit  by  other  Locals. 

•  A  representative  gathering  turned  out 
to  witness  the  installation  of  the  new 
officers  of  the  25-30  Club  at  the  regular 
January  meeting.  Harry  Mackler,  presi- 
dent (member  of  New  York  Local  306)  ; 
Edward  Dougherty,  vice-president  (Local 
384,  Hudson  County,  N.  J.),  and  Charles 
Eichhorn,  trustee  (Local  306),  are  the 
only  new  officers  for  1951.  Holdovers 
are  Morris  Klapholz,  secretary,  and  Ben 
Stern,  financial  secretary-treasurer.  Mor- 
ris J.  Rotker,  past-president  of  the  Club, 
presided  at  the  ceremonies. 

Among  the  invited  guests  were  Admiral 
R.  B.  Tompkins,  president,  and  Arthur 
Meyer,  vice-president  and  general  sales 
manager,  International  Projector  Corp.; 
Walter  E.  Green,  president,  National 
Theatre  Supply  Co. ;  Allen  G.  Smith,  New 
York  City  branch  manager  for  NTS,  and 
Barney  Passman,  chief  engineer  at  the 
IPC  plant  in  Bloomfield,  N.  J. 

•  Realizing  the  advantages  to  its  young- 
er members  of  a  more  thorough  ground- 
ing in  the  duties  of  a  stagehand,  officials 
of  Local  366,  Westchester  County,  N.  Y., 
are  sponsoring  a  course  in  back-stage 
activities  at  Hunter  College,  New  York 
City.  This  course  is  conducted  by  a 
member  of  the  Local  and  classes  are 
held  twice  weekly.  Nat  Storch,  presi- 
dent, and  Joe  Monaco,  business  repre- 
sentative for  the  Local,  have  long  cher- 


Z0 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     February  1951 


ished  this  idea;  now  that  it  has  been 
realized,  we  hope  it  will  be  tremendously 
successful. 

•  Anonymous  letters,  always  the  refuge 
of  the  cowardly  and  the  bane  of  our 
existence.  Most  of  us  have  at  some  time 
or  other  been  the  recipient  of  an  anony- 
mous letter  or  two  attacking  either  our 
own  or  some  other  person's  character. 
The  writers  of  such  letters  hide  behind 
the  cloak  of  anonymity  either  because 
they  cannot  substantiate  their  charges  or 
because  they  just  haven't  the  guts  to 
back  them  up. 

As  a  member  of  one  of  the  larger 
Local  Unions  in  the  Alliance,  we  have 
received  many  unsigned  scurrilous  let- 
ters, pamphlets,  etc.,  attacking  the  Local 
administration  and  individual  members. 
These  were  generally  signed  "Anony- 
mous," "The  Fair  Deal  Committee," 
"Unemployed  Operators  Committee,"  "In- 
dependent Theater  Operators  Commit- 
tee," and  many  other  phony-sounding 
committee  names,  too  numerous  to  men- 
tion. 

It  has  long  been  our  contention  that 
such  "committees"  usually  are  non- 
existent— that  they  are  merely  a  dodge 
behind  which  a  few  disgruntled  mem- 
bers try  to  hide  their  identities.  We  be- 
lieve that  when  members  are  dissatisfied 
with  conditions  existing  in  their  Local 
and  feel  that  they  have  legitimate  cause 
for  complaint,  or  wish  to  bring  charges 
against  any  of  its  officers,  they  should 
air  their  grievances  through  the  chan- 
nels that  are  open  to  them  and  not  hide 
behind  faked  committee  names. 

This  reminds  us  of  a  comment  made 
by  Henry  Ward  Beecher  when  he  re- 
ceived a  letter  which  contained  one  word: 
"Fool."  He  said,  "I  have  received  many 
unsigned  letters  of  criticism,  but  this  is 
the  first  in  which  the  writer  signed  his 
name  but  forgot  to  write  the  letter." 
This  leaves  nothing  more  to  be  said. 

•  The  recent  death  of  Emmett  Carter, 
Sr.,  business  representative  of  Local  587, 
Longview-Marshall,  Texas,  ended  a  ca- 
reer of  many  years  service  to  the  Local. 
Several  months  ago  the  Local  awarded 
Carter  a  gold  button  for  37  years'  loyal 
service. 

•  Wedding  bells  rang  again  for  Mike 
Berkowitz,  veteran  member  of  New  York 
Local  306,  and  his  wife,  Anna,  when 
they  celebrated  their  50th  wedding  anni- 
versary last  month  at  the  Grand  Street 
Boys  Clubhouse  in  New  York  City. 
Several  hundred  guests  witnessed  the 
"golden"  ceremony,  which  was  very 
beautiful  and  touching.  Mike  was  as 
nervous  as  a  young  bridegroom;  Anna 
was  her  usual  composed  self — naturally. 

Dinner    and    dancing    until    the    wee 


hours  wound  up  one  of  the  most  de- 
lightful evenings  we  have  had  in  a  long 
time.  The  entire  affair  was  arranged 
and  planned  by  Mike's  son,  Milton,  chief 
projectionist  at  the  Capitol  Theater, 
famed  Broadway  house. 

25   Years   Ago — February,    1926 

•  Tht  IA  Executive  Board  unanimously 
elected  Barney  Ryan,  member  of  Brook- 
lyn Local  No.  4,  a  member  of  the  board 
of  trustees,  succeeding  William  Harrer, 
who  was  elected  7th  IA  vice-president. 
.  .  .  President  Bill  Canavan's  plan  to  pub- 
lish a  book  of  all  IA  convention  proceed- 
ings from  the  inception  of  the  organiza- 
tion to  the  present  date  was  endorsed  by 
the  Executive  Board.  Order  blanks  were 
to  be  sent  out  to  all  Local  Unions  to 
determine  the  feasibility  of  such  a 
project.  .  .  .  The  nomination  of  George 
Curran,  member  of  Boston  Local  182,  as 
a  candidate  for  the  office  of  sheriff  of 
Suffolk  County,  Mass.,  was  endorsed  by 
the  IA  Executive  Board,  which  urged 
all  Local  Unions  in  Suffolk  County  to  get 
behind  their   fraternal  brother  and  help 


elect  him  to  office.  .  .  .  The  IA  donated 
$1000  to  the  Striking  Anthracite  Miners' 
Fund  in  response  to  an  appeal  by  the  AF 
of  L  Executive  Council.  .  .  .  The  Genera] 
Executive  Board,  by  unanimous  vote, 
decided  that  "in  the  event  a  member  be 
denied  the  privilege  of  working  in  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  Local  Union  with 
which  he  is  affiliated  for  any  reason 
whatsoever,  that  member  would  not  be 
permitted  to  accept  employment  in  the 
jurisdiction  of  a  sister  Local  Union,  and 
his  traveling  privileges  will  be  suspended 
until  such  time  as  his  Local  Union  again 
grants  him  the  privilege  of  working." 
.  .  .  Malcolm  Grow  was  expelled  from 
membership  in  Local  No.  638,  Carbon 
County,  Penna.,  for  refusing  to  obey  the 
official  road  call  effective  against  the 
Park  Theater  in  Lehighton,  Penna.  .  .  . 
The  appeal  before  the  IA  Executive  Board 
of  Jack  Seraphine,  member  of  New  York 
Local  No.  306,  against  the  Local's  action 
in  refusing  him  the  privilege  of  running 
for  office  for  membership  on  its  Execu- 
tive Board  was  denied.  The  Local  al- 
leged that  Seraphine  did  not  pay  his 
dues  within  the  prescribed  period. 


Report  on  IA-IP  Amateur  Radio  Contest 


By  AMOS  KANAGA  (W6BAA) 

SHORT-WAVE  radio  is  sometimes  like 
the  fair  sex:  it  can  be  gracious  and 
generous ;  then  again,  it  can  be  a  stinker. 
And  the  IA-IP  amateur  radio  contest 
week,  as  far  as  weather  conditions  were 
concerned,  was  a  "stinker."  However, 
on  the  basis  of  reports  received  to  date 
and  the  many  more  expected,  it  would 
seem  that  the  boys  did  pretty  well  for 
themselves. 

The  contest  did  not  approach  other 
such  national  events  in  terms  of  thous- 
ands of  participants,  but  considering  the 
comparatively  short  time  in  which  IA 
national  listings  have  been  published,  we 
did  pretty  well  for  ourselves. 

Many  of  the  boys  worked  their  first 
IA  contact;  others  had  several  lined  up. 
Whenever  the  band  opened  up,  especially 
on  10  meters,  there  were  IA  men  on  the 
air.  Most  of  them  hovered  around  the 
28,850  frequency  and  passed  the  word 
along  when  a  new  IA  station  was  worked 
or  heard.  One  West  Coast  station  worked 
eight  in  a  row — then  didn't  hear  any  IA 
men  for  three  days!  After  midnight,  75 
meters  was  fairly  active. 

IP  Listing  Continues  to  Grow 

Many  new  calls  will  be  added  to  our 
list  as  a  result  of  this  contest,  since  many 
of  our  boys  now  look  to  the  pages  of  IP 
for  the  current  listing  of  IA  radio  men. 

An  outstanding  thing  about  this  con- 
test, remarked  by  many  of  our  fellows, 
was  that  there  was  not  the  usual  haste 


displayed  in  making  contacts,  as  in  other 
contests.  There  was  more  real  fraterni- 
zation, the  boys  made  schedules  to  QSO 
again,  and  they  met  a  lot  of  IA  men  they 
never  knew  were  around  on  the  air. 

Important:  please  send  in  a  copy  of 
your  contest  log,  even  if  you  only  worked 
one  IA  man  (and  that  is  all  several  did)  ; 
that  station  may  be  one  that  is  not  now 
on  our  list.  When  we  put  them  all  to- 
gether, we'll  really  have  something.  Our 
list  grew  because  every  one  of  you  took 
time  out  to  let  us  know  of  another  IA 
man  who  was  a  radio  amateur.  That's 
FB  and  real  spirit! 

We  tried  our  best  to  make  the  dead- 
line for  this  issue,  but  all  scores  were 
not  received  in  time.  Fellows,  we  must 
have  your  log  to  cross-check,  even  if  you 
worked  only  one  IA  brother.  So,  shoot 
it  in  to  me  pronto  at  262  Westland  Ave., 
San  Mateo,  Calif.  Complete  scores,  and 
the  contest  winners,  will  be  announced  in 
the  next  (March)  issue  of  IP — plus,  of 
course,  the  very  latest  listing. 

Many  thanks — and  73. 


RCA  Eng.  Products  Personnel  Changes 

Theodore  A.  Smith,  for  the  past  five  years 
head  of  sales  for  RCA  Engineering  Products, 
has  been  named  assistant  general  manager 
of  the  department.  He  succeeds  W.  W. 
Watts,  who  is  on  a  leave  of  absence  for 
service  with  the  NPA  in  Washington. 

Simultaneously,  A.  R.  Hopkins  was  named 
general  sales  manager  of  the  department, 
while  Barton  Kreuzer  was  appointed  gen- 
eral product  manager. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     February  1951 


21 


Report  on  First  Month's  Phonevision   Chicago  Test 


THE  Tv  topic  of  prime  interest  to  film 
■  people  during  the  past  month  was  the 
report  issued  by  Eugene  F.  McDonald, 
Jr.,  president  of  Zenith  Radio,  on  that 
company's  Phonevision  tests  over  a  four- 
week  period  among  300  selected  families 
in  the  Chicago  area.  In  a  letter  to  dis- 
tributors who  supplied  the  films  for  the 
tests,  McDonald  declared  that  the  opera- 
tion in  its  first  month  drew  26%  of  the 
"total  possible  attendance."  No  mention 
was  made  of  the  obvious  novelty  appeal 
of  the  operation. 

McDonald  cited  figures  indicating  an 
over-all  average  of  30%  of  the  possible 
audience.  The  ten  lowest-grossing  fea- 
tures offered  drew  an  average  of  22%, 
and,  the  Zenith  head  declared,  relatively 
few  feature  pictures  produced  in  the  last 
20  years  have  played  to  that  large  a  per- 
centage of  the  possible  theater  audience 
on  their  first  showing. 

Films  Two  Years  or  More  Old 

Zenith  is  using  films  two  or  more  years 
old,  which  have  played  out  their  theatri- 
cal dates. 

Average  attendance  of  those  participat- 
ing in  the  test  was  3.1  times  in  the  first 
week  of  the  test,  dropping  to  1.9  for  the 
second  and  third,  and  1.7  for  the  fourth. 
Disregarding  the  initial  week,  average  for 
the  next  three  was  1.8  times  per  week 
per  family,  McDonald  points  out. 

Projecting  this  against  the  10  million 
receivers  presently  in  use  would  indicate 
a  producer's  income  of  $468,000,000  an- 
nually, on  the  basis  of  50%  of  the  $1 
fee  charged  in  the  Chicago  test.  To  a 
large  extent,  McDonald  declared,  this 
would  be  supplemental  to  income  producers 
would  continue  to  receive  from  theaters. 

Cites  Results  as  'Fabulous' 

"These  first  four  weeks'  results  on  Phone- 
vision  are  fabulous,"  McDonald  emphasized, 
"even  if  you  cut  them  in  two  or  in  four.  And 
you  must  remember  that  this  test  is  handi- 
capped to  some  extent  by  the  age  of  the 
pictures.  All  of  these  pictures  played  in 
theaters  before  the  majority  of  our  test 
families  owned  television  receivers,  most  of 
them  during  the  high-water  period  of  theater 
attendance. 

"We  have  secured  phenomenal  results  by 
tapping  an  audience  that  did  not  see  these 
pictures  in  the  theater.  I  think  it  is  reason- 
able to  assume  that  many  of  these  who  did 
not  buy  the  pictures  on  Phonevision,  re- 
frained because  they  had  already  seen  them. 
Can  you  imagine,  then,  how  much  more 
startling  our  results  would  be  if  we  were 
presenting  new  pictures  that  none  of  our 
families  have  previously  seen?" 

First-Time  Viewing  by  Many 

In  another  summary  of  postcard  reports 
from  Phonevision  subscribers,  McDonald 
pointed  out  that,  except  for  a  few  great 
classics,  four  out  of  five  are  seeing  the  pic- 


tures they  purchase  for  the  first  time,  "in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  each  of  these  pictures 
has  long  since  completed  its  theater  runs, 
and  that  some  had  been  reissued." 

"It  is  self-evident,"  the  Zenith  president 
said,  "that  with  Phonevision  we  are  reach- 
ing that  vast  segment  of  our  population  that 
never  were  regular  theater-goers,  and  that 
in  reaching  this  new  audience  we  are  adding 
countless  millions  of  dollars  to  the  value  of 
the  old  features  you  have  in  your  vaults.  It 
is  not  beyond  the  realm  of  possibility  that 
many  of  your  older  pictures  will  earn  more 
for  you  on  reissue  by  Phonevision  than  they 
have  earned  to  date  in  theater  showings." 


Expand  Use  of  Tv  Channels 

Experiments  by  20th  Century-Fox  in 
theater  Tv  relaying  the  past  two  years 
indicate  that  cross-polarization  may  well 
lead  to  greater  use  of  certain  Tv  chan- 
nels. 

These  experiments,  conducted  in  New 
York  on  the  6800-7050  mc  band,  indicate 
that  programs  can  originate  at  two  differ- 
ent points  on  the  same  channel  and  be 
received  at  a  distribution  point  without 
cross-channel  interference.  While  the  ex- 
periments were  made  primarily  with  the- 
ater Tv  in  mind,  the  report  indicates  that 
cross-polarization  will  increase  the  use 
of  all  Tv  channels. 

The  experiments  disclosed  that  pro- 
grams could  originate  at  two  different, 
points,  be  fed  to  a  major  distribution 
point,  then  relayed  to  a  second  distribu- 
tion point  without  interference,  although 
only  one  channel  was  used. 


AF  of  M  Ultimatum  to  Tv  Nets 

Further  difficulty  for  Tv  broadcasters 
is  the  announcement  by  the  American 
Federation  of  Musicians  that  the  net- 
works may  use  on  Tv  only  those  films 
"expressly  authorized  between  the  AF 
of  M  and  producers  (film)  or  others 
having  interest  in  such  film."  If  this  ban 
persists,  Tv  stations  may  be  in  a  bad  way 
for  film  fare. 

AF  of  M  will  permit  use  of  film  repro- 
duction of  a  "live"  telecast  by  affiliated 
network  at  the  same  time  show  is  given, 
but  reproduction  may  not  be  given  more 
than  one  time ;  but  in  the  event  that  it  is, 
the  following  payments  will  be  due:  (1) 
a  repeat  fee  must  be  paid  to  the  musi- 
cians, and  (2)  payment  must  be  made 
to  the  Music  Performance  Trust  Fund 
equal  to  5%  of  the  "gross  time  charges." 


Du  Pont  Price  Tilt,  Curtailment 

Simultaneous  with  the  issuance  of  new 
price  list  which  shows  increases  averag- 
ing 11%%  for  both  negative  and  posi- 
tive motion  picture  film  (attributed  to 
increased  labor  and  material  costs)    Du 


Pont  notified  its  customers  that  it  was 
curtailing  its  orders  by  25%.  Action  was 
taken  it  was  explained,  because  of  com- 
mitments to  produce  an  increased  sup- 
ply of  X-ray  film  for  the  armed  forces 
and  others. 

Hardest  hit  by  this  curtailment  of  mo- 
tion picture  stock  will  be  the  newsreels 
and  small  laboratories,  representatives 
of  which  are  making  strenuous  efforts  to 
have  the  cutback  modified,  at  least. 

Sample  price  increases  on  Du  Pont 
stock  per  1000  linear  feet:  35-mm  safety 
negative,  from  $43.76  to  $49.21;  release 
positive  safety  film,  from  $14.80  to 
$16.22. 


4- Inch   Lens  Now  Standard  on 
All  Century  Projectors 

Century  Projector  Corp.  announces 
that  the  latest  and  most  modern  4-inch 
diameter  lens  mounts  are  now  standard 
equipment  in  Century  Model  C  single- 
shutter  and  Model  CC  double-shutter 
projectors,  on  both  the  standard  as  well 
as  the  water-cooled  models.  This  change 
continues  the  Century  policy  of  keeping 
pace  with  the  latest  industry  develop- 
ments. Although  4-inch  diameter  lenses 
are  now  available  only  in  the  longer  focal 
lengths,  there  are  indications  that  the 
trend  toward  larger  diameter  lenses  make 
it  desirable  at  this  time  to  standardize 
on  the  larger  lens  mounts  for  all  pro- 
jection equipment. 


Confirm  Nate  Golden  as  NPA 
Film-Photo  Director 

Nathan  D.  Golden  has  been  officially  con- 
firmed as  director  of  the  Motion  Picture- 
Photo  Products  Division  of  the  NPA.  Golden 
formerly  headed  the  Motion  Picture  Divi- 
sion of  the  Dept.  of  Commerce.  During 
World  War  II  he  was  consultant  to  the 
Production  Board  and  to  the  Office  of  Co- 
ordinator for  Inter-American  Affairs.  He 
also  served  as  consultant  to  the  Golden 
Gate  International  Exposition,  and  to  the 
American  group  which  considered  world 
tariffs  and  trade  in  France  in  1949. 

Long,  Varied  Film  Career 

Golden  has  long  maintained  close  contact 
with  the  projection  groups  in  the  film  in- 
dustry, following  his  early  days  as  a  mem- 
ber of  IA  Local  160  of  Cleveland,  of  which 
organization  he  is  a  life  member.  He  re- 
ceived the  first  gold  medal  award  of  the 
Projection  Advisory  Council. 

A  veteran  of  World  War  I,  Golden  en- 
tered U.  S.  service  in  1926.  He  is  a  graduate 
of  Washington  College  of  Law,  American 
University;  past  commander  of  the  D.  C, 
V.  of  F.  Wars  as  well  as  of  the  Legion 
Post,  National  Press  Club;  fellow  of  the 
SMPTE,  member  of  Projection  Advisory 
Council,  and  chairman  of  the  Heart  Com- 
mittee, Variety  Clubs. 


22 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST    •     February  1951 


NEWS     PROJECTIONS 

WHOLLY  aside  from  present  con- 
struction curbs,  theater  building 
should  be  stopped  completely  for  five 
years  as  a  "breather"  and  to  check  over- 
seating  which  is  rampant,  says  Abram 
Myers,  general  counsel  for  Allied  States 
exhib  group.  .  .  .  Paramount  plans  to  put 
52  features  in  work  within  the  next  24 
months,  Tv  notwithstanding.  .  .  .  Thea- 
ter construction  and  alterations  in  Can- 
ada last  year  cost  $6  million,  bringing 
the  past  five-years'  total  to  over  $33  mil- 
lions. .  .  .  Loew's  has  been  granted  extra 
time  to  March  31  next  to  file  its  exhibi- 
tion-production divorcement  plan  with 
the  Dept.  of  Justice.  .  .  .  More  than  97% 
of  U.  S.  theaters  sell  candy,  95%  sell 
popcorn,  and  79%  sell  soft  drinks.  Some 
86%  have  refreshment  stands,  while  47% 
use  coin  machines,  meaning  some  have 
both.  .  .  .  Technicolor  announced  that 
it  plans  to  process  103  forthcoming  pro- 
ductions either  set  for  release,  in  produc- 
tion, or  in  preparation.  Biggest  Tech- 
nicolor program  ever,  probably  in  re- 
sponse to  insistent  exhibitor  demand. 


National  exhibitor  groups  still  fear- 
ful that  the  present  high  20%  ticket  tax 
will  be  boosted  during  current  defense 
emergency;  although  in-the-know  Wash- 
ington sources  insist  there  will  be  no 
upward  tilt.  .  .  .  National  Collegiate 
Athletic  Assoc.  Tv  committee  came  out 
flatfootedly  for  a  ban  on  home  telecasts 
of  football  games,  citing  a  box-office  drop 
this  past  season.  Committee  would  like 
to  make  an  exclusive  deal  direct  with 
theaters,  if  enough  houses  would  install 
Tv  units.  .  .  .  Paramount  has  announced 
the  purchase  for  retirement  of  251,000 
shares  of  its  own  common  stock  on  the 
N.  Y.  Stock  Exchange,  at  the  pegged 
price  of  $21.50  a  share.  .  .  .  RKO 
Theaters  in  New  York  area  have  con- 
cluded a  13-week  deal  with  NBC  Tv 
outlet  to  promote  former's  attractions 
and  "Let's  Go  Out  to  The  Movies"  cam- 
paign. First  such  deal  by  a  major  cir- 
cuit. .  .  .  Permission  granted  to  RCA 
to  appeal  recent  Chicago  court  decision 
anent  color  Tv  (which  favored  CBS  non- 
compatible  system  approved  by  the  FCC) 
is  largely  academic  in  view  of  manufac- 
turing restrictions  which  will  effectively 
bar  color  Tv  progress  for  several  years. 
.  .  .  Better  pictures  plus  increased  de- 
fense plant  earnings  are  cited  for  recent 
upswing  in  box-office  take,  especially  in 
Mid-West  and  South.  .  .  .  Quote  from 
Julian  Brylawski  of  Metropolitan  Thea- 
ter Owners  of  Washington,  D.  C,  on 
possible  theater  Tv  installations:  "We 
cannot  sell  what  they  (standard  Tv  pro- 
grams)  are  giving  away,  no  matter  how 


with 
Your  Patrons 


Clear 

Crisp  Pictures 

with 

SUPER  SNAPLITE 


f/1.9 


PROJECTION  LENSES 


Your  patrons  will 
notice  the  difference! 
Super  Snaplites  give 
you  Sharper  Pictures, 
More  Illumination, 
Greater  Contrast  and 
Definition. 

For  the  Best  in 
Projection  use  Super 
Snaplites  .  .  .  the 
only  Projection  Lenses 
to  give  you  a  true 
speed  of  f/1 .9 
in  every  focal  length 
up  to  7  inches. 

Ask  for  Bulletins 
207  and  209 


KOLLiUOKjKGN 


2  Franklin  Avenue 
Brooklyn  11,  New  York 


\dwkcaJ c 


^81*^® 


OKI'OllilTION 


"YOU      GET     MORE      LIGHT     WITH     SUPER     SNAPLITE" 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


February  1951 


23 


inferior  their  product  is."  .  .  .  Schine 
Theaters,  loser  in  a  Government  anti- 
trust suit,  has  put  28  houses  in  New 
York,  Maryland,  Ohio  and  Kentucky  on 
the  block,  ranging  from  the  394-seat 
Corbin,  Ky.,  leasehold  for  $7,500  to  the 
1381-seat  Madison  in  Rochester,  N.  Y., 
for  $550,000. 


Arctic  Blanch  Screen  Surface 

High  reflectivity  and  a  near-perfect  diffu- 
sion of  light  over  the  entire  surface  are  the 


primary  requirements  for  an  efficient  screen 
in  a  drive-in  theater.  An  additional  consid- 
eration is  the  ability  of  the  screen  surfacing 
medium  to  withstand  the  rigors  of  all  types 
of  weather  through  a  long  operating  season. 

This  is  the  opinion  of  Ken  Caldwell,  presi- 
dent of  National  Theater  Screen  Refinishing 
Co.,  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  and  a  member  of  IA 
Local  233,  following  an  intensive  survey  of 
scores  of  drive-in  screen  surfaces. 

Ordinary  flat  paint  will  enable  a  high  de- 
gree of  reflectivity,  says  Ken,  but  it  contains 
little  oil  and  thus  cannot  withstand  weather 
abuse.  The  trick  may  be  accomplished,  how- 


If 's  good  showmanship  to 

keep  the  HEART  ot  your 

theatre  running  smoothly 


it  costs  so  little  to  protect  so  much 

The  advantages  of  RCA 
Service  are  yours  at  a 
cost  so  low,  a  few  ad- 
missions daily  pay  for  it. 
Write  for  free  folder — 
" Performance  Security ." 


Every  exhibitor,  whether  he  operates  a 
first-run  downtown  theatre,  a  neighbor- 
hood or  small  town  house,  must  constantly 
maintain  a  smooth-running  show  to  create 
a  steady  and  reliable  following  of  patrons. 
It's  smart  showmanship  to  present  attrac- 
tions at  their  very  best. 

RCA  Service,  by  protecting  the  projec- 
tion room  equipment — the  heart  of  the  theatre 
— makes  sure  it  operates  smoothly  ...  at 
top  efficiency.  RCA  Service  technicians  are 
skilled  in  the  systematic  point-to-point 
checkup  and  maintenance  of  all  types  of 
projection  and  sound  equipment  regardless 
of  make.  RCA  Service  Plans  combine  ex- 
pert technical  assistance  with  comprehen- 
sive parts  and  repair  provisions  for  motion 
picture  and  theatre  TV  equipments. 


RCA  SERVICE  COMPANY,  INC. 

A  RADIO  CORPORATION  of  AMERICA  SUBSIDIARY 
CAMDEN,  NEW  JERSEY 


ever,  by  the  proper  combining  of  certain 
materials  which  fulfill  all  requirements.  Ken 
asserts  he  has  turned  this  trick  with  his 
Arctic  Blanch  refinishing  paint,  already 
used  in  several  hundred  drive-ins. 

Arctic  Blanch  finish  permits  high  reflec- 
tivity, fine  diffusion  of  light  without  glaring 
"hot  spots,"  and  stands  up  under  all  weather 
conditions.  Full  details  of  this  product  may 
be  had  by  writing  direct  to  NTSR  Co.,  at  129 
Zenner  St.,  Buffalo  11,  N.  Y. 


IA     ELECTIONS 


LOCAL  236,  BIRMINGHAM,  ALA. 

F.  E.  "Walker,  pres.;  E.  E.  Jones,  vice-pres.; 
J.  Frank  Mankin,  sec;  C.  M.  Trent,  treas.; 
R  A.  Root,  Sr.,  bus.  rep.;  J.  N.  Cason,  sgt.- 
at-arms;  J.  C.  Harper,  Jr.,  T.  W.  Wall,  W.  H. 
Neal,  Jr.,  trustees. 

LOCAL  291,  GRAND  RAPIDS,  MICH. 

C.  R.  Bright,  pres.;  C.  M.  Breas,  1st  vice- 
pres.;  A.  J.  Prus,  2nd  vice-pres.;  C.  W. 
Gillette,  3rd  vice-pres.;  D.  M.  Landon,  rec- 
sec;  J.  0.  Bogardus,  sec.-treas.;  S.  L.  Hattis, 
bus.  rep.;  J.  J.  Korzak,  sgt.-at-arms;  F.  A. 
Arndt,  W.  G.  Emaus,  W.  J.  Sowa,  trustees; 
J.  0.  Bogardus,  W.  A.  Barr,  A.  E.  Wick, 
exam,  board;  J.  J.  Korzak,  S.  M.  Kant,  A.  C. 
Jensen,  del.  Fed.  Labor  Convention. 

LOCAL  310,  ATLANTIC  CITY,  N.  J. 

William  Clendening,  pres.;  Richard  Mc- 
Sweeney,  vice-pres.;  Vincent  J.  Sheeran,  rec- 
sec;  William  Monroe,  fin.-sec;  August  Hil- 
ton, bus.  rep.;  William  Oliver,  sgt.-at-arms; 
William  Shapiro,  Joseph  Jacoby,  Richard 
DeHaven,  trustees;  Walter  Seeley,  Frank 
Bernato,  exec,  board;  Frederick  Dodd,  del. 
CLU. 

LOCAL  407,  SAN  ANTONIO,  TEX. 

Genaro  G.  Garcia,  pres.;  Joe  P.  Cuevas, 
vice-pres.;  Horace  E.  Blanton,  rec.-sec; 
Henry  L.  Villapadierna,  sec:-treas.;  Ernest 
L.  Roberson,  bus.  rep.;  Phillip  N.  Wehr- 
mann,  Manuel  Ayala,  members  at  large. 

LOCAL  458,  PORTLAND,  MAINE 

Chelsea  A.  Waldron,  pres.;  Maurice  Eaton, 
vice-pres.;  Paul  S.  Davis,  sec;  George  E. 
Francis,  treas.;  Frank  X.  Smith,  bus.  rep.; 
John  H.  Decker,  sgt.-at-arms;  William  Wil- 
kinson, exec,  board. 

LOCAL  599,  FRESNO,  CALIF. 

Fenton  Quimby,  pres.;  Paul  Ausbrook,  1st 
vice-pres.;  William  Wardlaw,  2nd  vice-pres.; 
Frank  Letlow,  3rd  vice-pres.;  Fred  Carbine, 
rec.-sec;  Ottie  Junkins,  fin.-sec;  Dallas 
Page,  bus.  rep.;  Charles  Busby,  sgt.-at-arms; 
William  Vogel,  trustee;  Grover  Miller,  wage 
committee;  D.  Page,  del.  and  F.  Carbine, 
alt.  del.  State  Federation  of  Labor;  Jerry 
Viele,  del.  Labor  Council. 

LOCAL  735,  MT.  CLEMENS,  MICH. 

Fritz  Devantier,  pres.;  Bert  Penzien,  vice- 
pres.;  Earl  Natzel,  sec;  George  Konath, 
treas.;  Roy  Suckling,  bus.  rep.;  George  V. 
Hemp,  sgt.-at-arms;  F.  Devantier,  deputy-at- 
large;  and  B.  Penzien,  alternate. 


Buy    U.    S.    Savings   Bonds 


24 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     February  1951 


CATHODE-RAY    TUBE    DATA 

(Continued  from  page  19) 

would  be  exerted;  if  the  force  i9  applied 
to  move  a  charge,  the  motion  of  the 
charge  would  be  along  such  a  line.  Hence 
the  physicist's  artifice  of  lines  of  force 
as  the  pattern  of  the  electrostatic  field. 
This  makes  sense  and  is  a  very  conve- 
nient method  of  presentation  because  it 
does  inform  about  the  condition  of  the 
space. 

Admittedly,  such  a  direction  line  alone 
is  not  all  the  information  about  the  forces 
present  within  a  field,  because  it  lacks 
data   relative   to   the    magnitude   of   the 


FIG.    5.    Representation    of    the    electrostatic 
field   between    two    unlike  charges. 

force.  However,  if  we  are  interested  only 
in  the  general  pattern  of  the  field,  and 
not  in  the  exact  constants  of  a  specific 
field,  we  can  do  without  the  magnitudes 
of  force  at  different  points  in  the  field. 
Such  actually  is  the  case:  the  pattern 
of  the  electrostatic  field  between  two  un- 
like and  between  two  like  charges  is  of 
much  more  value  to  us  than  the  actual 
distribution  of  forces.  This  is  so  because 
our  object  now  is  the  presentation  of  in- 
formation about  the  purpose  of  the  lines 
of  force  and  their  behavior,  rather  than 
the  actual  magnitudes.  So  the  stage  is  set 
for  the  picturization  of  an  electrostatic 
field  and  lines  of  force. 

The  Field  Between  Unlike  Charges 

In  Fig.  5  is  shown  the  electrostatic  field 
between  two  unlike  charges..  These  need 
not  be  two  elemental  charges  of  unlike 
sign;  they  could  just  as  readily  be  accu- 
mulations of  unlike  charges — all  of  one 
sign  in  one  group  distributed  around 
the  surface  of  a  sphere,  and  all  of  oppo- 
site sign  similarly  distributed  on  the 
surface  of  another  sphere.  The  general 
nature  of  the  field  will  be  the  same  for 
both  of  these  conditions,  although  it  must 
be  said  that  such  a  pattern  will  not  hold 
for  all  configurations  of  the  body  which 
mounts  the  charges. 

When  the  shape  of  the  field  sources 
is  spherical  and  the  charges  are  unlike, 

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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     February  1951 


the  pattern  of  the  field  is  as  shown  in 
Fig.  5.  A  change  in  shape  of  a  group  of 
charges  will  cause  a  different  type  of 
field.  Meanwhile,  it  is  possible  to  develop 
information  about  the  behavior  of  the 
lines  of  force  using  this  elemental  field 
pattern,  because  the  manner  in  which  the 
lines  of  force  behave  is  fundamental  and 
not  subject  to  specific  configuration 
either  of  the  field  source  or  the  field 
itself. 

Many  interesting  observations  may  be 


made  about  such  a  field  in  terms  of  the 
lines  of  force.  For  example,  some  lines 
of  force  are  shown  joining  the  two  unlike 
charges  which  we  shall  assume  to  be 
separated  by  a  certain  distance.  The  ac- 
tual dimension  of  this  distance  is  unim- 
portant. Other  lines  are  shown  incom- 
plete. This,  however,  is  purely  a  matter 
of  limitations  in  illustrating,  because 
every  line  of  force  between  two  charges 
join  these  two  charges.  Therefore,  if  you 
can  visualize  such  a  thing,  the  lines  of 


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25 


force  issue  from  each  charge  in  all  di- 
rections and  join  the  charges. 

Spacing  of  Lines  of  Force 

The  two  charges  in  Fig.  5  are  shown 
relatively  close  to  each  other.  Such,  how- 
ever, need  not  be  the  case:  the  unlike 
charges  can  be  far  apart  without  in  any 
way  changing  the  condition  that  lines  of 
force  from  a  negative  charge  will  termi- 
nate on  a  positive  charge,  or  vice  versa. 
Theoretically,  the  amount  of  separation 


of  the  unlike  charges  is  of  no  conse- 
quence. 

Then  there  is  the  matter  of  the  space 
between  the  lines  of  force.  This,  too,  is 
a  limitation  in  illustrating.  Actually 
there  is  no  space  between  them;  all  the 
area,  in  all  directions,  is  filled  with  lines 
of  force.  In  drawing  the  field,  we  select 
certain  lines  only  as  being  representa- 
tive, and  show  them. 

As  to  the  direction  of  the  field,  shown 
by  the  arrowheads,  it  is  the  direction  in 


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which  the  force  would  be  exerted  along 
the  line  of  force  in  accordance  with  a 
certain  convention.  This  requires  some 
elaboration. 

Two  conventions  exist  for  the  direction 
of  an  electrostatic  field.  One  frequently- 
used  convention  assumes  such  direction 
of  the  field  as  would  be  indicated  if  a 
test  charge  of  positive  polarity  were 
placed  into  the  field.  The  other  conven- 
tion, used  herein,  assumes  such  direction 
of  the  field  as  would  be  indicated  if  the 
test  charge  placed  into  the  field  were  of 
negative  sign.  Our  preference  for  this 
convention  is  based  on  the  fact  that  the 
electrostatic  fields  in  the  cathode-ray 
tube  act  on  the  electron,  which  has  a 
negative  charge;  therefore,  we  avoid  con- 
fusion by  considering  that  direction 
which  conforms  most  closely  to  ihe  final 
analysis  of  cathode-ray  operation. 

Accordingly,  the  direction-arrows  point 
away  from  the  negative  charge  and  to- 
ward the  positive  charge,  and  show  the 
direction  in  which  an  electron  would 
move  when  under  the  influence  of  the 
field.  In  this  connection,  we  might  men- 
tion that  the  field  shown  in  Fig.  5  does 
not  require  the  negative  charge  to  ad- 
vance to  the  positive  charge.  It  is  pos- 
sible to  imagine  these  two  charges  as 
being  fixed  in  their  respective  positions, 
in  which  case  conditions  would  remain 
constant  and  an  electrostatic  field  of  a 
certain  direction,  which  could  cause  a 
certain  motion  on  the  part  of  an  electron 
placed  within  the  field,  would  be  effec- 
tive. 

Behavior  of  the  Lines  of  Force 

Continuing  with  our  discussion  of  the 
field  between  two  unlike  charges,  as 
shown  in  Fig.  5,  several  very  important 
comments  must  yet  be  made.  Perhaps, 
from  the  viewpoint  of  utility,  these  are 
more  important  than  any  made  so  far. 

We  mentioned  earlier  that  the  effect  of 
the  field  was  the  application  of  forces  to 
those  things  which  were  susceptible  to 
such  forces.  Let  us  consider  the  basic  law 
which  states  that  unlike  charges  are  at- 
tracted to  each  oher.  Such  attraction 
often  involves  physical  motion  and,  ac- 
cording to  our  convention,  it  would  be  a 
motion  of  the  electron. 

Is  such  motion  a  function  of  the 
charges  themselves,  that  is,  their  pres- 
ence? Or,  put  differently,  do  the  charges 
move  of  their  own  volition  because  they 
are  of  unlike  polarity? 

According  to  the  theory,  the  answer  is 
negative.  It  is  true  that  the  polarity  of 
the  charges  determines  the  field,  but  the 
effect  of  the  field  as  interpreted  in  the 
motion  of  the  charges  is  due  to  the  be- 
havior of  the  lines  of  force.  As  stated 
earlier,  these  lines  are  aids  to  visualizing 
what  actually  does  happen,  and  have  no 
independent  existence  outside  of  the 
imagination.  Since  they   are  imaginary, 


26 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     February  1951 


we  may  assign  any  properties  we  choose 

to  help  describe  what  actually  happens. 

One  such  property  is  that  of  lengthwise 

contraction:    we    assume    that    lines    of 


FIG.   6.     Distribution    of  electrostatic    lines   or 
charges  on  an  irregularly-shaped  body. 

force  tend  to  shrink  along  their  length. 
For  example,  a  line  extending  from  a 
positive  charge  to  an  electron,  in  shrink- 
ing, would  draw  the  electron  toward  the 
charge.  If  the  electrons  were  carried  fur- 
ther away  from  the  positive  charge,  the 
line  of  force  would  be  stretched;  a  me- 
chanical force  would  be  required  to  do 
this.  Given  the  opportunity,  as  deter- 
mined by  the  mobility  of  the  charges,  the 
electric  lines  of  force  between  the  two 
charges  will  bring  the  charges  together 
so  as  to  satisfy  the  fundamental  condi- 
tion of  minimum  length  of  the  line  of 
force. 

Harnessing  Energy 

It  is  because  of  this,  as  well  as  a  few 
other  conditions,  that  a  comparison  is 
made  between  the  behavior  of  such  lines 
of  force  and  that  of  stretched  rubber 
bands.  Of  course,  there  are  limits  to 
the  application  of  this  analogy,  but  it  is 
a  reasonable  one  when  we  visualize  the 
line  of  force  as  possessing  energy  which 


can  be  put  to  use,  just  as  the  stretched 
rubber  band  possesses  energy  which  can 
be  put  to  work.  Most  certainly  the  ten- 
dency of  the  stretched  rubber  band  is  to 
shorten  itself,  and  in  so  doing,  to  do 
work. 

The  same  can  be  said  about  the  elec- 
tric line  of  force.  Given  the  opportunity 
to  contract,  the  energy  present  along  the 
line  of  force  will  be  transformed  into 
other  forms  of  energy — perhaps  kinetic 
energy  applied  to  the  electron  so  as  to 
get  it  to  move,  or/and,  of  course,  into 
heat.  At  any  rate,  the  energy  in  the 
field,  distributed  along  he  lines  of  force, 
is  capable  of  doing  work  during  the  time 
that  the  lines  of  force  contract. 

Another  property  of  the  lines  of  force 
is  that  bnes  active  in  the  same  direction 
appear  to  repel  one  another  laterally. 
This  accounts  for  the  curvature  of  the 
lines  of  force  which  join  two  charges  at 
points  other  than  on  the  straight-line 
axis  between  the  charges. 

Effect  of  'Repulsive  Force' 

The  line  of  force  along  the  axis  is 
straight  because  the  amount  of  repul- 
sion, from  other  lines  laterally  posi- 
tioned, is  the  same  on  all  sides — in  other 
words,  the  forces  are  symmetrical.  How- 
ever, at  distances  from  the  axis  the  lines 
of  force  curve  outward  because  of  the 
greater  amount  of  repulsive  force  orig- 
inating from  the  direction  of  the  axis 
and  the  less  repulsive  force  originating 
from  the  outer  side  of  the  force  line. 
Nevertheless,  spaces  still  do  not  exist 
between  the  lines  of  force:  the  lines 
simply  curve  outward  instead  of  being 
straight. 

This  property  of  the  lines  of  force  be- 


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tween  two  unbke  charges  may  not  have 
much  bearing  upon  the  behavior  of  such 
charges.  Being  subject  to  attractive 
forces,  it  is  the  shortening  of  the  line  of 
force  along  its  length  which  is  the  para- 
mount action.  However,  the  lateral  re- 
pulsion between  the  lines  of  force  with 
like  direction  is  very  important  in  the 
behavior  of  like   charges. 

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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     February  1951 


27 


OPTICS   OF   ARCLAMPS 

(Continued  from  page  6) 

mum  waste  of  light  at  the  aperture  spot. 

The  writer  strongly  suspects  that  an 
apospherical  mirror  designed  for  use 
with  the  ordinary  H-I  arc  will  he  ellip- 
tical, like  the  orthodox  mirror  respon- 
sible for  our  oft-voiced  complaints. 
There  is,  however,  a  very  important 
difference. 

Compared  with  the  usual  type  of  ellip- 
tical mirror,  the  curvature  of  the  apos- 
pherical mirror  will  be  "exaggerated," 
i.e.,  the  central  zones  will  have  a  greater 
curvature  than  the  regular  type  of  ellip- 
tical mirror,  and  the  outer  zones  will 
have  less  curvature. 

An  optical  designer  will  at  once  recog- 
nize this  mirror  as  an  elliptical  mirror 
having  a  greater  "eccentricity"  and  a 
longer  "major  axis"  than  the  orthodox 
lamp  mirror.    From   still   another   point 


of  view,  it  may  be  said  that  our  apo- 
spherical mirror  is  a  "parabolized"  ellip- 
tical mirror,  even  though  it  is  not  a  true 
parabolic  mirror. 

The  success  we  hope  to  obtain  with 
the  apospherical  mirror  depends  in  a 
very  large  measure  on  the  exact  relation 
of  arc-crater  and  aperture  positions  to 
the  actual  geometric  foci  of  the  ellipse. 
We  will  now  break  the  rules  of  orthodox 
mirror  optics  and  place  the  positive 
crater  slightly  beyond  the  focus  which 
lies  nearest  the  mirror,  and  permit  the 
distant  focus  to  fall  where  it  may  on  the 
far  side  of  the  aperture.  And  no  less  im- 
portant are  the  diameter  of  the  positive 
crater  and  the  luminosity  gradient  across 
its  face.  Both  factors  must  be  taken  into 
account  by  the  optical  designer. 

The  calculations  required  in  the  de- 
signing of  such  a  mirror  are  plenty  tough 
— but  not  too  tough  for  a  competent  op- 
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high  degress  of  mathematical  wizardry, 
we  can  do  as  well  by  the  trial-and-error 
method,  that  is,  making  a  number  of 
apospherical  mirrors  of  different  degrees 
of  approximately  correct  ellipticity  and 
selecting  the  one  which  gives  the  screen 
results  we  desire. 

The  ideal  apospherical  mirror  will  pro- 
duce a  "spot"  very  much  like  that  shown 
in  C  of  Fig.  4;  and  the  side-to-center 
distribution  of  light  on  the  screen  will 
lie  between  90  and  95%,  giving  the  ap- 
pearance of  perfect  uniformity.  Pleased 
as  we  may  well  be  with  this  improve- 
ment, we  soon  discover  other  good  rea- 
sons for  praising  our  apospherical  mirror. 

Despite  the  fact  that  the  crater  of  the 
positive  carbon  lies  a  trifle  from  the 
mirror  than  is  the  case  with  the  ordinary 
lamp  set-up,  reducing  very  slightly  the 
total  amount  of  light  picked  up  by  the 
mirror,  we  find  that  the  total  light  flux 
pouring  from  the  lens  of  the  projector 
is  no  less  than  with  the  most  efficient 
orthodox  elliptical  mirror.  This  is  be- 
cause we  can  now  employ  a  smaller, 
more  sharply  defined  spot  than  before. 
The  smaller  the  amount  of  light  wasted 
on  the  cooling  plate,  the  brighter  will  be 
the  screen. 

Uniform  Screen  Illumination 

And  this  is  not  all!  Because  the  "hot 
spot"  has  now  been  completely  elimi- 
nated from  the  screen,  minute  accidental 
wanderings  in  the  position  of  the  positive 
crater  do  not  show  up  on  the  screen — 
the  crater  would  have  to  be  away  out  of 
line  to  darken  one  side  or  corner  of  the 
screen.  Yes,  the  screen  is  flooded  by 
smooth,  bright  illumination  all  over  its 
immense  surface.  No  chance  at  all  for 
one  side  of  the  picture  to  become  brighter 
or  dimmer  than  the  other  side  due  to 
slight  movements  of  the  positive  carbon! 
Moreover,  uniform  illumination  of  the 
film  in  the  aperture  decreases  the  likli- 
hood  of  embossing  or  blistering  the  cen- 
ter of  the  frames  when  high-powered  arcs 
are  used. 

The  outstanding  peculiarity  of  the 
apospherical  mirror  in  its  proper  appli- 
cation is  its  inability  to  form  a  true  op- 
tical image  of  the  "object"  (arc  crater). 
A  pinpoint  light  source,  for  example,  is 
focussed  at  the  aperture  as  a  ring  of 
light  with  a  comparatively  dark  center. 
A'  spherical  cirror  would  give  a  fuzzy 
blob  of  light  under  these  conditions;  and 
an  orthodox  elliptical  mirror  would  give 
a  true  point  image.  The  apospherical 
mirror,  therefore,  distorts  the  image  of 
the  bright-centered  H-I  crater  in  such 
a  way  that  a  uniformly  illuminated  disc 
of  light  is  formed  at  the  aperture. 

Readers  of  these  lines  may  suspect 
that  some  degree  of  antispherical  aber- 
ration can  be  produced  by  bringing  a 


28 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     February  1951 


Qlj 

BZI 

FIG.  4.  The  "spot"  and  resulting  screen  illumi- 
nation produced  by  C  a  special  elliptical 
mirror  designed  to  produce  the  opposite  of 
spherical  aberration,  and  D  a  parabolic  mirror 
used  without  a  condensing  lens.  Only  a  mirror 
capable  of  counteracting  the  "hot  spot"  of 
the  H-l  crater  can  give  the  uniform  screen 
illuminction   shown   in  C. 


standard  elliptical  mirror  (or  the  entire 
lamphouse)  closer  to  the  projection  head, 
thus  shortening  the  working  distance. 
That  is  absolutely  true.  But  because  the 
ellipticity  of  the  mirror  remains  un- 
changed, the  amount  of  antispherical  ab- 
erration which  can  be  brought  about  in 
this  way  without  producing  undesirable 
side-effects  is  very  limited. 

These  undesirable  effects  are  decreased 
efficiency  of  the  mirror,  discoloration  of 
the  light,  and  a  shadow  spot  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  screen.  Besides,  unlike  the 
old  L-I  mirror  lamps,  which  were  com- 
parative lysmall  in  overall  size,  and 
which  were  provided  with  sliding  mirror 
supports,  most  H-I  lamps,  both  rotating- 
positive  and  simplified,  are   constructed 


in  such   a  way   that  optical  corrections 
are  impossible  with  them. 

Side-to-Center  Distribution 

The  foregoing  paragraph  may  serve  to 
explain  why  the  writer  has  been  unable 
to  obtain  anything  better  than  an  80% 
side-to-center  distribution  with  commer- 
cial H-I  arc-lamps.  Many  of  these  lamps 
permit  nothing  better  than  65  or  70% 
distribution,  no  matter  how  carefully  they 
are  set  up. 

Turning  once  more  to  Fig.  4:  the 
panel  marked  D  shows  what  happens  if 
the  eccentricity  of  the  apospherical  mir- 
ror is  made  too  great.  The  antispherical 
aberration  is  so  pronounced  that  the 
edges  of  the  picture  are  actually  brighter 
than  the  center  area — a  very  undesirable 
condition. 

The  data  from  which  panel  D  was 
sketched  were  obtained  fro  man  experi- 
mental set-up  utilizing  a  parobolic  mir- 
mor.  A  parabola  is  a  geometric  figure 
obtained  by  slicing  through  a  cone,  keep- 
ing the  cut  paralle  dto  one  of  the  sides 
of  the  cone.  Unlike  an  ellipse,  a  para- 
bola has  one  end  open,  and  the  sides 
never  meet  no  matter  how  far  they  are 
extended. 

A  parabola  has  only  one  focus.  When 
a  point-source  of  light  is  placed  at  this 
focus,  the  rays  are  sent  out  from  the 
mirror  parallel  to  one  another,  a  situa- 
tion which  permits  them  to  snap  their 
fingers  at  the  inverse-square  law. 

A  beam  composed  of  truly  parallel 
rays  never  weakens  in  intensity,  not 
even  if  it  travels  a  billion  miles.  In 
actual  practice  there  is  no  such  tbing 
as  a  true  point-source  of  light,  because 


PROJECTORS 

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CENTURY'S  high-efficiency  projector  with- 
the  NEW  4-inch  diam.  lens  provides  pic-| 
tures  of  increased  brightness  and  appeal—  j 
for  even  the  largest  drive-in  screens. 

CENTURY'S  water-cooled  aperture  gives| 
as  much  light  with  a  90  ampere  arc  as; 
other  projectors  using  a  180  ampere  arc? 
and  heat  filters!— Reduce  power  cost— Get| 
sharper  pictures— Save  film. 

CENTURY'S  sealed,  oil-less  bearings  and 
glass-hard  gears  reduce  maintenance: 
costs.  No  oil  sprays  or  baths  to  mess  up 
film  or  projection  room. 

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even  the  very  smallest  things  in  nature — 
protons,  electron-waves,  and  single  waves 
of  gamma  radiation — have  appreciable 
size.  Nevertheless,  very  small  light 
sources  used  with  parabolic  mirrors  pro- 
duce beams  which  travel  quite  a  distance 
before  they  finally  weaken  and  give  up. 
Examples  are  navy  searchlights,  airfield 
beacons,  and  locomotive  headlights.  The 
reflector  of  an  automobile  headlight  is  a 
parabolic  mirror  of  short  focal  length. 

If  the  source  of  light  is  placed  slightly 
beyond  the  focus  of  the  parabolic  mir- 
ror, a  "spot"  is  obtained,  as  in  panel 
D  of  Fig.  4. 

In  motion  picture  work,  the  parabolic 
mirror  was  used  in  one  of  the  Motiograph 


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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     February  1951 


29 


Rays  /rom 
outer  zones 
of  mirror 


\ 


I —  Aperture 


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:  u 


£/it 


FIG.  5.  Much  of  the  light  focused  on  the  film 
by  the  outer  zones  of  a  large  lamphouse  mirror 
is  lost  because  it  overshoots  the  lens.  The  re- 
sult is  "hot-spot"  projection  and  overheating 
of  the  aperture  plate  and  film. 

L-I  lamps.  The  mirror  threw  the  light 
forward  in  the  light-cone  of  the  lamp- 
house.  The  condenser  converged  them 
to  a  brilliant  spot  at  the  aperture. 

Lamp  manufacturers  may  well  recon- 
sider some  of  the  "flexible"  features  of 
the  older  projector  lamps — a  smaller 
housing  and  a  moveable  mirror  support. 
Most  of  the  latest  lamps,  even  those 
rated  at  150  amperes,  are  too  big  in 
physical  size.  It  is  quite  a  problem  to 
squeeze  a  pair  of  them  into  a  small  pro- 
jection room.  The  same  optical  efficiency 
can  be  obtained  with  smaller  mirrors 
iocated  closer  to  the  projector  head.  Of 
course,  they  must  not  be  so  small  that 
they  overheat,  but  there  is  little  danger 
of  that.  Compared  with  some  of  the  old- 
fashioned  L1I  vertical  arcs  which  blazed 
away  with  awesome  fury  at  130  amps, 
the  most  powerful  modern  H-I  arcs  are 
cool  indeed. 

Greater  optical  flexibility  in  the  design 
of  H-I  lamps  has  much  to  commend  it  to 
manufacturers.  By  making  simple  pre- 
determined adustments  in  mirror  and 
burner  distances,  various  mirrors  could 
be  made  available  to  supply  the  degree 
of  light  distribution  most  satisfactory  to 
each  particular  proection  installation. 

A  side-to-center  distribution  of  60% 
may  be  good  enough  for  some  drive-ins; 
80%  for  other  drive-ins  and  for  extremely 
large  indoor  theatres,  and  95%  for  small 
and  medium-size  indoor  theatres  and 
other  operations  demanding  the  best. 

As  We  Were  Saying  .  .  . 

Despite  our  numerous  critics,  we  re- 
peat: the  appearance  of  uniform  screen 
illumination  cannot  be  obtained  without 
uniformly  illuminating  the  screen.  No 
side-to-center  distribution  under  the  op- 
timum 95%  is  acceptable  where  projec- 
tion of  the  highest  quality  is  desired. 

It  has  been  pointed  out  time  and  again 
in  IP  that  the  distribution  of  light  on 
the  screen  is  affected  by  the  projection 
lens  as  well  as  by  the  optics  of  the  arc 
lamp.  A  projection  lens  too  small  in  di- 
ameter fails  to  intercept  much  of  the 
light  passing  close  by  the  edges  of  the 
aperture,   and  thus   produces  an  objec- 


30 


tionable  fadeaway  of  light  at  the  edges 
of  the  projected  picture.  All  things  being 
relative,  it  stands  to  reason  that  too 
large  a  lamp  mirror  produces  the  same 
bad  effect. 

Lenses  having  speeds  of  F:1.9  or  F:2.0 
are  about  as  large  as  is  practical,  both 
from  the  standpoint  of  the  optical  de- 
signer and  that  of  the  projector  manu- 
facturer. Lenses  of  even  these-  rapid 
speeds,  .however,  .are  actually  over- 
matched by  the  optics  of  almost  every 
arclamp  on  the  market. 

A  mirror  rated  at  F:1.9,  for  example, 
represents  an  actual  optical  speed  of 
approximately  F:0.34.  Calculation  shows 
that  it  would  require  a  lens-speed  of 
F:1.36  to  match  such  a  mirror,  if  the 
projection  lens  has  a  focal  length  of  4 
inches.  Lenses  as  rapid  as  F:1.36  simply 
are  not  available. 

Effect  of  Oversize  Mirrors 

Figure  5  shows  how  oversize  mirrors 
heat  up  the  aperture  plate  and  the  film 
without  producing  an  equivalent  in- 
crease in  screen  illumination.  Much  of 
the  light  coming  from  the  edge  zones 
of  the  mirror  does  not  even  hit  the  lens! 
But  even  though  the  rays  from  the  top 
edge  of  the  mirror  and  passing  through 
the  lower  part  of  the  aperture  miss  the 
lens,  the  rays  from  the  same  edge  of  the 
mirror  passing  through  higher  areas  of 
the  aperture  do  succeed  in  striking  some 
part  of  the  lens.  The  net  effect  is  a  hot- 
spot  at  the  center  of  the  screen  and  a 
fadeaway  at  the  edges. 

The     apospherical     mirror     described 


previously,  however,  would  go  far  to 
minimize  this  undesirable  characteristic 
of  large  mirrors,  and  actually  increase 
their  efficiency  as  regards  total  screen 
lumens. 

With  such  a  mirror,  the  rays  thrown 
forward  at  the  top  edge  of  the  mirror 
are  concentrated  at  the  top  of  the  aper- 
ture ;  rays  rf om  the  bottom  of  the  mirror 
at  the  bottom  of  the  aperture.  The 
"crossover"  of  rays  shown  in  Fig.  5  is 
thus  shifted  toward  the  lens,  minimizing 
the  "spread"  ofthe  light,  enabling  the 
lens  to  receive  much  more  of  the  light 
which  passes  through  the  film. 

Lamps  having  extremely  large  mirrors 
working  at  comparatively  short  distances 
from  the  projector  aperture  may  thus 
be  expected  to  give  hot-spot  effects.  Such 
lamps,  however,  actually  do  produce  an 
extremely  large  volume  of  light  for  the 
amount  of  current  burned;  and  their 
use  is  practically  mandatory  for  drive- 
in  theatres.  In  fact,  some  of  the  larger 
drive-ins  could  not  well  exist  without 
such  lamps. 

The  foregoing  remarks,  therefore,  are 
applicable  only  to  lamps  designed  ex- 
pressly for  use  in  small  and  medium-size 
indoor  theatres,  where  light-distribution 
on  the  screen  of  better  than  60  to  80% 
is  desired. 

[NOTE:  The  Ventarc  mirror  described  in 
an  article  beginning  on  p.  24  of  the  Decem- 
ber, 1950,  issue  of  IP  performs  the  same 
optical  job  as  the  "apospherical"  mirror  de- 
scribed in  this  article.  It  remains  to  be  seen, 
however,  which  of  the  two  mirrors  works 
most  efficiently,  and  with  a  minimum  of 
edge-coloration  of  the  picture.] 


How  Many? 


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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     February  1951 


*Thebond$LilaandIbou<jhf- 
for  our  country's  defense  helped  us 
to  own  our  own  home!' 


HOW  U.  S.  SAVINGS  BONDS  PAID  OFF  FOR 
SELDEN  AND  LILA   ROBINSON  OF  DENVER,  COLORADO 

"Bond  saving  made  it  possible  for  me  to  become 

a  home  owner,"  says  engineer-sportsman 

Selden  Robinson,  "then  helped  me  to  improve 

on  my  original  investment  through  the  purchase 

of  a  better  home.  My  story  should  encourage 

every  man  who  dreams  of  a  house  of  his  own." 


"We  started  our  bond  buying  program 
before  the  war,  purchasing  two  $18.75 
bonds  a  month  through  the  Payroll 
Savings  Plan  at  the  Stearns-Roger 
Manufacturing  Co.  When  war  came, 
we  gave  up  our  dream  home  for  the 
duration  and  were  glad  our  bonds 
went  for  our  country's  victory." 


"Bonds  paid  $2800  down  on  a  house  in 
1945.  They  provided  $500  toward  a 
new  car.  And  this  year  when  we  traded 
our  first  house  for  a  new  brick  one, 
bonds  paid  the  difference.  We  had  the 
money  only  because  of  our  systematic 
bond  buying  program." 


"We've  saved  $4,000,  and  now  we're 
buying  bonds  toward  a  college  educa- 
tion for  our  two  daughters,  Emily,  15 
and  Carol,  8.  There's  no  surer  savings 
program  than  Payroll  Savings  and 
U.  S.  Savings  Bonds  which  are  backed 
by  the  greatest  nation  on  earth!" 


The  Robinsons' story  can  be  your  story,  too! 


FOR  YOUR  SECURITY,  AND  YOUR 
COUNTRY'S  TOO,  SAVE  NOW- 
THROUGH   REGULAR  PURCHASE  OF 
U.   S.  SAVINGS  BONDS! 


You  can  make  your  dream  come  true, 
too — just  as  the  Robinsons  did.  It's 
easy!  Just  start  now  with  these  three 
simple  steps: 

1 .  Make  one  big  decision — to  put 
saving  first,  before  you  even  touch 
your  income. 

2.  Decide  to  save  a  regular  amount 
systematically,  week  after  week  or 
month  after  month.  Even  a  small 
sum,  saved  on  a  systematic  basis, 
becomes  a  large  sum  in  an  amazingly 
short  time! 

3.  Start   saving   automatically   by 


signing  up  today  in  the  Payroll  Sav- 
ings Plan  where  you  work  or  the 
Bond-A-Month  Plan  where  you  bank. 
You  may  save  as  little  as  $1.25  a 
week  or  as  much  as  $375  a  month.  If 
you  can  set  aside  just  $7.50  weekly, 
in  10  years  you'll  have  bonds  and 
interest  worth  $4,329.02  cash! 

You'll  be  providing  security  not  only 
for  yourself  and  your  family  but  for 
the  free  way  of  life  that's  so  important 
to  us  all.  And  in  far  less  time  than 
you  think,  you'll  have  turned  your 
dreams  into  reality,  just  as  Selden 
and  Lila  Robinson  have  done. 


Your  government  does  not  pay  for  this  advertisement.  It  is  donated  by  this  publication  and  Foote,  Cone  &  Belding  in  cooperation  with  the  Advertising  Council  and  the 

Magazine  Publishers  of  America. 


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PROJECTION  and 
SOUND  SYSTEM 


»S321 


MARCH 


1951 


VOLUME   26 


NUMBER  3 


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More  light  at  40  to  70  amperes  than  ever  thought  possible. 
.  .  .  Equals  and  excels  any  reflector  lamp  to  85  amperes,  whether 
they  be  unapproved  water-cooled  or  resurrected  "Hi-Lows".  .  .  . 
Highest  ratio  of  honest  screen  lumens  per  arc  watt  ...  At  70 
amperes,  using  an  accurated  Glass  Hy-Lumen  Reflector*,  with 
a  projector  having  an  efficient  revolving  shutter,  it  develops  the 
maximum  screen  brilliance  that  can  be  used  without  a  heat  filter 
at  no  risk  of  film  damage.  .  .  .  Operating  costs  under  these 
conditions  are  far  below  that  of  85-ampere  lamps. 

Magnarc  Lamps  assure  80%  side-to-center  (SMPE  Standard) 
screen  light  distribution,  not  a  deceptive  60%  or  "Hot  Center." 
.  .  .  They  are  all  Und.  Lab.,  Inc.  listed.  .  .  .  They  are  not  in- 
surance hazards.  .  .  .  They  are  and  have  been  for  years  "The 
First  Choice"  of  large  and  small  theatres,  drive-ins,  and  the 
motion  picture  industry. 

*  Similar  r-sults  are  not  guaranteed  if  all-metal  reflectors  are  used 


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TRADE    MARK   REG 


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This  modern  lamp  produces  all  the  light  there  is. 
...  It  is  the  standard  equipment  of  the  nation's  largest 
and  finest  theatres.  .  .  .  Used  by  90%  of  the  largest 
Drive-In  Theatres. 

It  is  the  "Omega"  for  maximum  screen  brilliance 
.  .  .  Nothing  can  even  approach  it  in  white  light  volume 
when  used  with  projectors  that  have  efficient  revolving 
shutters. 

Assures  satisfying  projection  for  Drive-Ins  regardless 
of  the  size  of  the  picture,  length  of  throw,  and  under 
all  weather  conditions.  .  .  .  They  are  Und.  Lab.,  Inc 
listed  and,  therefore,  not  insurance  hazards.  .  .  .  Heat 
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INTERNATIONAL 


PROJECTION 


With  Which  Is  Combined  Projection  Engineering 


HENRY  B.  SELLWOOD,  Editor 


Volume  26 


MARCH  1951 


Number  3 


Index  and  Monthly  Chat 


Film-Guiding  in  the  Projector 
Robert  A.  Mitchell 


Theater  Television  via  the  RCA 
PT-100  Equipment,  IV  9 

RCA  Service  Company 

Projectionist  Examination  Ques- 
tions           10 

New  Eastman  Identification  Sys- 
tem for  Safety  Film 12 

Kodak  Research  Laboratories 

Effects  of  Television  on  the  Mo- 
tion Picture  Theater 17 

Ben  Schlanger  and 
William  A.  Hoffberg 


In  the  Spotlight   18 

Harry  Sherman 

IA  Elections   20 

The    Cathode-Ray    Tube:    Basic 

Data     21 

John  F.  Rider  and 
Seymour  D.  Uslan 

Variable  Shutters  in  16-mm 

Filming    23 

John  F.  Forbes 

Letters  to  the  Editor   24 

RCA  Theater-Tv  Price  Slash     .  .     25 

News  Notes 
Technical  Hints 
Miscellaneous  Items 


Published  Monthly  by 
INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST  PUBLISHING  CO.,  INC. 

19  West  44  Street,  New  York  18,  N.  Y. 
Telephone:  MUrray  Hill  2-2948 

R.  A.  ENTRACHT,  Publisher 
SUBSCRIPTION  REPRESENTATIVES 

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second  class  matter  February  8,  1932,  at  the  Post  Office , at  New  York,  N.  Y.,  under  the 
act  of  March  3,  1879.  Entire  contents  copyrighted  19J31  by  International  Projectionist 
Publishing  Co.,  Inc.  International  Projectionist  is  not  responsible  for  personal  opinions 
appearing  in  signed  articles  in  its  columns. 

420 


MONTHLY  CHAT 


ONE  of  the  most  encouraging  news 
items  in  many  a  day  was  the  re- 
cent move  by  RCA  to  plash  the  price  of 
its  theater  Tv  system  from  $25,000  to 
$15,800.  And  the  frosting  for  this  pala- 
table tidbit  was  the  announcement  that 
RCA  was  moving  along  in  high  gear 
production-wise,  with  no  present  indica- 
tion that  a  shortage  of  Tv  system  ele- 
ments will  seriously  hamper  this  pro- 
duction effort  for  some  months  to  come. 

This  RCA  move  followed  on  the  heels 
of  the  recent  acquisition  by  20th  Cen- 
tury-Fox of  the  rights  to  the  Eidophore 
(Swiss)  system  of  large-screen  Tv,  a 
happenstance  which  is  viewed  in  some 
quarters  as  having  impelled  the  RCA 
price  cut. 

Now  is  posed  the  $64  question,  in  two 
sections:  first,  what  will  Mr.  Exhibitor 
do  now  that  his  moaning  about  the  high 
cost  of  Tv  equipment  has  been  stifled? 
and  second,  even  if  the  exhibition  field 
displays  the  best  will  in  the  world  to 
get  theater  Tv  rolling,  what  aid  will  be 
given  by  the  FCC  in  terms  of  allocating 
channels  so  that  motion  picture  theaters 
may  be  afforded  at  least  a  fighting  chance 
to  stay  on  an  even  keel?  This  is  quite 
apart  from  the  extremely  involved  mat- 
ter of  proper  program  fare. 

Nor  is  Mr.  Exhibitor  the  only  one  con- 
cerned here:  projectionists  and  every 
other  member  of  the  organized  crafts  in 
the  industry  has  a  big  stake  on  the  line 
— their  livelihoods.  In  fact,  during  an 
informal  discussion  at  a  recent  exhibitor 
gathering  the  suggestion  was  voiced  that 
the  labor  organizations  in  the  industry, 
in  particular  the  IA,  should  come  to  the 
aid  of  the  theaters  by  advancing  up  to 
$500,000  for  Tv  equipment  in  about  100 
theaters  in  key  cities  across  the  country. 

It  is  not  known  how  the  labor  or- 
ganizations would  react  to  such  a  pro- 
posal, but  the  idea  is  by  no  means  fan- 
tastic. 

However  all  this  may  be,  the  expan- 
sion of  theater  Tv  now  rests  squarely 
in  the  lap  of  the  FCC,  for  it  is  incredible 
that  the  film  industry,  if  given  the  op- 
portunity, would  not  devise  some  means 
for  solving  the  problem  of  equipment 
finances  and  programming. 

Now  is  the  time  for  all  groups  within 
the  film  industry  to  put  aside  their  own 
selfish  interests  and  strive  mightily  for 
the  common  good— and  this  advice  is 
pointed  directly  at  the  film  distributors 
who  have  yet  to  curb  their  voracious  ap- 
petites in  terms  of  exorbitant  film  rentals. 
And  the  organized  crafts  within  the  in- 
dustry can  make  a  signal  contribution 
to  the  solution  of  this  knotty  problem, 
and  this  without  renouncing  one  whit  of 
their  hard-earned  right  of  collective  bar- 
gaining. Working  together  as  a  team, 
this   problem  is   by  no  means   insoluble. 

Failing  a  cooperative  effort  by  all  con- 
cerned, it  is  difficult  to  see  how  the  once- 
proud  film  industry  can  emerge  from 
the  box-office  doldrums. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


March  1951 


VICTORY  CARBONS  are  back 

to  conserve  copper  for  defense 


M^e* 


The  terms  "National",  "Orotip"  and 
"Suprex"  are  registered  trade-marks  of 

NATIONAL   CARBON    COMPANY 

Division  of 
UNION  CARBIDE  AND  CARBON  CORPORATION 

30  East  42nd  Street,  New  York  17,  N.  Y. 

District  Sales  Offices:  Atlanta,  Chicago,  Dallas, 

Kansas  City,  New  York,  Pittsburgh,  San  Francisco 

In  Canada:  National  Carbon  Limited,  Toronto  4 


National  emergency  has  been  declared.  Our  country  is  in 
grave  danger.  National  Carbon  Division  is  helping  to  con- 
serve vitally-needed  copper  for  use  in  defense  ...  by  putting 
a  thinner  coating  on  the  following  sizes  of  projector  carbons: 

8  mm  x  14"  "SUPREX"  Positive 
8  mm  x  12"  "SUPREX"  Positive 
7  mm  x    9"  "OROTIP"  "C"  Negative 

7  mm  x  14"  "SUPREX"  Positive 
7  mm  x  12"  "SUPREX"  Positive 
6  mm  x    9"  "OROTIP"  "C"  Negative 

The  above  carbons  will  be  called  "Victory  Carbons"  and  will 
operate  at  the  reduced  currents  shown: 

Maximum  65  amperes  — 8  mm  "SUPREX"  Positives 

7  mm  "OROTIP"  "C"  Negative 

Maximum  45  amperes— 7  mm  "SUPREX"  Positives 

6  mm  "OROTIP"  "  Negative 

There  will  be  enough  carbons  to  go  around.  The  only  change 
will  be  in  the  thickness  of  the  copper  coating.  "Victory 
Carbons"  aren't  new.  They  helped  us  in  the  last  war.  They 
are  helping  us  now  to  prepare  for  the  next  one,  if  it  conies. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


March  1951 


<Mfl  2l  I 


INTERNATIONAL    PROJECTIQ 


m 


VOLUME  XXVI 


MARCH  1951 


NUMBER  3 


Film-Guiding  in  the  Projector 


INTERMITTENT  units  and  projection 
lenses    have    often    been    blamed    for 

picture  defects  actually  caused  by  film 
gates,  or  "traps,"  which  were  worn,  mis- 
aligned, or  otherwise  maladjusted.  Pro- 
jectionists who  operate  in  a  large  num- 
ber of  theatres  as  relief  men  or  service 
engineers  occasionally  encounter  pro- 
jectors clogged  with  dirt  and  oily  grime 
— positive  indications  of  neglect.  Re- 
moval of  the  accumulated  dirt  frequently 
reveals  mechanical  troubles  which  can, 
and  often  do,  have  a  deleterious  effect 
upon  the  projected  picture. 

The  mechanical  and  optical  tolerance 
of  the  film  gate's  various  parts  are  so 
critical  that  the  slightest  amount  of 
wear  and  maladjustment  can  prevent  the 
gate  from  holding  the  film  perfectly  flat 
and  motionless  over  the  aperture  during 
the  24  definite  intervals  each  second  when 
the  intermittent  is  "at  rest."  A  lateral 
or  a  longitudinal  extraneous  movement 
of  the  film  of  only  0.01  inch  will  show  up 
on  a  24-foot  screen  as  a  sidewise  or  an 
up-and-down  picture  movement  of  nearly 
3  inches!  And  a  deviation  from  perfect 
flatness  of  the  film  by  the  same  amount, 
or  even  less,  will  cause  one  side  or  corner 
of  the  picture  to  be  badly  blurred  when 
the  central  areas  are  in  focus. 

Older  Gates  Unsatisfactory 

Even  a  perfect  intermittent  unit  can- 
not produce  a  rock-steady  picture  with- 
out a  trace  of  flutter  and  side-sway  when 
the  gate  fails  in  its  function.  Neither 
can  even  the  best  lens  work  against  such 
a  handicap. 

The  gates  of  the  older  projectors  are 
manifestly     unsatisfactory.      The     anti- 


By  ROBERT  A.  MITCHELL 

quated  Powers,  for  example,  utilizes  a 
very  short  gate  (about  3  frames  of  film 
in  length) ,  and  accordingly  requires  a 
powerful  pad  tension  to  prevent  over- 
shooting when  brand-new  prints  are 
shown.  The  poor  construction  of  the  gate 
is  the  principal  reason  why  Powers- 
projected  pictures  frequently  have  fits 
of  violent  "jumping."  The  projectionist 
can  only  risk  film  damage  by  increasing 
pad  tension  beyond  safe  limits. 

The  old  Simplex  "Regular"  is  another 
case  in  point.  The  gate  of  this  machine 
— originally  the  Edengraph — is  vastly 
superior  to  the  Powers  gate.  It  is 
longer,  it  has  more  evenly  distributed 
pad  tension,  it  is  fitted  with  an  effective 
cooling  plate,  and  it  has  a  larger  flanged 
guide  roller  which,  unlike  the  Powers 
roller,  is  easily  adjusted  for  correct  lat- 
eral placement  of  the  film  over  the  aper- 
ture. But  the  single  guide  roller  of  this 
machine,  and  of  others  patterned  after 
the  old  Simplex,  is  not  sufficiently  effect- 
ive to  eliminate  all  side-sway  from  the 
picture. 

Pad  Tension  Adjustment 

The  pad  tension  provided  in  the  older 
projectors  was  another  source  of  pro- 
jectionist dissatisfaction.  This  tension 
should  be  decreased  when  running  new 
prints  which  are  apt  to  "stick."  and  in- 
creased for  well-seasoned  prints.  It  was 
difficult  to  change  the  tension  of  the 
pads,  or  shoes,  because  the  springs  had 
to  be  taken  out  of  the  gate  door  and  bent 
with  the  fingers.    The  busy  projectionist 


was  thereby  forced  to  resort  to  guess- 
work, and  he  could  not  bring  about  the 
desired  changes  in  pressure  on  the  film 
when  old  and  new  prints  were  run  on  the 
same  program. 

The  situation  was  also  confused  by 
differences  of  opinion.  One  projector 
manufacturer  declared  flatly  that  fixed 
pad  tension  represented  the  best  projec- 
tion practice,  and  he  cautioned  the  pro- 
jectionist not  to  attempt  to  alter  the  ten- 
sion provided  at  the  factory.  This,  of 
course,  was  many  years  ago. 

All  of  these  constructional  flaws  have 
received  the  close  attention  of  projector 
designers  in  recent  years;  and  all  but 
a  few  of  the  newer  projectors  have  better 
gates  than  the  best  of  the  old-time  ma- 
chines. We  find  improved  edge-guiding 
of  the  film  and  readily  adjusted  pad  ten- 
sion. In  some  cases  alloy  steels  of  supe- 
rior wearing  qualities  are  used  for  the 
tension  shoes  and  film  runners. 

An  examination  of  all  the  different 
projectors,  both  old  and  new,  discloses 
three  general  types  of  film  gates.  These 
are  represented  in  Fig.  1.  Gate  A  is  the 
old  type,  now  obsolete.  It  depends  for 
lateral  guiding  of  the  film  upon  a  single 
flanged  guide  roller  placed  at  the  top  of 
the  main  casting. 

Gate  B  represents  an  attempt  to  im- 
prove the  film-guiding  by  placing  a 
metal  guide  rail  at  each  edge  of  the  film 
track.  Gates  having  "studio  guides,"  as 
these  rails  are  called,  are  found  in  the 
Motiograph  K,  the  Simplex  E-7  and  X-L, 
and   the   Brenkert   projectors. 

Gate  C  has  no  studio  guides,  but  uses 
instead  a  second  guide  roller  positioned  a 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     March  1951 


B 


short  distance  below  the  aperture.  This 
type  of  gate  is  an  exclusive  feature  of  the 
Motiograph  AA.  Fig.  2  shows  the  actual 
construction  of  this  advanced  type  of 
film  gate. 

Curved  Gate  an  Aid 

In  addition  to  these  the  curved  gate 
may  be  added  as  a  fourth  class.  The 
reader  will  recall  that  the  Super  Simplex 
adapted  for  the  projection  of  70-mm 
Grandeur  film  utilized  a  curved  gate. 
Theoretically,  the  curvature  of  the  Gran- 
deur gate  is  in  the  wrong  direction  for 
good  optical  functioning  of  the  lens — the 
concavity,  not  the  convexity,  should  face 
the  lens. 

In  the  SUPA  line  of  projectors  we  see 
the  curved  gate  correctly  engineered. 
These  British  projectors  are  found  on 
this  side  of  the  Atlantic  mostly  in  Cana- 
da; and  while  they  are  unnecessarily 
complicated  and  possess  features  which 
make  them  seem  very  crude  in  compari- 
son with  American  projectors,  the  curved 
gate  impresses  the  writer  as  a  distinct 
advance  in  projector  design.  Possibly, 
Mr.  R.  H.  Cricks,  Technical  Editor  of 
Ideal  Kinema  (London)  had  this  feature 


Framing  Aperture 

Upper  Guide 
.  Rollers 


Projection 
Aperture' 


Lower 

Guide 

Rollers 


FIG.  2.  Construction  of  the  Motiograph  AA 
film  gate.  Two  sets  of  guide  rollers  are  used 
to    insure   accurate   edge-guiding    of   all    film. 


FIGURE   1 

Three  main  classes  of  film 
gates:  A — gate  with  no  guid- 
ing-edge facilities  except  a 
single  guide  roller  assembly 
at  top  of  main  film-trap  cast- 
ing; B — gate  with  guide  roller 
and  guide  rails,  and  C — gate 
with  two  guide-roller  assem- 
blies. 


in  mind  when  he  lavished  praise  upon 
the  chain-geared  SUPA. 

The  so-called  flicker  less  projector  ex- 
hibited at  a  TESMA  convention  in  1947 
was  an  experimental  model  using  a 
curved  gate.  Film-buckling  is  eliminated 
by  the  use  of  this  gate. 

It  is  now  time  to  ask  a  few  questions — 
questions  which  occur  to  all  projection- 
ists who  try  to  evaluate  the  various  gate 
constructions  now  in  use.  Are  the  addi- 
tional edge-guiding  facilities  of  modern 
projectors  really  necessary?  Which  is 
better,  studio-guide  abgning  or  the  use 
of  two  sets  of  guide  rollers,  upper  and 
lower? 

No  one  knows  all  about  equipment. 
The  "expert"  is  sometimes  wrong;  and 
the  ordinary  projectionist  is  often  right. 
Manufacturers  hire  skilled  engineers  and 
conduct  mechanical,  optical,  electrical, 
and  even  chemical,  tests  unceasingly, 
often  being  more  critical  of  their  own 
products  than  are  its  users. 

The  development  of  the  projector  shut- 
ter from  the  single  front  shutter  to  the 
rear  disc-shutter,  and  then  to  the  com- 
bination front-and-rear  shutter,  and 
finally  to  such  forms  as  the  cylindrical 
and  the  conical  shutters,  is  indicative  of 
the  great  progress  made.  So  also  is  the 
development  of  new  types  of  film  gates. 

Varied  Experience  Suggested 

Projectionists  can  increase  their  knowl- 
edge of  the  newer  projectors  by  taking 
a  look-see  at  as  many  different  makes  as 
possible.  Visiting  the  projection  rooms 
of  theatres  having  different  brands  of 
equipment  cannot  fail  to  help  the  pro- 
jectionist to  form  a  sound  opinion  as  to 
which  projectors  are  really  the  best. . 

A  comparison  of  the  newer  and  older 
film  gates  makes  a  good  subject  for 
study  on  field  trips.  This  study  should 
be  followed  up  by  actually  threading  up 
different  makes  of  machines  with  film, 
noting  the  ease  of  threading,  and  then 
examining  critically  the  performance  of 
each  type  of  gate.  The  old-style  gate  is  a 
good  one  to  begin  with. 

Figure  3  is  a  diagram  of  the  standard 


type  of  guide  roller  used  in  these  ma- 
chines. The  flange  at  the  outer  edge 
(sound  track  side)  of  the  film  is  fixed, 
and  therefore  determines  the  lateral  posi- 
tion of  the  film.  The  other  flange  is 
moveable,  and  is  caused  to  press  in  upon 
the  opposite  edge  of  the  film  by  a  small 
coil  spring.  The  entire  assembly  rotates 
upon  pivot  bearings. 

The  fixed  flange  of  most  guide  rollers 
is  provided  with  a  set-screw  to  permit 
lateral  adjustment.  It  is  extremely  im- 
portant that  the  guide-roller  assembly 
be  properly  centered  in  order  to  avoid 
the  appearance  of  either  the  sprocket- 
hole  margin  or  the  soundtrack  on  the 
screen. 

If  a  brand-new  print  be  lubricated  by 
smearing  oil  in  an  irregular  manner  over 
the  perforation  margins  (a  practice  cer- 
tainly not  recommended!)  a  noticeable 
side-sway  will  be  introduced  into  the  pic- 
ture when  projected  with  one  of  the 
older  machines. 

Now,  an  appreciable  amount  of  vary- 
ing slippage-difference  exists  between 
the  two  sprocket-hole  margins  of  prac- 
tically all  films.  Side-sway  thus  exists 
in  potentia;  and  any  differences  in  the 
pad  tension  applied  to  the  two  margins 
of  the  film  greatly  increase  the  likelihood 
of  annoying  side-sway. 

The  possibility  of  side-sway  may  also 
be  tested,  and  without  messing  up  film, 
by  pressing  against  each  edge  of  the 
film,  first  one  edge  and  then  the  other, 
very  lightly  with  the  back  of  the  finger- 
nail just  below  the  intermittent  sprocket. 
If  any  lateral  movements  of  the  picture 
appear  on  the  screen  during  this  test,  the 
possibility  of  spontaneous  side-sway  is 
great  with  the  mechanism  used.  Such  a 
test  must  be  conducted  with  caution  in 
order  to  avoid  injury  to  the  fingers  or 
damage  to  the  film. 

Use  of  'Studio  Guides' 

In  order  to  overcome  this  trouble  sev- 
eral manufacturers  sought  improvements 
in  gate  construction.  Motiograph  was  the 
first  to  use  studio  guides.  These  ap- 
peared in  the  Motiograph  K  in  1936. 
Later  Brenkert  and  Simplex  (in  the  E-7) 
adopted  them.  These  two  manufacturers 
still  use  studio  guides  in  their  latest 
models. 

(Continued  on  page  32) 


Tension 
spring 

X      Pivot 


"Washers 


Collar  &  S et- screw 


FIG.    3.     A    standard    guide-roller    assembly. 

Note   the   set-screw   by   means   of  which   the 

roller  may  be  adjusted  laterally. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


March  1951 


Left,  the  Eastman  16mm.  Projec- 
tor, Model  25,  brings  16mm.  pro- 
jection to  the  professional  level. 
Shown  here,  adapted  for  arc  illu- 
mination, permanently  installed 
alongside  35mm.    equipment. 


Below,  working  parts  of  the  film  move- 
ment mechanism  are  in  constant  view  of 
the  operator .  .  .  readily  accessible  for 
threading  and  cleaning. 


The   Eastman 
16mm.    Projector, 
Model  25,  adapted  #j 
for    1,000-watt  f\ 
tungsten  light. 


For  Professional  Quality  Sound  Projection  from  16mm.  Film 

The  Eastman  16mm.  Projector,  Model  25 


The  Kodak  Projec- 
tion Ektar  Lens,  in  a 
choice  of  four  focal 
lengths,  insures  supe- 
rior screen  image. 


This  projection  instrument — built  to  a 
new  design  concept — eliminates  the 
three  major  obstacles  to  theatrical  qual- 
ity 16mm.  sound  projection  .  .  .  exces- 
sive wear  and  high  maintenance  cost; 
low  signal-to-noise  ratio;  and  excessive 
nutter. 

A  major  cause  of  excessive  wear  and 
poor  quality  sound  is  the  constant  trans- 
fer of  shock  forces  generated  in  the  film 
pulldown  mechanism  to  other  parts  of 
the  system.  In  the  Eastman  16mm.  Pro- 
jector, Model  25,  the  intermittent  (film 
advance  mechanism)  is  completely  iso- 
lated and  independently  driven  by  its 
own  1440  r.p.m.  synchronous  motor. 
Thus,  shock  forces  are  sealed  off  from 
the  rest  of  the  instrument.  The  sprocket- 
shutter  system  is  driven  by  its  own  1800 
r.p.m.  synchronous  motor.  Exact  phas- 


ing between  the  two  systems  is  accom- 
plished by  specially  designed  synchro- 
mesh  gears.  In  addition,  the  take-up 
spindle,  rewind  spindle,  and  blower  are 
driven  by  separate  motors. 

A  highly  corrected  microscope  ob- 
jective, adjustable  for  optimum  sound 
quality  from  any  type  of  16mm.  sound 
film,  permits  reproduction  of  variable 
area  or  variable  density  16mm.  sound 
tracks  at  extremely  low  distortion  and 
a  maximum  signal-to-noise  ratio. 

To  get  the  best  out  of  any  16mm. 
sound  film,  project  it  on  an  Eastman 
16mm.  Projector,  Model  2  5.  For  in- 
formation on  installation,  availability, 
and  prices,  write  directly  to  the  Mo- 
tion Picture  Film  Department,  Eastman 
Kodak  Company,  Rochester  4,  N.  Y., 
or  any  branch  office. 


Motion  Picture  Film  Department,  Eastman  Kodak  Company,  Rochester  4,  N.  Y. 


Cast  Coast  Division 

342  Madison  Avenue 

New  York  17,  N.  Y. 


Midwest  Division 

137  North  Wabash  Avenue 

Chicago  2,  Illinois 

West  Coast  Division 
6706  Santa  Monica  Blvd. 
Hollywood  38,  California 


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3"  City  Park  Avenue  •  STREET 
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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     March  1951 


Theater   Television 


M  ai  i95i 


via  the  RCA  PT-100  Equipment 


By  TECHNICAL  PRODUCTS  DIVISION,  RCA  SERVICE  CO.,  INC. 
IV.     Image  Projection  Equipment  Data 


THERE  are  several  major  differences 
between  the  theater  television  pro- 
jector and  the  conventional  home  re- 
ceiver. These  are  necessary  mainly  be- 
cause of  the  larger  size  of  the  projected 
picture,  the  fact  that  the  theater  televi- 
sion projector  is  used  for  coaxial  or 
microwave  programs  as  well  as  broad- 
cast programs,  and  the  fact  that  it  is 
designed  for  commercial  applications. 

Because  of  the  larger  size  of  the  pro- 
jected picture,  and  the  increased  illu- 
mination thereby  required,  the  picture 
produced  on  the  Kinescope  screen  must 
be  much  more  brightly  illuminated  than 
that  produced  on  a  home  receiver.  This 
corresponds  exactly  to  the  fact  that  the 
picture  aperture  of  a  motion  picture  pro- 
jector is  illuminated  to  a  much  higher 
level  than  that  of  a  photograph  which  is 
viewed  directly. 

Neither  the  projection  Kinescope  nor 
the  frame  of  film  in  the  aperture  of  the 
picture  projector  can  be  viewed  directly 
without  a  protective  glass  to  reduce  the 
blinding  brilliancy  of  the  light.  In  order 
to  produce  this  high  bght  level,  more 
voltage  and  more  current  must  pass 
through  the  projection  Kinescope  than 
through  the  one  in  the  home  receiver. 

80flOO-Voit  Anode  Potential 

The  RCA  PT-100  projector  utilizes  a 
Kinescope  which  is  especially  designed 
to  be  used  with  an  anode  potential  of 
80,000  volts,  and  a  beam  curent  of  ap- 
proximately two  milliamperes,  as  con- 
trasted with  10,000  volts  and  several  mi- 
croamperes for  the  home  receiver  Kine- 
scope. 

In  order  to  successfully  withstand  such 
high  voltage,  the  theatre  projection  Kine- 
scope is  made  with  an  insulating  outer 


coating  on  the  large  part  of  the  tube. 
In  addition,  this  part  of  the  Kinescope  is 
made  with  corrugations,  or  "petticoats," 
around  it  to  increase  the  surface  leakage 
path  for  the  applied  voltage.  The  in- 
ternal coating  on  the  face  of  the  Kine- 
scope is  covered  with  a  thin  backing  of 
aluminum  to  equalize  the  voltage  and 
reflect  as  much  light  as  possible  out 
through  the  front  of  the  tube. 

The  high  voltage  is  obtained  from  a 
power  unit  of  the  type  used  with  high- 
powered  X-ray  equipment.  This  unit 
comprises  a  high-voltage  transformer;  a 
voltage-doubling  rectifier,  with  filter  ca- 
pacitors and  resistors;  a  voltage-regu- 
lating circuit,  and  safety  relays  to  short- 
circuit  the  high  voltage  circuits  when  the 
applied  A-C  power  is  turned  off. 

All  components  are  immersed  in  a 
steel  tank  filled  with  insulating  oil.  A 
tap  is  taken  from  the  internal  resistors 
to  obtain  20,000  volts  for  the  third  grid 
of  the  projection  Kinescope.  The  20-  as 
well  as  the  80,000-volt  outputs  are  fed 
out  of  the  steel  tank  by  means  of  high- 
voltage  cables  protected  by  steel  con- 
duit; these  cables  run  in  this  conduit  to 
the  inside  of  the  metal  projector  barrel. 
Thus,  there  is  no  unprotected  cable  ex- 
posed. The  power  supply  and  control 
wiring  for  this  unit  is,  of  course,  also 
run  in  conduit  to  the  control  racks. 

Power  Supply  Controls 

To  prevent  variations  in  the  size  of 
the  projected  picture  due  to  line  voltage 
fluctuations,  the  D-C  supplies  for  the 
deflection  amplifiers,  video  amplifier,  os- 
cilloscope, and  synchronizing  and  switch- 
ing amplifiers  are  all  electronically  con- 
trolled. 

A-C   power   for   the   vertical   deflection 


The  7NP4 

projection 

Kinescope 

used  with  the 

RCA  PT-100 

theater 
Tv  system. 


amplifier,  the  horizontal  deflection  ampli- 
fier, one  rectifier-power  supply,  and  the 
80,000-volt  power  supply  is  controlled  by 
an  automatic  voltage-regulating  trans- 
former. Thus,  the  normal  variations  in 
A-C  line  voltage  are  prevented  from  af- 
fecting the  operation  of  the  projector. 

As  the  Kinescope  is  located  at  a  dis- 
tance from  the  monitor  and  control  racks, 
which  are  in  the  projection  room,  it  is 
necessary  to  use  a  cable  to  feed  power 
to  the  Kinescope  for  moving  the  electron 
beam  up  and  down  and  back  and  forth 
on  the  Kinescope  screen.  Because  it  is 
necessary  to  feed  the  deflection  power  at 
low  voltage  and  fairly  high  current,  a 
coaxial  cable  is  used,  as  it  is  most  prac- 
tical for  this  purpose.  The  deflection 
yokes  on  the  Kinescope  are  specially 
wound  to  operate  from  this  low-voltage, 
high-current  supply. 

The  video  (or  picture)  ampbfier  is 
located  at  the  projector  barrel,  so  the 
capacity  in  the  high-level  video  output 
circuits  is  held  to  a  minimum.  In  this 
way,  signals  reaching  the  control  ele- 
ments of  the  Kinescope-  have  the  full 
8-megacycle  range  that  the  equipment  is 
capable  of  handling. 

Unique  Adjustment  Features 

Several  unique  features  are  incorpo- 
rated in  the  projection  room  rack  equip- 
ment. A  special  oscilloscope  is  provided 
for  testing  and  adjusting  the  peak-to- 
peak  input  voltage  signal  to  be  sure  that 
it  is  adequate  to  fully  control  the  picture 
circuits.  A  built-in  switch  allows  the 
projectionist  to  check  the  calibration  of 
this  scope  when  necessary.  This  feature 
is  intended  to  prevent  picture  failure 
which  might  otherwise  occur  from  un- 
knowingly trying  to  utilize  a  weak  input 
signal. 

There  is  also  a  monitor  Kinescope 
which  produces  a  miniature  picture  from 
the  incoming  signal,  or,  at  the  projtction- 
ist's  discretion,  of  the  signal  after  ampli- 
fication in  the  video  ampbfier  which  is 
located  in  the  projector  barrel.  This 
double-checks  the  incoming  signal  for 
picture  content  and  the  ampbfier  signal 
for  distortion  or  other  possible  defects. 
It  also  helps  the  projectionist  to  cue 
changeovers  from  one  program  to  an- 
other, as  it  can  be  switched  to  either  of 
two  incoming  signal  lines,  and  thus  ena- 
bles him  to  see  one  program  while  at 
the  same  time  projecting  the  other  on  the 
theatre  screen. 

A  monitor  jack  and  phone  headset  are 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


March   1951 


"Is  it  too  late,  Doctor?" 


Fortunately,  it's  not  too  late  for  more  and  more 
Americans  who  are  going  to  their  doctors  in  time 
...at  the  first  sign  of  any  one  of  the  seven  danger 
signals  which  may  mean  cancer:  (1)  any  sore 
that  does  not  heal  (2)  a  lump  or  thickening, 
in  the  breast  or  elsewhere  .  (3)  unusual  bleeding 
or  discharge  (4)  any  change  in  a  wart  or  mole 
(5)  persistent  indigestion  or  difficulty  in  swallow- 
ing (6)  persistent  hoarseness  or  cough  (7)  any 
change  in  normal  bowel  habits. 


By  showing  Americans  what  they  can  do  to  protect 
themselves  and  their  families  against  cancer,  the 
American  Cancer  Society  is  saving  thousands  of 
lives  today.  By  supporting  science  and  medicine 
in  the  search  for  the  causes  and  cures  of  cancer, 
the  Society  hopes  to  save  countless  more  tomorrow. 
To  guard  yourself,  and  those  you  love,  against 
cancer,  call  the  nearest  office  of  the  American 
Cancer  Society  or  address  your  inquiry  to  "Cancer" 
in  care  of  your  local  Post  Office. 


American  Cancer  Society 


? 


10 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     March  1951 


Projectionist  Examination  Questions 

Based  on  Examinations  by  Leading  U.  S.  Municipalities 


Power  supply  unit  for  RCA  theater  Tv  system. 

also  provided  for  listening  to  the  incom- 
ing sound  signal  on  either  line.  Again, 
it  is  possible  to  listen  to  some  other  line 
than  the  one  being  fed  to  the  sound  sys- 
tem in  the  theatre. 
Special  Beaded  Screen  Used 

In  order  to  provide  maximum  illumia- 
tion  in  the  theatre  seating  area,  the 
screen  used  with  the  RCA  theater  Tv 
projector  is  of  the  beaded  type.  This 
construction  is  similar  to  that  employed 
in  screens  for  the  usual  16-mm  home 
projectors.  The  millions  of  small  glass 
beads  act  as  individual  lenses  which  re- 
flect the  incident  light  back  into  the 
useable  area  instead  of  scattering  it  over 
he  entire  auditorium.  Thus,  the  amount 
of  light  reaching  the  patrons'  eyes  is  in- 
creased and  waste  light  reduced. 

Two  benefits  are  obtained  in  this  man- 
ner: in  addition  to  the  increase  of  light 
to  the  patrons'  eyes,  the  contrast  of  the 
screen  to  the  theare  walls  is  increased ; 
the  walls  are  left  darker,  and  therefore 
the  eyes  are  more  relaxed  and  eye  pupils 
opened  to  the  extent  encouraged  by  the 
screen  brilliancy. 

All  high-voltage  circuits  are  protected 
by  covers  with  interlock  switches  which 
cut  power  from  the  equipment  when  the 
covers  are  opened.  This  prevents  acci- 
dental contact  and  assures  maximum 
safety  for  operating  personnel. 

The  projector  barrel  is  mounted  on  a 
pair  of  trunnion  legs  to  allow  it  to  be 
tilted  up  or  down  the  required  amount 
to  center  the  picture  vertically  on  the 
screen.  Although  a  certain  amount  of 
centering  adjustment  may  be  done  with 
the  rack  controls,  it  is  desirable  to  keep 
the  picture  as  near  the  center  of  the 
Kinescope  face  as  possible;  therefore, 
the  picture  is  first  centered  on  the  tube 
and  then  the  barrel  is  aimed  at  the  cen- 
ter of  the  screen.  Side-to-side  adjustment 
is  obtained  by  moving  the  trunnion  legs 


1.  Upon  striking  squarely  a  trans- 
parent medium  that  is  of  even  density 
and  homogeneous  throughout,  light  will 
(a)  be  refracted  upwards;  (b)  be  re- 
fracted downwards;  (c)  travel  through  it 
in  perfectly  straight  lines,  or  (d)  be 
diffused  party  upward  and  partly  down- 
ward. 

2.  If  a  generator  supplies  current  to 
its  circuit  at  114  volts,  and  each  main 
wire  has  a  drop  of  3  volts  in  it,  what 
voltage  is  impressed  on  the  lamps? 

3.  Motion  picture  film  should  be 
cleaned  with  a  soft  cloth  saturated  with 
(a)  modified  laundry  soda  solution  (6) 
kerosene  (c)  commercially  pure  carbon 
tetrachloride,  or  id)  hot  water  in  which 
has  been  dissolved  a  small  quantity  of 
soft  soap. 

4.  The  lens  formed  by  cementing  or 
placing  two  plano-convex  lenses  together 
is  called  (a)  collector  (b)  concave  (c) 
meniscus,  or    (d)   bi-convex. 

5.  That  quality  or  property  of  a  lens 
which  causes  differently  colored  light  to 
come  to  a  focus  at  varying  distances  from 
the  optical  center  of  the  lens  is  called 
(a)  spherical  aberration  (b)  chromatic 
aberration  (c)  lens  action,  or  (d)  re- 
fraction. 

6.  How  do  electrolytic  condensers 
differ  from  other  condensers? 

7.  Name  the  principal  parts  in  a 
Geneva  projector  movement. 

8.  To  obtain  a  20-ft.  picture  at  a 
throw  of  90  ft.,  what  size  lens  is  needed? 

9.  Can  you  explain  exactly  what  ac- 
tion takes  place  in  a  rectifier  tube? 

10.  Can  you  name  the  main  elements 
of  a  push-pull  amplifying  circuit  and 
describe  their  function? 

ADDENDUM 

To  the  Editor  of  IP: 

Question    No.    7    of    the    examination 


question  in  IP  for  February    (p.  10)    is 
in  error.    The  question  was: 

Having  an  alternator  with  12  poles 
and  a  speed  of  1200  r.p.m.  and  a  fre- 
quency of  60   cycles,   at   what   speed 
must   a    synchronous   motor   travel    to 
be  in  step  with  it  if  it  has  8  poles? 
Now,  no  alternator  with  12  poles  and 
a  speed  of  1200  r.p.m.  will  result  in  60 
cycles.  The  speed  would  have  to  be  600 
r.p.m.    The  reason   for  this  lies   in  the 
relationship  between  the  number  of  poles 
(p)    of  the  machine,  its  speed  of  rota- 
tion   (n)    in    r.p.m.,   and  the   frequency 
(/)   of  the  induced  voltage  in  cycles  per 
second,  as  follows: 

At  /  cycles  per  second  the  induced  volt- 
age has  a  frequency  of  60  X  2  /  =  120  / 
of  alternations,  because  each  cycle  cor- 
responds to  two  alternations.  During  one 
revolution  of  the  machine  p  poles  pass 
under  each  group  of  conductors,  thus  in- 
ducing p  alternations.  Consequently,  the 
number  of  alternations  per  minute,  is 
pn,  so  we  have  120  /  =  pn. 

Now,  getting  back  to  Question  7: 
120  X60  =  12Xn 
120  X  60 

n  = =  600  R.P.M. 

12 
not  1200  r.p.m.    Now,  for  an  8-pole  syn- 
chronous motor  to  be  in  step,  it  would 
go  like  this: 

120  X  60  =  8  X  n 

n  =  900  R.P.M. 

Not   looking   for   any   medals   for   the 

old  eagle-eye  stunt,  but  I  think  so  highly 

of  IP  that  I  don't  like  to  see  an  error 

of  this  nature  stand  uncorrected. 

Don  Fretch 
IA  Local  164,  Milwaukee,  Wise. 

OOPS — and  you're  so  right,  Mr.  Fretch. 
Anyhow,  the  crimson  hue  of  our  face  is 
bleached  a  bit  by  the  gracious  manner  in 
which    the   correction   was   tendered. — Ed. 


in  the  required  direction  at  the  point 
where  they  are  attached  to  the  mounting 
framework  on  the  balcony  front  or  other 
support. 

Mounting  the  projector  from  the  bal- 
cony or  other  theatre  structure  must  be 
done  in  a  safe  and  secure  manner.  As 
individual  balcony  structures  differ  in 
their  design,  the  design  of  the  mounting 
platform  on  each  installation  is  left  in 
the  hands  of  a  competent  architect  or 
structural  engineer. 

[NOTE:  The  fifth  article  of  this  series  will 
contain  additional  detailed  data  anent  the 
theater  Tv  projection  equipment,  in  addition 
to    information    on    operating    procedure.] 


From  Five  to  450  Emulsion  Coatings 

The  emulsion  coating  department  of  East- 
man Kodak  Co. — where  light-sensitive  photo 
emulsion  is  coated  on  film  base — used  a 
stock  of  five  emulsion  coatings  in  1906. 
Today  that  number  has  risen  to  more  than 
450,  including  several  multi-layer  coatings 
for  color  film.  Total  film  production  has 
increased  many  times  in  that  period. 


Westrex  Recorders  for  Signal  Corps 

The  U.  S.  Signal  Corps  has  just  acquired 
14  newsreel  recording  systems  from  Westrex 
Corp.,  New  York.  Eight  of  these  systems 
included  Wall  single-system  sound  cameras. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


March  1951 


11 


New  Eastman  Identification 
System  for  Safety  Film 


PROPER  identification  of  nitrate  and 
safety  film,  of  course,  is  of  para- 
mount importance  if  accidents  are  to 
be  prevented.  The  only  safe  practice  is 
to  assume  that  all  35-mm  motion  picture 
film  is  nitrate  unless  demonstrated  other- 
wise. 

A  safe,  simple,  foolproof  method  for 
identifying  nitrate  and  safety  film  cor- 
rectly is  not  as  easy  as  it  might  seem. 
For  many  years  film  manufacturers  have 
printed  the  words  "NITRATE  FILM"  at 
frequent  intervals  along  the  edge  of  film 
made  on  nitrate  base,  and  the  words 
"SAFETY  FILM"  along  the  edge  of  film 
made  on  safety  base.  This  has  usually 
been  done  by  a  latent  image  exposure 
at  the  time  of  slitting  or  perforating,  and 


The  circulation  side-by-side  of  both  nitrate  and  acetate  (safety)  release  prints  has 
imposed  severe  demands  upon  the  resources  of  the  film  manufacturer,  the  laboratory, 
the  exchanges — and  last,  but  by  no  means  least,  upon  the  projectionist  who  must 
deliver  the  sum  total  of  industry  effort,  from  story  conception  down  through  the 
manifold  stages  to  the  delivery  of  the  finished  product  to  the  paying  patron  at  the 
theater  box-office. 

Ever  responsive  to  the  requirements  of  the  man  who  keeps  the  theater  going, 
(Mr.  Projectionist),  Eastman  Kodak  Company  has  developed  a  system  of  print  identifi- 
cation which  should  go  far  to  ease  the  burden  of  projectionists,  who  utilize  its  product 
to  translate  a  narrow  ribbon  of  film  into  the  dollars  which  provide  the  economic 
sinews  for  the  world-wide  operation  of  motion  picture  theaters.  This  article  was 
prepared   and   is  copyright  by   Eastman    Kodak  Company. 


when  a  nitrate  positive  is  printed  from  a 
safety  master  and  a  safety  duplicating 
negative.  The  nitrate  print  carries  not 
only  its  own  identifying  name  in  black 
but  the  words  "SAFETY  FILM"  in  white 


FIG.    1.     A   print  on    nitrate   stock   showing   conflicting    identifications   printed    through    from    a 
safety  master  positive  and  a  safety  duplicating   negative. 


the  identification  is  visible  only  after 
processing. 

This  identification  system  was  ade- 
quate as  long  as  only  nitrate  film  was 
used  for  professional  35-mm  theater  pro- 
ductions. Now  that  both  nitrate  and 
safety  films  are  in  general  use,  there  is 
the  danger  of  misidentification  caused  by 
printing  through  from  a  safety  negative 
onto  a  nitrate  print,  or  vice  versa. 

Figure  1  illustrates  what  can  happen 


printed  through  from  the  safety  dupli- 
cating negative,  and  the  same  in  black 
printed  through  from  the  safety  master 
positive. 

Obliteration  of  Markings 

The  original  identifying  name  on  a 
piece  of  film  usually  appears  sharper 
than  one  resulting  from  a  second  genera- 
tion print,  but  there  is  still  a  real  danger 
of  misidentification.    In  Fig.  2  is  the  re- 


production of  a  portion  of  a  print  on 
safety  film  which  was  found  in  the  trade. 
A  sample  had  to  be  burned  to  establish 
the  identity  of  the  base.  Both  black-and- 
white  and  color  prints  have  also  been 
seen  frequently  with  a  flash  along  the 
edge  which  virtually  obliterates  the 
nitrate  or  safety  identification. 

Additional  limitations  to  this  system 
of  film  identification  are  the  fact  that  it 
is  invisible  in  the  raw  stock  and  that 
every  individual  spliced  strip  of  proc- 
essed film  in  a  roll  must  be  examined. 

It  is  thus  apparent  that  the  existing 
system  of  nitrate  and  safety  base  identi- 
fication is  entirely  inadequate.  Eastman 
Kodak  Company  has  given  a  great  deal 
of  thought  to  this  problem  in  recent 
years  because  of  its  importance  in  fire 
prevention.  Many  ideas  have  been  sug- 
gested and  it  has  finally  been  concluded 
that  two  separate  identification  systems 
for  safety  film  are  necessary.  Two  such 
systems  are  now  being  put  in  practice 
as  follows: 

Distinctive,  Visible 
Frame-Line  Printing 

A  scheme  has  been  devised  by  which 
identification  of  the  base  can  be  com- 
bined with  visible  frame-line  printing  as 
shown  in  Figs.  3  and  4.  Eastman  Nitrate 
Motion  Picture  Positive,  Sound  Record- 
ing, and  Duplicating  films  carry  a  width- 


!       .                                     1                                             I                                             1                                            I                                             1                                            1 

'            1 

■  1 

SATETY         FILM          3 

*:-     r'~              '    ■    fc--              :     "-    j 

FIG.  2.     A  portion  of  a  print  on  safety  film  stock  found  in  a  film  exchange.    Note  confusion  of  identifying  names.    The  correct  identity  can 

be  established  by  the  presence  of  the  safety  frame-line  mark.    (See  Fig.  3.) 


12 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


March  1951 


4B* 


./ 


■ 
SHOWMANSHIP  is  better  than  ever— with  RCA  Theatre  Sound 


RCA  SOUND 


. . .  completes  the  illusion  of  reality 


R 


EALITY  OF  PICTURE  IS  NOT  ENOUGH  ...  the  sound, 
oo,  must- be  as  real  as  life  itself  for  the  greatest  possible 
:njoyment  of  the  show.  Today,  the  natural  and  pleasing 
iound  made  possible  by  RCA  High  Fidelity  Sound  Equip- 
nent  successfully  completes  the  illusion  of  reality. 

RCA  is  the  recognized  leader  in  the  sound  equipment  field. 
itCA's  more  than  25  years'  experience  in  research  and 


manufacture  of  sound  equipment  for  motion  picture  thea- 
tres, radio  and  television  stations  and  sound  systems  for 
educational,  industrial  and  commercial  applications  is 
your  guarantee  of  highest  quality. 

The  RCA  Service  Company  assures  you  of  expert  in- 
stallation and  keeps  your  RCA  Theatre  Sound  System 
running  at  peak  efficiency. 


THERE  IS  AN  RCA  SOUND  SYSTEM  FOR  YOUR  THEATRE 
Ask  your  Independent  RCA  Theatre  Supply  Dealer  for  complete  information 


THEATRE   EQUIPMENT 

RAD tO    CORPORATION  of  AMERICA 

ENGINEERING  PRODUCTS  DEPARTMENT.  CAMDEN.  N.J. 

In  Canada:  RCA  VICTOR  Company  Limited,  Montreal 


;e s  e  n  t  1*  • 

•««  NEW   STRONG  *R°__iftUT 


IMCAHOESC1 


n,9httchJs  where  Phys^ 

dUsU,anns  and  Price  are  fac- 
dimensions  ana  P  doUS 

tors  and  where  the  mp.)S 

light  volume  of  an  ar 

not  necessary.  -**"* 


PROJECTS    FAR    MORE    LIGHT    THAN    ANY 

CONVENTIONAL    INCANDESCENT    SPOTLIGHT 

This  increased  brilliancy  is  made  possible  by  a  variable  focal  length  objective 
lens  system,  a  514-inch  silvered  glass  reflector,  and  Fresnel  lens  used  with  a  standard 
115-volt,  1000-watt  prefocused  projection  type  bulb. 

As  contrasted  to  the  conventional  incandescent  spotlight,  with  which  the  spot  size  is  varied  solely 
by  irising,  to  result  in  substantial  light  loss,  the  Trouperette  utilizes  all  the  light  through  most  of 
the  spot  sizes. 

6  1/2    TIMES    BRIGHTER    HEAD     SPOTS 

Sharp   edges   from    head    spot   to   flood.     Horizontal   masking    control    can    be   angled   at   45    degrees    in    each    direction. 
Fast-operating  color  boomerang  accommodates  six  slides.      Height-adjustable   mounting   stand. 
Can    be    plugged    into    any    110-volt    convenience    outlet. 

THE  STRONG  TROUPER  HIGH   INTENSITY  ARC  SPOTLIGHT 

With  variable  focal  length  lens  system  for  projecting  a  dazzling  snow-white  spot  in 
larger  theatres,  ice  shows,  circuses,  arenas,  and  coliseums. 

Automatic  arc  control  maintains  a  constant  arc  gap,  free  from  hiss  or  flicker.  A  trim 
of  carbons  one  hour  and  20  minutes  at  21   volts  and  45  amperes. 

Draws  only  10  amperes  from  any  110-volt  A.C.  convenience  outlet,  making  the  use  of 
heavy  rotating  equipment  unnecessary.  An  adjustable,  self-regulating  transformer  is  an  inte- 
gral part  of  the  base.    Mounted  on  casters.    Easily  portable.    Easily  disassembled  for  shipping. 

SEE  ANY  OF  THE  FOLLOWING  DEALERS  OR   USE  COUPON  FOR  OBTAINING  LITERATURE 


ALBANY,  N.  Y.—  Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Albany 
Theatre  Supply 

ATLANTA—  Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

ATLANTIC  CITY— Boardwalk  Film  Enterprises 

AUBURN,  N.  Y. — Auburn  Theatre  Equipment 

BALTIMORE— J.  F.  Dusman  Co.;  Nat'l  Theatre  Sup- 
ply Co. 

BOSTON— J.  Cifre,  Inc.;  Nat'l  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

BUFFALO — Dion  Products;  Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

CHARLOTTE— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Standard 
Theatre  Supply  Co. 

CHICAGO — Abbott  Theatre  Equipment  Co.;  Gardner 
Jansen,  Inc.;  Hollywood  Stage  Lighting  Co.;  Mid- 
west Stage  Lighting  Co.;  Midwest  Theatre  Service 
and  Equipment  Co.;  Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

CINCINNATI— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

CLEVELAND— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

DALLAS — Hardin  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Modern  Thea- 
tre Equipment  Co.;  Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

DENVER— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Graham  Bros. 

DES  MOINES— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

DETROIT— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

FORTY  FORT,  PA.— V.  M.  Tate  Theatre  Supplies 

GREENSBORO,   N.   C— Standard  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

HOUSTON — Southwestern  Theatre  Equipment  Co. 

INDIANAPOLIS— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

KANSAS  CITY,  MO.— Shreve  Theatre  Supply;  Nafl 
Theatre  Supply  Co. 

LOS  ANGELES— J.  M.  Boyd;  C.  J.  Holzmueller;  Nafl 
Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Pembrex  Theatre  Supply  Corp. 

LOUISVILLE— Falls  City  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

MEMPHIS— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 


MILWAUKEE— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  R.  Smith  Co. 

MINNEAPOLIS— Minneapolis  Theatre  Supply;  Nafl 
Theatre  Supply  Co. 

NEW  HAVEN— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

NEW  ORLEANS— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

NEW  YORK  CITY— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

NORFOLK— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

OKLAHOMA  CITY— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Okla- 
homa Theatre  Supply  Co. 

PHILADELPHIA—  Blumberg  Brothers;  Nafl  Theatre 
Supply  Co. 

PITTSBURGH— Atlas  Theatre  Supply;  Nafl  Theatre 
Supply  Co. 

SALT  LAKE  CITY— Inter-Mountain  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

SAN  FRANCISCO— C.  J.  Holzmueller;  Nafl  Theatre 
Supply  Co.;  W.  G.  Preddey  Theatre  Supplies 

SEATTLE— B.  F.  Shearer  Co.;  Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 


SIOUX  FALLS — American  Theatre  Supply  Co. 
ST.  LOUIS— City  Electric  Co.;  Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 
TOLEDO — Theatre  Equipment  Co. 
WESTERLY,  R.  I.— G.  H.  Payne  Motion  Picture  Service 
CANADA— 
Dominion  Sound  Equipment,  Ltd. 

Montreal,  Quebec 
General  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

Montreal,  Quebec 
Perkins  Electric  Co.,  Ltd. 

Montreal,  Quebec 
Perkins  Electric  Co.,  Ltd. 

Toronto,  Ontario 
General  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

Winnipeg 
Sharp's  Theatre  Supplies,  Ltd. 
Calgary,  Alberta. 


THE 

STRONG 

ELECTRIC  CORP. 

"The  World's  Largest  Manu- 
facturer of  Projection 
Arc  Lamps" 

Please   send    free    literature   on    the   □   Strong   Trouperette    Incandescent  • 
Spotlight;  □  Strong  Trouper  Arc   Spotlight.                                                        , 

NAMF                                                                                                                                   ■ 

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1    14  City  Park  Avenue    1 
■          Toledo  2,  Ohio         H 

STRFFT                                                                                                                                         1 

CITY   X.   STATF                                                                                                                                   I 

NITRATE  FILM 


SAFETY 

FIG.  3.    The  new  Eastman  visible  frame-line  ma 

wise  frame-line  mark  after  every  fourth 
perforation  printed  along  the  extreme 
edge  of  the  film. 

Eastman  35-mm  black-and-white  Safety 
Motion  Picture  Positive  Film  now  carries 
a  lengthwise  frame-line  mark  after  every 
fourth  perforation  located  exactly  be- 
tween the  perforations  instead  of  at  the 
extreme  edge  of  the  film.  This  is  the 
only  area  on  the  film  which  is  ordinarily 
not  exposed  in  printing.  This  new  safety 
frame-line  mark  when  used  on  safety 
negative  film  will  not  print  through  on 
positive  film,  provided  that  care  is  taken 
to  see  that  printers  never  expose  the  area 
exactly  between  successive  perforations. 

A  more  positive  identification  is  thus 
obtained  —  whenever  the  new  safety 
frame-line  mark  is  found,  one  can  be 
reasonably  certain  that  the  film  is  on 
safety  base  regardless  of  nitrate  frame- 
lines  or  nitrate  edge  printing  which  may 
have  been  printed  through  from  the  nega- 
tive. If  the  safety  frame-line  printing  is 
not  present,  the  film  is  either  on  nitrate 
base  or  on  safety  base  made  prior  to  the 
use  of  the  new  frame-line. 

Black  Ink  Now  Used 

Both  the  nitrate  and  safety  types  of 
visible  frame-line  printing  are  applied  to 
the  back  of  the  film  by  means  of  black 
ink  instead  of  by  latent  image  exposure 
and,  therefore,  are  visible  on  the  raw 
film  (Fig.  3)  as  well  as  on  the  developed 
film  (Fig.  4) .  The  ink  used  will  with- 
stand processing  solutions  and  normal 
handling  wear.  Even  if  the  film  is  flashed 
before  development,  the  ink  is  visible  by 
reflected  light,  although  not  by  trans- 
mitted light. 

The  new  safety  frame-line  mark   has 


FILM 

rk  on   safety  raw  stock  compared   with    nitrate. 

been  used  on  35-mm  black-and-white 
Eastman  Safety  Motion  Picture  Positive 
Film  since  early  in  1949.  It  will  appear 
on  all  35-mm  Eastman  safety  motion  pic- 
ture films  (both  negative  and  positive 
types  in  black-and-white)  as  soon  as  the 
necessary  equipment  changes  can  be 
made — it  is  hoped,  sometime  during  1951. 
(All  color  films  manufactured  by  East- 
man Kodak  Company  are  made  on  safety 
base  but  may  not  carry  this  new  frame- 
line  mark.)  Of  course,  some  Eastman 
safety  film  is  already  in  circulation  which 
does  not  have  this  new  safety  frame-line 
printing,  but  as  time  passes,  this  method 


of  identification  should   prove  of  increas- 
ing value.* 

Attention  is  drawn  to  the  fact  that 
nitrate  film  formerly  manufactured  by 
Canadian  Kodak  carried  a  visible  frame- 
line  mark  running  lengthwise  of  the  film 
instead  of  widthwise.  as  in  the  case  of 
Eastman  nitrate  film  manufactured  in 
the  United  States  (Fig.  5).  The  Cana- 
dian Kodak  nitrate  frame-line  mark  was 
located  at  the  extreme  edge  of  the  film. 
It  may  therefore  be  distinguished  from 
the  new  Eastman  safety  frame-line  mark 
located  between  the  perforations.  Thus 
both  the  direction  and  the  location  of  the 
frame-line  mark  must  be  checked  to 
establish  the  identification  of  the  base. 

A  Fluorescent  Edge 
For  Safety  Film 

The  new  visible  frame-line  printing 
described  above  as  a  useful  and  neces- 
sary method  for  identifying  safety  film, 
but  it  also  has  its  limitations.  In  a 
spliced  roll,  every  separate  strip  would 
have  to  be  examined  to  make  sure  that 
the  entire  roll  including  leader  and 
trailer  was  safety  film. 

Correct  identification  of  the  whole  roll 
is  especially  important  for  sorting  films 
going  into  storage  vaults  where  a  small 
piece  of  nitrate  film  might  damage  other 
films.  It  is  also  important  in  sorting  film 
for  scrap  recovery.  In  such  cases,  indi- 
vidual examination  of  every  spliced  strip 
would  be  very  laborious  and  costly.  It 
was  felt  that  some  rapid  method  of  de- 
termining whether  or  not  a  roll  of  film 
is  all  safety  is  necessary. 

The  method  which   has   been   adopted 


*A  distinctive  type  of  frame-line  mark  for  safety 
base  motion  picture  materials  manufactured  in 
foreign   countries  is  also  being  instituted. 


L_ 


NITRATCj      f>Lm» 


_SA.r_CTY_tli.li_ 


FIG.  4.    The  new  Eastman  visible  frame-line  mark  on  processed  safety  film  compared  with  nitrate. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     March  1951 


15 


Proper  Handling  of  Safety  Film 

SAFETY  motion  picture  film  requires  no  special  precautions 
in  handling  or  storage  as  far  as  its  own  fire  hazard  is  con- 
cerned. Underwriters'  Laboratories  describe  approved  acetate 
film  as  slow-burning  and  state  that  "hazards  in  use  and  stor- 
age are  small,  being  somewhat  less  than  those  presented  by 
common  newsprint  paper  in  the  same  form  and  quantity." 
Where  safety  film  is  used  exclusively,  only  normal  fire  precau- 
tions are  required  as  in  any  office  or  building  containing 
paper,  wood,  or  similar  combustible  material.  Safety  films 
should  be  stored  in  individual  cans  in  metal  cabinets,  but 
these  need  not  be  sprinklered  or  vented. 

Where  safety  and  nitrate  films  are  both  being  used  in 
studios,  laboratories,  exchanges,  theaters,  or  storage  vaults, 
the  same  regulations  and  precautions  must  be  followed  as  if 
all  the  film  were  nitrate.  It  is,  of  course,  entirely  feasible  to 
segregate  the  work  involving  safety  film  alone  in  any  given 
studio,  laboratory,  or  exchange,  so  that  certain  areas  might  be 
operated  without  the  restrictions  applying  to  nitrate  film. 

The  only  real  hazard  in  acetate  film  is  that  its  increased 


use  will  tend  to  make  people  careless,  and  proper  safety  pre- 
cautions may  be  neglected  while  some  nitrate  film  is  still  in 
circulation.   If  this  happens,  a  serious  accident  may  result. 

Combination  Safety-Nitrate  Prints 

A  roll  of  film  which  is  acetate  base  at  the  outside  might 
contain  nitrate  film  spliced  in  the  interior  of  the  roll.  A  print 
released  on  acetate  stock  may  later  have  replacements  made 
on  nitrate  stock  and  be  run  on  a  projector  not  properly  main- 
tained for  nitrate  film.  A  laboratory  which  has  been  using 
safety  stock  for  release  prints  for  a  period  of  time  may  sud- 
denly switch  to  nitrate  stock  without  announcement  or  warn- 
ing.   The  danger  of  such  practices  is  obvious. 

Even  when  no  more  nitrate  film  is  being  manufactured  in 
the  United  States,  foreign  negatives  or  prints  on  nitrate  stock 
may  be  imported.  Another  hazard  is  the  quantity  of  nitrate 
negatives  and  prints  in  storage  vaults,  some  of  which  may  be 
kept  for  25  years  or  more.  Any  such  collection  of  nitrate 
films  that  is  to  be  saved  should  be  stored  in  a  separate  ap- 
proved vault,  never  in  the  same  vault  with  safety  films. 


,    ■    ■       '■        ■:::■:■.--.  \  :,:  .        ■■■  '■     ,:-,  ■■■:  y/m  .  ■■■■:■     ■  '  ■  ■■■■:  -yy.ii'y  ■  :  .     :  ■:■:■:■ i:.  .:■:■  ::' 


I  H  H   r   I  *1  «  I  M  H  J  b   :   I  I 


'I 


NITRATE     FILM 


FIG.    5.      The   visible    frame-line    mark    on    raw 

Canadian 

by  Eastman  Kodak  Company  is  to  appby 
a  very  small  amount  of  a  fluorescent 
chemical  on  safety  film  base  used  for 
35-mm  motion  picture  film.  When  a 
35-mm  roll  of  film  so  treated  is  viewed 
on  edge  under  a  suitable  ultraviolet  lamp 
in  a  partially  darkened  room,  a  vivid 
purple  fluorescence  is  visible;  whereas 
untreated  film  viewed  in  the  same  way 
appears  black.  In  white  light  fluorescent- 
treated  and  untreated  films  look  exactly 
the  same. 

Extensive  tests  in  both  the  laboratory 
and  the  trade  indicate  that  the  fluores- 
cent treatment  of  the  base  has  no  detri- 
mental effect  on  the  film  before  or  after 
development. 

This  simple  and  effective  method  of 
rapidly  distinguishing  nitrate  and  safety 
film  in  bulk  form  is  illustrated  in  Fig.  6 
which  shows  a  composite  nitrate  and 
safety  film  roll  on  an  exchange  reel.  The 
same  roll  wound  on  a  core  is  shown  in 
Fig.  7.  The  nitrate  firm  appears  black 
and  the  fluorescent-treated  safety  film  ap- 


and    processed    nitrate    film    manufactured    by 
Kodak. 

pears  white  in  these  reproductions. 

The  contrast  between  the  two  films  is 
much  more  striking  in  actual  practice  or 
in  a  color  photograph  where  the  edge  of 
the  safety  film  appears  purple.    The  ex- 


change reel  does  not  permit  as  complete 
an  examination  as  in  the  case  of  a  roll 
on  a  core,  but  it  is  still  possible  to  tell 
quickly  whether  most  of  the  roll  is  nitrate 
or  safety. 

A  suitable  inexpensive  ultraviolet  lamp 
in  various  table,  overhead,  portable,  spot, 
or  flood-light  models  may  be  purchased 
from  several  manufacturers  complete 
with  transformer  and  filter  ready  for 
use.**  A  100-watt  bulb  is  recommended 
for  general  use,  but  smaller  or  larger, 
ones  may  be  obtained  if  desired.  The 
ultraviolet  bulbs  and  other  parts  may 
also  be  purchased  separately  from  elec- 
trical supply  stores  and  assembled  in 
standard  fixtures. 

The  ultraviolet  lamp  should  be 
equipped  with  a  hood  or  reflector,  and 
care  should  be  taken  not  to  expose  the 
eyes  for  long  periods  to  direct  ultraviolet 
radiation  from  these  lamps.  Provided 
such  care  is  taken,  ultraviolet  lamps  pre- 
sent no  personnel  hazard.  They  are  in 
constant  use  in  various  other  industries. 
(Continued  next  page,  foot  of  Col.  I) 


**  For  example,  Switzer  Brothers,  Inc.,  1220 
Huron  Road,  Cleveland  15,  Ohio,  Black  Light 
Model  103. 


Figure  6 


Figure  7 


In  Fig.  6  is  shown  a  mixed  roll  of  fluorescent-treated  safety  film  (white)  and  untreated  nitrate 

film  (dark)  on  an  exchange  reel.    (Photographed  with  ultraviolet  light.)    The  edge  of  the  treated 

safety  film   is  actually  colored   purple,  and   the  nitrate  film   black   in   ultraviolet   light.    Fig.  7 

shows  the  same  roll  as  in  Fig.  6  but  on  a  plastic  core. 


16 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     March  1951 


Effects  of  Television  on  the 
Motion  Picture  Theater f 


By  BEN  SCHLANGER  and  WILLIAM  A.  HOFFBERG 
Theater  Architects  and  Engineers,  New  York  City 

The  advent  of  television  has  accelerated  the  need  for  refinements  and  improvements  in 
the  art  of  the  projected  motion  picture  in  theaters.  The  factors  of  cinematography, 
theater  location,  seating  capacity  and  theater  design  have  to  be  dealt  with  in  accordance 
with  circumstances  which  already  appear  to  call  for  a  fresh  approach  to  the  problem. 
It  is  important  to  evaluate  the  ability  to  adapt  existing  theaters  to  the  new  requirements. 


HOME  television  is  acquiring  a  mass 
audience,  but  there  will  always  be  a 
motion  picture  theater  and  theater 
television  audience  consisting  of  those 
patrons  who  wish  to  see  entertainment 
not  available  in  other  mediums,  those 
who  wish  to  avoid  advertising  intrusions, 
those  desiring  a  respite  from  the  home 
environment,  those  satisfying  their  gre- 
garious instincts,  and  those  who  prefer 
the  dramatic  impact  of  the  large  theater 
screen  cinematography. 

This  audience  may  be  surprising  in 
numbers,  because  it  has  been  estimated 
that  only  10  to  20%  of  the  potential 
audience  ever  attended  even  the  most 
popular  picture. 

We  are  now  going  out  of  a  period  in 
motion  picture  history  in  which  great 
leeway  existed  in   both   production   and 


fj.  Soc.  Mot.  Pict.  &  Tv  Eng.  for  Jan.,  1951, 
p.  39. 

Safety  Film  Identification 

(Continued  from  preceding  page) 

for  example,  for  identifying  markings  on 
clothing  in  laundries. 

CAUTION:  A  word  of  warning  is  in 
order  in  the  case  of  laboratories  using 
sensitized  photographic  materials  because 
ultraviolet  lamp  bulbs  contain  mercury. 
If  broken,  care  must  be  taken  not  to 
carry  or  track  mercury  into  rooms  where 
undeveloped  film  is  stored  or  handled. 
Even  slight  traces  of  mercury  produce 
sensitized  spots  on  film  which  become 
black  when  developed. 

It  should  also  be  pointed  out  that  the 
above  method  of  examination  is  intended 
for  processed  film  only  and  that  if  used 
in  the  inspection  of  raw  stock,  fogging 
of  the  latter  will  result. 

Fluorescent-treated  film  base  is  now 
being  used  for  35-mm  Eastman  Safety 
Motion  Picture  Positive  stock  (type 
5302)  and  will  be  used  for  all  35-mm 
Eastman  safety  motion  picture  film  with- 
out exception  as  soon  as  possible — it  is 
hoped,  in  the  early  part  of  1951. 


exhibition.  The  margin  for  error,  incom- 
petence, and  acceptability  of  questionable 
quality  of  production  and  exhibition,  is 
narrowing  down  with  the  advent  of  tele- 
vision. 

Now,  the  factor  of  quality  in  motion 
picture  theater  entertainment  will  deter- 
mine the  size  of  its  audience.  Of  course, 
quality  primarily  includes  story  content 
and  performance,  but  if  the  motion  pic- 
ture theater  cannot  deliver  the  story  con- 
tent and  performance  in  a  manner  far 
superior  to  any  of  the  other  entertain- 
ment mediums,  it  will  lose  the  main  rea- 
son for  its  existence. 

Television  has  accentuated  the  neces- 
sity for  intimacy  in  the  motion  picture 
theater  because  each  home  television 
seat  is  a  "ringside"  seat.  The  television 
camera  is  located  at  a  distance  and  angle 
from  the  scene  which  the  director  con- 
siders most  favorable  to  the  home  audi- 
ence. At  home,  the  television  viewer  has 
the  great  advantage  of  choosing  his  seat- 
ing pattern  by  individual  preference. 

However,  the  scale  of  the  television 
screen  in  the  home  is  limited.  The  com- 
paratively bright  illumination  levels  re- 
quired in  home  television  viewing  makes 
the  viewer  particularly  conscious  of  this 
deficiency.  The  inclusion  of  furniture 
and  room  details  in  the  field  of  view  does 
much  to  destroy  intimacy. 

In  contrast  with  home  television,  the 
motion  picture  theater  has  a  fixed  seat- 
ing pattern.  The  theater  audience  seat- 
ing preferences  can  readily  be  seen  as 
they  choose  their  seats  at  the  beginning 
of  the  show.  The  less  desirable  seats  are 
then  reserved  for  latecomers. 

Theater  Improvement  'Musts' 

The  competition  of  home  television 
can  be  a  healthy  stimulus  to  induce 
theater  owners  to  improve  their  physical 
plant  so  that  the  enjoyment  of  a  motion 
picture  in  a  theater  is  noticeably  su- 
perior. The  following  items  deserve  care- 
ful consideration  in  this  connection: 

1.  All  theater  seat  locations  must  be 
desirable.     Unobstructed    vision    of    the 


screen  is  mandatory.  Ample  row  spac- 
ing and  two  arm  rests  for  each  seat  will 
be  necessary. 

2.  The  scale  of  the  theater  screen  im- 
age should  increase  so  that  the  differ- 
ence in  scale  as  compared  with  the  home 
television  screen  is  accentuated  and 
dramatized. 

3.  Since  1938,  we  have  advocated  the 
elimination  of  black  masking  around  the 
motion  picture  screen,  and  we  now  have 
many  successful  installations  of  this  type 
in  theaters.  The  majority  of  television 
receiver  sets  have  very  light  colored 
maskings.  A  luminous  field  around  the 
screen,  preferably  synchronized  with  the 
screen  lighting  intensities,  would  reduce 
eyestrain  and  enhance  peripheral  cine- 
matographical  effects. 

4.  Some  of  the  fluidity  and  inventive- 
ness achieved  in  television  production  is 
worth  noting.  With  the  larger  screen  and 
luminous  screen  surround,  the  peripheral 
areas  of  the  human  field  of  view  .can  be 
exploited  for  greater  dramatic  effect. 

5.  The  effectiveness  of  distant  pano- 
ramic views  and  medium  shots  on  the 
television  receiver  is  necessarily  limited 
in  scale.  In  contrast,  the  larger  theater 
screen  and  the  increased  use  and  im- 
provement of  wide-angle  camera  lenses, 
are  great  advantages. 

Larger  Screen  Size  Feasible 

6.  Development  of  higher  intensity 
projection  equipment,  coated  lenses,  and 
the  reduction  of  film  grain  as  well  as  the 
demands  of  drive-in  projection,  have 
made  larger  screen  projection   feasible. 

7.  Further  enhancement  of  cinema- 
tography is  produced  by  the  increased 
subtended  angle  of  the  larger  screen  to 
the  average  viewer. 

8.  Items  2  and  3  of  the  foregoing 
recommendations  can  now  help  to  bring 
three-dimensional  motion  pictures  into 
use.  With  seating  depth  limited  to  ap- 
proximately four  times  the  picture  width 
instead  of  the  greater  viewing  depths 
now  used,  objectionable  perspective  dis- 
tortions experienced  in  stereoscopic  view- 
ing will  be  reduced.  The  elimination  of 
dark  picture  surrounds  is  highly  con- 
sistent with  the  realistic  effect  of  stereo- 
scopic viewing. 

9.  Stereophonic  sound  in  theaters  giv- 
ing positional  sound  effects  in  space  can 
hardly  be  conceivable  in  home  televi- 
sion sound. 

The  foregoing  suggestions  for  improve- 

(Continued  on  page  29) 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     March  1951 


17 


IN  THE 


SPOTLIGHT 


By 

HARRY 

SHERMAIS 


WIDESPREAD  craft  interest  in 
benefit  and  welfare  plans,  with 
many  IA  Locals  now  pondering  the  best 
manner  of  approach  to  suit  their  par- 
ticular situations,  prompts  the  publica- 
tion here  of  the  details  of  a  plan  which 
we  have  mentioned  favorably  previously 
(IP  for  March,  1949).  We  refer  to  the 
wage  dividend  which  Eastman  Kodak 
Company  has  paid  to  its  employes  for 
39  consecutive  years,  with  this  year's 
payment  of  $18  million  going  to  about 
45,000  employes  throughout  the  United 
States. 

Very  significant,  we  think,  is  the  Ko- 
dak statement  that  the  plan  "was  started 
and  continued  in  recognition  of  the  part 
its  men  and  women  play  in  the  success 
of  the  company."  The  wage  dividend, 
which  is  paid  in  addition  to  regular 
wages  and  has  no  effect  upon  wage  rates, 
is  only  one  part  of  a  broad  program 
which  includes  sickness  payments,  life 
insurance,  disability  benefits,  retirement 
annuities,   and   many   special  services. 

Based  on  Company  Earnings 

The  dividend  is  based  on  the  cash 
dividends  declared  ori  the  common  stock 
during  the  year  and  on  individual  earn- 
ings over  a  five-year  period.  Eligible 
persons  receive  $27.50  for  each  $1000 
earned  at  Kodak  during  the  five  years 
1946  through  1950.  Persons  with  Kodak 
five  years  at  the  end  of  1950  receive 
dividend  checks  of  about  seven  times 
their  average  weekly  wages  during  the 
five-year  period. 

However,  all  employes  who  started  on 
or  before  October  1,  1950,  and  who  were 
at  work  on  the  last  day  of  last  year, 
will  receive  the  dividend.  Those  who 
joined  Kodak  after  October  1  last,  but 
before  January  1  of  this  year,  will  re- 
ceive it  if  they  are  at  work  on  the  day 
of  payment.  Temporary  absence  on  the 
qualification  date  does  not  affect  eli- 
gibility. 

Under  the  Kodak  plan,  for  each  20 
cents  by  which  the  cash  dividends  de- 
clared on  the  common  stock  exceed  70 
cents,  the  wage  dividend  rate  is  %  of  1% 


(.005)  of  all  earnings  within  the  five 
calendar  years  preceding  the  date  of 
payment. 

Since  total  cash  dividends  declared  on 
the  common  stock  during  1950  amounted 
to  $1.80,  here  is  how  the  formula  works: 
$1.80  minus  70  equals  $1.10.  Dividing 
this  by  20  cents  gives  5.5.  Multiply  5.5 
by  .005  to  obtain  the  wage  dividend  rate 
of  2%%. 

Enlightened  Business  Management 

To  determine  the  individual's  wage 
dividend,  his  earnings  during  1946-1950, 
are  multiplied  by  the  1950  wage  dividend 
rate  of  23,4%. 

That's  how  Kodak  does  it;  and  it  is 
an  outstanding  example  of  social  con- 
sciousness on  the  part  of  enlightened 
business  management. 

•  Failing  to  conclude  a  satisfactory  con- 
tract renewal  with  the  owner  of  the  Ma- 
jestic and  Allen  Theaters  in  Lima,  Ohio, 
Local  349  pulled  its  men  and  picketed 
the  theaters.  After  five  weeks  of  picket- 
ing the  strike  was  finally  settled  when 
the  wife  of  one  of  the   striking  projec- 


tionists bought  the  Majestic  and  imme- 
diately signed  a  new  contract  with  the 
Local  calling  for  a  wage  increase  of  15c 
per  hour. 

•  The  New  York  City  Board  of  Educa- 
tion recently  elected  Morris  J.  Rotker, 
member  of  Local  306,  to  the  chairman- 
ship of  the  School  Board  for  the  Borough 
of  the  Bronx.  Morris  is  a  past  president 
of  the  25-30  Club,  and  his  new  appoint- 
ment comes  as  no  surprise  to  his  many 
friends  who  know  of  his  deep  interest 
in  civic  matters. 

•  The  members  and  officers  of  IA  Locals 
78  and  236,  Birmingham,  Ala.,  were  com- 
mended by  the  Birmingham  Civil  De- 
fense for  donating  their  services  to  the 
presentation  "If  an  'A'  Bomb  Falls," 
which  was  shown  there  under  the  auspices 
of  the  U.  S.  Army  and  the  U.  S.  Air 
Force  Recruiting  Service  in  cooperation 
with  the  Birmingham  organization.  The 
first  showing  of  this  sketch  was  made 
at  the  Temple  Theater  on  January  25 
last,  and  so  great  was  the  demand  for 
tickets  that  it  had  to  be  shown  again 
at  the  Municipal  Auditorium  on  Febru- 


DICK  GREEN,  MEMBER  OF  LOCAL  165,  HOLLYWOOD,  CALIF.,  HONORED  AT  DINNER 


Hollywood  Local  165  presented  Dick  Green,  former  IA  official  and  popular  member  of  the  Local, 
with  a  gold  life  membership  card  at  a  dinner  party  tendered  at  the  Riviera  Country  Club  in 
Los  Angeles  on  February  21  last.  The  dinner  was  held  at  the  close  of  the  annual  meeting  of 
Calif.  District  Council  No.  2,  and  was  attended  by  93  delegates  from  Southern  Calif.  IA  Locals. 
Shown  in  the  picture  above  (left  to  right)  are:  Howard  Edgar,  sec,  Hollywood  L.  165;  Floyd 
Billingsley,  3rd  I A  vice-pres.,  and  bus.  rep.,  San  Francisco  L.  162;  Steve  Newman,  I A  rep.;  Carl 
Cooper,  7th  IA  vice-pres.,  and  bus.  rep.,  Los  Angeles  L.  33;  Ed  Eagan,  pros.,  L.  165;  Dick  Green; 
Billy  Wise,  bus.  rep.,  San  Diego  L.  297  and  pres.  Calif.  Dis.  Council;  Lon  Bennett,  sec.  Long 
Beach  L.  521,  and  sec.  Calif.   Dis.  Council;   Roy  Brewer,   IA  rep.,  and  Zeal   Fairbanks. 


18 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


March  1951 


LOCAL  384,  HUDSON  COUNTY,  N.  J.,  OFFICIALS  UNANIMOUSLY  REELECTED 


Reelected  to  office  by  acclamation  is  the  proud  distinction  of  the  official  family  of  Hudson 
County  Local  384.  Shown  here  are  the  officers  as  they  were  obligated  at  the  regular  February 
meeting:  (left  to  right)  Frank  Maurus,  exec,  board;  James  Saponar,  sgt.-at-arms;  John  Cantoli, 
sec.-treas.;  Frank  Mandrake,  who  is  rounding  out  his  21st  year  as  president  of  the  Local;  Albert 
De  Titta,  exec,  board;  Ralph  DeMea,  bus.  rep.,  and  Ira  Dulberger,  cor.-rec.  sec.  George  Wede- 
meyer,  vice-pres.,  and  Charles  May,  exec,  board  member,  were  not  present  on  account  of  illness. 


ary  22.  The  services  of  the  two  IA  Bir- 
mingham Locals  were  donated  at  each 
performance. 

•  The  recent  death  of  Leon  Lonis,  mem- 
ber of  Local  228,  Toledo,  Ohio,  ended 
the  career  of  one  of  the  Local's  oldest 
and  most  active  members.  Lonis  joined 
the  Local  in  April,  1914,  and  for  the 
past  30  years  worked  in  the  projection 
room  of  the  Royal  Theater.  He  is  sur- 
vived by  his  wife,  Lyda,  and  a  sister. 

•  A  dinner  party  marked  the  recent 
40th  anniversary  celebration  of  Local 
188,  Kalamazoo,  Mich.  A  goodly  crowd 
turned  out  to  celebrate  the  event,  which 
was  held  at  Louie's,  a  popular  restaurant 
in  Kalamazoo.  Leeman  J.  McCarty,  sec- 
retary, provided  one  of  the  highlights 
of  the  evening  when  he  ran  off  several 
reels  of  movies  taken  about  20  years 
ago  of  past  and  present  members  of  the 
Local.  Another  was  the  presentation  of 
gold  life  membership  cards  to  charter 
members  Harry  Miller  and  George  Heath, 
members  of  the  Local  for  the  past  40 
years. 

•  A  recent  ruling  by  the  NLRB  of 
Washington,  D.  C,  held  that  the  so- 
called  "featherbedding"  ban  of  the  Taft- 
Hartley  Act  does  not  prohibit  unions 
from  seeking  actual  employment  for 
members,  even  though  the  employer  in- 
volved ".  .  .  does  not  want  or  need  such 
services  and  is  not  willing  to  accept 
them."  This  ruling  applied  specifically 
to  the  case  involving  the  Palace  Theater 
in  Akron,  Ohio,  and  Local  24  of  the  Mu- 
sicians' Union,  AF  of  L  (IP  for  June, 
1950,  p.  20).  The  union  demanded  that 
the  theater  employ  a  standby  orchestra 
to    play    a   certain    number    of   separate 


engagements  as  a  condition  to  the  Local 
giving  its  consent  for  traveling  name 
bands  to  play  at  the  theater.  In  accord- 
ance with  the  majority  ruling  of  the 
Board,  the  complaint  against  the  union 
was  dismissed. 

•  Tucson  Local  415  celebrated  its  25th 
anniversary  with  a  breakfast  at  the  Santa 
Rita  Hotel  coincidental  with  the  Febru- 
ary mid-winter  meeting  of  the  IA  Exec- 
utive Board.  IA  President  Walsh,  who 
presided  at  the  Board  meeting,  was  the 
guest  of  honor  at  Local  415's  breakfast 
party  and  made  several  presentations  on 
behalf  of  the  Local.  W.  P.  Raoul,  IA 
secretary-treasurer,  Mayor  J.  O.  Nie- 
mann, and   a  number  of  Tucson's   civic 


and  labor  leaders  were  among  the  in- 
vited  guests. 

•  A  note  from  Richard  Salamone,  busi- 
ness representative  for  Local  723,  Nor- 
wood, Mass.,  advises  us  that  Andrew  E. 
Grigun,  the  Local's  popular  secretary, 
became  the  father  of  a  baby  girl.  Con- 
gratulations, pop. 

•  California  District  Council  No.  2  held 
its  annual  meeting  February  20  last  at 
the  Riviera  Country  Club  in  Brentwood, 
a  suburb  of  Los  Angeles,  with  the  usual 
large  turnout.  The  delegates  witnessed  a 
demonstration  of  the  RCA  large-screen 
Tv,  which  was  put  on  by  the  management 
and  projection  crew  of  the  Orpheum 
Theater  in  L.  A.  While  they  all  spoke 
very  favorably  of  the  demonstration,  they 
considered  the  cost  of  |40,000  for  the 
installation  of  the  equipment  to  be  a 
serious  drawback  to  its  widespread  use 
in  theaters.  (Since  then  this  has  been 
reduced  to  $15,800,  according  to  a  re- 
cent RCA  announcement.) 

Many  of  the  delegates  reported  new 
contracts  calling  for  cost-of-living  in- 
creases. 

Hollywood  Local  165  tendered  an  ex- 
cellent dinner  to  the  delegates  and 
guests,  a  feature  of  which  was  the  pres- 
entation of  a  gold  life  membership  card 
to  one  of  its  outstanding  members,  Dick 
Green,  former  IA  secretary-treasurer. 
Merle  Chamberlain  and  Walter  McCor- 
mick,  of  the  Hollywood  Local,  were  in 
charge  of  entertainment  arrangements. 

•  The  recent  death  of  Edward  C.  Sieg- 
fried, charter  member  of  St.  Louis  Local 
143,  removes  from  its  roster  one  of  the 
few  remaining  old-timers.  Survivors  are 
his  wife  and  a  daughter. 

Other  Local  143  charter  members  are 


MISSOURI  STATE  ASSOCIATION  HOLDS  ITS  ANNUAL  MEETING  AT  JOPLIN,  MO. 


Delegates  and  visitors  to  the  Missouri  State  Association  Convention  pose  on  the  steps  of  the 
Connor  Hotel  in  Joplin,  Mo.,  where  the  meeting  was  held  on  January  23  last.  In  addition  to 
the  delegates  from  the  IA  Locals  in  Missouri,  representatives  from  the  National  Theatre  Supply 
Co.,  Altec  Service  Corp.,  and  RCA  were  in  attendance.  Felix  D.  Snow,  6th  IA  vice-president, 
may  be  seen  in  the  front  row,  fifth  from  the  left. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


March  1951 


19 


LOCAL  188  HONORS  CHARTER  MEMBERS 


Horold  Sargent  (right),  vice-president  of  Local 

188,    Kalamazoo,    Mich.,    presents    gold     life 

membership  cards  to  Harry  Miller  and  George 

Heath,  charter   members  of  the   Local. 

A.  P.  Petill,  Geo.  CRafferty,  and  F.  W. 
Kessler. 

•  We  were  sorry  to  learn  that  Roy  Cog- 
dill,  former  business  representative  for 
San  Antonio,  Local  407,  is  hospitalized. 
We  hope  his  recovery  will  be  a  speedy 
one.  Roy  did  a  swell  job  in  settling  the 
long  drawn-out  strike  of  the  Local  against 
the  Saragoza  Amusement  Co. 

•  It  does  our  old  heart  good  to  get  a 
letter  from  one  of  the  smaller  IA  Local 
Unions  telling  us  how  they  improved 
working  conditions  for  their  members. 
Such  a  letter  is  the  one  we  received  re- 
cently from  V.  (Dip)  Vaught,  president 
of  Local  328,  Pine  Bluff,  Ark. 

Although  the  projection  room  of  the ' 
theater  where  Dip  has  been  working  for 
the  past  26  years  has  proper  sanitary 
and  ventilating  facilities,  he  spent  con- 
siderable time  and  effort  in  trying  to  get 
all  the  other  theater  owners  in  the 
Local's   jurisdiction   to    make   the    same 


provisions  in  their  theaters.  Failing  this 
he  contacted  the  mayor  of  his  city,  who 
brushed  him  off  to  the  Health  Depart- 
ment. 

The  director  of  the  Health  Depart- 
ment passed  him  on  to  one  of  his 
underlings,  who,  in  turn,  stated  that  he 
would  take  the  matter  up  with  the  State 
Health  Department.  Not  hearing  from 
the  State  Health  Department  within  a 
reasonable  period  of  time,  Dip  communi- 
cated with  the  director  of  the  State  Labor 
Department,  who,  incidentally,  happens 
to  be  a  good  friend  of  his.  This  seemed 
to  do  the  trick,  for  within  the  next  few 
days  a  representative  from  the  State 
Health  Department  got  in  touch  with 
Dip  and  immediately  thereafter  a  care- 
ful check  was  made  of  sanitary  and 
ventilating  facilities  in  all  the  theaters. 
Recommendations  were  made  to  the  de- 
linquent theater  owners,  who  lost  no 
time  in  acting  on  them. 

While  it  is  true  that  Pine  Bluff  had  no 
laws  at  the  time  which  would  have  forced 
the  theater  owners  to  make  the  necessary 
improvements,  the  latter  were  aware  of 
the  fact  that  no  time  would  be  lost  in 
remedying  the  situation,  and  that  if 
legal  steps  had  to  be  taken  to  force  them 
to  act  on  the  recommendations,  they 
probably  would   find  it  pretty   costly. 

Now,  writes  Dip,  all  theaters  in  Pine 
Bluff,  including  the  drive-ins  that  are 
located  outside  the  city  limits,  are 
equipped  with  toilets,  wash  basins,  and 
are  properly  ventilated. 

Local  328  also  enjoys  a  share-the-profit 
plan  with  various  exhibitors,  in  addition 
to  wage  increases  of  71/2% ,  and  two-week 
vacations  with  pay,  which  were  granted 
with  the  signing  of  new  contracts  in  Jan- 
uary of  this  year.  We  know  of  larger  IA 
Locals  that  cannot  match  these  condi- 
tions. 


IA    ELECTIONS 


WALTER  BURROWS  AWARDED  LIFE  MEMBERSHIP  CARD  IN  TUCSON   LOCAL  415 


One  of  the  highlights  of  the  recent  25th  anniversary  breakfast  of  Tucson  Local  415  was  the 
presentation  by  IA  President  Richard  Walsh  of  25-year  emblems  to  six  members  of  the  Local, 
one  of  whom,  Walter  Burrows,  secretary,  also  received  a  paid-up  life  membership  card.  Walsh, 
third  from  right,  is  shown  presenting  the  card  to  Burrows.  Looking  on  are  Wm.  P.  Raoul,  IA 
secretary-treasurer  (extreme  left),  and  the  five  members  who  received  the  25-year  emblems  (left 
to  right):  Gonzales  E.  Martinez,  Wm.  H.  Witt,  Albert  Runkle,  A.  J.  Denny,  and  Richard  Yrigoyen. 


LOCAL  188,  KALAMAZOO,  MICH. 

John  Brill,  pres.;  Harold  Sargent,  we- 
pres.;  Leeman  J.  McCarty,  sec;  Howard 
Woods,  treas.;   Arlo  Slentz,  bus.  rep. 

LOCAL  204,  LITTLE  ROCK,  ARK. 

Jack  Schoemaker,  pres.;  Robert  Baldridge, 
vice-pres.;  Paynter  Rochelle,  rec.  cor. -sec; 
Guy  Myers,  Jr.,  fin.-sec;  Guy  Redmond, 
treas.;  Ira  Baldridge,  bus.  rep.;  Leonard 
Thalmueller,  trustee;  Charles  Cates,  sgt.-at- 
arms. 

LOCAL  224,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

Charles  Franks,  pres.;  Charles  Fischer,  1st 
vice-pres.;  Milton  Bittenbender,  2nd  vice- 
pres.;  T.  DeWitt  Bittenbender,  Zrd  vice-pres.; 
Willard  Garcia,  4th  vice-pres.;  Alfred  Muel- 
ler, sec;  T.  LeRoy  Hopkins,  fin.-sec;  Carl 
Fowler,  treas.;  Ralph  Grimes,  bus.  rep. 

LOCAL  343,  OMAHA,  NEBR. 

Alvin  Kostlan,  pres.;  R.  L.  Mclntyre,  1st 
vice-pres.;  Art  Krake,  2nd  vice-pres.;  Clyde 
Cooley,  corr.-sec;  R.  V.  Mortenson,  fin.- 
sec;  Ross  Hatton,  treas.;  Howard  Jackson, 
bus.  rep.;  R.  L.  Harrington,  Mace  Brown, 
P.  W.  Pollard,  trustees;  Al  Frazier,  sgt.-at- 
arms. 

LOCAL  384,  HUDSON  COUNTY,  N.  J. 

Frank  Mandrake,  pres.;  George  Weie- 
meyer,  vice-pres.;  Ira  Dulberger,  cor.  rec- 
sec;  John  Cantoli,  sec-treas.;  Ralph  DeMea, 
bus.  rep.;  Frank  Maurus,  Albert  De  Titta. 
Charles  May,  exec,  board;  James  Saponar, 
sgt.-at-arms. 

LOCAL  444,  NEW  KENSINGTON,  PENNA. 

Phil  (Blackie)  Bordonaro,  pres.;  Walter 
Austin,  vice-pres.;  F.  P.  (Reel)  McCoy,  sec; 
Charles  Wolfe,  treas.;  J.  J.  McCloskey,  bus. 
rep. ;  Ralph  Milberger,  Joseph  Mikelic,  H.  L. 
Wolfe,  trustees;  Clyde  Johnson,  Bernie  Zam- 
perini,  Joe  Kaduk,  Joseph  Milburn,  exec. 
board;   Anthony  Hacznak,  sgt.-at-arms. 

CALIFORNIA  DISTRICT  COUNCIL  NO.  2 

William  Wise  (San  Diego  L.  297),  pres.; 
Ralph  Adams  (Santa  Ana  L.  504),  vice- 
pres.;  Alonzo  S.  Bennett  (Long  Beach  L. 
521),  sec-treas.;  John  H.  Gotchell  (Santa 
Barbara  L.  442),  Harry  E.  Reynolds  (San 
Bernardino  L.  577),  Art  Narath  (Santa 
Ana  L.  504),  trustees;  G.  A.  Lahlum  (Long 
Beach  L.  521 ) ,  sgt.-at-arms. 


National  Theatre  Supply  Meet 

New  products  and  services  to  be  offered 
to  exhibitors  in  1951  was  the  keynote  of  the 
first  of  a  series  of  district  sales  meetings  of 
National  Theatre  Supply  representatives  held 
at  Hotel  Hollenden,  Cleveland,  February 
8th  and  9th, 

Sales  personnel  attending  included  man- 
agers and  salesmen  from  Indianapolis. 
Cleveland,  Detroit,  Cincinnati,  Buffalo  and 
Pittsburgh  branches.  From  the  company's 
executive  offices  in  New  York  were  W. 
E.  Green,  President;  J.  W.  Servies,  District 
Supervisor;  W.  J.  Turnbull,  Sales  Promo- 
tion Manager;  and  J.  E  .Currie,  Drive-In 
Theatre  Department  Manager. 


20 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


March  1951 


The  Cathode-Ray  Tube:  Basic  Data 


By  JOHN  F.  RIDER  and  SEYMOUR  D.  USLAN 

This  is  the  third  and  final  article  of  a  series*  anent  the  principles  of  electrostatic  action 
which  governs  the  operation  of  the  cathode-ray  tube.  These  data  appeared  originally  in 
Encyclopedia  on  Cathode-Ray  Oscilloscopes  and  Their  Uses  and  are  published  here  by 
permission  of  John  F.  Rider**,  publisher  of  this  authoritative  982-page  book. 


FIGURE  7  shows  a  pattern  of  the  elec- 
trostatic field  between  two  like 
charges.  Whether  they  are  two  posi- 
tive or  two  negative  charges  is  imma- 
terial; we  show  two  of  the  latter  simply 
as  a  matter  of  choice.  If  they  were  two 
positive  charges,  the  field  still  would  be 
the  same. 

Let  us  examine  this  field  pattern  some- 
what critically.  The  first  condition  we 
note  is  that  there  seem  to  be  no  termina- 
tion for  the  lines  of  force.  Why  not? 
The  answer  is  simply  that  we  show  only 
a  portion  of  the  fields  associated  with 
these  two  like  charges.  In  reality,  each 
of  these  two  like  charges  has  its  own  field 
point.  It  is  to  these  unlike  charges  that 
the  lines  of  force  shown  in  the  figure 
continue.  In  other  words,  when  we  show 
the  field  between  two  like  charges,  we 
really  are  showing  only  that  section  of 
each  of  two  fields,  extending  between 
two  unbke  charges,  which  is  in  the 
proximity  of  the  two  like  charges. 

It  is  conceivable,  in  theory,  to  visu- 
alize these  two  like  charges  isolated  in 
space,  each  with  its  field  extending  to 
infinity,  and  to  describe  a  direction  for 
each  line  of  force  according  to  its  effect 
upon  a  "test"  electron  (one  which  is 
placed  in  the  field  for  determination  of 
lines  of  force).  In  accordance  with  this 
idea,  the  directions  of  the  lines  of  force 
which  face  each  other  would  be  the  same. 

However,  the  reason  for  tying  in  the 
two    like    charges    under    consideration 


*  The  first  installment  appeared  in  IP  for  Dec., 
1950,  p.  26. 
**  480  Canal  St.,  New  York  13,  N.  Y. 

O      (    ' 


/  I.    , 

/  i   ' 


/i  ■ 


;  i* 


FIG.   7.     Electrostatic   field    between    two    like 
charges. 


with  two  other  charges  of  opposite  sign 
is  that  it  permits  the  closest  correlation 
with  what  is  to  follow.  Fig.  8  is  the 
drawing  we  shall  use  for  discussion  from 
this  point  on;  this  is  the  same,  in  sub- 
stance, as  Fig.  7,  with  the  addition  of 
the  "remote"  charges. 

Repulsion  Between  Like  Charges 

A  few  differences  exist  between  the 
two  drawings,  but  in  the  main  these  are 
due  to  perspective,  rather  than  to  any 
actual  difference  in  conditions.  What 
we  have  done  is  to  reorient  ourselves 
relative  to  the  imaginary  lines  of  force. 
The  fact  that  we  illustrate  two  pairs  of 
like  charges  instead  of  a  single  pair  does 
not  complicate  the  discussion.  Whether 
it  is  a  single  pair  of  like  charges  or  two 
pairs,  the  question  remains  the  same: 
"What  is  the  basis  of  the  repulsion  be- 
tween like  charges?" 

Remembering  that  the  attraction  be- 
tween unlike  charges  is  attributable  to 
the  contracting  properties  of  the  lines  of 
force,  it  is  not  too  far-fetched  to  sup- 
pose that  the  repulsion  likewise  is  due 
to  some  action  on  the  part  of  the  Unes 
of  force. 

This  is  the.  case:  it  is  the  lateral  re- 
pulsion between  lines  of  force  having 
like  direction,  which  is  responsible  for 
the  repulsion  between  charges.  As  is 
evident  in  Fig.  8,  the  direction  of  the 
lines  of  force  facing  each  other  and 
which  join  the  two  pairs  of  unlike 
charges  is  the  same;  these  lines  feel  re- 
pulsive forces  between  them.  Being  at- 
tached to  the  lines,  the  charges  likewise 
feel  the  same  forces  and  move  apart. 

It  is  necessary  to  understand  that  the 
repulsion  between  similarly  directed 
lines  of  force  does  not  depend  upon 
motion  of  the  charges.  In  fact  it  is  the 
reverse:  the  motion  of  the  charges  is 
due  to  the  repulsive  forces.  These  exist 
even  if  motion  of  the  charges  responsible 
for  the  fixed  field  cannot  take  place  be- 
cause of  the  nature  of  the  system. 

Change  in  Configuration 

Relative  to  the  pattern  of  the  field 
shown  in  Fig.  8,  another  significant  con- 
dition must  be  mentioned.  This,  the  flat- 
tening of  the  facing  lines  of  force  as  the 
consequence  of  the  repulsion  between 
them.    While  this  may  not  have  a  great 


meaning  with  respect  to  the  actural  ac- 
tion, the  change  in  the  configuration  of 
the  lines  of  force  so  that  they  run  almost 
parallel  to  each  other  is  a  very  important 
point. 

At  this  stage,  you  may  be  wondering 
about  the  connection  between  the  field 
as  shown  in  Fig.  8  and  what  happens  in 
the  cathode-ray  tube.  The  justification 
for  showing  the  relationship  between  like 
charges  is  twofold.  First,  the  type  of 
configuration  of  the  facing  lines  of  force 
in  Fig.  8  is  a  very  close  approach  to 
what  will  be  found  in  the  cathode-ray- 
tube  electrostatic  focusing  system.  The 
second  reason  is  to  explain  the  back- 
ground of  the  action  whereby  an  elec- 
tron moves  away  from  a  negatively- 
charged  body.  This  could  not  be  done 
very  well  using  the  field  between  two 
unlike  charges. 

On  the  whole,  the  field  patterns  in 
Figs.  5*  and  8  serve  well  as  background 
for  the  field  patterns  which  will  be 
found  not  only  in  the  electrostatic  focus- 
ing systems  but  also  in  the  deflection 
systems. 

Action  of  Charged  Bodies 

Expanding  upon  the  basic  condition* 
which  we  have  described,  it  stands  to 
reason  that  if  a  body  or  a  surface  is 
made  to  bear  a  preponderance  of  a 
charge  of  a  single  sign,  that  body  will, 
in  principle,  display  the  same  electrical 
effects  as  a  single  charge  of  the  same 
sign.  Of  course,  the  magnitude  of  the 
effect  will  naturally  be  much  greater,  be- 
cause there  are  many  more  charges 
present. 

Therefore,  if  we  arrange  one  surface 
to  bear  a  preponderance  of  electrons  and 
another  to  bear  a  preponderance  of  posi- 
tive charges,  and  these  two  surfaces  are 
placed  so  as  to  face  each  other,  but  are 


IP  for  Feb.,  1951,  p.  25. 


/  /   \W\\ 


.-A  /' 


'~No  is 


//, 


f  !  tft      ?!         I 


i    i  i  I 
i    i  i  i 


Mil    I 

i !  1      I   / 


i    * 


V       \       \-      ,'l|l  11/       / 


FIG.  8.    Combined  electrostatic  field  between 
like  and  unlike  charges. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


March  1951 


21 


separated,  an  electrostatic  field  will  exist 
between  the  two  charged  surfaces.  The 
space  between  the  surfaces  will  be  filled 
with  fines  of  force  which  will  have  a 
certain  direction. 

Such  a  system  is  shown  in  Fig.  9.  The 
voltage  source  B,  with  an  arbitrary  dif- 
ference of  potential  between  its  terminals, 
is  connected  to  two  parallel  metal  plates 
A  and  C.  Prior  to  the  application  of  the 
voltage,  a  condition  of  electrical  equili- 
brium existed  on  the  two  plates;  equal 
numbers  of  unlike  charges  resided  on 
each  of  the  plates,  therefore,  the  space 
between  the  plates  are  devoid  of  any 
field. 

When  the  voltage  is  applied,  this  two- 
plate  "condenser,"  with  air  separation 
between,  becomes  "charged"  like  any 
ordinary  electrical  capacitor  would. 

One  of  the  plates,  A,  bears  a  prepon- 
derance of  positive  charges  and  the  other 
plate,  C,  bears  a  preponderance  of  nega- 
tive charges  by  virtue  of  the  polarity  of 
the  charging  source;  an  electrostatic 
field  is  created  between  the  plates  and 
the  space  is  filled  with  lines  of  force. 
In  view  of  what  was  said  earlier,  we  need 
not.  comment  on  the  origin  of  the  lines 
of  force;  if  anything  deserves  comment, 
it  is  the  configuration  of  this  field  as 
compared  to  the  field  between  two  un- 
like charges  as  previously  illustrated. 

Uniformity  of  Field 

Between  the  plates,  the  field  is  made 
up  of  lines  of  force  which  are  straight, 
and  we  may  assume  that  they  are  uni- 
formly distributed  within  the  boundaries 
of  the  plates  because  the  separation  be- 
tween the  plates  is  small  compared  to 
the  other  dimensions  of  the  surface. 

If  we  neglect  the  conditions  near  the 
borders  of  the  two  plates,  the  number 
of  lines  of  force  penetrating  any  unit 
area  of  surface  on  the  plates  will  be  the 
same  everywhere  on  the  plate.  Such  a 
distribution  of  lines  of  force  constitute 
a  uniform  field;  this  condition  would  not 
hold  if  the  plates  were  not  parallel. 

As  to  why  the  lines  of  force  which 
join  the  charges  on  the  two  plates  are 
straight,  rather  than  both  straight  and 
curved  as  shown  in  Fig.  5,  that  too  is 
simple  to  explain.  To  begin  with,  charges 
made  to  reside  upon  a  flat  surface  will 


i  rtf 


i 


mm*, 


1 1 


l  I  l  I 


8  —  !  ! !    I  I  I  I 

l  I  I  I 

-ULL 


i N  N 


FIG.     9.       Electrostatic     field     between     two 
charged   plates. 


No  Carbon  Shortage  in  Sight 
Says  National  Carbon  Co. 

There  is  no  carbon  shortage  in  sight, 
according  to  National  Carbon  Co.,  in  a 
statement  directed  at  counteracting  the 
ill  effects  of  a  news  release  appearing 
in  the  motion  picture  trade  press  under 
the  dateline  of  March  2.  This  release 
called  attention  to  a  shortage  of  mona- 
zite  sand  as  a  raw  material  essential  in 
the  production  of  projector  carbons, 
spotlamps  and  other  equipment  used  in 
the  motion  picture  industry. 

National  Carbon  Co.,  quick  to  realize 
the  trade  disturbances  that  might  be 
caused  by  such  reports,  states  that  in 
its  opinion  there  will  be  an  adequate 
supply  of  carbons  in  the  foreseeable  fu- 
ture, and  that,  as  a  consequence,  there 
is  no  need  for  theaters  and  suppliers  to 
overstock. 

Last  December,  at  the  time  of  the 
issuance  of  copper  conservation  order 
M-12,  National  Carbon  announced  that 
an  adequate  supply  of  carbons  was  as- 
sured. Despite  current  reports  at  vari- 
ance with  this  estimate,  National  Carbon 
sees  no  need  for  any  change  in  its  out- 
look. 

normally  distribute  themselves  uniformly 
over  the  surface.  With  large  numbers  of 
charges  residing  on  each  of  the  plates, 
there  are  many  lines  of  force.  Each  of 
these,  with  the  exception  of  the  fringe 
at  the  boundaries  of  the  plates,  feels 
equal  to  repulsive  forces  all  around  it. 
With  forces  of  equal  magnitude  tending 
to  repel  each  line  from  all  directions,  the 
balancing  of  these  forces  leaves  the  line 
straight. 

The  curvature  of  the  lines  of  force  at 
the  borders  already  has  been  explained 
in  discussing  the  two  charges  of  Fig.  5. 
These  lines  curve  outward  because  the 
repelling  force  issuing  from  the  area  be- 
tween the  two  plates  exceeds  the  force 
which  stems  from  the  area  on  the  out- 
side of  the  lines.  The  result  is  outward 
curving  lines  of  force.  This  non-uniform 
fringe  field  usually  can  be  neglected. 

Regarding  the  direction  of  the  field, 
we  follow  the  previous  convention, 
namely,  that  direction  as  would  be  de- 
fined by  its  action  upon  an  electron. 
Therefore,  the  line  of  force  points  away 
from  the  negatively-charged  plate  and 
toward  the  positively-charged  plate. 

Energy  of  the  Field 

Several  very  interesting  and  important 
observations  can  be  made  about  such  an 
electrostatic  field.  First,  the  creation  of 
it  requires  work,  or  energy,  because  the 
separation  of  negative  charges  from 
positive  charges  is  accomplished  only 
by  the  application  of  some  force.  More- 
over, as  more  and  more  electrons  are  re- 


moved, the  attractive  force  of  the  re- 
maining charges  upon  the  electrons  be- 
comes greater  and  greater. 

In  like  manner,  the  accumulation  of 
electrons  on  the  other  plate  also  becomes 
increasingly  difficult,  since  like  charges 
repel;  therefore,  force  must  be  exerted 
to  push  these  negative  charges  onto  the 
so-called  negative  plate.  As  more  and 
more  electrons  are  piled  onto  this  plate, 
the  repulsive  force  naturally  increases 
and  must  be  overcome  in  order  to  push 
more  electrons  onto  that  surface.  In 
short,  work  must  be  done  upon  these 
electrons  in  order  to  get  them  to  redis- 
tribute themselves  in  this  manner. 

Bearing  in  mind  that  these  electrons 
were  initially  at  rest,  some  source  must 
impart  energy  to  them  so  as  to  cause 
them  to  move  around  through  the  circuit 
in  a  specific  manner  and  specific  direc- 
tion— against  the  natural  forces  which 
either  bind  them  to  each  other  or  tend 
to  make  them  repel  each  other,  depend- 
ing upon  the  polarity  of  the  charges. 

Source  of  Energy 

This  function  of  supplying  energy  to 
the  electrons  is  performed  by  the  device 
which  "charges"  the  system.  In  Fig.  9 
this  is  the  battery  B  which  can  be  re- 
placed by  a  voltage  source  of  some  other 
type,  such  as  a  vacuum  tube  or  a  gen- 
erator, without  altering  the  basic  phe- 
nomena. The  voltage  source  introduces 
the  initial  difference  of  potential  or  elec- 
tromotive force  (emf),  which  exists  be- 
tween its  terminals,  necessary  to  make 
the  electrons  move  around  the  circuit. 

As  the  negative  charges  are  trans- 
ferred from  one  plate  to  the  other,  they 
convey  energy  and  gradually  establish 
a  corresponding  difference  of  potential 
between  the  plates  themselves.  The  en- 
ergy which  the  voltage  supply  imparted 
to  the  electron  is  transferred  to  the  elec- 
trostatic field  (between  the  plates)  when 
the  electron  comes  to  rest.  Therefore, 
we  can  view  the  difference  of  potential 
between  the  two  parallel  facing  surfaces 
as  representing  the  capabilities  of  the 
electrostatic  field  to  make  electrons  move, 
just  as  the  initial  difference  of  potential 
between  the  terminals  of  the  voltage 
source  enabled  electrons  to  move  through 
the  system  initially. 

The  electrostatic  field  between  the 
plates  can  make  electrons  move  either 
between  the  plates,  or  through  a  con- 
ductor which  joins  the  two  plates.  The 
limit  of  movement  of  the  negative  charges 
under  the  influence  of  the  original  volt- 
age source  is  reached  when  the  difference 
of  potential  established  between  the 
plates  equal  the  difference  of  potential 
between  the  terminals  of  the  battery.  At 
this  time,  the  magnitude  of  the  attrac- 
tive force  of  the  positive  charges  on  the 
positive  plate  and  the  magnitude  of  re- 
{Continued  on  page  26) 


22 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


March  1951 


From  the  Production  Front 


Variable  Shutters  in  16-mm  Filming 


PERHAPS  the  least  understood  feature 
of  the  cine  camera  is  the  shutter. 
How  it  functions,  what  its  effect  is  on 
the  exposure,  and  the  comparative  results 
to  be  obtained  with  shutters  of  various 
size  openings  is  something  that  is  rarely 
considered  by  the  novice  cinefilmer.  But 
to  the  advanced  16-mm  movie  maker  all 
this  is  quite  important,  even  though  his 
camera  may  only  feature  a  shutter  of 
the  fixed  type. 

Briefly,  when  we  expose  a  frame  of 
cine  film,  the  film  is  held  motionless  in 
the  camera  for  a  fraction  of  a  second. 
Before  the  next  frame  can  be  exposed, 
the  film  must  be  advanced  in  the  gate  in 
order  to  bring  an  unexposed  frame  in 
place  for  the  next  exposure.  During  this 
advance  of  the  film,  the  light  coming 
through  the  lens  must  be  cut  off  mo- 
mentarily, and  this  is  the  function  of 
the   shutter. 

Rotary  Disc  Type  Shutter 

In  most  16-mm  cameras  the  shutter 
is  of  the  rotary  disc  type.  Part  of  the 
disc  is  cut  away  to  permit  the  passage 
of  light  to  the  film  for  the  exposure. 
The  disc  shutter  rotates  continuously  as 
the  camera  is  operated. 

Obviously,  the  larger  the  opening  of 
the  shutter,  the  more  light  reaches  each 
frame  of  film  and,  consequently,  the 
greater  is  the  period  of  exposure.  But 
there  are  some  definitely  limiting  fac- 
tors. Most  important  of  these  is  the 
mechanical  problem  of  moving  the  film. 

During  the  period  between  the  ex- 
posure of  two  successive  frames  (that 
is,  the  time  period  during  which  the 
shutter  is  "closed"),  the  film  must  be 
started,  moved  —  then  stopped  dead. 
Clearly,  if  the  open  part  of  the  shutter 
is  large,  the  film  must  accelerate,  move 
and  decelerate  very  quickly.  If  the  open 
sector  of  the  shutter  is  smaller,  the 
film  can  be  moved  more  slowly  and,  ac- 
cordingly, more  gently.  But  we  pay  for 
this  less  strenuous  movement  by  getting 
less  light  for  the  exposure. 

Varying  Exposure  Times 

What  has  all  this  to  do  with  ordinary 
camerawork,  you  may  ask,  remembering, 
of  course,  that  changing  speeds  and 
shutter  openings  are  possible  only  with 
a  few  cine  cameras.  Well,  to  explain 
further,  suppose  we  have  an  ordinary 
still  camera  and  the  established  ex- 
posure for  a  given  shot  is  F:8  at  1/25 
second.  If  we  shorten  the  exposure  time 
to  1/50  second,  we  will  have  to  open 
up  the  lens  a  corresponding  amount — to 


By  JOHN  FORBES 

F:5.6  —  in  order  to  secure  the  same 
exposure. 

It's  the  same  in  cine  camera  work. 
Suppose  we  are  using  one  of  the  popu- 
lar cine  cameras  which  has  a  shutter 
opening  of  204°.  This  gives  an  exposure 
interval  of  1/27  second  at  16  frames 
per  second.  If  we  shoot  a  scene  with  this 
camera  and  find  that  F:8  is  the  right 
stop  to  use,  the  resultant  exposure  will 
be  different  from  what  another  cine 
photographer  would  secure  with  a  camera 
having  a  smaller  shutter  opening. 

Let's  say  the  other  photographer's 
camera  has  a  shutter  giving  a  1/48-sec- 
ond  exposure.  If  he  is  to  match  our 
exposure  on  the  scene,  he  will  have  to 
shoot  it  at  F:6.7  (or  lens  stop  nearest 
this  figure,  i.e.  F:6.3).  If  we,  with  our 
1/27-second  shutter,  are  shooting  at  F:2.5, 
the  other  filmer  will  have  to  open  up  to 
F/1.9  to  get  comparable  results;  and  if 
we  are  shooting  at  F:1.9,  the  other 
fellow  with  the  faster  shutter  (giving 
less  exposure  per  interval)  won't  be  able 
to  shoot  the  scene  successfully  at  all,  for 
he  would  have  to  use  a  lens  opening  of 
F:l.l  to  match  our  exposure. 

Greater  Depth  of  Focus 

Another  point  to  consider  is  that  by 
using  the  smaller  lens  stop,  the  lens 
will  have  much  greater  depth  of  focus 
than  would  the  lens  on  a  camera  with 
a  smaller  shutter  opening;  and  this  dif- 
ference would  be  increasingly  noticeable 
as  the  lens  was  opened  wider  or  focused 
on  nearer  objects,  as  for  closeups. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  the  matter  of 
getting  clear  pictures  of  fast-moving  ob- 
jects, the  camera  with  the  smaller  shut- 
ter opening  offers  a  distinct  advantage. 
It  affords  a  shorter  exposure  interval, 
and  this  in  turn  means  that  fast-moving 
objects  will  have  less  time  to  move 
during  an  exposure,  and  consequently 
less  blur  will  result. 

Adjust  for  Every  Shot 

Obviously,  the  solution  to  the  shutter 
problem  for  the  advanced  amateur's  cine 
camera   is   the   adjustable    shutter,    same 


% 


204° 


1/27  Sec. 


as  found  on  standard  35-mm  motion  pic- 
ture cameras.  This  would  permit  adjust- 
ing the  shutter  opening  to  suit  the  shot. 
All  professional  35-mm  cameras  used  in 
the  studios  have  variable  shutters,  and 
most  of  them  allow  adjusting  the  shutter 
opening  while  the  camera  is  running, 
if  necessary.  This  has  proven  a  very 
valuable  adjunct  in  shooting  scenes 
where  the  camera  moves  in  and  out  of 
dark  areas,  or  for  trick  effects  where 
speed  of  a  person  or  an  object  is  to  be 
altered  without  stopping  the  camera. 

Of  the  16-mm  cine  cameras  in  popu- 
lar use  today,  two  are  provided  with 
variable  shutters,  adjusted  manually  by 
the  operator — the  Eastman  Cine-Kodak 
Special  and  the  Pathe  "Super  16."  This 
feature  has  been  used  mainly  for  making 
fades  and  lap  dissolves,  but  it  presents 
other  cinematic  possibilities  also. 

Here  are  some  of  the  ways  16-mm 
cinefilmers  may  benefit  their  cinematog- 
raphy by  varying  the  shutter  opening — 
ways  that  the  professional  cinematog- 
rapher  long  ago  employed  to  improve 
the  quality  of  his  camera  work: 

Fades  and  Lap-Dissolves 

Most  obvious,  of  course,  is  the  making 
of  fades  and  lap-dissolves.  This  in  itself 
justifies  the  variable  shutter  as  stand- 
ard equipment  on  the  advanced  amateur's 
cine  camera. 

Next,  and  much  more  important,  is 
the  control  of  exposure  without  altering 
lens  setting.  Remember,  reducing  the 
lens  opening  increases  depth  of  focus, 
and  increasing  the  aperture  size  reduces 
depth.  Such  changes  between  closely  re- 
lated scenes  are  not  pleasing;  and  when 
light  fluctuations,  such  as  a  cloud  pass- 
ing over  the  sun,  for  example,  make 
such  changes  necessary  within  a  scene, 
they  are  doubly  objectionable.  By  con- 
trolling the  light  with  the  shutter,  such 
depth  of  focus  contrasts  can  be  avoided. 

If,  for  instance,  we  refer  to  the  chart 
on  page  144  of  the  new  1950  edition  of 
the  American  Cinematograph  er  Hand- 
book, we  see  that  if  we  are  shooting  on 
one  of  those  days,  say,  when  small  clouds 
are  obscuring  the  sun,  we  can  set  our 
lens  at,  say,  F:8.3  and  the  shutter  at  90° 
and  get  the  same  exposure  as  though 
we  shot  at  F:11.3  with  the  shutter  opened 
to  170°.  With  cameras  having  a  variable 
shutter,  when  a  cloud  suddenly  appears 
to  reduce  the  light  falling  on  the  scene, 
the   exposure   can    be   kept   uniform    (in 


1    32  Sec. 


1    42   Sec. 


50"  -   1    115  Sec. 


Relative  exposure  intervals  afforded  by  camera 
opening,  the  faster  the  shutter  "speed 


shutters  of  various  size.    The  smaller  the  shutter 
,"  with  greater  ability  to  "stop"  action. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


March  1951 


23 


relation  to  preceding  shots)  by  simply 
opening  the  shutter  to  a  wider  aperture. 
If  the  clouded  light  would  be  a  normal 
F:8.3,  all  we  need  to  do  is  open  the 
shutter  to  170°  and  we  get  the  effect 
of  increasing  the  exposure  to  the  proper 
value  without  changing  quality  of  our 
picture. 

The  same  procedure  may  be  followed 
in  panoraming  and  in  making  moving 
camera  (follow)  shots.  Suppose  we  are 
following  a  person  with  the  camera, 
walking  from  bright  sunlight  into  heavy 
shade.  Let's  say  there  is  a  good  three- 
stops  difference  in  the  exposures  be- 
tween the  lightest  and  darkest  areas  of 
the  scene.  We  can  begin  the  sunlit  end 
of  the  shot  with  the  camera  lens  open 
three    stops    wider    than    normal  —  say. 


LETTERS 


F:5.6 — and  the  shutter  closed  down  to 
about  50°.  As  our  subject  moves  into 
the  shade,  the  shutter  is  opened  up  to 
an  aperture  of  170°. 

Uniform  Exposure,  Quality 

Throughout  the  shot,  both  exposure 
and  quality  of  picture  will  be  uniform, 
for  we  offset  the  changing  light  by  in- 
creasing exposure  time  from  1/115  to 
1/34  second.  The  same  expedient  will 
also  prove  useful  in  super-speed  "slow- 
motion"  shots,  as  well  as  in  making 
undercranked  fast-action  scenes. 

Finally,  the  controllable  (variable) 
shutter  will  prove  its  worth  in  scenes  of 
fast  moving  action.  By  reducing  size  of 
the  shutter  aperture,  exposure  time  is 
cut,  resulting  in  crisp,  blurless  pictures. 


TO    THE    EDIT 


The  appended  communication  from  a 
recognized  authority  in  his  field  is  note- 
worthy in  view  of  the  repeated  assurances 
by  the  manufacturers  of  film  cements 
that  they  do  not  use  dioxane  in  their 
preparations. — Ed. 

To  the  Editor  of  IP: 

I  am  afraid  our  efforts  have  been  of 
very  little  avail  in  giving  you  any  real 
answers  to  your  questions.  First  .  .  . 
we  do  not  know  anything  of  practices  of 
the  trade  in  this  respect,  nor  de  we  know 
of  any  observations  that  have  been  made 
that  would  indicate  the  nature  of  the  sol- 
vents used,  the  concentration  of  dioxane 
therein,  and  the  concentration  of  dioxane 
and/or  other  solvents  vapors  in  the  at- 
mosphere of  projection  rooms.  In  the 
absence  of  such  information,  anything  .  .  . 
said  on  the  subject  is  pure  guesswork. 
Therefore  .  .  .  before  anybody  says  any- 
thing about  this  subject  pro  or  con,  some 
observations  that  would  establish  the 
facts  should  be  made.  It  is  entirely  con- 
ceivable that  there  are  dangers,  and 
therefore  the  situation  merits  investiga- 
tion. 

Wide  Variance  of  Opinion 

With  specific  reference  to  the  toxicity 
of  dioxane  and  the  probable  effects,  there 
is  some  disagreement.  Yant  and  his 
associates  concluded  from  their  experi- 
ments that  dioxane  had  a  low  order  of 
toxicity,  and  pointed  out  that  men  could 
be  exposed  to  air  containing  1000  parts 
per  million  of  the  vapor  of  this  solvent 
without  discomfort. 

The  latter  does  not  mean,  however,  that 
persons  exposed  over  a  long  period  of 
time  to  low  concentrations  will  not  suf- 
fer some  injury.  Without  necessarily 
contradicting  the  observations  and 
opinions  of  Yant,   other  observers  have 


described  effects  which  they  believe  to 
be  those  of  insidious,  more  or  less 
chronic,  effects,  associated  with  pro- 
longed exposure. 

The  toxicity  of  the  material  in  low 
concentration  in  the  atmosphere  .has  not 
been  investigated  sufficiently  to  enable 
one  to  establish  soundly  a  differentiation 
between  safe  and  unsafe  concentrations 
in  the  air.  Various  states,  acting  on  in- 
formation available  at  the  time  of  their 
adoptions  of  a  standard,  have  set  stand- 
ards which  vary  all  the  way  from  1000 
parts  per  million  to  100  parts  per  million. 
Aside  from  governmental  agencies,  I 
know  of  no  body  of  professional  men 
that  has  adopted  a  standard,  other  than 
the  American  Conference  of  Govern- 
mental Hygienists. 

'Allowable'  Concentrations 

This  group,  of  course,  is  made  up 
largely  of  men  representing  official  agen- 
cies. They  have  adopted  the  maximum 
allowable  concentration  of  100  parts  per 


IA-IP  Amateur  Radio  Contest 
Data  Deferred  for  a  Month 

Publication  of  the  outcome  of  the  recent 
IA-IP  amateur  radio  contest,  scheduled  for 
this  issue,  will  have  to  be  deferred  for  an- 
other month  due  to  the  unfortunate  cir- 
cumstance which  occasioned  the  loss  of  the 
final  tally  in  transit  from  Amos  Kanaga  in 
California.  It  was  hoped  right  up  to  the 
last  minute  that  a  new  tally  could  be  pre- 
pared in  time,  but  inevitably  the  deadline 
arrived  and  had  to  be  met. 

Fortunately,  Amos  retained  his  original 
work  sheets,  thus  he  will  be  able  to  replace 
the  lost  data.  He  promises  faithfully  to 
have  them  on  tap  in  ample  time  for  the 
next  issue  of  IP. 


million.  This  standard  was  based  on  a 
number  of  considerations,  and,  from  pres- 
ent information  available,  it  would  seem 
that  if  it  is  in  error  it  errs  on  the  safe 
side. 

So  far.  as  we  know,  there  axe  no  stand- 
ard methods  at  present  for  the  determina- 
tion of  the  concentration  of  dioxane  in 
the  air.  Two  or  three  methods  have  been 
suggested,  but  we  do  not  know  whether 
determinations  have  been  made,  or  if  so, 
what  methods  have  been  used  for  this 
purpose  in  industrial  establishments. 

Conclusive  Evidence  Lacking 

If  I  were  going  to  take  a  position  as 
an  editor  on  this  subject,  I  would  want 
better  evidence  than  any  I  have  given 
you  in  this  letter,  or  any  that  are  avail- 
able to  us  at  this  time  It  would  seem  that 
the  facts  could  be  established  by  the 
examination  of  the  conditions  under 
which  men  work,  and  also  by  the  exam- 
ination of  the  men  so  exposed.  I  have  no 
wish  or  intention  of  condoning  conditions 
that  are  unsatisfactory,  but  I  cannot  but 
feel  that  there  is  no  substitute  for  facts 
as  a  basis  for  expressing  an  opinion  on 
this  subject. 

ROBERT   A.    KEHOE,    M.D. 
Dept.    of    Preventive    Medicine    and    Industrial 

Health,   University   of   Cincinnati. 


Projection  Tidbits  From 
the  Foreign  Field 

Herewith  are  several  interesting  items 
culled  from  the  foreign  film  trade  press. 
From  Sight  and  Sound,  Australia:  The 
manager  of  a  surburban  theater  pleaded 
guilty  to  a  breach  of  the  Cinematograph 
Regulations  in  that  he  had  employed 
regularly  each  day  a  projectionist  who 
was  licensed  to  operate  only  as  an  "assist- 
ant" two  nights  each  week. 

In  imposing  a  fine  of  $50  on  the  man- 
ager, the  judge  commented:  "The  regu- 
lations are  specific,  and  the  obligation  is 
on  the  employer  to  see  that  the  projection- 
ist is  properly  licensed.  The  important 
factor  here  is  that  public  safety  is  in- 
volved." 

A  Projectionist's  Prerogative 

In  the  same  journal  is  the  account  of 
how  a  projectionist  ran  a  Technicolor 
print  for  one  night  only  and  then  re- 
fused to  run  it  thereafter  on  the  ground 
that  it  was  "unsuitable  for  exhibition" 
because  of  its  poor  physical  condition. 
The  second  evening's  show  was  cancelled 
and  admissions  were  refunded.  The  pro- 
jectionist was  upheld  by  both  his  Union 
and  by  the  law  covering  motion  picture 
exhibitions,  which  provides  that  the  pro- 
jectionist may,  when  he  deems  fit,  refuse 
to  run  any  print  which  he  considers  in 
poor  physical  condition. 

In  Ideal  Kinema,  of  London,  editor  R. 
H.  Cricks  offers  this  item:     A  Cinecolor 


24 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     March  1951 


print  marked  Safety  Film  contained 
about  50  splices,  several  of  which  were 
remade  with  non-flam  cement.  After  the 
first  showing  all  remake  splices  came 
apart.  All  splices  were  then  remade 
with  nitrate-film  cement,  and  gave  no 
further  trouble.  A  test  with  a  lighted 
match  disclosed  that  the  film  stock  was 
nitrate.  The  distributor  reported  that 
the  film  was  not  safety  stock,  as  the 
words  Safety  Film  were  not  printed  in 
black  lettering. 

Laboratory  is  Held  at  Fault 

Comments  editor  Cricks:  "A  test  with 
a  match  confirms  that  the  stock  is  not 
safety — anyway,  the  edge-printing  of  all 
film  stocks  is,  of  course,  in  black  letter- 
ing, not  white-on-black.  It  is  clear  that 
one  of  the  two  negatives  from  which  this 
copy  was  printed — the  blue  printer — was 
on  safety  base,  and  that  in  blackening  the 
margin  of  the  positive  the  words  Safety 
Film  have  printed  through. 

"I  hasten  to  add  that  one  should  not 
unduly  blame  Cinecolor  for  this  fault, 
for  it  is  a  common  practice  in  many  lab- 
oratories to  print  the  edges  of  the  film  in 
order  to  print  through  the  edge  numbers 
from  the  negative.  But  if  safety  films 
are  being  used  for  negatives  or  for  labora- 
tory films,  it  is  a  practice  that  must  stop." 


pening  of  contingencies  described  in  the 
judgment. 

Warner  will  transfer  to  the  new  pic- 
ture company  all  production  and  dis- 
tribution assets  and  all  other  assets  not 
transferred  to  the  new  theater  company. 


Warner  Bros.  Dissolution  Terms 

Warner  stockholders  will  receive  a 
half  share  in  the  new  theater  company 
and  a  half  share  of  the  new  picture  com- 
pany for  each  share  of  Warner  stock  held 
of  record  when  the  reorganization  be- 
comes effective  on  or  before  April  4, 
1953. 

Assets  of  the  new  theater  company 
will  include  all  Warner  theater  assets  in 
the  U.  S.,  represented  by  investments  in 
and  advances  to  subsidiaries,  and  suffi- 
cient cash  and  Government  securities  in 
order  that  the  consolidated  balance  sheet 
of  the  new  theater  company  and  its  sub- 
sidiaries will  reflect  a  ratio  of  not  less 
than  l^-to-one  of  current  assets  to  cur- 
rent liabilities. 

Holdings  Total  436  Theaters 

Warners,  through  its  theater  subsidiar- 
ies which  are  more  than  99%  owned,  has 
436  theaters  consisting  of  236  houses 
owned  in  fee,  191  leased  theaters  and 
nine  theaters  partly  owned  and  partly 
leased.  Of  these,  20  are  presently  closed, 
seven  are  leased  or  sublet  to  a  50%- 
owned  subsidiary,  and  three  are  leased 
or  sublet  to  others. 

Under  the  consent  judgment,  Warners 
or  the  new  theater  company  must,  within 
two  years,  divest  itself  of  54  theaters,  of 
which  half  must  be  divested  within  one 
year.  Divestiture  of  up  to  27  additional 
theaters  may  be  required  upon  the  hap- 


1950  Admissions  Tax  Off  7% 

U.  S.  motion  picture  theaters  grossed 
an  approximate  $1,320,000,000  last  year, 
about  7%  under  the  $1,430,000,000 
grossed  in  1949,  it  is  estimated  on  the 
basis  of  Internal  Revenue  Bureau  re- 
ports of  admissions  tax  collections 
against  the  20%  levy.  IRB  reported 
that  its  January  collections,  which  re- 
flect December  admissions,  totaled  $26,- 
856,033  for  general  admissions.  Figure 
compares  with  $27,909,723  for  the  same 
period  of  last  year. 

General  admissions  collections  re- 
ported for  the  12  months  of  1950  total 
$347,390,757,  with  approximately  76% 
of  this  figure  estimated  to  come  from 
film  theaters.  In  1949,  the  collections 
totaled  $374,374,696. 


RCA  Promotes  Jack  O'Brien 

J.  F.  (Jack)  O'Brien  has  been  ap- 
pointed sales  manager  of  RCA  theatre 
film  recording,  visual,  and  sound  equip- 
ment. In  charge  of  theatre  equipment 
sales  since  1946,  O'Brien  succeeds  Bar- 
ton Kreuzer,  promoted  recently  to  mana- 
ger of  the  administration  division  of 
RCA  engineering  products.  O'Brien  with 
RCA  since  1931,  when  he  started  as  a 
representative  in  the  company's  national 
credit    department,    has    held    important 


sales  posts  for  engineering  products  in 
Hollywood,  Indianapolis,  St.  Louis,  Chi- 
cago, and  Boston.  His  activities  in  the- 
atre equipment  sales  during  the  past  20 
years  have  made  him  nationally  known 
in  theatre  circles. 

O'Brien,  a  native  of  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  is 
a  graduate  of  New  York  U.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Variety  Club  of  America, 
and  has  been  active  in  the  affairs  of 
such  organizations  as  the  SMPTE, 
TESMA,  and  the  TOA.  He  resides  in 
Audubon,  N.  J. 


RCA  Thearer-Tv  Price  Slash 

BIGGEST  shot  in  the  arm  for  theater 
television  since  its  inception  was  ad- 
ministered early  this  month  when  RCA 
announced  a  reduction  in  price  of  its 
PT-100  theater  Tv  system  from  $25,000 
to  $15,800.  The  former  high  price  tag 
has  encountered  terrific  exhibitor  oppo- 
sition; although  some  trade  circles 
viewed  the  RCA  move  as  an  anticipatory 
counter  to  expected  activity  by  20th  Cen- 
tury-Fox with  the  Eidophore  (Swiss) 
large-screen  Tv  system  for  which  it  re- 
cently closed  a  deal. 

The  reasons  for  the  RCA  move  at 
this  time  are  relatively  unimportant  by 
comparison  with  its  tremendous  implica- 
tions anent  the  future  of  the  motion  pic- 
ture theater,  with  the  expansion  of  the 
art  now  lying  squarely  on  Mr.  Exhibitor's 
doorstep.  One  trade  reaction  is  that  1951 
may  see  the  installation  of  an  additional 
150  to  200  Tv  systems  in  theaters. 

No  Parts  Shortage  at  Present 

RCA  declared  that  it  is  proceeding 
with  full-soale  production  of  the  PT-100 
system,  with  the  "standardized  picture 
tube  and  other  electron  tubes  and  com- 
ponents it  employs  being  readily  avail- 
able" at  this  time.  PT-100  circuits  are 
so  designed  that  a  minor  adjustment  will 
permit  operation  with  higher  picture 
definition  if  standards  permitting  such 
definition  should  be  adopted  for  closed- 
circuit  theater  Tv. 

Most  recent  proof  of  the  boxoffice 
draw  of  the  instantaneous  theatre  tele- 
vision now  available,  pointed  out  RCA. 
was  the  capacity  audience  of  4000  which 
jammed  Fabian's  Palace  Theatre  in  Al- 
bany on  Tuesday  night,  February  20,  to 
see  the  Sienna  College-Georgetown  Uni- 
versity basketball  game  being  played  be- 
fore an  on-the-scene  audience  of  only 
2500  in  the  Uline  Arena  in  Washington, 
D.  C.  This  attendance  was  chalked  up 
despite  the  fact  that  it  was  the  last  night 
in  the  run  of  the  feature  motion  picture 
currently  being  shown. 


Modify  Aluminum  Scrap  Order 

NPA's  aluminum  scrap  order  has  been 
amended  to  postpone  the  effective  date  of 
certain  provisions  until  April  1  in  order 
to  permit  the  inclusion  of  additional  firms 
to  process  aluminum  scrap.  As  originally 
issued,  the  order  (M-22)  designated,  on 
the  basis  of  experience  and  technical  re- 
sources, certain  fabricators  and  smelters  as 
authorized  to  process  scrap.  Since  the 
order  was  issued,  it  has  developed  that  the 
list  is  incomplete  and  there  are  firms  not 
included  in  the  original  list  who  may  well 
be    qualified    to    continue    to    process    scrap. 

The  order  provides  that  qualified  firms 
will  be  included,  and  pending  completion  of 
the  further  review  scheduled  by  April  1, 
there  is  no  limitation  on  concerns  presently 
processing    scrap.      At    the    same    time    the 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     March  1951 


25 


order  was  also  amended  to  allow  foundries, 
certain  types  of  chemical  firms  and  others 
to  obtain  special  kinds  of  scrap  for  use  in 
the  regular  course  of  their  operations. 


U.S.  Exports  to  India  Remain  Strong 

The  preeminent  position  of  the  United 
States  in  the  film  export  market,  despite  ex- 
change restrictions,  is  emphasized  by  a  re- 
cent report  in  India's  Journal  of  the  Film 
Industry  giving  statistics  pertaining  to  im- 
port licenses  from  July  through  November, 


1950.  Licenses  for  film  equipment  and  ac- 
cessories valued  at  1,048,127  rupees  were 
issued,  allocated  as  follows: 

Approximately  804,400  was  for  U.  S.  equip- 
ment, 91,653  for  German  apparatus,  51,198 
for  British,  50,438  for  Italian,  and  50,438 
for  Swiss.  Licenses  for  raw  films  valued  at 
66,775  rupees  were  issued,  all  of  it  for  British 
rawstock.  Import  licenses  for  motion  picture 
carbons  totaled  411,922  rupees,  of  which 
244,519  was  for  British  carbons,  76,659  for 
United  States  products,  57,209  for  French 
carbons,  and  33,535  for  Italian  carbons  (4.76 
rupees  equal  U.  S.  $1). 


PERSONNEL 


Extract  from  Committee  Report 


SUMMARY  OF  PROCEEDINGS 
MID-CENTURY  CONVENTION 
THEATRE  OWNERS  OF  AMERICA,  Inc. 

A   that   you   examine   your 
"We  "commend  tha    y  ^  m 

equipment  closely  an  ^  ^ 

which  you  cannot  s .e  ^.^   be 

expectancy   of    «  there  „  a 

repiaced  o, J^tmong    certain    parts; 
I  Sr°Wing    *^«  cteate  our  own  short- 

however,  let  us      ^ 
ages  by  hoarding. 


Where  Theatre 
Modernization  Begins/ 


NATIONAL 

■nnngnnia 

0;*i*i«n  *)   N«ii*n«l*  Simple.  •  ily J-»Mh.ln< 


;^v..^~.^L* iM&Mxit^. 


*Wo*ldU  Mod  PoutesiLd  gpatliakt 


The  METRO-LITE  high-intensity 
carbon  arc  spotlight  comes  in 
two  models: — 

'    MODEL  ME  4     1 25  Amps  O.C. 
100  ft.  to  400  ft.  throw. 

MODEL    ME  5     "Vaudeville" 
60  to  85  Amps  D.C. 
75  ft.  to  250  ft.  throw. 


METRO-LITE 


Literature  available  on  both  units  upon  request  to 

GENARCO,  Inc.  36-56  b  34th  St.,  Long  Island  City  6,  N.  Y. 


Robert  P.  Young  has  been  named  mana- 
ger of  professional  motion  picture  sales  by 
Ansco,  succeeding  J.  Kneel  and  Nunan. 
Young,  who  joined  the  company  in  1945. 
will  headquarter  in  Hollywood. 

E.  T.  Pickard,  Jr.,  commercial  assistant 
to  the  manager  of  Westrex  Corp.'s  subsidiary 
in  the  Philippines,  has  returned  to  New 
York  headquarters  for  assignment  to  the 
radio  department  of  Westrex. 

Joseph  T.  Golan  has  been  named  super- 
intendent of  the  cine  and  sheet  film  division 
of  Eastman  Kodak's  Rochester  plant,  suc- 
ceeding Henry  T.  Ireland,  who  has  re- 
tired after  43  years  with  the  company. 
David  A.  Babcock,  superintendent  of  the 
Kodak  emulsion  coating  department,  re- 
tired on  March  1  after  45  years  of  service. 


101/2  Million  TvSets  Now  in  U.S. 

Total  number  of  Tv  sets  in  the  U.  S. 
is  now  10,549,500,  with  a  gain  of  704,200 
sets  during  last  December,  reports  an 
NBC  survey.  Set  sales  during  1950  to- 
taled 6,000,600,  indicating  that  three  out 
of  every  five  families  bought  their  set 
during  1950. 

Every  fourth  family  in  the  U.  S.  now 
owns  a  Tv  set,  states  the  survey,  and  two 
out  of  five  families  living  in  the  Tv  serv- 
ice area  have  the  set  in  their  homes. 
New  York  leads  with  2,050,000  Tv  fami- 
lies, while  Chicago  has  830,000. 


Century  Units  Into  Eastman  House 

Century  35-mm  projectors,  water- 
cooled,  and  sound  system  have  been  in- 
stalled at  George  Eastman  House  in 
Rochester,  N.  Y.,  home  of  a  world- 
famous  collection  of  historical  photo- 
graphic equipment  and  data.  Incidentally, 
the  projection  at  G.  E.  H.  is  masked 
with  mauve  velour. 


CATHODE-RAY  TUBE   DATA 

(Continued  from  page  22) 

pulsive  force  of  the  negative  charges  on 
the  negative  plate  are  sufficient  to  offset 
the  electromotive  force  (emf)  repre- 
sented by  the  difference  of  potential,  or 
voltage,  of  the  battery. 

Build-Up  of  Potential 

The  time  required  for  the  difference 
of  potential  between  plates  A  and  C  to 
rise  to  the  value  of  the  voltage  source  B 
is  a  variable  depending  upon  several 
factors.  None  of  these  are  of  interest 
in  connection  with  the  systems  used  in 
cathode-ray  tubes,  whose  operation  is 
now  being  explained. 

Practically,  we  can  assume  an  instan- 
taneous rise  in  potential,  between  the 
plates,  to  that  of  the  voltage  source  B. 
Of   course,   there   always   will   be   some 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     March  1951 


time  lag,  but  this  is  so  slight  from  the 
usual  practical  viewpoint  that  it  can  be 
neglected  over  any  range  of  frequencies 
presently  encountered  in  cathode-ray 
tube  applications. 

The  development  of  a  detectable  elec- 
trostatic field  between  the  plates,  or  the 
setting  up  of  lines  of  force  between  the 
plates,  commences  with  the  first  electron 
which  is  transported,  and  the  field  be- 
comes increasingly  stronger  (greater 
number  of  lines  of  force)  as  more  and 
more  electrons  are  removed  from  the 
positive  plate  and  added  to  the  negative 
plate. 

The  ability  of  the  electrons,  accumu- 
lated on  the  negative  plate,  to  hurdle  the 
gap  separating  the  plates  is  strictly  a 
function  of  the  intensity  of  the  field; 
this,  in  turn,  is  a  function  of  the  amount 
of  energy  which  is  given  the  electrons  by 
the  so-called  "charging"  voltage  source. 

If  this  voltage  were  gradually  increased 
from  zero,  a  value  would  be  reached 
when  so  many  electrons  had  been  redis- 
tributed that  the  mutual  attraction  be- 
tween the  positive  charges  on  one  plate 
and  the  electrons  on  the  other  plate 
would  literally  tear  away  the  electrons 
from  the  negative  surface,  in  a  direction 
along  the  lines  of  force,  and  a  "current" 
would  flash  across  the  gap.  This  cur- 
rent, or  spark,  would  be  momentary  of 
course,  but  would  nevertheless  dissipate 
the  entire  field. 

A  phenomenon  of  this  type  is  an  ex- 
ample of  work  being  done  on  the  elec- 
tron, the  action  being  across  the  space 
between  the  plates  rather  than  through 
any  metallic  conducting  path  around  the 
plates.  Since  it  is  possible  for  the  field 
to  exert  sufficient  force  upon  the  elec- 
trons on  the  negative  plate  so  as  to  pull 
them  to  the  positive  plate,  it  stands  to 
reason  that  if  electrons  were  positioned 
between  the  plates  they  could  be  acted 
upon  in  similar  manner. 

The  motion  of  these  space  electrons 
would  be  governed  by  the  forces  present 
in  the  field,  which  in  turn  would  corre- 
spond to  the  field  intensity  at  the  point 
where  the  electrons  were  located.  This 
leads  to  the  description  of  the  field  from 
the  viewpoint  of  the  forces  present  at 
various  points  in  the  field. 

Forces  Acting  on  Spatial  Electrons 

Let  us  use,  as  the  basis  of  our  discus- 
sion, the  illustration  in  Fig.  10.  This 
shows  a  uniform  field  existing  between 
two  parallel  plates.  We  shall  locate  three 
electrons,  a,  b,  and  c,  at  three  different 
points  in  the  field.  One  of  them,  a,  will 
be  near  the  negatively  charged  plate; 
electron  b  will  be  midway  between  the 
two  charged  plates,  and  electron  c  will 
be  near  the  positively-charged  plate. 

All  of  them  will  feel  the  same  pull 
toward  the  positive  plate  because  of  the 
direction  of  the  field,  and,  what  is  more, 


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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     March  1951 


27 


all  of  them  will  experience  the  same 
force  making  them  move  to  the  positive 
plate.  Naturally,  all  will  advance  along 
lines  of  force. 

The  movement  of  the  electrons  is  not 
due  solely  to  the  attraction  by  the  posi- 
tively charged  plate,  A.  A  distinct  con- 
tribution to  this  action  is  made  by  the 
negatively-charged  plate  as  well.  Dur- 
ing the  time  that  the  positively-charged 
plate  is  attracting  the  electron,  the  nega- 
tively-charged plate  is  repelling  the  elec- 
tron toward  the  positive  plate.  Hence 
two  forces,  in  the  same  direction,  are 
acting  upon  the  charge. 

If  we  imagine  the  electron  located  mid- 
way between  the  plates,  in  this  case  elec- 
tron b,  equal  forces  of  attraction  and  re- 
pulsion will  move  the  charge  in  a  single 
direction,  i.e.,  toward  plate  A.  The  total 
force  moving  the  electron  will  be  the 
sum  of  these  two  individual  forces,  both, 
you  will  remember,  acting  simultaneously 
in  the  same  direction. 

Magnitude  of  Opposing  Forces 

If  the  location  of  the  electron  is 
changed  so  that  it  is  no  longer  midway 
between  the  plates  but  near  the  nega- 
tively-charged plate,  like  electron  a,  the 
total  force  acting  upon  the  electron  still 
will  be  the  same  as  before.    Although  it 


B  -=" 


1 1  i  1 1 1 

I    MM  I    I 

4J.  I   I  I   I 

i   i   i   i  i   i 

c  "^ 


FIG.  10.    Electrons  placed  in  electrostatic  field 

between   two  charged   plates   and   acted   upon 

by  force  of  the  field. 

is  true  that  the  magnitude  of  attracting 
force  has  been  decreased  due  to  the 
greater  separation  between  the  charge 
and  the  positive  plate,  the  magnitude  of 
the  repelling  force  has  been  correspond- 
ingly increased  due  to  the  greater  prox- 
imity of  the  electron  to  the  negative  plate, 
thus  maintaining  the  total  force  constant. 
Reversing  the  location  of  the  electron 
— that  is,  locating  it  near  the  positively 
charged  plate  A,  as  in  the  case  of  elec- 
tron c — does  not  change  the  force  acting 
on  the  electron.  The  reduction  of  repell- 
ing force  due  to  the  increased  separa- 
tion between  the  charge  and  the  nega- 
tively-charged  plate  is  compensated  for 


by  the  corresponding  increase  in  attrac- 
tive force  from  the  closer  positively- 
charged  plate. 

Thus  it  is  understandable,  even  with- 
out a  mathematical  analysis,  that  the 
electrostatic  field  acting  upon  the  elec- 
tron anywhere  within  such  a  uniform 
field  is  constant.  This  holds  true  for 
any  one  set  of  conditions  which  estab- 
lish the  magnitude  of  the  field  and  for 
any  one  set  of  plates  separated  by  a 
fixed  distance. 

The  actual  force  in  dynes  experienced 
by  the  electron  is  of  no  consequence  in 
this  discussion.  It  can  be  small  or  it 
can  be  great,  depending  upon  the  differ- 
ence of  potential  between  the  plates  A 
and  C.  The  important  detail  to  bear  in 
mind  is  the  direction  in  which  the  force 
acts,  and  that  the  force  is  constant 
throughout  the  field. 


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28 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


March  1951 


EFFECTS    OF    TV    ON    THE 
MOTION   PICTURE  THEATER 

(Continued  from  page  17) 
ment  must,  of  course,  be  adaptable  to 
existing  theaters.  In  a  survey  of  about 
600  U.S.  theaters,  conducted  by  the 
SMPTE  in  1938,  an  average  screen  width 
of  18  ft.,  6  in.  and  an  average  ratio  of 
maximum  viewing  distance  to  picture 
width  of  5.2  was  found. 

An  increase  of  average  screen  width 
to  24  ft.  0  in.  would  reduce  the  ratio  of 
maximum  viewing  distance  to  picture 
width  from  5.2  to  4.0  and  would  increase 
the  screen  area  by  about  67%.  This 
change  would  be  structurally  feasible  in 
the  majority  of  existing  theaters.  It  is 
true  that  in  many  of  the  existing  theaters, 
the  use  of  several  of  the  front  rows  would 
be  eliminated,  but  the  seat  loss  would 
be  nominal. 

Elimination  of  Screen  Masking 

With  reference  to  the  elimination  of 
black  screen  masking,  observations  by 
acknowledged  authorities  since  1920  have 
indicated  the  desirability  of  illumination 
of  screen  surroundings.  The  most  de- 
sirable contiguous  brightness  has  been 
found  in  practice  to  be  the  synchronous 
type  which  automatically  varies  with  the 
brightness  of  the  picture. 

Some  of  the  many  examples  of  this 
type  are  the  Island  Theater,  Bermuda; 
Crown  Theater,  New  Haven;  Essoldo 
Theater,  Penge,  England;  and  the  Tacna 
Theater,  Lima,  Peru.  Further  develop- 
ments and  refinements  for  providing  a 
synchronous  luminous  screen  surround 
have  been  incorporated  into  several  the- 
aters now  under  construction,  including 
the  Shopping  Center  Theater  in  Fram- 
ingham,  Mass.,  and  the  Bellmore  Theater, 
Bellmore,  L.  I. 

Theater  Location  Trend 

New  motion  picture  theater  construc- 
tion in  the  U.S.  has  not  been  propor- 
tional with  the  increase  of  population. 
The  growth  of  television  is  probably  one 
of  the  factors  which  accounts  for  this. 
However,  new  population  centers  and 
obsolescence  of  theaters,  both  in  plant 
and  location,  do  create  a  demand  for 
new  theaters.  Several  recent  develop- 
ments have  greatly  affected  the  location 
and  seating  capacity  of  new  theaters. 

Since  1945,  new  residential  planning 
has  tended  to  be  in  the  form  of  large- 

Take  Care  of  Your  Prints 

Gradual  conversion  to  magnetic  films  for 
original  sound  recording  should  reduce  some- 
what the  demand  for  fine-grain  sound  record- 
ing stocks.  The  synchronous  14-inch  tape 
systems  should  help  even  more,  for  they  don't 
require  consumption  of  motion  picture  film 
base.  But  since  release  films  represent  by  far 
the  largest  share  of  the  industry's  production, 
there  is  the  place  to  save. 


scale,  integrated  communities  very  often 
decentralized.  Shopping  and  night-life 
centers  are  then  located  either  within 
the  new  communities  or  on  the  periphery 
adjacent  to  highways. 

The  necessities  for  parking  areas  then 
become  a  major  consideration  in  theater 
location.  With  high  land  values,  it  is 
difficult  for  new  theaters  in  existing 
urban  night-life  centers  to  provide  ade- 
quate parking  facilities.  There  has, 
therefore,  been  a  tendency  to  locate  new 
theaters  within  the  confines  of  the  new 


communities  or  in  the  shopping  centers. 
When  new  theaters  are  located  within 
the  confines  of  new  communities,  they 
have  the  ease  of  accessibility  of  the 
neighborhood  theater.  The  architectural 
planning  of  residential  projects  very 
often  indicates  the  use  of  several  smaller 
theaters,  with  capacities  in  the  order  of 
400  to  600  seats,  rather  than  a  single 
large  theater. 

Smaller  Theaters  Desirable 

The  smaller  theaters  have  fewer  build- 
ing code  restrictions  and   are  more  eoo- 


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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     March  1951 


29 


nomical  in  per-seat-cost  of  construction. 
Their  scale  suggests  simplicity  of  ex- 
terior treatment  and  amenities.  They  do 
have  the  virtue  of  intimacy  within  the 
interior  of  the  theater  and  can  achieve 
to  the  greatest  degree  the  previous  sug- 
gestions as  to  screen  size  and  treatment. 
All  of  the  seats  can  approximate  the 
"ringside"  seat. 

Availability  of  screen  product  and  allo- 
cation of  runs  to  groups  of  smaller 
theaters  is  an  industry  policy  question 
of  great  importance. 

The  location  of  theaters  within  new 
large-scale  shopping  centers  has  differ- 
ent aspects.  Adequate  parking  facilities 
are  available,  the  theater  plays  an  im- 
portant part  in  building  up  night  activity, 
and    there    is,     generally,     considerable 


transient   automobile   traffic.    This   indi- 
cates a  larger  capacity  theater. 

To  achieve  intimacy  in  the  larger  the- 
ater is  an  achritectural  challenge.  Re- 
duction of  the  interior  volume  of  the 
auditorium  to  a  minimum  helps  to  create 
acoustical  intimacy.  Screen  size  is,  of 
course,  increased  in  the  larger  theater, 
and  with  it,  the  scale  of  the  screen  sur- 
round treatment  is  increased.  This  en- 
hances the  visual  intimacy  which  is  the 
prime  consideration.  Then,  the  shaping 
of  walls  and  ceiling,  the  avoidance  of 
decoration  which  gives  scale  "measuring 
rods"  and  the  integration  of  interior 
lighting  must  attempt  to  approach  in- 
timacy of  space. 

Now  and  existing  theaters  which  offer 
to  the  public  the  seating,  air  condition- 


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ing,  projection  and  sound  transmission 
comforts,  which  are  now  available,  and 
which  add  to  these  the  increased  screen 
image,  the  luminous  screen  field,  the 
increased  flexibility  and  scope  of  mo- 
tion picture  cinematography,  the  feelings 
of  intimacy  within  the  auditorium,  and 
stereoscopy  of  sound  and  vision,  should 
survive  within  the  forests  of  home  tele- 
vision antennae  which  have  become  a 
feature  of  the  skyline. 

Discussion: 

Pierre  Mertz:  Some  years  ago,  there  was 
a  development  in  films  which  seemed  to 
cover  something  of  what  Mr.  Schlanger  had 
in  mind  with  regard  to  the  wide  screen — 
the  Grandeur  film.  That  occurred  before  I 
came  into  this  field.  Can  you  tell  us,  what 
was  the  improvement  in  realism  with  the 
Grandeur  film  as  compared  with  the  con- 
ventional film? 

Mr.  Schlanger:  There  are  many  factors 
involved.  First,  there  was  a  larger  physical 
width  of  film,  and  I  believe  since  then  the 
film  grain  problem  has  been  more  or  less 
licked  and  that  a  sufficiently  large  picture 
can  be  projected  from  35-mm  width. 

Present  Screen  Size  Ample 

The  present  standard  gives  a  wide  enough 
picture  in  theaters,  and  the  real  problem, 
which  was  not  licked  at  the  time  that 
Grandeur  and  other  wide,  enlarged  screens 
were  presented,  was  the  cinematographic 
problem.  It  is  quite  natural.  It  was  a  new 
tool  and  it  never  had  its  chance  for  the  ex- 
perience or  practice  that  is  needed  with  a 
new  tool.  In  other  words,  the  cinemato- 
graphers  never  became  familiar  with  the 
new  tool  or  its  potentials  at  that  time. 

Today  we  are  in  a  spot  where  we  know 
we  need  some  new  method  or  device,  and, 
should  we  find  it,  the  cinematographers  will 
learn  to  use  it. 

As  to  the  realism  that  can  be  achieved, 
there  is  another  problem  in  addition  to  that 
of  the  size  of  film  and  the  art  of  cinemato- 
graphy— that  is  the  taking-lens  in  the  camera. 
I  remember  getting  in  touch  with  some  of 
the  authorities  and  manufacturers  of  lenses 
to  try  to  find  out  why  there  were  not  wider- 
angle  lenses  available  or  used  in  taking 
motion  pictures,  and  the  significant  answer 
was  that  there  was  never  any  great  demand 
for  them.  But  it  was  possible  to  develop 
them.  I  do  hope  that  they  will  develop  wider- 
angle  lenses,  because  that  is  another  tool  in 
the  flexibility  of  cinematography  that  is 
necessary. 

Drive-ins  vs.  Auditoriums 

Frederick  J.  Kolb,  Jr.:  Most  of  the  de- 
sirable features  of  theater  design  that  you 
have  discussed  seem  directly  contrary  to  the 
requirements  of  a  drive-in  theater.  Is  it 
possible  to  reconcile  the  two? 

Mr.  Schlanger:  Would  you  be  specific 
as  to  their  being  contrary? 

Dr.  Kolb:  I  am  thinking  of  the  drive-in 
theater  as  having  a  very  limited  angle  of 
view — more  like  the  home  television  view- 
ing conditions.  Therefore,  the  advantage  to 
be  gained  by  including  a  larger  story  ele- 
ment on  the  screen  and  by  restricting  the 


30 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     March  1951 


audience  to  the  most  favorable  locations 
seems  very  diffichlt — at  least,  to  me — to 
realize  in  drive-in  design. 

Mr.  Schlancer:  In  drive-in  theaters,  the 
remote  car  positions  are  at  least  10  W 
[W  =  screen  width].  They  are  placed  so  be- 
cause of  the  physical  problem  of  getting 
enough  attendance  with  one  screen,  and  I 
have  noticed  that  there  have  been  some  de- 
velopments recently  for  double  screens  and 
even  four  screens.  I  guess  that  is  one  of 
the  problems  to   be  overcome. 

From  a  10  W  location  in  a  drive-in  theater, 
the  picture  looks  like  a  postage  stamp.  It 
is  not  that  it  is  poorly  done.  It  is  an  incon- 
spicuous speck  in  the  field  of  view.  How- 
ever, the  drive-in  theater  is  a  unique  ex- 
perience— to  be  able  to  ride  out  in  your  car 
and  go  and  view  a  picture  is  still  "some- 
thing different."  The  audience  will  tolerate 
a  lot  when  a  thing  is  unique  enough. 

'Unique'  Angle  of  Home  Tv 

For  example,  even  home  television,  good 
as  it  is  today,  falls  far  short  of  the  quality 
of  a  motion  picture  in  a  theater.  But  it  is 
tolerated;  it  is  considered  all  right  because 
it  is  unique.    You  can  sit  in  your  slippers, 


smoke  a  cigar  and  watch   television  without 
leaving  your  house. 

Getting  back  to  your  question — can  you 
produce  a  picture  which  is  just  as  useful  in 
a  drive-in  theater  as  in  any  other  theater? 
There  is  an  inconsistency  in  this  respect 
and  it  can  be  related  also  to  television  view- 
ing. Due  to  the  deficiencies  in  television 
viewing  there  is  a  tendency,  and  justifiably 
so,  to  use  closeups.  because  middle  and  dis- 
tance shots  appear  indistinct. 

For  the  same  reason,  middle  and  distance 
shots  in  drive-in  theater  production  should 
also  be  avoided.  There  again,  a  predomin- 
ance of  close-up  shots  is  a  desirable  thing, 
if  drive-in  theaters  are  going  to  be  designed 
with  10   W  viewing.    So,  you  are  correct. 

Picture  Content  Compromise 

A  picture  which  would  be  photographed 
carefully  for  a  drive-in  would  not  be  good 
for  regular  motion  picture  theaters,  but  there 
is  always  a  happy  medium.  You  must  be 
sure  that  the  close-ups  are  not  too  close  up, 
and  that  the  distant  shots  are  not  too  distant. 
You  have  to  compromise,  and  I  believe  that 
this  could  be  done  easily  enough  so  that 
there  would  be  neither  too  many  close-ups 
for  viewing  in  the  regular  theater,  nor  too 
few,  for  the  drive-in  theater. 

Walter  E.  Dunn:  You  have  made  re- 
peated references  to  the  elimination  of  black 
screen  masking.  Do  you  have  any  recom- 
mendation for  either  a  substitute  or  a  sys- 
tem of  elimination  of  the  mask  in  an  exist- 
ing theater? 

Luminous  Screen  Masking 

Mr.  Schlancer:  There  are  several  meth- 
ods of  eliminating  black  masking.  First  of 
all,  we  have  to  realize  that  black  maskings 
were  originally  created  for  purposes  which  j 
no  longer  exist.  One  was  that  screen  illu- 
mination in  the  early  days  was  compara- 
tively  low   and    the    black   masking   went   a 


long    way    toward    making    the    illumination 
appear  brighter. 

I   think   that   television   viewing   is   proving 
that   black   masking  is  no  longer  necessary. 


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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


March  1951 


31 


With  the  exception  of  the  Du  Mont  sets, 
practically  all  the  sets  have  a  white  or  al- 
most-white color  masking. 

The  other  reason  for  black  masking  was 
to  do  something  about  the  aberrated  or  fuzzy 
edge  of  the  picture  as  it  is  when  projected 
without  a  black  masking.  That  is  a  prac- 
tical problem.  This  aberrated,  fuzzy  edge 
can  be  eliminated  in  several  ways. 

We  have  been  developing  a  substitute 
masking,  a  luminous  masking,  which  I  think 


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will  be  available  very  soon.  We  have  also 
had  other  solutions  in  which  we  would  cut 
the  picture,  that  is,  project  the  picture  very 
carefully  into  a  proscenium  which  was  ex- 
actly the  size  of  the  picture  and  let  it  go 
at  that,  or  by  having  a  slight  flare  come 
right  out  from  the  picture.  The  fuzzy  edge 
would  fall  on  the  angular  surface,  which 
would  not  be  visible  to  the  audience,  and 
the  picture  would  appear  to  have  a  clean-cut 
edge.  Some  of  the  newer  maskings  that 
have  been  developed  will  do  an  even  better 
job. 

Screen  Brightness  vs.  Size 

Leonard  Satz:  There  are  certain  things 
which  can  be  done  right  now,  short  of  mak- 
ing major  changes.  I  would  say,  principally, 
modernization  of  lighting  would  be  the  first 
step  in  the  theater  auditorium — the  elimina- 
tion of  distracting  side-wall  brackets,  which 
are  so  common  in  many  of  our  theaters,  and 
replacement  with  an  operating  light  which 
is  directed  downward  and  perhaps  inten- 
tionally directed  to  the  proscenium  area. 

The  first  step  would  be,  naturally,  the  en- 
largement of  the  screen,  and  I  believe  it  is 
a  fact  that  visual  acuity  is  not  lost  by  the 
reduction  in  screen  brightness  as  long  as 
the  image  is  increased  in  size.  You  men- 
tioned limitation  of  screen  brightness  as 
being  one  of  the  problems  of  the  exhibitor 
today.  I  think  that  if  he  does  lose  10%  in 
incident  illumination  by  enlarging  his  pic- 
ture with  existing  projection  equipment,  the 
loss  will  be  compensated  by  the  fact  that 
visual  acuity  is  maintained  with  the  larger 
picture. 

Mr.  Schlanger:  It  may  not  be  exactly 
compensated,  but  certainly  acuity  increases 
with  the  size  of  the  image,  despite  loss  in 
light.  I  don't  have  exact  figures  on  that, 
but  I  believe  you  can  verify  it. 


FILM-GUIDING  METHODS 

(Continued  from  page  6) 

The  use  of  "studio  guides"  in  theatre 
projectors  is  subject  to  criticism.  Guide 
rails  which  have  been  in  use  for  a  period 
of  years  reveal  a  small  amount  of  groov- 
ing, with  one  of  the  two  rails  grooved 
more  than  the  other.  Because  the  rails 
are  supposed  to  be  set  just  far  enough 
apart  to  clear  a  new,  unshrunken  film, 
the  minutest  grooving  ruins  the  adjust- 
ment, rendering  the  rails  useless  unless 
they  are  misaligned  relative  to  the  guide 
roller  so  that  one  rail  brings  up  snugly 
against  the  edge  of  the  film. 

A  groove  of  only  0.001  inch  in  each  of 
the  two  rails  permits  a  side-sway  of  as 
much  as  0.6  inch  in  a  24-foot  picture. 
This  is  noticed  by  the  audience  if  the 
swaying  is  rapid;  and  it  is  likely  to  be 
more  rapid  and  irregular  when  studio 
guides  are  used  than  when  they  are  dis- 
pensed with  entirely. 

Most  of  the  films  run  in  the  average 
theatre,  moreover,  are  not  new  prints. 
They  are  narrower  than  the  original  raw 
stock  because  of  shrinkage  and  the  in- 
evitable microscopic  shearing  that  comes 
of  repeated  use.  Tests  have  provided  con- 
clusive evidence  that  both  the  shrinkage 
and  the  edge-wear  are,  within  limits, 
irregular.  When  old  prints  are  projected, 
therefore,  the  guide  rails  are  not  effective 
except  as  they  may  be  misaligned,  forc- 
ing the  film  into  a  fixed  position. 

To  set  the  rails  closer  together  to 
edge-guide    old   prints   effectively  would 


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32 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


March  1951 


make  the  passage  of  splices  through  the 
gate  more  conspicuous  on  the  screen,  and 
also  cause  new,  unshrunken  films  to 
buckle  and  flutter. 

Then,  too,  it  is  difficult  to  understand 
how  the  flanged  guide  roller  can  function 
freely  and  properly  when  studio  guides 
are  used.  The  slightest  displacement 
in  the  lateral  positioning  of  this  roller 
automatically  misaligns  the  guide  rails. 

Motiograph,  happily,  abandoned  stu- 
dio guides  altogether  in  the  Motiograph 
AA,  introduced  in  1947.  The  two  guide- 
roller  assemblies  used  in  the  AA  func- 
tion so  well  that  not  a  single  report  of 
side-sway  has  come  in  from  nearly  3000 
installations.  The  writer  holds  that  the 
use  of  two  guide  rollers  is  mandatory  in 
all  high-grade  projectors. 

Provisions  for  quickly  adjusting  the 
pressure  of  the  tension  pads  of  the  gate 
are  now  incorporated  into  several  pro- 
jectors. The  Brenkert  models,  for  ex- 
ample, and  the  Simplex  E-7  and  the  new 
X-L,  have  conveniently  located  adjust- 
ment screws  for  this  purpose. '  The  Mo- 
tiograph AA  has  a  positive-acting  ten- 
sion adjustment  which  can  be  instantly 
set  in  any  of  three  pre-determined  posi- 
tions to  obtain  the  best  results  with  new, 
old,  or  only  moderately  worn  prints, 
thus  eliminating  all  guesswork. 

Another  noteworthy  feature  of  modern 
projector  gates  is  the  special  framing 
aperture  located  at  the  top  of  the  film 
gate.  In  the  Motiograph  AA  this  thread- 
ing-up  aperture  is  inclined  at  a  conveni- 
ent angle  so  that  the  projectionist  need 
not  be  a  contortionist  in  order  to  thread 
the  film  "in  frame." 

Regardless  of  the  make  and  model  of 
the  projectors  used,  the  projectionist  can 
do  much  to  keep  the  film  gate  in  perfect 
condition,  thereby  insuring  good  inter- 
mittent action  and  satisfactory  function- 
ing of  the  lens.    A  few  suggestions: 

Suggested  Projectionist  Procedure 

1.  Cleanliness  and  Lubrication. 
Keep  all  parts  of  the  gate  scrupulously 
clean  at  all  times.  The  tension  pads  of 
the  gate  door  should  be  taken  out  for 
thorough  cleaning — dust  from  the  film 
lodges  underneath  them.  Remove  hard- 
ened deposits  of  emulsion  from  the  film 
runners  with  a  scraper  made  from  soft 
copper  wire,  wiping  off  the  residue  with 
carbon  tetrachloride  or  cleaner's  naph- 
tha. (Caution!  Carbon  tet  is  very  poison- 
ous; naphtha  is  inflammable). 

A  small  drop  of  projector  oil  applied 
to  the  guide-roller  shaft  and  pivots  will 
insure  proper  rotation.  A  toothpick  can 
be  used  for  applying  the  oil.  The  slides 
of  the  gate  door  should  also  have  a  thin 
film  of  oil  on  their  surfaces.  Light  oil 
is  best  avoided — the  heat  of  the  gate 
causes  it  to  vaporize  and  fog  the  lens. 

The  steel  film  tracks  and  tension  pads 
may  be  lubricated  every  few  months  by 
rubbing  the  metal  surfaces  which  contact 


the  film  with  a  trace  of  heavy  Vaseline. 
Excess  grease  should  be  wiped  off  with 
a  clean  cotton  cloth — enough  of  the  lubri- 
cant will  sink  into  the  pores  of  the  metal 
to  be  effective  for  a  long  time. 

2.  Pad  Tension.  If  the  projectionist 
has  had  long  experience  with  the  make 
of  projector  he  is  using,  he  can  test  the 
tension  of  the  gate-door  shoes  with  his 
fingers.  A  more  accurate  test  can  be 
made  by  determining  the  drag  on  the 
film  with  a  small  cylindrical  spring 
scale 

Attach    a    1-foot    strip   of   film    to   the 


hook  of  the  scale,  and  pull  the  film  up 
through  the  closed  gate  by  means  of  the 
scale.  The  reading  indicates  the  pressure 
exerted  on  the  film  by  the  pads. 
Proper  Pad  Pressure 

From  12  to  16  ounces  of  pressure  ie 
recommended  for  the  average  well-sea- 
soned print.  Too  little  pressure  may  re- 
sult in  an  unsteady  picture;  too  much 
will  wear  out  the  film  and  notch  the 
teeth  of  the  intermittent  sprocket.  The 
pads  on  each  side  should  exert  equal 
pressure — from  6  to  8  ounces — else  side- 
sway  may  be  introduced  into  an  other- 


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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     March  1951 


33 


wise  perfect  picture  A  foot-long  strip 
of  film  cut  lengthwise  through  the  middle 
is  used  for  testing  each  side  separately. 

When  there  are  upper  and  lower  sets 
of  pads  (as  in  all  machines  except  the 
Powers) ,  the  pads  at  the  aperture  should 
exert  almost  twice  as  much  pressure  as 
the  upper  set  of  pads.  This  makes  for  a 
steadier  picture,  reducing  side-sway  and 
film-flutter  to  a  minimum. 

Check  each  pad  frequently  for  surface 
wear.  Replace  worn  pads  immediately, 
for  they  can  ruin  the  stationary  film- 
runners,  hollowing  them  here  and  there, 
and  cause  in-and-out-of-focus  flutter  of 
the  film 

3.  Intermittent  Shoe.  In  some  pro- 
jectors the  intermittent  shoe  is  part  of 
the  gate  door;  in  others  it  is  a  separate 
component.  In  either  case  it  should  be 
examined  for  lateral  adjustment.  Al- 
though several  projectors  have  adjust- 
able shoe  tension,  the  writer  does  not 
believe  that  the  amount  of  pressure  ex- 
erted by  the  shoe  against  the  face  of  the 
sprocket  is  of  much  importance  It  is 
only  necessary  that  the  film  be  held 
snugly  against  the  intermittent  sprocket; 
the  lightest  pressure  suffices  to  do  this. 

If  the  shoe  rubs  against  the  sides  of 
the  sprocket  teeth  it  will  damage  them, 
and  also  deface  the  film  perforations. 
Center  the  shoe  so  that  no  loud  inter- 
mittent noise  is  heard  when  the  machine 
is  run  without  film,  and  with  the  inter- 
mittent shoe  closed  against  the  sprocket. 

Tests  of  Film  Runners 

4.  Film  Runners.  The  two  steel  strips 
upon  which  the  film  rests  during  its  pas- 
sage through  the  gate  will  in  time  show 
signs  of  wear.  Ordinary  steel  runners 
wear  out  rather  quickly;  alloy-steel  run- 
ners of  the  nickel-molybdenum  type  are 
good  for  years;  while  runners  specially 
ground  from  tool  steels  of  the  uranium- 
cerium  type  have  an  enormously  long 
life.  : 

The  friction  of  moving  film  causes  the 
runners  to  become  grooved,  a  defect 
which  may  be  detected  by  scraping  a 
sharp-edged  copper  coin  across  each 
runner  laterally.  A  "click"  indicates 
grooving.  Grooving  may  also  be  detected 
by  feeling  the  runner  surfaces  with  the 
fingers — the  sense  of  touch  in  the  finger- 
tips is  extremely  delicate. 

Wear  of  the  runners  is  greatest,  of 
course,  where  the  tension  pads  press  the 
film  against  them.  Such  wear  is  evidenced 
by  a  hollowing,  best  detected  by  placing 
a  short  steel  straight-edge  against  the 
runner  and  shining  a  flashlight  on  the 
casting  behind  it.  The  straight-edge 
used  for  this  purpose  should  be  of  the 
best  quality,  and  kept  in  a  velvet-Uned 
box. 

A  hollow  of  the  runners  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  aperture  can  throw  one  edge  or, 


more  frequently,  one  corner  of  the  pro- 
jected picture  out  of  focus.  The  writer 
has  encountered  and  corrected  this  de- 
fect several  times.  All  that  is  needed  is 
a  new  pair  of  runners. 

Grooved  and  hollowed-out  runners 
should  be  replaced  immediately  with  new 
ones.  Some  "off-make"  parts  are  very 
good,  but  the  projectionist  must  rely  on 
his  own  judgment  when  ordering  them. 
In  the  days  to  come  we  will  be  very 
lucky  to  get  any  parts  we  need! 

When  only  one  runner  appears  to  be 
worn,  it  is  a  good  idea  to  replace  both 
of  them,  and  re-check  the  evenness  of 
pad  tension.  In  certain  projectors  the 
runners  and  aperture-plate  assembly  are 
combined  in  a  single  block  of  ground 
and  hardened  steel.  The  entire  unit  can 
be  removed  and  replaced  in  a  moment. 

Guide  Rails,  Rollers 

5.  Guide  Rails.  The  rails  of  studio 
guides  are  subject  to  grooving  by  the 
edges  of  the  film,  and  hence  must  be 
reset  and  replaced  at  intervals.  The 
clearance  must  be  such  that  a  new,  un- 
shrunken  film  can  just  squeeze  in  be- 
tween them  without  binding  or  buckling. 

6.  Guide  Rollers.  Failure  of  the  guide 
rollers  to  turn  invariably  results  in 
scored  flanges.  These,  as  well  as  bent 
flanges,  cause  side-sway;  replace  imme- 
diately. If  the  assembly  is  properly  lu- 
bricated, failure  of  the  guide-roller  shaft 
to  rotate  calls  for  examination  of  the 
pivot  bearings.  They  should  not  hold  the 
roller  so  tightly  that  the  film  cannot  im- 
part a  rotary  motion  to  the  flanges.  On 
the  other  hand,  there  should  be  no  end- 


play  in  the  roller  shaft.  Anything  wrong 
with  the  guide  roller,  or  with  the  way 
it  is  held  in  the  gate,  is  certain  to  spoil 
the  quality  of  the  picture. 

Lateral  adjustment  of  the  guide-roller 
assembly  is  usually  made  with  the  set- 
screw  in  the  collar  of  the  "fixed"  flange 
— not  with  the  pivots.  It  sometimes  hap- 
pens, however,  that  the  position  of  the 
pivots  needs  correction.  Care  must  be 
taken,  when  working  on  them,  not  to  let 
them  drop  into  the  mechanism  or  onto 
the  floor  and  get  lost!  As  all  projection- 
ists know,  the  lateral  positioning  of  the 
guide  roller  is  very  critical,  and  is  cor- 
rect only  when  the  picture  is  perfectly 
centered  on  the  screen.  Instructions  of 
the  projector  manufacturer  should  be 
followed  when  making  this  adjustment. 

The  guide-roller  spring  should  press 
only  very  lightly  against  the  movable 
flange.  Too  great  a  tension  will  cause  a 
tendency  of  the  film  to  "pinch  out"  or 
buckle  in  the  gate.  The  remedy  is  to 
take  the  spring  from  the  assembly  and 
cut  away  a  few  turns  of  the  coil.  And, 
just  as  a  precaution,  have  a  few  extra- 
guide-roller  springs  in  the  spare-parts 
cabinet. 

Extreme  care  must  be  exercised  when- 
ever the  gate  door  is  removed  from  the 
"gate-door  holder"  of  the  old-style  pro- 
jectors. The  screw-holes  of  the  holder 
.  are  large  enough  to  permit  considerable 
variation  in  the  position  of  the  gate  door 
and  its  associated  intermittent  -  shoe 
apron.  Unless  the  correct  position  is  se- 
cured, by  intention  or  a  lucky  accident, 
the  shoe  will  rub  against  the  intermittent 
sprocket  teeth. 


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34 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     March  1951 


"The  bonds  William  and  I  boughf 
•for  our  counfnfs  defense 


helped  build  a  house  for  us! 


HOW  U.  S.  SAVINGS  BONDS  PAID  OFF   FOR 
MRS.   ROSE  NYSSE  OF  BRISTOL,  PA. 

"There's  nothing  more  wonderful  than  a  house 
and  garden  of  your  own,"  says  Mrs.  Nysse. 

"And  there's  no  surer  way  to  own  one  than 
to  save  for  it  through  U.  S.  Savings  Bonds 
and  the  Payroll  Savings  Plan!" 


Mrs.  Rose  Nysse  says,  "In 
1942  William  and  I 
started  making  U.S.  Sav- 
ings Bonds  a  part  of  our 
plan  for  financial  security. 
I  joined  the  Payroll  Sav- 
ings Plan  at  the  Sweet- 
heart Soap  Co.  where  I'm 
a  supervisor,  and  began 
buying  a  $100  bond  each 
month.  I  knew  that  my 
money  was  safe  and  work- 
ing for  me  all  the  time. 
Buying  U.  S.  Savings 
Bonds  is  one  of  the  surest, 
safest  savings  methods!" 


"Savings  Bonds  alone 
made  a  $5,000  down  pay- 
ment on  our  house!"  says 
Mrs.  Nysse.  "Altogether, 
we've  saved  $8,000  just 
in  bonds  bought  through 
Payroll  Savings,  and 
we're  keeping  right  on 
with  the  plan.  And  when 
we  retire,  our  bonds  will 
make  the  difference  be- 
tween comfort  and  just 
getting  by.  Bond  buying 
is  a  patriotic  and  practi- 
cal way  of  building  a 
cash  reserve!" 


You  can  io  wfiattrie  Nysses  are  doing 
--fhe-h'me-to  sterHs  new! 


Maybe  you  can't  save  quite  as  much  as  William 
and  Rose  Nysse,  maybe  you  can  save  more. 
But  the  important  thing  is  to  start  now!  It 
only  takes  three  simple  steps. 

1.  Make  the  big  decision — to  put  saving  first — 
before  you  even  draw  your  pay. 

2.  Decide  to  save  a  regular  amount  systematically, 
week  after  week,  or  month  after  month.  Even 
small  sums,  saved  on  a  systematic  basis,  become  a 
large  sum  in  an  amazingly  short  time! 

3.  Start  saving  automatically  by  signing  up  today 
in  the  Payroll  Savings  Plan  where  you  work  or 
the  Bond-A-Month  Plan  where  you  bank.  You 
may  save  as  little  as  $1.25  a  week  or  as  much  as 
$375  a  month.  If  you  can  set  aside  just  $7.50 
weekly,  in  10  years  you'll  have  bonds  and  interest 
worth  $4,329.02  cash! 

You'll  be  providing  security  not  only  for 
yourself  and  your  family,  but  for  the  blessed 
free  way  of  life  that's  so  important  to  us  all. 
And  in  far  less  time  than  you  think,  the  finan- 
cial independence  the  Nysses  enjoy  will  be 
yours  to  enjoy  as  well! 


FOR  YOUR  SECURITY,  AND  YOUR  COUNTRY'S  TOO,  SAVE  NOW- 
THROUGH  REGULAR  PURCHASE  OF  U.  S.  SAVINGS  BONDS! 

Your  government  does  not  pay  for  this  advertisement.  It  is  donated  by  this  publication  in  cooperation  with  the 
Advertising  Council  and  the  Magazine  Publishers  of  America  as  a  public  service. 


SEtllAL  Wl». 

MAY  - 1 1951 


v 


APRIL 


1951 


VOLUME  26 


NUMBER   4 


30c   A   COPY    •    S2.50  A  YEAR 


lout**10   #"*&£ 

9  _    ^  1_ITW  TO  70   AAADC 


^^ 


n 


1-KW  TO  70  AMPS 


HY-AX     ARC  MAGNET 


u 


HY-LUMEN      REFLECTOR 


More  light  at  40  to  70  amperes  than  ever  thought  possible. 
.  .  .  Equals  and  excels  any  reflector  lamp  to  85  amperes,  whether 
they  be  unapproved  water-cooled  or  resurrected  "Hi-Lows".  .  .  . 
Highest  ratio  of  honest  screen  lumens  per  arc  watt  ...  At  70 
amperes,  using  an  accurated  Glass  Hy-Lumen  Reflector*,  with 
a  projector  having  an  efficient  revolving  shutter,  it  develops  the 
maximum  screen  brilliance  that  can  be  used  without  a  heat  filter 
at  no  risk  of  film  damage.  .  .  .  Operating  costs  under  these 
conditions  are  far  below  that  of  85-ampere  lamps. 

Magnarc  Lamps  assure  80%  side-to-center  (SMPE  Standard) 
screen  light  distribution,  not  a  deceptive  60%  or  "Hot  Center." 
.  .  .  They  are  all  Und.  Lab.,  Inc.  listed.  .  .  .  They  are  net  in- 
surance hazards.  .  .  .  They  are  and  have  been  for  years  "The 
First  Choice"  of  large  and  small  theatres,  drive-ins,  and  the 
motion  picture  industry. 

*  Similar  results  are  not  guaranteed  if  all-metal  reflectors  are  used. 


I  I 


FIRST    WITH    THE    FINEST" 


120-180  AMPERES 


TRADE   MARK    REG 


NEW     MAGNETIC     STABILIZER 

This   modern    lamp  produces   all   the   light   there   is. 

...  It  is  the  standard  equipment  of  the  nation's  largest 

and  finest  theatres.  .  .  .  Used  by  90%   of  the  largest 
Drive-In  Theatres. 

It  is  the  "Omega"  for  maximum  screen  brilliance 
.  .  .  Nothing  can  even  approach  it  in  white  light  volume 
when  used  with  projectors  that  have  efficient  revolving 
shutters. 

Assures  satisfying  projection  for  Drive-Ins  regardless 
of  the  size  of  the  picture,  length  of  throw,  and  under 
all  weather  conditions.  .  .  .  They  are  Und.  Lab.,  Inc 
listed  and,  therefore,  not  insurance  hazards.  .  .  .  Heat 
filter  assures  no  risk  of  film-heat  damage  at  maximum 
arc   amperage   and    maximum    screen    lumens. 


I  1 


WHY    EXPERIMENT? 


J.E.McAULEY  MFG. ED. 

552-554    WEST   ADAMS    STREET 

CHICAGO   6.  ILLINOIS 


APR  26  1951 

INTERNATIONAL 

PRQJECTIONISI 


With  Which  Is  Combined  Projection  Engineering 


HENRY  B.  SELLWOOD,  Editor 


Volume  26 


APRIL  1951 


Number  4 


Index  and  Monthly  Chat 3 

Honeycomb-Condenser  Lamp 

Optics    5 

A.  R.  Schultze 

Evaluation   of   the   Honeycomb- 
Condenser  Lamp   6 

Robert  A.  Mitchell 

Projectionist  Examination  Ques- 
tions             9 

Tv  Won't  Ruin  Everything  ...      10 
Rupert  Hughes 

Comparative    Data     Anent    Ni- 
trate, Safety  Film    13 

Kodak  Research  Laboratories 

New  Plastic  Correcting  Lens  16 

Interference  Mirrors  for  Projec- 
tion          17 

SMPTE  Jottings  . 17 


Theater  Television  via  the  RCA 
PT-100  Equipment,  V  .      18 

In  the  Spotlight  20 

Harry  Sherman 

Ray  Brian's  Projection  Lore  22 

Personnel  Notes   22 

IA  Elections   22 

IA-IP  Radio  Contest  Results  23 

Current    IA-IP    Amateur    Radio 
Listing     24 

Simplex    Honors    50- Year    Em- 
ployee          25 

GPL    Theater    Tv    Premiere    in 
Pittsburgh 26 

Book  Review    27 

News  Projections 29 

Technical  Hints 

Miscellaneous  Items 


Published  Monthly  by 
INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST  PUBLISHING  CO.,  INC. 

19  West  44  Street,  New  York  18,  N.  Y. 
Telephone:  MUrray  Hill  2-2948 

R.  A.  ENTRACHT,  Publisher 

SUBSCRIPTION  REPRESENTATIVES 

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ENGLAND  and  DOMINIONS:  Wm.  Dawson  &  Sons,  Ltd.,  Macklin  St.-^Hon,  W.  C.  2 

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act  of  March  3,  1879.  Entire  contents  copyrighto^WSl  by  International  Projectionist 
Publishing  Co.,  Inc.  International  Projectionist  is  not  responsible  for  personal  opinions 
appearing  in  signed  articles  in  its  columns. 

420 


MONTHLY   CHAT 


PROJECTIONISTS  may  expect  that 
the  physical  quality  of  theater  release 
prints  will  slowly  but  steadily  deteriorate 
before  the  opportunity  for  betterment 
presents  itself.  Despite  official  statement 
from  the  NPA  in  Washington  that  there 
is  no  serious  shortage  of  raw  stock  "at 
the  moment,"  leading  laboratories  report 
that  the  situation  has  come  to  the  point 
where  it  suffers  from  various  degrees  of 
acuteness,  with  comment  ranging  from 
"tight"  to  "very  acute."  Some  labs  have 
decided  against  taking  any  additional 
orders  at  this  time. 

This  is  the  situation  right  now,  even 
though  the  needs  of  the  military  and 
other  government  agencies  have  by  no 
means  reached  their  peak.  And  the  Tv 
nets'  demands  for  stock  will  mount, 
steadily. 

All  this  means  that  there  will  be  fewer 
prints  available  on  any  given  release, 
with  faster  rotation  of  prints  and  conse- 
quent less  time  for  inspection  in  the 
exchanges.  Print  quality  is  none  too 
good  right  now,  and  exchange  inspection 
has  never  been  more  than  meager. 

Print  quality  seems  destined  to  provide 
plenty  of  trouble  in  the  months  to  come, 
with  projectionists  having  to  take  over 
more  of  the  normal  functions  of  the 
exchange.  Close  inspection  of  every 
print  is  requisite,  and  particular  care 
should  be  taken  to  establish  the  nature 
of  the  stock — whether  nitrate  or  safety. 
Eastman's  new  print  identification  system 
should  help  greatly  in  this  direction  (IP 
for  March,  1951,  p.  12).  Proper  splicing 
will  play  a  very  important  role  in  licking 
this  problem. 

We're  stuck  with  this  problem,  so  let's 
face  it  squarely. 

•        •        • 

IP  has  long  been  inured  to  the  circum- 
stance wherein  a  long  succession  of  its 
issues  containing  much  material  of  merit 
will  not  elicit  a  congratulatory  word  from 
its  readers,  the  while  a  minor  error  in, 
probably,  an  equation  or  the  bke  wiD 
induce  a  raft  of  comments.  'Twas  ever 
thus. 

Of  late  a  new  note  has  been  sounded: 
certain  quarters  opine  that  IP  should  shy 
away  from  "all  this  new  stuff"  and  con- 
centrate exclusively  on  the  "now,"  since 
this  peering  into  the  future  will  "serve 
merely  to  create  dissatisfaction  with 
equipment  now  being  offered." 

IP  just  can't  buy  this  line  of  thought. 
Current  practice  and  improved  technique 
in  handling  existing  equipment  will  ever 
be  a  prime  concern  of  IP,  of  course;  but 
one  of  the  chief  reasons  for  the  existence 
of  IP  is  that  it  ferret  out  and  publish  in- 
formation on  the  new  and  the  novel.  Any 
craft  journal — and  IP  is  just  that,  not 
a  trade  paper  or  a  business  paper — that 
fails  in  this  vitally  important  function 
forfeits  its  right  to  exist. 

IP  is  important  only  to  the  extent  of 
the  service  it  renders  its  readers. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST    •     April  1951 


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RECORDING  EQUIPMENT 

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Western  Electric  has  developed  it  and  Westrex  can  supply  it! 

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Westrex  offers  Western  Electric  photographic 
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Six  models  of  the  Western  Electric 
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consoles  have  been  designed  to  fill 
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This  line  provides  facili- 
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INTERNATIONAL    PROJECTIONIST 


VOLUME   XXVI 


APRIL  1951 


NUMBER  4 


Honeycomb-Condenser  Lamp  Optics 


The  appended  article,  in  two  sections,  comprises  a  translation  from  the  German 
by  Robert  A.  Mitchell  of  an  article  "Die  Wabenkondensor"  is  Bild  Und  Ton  (Bd.  3,  Nr. 
4,  S.  127)  and  supplementary  comment  by  the  translator.  This  material  is  published 
herein  in  line  with  the  long-established  policy  of  IP  in  providing  a  forum  for  the 
free  and  full  expression  of  views  by  anybody  having  anything  interesting  to  say 
anent  the  projection   process.    Comment  on   the  appended   article   is   invited. 


By  A.  R.  SCHULTZE 
Zeiss-lkon,  VEB,   Dresden 

CRITICAL  examination  of  picture  re- 
production in  motion  picture  thea- 
ters unfortunately  often  forces  one 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  quality  of  the 
projection  leaves  something  to  be  de- 
sired. Even  though  the  necessary  picture 
brightness  can  be  attained  in  all  cases  by 
means  of  modern  mirror  lamps,  insuffi- 
cient uniformity  of  illumination  and  of 
the  color  of  the  picture  are  ever-present 
defects,  the  latter  being  especially  trou- 
blesome during  the  presentation  of  color 
films. 

The  cause  is  to  be  sought  in  several 
factors  which  lie  as  much  in  the  lamp 
optics  as  in  the  quality  of  the  carbons 
used  and  in  the  attention  given  to  the 
operation  of  the  lamp. 

The  claim  is  here  advanced  that  the 
disadvantages  of  conventional  lamps  may 
be  considered  obviated  by  the  honeycomb 

FIG.   1.    Representation  of  an  arclamp  optical 
system   using   a   concave   mirror. 


condenser  optical  system.  With  this  sys- 
tem the  slight  falling-off  of  illumination 
at  the  edges  of  the  picture,  the  sensitivity 
of  the  lamp  optics  to  trim-position  and 
burning  errors,  as  well  as  color  variations 
in  the  picture  with  the  use  of  Beck 
[high-intensity]  carbons,  are  overcome. 

In  the  conventional  mirror  lamp  the 
luminous  crater  of  the  positive  carbon  is 
imaged  on  the  picture-aperture  by  the 
mirror,  the  path  of  the  rays  being  shown 
in  Fig.  1. 

Irregularity  of  Illumination 

Every  irregularity  in  the  crater  and 
every  alteration  in  the  position  of  the 
crater  image  [the  "spot"]  cannot  help 
but  result  in  an  irregularity  in  the  illumi- 
nation of  the  picture,  especially  when 
high-intensity  carbons  are  used.  Slant- 
wise burning  of  the  carbon  shows  up  on 
the  screen  as  colored  corners  and  edges, 
the  reason  being  that  the  crater,  when 
viewed  across  the  white  gas-ball,  has  a 
yellowish  to  reddish  color. 

And  especially  when  low-current  in- 
tensities are  employed,  the  correct  imag- 
ing of  the  crater  and  its  position  relative 
to  the  mirror  must  be  maintained  very 
precisely,  and  to  a  degree  of  accuracy  not 
feasible  in  practice.  Hence  screen  illumi- 
nation free  from  defects  is  no  longer  at- 
tempted   with   currents    under   40    amps 


because  of  the  small  area  of  the  positive 
crater. 

These  disadvantages  are  avoided  with 
the  familiar  condenser-utilizing  lamp  op- 
tical-system, the  so-called  Kohler  ar- 
rangement, because  with  this  system  it  is 
not  the  picture-aperture  but  an  inter- 
posed auxiliary  condenser  upon  which 
the  crater  of  the  positive  carbon  is  im- 
aged. And  the  condenser,  in  turn,  images 
the  "principal  condenser"  [a  large  con- 
densing lens  analogous  in  function  to  a 
lamp  mirror]  upon  the  aperture. 

With  this  system,  also  called  the  "in- 
termediate image  -  formation  arrange- 
ment," no  influence  upon  the  illumination 
is  exerted  by  incorrect  position  or 
oblique  burning  of  the  positive  carbon, 
as  the  image  of  the  principal  condenser, 
not  that  of  the  crater,  bes  on  the  picture- 
aperture.  In  consequence  of  the  low  effi- 
ciency of  a  condenser  system,  the  appli- 
cation of  this  type  of  arc-imaging  for  pro- 
jection in  motion  picture  theaters  has  not 
succeeded  until  the  present  time. 

New  Condenser  a  Requisite 

It  might  be  supposed  that  we  could  at 
once  set  about  applying  this  system  to  a 
mirror  lamp,  as  shown  in  Fig.  2.  But  this 
is  not  possible  because  a  dark  shadow, 
originating  from  the  carbon-holder  and 
carbon  which  naturally  lie  between  the 

FIG.  2.    Optical  system  utilizing  concave  mirror 
and  intermediate-image  formation. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


April  1951 


HI    -'  Gl      IP 


FIG.  3.    Lens  plates  holding  an  array  of  150  individual  lenses:  rectangular  and  hexagonal  plates 


mirror  and  the  intermediate  condenser, 
is  visible  on  the  picture-aperture.  The 
intermediate  image-formation  setup  just 
represented  can  be  realized,  however,  if 
the  so-called  honeycomb  condenser  is 
used.  This  consists  of  two  lens-"holding" 
plates,  as  shown  in  Fig.  3. 

These  will  be  interposed  at  a  definite 
place  in  the  light-beam  of  the  mirror 
lamp,  as  shown  in  Fig.  4.  Each  lens  plate 
has  the  same  number  of  lenses.  Now,  the 
arrangement  of  the  separate  lenses  is  so 
contrived  that  each  lens  of  one  plate  is 
coordinated  with  a  lens  of  the  second 
plate.  That  is,  the  focal  lengths  of  the 
lenses  of  the  first  plate  are  chosen  so 
that  each  lens  always  forms  an  image  of 
the  crater  in  the  corresponding  lens  of 
the  second  plate. 

The  lenses  of  this  plate,  in  turn,  will 
image  every  corresponding  lens  of  the 
first  plate  on  the  aperture  of  the  projec- 
tor. All  images  of  the  individual  lenses 
of  the  first  lens-array  accordingly  super- 
impose themselves  on  the  aperture.  Thus 
with  this  intermediate  image-formation 
system  the  whole  of  the  light-beams  com- 
ing from  the  mirror  is  subdivided  into  a 
large  number — -about  150 — single  light- 
beams. 

In  conformity  to  their  practical  appli- 
cation, the  lenses  of  the  first  plate  are 
rectangular,  their  images  corresponding 
in  size  and  shape  to  the  picture  aperture ; 
lenses  of  the  second  plate  are  hexagonal, 
approaching  the  circular  form  of  the  arc 
crater. 

The  manifold  subdivisions  of  the  light- 
beam  by  the  honeycomb-condenser  sys- 
tem has  the  great  advantage  of  retaining 
the  desirable  characteristics  of  the  inter- 
mediate image-formation  system. 

High  Operating  Efficiency  Assured 

Due  to  the  fact  that  the  desirable  prop- 
erties of  the  intermediate  image-forma- 
tion system  are  retained,  the  manifold 
subdivision  of  the  light-beam  by  the 
honeycomb-condenser  system  has  the 
great  advantage  that  one  can  utilize  fully 
the  high  operating  efficiency  of  a  concave 
mirror  without  a  shadow  of  the  carbon- 
holder  or  the  carbon  showing  up.  The 
single  lenses  of  the  first  array  are  indeed 
partially  covered  by  this  shadow;  but 
this  non-uniformity  is  obliterated  at  the 
aperture  by  virtue  of  the   fact  that  the 


images  formed  by   150  individual  lenses 
are  superimposed 

In  line  with  the  characteristics  of  the 
intermediate  image-formation  system, 
there  is  also  considerable  independence 
from  the  exact  imaging  of  the  crater. 
Sidewise  burning  of  the  crater,  for  in- 
stance, is  not  perceptibly  detrimental  to 


FIG.    4. 


Optical    system    which    utilizes 
"honeycomb"   condenser. 


the  uniformity  of  the  illumination  of  the 
picture  aperture.  Moreover,  it  is  also  pos- 
sible to  attain  uniform  picture  illumi- 
nation with  lower  currents,  i.e.,  a  smaller 
crater. 

This    mirror    combination,    therefore, 
has  the  following  advantages: 


1.  Continuously  uniform  and  color-free 
picture  illumination,  even  with  faulty 
carbon  positioning  and  imperfect  imag- 
ing of  the  crater,  rendering  unnecessary 
the  otherwise  customary  attention  to  the 
arc  and  mirror  knobs  for  truing  up  pic- 
ture quality  during  projection. 

2.  Use  of  Beck  (h-i)  light  even  with 
currents  from  the  present  minimum  down 
to  15  amps,  so  that  h-i  light,  the  superi- 
ority of  which  is  well  known — in  particu- 
lar for  the  projection  of  color  films — can 
be  employed  even  in  the  smallest  theater. 

Not  only  does  the  honeycomb-con- 
denser system  bring  about  important  op- 
erational advantages,  but  very  likely  a 
substantial  simplification  of  the  construc- 
tion of  mirror  arc-lamps,  too. 

No  Guides,  Position-Controls 

Guides  and  position-controls  for  the 
carbons  and  for  the  mirror  are  no  longer 
necessary,  since  their  precise  position  no 
longer  has  any  great  significance.  It  suf- 
fices if  the  carbons  are  fed  at  their  ends 
by  the  carbon  supports.  Focusing  knobs 
for  the  mirror  can  also  be  dispensed  with. 
If  such  a  lamp  is  once  lined  up  correctly 
at  the  factory,  no  operating  adjustments 
for  maintaining  picture  quality  are  nec- 
essary during  the  time  that  the  lamp  is  in 
use. 

The  Ikosol  honeycomb-condenser  lamp 
manufactured  by  Zeiss  Ikon  VEB,  Dres- 
den, is  shown  in  Fig.  5.  This  lamp  is 
equipped  with  such  customary  accessor- 
ies as  an  automatic  carbon  feed,  combi- 
nation arc-striking  and  light-beam  dous- 
ers,  as  well  as  a  latch-release  device  for 
the  carbon  holders.  For  use  the  lamp 
comes  with  an  aspheric  mirror  of  300 
mm.  [11.811  inches]  diameter. 


Evaluating  the  Honeycomb-Condenser  Lamp 


By  ROBERT  A.  MITCHELL 

THE  introduction  of  the  Zeiss  Ikosol 
honeycomb-condenser  lamp  goes  far 
toward  meeting  two  very  important 
needs,  from  the  point  of  view  of  Soviet- 


German  motion  picture  technologists. 
The  first  is  the  need  for  satisfactory 
screen  illumination — which  need  is  uni- 
versal and  was  recognized  by  Interna- 
tional Projectionist  years  ago.  The 
second  is  the  need,  they  feel,  for  decisive 


Fig.  5.   The  Zeiss  Ikosol  honeycomb-condenser  lamp.    Note  lightness  and  simplicity  of  this  lamp. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     April  1951 


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COST,  buy  this  75  fo  130  ampere  high  intensity  reflector  type  lamp. 

it  Air-cooled  rotating  positive  carbon  feeding  mech- 
anism. 
I       ir  Big  IbVi"  reflector  matches  high  speed  f/1.9  lens. 
it  Automatic  arc  crater  positioning. 

ir  Stable  burning  and  complete  combustion  at  the  arc, 
td  avoid  any  black  soot,  are  attained  by  a  jet  of  air 
m  I  directed  just  above  the  arc. 

it  White   smoke,   which   would   otherwise   cloud    the 
mirror,  is  also  diverted  by  this  air  stream. 

f^-   Unit  construction  permits  instant  removal  of  com- 
ponents for  cleaning. 

I 

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Soviet  superiority  in  all  technological 
fields. 

Indications  that  this  second  need  is 
being  met  with  increasing  success  on 
the  other  side  of  the  Iron  Curtain  may 
well  be  viewed  with  alarm  by  the  West- 
ern world.  The  implications  are  both 
economic  and  military. 

Among  other  recent  East-German  suc- 
cesses in  motion  picture  technology  we 
find  simplified  stereophonic  sound  sys- 
tems, experimental  stereoscopic  movies, 
improved  soundhead  optics,  wide-latitude 
color  processes,  specially  perforated  film- 
gate  runners  which  "cushion"  the  film 
and  prevent  deposits  of  wax  and  emul- 
sion, and  cameras  and  projectors  of  new 
design. 

The  well-known  Agfa  Film  Corp.,  now 
resuscitated  and  completely  Sovietized 
(as  is  everything  else  in  East  Germany), 
gushes  forth  an  output  of  raw  stock 
which  is  nothing  short  of  prodigious.  A 
new  projector  by  Ernemann  (the  Model 
10)  is  soon  to  have  its  debut — an  inci- 
dental reflection  of  technical  know-how 
of  the  highest  order — and  an  increase  of 
East-German  steel  production  from  500,- 
000  to  6,000,000  tons  per  annum  in  the 
past  four  years. 

American  Manufacturers'  Concern 

These  developments  should  gravely 
concern  British  and  American  manufac- 
turers of  theatre  equipment  because  the 
Eurasian  equipment  may  be  superior  to 
Western  makes  in  quality  and  perform- 
ance. It  will  certainly  be  lower  in  cost, 
especially  to  exhibitors  in  dollar-short 
countries.  America  has  already  lost  its 
supremacy  in  the  production  field.  Is 
history  to  repeat  itself  in  the  technologi- 
cal field?  The  answer  to  this  question 
will  not  be  long  in  coming. 

The  time  to  make  much-needed  ad- 
vances in  American  and  British  projec- 
tion technology  is  NOW!  Five  years 
from  now,  three,  or  even  one  year  from 
now  may  be  too  late. 

Whether  or  not  "movies  are  better 
than  ever"  is  a  matter  open  to  dispute; 
but  it's  a  safe  bet  that  movies  are  no 
better  than  the  quality  of  the  projection 
that  puts  them  on  the  screen.  The  best 
productions — films  that  the  theatre-going 
public  wants  to  see,  and  to  see  at  their 
best — are  being  sabotaged  daily  in 
thousands  of  theatres  by  antiquated  and 
run-down  projection  and  sound  equip- 
ment. 

Faulty  Projection  Widespread 

Faulty  screen  illumination,  picture 
flicker,  fuzzy  images,  and  sound  suggest- 
ive of  Edison's  talking  machine  reign 
malignantly  in  countless  neighborhood 
theatres,  the  mainstay  of  the  film  indus- 
try. Rotten  projection,  like  rotten  pic- 
tures, means  rotten  business  at  the  box- 
office  ! 

Now,  the  real  rub  is  that  these   per- 


sistent gremlins  cannot  always  be  ban- 
ished by  the  simple  expedient  of  replac- 
ing old  equipment  with  new.  The  new 
may  be  nothing  but  a  rehash  of  the  old, 
a  factory-fresh  materialization  of  pre- 
war— yes,  even  pre-sound — concepts  of 
design.  There  are  excellent  projectors, 
lamps,  and  sound  systems,  to  be  sure; 
and  for  every  theatre  there  is  a  "best" 
make  and  model  of  projection  equip- 
ment. But  could  not,  should  not,  the 
"best"  be  superseded  by  a  "better"?  Is 
the  best  really  good  enough  to  meet  to- 
days exacting  patron  requirements,  to 
meet  standards  of  projection  higher  than 
those  commonly  considered  official,  to 
meet  competition  in  the  entertainment 
field,  to  meet  the  stiff  competition  offered 
by  equipment  of  Eurasian  manufacture? 
This  competition  will  soon  be  in  evi- 
dence on  the  foreign  market.  And  just 
as  foreign  films  are  enjoying  an  increas- 
ingly warm  reception  by  intelligent 
American  audiences,  the  possibility  that 
foreign-made  theatre  equipment  will  in- 
filtrate into  the  Americas  on  its  own 
merits  actually  exists !  Canada  and  South 
America  are  already  fertile  fields  for 
such  an  invasion. 

American  Conservatism  Noted 

The  writer  has  expressed  the  opinion 
several  times  in  the  past  that  many  man- 
ufacturers of  theatre  equipment  have 
shown  themselves  strangely,  even  un- 
reasonably, reluctant  to  institute  substan- 
tial improvements  in  projector  design. 
Such  improvements  have  been  made,  of 
course,  and  in  the  United  States  by  every 
projector    manufacturer. 

On  the  whole,  however,  a  conservatism 
prevails  which  makes  the  real  advances 
appear  minuscule  when  viewed  against 
the  protracted  periods  of  time  required 
for  their  development  and  commercial 
introduction. 


For  example:  how  many  projector 
manufacturers  have  seriously  considered 
replacing  the  orthodox  3-to-l  intermit- 
tent movement  with  a  5-to-l  movement 
in  order  to  take  advantage  of  the  flicker- 
reducing  3-blade  shutter?  Have  exhaust- 
ive tests  been  conducted  with  the  buckle- 
eliminating  curved  picture   gate? 

Then,  too,  the  use  of  bulky  and  heavy 
sound  "heads"  separate  from  the  picture 
mechanism  can  be  criticized  on  very 
logical  grounds.  Motion  pictures  are  no 
longer  run  "straight  silent."  Why,  then, 
are  picture  mechanisms  constructed  as 
"silent"  machines  without  integral  sound- 
reproducing  components?  Such  attach- 
ments add  very  little  to  the  total  bulk 
of  a  projector  mechanism,  as  the  German 
Ernemann  VII-B,  the  Dutch  Philips,  and 
the  American  DeVry  clearly  demonstrate. 
A  very  desirable  simplification  results. 

Screen  Light  Distribution 

As  important  as  any  possible  improve- 
ment of  the  projection  process  is  the  at- 
tainment of  screen  illumination  which  is 
uniform  (from  90  to  95%  side-to-center 
distribution)  and  is  reasonably  free  from 
discolorations.  This  problem  has  been 
recognized  as  mighty  important  by  pro- 
jection engineers  in  Germany,  but  not 
in  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain. 
The  work  and  opinions  of  Zeiss  engineers 
simply  cannot  be  laughed  off  or  brushed 
aside  as  of  no  consequence. 

Three    distinct    methods    of    obtaining 

uniform    screen    illumination    have    now 

been  presented  in  IP.   First,  the  Ventarc 

optical  system   specially   designed   for   a 

(Continued  on  page  34) 


'"The  Ventarc  H.  I.  Carbon  'Blown'  Arc:  a 
New  Concept"  by  Dr.  Edgar  Gretener;  IP  for 
July  1950,  p.  13.  "Uniform  Screen  Light  Distri- 
bution; Elliptical  Reflector  Mirrors"  by  Sam 
Glauber,  Dr.  E.  Gretener,  and  R.  A.  Mitchell; 
IP  for  September  1950,  p.  13. 

3  "Optics  of  the  Projection  Arc-Lamp";  IP 
for   February   1951,   p.   5. 


Projectionist  Examination  Questions 

Based  on  Examinations  by  Leading  U.  S.  Municipalities 


1.  A  rheostat  is  rated  at  1250  watts 
and  has  a  resistance  of  2  ohms.  This 
rheostat  may  carry,  at  rated  conditions, 
how  many  amperes? 

2.  An  imaginary  straight  line  passing 
through  the  exact  center  of  a  lens  or  of 
all  the  elements  of  an  optical  system  is 
called ? 

3.  In  a  35-mm  projector  running  at 
90  ft.  per  minute,  how  many  frames  of 
film  pass  the  aperture  in  one  minute? 

4.  What  per  cent  of  the  stamped  rat- 
ing is  the  actual  rating  of  a  link  fuse? 

5.  A  projector  carbon  having  no  core 
is  called ? 

6.  What  is  "voltage  drop"? 

7.  Give  the  allowable  carrying  capac- 


ity of  at  least  five  different  sizes  of  wire 
with  which  you  are  familiar. 

8.  What  is  the  resistance  of  a  wire 
that  has  a  S^-volt  drop  when  carrying 
45  amperes? 

9.  How  many  amperes  are  flowing  in 
a  wire  with  a  resistance  of  l/25th  ohm 
if  there  is  a  drop  of  2  volts  in  it? 

10.  Describe  the  method  by  which  dry 
and  brittle  film  may  be  cleaned  and 
moistened. 

11.  What  is  the  maximum  current- 
carrying  capacity  for  a  7-mm  Suprex 
positive  carbon?  For  an  8-mm? 

12.  What  may  cause  the  repeated 
pencilling  of  the  negative  carbon? 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


April  1951 


BILL  NYE,  now  forgotten,  but  once  a 
household  word  for  popular  humor, 
told  of  going  into  a  cheap  restaurant  for 
breakfast.  A  cross-eyed  waitress  first 
cleared  away  the  debris  left  by  the  previ- 
ous customer,  and  brushed  the  crumbs 
into  Bill's  lap.  Then  she  turned  on  him 
and  snapped:  "Tea  or  eggs?"  That  is  all 
there  is  to  the  story. 

Nobody  seems  to  think  it  odd  that 
everybody  is  always  saying  tea-or-egg 
things,  like:  "Shall  we  have  the  theater 
or  the  moving  picture?"  "Shall  we  have 
classical  music  or  popular?"  "Shall  we 
have  motion  pictures  or  radio?"  "Shall 
we  have  radio  or  television?" 

When  Bill  Nye  heard  the  cross-eyed 
waitress  exclaim  "tea  or  eggs"  his  in- 
stinct was  to  say,  "Tea  and  eggs,  also  a 
lot  of  other  things."  But  when  we  are 
asked,  "Shall  we  have  motion  pictures 
or  television?"  it  is  not  taken  as  a  bad 
joke  but  as  an  inevitable  and  perilous 
choice.  Television  is  being  hated  and  de- 
nounced, and  the  cold  war  over  it  is 
getting  as  hot  as  the  long  struggle  with 
Russian  communism.  Television  is  being 
viewed  as  the  fatal  enemy  of  everything 
dear  and  artistic,  profitable  and  moral. 

The  'Pernicious'  Bicycle  i 

I  am  old  enough  to  remember  when 
the  craze  for  bicycles  "killed"  the  thea- 
ters, the  church,  the  concert  hall  and 
reading  habits  at  home.  It  also  ruined 
the  morals  of  boys  and  girls,  since  it  en- 
abled them  to  get  far  away  from  home. 
After  the  bicycle  had  served  its  time 
as  the  explanation  for  the  failures  of  such 
books,  plays,  concerts  and  other  mer- 
chandise as  failed  to  do  well,  the  auto- 
mobile came  along.  It  was  blamed  for 
ruining  the  publishing  business,  the  the- 
atrical and  concert  business,  and  the 
morals  of  boys  and  girls,  since  it  enabled 
them  to  get  even  farther  away  from  home 
than  the  bicycle.  The  motorcar  was  con- 
sidered to  be  a  sort  of  bedroom  and  bar- 
room on  wheels,  and  it  could  park  wher- 
ever it  was  dark. 

After  the  automobile  had  established 
itself  as  an  institution  that  could  not  be 
sermonized  or  editorialized  away,  the 
motion  picture  house  came  along  to  take 
the  blame  for  everything  deplorable.  The 
nickelodeon  and  the  vast  palaces  it  de- 
veloped into,  were  plainly  the  reasons 
why  nobody  stayed  at  home  to  read  or 
went  to  the  legitimate  theater,  or  even 
attended  vaudeville  or  burlesque.  The 
motion  picture  was  castigated  for  cutting 
down  church  attendance,  which  has  never 
been  satisfactory  in  any  age.  Further- 
more, dramatic  critics  reviled  the  unpar- 
donable cinema  almost  as  violently  as 
the  parsons  did.  Critics  who  hated  most 
plays  spoke  of  the  theater  as  a  temple 


Tv 
Won't  Ruin 

Everything* 


By  RUPERT  HUGHES 


of  high  art  when  they  contrasted  it  with 
the  motion  picture  houses. 

The  Onslaught  of  Radio 

Next  came  radio!  It  went  down  the 
line  like  a  bowling  ball,  sending  all  nine 
of  the  ninepins  flying  in  a  strike.  People 
stayed  at  home,  but  they  did  not  read 
books  or  magazines  or  newspapers.  They 
listened  to  serials,  soap  operas,  music, 
news,  science,  comedy  and  plays.  They 
absented  themselves  from  church,  wres- 
tling matches,  prizefights,  baseball  and 
football  games,  gambling  clubs,  night 
schools,  saloons,  lectures,  grand  and 
comic  operas,  tragedies,  comedies,  vaude- 
ville, burlesque,  family  reunions,  and 
everything  else.  People  lost  their  eyes 
and  legs  from  disuse  and  became  all  ears. 

But  cheer  up,  the  worst  was  yet  to 
come!  Television!!  That  not  only  killed 
off  everything  that  radio  had  killed  off. 
but  also  killed  off  radio.  People  stayed  at 
home  more  than  ever,  but  not  to  read. 
They  forgot  all  the  arts  and  the  pleasures 
even  of  conversation.  Television  brought 
back  only  one  thing,  the  barroom.  It 
made  beer  and  hard  drinks  popular  once 
more,  since  people  had  to  put  up  some 


excuse  for  leaning  on  the  rail  half  the 
night  staring  goggle-eyed  at  television's 
one  bright  eye. 

So  now  today  the  book  publishing  busi- 
ness is  dead ;  the  theater  business  is  dead 
in  all  its  branches;  the  churches  and  lec- 
ture halls  are  empty;  the  motion  picture 
houses  are  dark  and  silent.  The  football 
fields,  boxing  arenas  and  racing  parks 
are  half  empty.  And  the  radio  sets  are 
gathering  moss. 

Some  Outstanding  Exceptions 

Of  course,  there  are  exceptions,  though 
nobody  mentions  these.  Some  of  the 
churches  are  packed;  some  of  the  legit 
theaters  are  doing  $50,000  a  week;  many 
of  the  motion  picture  houses  are  jammed 
with  eager  multitudes;  some  of  the 
books  are  having  enormous  sales;  some 
of  the  magazines  have  circulations  of 
millions;  some  of  the  newspapers  are 
almost  too  heavy  to  lift. 

But  the  denouncers  of  the  plague  of 
television  forget  that,  long  before  televi- 
sion, radio,  motion  pictures,  automobile 
or  bicycles  were  even  heard  of,  most 
churches  were  sparsely  attended;  most 
theaters  housed  failures;  most  books 
died  in  the  store-rooms;  most  magazines 
and  newspapers  perished  of  pernicious 
anemia;  most  poets,  painters,  play- 
wrights, actors,  sculptors,  evangelists, 
singers  died  of  starvation  or  earned  their 
livings  in  other  fields. 

It  was  not  until  shortly  before  Colum- 
bus discovered  America  that  books  began 
to  be  printed  from  movable  type  and, 
doubtless,  that  innovation  was  also  de- 
nounced for  destroying  the  livelihood  of 
strolling  minstrels,  strolling  players, 
strolling  friars,  copyists  and  illuminators. 

One  other  thing  has  always  been  true. 
While  the  blind  poet,  Homer,  begged  for 
bread  for  his  songs,  other  rhapsodists  be- 
came favorites  of  wealthy  patrons  and 
lived  in  luxury.  Actors  have  always  been 
looked  on  as  more  or  less  beggars  in 
(Continued  on  page  32) 


FAMED  MUSIC   HALL   (N.   Y.)   REFURBISHES   WITH   4-PROJECTOR    INSTALLATION 


-**.     MM  j 

-?■■■        ML    fc|L^ 

T         '-ISf  i 

♦This  engaging  dissertation  appeared  in  the  45th 
anniversary  issue  of  Variety  and  is  reproduced  here  by 
permission   of  that   journal. 


Installation  of  4  Simplex  X-L  projectors  in  Radio  City  Music  Hall  (New  York)  is  discussed  by  Chief 
Projectionist  Charles  Muller  (left)  and  Arthur  Meyer,  sales  chief  for  International  Projector  Corp. 


10 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST    •    April  1951 


You  can't  skimp  on 
studio  lighting! 


THERE'S  NO  SUBSTITUTE  FOR  CARBON   ARCS 

with  National  carbons: 


ALWAYS  BUY 

"NATIONAL"  CARBONS 


TRADE-MARK 

•  Studio  lighting  represents  but  a  tiny  frac- 
tion of  the  cost  of  making  a  movie.  But  it  makes 
a  tremendous  difference  in  the  quality  of  the 
final  picture.  Now  is  no  time  to  jeopardize  pic- 
ture quality.  Now  is  the  time  to  put  on  better 
pictures— pictures  with  diamond-sharp  detail, 
true  color  values,  with  terrific  emotional  appeal 
(obtainable  only  through  proper  lighting)  — 
pictures  that  people  will  pay  to  see.  There 
is  no  substitute  for  CARBON  ARCS  —  with 
"National"  carbons! 

The  term  "National"  is  a  registered  trade-mark  of 

NATIONAL  CARBON  COMPANY 

Division  of  Union  Carbide  and  Carbon  Corporation 
30  East  42nd  Street,  New  York  17,  N.  Y. 

District  Soles  Offices:  Atlanta,  Chicago,  Dallas,  Kansas  City, 

New  York,  Pittsburgh,  San  Francisco 

In  Canada:  National  Carbon  Limited,  Toronto  4 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     April  1951 


It 


i  s 


The  film  advance  mechanism  of 
the  Eastman  16mm.  Projector, 
Model  25,  with  its  own  independ- 
ent motor  drive.  Illustration 
shows,  from  left  to  right:  sprocket; 
geneva  star  and  driver;  two  bal- 
anced off-center  accelerators;  syn- 
chro-gears; and  motor. 


For  Spectacular  Screen  Presentation 


16mm.  FILMS . 


THE  EASTMAN 
16mm.  PROJECTOR, 

Model  25 


Eastman  16mm.  Projector, 

Model  25, 

adapted  for  tungsten 

illumination. 


You  know  how  essential  top-quality 
picture  and  sound  reproduction  are 
for  a  successful  screen  presentation 
of  your  16mm.  films.  No  matter  how 
well  your  film  tells  its  story — poor 
projection  or  mechanical  failure  will 
let  your  audience  get  away  from  you, 
figuratively  and  literally. 

There's  one  way  you  can  be  certain 
of  top-quality  screen  presentation — 
by  projecting  your  films  with  an 
Eastman  1 6mm.  Projector,  Model  2  5. 
Here  are  a  few  of  the  many  reasons 
why. 

First,  the  Eastman  Model  2  5  is  the 
result  of  an  entirely  new  design  con- 
cept.   It   is   an   applied   engineering 


solution  to  the  problems  of  16mm. 
sound  projection,  capable  of  contin- 
uous-duty, dependable  performance. 

Second,  since  it  gives  you  a  choice 
of  high-intensity  arc  or  tungsten  illu- 
mination— plus  Lumenized  Kodak 
Projection  Ektar  Lenses — you  can 
get  the  screen  image  brilliance,  con- 
trast range,  and  full  screen  definition 
you  want  under  your  operating  con- 
ditions. 

Third,  unparalleled  sound  repro- 
duction quality  is  made  possible  by 
advanced  optical  and  electronic  en- 
gineering. It  gives  you  dependable 
continuous-duty  theater-quality 
screen  presentation  when  you  want  it. 


Write  today  for  further  detailed  information  on  specifications, 

prices,  and  delivery.  Address  your  inquiries  to  .  .  .    Motion  Picture  Film  Department  Midwest  Division 

Eastman  Kodak  Company  137  North  Wabash  Avenue 

Rochester  4,  N.  Y.  Chicago  2,  Illinois 


East  Coast  Division 
342  Madison  Avenue 
New  York  17,  N.Y. 


West  Coast  Division 
6706  Santa  Monica  Blvd. 
Hollywood  38,  California 


Comparative   Data  Anent 
Nitrate,  Safety  Film 

The  appended  article  complements  the  data  which  appeared  in  IP  last  month  ("New 
Eastman  Identification  System  for  Safety  Film,"  p.  12)  and  similarly  was  prepared 
and  is  copyright  by  Eastman   Kodak  Co.  Comment  from  the  field   is  invited. 


THE  hazardous  properties  of  nitrate  film  have  been  well  known  and  under- 
stood in  the  motion  picture  industry  for  a  long  time.  Safe  practices  in  the 
handling  and  storing  of  nitrate  film  have  been  worked  out  over  the  years  by  the 
cooperative  efforts  of  various  organizations,  the  National  Bureau  of  Standards, 
the  National  Fire  Protection  Association,  the  National  Board  of  Fire  Under- 
writers, the  Underwriters'  Laboratories,  the  Motion  Picture  Association  of  America, 
and  the  film  manufacturers. 


Today  everyone  working  in  the  mo- 
tion picture  industry — whether  in  stu- 
dios, laboratories,  exchanges,  theaters,  or 
projection  rooms — is  made  acquainted 
with  the  hazard  of  nitrate  film  and  with 
the  proper  precautions  required  to  handle 
it  safely.  As  a  result,  film  fires  are  now 
remarkably  few,  and  the  occasional  ones 
which  do  occur  are  usually  extinguished 
quickly  with  a  minimum  of  loss  from 
personnel  injury  or  property  damage. 

Advantages  of  Safety  Film 

Despite  the  relatively  good  safety 
record  in  the  industry  in  recent  years, 
a  less  hazardous  film  has  been  a  long- 
sought  goal.  Its  universal  use  would 
practically  eliminate  the  chance  of  a 
dangerous  fire,  and  it  would  make  pos- 
sible less  rigid  safety  regulations,  less 
expensive  construction,  and  lower  fire 
insurance  rates. 

The  so-called  "safety  base"  or  acetate 
films  available  prior  to  1947  did  not  have 
satisfactory  physical  properties  for  gen- 
eral theater  use.  However,  now  that  an 
improved  type  of  safety  support  (high 
acetyl  cellulose  acetate)  suitable  for 
theaters  is  available  in  quantity,  the  use 
of  nitrate  motion  picture  film  in  the 
United  States  is  rapidly  declining,  and 
existing  safety  regulations  may  gradually 
be  moderated. 

Concern  is  felt  in  many  quarters  that 
with  the  time  approaching  when  most 
motion  picture  film  will  be  on  safety 
support,  but  with  substantial  quantities 
of  nitrate  film  still  in  use  or  in  storage, 
safety  precautions  may  be  relaxed  too 
soon  or  a  mistake  in  identity  may  be 
made  and  a  disastrous  fire  result. 

Hazards  of  Nitrate  Film 

The  hazardous  properties  of  nitrate 
film  have  been  described  frequently  and 
in  detail  in  the  past  and  are  given  only 
briefly  here.  The  most  dangerous  aspects 
of  nitrate  film  are  its  ease  of  ignition, 
its  very  high  rate  of  combustion,  and  the 
fact    that    the    gases    given    off    are    ex- 


tremely poisonous  and.  under  some  con- 
ditions, explosive. 

Nitrate  film  decomposes  readily  when 
heated  above  room  temperature  even  be- 
low the  ignition  range.  The  decomposi- 
tion is  both  exothermic  and  autocatalytic, 
and  once  it  starts  it  goes  faster  and 
faster.  The  quantity  of  heat  produced 
is  such  that,  if  not  dissipated,  it  may 
rapidly  raise  the  film  temperature  to  the 
ignition  point.  Even  local  heating  at  one 
point  can  raise  the  temperature  of  the 
film  to  a  dangerous  level,  thus  initiating 
decomposition  in  the  entire  mass. 

Cellulose  nitrate  also  contains  enough 
oxygen  within  the  molecule  so  that  de- 
composition    or     combustion     proceeds 

1400 


1200 


rapidly  even  in  a  limited  air  supply,  and 
a  nitrate  film  fire  cannot  be  extinguished 
by  smothering. 

Nitrate  Ignition  Temperature 

Nitrate  film  itself  is  not  explosive  and 
is  less  flammable  than  certain  other  ni- 
trated compounds.  The  ignition  tem- 
perature of  nitrate  film  is  generally  given 
as  about  300  F,  but  the  exact  value  de- 
pends on  the  time  of  exposure,  the  size 
and  purity  of  the  film,  and  other  factors. 

Figure  1  shows  that  in  a  laboratory 
ignition  test,  a  sample  of  fresh  nitrate 
film  base  which  ignited  in  80  seconds 
in  air  at  325  F,  ignited  in  10  seconds 
at  400  F,  and  in  3  seconds  at  500  F. 
Chemicals  left  from  processing,  dirt,  and 
other  foreign  materials  can  lower  the 
ignition  temperature. 

The  Chemical  Warfare  Service  inves- 
tigation following  the  Cleveland  Clinic 
disaster  (a  nitrate  X-ray  film  fire)  in 
1929  showed  that  temperatures  of  100  C 
(212  F)  were  unsafe  for  nitrate  film, 
and  that  exposed  steam  pipes,  unpro- 
tected electric  light  bulbs,  etc.,  were 
dangerous  in  rooms  containing  nitrate 
film.  Nitrate  film  improperly  cared  for 
has  caused  fires  after  several  hours 
storage  at  temperatures  as  low  as  120  F. 
Spontaneous  ignition  is  also  believed  to 
be  responsible  for  a  number  of  nitrate 
film  fires  which  have  occurred  in  stor- 
age vaults  in  summer  following  periods 
of  100  F  weather. 

The  actual  heat  of  combustion  of  ni- 


FIGURE   1 


at 

=5 

< 


Self-ignition    tempera- 
ture in  air  of  Eastman  J£j 
nitrate   and   high   ace-  S 

LU 

ryl      acetate      (safety)  •" 

motion     picture     posi-  Z 

tive     film     support.  — 

American    Standards  z 

Assoc,   test   method.  2 


1000 


800 


600 


ul     400 


200 


-\ 

\  HIGH 
L     ACE 

ACETYI 
TATE 

V 

*  (NO    IG 

NITION  ) 

\     Nl" 

rRATE 

20  40  60 

TIME,  SECONDS 


80 


100 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     April'  1951 


13 


Gases 

Per  cent  by  volume 

Nitric  oxide  (NO) 

1.4-8.2 

Nitrogen  dioxide  and  tetroxide  (N02,  N204) 

6.9-8.9 

Carbon  monoxide  (CO) 

47.7-59.1 

Carbon  dioxide  (COo) 

21.3-24.5 

Oxygen  (02) 

none 

Hydrogen  (H2) 

0.9-3.2 

Methane  (CH4) 

1.0-2  7 

TABLE  It 

Gases  evolved  in 
Homeless  combustion 
of  nitrate  film.  (Vol- 
ume of  combustion 
chamber:  8  to  27 
cubic  ft.  Weight  of 
film:  2  lbs.  per  cubic 
ft.  of  chamber.) 


t  From  "Proceedings  of  a  Board  of  the  Chemical  Warfare  Service  appointed  for  the 
purpose  of  investigating  conditions  incident  to  the  disaster  at  the  Cleveland   Hospital 


Clinic,     Cleveland,    Ohio,    on    May    15,    1929."    U.    S. 
Washington,   1929. 


trate  film  is  low  compared  with  that  of 
some  of  the  common  fuels,  as  indicated: 

Heat  of  Combustion 

B.  T.  U.  per  Lb. 

6000-8000 

8000-9000 

11,620 

10,000-14,000 

20,750 


Government    Printing    Office, 


Nitrate  Film 

Wood 

Alcohol,  denatured 

Coal,  bituminous 

Gasoline 


However,  the  rate  of  combustion  of  ni- 
trate film  is  about  15  times  that  of  wood 
in  the  same  form,  so  that  the  heat  evolved 
per  minute  is  initially  much  greater. 
This  results  in  a  rapid  rise  in  tempera- 
ture and  a  very  intense  fire.  A  nitrate 
film  fire  burns  so  fiercely  and  spreads 
so  quickly,  it  is  virtually  impossible  to 
control  or  extinguish  it  except  by  auto- 
matic water  sprinklers. 

Gases  From  Ignited  Nitrate  Film 

When  a  single  layer  of  nitrate  film 
is  ignited  and  allowed  to  burn  freely  in 
an  excess  of  air,  it  burns  with  a  bright 
yellow  flame;  but  the  gases  given  off 
are  colorless.  These  are  chiefly  nitrogen, 
carbon  dioxide,  and  water  vapor,  none 
of  which  is  poisonous  or  explosive.  If  the 
air  supply  is  restricted,  as  is  always  the 
case  in  practice  where  film  is  in  rolls  in 
any  quantity,  the  film  will  burn  (with  or 
without  flame)  and  give  off  large  quan- 
tities of  thick,  yellow  fumes.  These  are 
extremely  poisonous  and  may  form  explo- 
sive mixtures  with  air. 

The  relative  amounts  of  various  gases 
given  off  by  burning  nitrate  film  in  a 
limited  air  supply  are  shown  in  Table  1 


in  a  number  of  cases  in  the  Cleveland 
nitrate  film  disaster  in  1929. 

The  simultaneous  exposure  to  nitro- 
gen oxides  and  carbon  monoxide  is  par- 
ticularly serious,  since  these  gases  have 
an  additive  toxic  effect,  the  ultimate  re- 
sult of  which  is  to  deprive  the  body  of 
its  supply  of  oxygen.  The  relative  toxic- 
ity of  nitrogen  oxides,  carbon  monoxide, 
and  carbon  dioxide  is  shown  in  Table  II. 

Safety  Film  Characteristics 

So  far,  all  commercial  safety  motion 
picture  film  supports  have  been  made 
from  cellulose  acetate  or  the  mxied  ace- 
tate-propionate  or  acetate-butyrate  cellu- 


Cellulose  acetate  film  starts  to  decom- 
pose with  evolution  of  fumes  at  500  F, 
compared  with  only  200  F  for  nitrate 
film.  The  ignition  temperature  usually 
given  for  acetate  film  is  about  800  F, 
compared  with  300  F,  for  nitrate  film.  Our 
laboratory  tests  (Fig.  1)  show  the  high 
acetyl  acetate  film  base  to  ignite  in  9 
seconds  at  950  F,  and  in  2  seconds  at 
1100  F.  At  930  F  the  film  decomposes 
but  does  not  ignite  in  this  test. 

The  thermal  decomposition  of  acetate 
film  is  neither  exothermic  nor  autoca- 
talytic.  Furthermore,  the  burning  rate  of 
acetate  film  is  only  about  1/20  that  of  ni- 
trate film.  This  means  that  acetate  film 
is  difficult  to  ignite  and,  if  ignited,  is 
easily  extinguished  by  water  or  smother- 
ing. Cellulose  acetate  plastics  containing 
some  of  the  common  types  of  plasticizers 
burn  about  as  fast  as  paper  in  the  same 
form  and  quantity. 

Flame-Retarding   Plasticizer 

However,  acetate  motion  picture  film 
base  made  by  Eastman  Kodak  Co.,  con- 
tains a  flame-retarding  plasticizer  which 
greatly  slows  down  the  burning.  Modern 


TABLE   II* 

Toxicity    of    the   more 

important      gases 

evolved   in   combustion 

of  nitrate  film. 


Symptoms 

Parts  per  Million  Parts  of  Air 

Nitrogen 
Oxides 

Carbon 
Monoxide 

Carbon 
Dioxide 

1.  Slight  symptoms  after  sev- 
eral   hours    or    maximum 
concentration  for  8  hours 
exposure 

30-40 

100-200 

5,000-30,000 

2.  Maximum  concentration 
tolerated  for  60  minutes 
without  serious  disturbance 

50-100 

450-900 

33,000-60,000 

3    Dangerous  to  life  in  30  to 
60  minutes 

100-150 

1500-2000 

33,000-80,000 

4    Kills  most  animals  in  short 
time 

240-700 

4000  or  over 

50,000-300,00" 

*  From    Jacobs,    M.    B.,    "The    Analytical    Chemistry    of   Industrial    Poisons,    Hazards 
and    Solvents,"    Interscience   Publishers,    Inc.,    New   York,    N.   Y.,    1941    and    1949. 


lose  esters.  It  is  sometimes  thought  that 
the  term  "safety  film"  implies  that  these 
films  do  not  burn.  Actually  all  of  these 
safety  films  will  burn  slowly  if  held  in 
a  flame,  but  will  generally  cease  burning 
soon  after  the  flame  is  removed.  They 
are  called  safety  films  because  they  are 
Traces  of  the  lethal  hydrocyanic  acid  gas      so  very  much  less  hazardous  than  nitrate 


safety  films  actually  burn  much  less 
easily  and  less  rapidly  than  paper  or 
wood  in  the  same  form  and  quantity. 

The  gases  given  off  when  acetate  film 
burns  (Table  III)  are  about  the  same 
as  those  given  off  by  burning  wood.  Of 


these,  carbon  monoxide  is  the  greater 
(HCN)  have  also  been  found  but  only  film— the  "ignition  temperature  is  much  hazard,  although  the  other  gases  may 
in  insignificant  amounts.  Complete  com-      higher,  the  burning  rate  so  much  lower,      produce  suffocation  or  even  severe  lung 

and    there    is    no    danger    from    nitrous      irritation   if   inhaled   in   sufficient   quan- 
fumes.  tity.  If  acetate  film  is  burned  in  an  ex- 


bustion  yields  about  4  to  5  cubic  ft.  of 
gas  per  pound  of  nitrate  film  at  normal 
temperature  and  pressure.  The  propor- 
tions of  these  gases  will  vary  somewhat 
with  the  temperature,  pressure,  air  sup- 
ply, and  so  forth. 

The  toxicity  of  carbon  monoxide  is 
well  known;  but  the  physiological  effects 
of  the  nitrogen  oxides  (NO,  N02  N204) 
are  even  more  insidious  because  of  their 
greater  toxicity  and  delayed  action.  Ex- 
posure to  concentrations  of  nitrogen 
oxides  which  appear  to  have  no  serious 
effect  at  the  time,  frequently  cause  death 
several  hours  or  days  later.  This  occurred 


Gases 

Physiological  Effect 

Carbon  monoxide  (CO) 

Toxic 

Carbon  dioxide  (C02) 
Hydrogen  (H2) 
Methane  (CH4) 

1 
| 

I 

Suffocating 

Acetic  acid  (CH3COOH) 

Aldehydes 

Ketones 

1 
\ 

1 

Irritating  and  Suffocating 

Alcohols 

TABLE  lilt 

Gases  evolved  in  com- 
bustion of  cellulose 
acetate    (safety)    film. 


t  From  Nuckolls,   A.   H.,  and   Matson,   A.  F.,    "Some  Hazardous  Properties  of  Mo- 
tion Picture  Film,"  J.   Soc.  Mot.  Pict.   Eng.,   27,  657-661,   December  1936. 
Editor's   note :   Cases   present   i»    trace   amounts  only   are   not  shown   in   this   table. 


14 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


April  1951 


by  "Holiday  on  Ice" 


Ice  shows,  theatres,  arenas,  circuses  and  coliseums  have  been 
quick  to  appreciate  the  sharp,  dazzling  snow-white  spot  pro- 
jected by  the  Strong  Trouper  High  Intensity  Arc  Spotlight. 
Drawing  only  10  amperes  from  any  110-volt  A.C.  convenience 
outlet,  the  Trouper  makes  the  use  of  heavy  rotating  equipment 
unnecessary.  With  an  adjustable,  self-regulating  transformer  an 
integral    part   of   the   base,   the    Trouper    is    ideal    for   travelling 


shows.  Mounted  on  casters  it's  easily  portable  and  readily  dis- 
assembled for  shipping. 

The  high  efficiencies  of  the  Trouper  are  largely  attained  by  the 
optical  system  which  utilizes  a  silvered  glass  reflector  and  a 
two-element  variable  focal  length  lens  system.  The  automatic 
arc  control  maintains  a  constant  arc  gap,  free  from  hiss  or 
flicker.  A  trim  of  carbons  burns  one  hour  and  twenty  minutes  at 
21  volts  and  45  amperes. 


THE  NEW  STRONG  TROUPERETTE  INCANDESCENT  SPOTLIGHT 

...  for  small  theatres,  schools,  night  clubs,  TV  studios  and  industrial  shows,  where  physical  dimensions 
and  price  are  factors  and  where  the  tremendous  light  volume  of  an  arc  lamp  is  not  necessary. 

PROJECTS  FAR  MORE  LIGHT  THAN  ANY  CONVENTIONAL,  INCANDESCENT  SPOTLIGHT 

This  increased  brilliancy  is  made  possible  by  a  variable  focal  length  objective  lens  system,  a  514-inch  sil- 
vered glass  reflector,  and  Fresnel  lens  used  with  a  standard  115-volt,  1 000- watt  prefocused  projection  type  bulb. 
As  contrasted  to  the  conventional  incandescent  spotlight,  with  which  the  spot  size  is  varied  solely  by 
irising,  to  result  in  substantial  light  loss,  the  Trouperette  utilizes  all  the  light  through  most  of  the  spot  sizes. 

6-1/2  TIMES  BRIGHTER  HEAD  SPOTS 

Sharp  edges  from  head  spot  to  flood.    Horizontal  masking  control  can  be  angled  at  45  degrees  in  each  direc- 
tion.   Fast  operating  color  boomerang  accommodates  six  slides.    Height-adjustable  mounting  stand. 
Can   be  plugged   into  any   110-volt  convenience  outlet. 

SEE  ANY  OF  THE  FOLLOWING  DEALERS  OR  USE  COUPON  FOR  OBTAINING  LITERATURE 


ALBANY,  N.  Y.—  Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Albany 
Theatre  Supply 

ATLANTA— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

ATLANTIC  CITY— Boardwalk  Film  Enterprises 

AUBURN,  N.  Y. — Auburn  Theatre  Equipment 

BALTIMORE— J.  F.  Dusman  Co.;  Nat'l  Theatre  Sup- 
ply Co. 

BOSTON— J.  Cifre,  Inc.;  Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

BUFFALO — Dion  Products;  Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

CHARLOTTE— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Standard 
Theatre  Supply  Co. 

CHICAGO — Abbott  Theatre  Equipment  Co.;  Gardner 
Jansen,  Inc.;  Hollywood  Stage  Lighting  Co.;  Mid- 
west Stage  Lighting  Co.;  Nafl  Theatre  Supply 
Co.;  Droll  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

CINCINNATI— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

CLEVELAND— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

DALLAS — Hardin  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Modern  Thea- 
tre Equipment  Co.;  Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

DENVER— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Graham  Bros. 

DES  MOINES— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

DETROIT— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

FORTY  FORT,  PA.— V.  M.  Tate  Theatre  Supplies 

GREENSBORO,  N.   C— Standard  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

HOUSTON — Southwestern  Theatre   Equipment  Co. 

INDIANAPOLIS— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

KANSAS  CITY,  MO.— Shreve  Theatre  Supply;  Nafl 
Theatre  Supply  Co. 

LOS  ANGELES— J.  M.  Boyd;  C.  1.  Holzmueller;  Nafl 
Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Pembrex  Theatre  Supply  Corp. 

LOUISVILLE— Falls  City  Theatre  Supply  Co. 


MEMPHIS— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

MILWAUKEE— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  R.  Smith  Co. 

MINNEAPOLIS— Minneapolis  Theatre  Supply;  Nafl 
Theatre  Supply  Co. 

NEW  HAVEN— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

NEW  ORLEANS— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

NEW  YORK  CITY— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

NORFOLK— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

OKLAHOMA  CITY— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Okla- 
homa Theatre  Supply  Co. 

PHILADELPHIA— Blumberg  Brothers;  Nafl  Theatre 
Supply   Co. 

PITTSBURGH— Atlas  Theatre  Supply;  Nafl  Theatre 
Supply  Co. 

SALT  LAKE  CITY— Inter-Mountain  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

SAN  FRANCISCO— C.  J.  Holzmueller;  Nafl  Theatre 
Supply  Co.;  W.  G.  Preddey  Theatre  Supplies 


SEATTLE— B.  F.  Shearer  Co.;  Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

SIOUX  FALLS — American  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

ST.  LOUIS— City  Electric  Co.;  Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

TOLEDO— Theatre  Equipment  Co. 

WESTERLY,  R.  I.— G.  H.  Payne  Motion  Picture  Service 

CANADA— 

Dominion   Sound   Equip.,   Ltd.,  Montreal,  Que. 

General  Theatre  Supply  Co.,  Toronto,  Ont. 

General  Theatre  Supply  Co.,    St.    John,    N.    B. 

General  Theatre  Supply  Co.,    Vancouver,    B.    C. 

General  Theatre  Supply  Co.,   Montreal,   Que. 

General  Theatre  Supply  Co.,    Winnipeg,    Man. 

Perkins   Electric   Co.,   Ltd.,   Montreal,   Que. 

Perkins    Electric    Co.,    Ltd.,   Toronto,    Ont. 

Sharp's   Theatre   Supplies,   Ltd.,  Calgary,  Alta. 


THE 

STRO  NG 

ELECTRIC   CORP. 

"The  World's  Largest  Manu- 
facturer of  Projection 
Arc  Lamps 

Please   send    free    literature   on    the   □   Strong   Trouperette    Incandescent  1 
Spotlight;  □  Strong  Trouper  Arc   Spotlight. 

NAMF 

COMPANY                                                                                                                                             | 

1    14  City  Park  Avenue    1 . 
H         Toledo  2,  Ohio 

STRFFT                                                                                                                                                    | 

CITY  A   STATF                                                                                                                          ■ 

INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     April  1951 


15 


Underwriters' 

Laboratories 

Limits  for 

Approved 

Slow-Burning 

Film 

Eastman 

Nitrate 

Film. 

Type  1302 

Eastman 
High  Acetyl 

Acetate 

Film, 

Type  5302 

Newsprint 
Paper 

White 
Ledger 
Paper 

Thickness, 
inches 

0.006 

0.006 

0.002 

0.005 

Burning 
time,  sec. 

65  sec. 
(minimum) 

5 

105 

11 

21 

Flame 
height, 
inches 

50 

10 

20 

17 

No  of  times 
re-ignited 

0 

2 

0 

0 

TABLE   V 

Burning  tests  on  mo- 
tion picture  film  made 
by  the  Underwriters' 
Laboratories      method 


cess  of  air,  the  carbon  monoxide  would 
be  converted  to  carbon  dioxide;  but  in 
a  restricted  air  supply,  some  carbon 
monoxide  would  be  present. 

In  short,  the  hazard  presented  by  burn- 
ing acetate  film  is  about  the  same  as  that 
of  burning  wood,  where  the  smoke  is  ir- 
ritating but  not  dangerous  unless  con- 
fined in  an  unventilated  space.  It  is  not 
in  any  way  comparable  to  the  hazard  of 
burning  nitrate   film. 

Tests  for  Safety  Film 

Since  all  films  other  than  nitrate  might 
not  be  sufficiently  free  of  hazard,  the 
American  Standards  Association  has 
drawn  up  laboratory  test  methods  and 
specifications  for  safety  photographic  film 
designated  ASA  Z38.3.1-1943.  According 
to  the  ASA  definition,  photographic  films 
are  classified  as  safety  films  if  they  are 
(1)  difficult  to  ignite  (2)  slow  burning, 
and    (3)    low  in  nitrogen  content. 

Results  of  tests  made  on  nitrate  and 
safety  Eastman  Motion  Picture  Positive 
Films  by  the  ASA  procedures  are  given 
in  Table  IV  and  show  the  wide  differences 
between  the  two  types  of  film. 

The  Underwriters'  Laboratories  de- 
scribe approved  slow-burning  photo- 
graphic films  as  follows:  "Hazards  in 
use  and  storage  are  small,  being  some- 
what less  than  those  presented  by  com- 
mon newsprint  paper  in  the  same  form 
and  quantity."* 

The  Underwriters'  Laboratories  test 
procedures  for  classifying  films  as  slow- 
burning    differ    in    some    respects    from 


*  "List  of  Inspected  Gas,  Oil,  and  Miscella- 
neous Appliances,"  Underwriters'  Laboratories, 
Inc.,   Chicago,  111.,  November   1947. 


ASA  Limits 

for  Safety 

Film 

Eastman 

Nitrate  Film, 

Type  1302 

Eastman  High 

Acetyl  Acetate 

Film,  Type  5302 

1.  Ignition  time  at 
300  C,  minutes 

over  10 

0.04 

Infinity 
(Does  not  ignite) 

2    Burning  time, 
seconds 

45 
(minimum) 

9 

Infinity 
(Self-extinguishing ) 

3    Nitrogen  content, 
per  cent 

0.36 
(maximum) 

10.8* 

0.02-0.05 

those  of  the  ASA.  For  example,  the 
Underwriters  burning  test  is  made  on  a 
strip  of  film  held  vertically  instead  of 
horizontally  as  in  the  ASA  procedure, 
which  is  a  more  severe  test.  The  Under- 
writers' Laboratories  also  measure  the 
ignition  temperature  rather  than  the  ig- 
nition time. 

Comparison  of  Burning  Tests 

In  Table  V  are  the  results  of  burning 
tests  made  by  the  Underwriters'  Labora- 
tories method  on  both  nitrate  and  ace- 
tate Eastman  Motion  Picture  Positive 
Film  and  on  two  types  of  paper.  It  may 
be  seen  that  acetate  film  burns  very 
slowly  compared  with  nitrate  and  must 
be  re-ignited  several  times.  Acetate  film 
is  also  much  slower  burning  than  either 
newsprint  paper  or  ledger  paper  (which 
is  closer  to  the  film  in  thickness) .  Note 
that  paper  does  not  meet  the  rigid  re- 
quirements of  the  Underwriters'  Labora- 
tories for  approved  slow-burning  photo- 
graphic film. 

Soviet  to  Widen  Film  Standard? 

Rumors  in  international  technological 
circles  have  it  that  the  Soviet  govern- 
ment is  considering  changing  the  width 
of  standard  motion  picture  film  from  35 
to  40  mm  and  of  constructing  projectors 
in  such  a  way  that  the  different  sizes 
of  sprockets  would  not  be  inter- 
changeable. 

The  reason  given  for  the  change,  re- 
ports state,  was  the  need  of  extra  film 
width  for  stereophonic  sound  tracks,  but 
the  cynics  think  that  the  real  reason  is 
to  make  unusable  naughty  capitalist 
films  without  costly  adjustment  from  20 
to  24  frames  per  second. 


TABLE  IV 

Tests  for  safety  mo- 
tion picture  film  made 
by  American  Stand- 
ards   Assoc,    methods. 


New  Plastic  Correcting  Lens 

The  largest  lens  for  a  Schmidt  optical 
system  ever  manufactured  commercially, 
an  essential  part  of  theater  television 
systems,  is  now  being  made  by  Polaroid 
Corp.  at  Cambridge,  Mass.  Designed  to 
make  a  giant  Tv  picture,  15  x  20  feet, 
look  as  sharp  as  it  would  appear  on  a 
living  room  Tv  set,  the  22V2-inch  lens 
is  cast  from  liquid  plastic.  The  RCA 
theater  Tv  system  using  the  new  cor- 
recting lens  is  already  installed  in  a 
dozen  widely-separated  theaters  across 
the  nation. 

This  new  lens,  based  on  a  design  by 
the  late  Dr.  Bernhard  Schmidt,  is  twice 
the  size  of  any  previously  produced  for 
a  mass  market,  and  its  cost  is  described 
as  "only  a  small  fraction"  of  the  cost 
of  a  similar  glass  lens. 

Used  in  an  observatory  camera,  such 
a  lens  bends  the  light  of  the  stars  so 
that  a  mirror  can  bring  them  to  perfect 
focus  on  the  photographic  plate.  The 
RCA  theater   Tv  system  uses  the  same 


Polaroid's   new  22!4-inch   lens  for  sharpening 
up  theater  Tv  images. 

principle  in  reverse  to  project  a  Tv 
image  from  a  spherical  mirror  without 
distortion  or  imperfect  focus  around  the 
edges. 

The  special  process  used  requires  no 
grinding  or  polishing  of  the  lens  sur- 
faces. The  process  produces  the  required 
shallow  curve,  almost  imperceptible  at 
a  casual  .glance,  but  accurate  to  l/20th 
the  thickness  of  a  sheet  of  tissue  paper. 
It  is  emphasized  that  the  lens  is  a  plastic, 
not  Polaroid  glass. 


The   nitrogen- content  of   the    un-plasticized    cellulose  nitrate   is   approximately    12%. 


Peerless  Lamp  Data  Sheets  Available 

A  series  of  highly  informative  tech- 
nical bulletins  on  Peerless  carbon  arc 
lamps  is  available  through  J.  E.  McAuley 
Mfg.  Co.,  554  West  Adams  St.,  Chicago, 
111.  Far  from  the  conventional  type  of 
descriptive  literature,  these  booklets  are 
in  effect  detailed  instruction  data  cover- 
ing the  installation,  operation  and  main- 
tenance of  the  various  units. 


16 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


April  1951 


Interference    Mirrors    for    Projection 


NUMEROUS  requests  from  projection- 
ists for  data  anent  interference  mir- 
rors for  arc  projectors,  which  IP  printed 
in  an  issue  of  last  Fall  which  is  no  longer 
available,*  prompt  the  publication  of 
the  appended  summary  of  this  important 
development. 

In  projecting  films  by  arc  light  a  great 
deal  of  energy  is  concentrated  on  the 
small  film  area.  The  useful  light  is  at- 
tended by  heat  and  near-violet  rays.  By 
placing  a  heat-absorbing  filter  between 
the  light  source  and  the  film,  or  by  the 
use  of  interference  filters,  it  is  possible 
to  restrict  the  transmission  of  the  un- 
wanted radiations  over  a  limited  band. 

A  much  more  complete  separation  be- 
tween light  and  heat  can,  however,  be 
obtained  if  the  interference  filter  is  ar- 
ranged to  reflect  only  the  light  and  to 
transmit  the  infrared  and  ultraviolet  ra- 
diations. By  such  an  arrangement  only 
the  light  is  reflected  in  the  direction  of 
the  film;  the  other  bands  of  radiation 
penetrate  through  the  mirror  and  so 
escape  at  a  lower  concentration  by  the 
rear. 

Coatings  on  Back  of  Glass 

In  order  to  provide  protection  against 
arc  sputtering,  etc.,  the  coatings  are  ap- 
plied to  the  back  of  the  glass.  From  4  to 
11  superimposed  coatings  of  transparent 
and  semi-transparent  materials  are  used, 
selected  so  as  to  have  alternately  low  and 
high  refractive  indices. 

Curves  of  comparative  effects  between 
ordinary  metallic  and  multi-layer  mir- 
rors indicate  an  astonishingly  efficient 
and  clear-cut  performance  for  the  latter 
over  the  range  of  the  visible  spectrum, 
with  a  rapid  fall-off  between  750  and 
850  millicrons  where  the  coatings  cease 
to  reflect.  It  is  this  ability  to  provide  a 
clean  cutoff  of  unwanted  rays  which  is 
an  outstanding  feature  of  this  improve- 
ment over  the  usual  heat  and  ultraviolet 
filters. 

Glass  Breakage;  Color  Quality 

Another  advantage  of  such  mirrors  is 
that  they  eliminate  the  problem  of  break- 
age of  heat-glass.  Since  the  interference 


November,  1950,  p.  12. 


i/Hf^ 

^SILVER  MIRROR 

1  *  ! 

1      D     i 

1    <r    j  L 

!    o    !  |^ 
Ltf  J 

^-INTERFERENCE  N  RROR 

y  i  1 

projected  changes  has  not  been  revealed. 
The  forthcoming  convention  will  be 
marked  by  the  usual  social  functions,  in- 
cluding the  semi-annual  banquet  and  a 
series  of  activities  planned  for  the  ladies. 


Simplified    diagram    showing    positions    of    the 
arc,  the  mirror  and  the  gate. 


0  400    700     1000  2000  3000 

WAVELENGTH  (MILLIMICRONS) 

The  spectral  reflectance  of  a  multi-layer  inter- 
ference  film   compared   with   that  of  the  con- 
ventional  silver  film. 

films  absorb  little  radiation,  and  since 
they  are  distributed  over  the  large  area 
of  the  mirror  blank,  they  do  not  get 
nearly  so  hot  as  a  heat-absorbing  glass. 
Actually,  the  absorption  of  infrared  by 
the  glass  mirror  blank  itself  is  largely 
responsible  for  the  temperature  rise  ob- 
served. 

Probably  the  most  important  advan- 
tage these  mirrors  have  over  a  silvered 
mirror  used  with  a  heat-absorbing  glass 
is  the  control  that  can  be  attained  over 
the  color  quality  of  the  light.  By  proper 
adjustment  of  the  thickness  of  the  inter- 
ference layers,  the  color  of  the  reflected 
light  can  be  varied  over  a  wide  range. 
This  factor  is  of  major  importance  for 
the  projection  of  color  film. 


SMPTE's    69th    Convention    in 
N.  Y.  Week  of  April  30-May  4 

More  than  60  technical  reports  and 
discussions  are  scheduled  for  the  69th 
semi-annual  convention  of  the  Society 
of  Motion  Picture  and  Television  En- 
gineers which  will  be  held  in  New  York 
City  at  the  Hotel  Statler  for  five  days 
from  April  30  through  May  4. 

Of  particular  interest  to  the  exhibi- 
tion field,  and  especially  to  projectionists, 
will  be  the  symposia  to  be  held  at  both 
the  morning  and  afternoon  sessions  on 
Wednesday,  May  2.  Outstanding  among 
these  sessions  will  be  an  unlimited  dis- 
cussion on  theater  screen  viewing  fac- 
tors, the  basis  for  which  will  be  a  report 
by  the  Screen  Brightness  Committee 
which  has  recently  concluded  an  exten- 
sive survey  of  varying  types  of  theaters 
in  all  sections  of  the  country. 

Reconstituted  Projection  Committee? 

Other  topics  on  the  projection  sym- 
posia agenda  include  new  techniques  and 
equipment,  with  particular  stress  upon 
their  most  advantageous  ultilization  in 
the  theater. 

It  is  expected  that  an  announcement 
of  the  reconstruction  and  revitalization  of 
the  Projection  Practice  Committee  of  the 
Society,  long  inactive,  will  be  forth- 
coming   shortly.    The    nature    of    these 


SMPTE  Sound  Group  Reports 

The  Sound  Committee  of  the  SMPTE 
has  investigated  the  possible  advantages 
of  the  blue-sensitive  and  lead-sulfide 
types  of  phototubes  for  35-mm  theater 
and  16-mm  projector  use  over  the 
presently  used  red-sensitive  phototubes. 
This  is  a  continuing  activity  being  car- 
ried on  with  manufacturers  of  color  films. 

At  the  present  time,  only  the  red-sen- 
sitive phototube  is  recommended  as  giv- 
ing the  best  all-around  performance  with 
present  day  black-and-white  and  color 
sound  tracks.  Additional  data  now 
scheduled  for  collection  may  provide  the 
basis  for  modifying  this  statement. 

Theater  Screen  Deficiencies 

It  was  brought  to  the  attention  of  the 
committee  that  some  recent  screen  in- 
stallations in  theaters  resulted  in  exces- 
sive loss  of  volume  and  high-frequency 
response  from  the  screen  horns.  The 
committee  investigated,  measured  the 
loss  of  screen  samples,  and  on  finding  it 
excessive,  aided  the  manufacturer  in 
modifying  his  fabric  to  reduce  the  sound 
loss  to  accepted  values. 

As  the  War  Standard  Z52.44-1945 
"Sound  Transmission  of  Perforated 
Screens"  had  never  been  reviewed  and 
processed  as  an  American  Standard,  the 
committee  circulated  it  to  all  known 
screen  manufacturers  for  approval.  Their 
recent  loss  data  all  met  the  War  Stand- 
ard, and,  accordingly,  the  Sound  Com- 
mittee approved  the  War  Standard  with 
minor  revisions,  and  the  new  proposal 
was  published  in  the  SMPTE  Journal 
for  the  usual  90-day  trial  period  lead- 
ing to  its  eventual  adoption  as  an  Am- 
erican Standard. 


Texas  Leads  in  New  Theater  Building 

New  theaters  opened  in  the  U.  S.  last  year 
totaled  398,  while  1,138  drive-ins  were  added 
to  the  active  list  during  the  12  months,  ac- 
cording to  a  continuing  survey  of  the  field 
by  The  Film  Daily. 

Greatest  activity  along  the  new  theater 
line  was  in  Texas,  where  40  new  regular 
theaters  and  107  drive-ins  were  opened  dur- 
ing 1950,  for  a  total  of  147  new  situations 
for  the  state.  California  was  second  with  103 
new  houses,  including  37  indoor  theaters. 


Complete  Strong  Line  in  New  Bulletin 

A  new  folder  which  illustrates  and 
describes  their  full  line  of  projection  arc 
lamps,  rectifiers,  spotlights  and  reflectors 
has  just  been  issued  by  Strong  Electric 
Corp.,  31  City  Park  Ave.,  Toledo  2,  Ohio. 
Free  copies  are  available  for  the  asking. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


April  1951 


17 


Theater   Television 


via  the  RCA  PT-100  Equipment 


By  TECHNICAL  PRODUCTS  DIVISION,  RCA  SERVICE  CO.,  INC. 
V.    Projectionist  Operating  Procedure 


THE  first  step  in  placing  the  RCA 
PT-100  theater  Tv  equipment  in  op- 
eration is  to  apply  the  A-C  power. 
After  the  main  A-C  switch  on  the  wall 
has  been  closed,  the  Power  On  button  on 
the  lower  left  corner  of  the  projector  con- 
trol panel  is  pushed,  which  lights  the 
green  pilot  light.  After  a  delay  of  ap- 
proximately 30  seconds,  the  white  inter- 
lock light  should  light,  provided  all  ac- 
cess doors  to  the  equipment  are  closed. 

Be  sure  that  the  individual  power 
switch  on  the  video  monitor  is  On,  and 
also  that  the  power  switch  on  the  Tv  re- 
ceiver is  On,  if  the  off-the-air  signal  is 
to  be  utilized. 

Before  turning  on  the  high  voltage,  it 
is  well  to  check  the  incoming  signal  to 
be  sure  that  it  is  both  adequate  and 
free  from  undue  noise.  To  do  this,  press 
the  Video  Monitor,  Video  Scope,  and 
Audio  Monitor  buttons,  on  the  signal 
selector  panel,  for  either  Line  1,  or  Line 
2,  whichever  is  to  be  used  as  the  source 
of  the  program.  If  off-the-air  pickup  is 
to  be  used,  all  buttons  used  should  be 
those  for  Line  1. 

Steps  in  Tuning 

The  Tv  receiver  must  be  tuned  to  the 
station  from  which  the  program  desired 
is  to  be  received.  Turn  the  channel  se- 
lector switch  to  the  desired  channel  num- 
ber and  vary  the  fine  control  knob  until 
the  two  green  areas  in  the  tuning  tube 
are  equal  in  size  and  of  maximum  length. 

If  a  plug-in  antenna  system  is  used, 
it  will  be  necessary  also  to  plug-in  the 
antenna,  corresponding  to  the  channel 
in  use,  prior  to  tuning. 

If  coaxial  cable  or  telephone  line  is 
to  be  used,  all  buttons  pushed  should  be 
those  for  Line  2.  Then  set  the  oscilloscope 
control  knob,  located  in  the  projector 
control  panel,  to  its  Cal  position  and 
note  the  height  of  the  space  between  the 
two  horizontal  lines  which  appear  on 
the  oscilloscope  screen.  Return  this 
knob  to  its  Operate  position.  The  signal 
pattern  should  have  approximately  the 
same  height  as  the  space  between  the 
two  horizontal  lines  previously  seen.  This 
indicates  that  adequate  signal  strength 
is  available. 

Then  set  the  Black  Level  and  Con- 


trast knobs  on  the  video  monitor  panel 
to  produce  the  best  picture.  If  the  pic- 
ture is  unsteady  horizontally,  readjust 
the  Hor.  Hold  control  as  required  to 
hold  the  picture  steady.  Observe  the 
picture  on  the  monitor  tube  to  make  sure 
it  is  of  good  quality  and  reasonably  free 
from  noise  interference.  Listen  to  the 
sound  at  the  Audio  Monitor  Jack  to  be 
sure  it  is  normal. 

Projector  Control  Knobs 

If  both  picture  and  sound  are  normal, 
press  the  Video  Proj.  and  the  Audio 
Proj.  buttons  on  the  signal  selector 
panel,  for  either  Line  1  or  Line  2,  to 
correspond  to  those  already  depressed. 
Set  the  control  knobs  on  the  projector 
control   panel   as   follows: 

Meter  to  80  KV; 

Video   and  Audio  to  zero; 

Black  Level  to  point  at  which  it  nor- 
mally operates,  as  determined  by  pre- 
vious experience  by  the  RCA  installation 
supervisor. 

Push  the  Video  Monitor,  Proj.  and 
Video  Scope,  Proj.  buttons. 

Rotate  the  Video  control  knob  on  the 
projector  panel  clockwise  until  the  pic- 
ture appears  on  the  monitor  tube  screen. 
Adjust  this  control  to  produce  a  nor- 
mally bright  picture. 

If  necessary,  readjust  the  Hor.  Hold 
knob  on  the  projector  control  panel  to 
keep  the  picture  steady  in  the  horizontal 
direction.  Do  not  turn  this  control  any 
farther  than  necessary  in  the  clockwise 
direction.  When  the  picture  is  satisfac- 
tory, return  the  Video  knob  to  its  zero 
position  and  press  the  Video  Monitor, 
Line  and  Video  Scope,  Line  buttons 
which  were  pressed  at  first,  to  return  the 
monitor  and  scope  inputs  to  the  incom- 
ing line. 

Applying  the  High  Voltage 

Now  the  equipment  is  ready  for  the 
application  of  the  high  voltage.  Push 
the  Hi  Volt  On  button.  The  red  pilot 
light  should  light.  Observe  the  meter 
on  the  projector  control  panel:  it  should 
come  up  to  a  steady  indication  of  ap- 
proximately 80  Kv  in  three  stages  over 
a  period  of  about  30  seconds. 

Then  turn  the  Meter  switch  to  Beam 


Current  and  leave  it  in  this  position 
except  when  it  becomes  necessary  to 
measure  the  high-voltage  supply  again. 
Note  that  the  high  voltage  will  not  come 
in,  nor  will  the  red  pilot  light,  if  the 
white  interlock  lamp  is  not  lighted 
before  the  Hi  Volt  On  switch  is  pressed. 
Operation  of  the  Kinescope  protection 
circuit  at  any  time,  whether  the  high 
voltage  is  on  or  not,  will  cause  the  white 
lamp  to  go  out  and  the  high-voltage 
supply  to  be  cut  off,  as  shown  on  the 
high-voltage  meter  and  by  the  extinguish- 
ing of  the  red  pilot  lamp. 

Open  Interlock  Switches 

If  this  occurs,  the  cause  of  the  difficulty 
must  be  located  and  corrected  before 
the  equipment  high  voltage  can  be  again 
turned  on.  Usually  this  cause  will  be 
found  to  be  an  open  interlock  switch 
on  one  of  the  power  rack  supplies,  on 
the  rack  horizontal  deflection  amplifier, 
on  the  door  of  the  power  supply  room, 
or  on  the  cover  of  the  projector  barrel. 
Otherwise  it  may  be  a  defective  tube  in 
one  of  the  deflection  amplifiers,  in  one 
of  the  400-volt  power  supplies,  in  the 
300-volt  regulator,  or  in  the  projector 
barrel.  The  same  trouble  could  also  re- 
sult if  one  of  the  plugs  in  the  projector 
barrel  should  become  loose. 

To  make  the  changeover,  after  the  film 
is  finished,  switch  the  sound  system 
special  input  switch  over  to  the  Tv  pro- 
jector line.  At  the  Tv  cue,  turn  the  Video 
and  Audio  control  knobs  on  the  pro- 
jector control  panel  clockwise  until  the 
sound  level,  as  indicated  on  the  sound 
system  monitor,  is  normal  and  the  pic- 
ture brightness  equals  that  normally  ex- 
pected as  determined  by  previous  ex- 
perience. 

Black  Level  Control 

Slight  redajustment  of  the  Black 
Level  control  on  the  projector  control 
panel  may  be  necessary  and  should  be 
made  as  required  to  maintain  normal 
blackness  of  the  black  portions  of  the 
picture,  and  to  prevent  retrace  lines 
from ,  appearing  on  the  screen. 

The  Video  Monitor  and  Scope  Proj. 
buttons  may  be  pressed  to  show  the  pic- 
ture quality  and  the  signal  amplitude  at 
the  projector  barrel,  instead  of  on  the 
incoming  line,  if  desired,  or  if  the  pic- 
ture quality  on  the  theater  screen  does 
not  seem  to  be  equal  to  that  on  the  moni- 


18 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST    •     April  1951 


tor.  This  checks  the  operation  of  the 
amplifiers  and  connections  up  to  the  pro- 
jector   barrel. 

Beam  Current  Meter 

The  projectionist  must  exercise  care 
not  to  turn  the  Video  control  too  high, 
as  this  causes  loss  of  picture  quality  and 
definition  on  the  theater  screen.  The 
average  indication  of  the  Beam  Current 
meter  should  be  approximately  one  mil- 
liampere;  but  this  will  change  with  pic- 
ture content  changes.  If  a  picture  is  com- 
posed of  mainly  white  areas,  the  beam 


current  may  be  considerably  higher  than 
the  average  value ;  if  the  picture  is  mainly 
dark  areas,  the  beam  current  will  gener- 
ally be  less  than  the  average  value.  It 
will  normally  fluctuate  during  the  per- 
formance. 

Post-Tv  Show  Procedure 

After  the  Tv  program  is  over,  rotate 
the  Video  and  Audio  controls  to  zero — 
this  takes  the  picture  off  the  screen  and 
shuts  off  the  sound.  At  the  same  time 
the  monitor  and  scope  will  also  lose  pic- 
ture and  signal  voltage  if  they  are  being 
fed  from  the  Proj.  buttons.  Switch  the 


HOR.     BLACK 
CONTRAST  HOLD      LEVEL 


OFF"®  ON 


Type  PT-100  Racks 
VIDEO  MONITOR 


.^MOR.  DRIVE   ADJ. 
%      *  HOR.  SIZE  ADJ. 
J  HOR.  LINEARITY  ADJ. 

e  ^o 


TV  RECEIVER 
TUNING  INDICATOR  - 


CHANNEL    SELECTOR 


TUNING 


(gr™ 


SELECTOR/^ 
FINE/iTV^  TUNING  ^J     3AMP  ON 


3AG  OFF 


VERTICAL 

DEFLECTION 

AMPLIFIER 

ft     ff    (=\ 


400V-400MA 
POWER  SUPPLY 


400-800MA 
POWER  SUPPLY 


T-1654-lt 


METER 


80  KILOVOLTS  BEAM  CURRENT 

PROJECTOR    *— '  OSCILLOSCOPE 

CONTROL     I       CALIBRATE  OPERATE 


METER 


I 


0       0 


BLACK     HOR. 
LEVEL     HOLD 


GREEN     INTERLOCK 


RED 


SIGNAL  SELECTOR 


-  VIDEO- 
LINE 


£l 


—  AUDIO- 
LINE  UNE  LINE  LME  LINE 
1  2  1  2  PROJ.  1  2PR0J.  12  12 
OO      OOO      OOO      OO      OO 

PROJ.  MONITOR       SCOPE       PROJ.  MONITOR 
@  AUOIO  MON.  JACK 


HORIZONTAL 
DEFLECTION 

AMPLIFIER 

W  R  H 


300  V.   REGULATOR 

VOLTAGE 
OUTPUT 


_B_ 


Figure   I   -  Operating  Controls  on  Theatre  Television  Projector 


sound  system  special  input  switch  back 
to  the  film  projector  position,  and  the 
sound  system  will  then  be  ready  to  run 
film.  Turn  off  the  high  voltage  by  press- 
ing the  Hi.  Volt  Off  button.  Then  turn 
off  the  main  power  by  pressing  the  Power 
Off  button,  and  turning  off  the  main 
AC  switch  on  the  projection  room  wall. 
If  the  incoming  signal  is  not  taken 
from  the  Tv  receiver,  this  unit  may  be 
turned  off  with  its  individual  power 
switch,  located  near  the  right  end  of  the 
Tv  receiver  panel.  Then  the  receiver 
tubes  will  not  be  used  when  not  necessary. 
It  is  recommended,  however,  that  the 
video  monitor  panel  switch  be  left  on 
at  all  times  when  the  projector  is  in 
use,  with  the  video  monitor  switched  to 
Line  position.  Thus  the  quality  of  the 
projected  picture  may  be  continuously 
compared  with  the  quality  of  the  moni- 
tor picture.  This  enables  the  projectionist 
to  determine  whether  observed  picture 
defects  are  due  to  projector  faults  or  in- 
coming signal   defects. 

Tube-Testing  Switch 

The  300-volt  regulator  panel  is  pro- 
vided with  a  tube-testing  switch.  Rotation 
of  this  switch  to  any  of  its  first  eight 
positions  enables  the  projectionist  to 
check  each  of  both  plate  currents  of  the 
four  regulator  tubes.  The  last  two  posi- 
tions, 9  and  10,  indicate  the  total  output 
current  of  the  regulator  and  its  output 
voltage,  respectively.  However,  the  total 
current  is  actually  10  times  the  meter 
indication,  therefore,  it  is  necessary  to 
multiply  the  meter  indication  by  10  to 
obtain  the  actual  current  value.  Also, 
the  meter  indicates  only  half  the  true 
voltage,  therefore  it  is  necessary  to  mul- 
tiply the  indicated  voltage  by  2  in  order 
to  obtain  the  actual  output  voltage. 

These  procedures  are  necesary  because 
the  meter  scale  could  not  be  made  high 
enough  to  indicate  the  total  current  with- 
out having  the  individual  tube  currents 
very  low  on  the  scale.  The  voltage  indi- 
cation would  also  be  off-scale  if  the  meter 
scale  indicated  the  voltage  directly. 

[NOTE:   The   sixth    and    concluding   article 

in  this  series  will  appear  in  the  next  issue.] 

Plan  Review  of  NPA  Order  M-4 

The  possibility  of  amending  JNPA  Or- 
der M-4,  which  placed  serious  restrictions 
on  any  expansion  program,  in  both  build- 
ing and  new  equipment,  brightened  con- 
siderably when  it  was  announced  that 
the  members  of  the  Industry  Advisory 
Committee  will  meet  in  Washington  on 
April  25  to  discuss  the  over-all  impact 
of  Order  M-4  on  the  motion  picture  in- 
dustry. 

Strenuous  opposition  to  Order  M-4 
has  developed  in  the  industry,  and  it  is 
possible  that  they  may  be  able  to  ef- 
fect an  easing  of  its  provisions. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     April  1951 


19 


IN  THE 


SPOTLIGHT 


By 

HARRY 

SHERMAN 


NOT  a  little  space  in  this  department 
has  heen  devoted  of  late  to  the  social 
security  aspirations  of  organized  labor, 
and  in  particular  our  own  craft.  But 
there  is  another  form  of  security  which 
is  receiving  ever-increasing  attention 
from  both  labor  and  management — union 
security. 

The  importance  of  this  topic  is  pointed 
up  by  a  series  of  articles  under  the  head- 
ing "The  Labor  Angle"  now  appearing 
in  the  magazine  Business  Week,  the 
prime  concern  of  which  is  Big  Business. 

The  first  of  this  series  of  articles  states 
flatly  that  the  next  big  issue  in  labor  re- 
lations is  "an  old  one  revived.  Its  generic 
name  is  'union  security.'  It  reaches  new 
and  compelling  importance  now  because 
(1)  a  long-term  trend  is  coming  to  a 
climactic  point;  (2)  some  strange  fruits 
of  the  Taft-Hartley  act  are  being  har- 
vested; and  (3)  mobilization  pressures 
are  upsetting  the  always  delicate  equi- 
librium of  the  union-management  bal- 
ance." 

Theme  of  the  article  is  that  the  term 
"union  security"  is  concerned  with  the 
"basic  power  factors  in  the  union-man- 
agement equation" — not  with  wages, 
hours,  or  even  fringe  benefits  and  pen- 
sions. Boiled  down,  the  issue  concerns 
that  which  unions  have  to  offer  their 
members,  on  the  one  hand,  and  what  the 


union  has  to  offer  management,  on  the 
other  hand.  The  stakes  are  the  predomi- 
nant control  over  the  individual  worker. 
We  don't  suggest  that  every  union  man 
rush  to  buy  Business  Week  for  this  series 
of  articles,  but  we  hold  that  they  should 
be  required  reading  for  labor  leaders  in 
the  higher  echelons. 

•  An  item  that  appeared  in  the  N.  Y. 
Times  several  weeks  ago  relative  to  the 
pension  plan  of  the  UAW  (CIO)  inter- 
ested us  greatly.  Ben  0.  Miller,  tool- 
maker  for  the  Packard  Motors  for  the 
past  35  years,  retired  recently  upon 
reaching  his  65th  birthday.  As  a  mem- 
ber of  Local  190  (UAW),  Miller  now  re- 
ceives a  monthly  pension  of  $112.70, 
including  U.  S.  social  security  benefits 
to  which  he  is  entitled.  Death  benefits  of 
the  UAW  union  are  $1000  per  member. 
Contrast  this  with  the  pension  and 
death  benefits  now  in  force  in  two  of  the 
larger  IA  Local  Unions — New  York 
Local  306  and  Chicago  Local  110.  Re- 
tiring members  of  Local  306  receive  a 
weekly  pension  of  $30,  with  a  death 
benefit  of  $4000  per  member;  Local 
110  men  receive  a  pension  of  $100  per 
month,  and  the  death  benefit  is  $2000 
per  member.  The  pensions  of  both  these 
IA  Locals  are  exclusive  of  social  security 
or  any  other  income.  We  should  like  to 
point  out  here  that  the  New  York  Local 


BARNEY    N.    BURKE,   VETERAN    OFFICIAL,    HONORED    BY    LOCAL   328,   PINE    BLUFF,    ARK. 


Acting  for  the  Pine  Bluff  Local,  General  Secretary-Treasurer  Wm.  P.  Raoul  presents  Barney  N. 

Burke,  its  secreatry-treasurer  for  many  years,  with  a  gold  life  membeship  card.    Looking  on  may 

be  seen   (I.  to  r.):  Herman   E.  Zappe,  bus.  rep.;  George  B.   Finley,  sgr.-at-arms;  V.  V.  Vaught, 

pres.;   Raoul,   Burke,   Lewis   Hill,  vice-pres.,  and   Everett  Stanley,  trustee. 


has  approximately  four  times  the  mem- 
bership of  the  Chicago  Local,  with  a 
correspondingly  larger  intake,  hence  the 
slightly  higher  benefits. 

Pension  benefits  of  the  UAW  union 
suffer  by  comparison  with  the  unre- 
stricted benefits  enjoyed  by  the  afore- 
mentioned IA  Locals. 

•  Pine  Bluff,  Ark.,  Local  327  observed 
its  37th  anniversary  breakfast  at  John- 
sey's  restaurant,  Pine  Bluff,  on  April  6. 
Highspot  of  the  celebration  was  the  pre- 
sentation of  a  gold  life  membership  card 
to  Barney  N.  Burke,  charter  member  of 
the  Local  and  one  of  its  organizers. 
Burke  was  taken  completely  by  surprise, 
for  all  plans  of  the  affair  were  kept 
under  cover  until  the  very  last  day,  when 
Mrs.  Burke  persuaded  him  to  accompany 
her  to  the  restaurant  under  some  pretext 
or  other. 

In  addition  to  the  membership,  which 
turned  out  en  masse,  present  were  W.  P. 
Raoul,  IA  secretary -treasurer,  represent- 
ing the  General  Office;  and  officers  and 
members  from  a  number  of  out-of-town 
Locals.  Among  the  invited  guests  were 
the  Mayor  of  Pine  Bluff,  George  H. 
Steed;  Ira  Baldridge  and  Jack  Shoe- 
maker, Little  Rock  Local  204;  E.  C. 
Price  and  Rufus  McMoran,  Hot  Springs 
Local  326;  J.  Fitzgerald,  Texarkana, 
Texas  Local  383;  W.  A.  Griffin  and  L.  E. 
Hurt,  Memphis,  Tenn.  Local  144. 

•  The  problem  of  one-man  operated  pro- 
jection rooms  has  come  up  again  to 
plague  Vancouver  Local  348.  Exhibitors 
in  the  Local's  jurisdiction,  covering  an 
area  of  500  miles,  have  again  raised  the 
issue  in  the  legislature,  presenting  argu- 
ments against  the  existing  two-man  op- 
eration. Local  348  officials  are  putting 
up  a  determined  fight  to  retain  prevail- 
ing conditions. 

•  We  had  the  privilege  of  attending  the 
regular  March  meeting  of  Westchester 
County,  N.  Y.  Local  650,  and  we  came 
away  with  the  thought  that  here  was  a 
group  of  men  working  for  a  common  goal 
— to  make  their  Local  a  truly  100% 
cooperative  organization. 

Anthony    (Tee  Dee)    Dente,;  1st  vice- 


20 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECT IONI5T     •:  Apri£  195H 


MICHAEL  NUGENT  AT  CHESTS'  PANEL 


Addressing  a  panel  of  the  Mideast  Regional 
Conference  of  Community  Chests  and  Councils 
at  the  Hotel  Statler  in  New  York  City  recently, 
Michael  J.  Nugent,  secretary  of  Westchester 
County  (N.  Y.)  Local  650,  stressed  the  im- 
portant role  played  by  wage  earners  in  the 
various  Community  Chest  campaigns  through- 
out the  country.  Nugent  told  of  the  coopera- 
tion of  the  AF  of  L  with  these  campaigns,  and 
cited  the  Russell  Sage  Foundation  report  for 
1943  which  showed  that  wage  earners  contri- 
buted between  25  and  30  per  cent  of  all  monies 
collected  by  voluntary  causes. 

president  of  the  Local,  was  awarded  a 
gold  life  membership  card  for  his  seem- 
ingly tireless  efforts  on  behalf  of  the 
members.  Another  highlight  of  the  meet- 
ing was  the  presentation  of  gold  wrist 
watches  to  each  member  of  the  official 
family,  the  presentations  being  made  by 
Louis  Goldshlag,  Bernie  Rich,  and  Joe 
Monaco  (business  representative  of  West- 
chester County  Local  366).  Invited 
guests  at  the  meeting  included  the  offic- 
ers of  sister  Local  366 — Nathan  Storch, 
James  Maloney,  Morris  Steinberg,  Joseph 
Yans,  and  Joe  Monaco,  all  of  whom  were 
warmly  welcomed  by  the  membership. 

•  Up  from  the  ranks  is  the  Horatio 
Alger  story  of  Dominic  Paduano,  the  new 
Commissioner  of  N.  Y.  City's  Depart- 
ment of  Water  Supply,  Gas  &  Electricity, 
supervising  all  electrical  installations 
backstage  and  projection  room  opera- 
tions. Paduano  still  retains  his  member- 
ship in  IBEW  Local  3,  N.  Y.  City,  and 
understands  the  problems  that  confront 
our  boys  both  backstage  and  in  the  pro- 
jection rooms.  From  a  working  electri- 
cian to  the  post  of  Commissioner  of  one 
of  N.  Y.  City's  largest  and  most  import- 
ant departments  is  quite  a  feat  in  any 
man's  life. 

•  George  Raywood,  business  representa- 
tive for  Local  316,  Miami,  has  earned  the 
gratitude  of  many  IA  men  from  all  parts 
of  the  country  who  spend  their  winter 
vacations  in  Florida.  His  consideration 
and  concern  for  the  well-being  of  these 
visitors  to  his  part  of  the  country  have 
won  for  him  a  host  of  friends  throughout 
the    Alliance.     We    personally   know    of 


scores  of  men  who  returned  to  their 
Locals  deeply  grateful  for  his  many 
kindnesses. 

•  The  National  Labor  Relations  Board 
in  Washington,  D.  C,  recently  ruled  that 
a  union  with  a  union-shop  contract  can 
cause  the  dismissal,  without  risk,  of  a 
person  labeled  pro-Communist.  Hereto- 
fore under  the  Taft-Hartley  Act,  a  union 
could  not  compel  an  employer  to  dis- 
charge a  man  except  for  non-payment  of 
union  dues.  Organized  labor  contended 
that  this  restriction  on  the  union  shop 
permitted  management  spies,  trouble- 
makers, Communists,  etc.,  to  stay  on  the 
job  as  long  as  they  paid  their  union  dues. 
This  latest  ruling  involved  a  Washington 
manufacturer  and  a  union  member  who 
was  accused  of  signing  the  Communist- 
sponsored  Stockholm  peace  pledge. 

•  The  40th  anniversary  banquet  of  Local 
203,  Easton,  Penna.,  will  be  held  at  mid- 
night Thursday,  May  10  next  at  the 
Forks  Township  Tavern. 

•  IA  President  Walsh  was  the  guest  of 
honor  at  a  dinner  sponsored  by  the  mo- 
tion picture  industry  at  the  famous  "21" 
restaurant  in  N.  Y.  City  on  April  10,  in 
recognition  of  his  contributions  to  the 
Will  Rogers  Memorial  Hospital,  of  which 
Dick  is  a  vice-president  and  member  of 
the  board  of  directors.  Bob  O'Donnell, 
general  manager  for  the  Interstate  Cir- 
cuit of  Texas  and  president  of  the  hos- 
pital, was  toastmaster. 

Practically  all  the  circuit  and  major 
film  company  executives  turned  out  to 
honor  Dick,  making  the  event  a  most 
auspicious  one  in  that  this  is  the  first 
time  in  history  of  our  Alliance  that  an 


IA  president  was  so  honored  by  the  men 
"on  the  other  side  of  the  fence." 

•  Toledo  Local  228  lost  another  of  its 
older  members — Carol  W.  Laycock,  who 
died  March  31  last.  One  experiences 
many  a  pang  at  the  passing  of  these  old- 
timers:  they  worked  unselfishly  for  those 
who  followed  them. 

•  Returning  from  a  trip  to  the  West 
Coast,  Bert  Ryde  business  representa- 
tive for  Buffalo,  N.  Y.  Local  233  (and 
Mrs.  Ryde)  stopped  off  for  a  visit  at  the 
beautiful  new  clubhouse  of  Local  279, 
Houston,  Tex.  Gracious  hospitality  is 
second-nature  to  the  Houston  boys,  of 
course,  but  Bert  relates  that  his  recep- 
tion there  ranked  as  an  all-time  high  in 
how  to  do  things  right. 

•  Projectionists  have  long  desired  that 
their  own  Projection  Practice  Committee 
of  the  SMPTE  have  as  a  chairman  a 
practical  projectionist.  The  SMPTE  has 
recognized  the  import  of  this  request  by 
the  craft  by  naming  as  committee  chair- 
man M.  D.  (Obiej  O'Brien,  assistant 
director  of  visual  and  sound  projection 
for  Loew's  Theaters. 

•  The  purchase  of  an  additional  $100,- 
000  U.  S.  saving  bonds  by  Chicago  Local 
110  brings  the  total  to  $375,000  such 
bonds  purchased  within  a  2%-year 
period.  The  money  was  taken  from  the 
Local's  welfare  fund,  which  provides  em- 
ployer-paid pensions,  vacations,  sickness 
and  death  benefits  for  its  members.  "We 
are  glad  to  put  this  money  where  it  will 
do  the  most  good,"  said  Gene  Atkinson, 
business  representative  for  Local  110. 
"Although  we  are  a  relatively  small  or- 


WESTCHESTER  COUNTY  (N.  Y.)   LOCAL  650  HONORS  ITS  OFFICIAL  FAMILY 


In  appreciation  for  their  unselfish  services  to  the  membership,  Local  650,  Westchester  County, 
presented  its  officials  with  beautifully  engraved  gold  wrist  watches.  Shown  here  holding  the 
gifts  are,  bottom  row  (I:  "to  rj:  Fred  Thome,  bus.  rep.;  Anthony  Dente,  1st  vice-pres.;  I.  A.  Weiss, 
pres.,  and  Albert  Storch,  3rd  vice-pres.  Top  row  (I.  to  r.):  Michael  J.  Nugent,  rec.-cor.  sec; 
Joseph  A.  Schappach,  fin. -sec.  treas.;  Donato  De  Palo,  trustee;  Patsy  Colarusso,  2nd  vice-pres., 
and  Albert  E.  Bell,  trustee.    Local  650  covers  one  of  the  largest  areas  in  the  IA. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


April  1951 


21 


ganization,  our  bond  purchases  per  mem- 
ber are  probably  the  highest  in  the  coun- 
try. Our  welfare  fund  is  in  good  shape, 
and  we  have  $200,000  in  reserve." 


Ray  Brian's  Fine  Collection  of  Film  Projection  Lore 


•  During  a  recent  visit  to  the  State 
Building  in  lower  Manhattan,  we  dropped 
in  the  court  room  presided  over  by  Na- 
thaniel Doragoff,  former  secretary  for 
New  York  Local  306,  who  is  now  serv- 
ing as  a  referee  for  the  N.  Y.  State  De- 
partment of  Compensation.  DoragofFs 
handling  of  the  various  cases  impressed 
us  very  much,  and  we  predict  he  will  at- 
tain even  higher  levels  in  his  profession. 

•  E.  Clyde  Adler.  president  of  Detroit 
Local  38,  was  reelected  president  of  the 
Michigan  Alliance,  IATSE.  A  welfare 
plan,  including  hospitalization  and  dis- 
ability benefits  for  Alliance  members,  is 
now  being  discussed  with  several  of  the 
larger  circuits. 

•  Frank  Constantino,  member  of  Local 
362,  Paterson,  N.  J.  for  the  past  30  years, 
was  recently  appointed  by  the  Mayor  of 
Paterson  to  serve  on  the  city's  Plant 
Management  Commission  for  a  four-year 
term.  This  Commission  supervises  the 
operation  of  the  city-owned  electric  power 
plant  and  other  municipally-owned  pro- 
jects. 

•  Strong  opposition  of  New  Hampshire 
theater  exhibitors  to  a  bill  introduced  by 
Senator  Sara  E.  Otis,  calling  for  a  three- 
man  commission  to  examine  and  license 
projectionists,  stifled  the  measure  when 
it  was  brought  before  the  State  legisla- 
ture. Under  the  proposed  bill  the  license 
fee  for  projectionists  would  have  been 
$10  for  the  first  year,  and  $5  per  year 
upon  renewal. 

•  All  unions  participating  in  the  "Bob 
Hope  Night  on  Broadway"  show,  held  at 
the  Paramount  Theater,  N.  Y.  City,  on 
April  9  for  the  benefit  of  the  Damon 
Runyon  Memorial  Fund,  donated  the 
Services  of  their  members  to  this"  worthy 
cause.  Projectionists'  Local  306  and 
Stagehands'  Local  1,  IATSE;  AFM  Local 
802,  and  AGVA  Local  1  participated. 

•  Herbert  K.  Sorrell.  business  repre- 
sentative for  Local  644.  Painters,  Paper- 
hangers  and  Decorators  of  America,  and 
leader  of  the  1945-46  strikes  in  the  West 
Coast  studios,  was  "sentenced"  by  a  trial 
board  of  the  Painters  International 
Brotherhood,  AF  of  L.  barring  him  from 
holding  any  union  office  for  five  years 
because  he  "wilfully  and  knowingly  as- 
sociated himself  with  organizations  and 
groups  which  subscribe  to  the  doctrines 
of  the  Communist  party."  Significantly, 
Sorrell  was  reelected  and  given  a  vote  of 
confidence  by  Local  644 — which  happen- 
ing undoubtedly  presages  a  fight  with 
the  International. 

•  Joe  Reilly,  former  business  representa- 


22 


One  of  the  finest  collections  of  historical 
data  anent  the  motion  picture  projector,  and 
the  projection  process,  has  been  accumu- 
lated over  a  period  of  many  years  by  Ray 
Brian,  of  Peoria,  Illinois.  Ray's  collection 
consists  of  13  scrapbooks  of  material  which 
include  data  on  212  different  makes  of  pro- 
jectors, including  photographic  records  of 
141  of  them. 

Of  the  known  makes  of  projectors  Ray  has 
338  photographic  records  of  the  various 
models,  many  hundreds  of  patent  papers 
relating  to  projection — not  a  few  of  them 
humorous  in  the  extreme  in  that  they  are 
fantastic — and  hundreds  of  other  pieces  of 
historical  literature.  The  collection  is  en- 
hanced by  books  on  projection  ranging  back 


Combination  photo-lab  and 
office  (at  left)  wherein 
Ray  Brian  experiments  and 
maintains  world-wide  con- 
tacts which  have  gained 
him  international  recogni- 
tion. At  the  right  is  the 
projection  room  of  the 
Palace  Theatre,  Peoria, 
III.,  where  Ray  has  worked 
for    the     past    21     years. 


to  1910,  and  Ray  is  now  seeking  editions 
4  and  5  of  F.  H.  Richardson's  Handbook. 

Ray's  hunting  ground  extends  around  the 
world,  but  the  most  valuable  assistance  has 
come  from  G.  W.  Dunston,  Norfolk,  Va.; 
A.  B.  Jefferis,  Piedmont,  Mo.,  and  the  late 
Jack  Peyton  of  Oklahoma  City,  Okla.  Real 
relics  in  his  possession  are  a  positive  print  of 
"The  Great  Train  Robbery,"  a  Selig  Poly- 
scope dating  back  to  1897,  and  a  Jenkins 
Phantoscope. 

A  member  of  the  IA  since  July,  1914,  Ray 
has  been  on  the  job  at  the  Palace  Theater, 
Peoria,  for  the  past  23  years.  Married  and 
the  father  of  two  teen-agers,  Ray  lives  at  722 
West  Maywood,  Peoria.  He  would  welcome 
hearing  from  anyone  who  has  or  is  inter- 
ested   in   historical   projection   material. 


tive  for  Stagehands'  Local  1,  N.  Y.  City, 
is  very  proud  of  his  artist  son,  Frank, 
who  is  nationally-known  for  his  paintings 
and  magazine  illustrations.  In  addition 
to  his  private  work,  Frank  Reilly  teaches 
a  class  of  260  students  at  the  N.  Y.  Art 
Students'  League  and  holds  classes  at 
two  other  art  schools.  Artistry  and  busi- 
ness acumen- — a  unique  combination. 

25  Years  Ago— April  1926 

•  New  headquarters  for  the  General 
Office  now  located  at  1400  Broadway, 
N.  Y.  City.  ...  The  28th  IA  Convention 
was  scheduled  for  the  Hotel  Winton, 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  the  week  beginning 
June  21.  .  .  .  Local  Unions  in  various 
localities  were  advised  to  affiliate  with 
State  and  Central  bodies  of  the  AF  of  L, 
in  accordance  with  Article  2,  Section  8, 


I  A    ELECTION 

LOCAL  164,  MILWAUKEE,  WIS. 

Glenn  C.  Kalkhoff,  pres.;  Oscar  E.  Olson, 
bus,  rep.;  Walter  A.  Behr,  vice-pres.;  Rob- 
ert Lucht,  Tec-sec;  George  Brader,  treas.; 
August  Mommer,  sgt.-at-arms;  John  Black, 
Norman  Habersat,  Charles  Beggs,  Irvin  Rot- 
ter, exec,  board;  Olson,  Kalkhoff,  Behr,  del. 
I A  Convention;  Kalkhoff,  Olson,  del.  Wis. 
State  Federation  of  Labor  Convention;  Ol- 
son, Kalkhoff,  Walter  Plato,  George  Harris, 
Chester  Millis,  del.   Federated  Trades. 


Page  41  of  the  International  By-Laws. 
Failing  to  do  so  would  make  a  Local 
subject  to  a  $50  fine.  .  .  .  New  England 
District  (3rd)  Convention  was  held  in 
Manchester,  N.  H.,  April  25,  1926.  .  .  . 
Road  call  effective  against  the  Grand 
Theater,  Morgantown,  W.  Va.  .  .  .  All 
Locals  were  requested  to  furnish  the 
General  Office  with  information  pertain- 
ing to  wage  and  working  conditions. 

PERSONNEL   NOTES 

Richard  M.  Wilson  has  been  ap- 
pointed superintendent  of  the  film  emul- 
sion coating  division  at  Eastman  Kodak 
Co.  Joining  Eastman  in  1931,  Wilson 
has  specialized  in  coating  processes. 

John  K.  Hilliard,  chief  engineer  for 
Altec-Lansing  Corp.,  left  New  York  on 
March  30  for  a  six-week  trip  through 
Europe  for  the  purpose  of  surveying  the 
development  of  microphones  and  loud- 
speakers. 

Lincoln  V.  Burrows,  now  with  East- 
man Kodak  Co.,  has  been  named  a  con- 
sultant to  NPA's  motion  picture  division. 
During  World  War  II  Burrows  was  in 
the  photographic  section  of  the  WPB. 

Basil  T.  Wedmore,  recording  en- 
gineer for  Western  Electric  in  London, 
England,  for  more  than  21  years,  has 
arrived  in  New  York  to  assume  duties 
as  commercial  recording  engineer  with 
Westrex  Corp. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     April  1951 


u 


IA-IP 

Radio  Contest 

Results 


SEVEN  widely-separated  states,  from 
California  to  New  York,  were  rep- 
resented by  the  ten  winners  in  the  first 
IA-IP  amateur  radio  contest  during  the 
week  of  January  8-13,  with  the  mid- 
Western  men  making  the  best  showing. 
The  list  of  contest  winners  appearing 
elsewhere  on  this  page  shows  the  first- 
prize  winner  to  be  Jim  Evans  (WOGSW) 
of  Local  242,  Pittsburgh,  Kansas. 

Amos  Kanaga  (W6BAA),  secretary 
of  San  Mateo,  Calif.  Local  409,  was  the 
inspiration  for  and  a  tireless  worker  in 
compiling  the  results  of  the  contest. 
Amos  is  also  responsible  for  the  ever- 
growing list  of  IA  amateur  radio  men 
which  appears  in  these  pages  from  time 
to  time. 

While  Amos  feels  that  the  contest  was 
a  success  and  more  than  worth  the  effort 
involved,  he  regrets  that  the  weather  dur- 
ing the  week  selected  was,  in  his  words, 
"a  stinker"  and  militated  against  an  even 
greater  success.  Additionally,  many  con- 
testants did  not  mail  in  their  log  sheets 
in  time  to  be  considered  for  an  award, 
and  some  others  sent  no  log  sheets  at  all. 

One  very  beneficial  result  of  the  con- 
test was  that  it  enabled  many  additions 
to  the  "ham"  list  of  IA  men  which  is 
published  in  IP.  Amos  asks  that  when 
IA  men  work  their  brother  craftsmen 
they  direct  notice  to  this  list  in  IP  and 
urge  them  to  have  their  names  added 
thereto. 

Many  of  the  contest  participants 
worked  their  first  IA  contact,  reports 
Amos.  "Whenever  the  band  opened  up, 
especially  on  10  meters,  there  were  IA 
men   on   the    air,"    Amos    added.    "Most 


of  the  boys  hovered  around  the  28,850 
frequency  and  passed  the  word  along 
when  a  new  IA  station  was  worked  or 
heard.  After  midnight,  75  meters  was 
fairly  active." 

Jim  Evans,  winner  of  the  top  award, 
works  at  a  big  drive-in  theater  for  seven 
or  eight  months  of  the  year,  and  in  the 
winter  months  he  works  at  theaters  in 
town  as  an  extra  man.  At  the  drive-in 
theater  Jim  takes  care  of  all  the  sound 
equipment. 

Started  in  'Spark'  Days 

Jim  started  in  radio  as  a  youngster  in 
the  "spark"  days,  and  was  very  active  on 
160  before  World  War  II.  Since  then  he 
operates  on  all  bands  through  10  meters. 
During  the  war  he  worked  for  the  Army 
Air  Force  on  transmitters,  receivers  and 
radar. 

Pictured  herein  is  Jim's  last  "ham" 
set;  but  at  present  he  is  using  a  Collins 
32V2  transmitter  with  100  watts  input 
and  a  Collins  75A1  receiver.  Jim  recently 
moved  out  into  the  country,  and  there  he 
uses  a  60-foot  windmill  tower  rotary 
beam  on  10  meters,  a  rotary  dipole  on 
20,  and  Donplett  on  75  and  other  bands. 
He  belongs  to  DXCC,  has  a  WAS  and 


IA-IP  'Ham'  Winners 

WOGSW        James  Evans 

L.  242,  Pittsburgh,  Kans. 

W0BSO  Donald  Atherton 

L.  191,  Cedar  Rapids, 
Iowa 

W2CYQ         Frank  Larham 

L.  108,  Penn  Yan,  N.  Y. 

W50QJ         Norman  Olstad 

L.  279,  La  Porte,  Texas 

W3KNY        Harris  Good 

L  661,  Reading,  Penna 

W8BYT  Leonard  Grazier 

L.  388,  Youngstown,  Ohio 

W5DYV        Bob  Belian 

L.  604,  Corpus  Christi, 
Texas 

W6PFF  Frank  Champlin 

L.  150,  Garvey,  Calif. 

W0JKU  John  Cresap 

L.  242,  Pittsburgh,  Kans. 

W0BVO         Paul  Hunter 

L.   191,   Cedar   Rapids, 
Iowa 


WINNER  OF  THE  FIRST  IA-IP  AMATEUR   RADIO  "HAM"  CONTEST 


Jim  Evans  (WOGSW)  member 
of  L.  242,  Pittsburgh,  Kans., 
utilizes  this  set-up  to  contact 
not  only  hundreds  of  brother 
"hams"  throughout  the  U.  S. 
but  also  in  many  foreign  lands. 


Representation  of  cer- 
tificate awarded  first- 
place  winner  Jim  Evans 
in  the  IA-IP  amateur 
radio  contest.  Ten  such 
certificates  (in  color) 
signed  by  IA  President 
Walsh  and  Harry  Sher- 
man, for  IP,  will  go  to 
the  various  contest 
winners. 


WAC.  a  first-class  telephone  license  and, 
of  course,  a  Class  A  ''ham"  license.  He 
has  worked  practically  every  foreign 
country. 

Additional  listings  of  IA  amateur 
radio  men  can  be  cleared  through  Amos 
Kanaga.  262  Westland  Ave.,  San  Mateo. 
Calif. 


Current   IA-IP 

Radio   Listing   on 

Next  Page 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


April  1951 


23 


Current  IA-IP  Amateur  Radio   Listing 


CALL 

W1BCE 

W1EB0 

W1LW 

WINZE 

W1BHJ 

W1WI 

W1BVB 

W1IYY 

W1JBTJ 

W1BTW 

W1JWN 

W1KKJ 

W2TSN 

W2WZX 

W2CYQ 

W2ARP 

W2NFU 

W2RUA 

W2QYQ 

W2VSQ 

W20CL 

W2MYI 

W20RS 

W2DZA 

W2AOM 

W2NAJ 

W2AMB 

W2ZCE 

(formerly 

W2RQZ 

W2HRJ 

W2B0R 

W2HWF 

W2BDK 

W2PVB 

W2HP 

W3KNY 

W3MEY 

W3BBV 

W3JMA 

W3PMY 

W3MHE 

W3BJ 

W3RXT 

W3TVM 

W4BWN 

W4HJC 

W4MCT 

W4N0M 

W4PKT 

W4CIU 

W4FGG 

W4RFF 

W4RMT 

W4KBJ 

W4MEP 

W4FGK 

W4DPT 


NAME 


LOCAL  NO. 


C.  J.  Crowley— L.  459 
Woodrow  Guile— L.  459 
Norman  Soules — L.  459 
Arthur    Madsen— L.    182 
Otto  Halquist— L.  182 
Tom  McNamara— L.  505 
Don  Fancher— L.  439 
Harold  Wyman— L.  96 
George  Gravell — L.  96 
J.  Roland  Lizotte — L.  546 
Theodore  Kahn— L.  86 
Howard  Bruya — L.  505 

Victor  Buns— L.  365 
Erich  Pattky— L.  244 
Frank  Larham — L.  108 
Fred  Ramhorst— L.  534 
Sydney  Trisch — L.  306 
Hugh  Newcomb — L.  462 
Alfred  Beckett— L.  462 
Frank  Tamborel — L.   306 
Edward  Ricca— L.  306 
Mike  Revzin— L.  306 
Charles  Roop— L.418 
Alex  Knight— L.  353 
Jack  Garritson — L.  306 
Peter  Hurgon — L.  306 
Fred  Huff— L.  306 
John  V.  Richards — L.  1 
W3JAX) 

Frank  Lipinske — L.  337 
Charles  Beckett — L.  462 
William  Axton— L.  524 
Albert  Dietricht— L.  306 
Lloyd  Matteson— L.  290 
Kenneth  H.  Allfrey— L.  290 
Jack  North— L.  640 

Harris  Good — L.  661 
Leo  Foran — L.  335 
Nelson  Stover— L.  283 
Ralph  Rushworth— L.  181 
John  Nordine— L.  296 
Charles  Gibson — L.  444 
Al  Edwards— L.  307 
Bernard  Rask — L.  171 
Harry  Drew — L.  171 

Bob  Cobble— L.  405 
Arlie  Belflower— L.  225 
Jim  Davis — L.  552 
Buddy  Rogers— L.  225 
M.  H.  Sanders— L.  507 
Bill  Britton— L.  537 
Marvin  Storler — L.  144 
Howard  Ross — L.  574 
E.  M.  Karcher— L.  482 
James  File— L.  290 
J.  Wyatt— L.  793 
D.  Holye  Knight— L.  412 
Adrian  McCroskey — L.  446 


W5IIP  Pat  Talbot— L.  249 

W5DYV  Paul  Belian— L.  604 

W5CQ  Ray  J.  Morrow— L.  597 

W5CQQ  Rajmunt  J.  Machu— L.  597 

W5IMT  A.  S.  Johnstone— L.  293 

W50DA  Bill  Couse— L.  450 

W50QJ  Norman  Olstad— L.  279 

W6BAA  Amos  Kanaga— L.  409 

W6UZA  Malcomb  Keele— L.  150 

W6DPU  Roy  Brann— L.  150 

W6PFF  Frank  Champlin— L.  150 

W6PQS  Joe  Wilson— L.  504 

W6ALO  Tom  Jentges— L.  504 

W6GTP  E.  Schwartz— L.  695 

W6MTO  Leroy  Wardel— L.  762 

W6DYJ  Ed  Pothier— L.  215 

W6IV  Delos  Trim— L.  297 

W6RKB  Bob  Gillespie— L.  241 

W6YWC  Lewis  Howard— L.  162 

W6EFL  A.  H.  Whitney— L.  150 

W6EAQ  E.  L.  Kline— L.  150 

W6CAG  August  De  Grazia— L.  150 

W6CYW  Frank  Hemerlein— L.  150 

W6KNI  Cliff    Schwander— L.    150 

W6REH  Harry  Gould— L.  150 

W6BPT  Roy  Pinkham— L.  431 

W6FBW  Frank  Amarantes— L.  431 

W6WPG  Robert  Hyde— L.  796 

W6IDY  Dom  Lucido— L.  241 

W6EP  Leslie  Hewitt— L.  695 

W6HK  Frank  Creswell— L.  728 

W6YDU  C.  R.  Putnam— L.  490 

W6BWI  Harry  Morse— L.  297 

W6VTX  Ralph  Addy— L.  521 

W6EIR  Leroy  Ward— L.  521 

W6ZOK  Max  Miller— L.  521 

W6FGV  Norman  Owens— L.  521 

W6BEP  C.  C.  Applegate— L.  187 

W6WPG  Robert  Hyde— L.  796 

W6ZEN  Floyd  McPherson— L.  709 

W6FOP  George  Abrams— L.  297 

W6AGN  Arthur  Hansen— L.  297 

W6EWU  Tom  Wells— L.  297 

W6YBC  Hansen  Cresap— L.  297 

W6ZBX  George  Kiaser— L.  297 

W6CZK  Ray  Baumann— L.  434 

W6CML  Tom  Moore— L.  169 

W6IYT  L.  H.  King— L.  796 

K6CH  H.  H.  Quackenbush— L.  510 

W6GCF  Charles  Busby— L.  599 

W6HUE  Homer  Elias— L.  599 

W6UVO  Edward  Ives— L.  150 

W6WER  Clarence  Woerth— L.  150 

W6RN  Lynn  Bradshaw— L.  162 

W7LAT  Fred  Jones— L.  720 

W7PEC  Jim  Harford— L.  720 

W7AXY  John  Murphy— L.  91 

W7ALM  Chester  Lamont— L.  446 

W7FJZ  Z.  A.  Sax— L.  159 

W7HE  Dee  Hart— L.  91 

W7HPF  John  Gilbert— L.  91 


W7GXN 

Edwin  McMurray— L.  180 

W7IIJ 

Donald  Johnston — L.  401 

W7AVM 

J.  Elmer  Newell— L.  429 

W7JTM 

J.  Allen  Evans— L.  294 

W70AS 

George  Olson— L.  294 

W7KMO 

James  A.  Furr — L.  294 

W7FTV 

Lloyd  J.  Hagaman — L.  240 

W8VDP 

Jack  Harwood — L.  160 

W8BYT 

L.  Grazier — L.  388 

W8NS 

Carl  Bacon— L.  199 

W8WSL 

Denzel  Murphy— L.  239 

W80WK 

Edw.  Miller— L.  199 

W8EEW 

Muriel  Murtagh— L.  291 

W8QIX 

F.  W.  McDonald— L.  199 

W8QFK 

Jim  Robinson — L.  64 

W8BWU 

James  T.  Smith— L.  100 

W9NLP 

Roily  Long— L.  110 

W90L 

W.  P.  Atchison— L.  323 

W9NPG 

John  Bain— L.  323 

W9LBL 

R.  B.  Connelly— L.  110 

W9EDW 

Harold  Nelson— L.  221 

W9RTA 

Herb  Kleinbeck,  Sr.— L.  110 

W9FOL 

Merrill  Smith— L.  110 

W9AZA 

Kenneth   Mass— L.   721 

W9GQD 

Clarence  Hawkins — L.  263 

W9DBY 

Kenneth  G.  Alley— L.  421 

W0VGC 

H.  F.  Heckel— L.  230 

W0ZIM 

M.  Geiskieng— L.  230 

W0GSW 

James  E.  Evans — L.  242 

W0JKU 

John  Cresap— L.  242 

W0UOP 

Clair  Rockholz— L.  286 

W0WSH 

Herschell  Allredge — L.  443 

W0DOL 

E.  M.  Karcher— L.  482 

W0SJK 

O.  S.  Keay— L.  219 

W0SLV 

Walker  Faussett— L.  395 

W0BTT 

R.  R.  Kerwood— L.  586 

W0WHV 

Max  Hollingsworth — L.  465 

W0BVO 

Paul  Hunter— L.  191 

W0QI 

E,  D.  Van  Duyne— L.  191 

W0BSO 

Don  C.  Atherton— L.  191 

W0GFN 

Ira  Hasket— L.  491 

CANADA 

: 

VE3ABV 

Jack  Snider — L.  173 

VE3BAK 

F.  Winkle— L.  173 

VE3BVC 

E.  H.  Whyat— L.  173 

VE3BWG 

Lou  Lodge — L.  173 

VE3DBF 

M.  Winslow— L.  461 

VE30G 

H.  Horner— L.  173 

VE3TE 

Tom  Burrows — L.  173 

VE3APR 

Harry  McClelland— L.  582 

VE5JK 

Jack  Kyle— L.  295 

VE70T 

M.  Thoreau— L.  348 

VE7US 

C.  Moorehouse — L.  348 

VE7MN 

C.  H.  Richards— L.  348 

VE3AYQ 

Cecil  D.  O'Neill— L.  461 

VE5RJ 

Ron  Marchant— L.  300 

VE3AHJ 

Walt  Mann— L.  467 

VE7ALW 

Merle  Wilson— L.  348 

VE7APN 

Jack  Stone— L.  348 

VE7APU 

Tom  Hepple— L.  348 

VE7BJ 

Edward  S.  Brooks— L.  348 

[NOTE:  Additions  and  corrections  should 
be  sent  to  AMOS  R.  KANAGA  (W6BAA), 
262    Westland    Ave.,    San    Mateo,    Calif.] 


24 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     April  1951 


Simplex  Honors  50-Year  Employee 


MEMORIES  of  the  early  days  of 
motion  pictures  were  evoked  at  a 
dinner  tendered  recently  to  honor  Charlie 
Linderer  on  the  occasion  of  completion 
of  50  years  continuous  service  with  In- 
ternational Projector  Corp.,  makers  of 
Simplex  visual  and  sound  projection 
equipment. 

Charlie  Linderer  got  his  first  job  in 
1901  with  Nicholas  Power,  who  at  that 
time  was  servicing  motion  picture  equip- 
ment in  a  small  loft  at  115  Nassau  St., 
N.  Y.  City.  The  "staff"  consisted  of 
Power's  daughter  in  the  office,  a  me- 
chanic, and  Charlie,  who,  in  addition  to 
running  errands,  dabbled  in  filing  cast- 
ings, drilling  and  tapping  holes. 

At  night  Power  showed  pictures  in 
social  clubs,  churches,  schools,  halls,  etc. 
Charlie  assisted  by  carrying  the  mech- 
anism mounted  on  a  tableboard,  while 
Power  toted  the  accessories — telescoped 
legs,  reels  and  reel-hanger  and  the 
screen.  Extreme  portability  was  the  first 
requisite,  since  practically  all  transpor- 
tation was  done  by  trolley  cars. 

Projection  Circa  1901 

Screen  illumination  was  supplied  by 
a  calcium  burner  via  a  line  fed  by  oxy- 
gen and  hydrogen  tanks,  delivered  to  the 
exhibition  hall  by  the  company  which 
supplied  the  gases.  A  piano  player  ar- 
rived under  his  own  momentum.  It  was 
important  that  the  screen  be  hung  with- 
out wrinkles,  and  Charlie  says  that  this 
was  the  most  tedious  part  of  the  job. 
The  projector  was  generally  set  up  in 
the  middle  of  the  aisle. 

The  reel  of  film  was  clamped  to  the 
top  of  the  mechanism  by  the  reel-hanger, 
and  the  film  passed  through  the  mechan- 
ism into  a  bag  fastened  to  the  tableboard. 
The  machine  was  hand  cranked,  10-inch 


reels  were  used,  and  there  were  no  maga- 
zines. When  the  reels  were  empty,  the 
film  was  hung  on  the  reel-hanger.  While 
rewinding  the  film,  the  lamphouse  was 
moved  over  to  the  side  and  stereopticon 
views  shown  until  the  next  reel  was  ready 
for  screening. 

Servicing  projectors  and  showing  pic- 
tures gave  Nicholas  Power  ample  oppor- 

50-YEAR  EMPLOYE  FETED  BY  IPC 


Admiral  R.  B.  Tompkins  (Ret.),  president  of 
International  Projector  Corp.  presents  an  ap- 
preciatory  scroll  to  Charles  Linderer  on  the 
occasion  of  the  latter's  50th  year  of  con- 
secutive   employment    with    the    company. 

tunity  to  see  in  a  very  practical  way  the 
very  serious  defects  of  the  many  crude 
machines  in  use  about  1900.  An  excel- 
lent mechanic,  he  patented  many  im- 
provements which  were  later  incorpo- 
rated in  the  Peerlescope,  his  first  pro- 
jector. Power  was  also  a  smart  business 
man  as  well  as  an  inventor,  and  in  the 
course  of  the  years  brought  out  many 
models  of  his  projector  under  the  name 
"Power's,"  which  he  later  made  famous. 
When  the  "gold  rush"  days  came,  the 
period    during    which    many    people    ex- 


pected to  cash  in  on  the  motion  picture 
craze  by  showing  pictures  in  halls,  stores, 
and  299-seat  "theaters,"  Power's  busi- 
ness expanded  tremendously  to  the 
point  where  he  was  occupying  a  large 
factory  on  the  lower  East  Side  of  New 
York,  the  address  which  was  to  become 
world-famous  in  projection  circles  as  "92 
Gold  St." 

Delivery  'on  One's  Back' 

Charlie  recalls  how  the  demand  for 
projectors  became  so  great  that  prospec- 
tive theater  owners  would  call  at  92  Gold 
St.  and  personally  carry  away  the  ma- 
chines. The  "boom  and  bust"  cycle 
which  plagues  every  new  industry  flat- 
tened many  of  these  entrepreneurs  eco- 
nomically, but  not  a  few  of  the  pioneers 
prospered  and  went  on  to  found  some 
of  the  biggest  producing  and  exhibition 
companies  in  the  industry. 

Charlie's  early  experience  made  him 
realize  that  the  failure  to  include  even 
the  smallest  projector  part,  or  to  have 
it  mislaid  or  damaged  in  transit,  might 
delay  the  opening  of  a  theater.  Such  an 
event  could  be  disastrous  to  an  owner 
working  on  limited  capital;  and  Charlie 
has  never  forgotten  this  lesson  in  all  the 
years  that  he  has  headed  the  packing 
and  shipping  department  of  IPC. 

In  1925  the  Nicholas  Power  Co.,  mak- 
ers of  Power's  projectors,  and  Precision 
Machine  Co.,  which  made  the  Simplex 
mechanism,  were  merged  into  Interna- 
tional Projector  Corp.,  and  Charlie  Lin- 
derer was  considered  one  of  the  most 
valuable  human  assets.  Today  there  are 
27  employees  with  25  or  more  years  serv- 
ice with  IPC. 

Charlie  saw  the  cycle  completed  when 
he  was  presented  with  a  17-inch  TV  set, 
along  with  a  beautifully  executed  scroll 
of  appreciation. 


The  famous  Powers   No    6  Cameragraph 

(1909)  having  a  solid-pin  movement  and 

employing  the  then  conventional  straight 

arc  for  illumination. 


The  6B  was  the  last  Powers  made  (1920) 

utilizing  a  roller-pin  cross  movement.   No. 

7    Powers    was    designed    but    was    never 

manufactured. 


Old  standby  thru  the  years — the  Regular 

Simplex  (1910).    Note  old  framing  lever. 

The  light  source  shown  here  is  the  first 

McAuley  reflector  lamp. 


GPL  Theater  Tv  Premiere  in  Pittsburgh 


THE  world  premiere  of  General  Pre- 
cision Laboratory's  theatre  television 
system  more  than  doubled  the  normal 
business  of  the  Fulton  theatre  in  Pitts- 
burgh, Pa.,  key  house  of  the  Shea  circuit. 
The  biggest,  brightest  16-mm  picture  ever 
projected  to  a  motion  picture  screen  was 
produced  at  the  premiere  March  19. 

A  near-capacity  Lenten  audience  came 
through  snow  and  sleet  and  rain  to  wit- 
ness the  finals  of  the  Golden  Gloves  box- 
ing tournament  which  was  brought  into 
the  theatre  by  coaxial  cable  direct  from 
New  York's  Madison  Square  Garden. 
The  program  was  not  available  over 
Pittsburgh's  lone  Tv  station. 

On-the-Scene  Atmosphere 

An  inescapable  on-the-scene  atmos- 
phere pervaded  the  theatre  during  the 
televised  boxing  tournament.  Wave  after 
wave  of  cheering,  encouragement  and 
advice  was  shouted  at  the  screen  in  the 
crowd's  excitement.  When  one  closely- 
fought  bout  was  awarded  to  a  member 
of  the  New  York  team  which  was  favored 
in  Pittsburgh,  a  storm  of  applause  swept 
through  the  house.  Few  members  of  the 
audience  left  the  theatre  before  the  last 
fight  of  the  night,  shortly  before  11:30. 

The  GPL  Videofilm  theatre  Tv  system 
receives,  photographs,  develops  and  pro- 
jects telecasts  to  a  regular  motion  pic- 
ture screen  in  one  continuous  operation 
of  only  60  seconds  from  Tv  action  to 
screen  projection.  The  telecast  is  photo- 
graphed on  16-mm  film,  permitting  the 
system  to  operate  at  one-fourth  the  cost 
of  comparable  equipment. 

The  new  GPL  system  is  made  up  of 
three  compact  units:   a  video  recorder; 


a   rapid    film   processor,    and    a    special 
16-mm  arc  lamp  projector. 

At  the  GPL  premiere,  a  21  x  16  foot 
picture  on  the  Fulton's  regular  screen 
registered  4000  lumens  of  light  at  the 
screen  after  a  projection  throw  of  129 
feet  at  a  16-degree  angle.  The  16-mm 
picture  was  projected  to  the  screen  with 
GPL's  regular  carbon  arclamp,  through 
a  21/4"  lens. 

Equipment  Placement  in  Room 

The  equipment  is  designed  to  fit  easily 
into  the  average  projection  room.  At  the 
1,700  seat  Fulton,  only  minor  alterations 
were  necessary  to  install  the  three  Video- 
film  units  in  the  projection  room,  which 
measures  21'  x  13'  x  9'. 

All  Pennsylvania  state  regulations 
covering  projection  room  equipment 
were  fully  observed  in  locating  the  66- 
inch  long  video  recorder  and  the  51-inch 
long  developer  in  a  parallel  line  three 
feet  distant  from  the  room's  outside  wall. 
The  16-mm  projector  was  mounted  be- 
side the  theatre's  two  regular  35-mm  pro- 
jectors, with  a  4-foot  span  between  the 
center  of  the  already  installed  16-mm 
port  and  the  nearest  35-mm  port  center. 

No  adjustments  were  necessary  for  the 
theatre's  power  supply  other  than  the 
extension  of  wires  carrying  the  normal 
power  load.  An  extension  of  the  thea- 
tre's restroom  pipelines  brought  circu- 
lating hot  and  cold  water  into  the  pro- 
jection room.  No  alteration  of  any  kind 
was  necessary  to  either  stage  or  screen. 
Sound  output  was  heard  through  the 
theatre's  regular  sound  system.  A  slight 
alteration  of  the  projection  lens  matched 
the  Tv  picture  precisely  to  screen  size. 

Although    the    Golden     Gloves    event 


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came  into  the  theatre  by  coaxial  cable, 
the  Videofilm  system  can  receive  directly 
off  the  air  on  a  specially  built  12-channel 
tuner. 

Theater  Men  Enthusiastic 

John  Walsh,  manager  of  the  Fulton 
Theatre,  declared  normal  business  at  the 
theatre  had  "more  than  doubled"  for  the 
premiere,  even  though  the  accompanying 
feature  was  classed  by  the  Pittsburgh 
Post  Gazette  the  following  day  as  "Holly- 
wood's ten  worst  pictures  rolled  into 
one."  Admission  prices  were  not  ad- 
vanced for  the  showing. 

:  The  Shea  circuit  is  now  in  a  position 
to  extend  theatre  television  productions 
to  its  two  second-run  houses  in  the  Pitts- 
burgh area.  The  GPL  equipment  allows 
the  theatre  owner  to  retain  complete  con- 
trol of  programming.  The  exhibitor  may 
project  the  film  at  once  or  hold  and  edit 
it  for  later  showing.  The  film  may  be 
shown  repeatedly  or  circulated  among 
a  number  of  theatres.  The  Videofilm  sys- 
tem can  be  placed  in  operation  before 
the  theatre  is  opened  to  the  public  or 
while  other  attractions  are  on  the  screen. 


Layout  of  the   Fulton   Theater  projection   room,  showing   the   location   of  the   regular  and   the 

additional   Tv  equipments 


Swiss  Eidophore  Tv  Unit 
Wins  Favor  of  20th-Fox 

That  20th  Century-Fox  means  business 
in  its  tieup  with  The  Swiss  Institute  of 
Technology  for  world-wide  rights  (ex- 
cluding Europe)  to  the  Eidophore  thea- 
ter Tv  system  was  stressed  when  20th 
announced  its  plan  to  spend  $500,000  for 
further  development  of  the  apparatus.  In- 
troduction of  the  system  will  be  delayed 
until  it  proves  its  adaptability  for  pro- 
jecting color  telecasts. 

The  Swiss  have  18  months  in  which  to 
come  up  with  a  system  acceptable  to 
20th,  which  will  then  pick  up  its  option 
and  manufacture  the  units  in  America. 
It  is  understood  that  the  Eidophore  unit 
is  comparable  in  size  with  a  standard 
35-mm  film  projector,  and  it  would  be 
installed  in  projection  rooms  and  oper- 
ated from  there. 

Battle  of  the  Titans? 

The  recent  deal  with  RCA  still  is  in 
effect,  announced  20th,  but  its  officials 
praised  the  Eidophore  system  as  supe- 
rior in  light,  definition  and  tone  scales 
and  is  comparable,  they  say,  with  the 
light  level  of  motion  picture  film. 

The  Eidophore  system  has  a  base  cov- 
ered with  an  oil  film  on  which  images  are 
imprinted  electronically.  The  fluid,  de- 
scribed as  a  "cocktail"  consisting  of 
mineral  oil  and  two  other  unspecified 
substances,  sits  on  a  metal  mirror.  The 
process  is  described  as  "comparable  to 
the  relief  images  on  a  Technicolor  mat- 
rix," with  hills  and  dales  created  on  the 
Eidophore  surface.  The  light,  passing 
through  the  oil  film,  is  caught  by  a  grid 


26 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


April  1951 


of  mirrors  and  focused  on  the  screen  with 
the  aid  of  a  carbon  arc.  The  Swiss  use 
50  frames  a  second  for  their  demonstra- 
tions and  are  said  to  be  capable  of  going 
up  to  1000  lines. 


New  'Utility'  Expands  Tv  Use 

Deeper  penetration  by  Tv  into  the 
hinterlands  is  indicated  in  a  compara- 
tively new  development  under  which 
communities  located  up  to  130  miles  from 
Tv  transmitters,  or  in  terrain  considered 
"dead  spots,"  are  being  offered  service 
via  a  new  form  of  "public  utility." 

System  features  a  community  aerial, 
operated  by  a  business  enterprise, 
erected  on  a  nearby  mountain.  Signals, 
too  weak  for  normal  reception,  are  am- 
plified some  500  times  and  fed  through 
the  community  by  cable.  Customers  are 
charged  an  installation  fee  ranging  up 
to  $125  for  connecting  a  receiver  to  the 
cable,  and  a  monthly  service  charge  of 
$3  or  $3.50. 

System  is  being  used  successfully  in 
Mahanoy  City,  Pa.;  Lansford,  Pa.;  As- 
toria, Ore.;  Bellingham,  Wash.,  and 
other  places,  all  90  to  125  miles  from 
transmitters.  Philco  Corp.  has  contracted 
to  sell  the  system  through  its  own  dis- 
tributors. 


BOOK     REVIEW 


Movies  for  Tv,  by  John  H.  Battison.  5% 
x  8%,  376  pages,  profusely  illustrated,  in- 
dexed, cloth.  The  Macmillan  Co.,  60  Fifth 
Ave.,  N.  Y.  City,  11.  $4.25. 

This  is  one  of  the  best  treatises  on  the  ap- 
plication of  motion  picture  film  and  its  tech- 
nique that  has  come  to  our  notice  thus  far. 
The  ever-growing  use  of  film  as  basic  pro- 
gram material  for  Tv  shows  is  subjected 
herein  to  a  comprehensive,  practical  analy- 
sis by  an  author  who  is  eminently  qualified 
for  the  task.  Mr.  Battison  is  an  associate 
editor  of  the  authoritative  electronic  jour- 
nal Tele-Tech,  which  activity  he  has  long 
supplemented  by  an  intense  and  unflagging 
interest  in  the  motion  picture  art. 

This  book  is  no  mere  essay  on  the  purely 
artistic  aspects  of  motion  pictures;   it  starts 


from  scratch  at  the  production  stage  and 
covers  in  a  thoroughly  practical  yet  easily 
understood  manner  all  phases  of  technique 
and  the  equipment  utilized  in  the  applica- 
tion thereof  to  the  needs  of  present-day  Tv 
broadcasting. 

Types  of  projectors  and  how  they  operate, 
together  with  a  list  of  possible  troubles  and 
how  best  to  avoid  them;  lighting  effects  and 
the  necessary  accessories;  types  and  proper 
use  of  lenses,  filters;  still  and  moving  titles; 
fades,  dissolves  and  other  special  effects; 
program  planning  and  production — all  the 
multifarious    activities    necessary    for    high- 


quality   Tv   production   arc   covered    in    this 
book  in  an  efficient  manner. 

Nor  are  the  economic  aspects  of  Tv  produc- 
tion neglected,  since  the  author  constantly 
strives  to  maintain  a  nice  sense  of  balance 
as  between  what  should  and  what  can  be 
done  within  the  limitations  of  a  given  budget. 
It  is  difficult  to  imagine  any  serious  worker 
or  patron  of  the  Tv  art  being  without  this 
book.  It  will  pay  handsome  dividends  to  its 
purchasers,  and  especially  to  those  who  are 
particularly  interested  in  the  application  of 
films  to  the  video  field. 


Oy  Bo^ 


If fs  good  showmanship  to 

keep  the  HEART  of  your 

theatre  running  smoothly 


it  costs  so  little  to  protect  so  much 

The  advantages  of  RCA 
Service  are  yours  at  a 
cost  so  low,  a  few  ad- 
missions daily  pay  for  it. 
Write  for  free  foldei — 
"Performance  Security." 


Every  exhibitor,  whether  he  operates  a 
first-run  downtown  theatre,  a  neighbor- 
hood or  small  town  house,  must  constantly 
maintain  a  smooth-running  show  to  create 
a  steady  and  reliable  following  of  patrons. 
It's  smart  showmanship  to  present  attrac- 
tions at  their  very  best. 

RCA  Service,  by  protecting  the  projec- 
tion room  equipment — the  heartof  the  theatre 
— makes  sure  it  operates  smoothly  ...  at 
top  efficiency.  RCA  Service  technicians  are 
skilled  in  the  systematic  point-to-point 
checkup  and  maintenance  of  all  types  of 
projection  and  sound  equipment  regardless 
of  make.  RCA  Service  Plans  combine  ex- 
pert technical  assistance  with  comprehen- 
sive parts  and  repair  provisions  for  motion 
picture  and  theatre  TV  equipments. 


RCA  SERVICE  COMPANY,  INC. 

A  RADIO  CORPORATION  of  AMERICA  SUBSIDIARY 
CAMDEN,  NEW  JERSEY 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     April  1951 


27 


Industry    Blasts    FCC    Ruling    on    Films,    Talent    for    Tv 


New  woes  on  the  Tv  front  were  piled 
on  the  film  industry  during  the  month 
via  the  pronouncement  by  the  FCC  that 
film  companies  may  be  barred  from  Tv 
and  radio  station  ownership  unless  they 
make  films,  stories  and  talent  available 
to  existing  Tv  broadcasters.  The  general 
feeling  in  the  industry  was  that  the  FCC 
had  over-extended  itself  by  an  unprece- 
dented usurpation  of  authority. 

The  general  attitude  of  the  film  indus- 


try was  perhaps  best  expressed  by 
Abram  F.  Myers,  board  chairman  and 
general  counsel  of  Allied  States  exhibi- 
tor association.   Said  he: 

Typical  Exhibitor  Reaction 

"The  report  gives  the  impression  that 
the  commission,  moved  by  some  undis- 
closed impulse,  hurled  a  rock  at  the 
film  companies,  but  it  struck  the  exhibit- 
ors.  When  a  picture  is  shown  on  Tv,  its 


ANSWER 
TO  YOUR 
TECHNICAL 
PROBLEMS... 


■■'■'■■■■&     fl^HSnil^l 

i  MM 

The  Altec 

Service  Man  and 

the  organization 

behind  him 

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Altec 

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161   Sixth  Avenue, 

New  York  13,  N.  Y. 

PROTECTING    THE    THEATRE  -  FIRST    PLACE    IN    ENTERTAINMENT 


CLAYTON  BALL-BEARING 

EVEN  TENSION  TAKE-UPS 

For  all  projectors  and  sound  equipments 

All  take-up*  wind  film  on  2,  4  and  5  inch  hub  reels. 
Silent   Chain    Drives 

THE  CLAYTON  REWINDER 

For  perfect  rewinding  on  2000-foot  reels. 

CLAYTON    PRODUCTS    CO. 


31-45  Tibbett  Avenue 


New  York  63,  N.  Y. 


box-office  value  in  the  area  in  which  it 
is  shown  is  destroyed.  Certainly  Con- 
gress never  contemplated  that  the  public 
interest  could  be  served  by  tearing  down 
an  established  industry  in  order  to  help 
a  rival  industry  which,  once  the  novelty 
has  worn  off,  may  not  retain  public 
favor." 

Another  industry  official  made  the 
pointed  remark  that  "I  don't  see  NBC 
making  its  stars  available  to  CBS."  In- 
dication of  trouble  ahead  for  the  FCC 
was  a  letter  to  the  Commission  from 
Senator  Wiley  (Rep.,  Wise.)  in  which 
he  charged  the  FCC  with  "a  gratuitous 
attack  against  the  motion  picture  indus- 
try." Continuing,  the  lawmaker  de- 
manded an  explanation  "of  just  how  you 
(FCC)  can  justify  this,  if  at  all.  To  my 
way  of  thinking,  it  is  very  unusual  and 
an  extra-legal  approach  to  this  ques- 
tion." 

Newspaper  Condemns  Ruling 

The  N.  Y.  Times  editoralized  that  the 
FCC  had  over-reached  itself  and  was  in 
effect  "insisting  that  Hollywood  must 
come  to  the  aid  and  succor  of  its  chief 
competitor.  .  .  .  Apparently  the  FCC  is 
unconcerned  whether  Hollywood  goes 
broke  in  serving  as  the  involuntary 
sugar  daddy  of  television." 

It  appears  doubtful  that  the  FCC  can 
make  its  order  stick,  although  its  past 
performances  in  favoring  Tv  broadcast- 
ers leave  little  room  for  optimism  on  the 
part  of  the  motion  picture  industry. 


Craft  Prime  Spur  to  Sales 
of  Strong  Trouperette 

Projectionists  in  both  America  and 
abroad  have  contributed  power  impetus 
to  the  sale  of  the  Strong  Trouperette 
spotlight,  utilizing  "inkie"  light,  accord- 
ing to  word  from  The  Strong  Electric 
Corp.,  Toledo,  Ohio.  This  new  spot  finds 
application  in  many  situations  which 
could  not  use  profitably  the  Strong 
Trouper  spot  which  uses  a  carbon  arc  at 
10  amperes. 

The  Trouperette  was  designed  especi- 
ally for  small  theaters,  schools,  night 
clubs,  Tv  studios  and  industrial  show- 
ings, where  physical  dimensions  and 
economy  are  prime  factors  and  where 
the  great  light  output  of  an  arclight  spot 
is  unnecessary. 

Salient  Advantages  of  Trouperette 

Employing  a  variable  focal  length  ob- 
jective lens  system,  a  5V2-mch  silvered 
glass  reflector,  and  a  standard  115-volt, 
pre-focused  projection-type  bulb,  the 
Trouperette  is  not  subject  to  the  sub- 
stantial light  loss  occasioned  when  a 
spot  size  is  varied  solely  by  irising.  It 
gives  sharp  edges  from  a  head-spot  to  a 
flood,  with  horizontal  masking  control  up 
to   45   degrees  in  each   direction.    Other 


28 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     April  1951 


features  include  a  color  boomerang  ac- 
commodating six  slides  and  a  height- 
adjusting  mounting  stand. 

Detailed  illustrative  and  descriptive 
literature  anent  Trouperette  spot  is  avail- 
able to  all  projectionists  for  the  asking. 
Address  The  Strong  Electric  Corp.,  14 
City  Park  Ave.,  Toledo  2,  Ohio. 


NEWS  PROJECTIONS 

INTERSTATE  Circuit,  Texas,  has 
dropped  its  plans  to  install  large-screen 
Tv  in  Dallas,  Houston,  Fort  Worth  and 
San  Antonio.  Reason  advanced  is  that 
Tv  will  not  become  serious  threat  to  In- 
terstate until  the  national  coaxial  cable 
enters  these  towns  .  .  .  Anybody  lucky 
enough  to  get  an  NPA  permit  to  build 
a  new  theater  would  run  into  a  20% 
increase  in  production  costs  over  1950; 
while  repair  work  is  reported  to  be  run- 
ning 30%  more  .  .  .  Installment  buying 
is  responsible  in  large  measure  for  box- 
office  decline,  v.p.  J.  Robert  Rubin  told 
Loew's  stockholders.  Estimate  is  that 
$20  billion  is  being  paid  out  by  American 
public  today  .  .  .  "Too  many  Westerns" 
is  the  complaint  of  exhibitors.  Hoss 
operas  are  a  dime  a  dozen,  often  being 
dualed  on  one  bill  .  .  .  Terrific  cost  of 
"live"  Tv  shows  is  seen  as  putting  90% 
of  the  programs  on  film  within  the  next 
few  years. 

*       *       * 

While  DuMont  has  cut  its  factory  pro- 
duction from  a  five-  to  a  four-day  basis, 
ostensibly  because  of  a  shortage  of  ma- 
terials, a  N.  Y.  City  chain  store  is  adver- 
tising a  premium  of  a  set  of  dishes  said 
to  be  worth  $49.50  with  each  Tv  set 
sale !  .  .  .  Another  theater  Tv  installation : 
the  RKO  Keith's  in  Washington,  D.  C. 
.  .  .  Tv  trailers  for  network  use  will  be 
available  on  14  forthcoming  Paramount 
releases  .  .  .  Survey  shows  that  Tv  sets 
are  in  the  homes  of  one  of  every  three 
homes  with  children  under  12"  years  of 
age  .  .  .  Theater  receipts  for  January 
last  were  up  7%  over  same  month  of 
1950,  according  to  tax  figures.  Movie 
houses  are  credited  with  paying  about 
76%  of  the  total  theater  tax  .  .  .  Para- 
mount will  reinstate  trade  showings  on  a 
100%  basis  with  each  and  every  picture 
in  all  exchange  centers. 


'Slow  Down'  Heart  Action  in 
High-Speed  Color  Shots 

A  new  technique  for  photographing 
the  heart  which  makes  it  possible  for  the 
first  time  to  see  heart  action  slowed  down 
133  times  has  been  developed  by  the  In- 
stitute of  Medical  Research,  Los  Angeles, 
Calif.,  it  was  disclosed  in  a  paper  de- 
livered to  the  Fall,  1950,  SMPTE  con- 


B.A. 

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Watch  your  "B.  A."  climb  when  you  install  Super  Snaplite 
Lenses.  Give  your  patrons  the  benefit  of  pictures  at  their  best. 
You  can't  beat  the  Super  Snaplite  f/1.9  when  it  comes  to 
putting  a  clear,  sharp  picture  on  your  screen. 

Super  Snaplites  give  you  a  true  speed  of  f/1.9  in  every  focal 
length  up  to  7  inches.  Ask  for  Bulletins  207  and  209. 

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Brooklyn  11,  New  York 


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OKPOICATION 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


April  1951 


29 


vention.  Said  to  be  a  major  contribution 
to  the  study  of  rhythm  and  contraction 
of  the  heart  through  the  use  of  high 
speed  motion  pictures,  the  new  tech- 
nique is  expected  to   be  of  great  value 


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SPOTLIGHTS     •     REFLECTORS 


in  the  study  of  the  action  of  drugs  and 
stimulants  used  in  correcting  heart  dis- 
eases. 

Shoot  3000  Frames  per  Second 

The  process  involves  use  of  an  ordin- 
ary commercial  high  speed  camera  in 
conjunction  with  an  extraordinary 
amount  of  light.  As  many  as  20  lamps 
are  used,  giving  illumination  of  1,200,000 
foot  -  candles.  In  comparison,  sunlight 
on  a  clear  day  gives  illumination  of 
11,000-foot  candles. 

The  heart  is  photographed  on  16-mm 
color  film  at  up  to  3000  frames  per  sec- 
ond, compared  with  a  standard  motion 
picture  camera  which  operates  normally 
at  16  frames  per  second.  In  a  separate 
process,  impulses  of  the  heart  action  are 
recorded  on  a  cathode  ray  oscilloscope 
and  photographed.  The  films  resulting 
from  these  processes  are  projected  simul- 
taneously so  that  the  viewer  may  see  and 
study  the   living,   pulsating   heart. 


Movie  Theaters  in  the  Argentine 

There  are  2057  motion  movie  theaters  in 
Argentina,  including  small  parish  and  open- 
air  theaters,  but  excluding  regular  16-mm 
theaters,  the  U.  S.  Dept.  of  commerce  re- 
ports. There  are  at  least  an  additional  465 
commercial  outlets  in  Argentina  using 
16-mm  equipment.  Seating  capacity  of  the 
35-mm  theaters  may  total  1,200,000,  but  all 
houses  do  not  operate  every  day  or  through- 
out the  year.  More  than  1500  theaters,  with 
a  seating  capacity  of  650,000,  operate  regu- 
larly every  week.  Theaters  using  16-mm 
films  vary  in  seating  capacity  from  100  to 
300. 

Projection  and  sound  equipment  in  the 
better  theaters  in  the  Buenos  Aires  area  is 


HAVe  tVBRyTMHG 

CENTURY'S  high-efficiency  projector  withf 
the  NEW  4-inch  diam.  lens  provides  pic-J 
tures  of  increased  brightness  and  appeal—; 
for  even  the  largest  drive-in  screens. 

CENTURY'S  water-cooled  aperture  gives? 
as  much  light  with  a  90  ampere  arc  as.j 
other  projectors  using  a  180  ampere  arci 
and  heat  filters!— Reduce  power  cost— Get! 

sharper  pictures— Save  film. 

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New  York,  N.  Y. 


comparatively  new  and  in  good  condition. 
Almost  every  small  theater  in  the  interior 
has  old  French  or  German  projectors  which 
have  been  adapted  to  sound  with  equipment 
manufactured  in  Argentina  by  Philips 
(Dutch). 

Sound,  Visual  Projection  Needs 

The  need  for  new  projection  and  sound 
equipment  is  extensive,  but  effective  pur- 
chasing capacity  is  limited.  Should  the  Ar- 
gentine Government  authorize  procurement 
in  the  U.  S.  A.,  only  the  largest  theaters 
could  meet  the  high  prices  at  the  increas- 
ingly unfavorable  rates  of  exchange. 

Carbons  are  a  very  serious  problem  to 
the  Argentine  exhibitor,  as  none  are  made 
domestically,  and  those  imported  from  Eu- 
rope are  about  twice  the  price  of  German 
carbons.  All  but  the  most  delicate  pieces 
of  equipment  are  manufactured  in  Argen- 
tina. Two  machine  shops  produce  a  rela- 
tively satisfactory  35-mm  projector,  equipped 
with  Philips  sound  equipment  and  sold  un- 
der the  same  name.  Production  ranges  from 
50  to  70  machines  a  year,  but  is  not  suffi- 
cient  to   meet   the   demand. 


Famous  Players  Canadian  '50  Earnings 

Consolidated  net  earnings  of  $3,529,- 
514,  or  $2.03  a  share,  are  shown  by  Fa- 
mous Players  Canadian  Corp.  for  1950, 
compared  with  $3,071,910,  or  $1.77  a 
share,  in  1949. 

Operating  profits,  after  providing  $1,- 
047,575  for  depreciation,  amount  to  $4,- 
876,359,  investment  income  to  $680,194. 

Top  Billing  .  .  .  Emotionally; 
Community  Chest  Drive 

There  is  a  small,  lonely  grave  in  an 
old,  forgotten  cemetery  in  Graniteville, 
S.  C,  marked  only  "The  Little  Boy, 
October  1855."  It  haunted  John  F. 
Watlington  of  Charlotteville,  N.  C,  who 
headed  the  Community  Chest  drive  this 
year.  His  inquiries  revealed  that  "The 
Little  Boy,"  traveling  alone  on  a  train 
through  Graniteville,  became  ill  and  was 
taken  off  the  train.  A  kindly  family 
gave  him  refuge,  but  within  a  few  days 
he  died.  No  one  had  learned  his  name 
or  where  he  came  from  or  where  he 
was  going — but  sympathetic  townsfolk 
put  up  the  marker. 

"It  just  couldn't  happen  today,"  Mr. 
Watlington  said  when  he  uncovered  the 
story.  "Travelers  Aid,  a  Red  Feather 
service,  would  be  on  hand  to  help  the 
little  boy;  to  see  that  he  had  prompt 
medical  and  nursing  care,  perhaps  to 
ease  some  family  trouble  that  may  have 
lain  behind  the  little  boy's  tragic 
journey." 


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30 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     April  1951 


Speed  of  Light  Re-Evaluated  By  a  New  Method 
Developed  by  British  Scientists 


curately  for  any  practical  purpose  until  the 
advent  of  radar  in  World  War  II.  In  radar 
the  distance  to  an  object  is  calculated  from 
the   time   taken   by   a   pulse   of  radio   waves 


AN  experiment  recently  completed  at 
the  National  Physical  Laboratory*  has 
shown  inaccuracy  in  the  normally  accepted 
figure  for  the  speed  of  light.  The  difference 
is  not  great — only  11  miles  per  second.  It 
is,  however,  far  from  being  a  matter  solely 
of  academic  interest,  for  the  speed  of  light 
is  used  for  many  of  the  fundamental  cal- 
culations. The  more  accurate  figure  is  of 
immediate  practical  value  in  radio  and  radar. 

The  speed  of  light  is,  in  Einstein's  theory 
of  relativity,  the  highest  speed  at  which 
anything  can  travel.  It  is  therefore  an  im- 
portant physical  constant,  and  its  measure- 
ment has  provided  a  problem  for  scientists 
for  many  years.  Romer  first  obtained  a 
value  of  192,000  miles  per  second  from  as- 
tronomical   observations   in    1676. 

The  first  direct  experiment  measurement 
was  made  by  Fizeau  in  1849.  A  beam  of 
light  was  focused  on  the  rim  of  a  toothed 
wheel,  and,  after  passing  through  a  tooth, 
it  traveled  a  distance  of  4  miles  and  was 
reflected  back  to  the  wheel.  If  on  its  return 
the  light  fell  upon  one  of  the  teeth,  it  could 
no  longer  be  seen  from  behind  the  wheel. 
The  wheel  was  therefore  speeded  up  until 
the  light  disappeared,  and  the  time  of  travel 
was  calculated  from  the  rapidity  with  which 
the  wheel  was  turning. 

Michel  son's  Famous  Experiment 

In  more  recent  times,  in  1935,  Michelson 
in  the  U.  S.  A.  made  a  famuos  experiment 
in  which  a  beam  of  light  traveled  in  a 
metal  tube  a  mile  long,  the  tube  could  be 
evacuated  in  order  to  remove  the  small  effect 
of  the  atmosphere  on  the  speed.  The  final 
value  he  obtained  was  186,271  miles  per 
second.  This  figure  was  confirmed  in  other 
experiments  and  has  been  accepted  ever 
since. 

When  Dr.  L.  Essen  of  the  NPL*  an- 
nounced in  1947  that  the  figure  should  be 
186,282  miles  per  second,  the  result  was 
received  with  some  scepticism.  He  has  now 
confirmed  the  result,  using  more  refined  ap- 
paratus, and  results  recently  obtained  in 
Sweden  and  in  the  U.S.A.  agree  with  this 
value  to  within  one  kilometer  a  second.  Dr. 
Essen  was  concerned  with  the  propagation 
of  radio  waves.  Radio  waves  differ  from 
light   waves   only   in   their   wavelength,    and 

*  London,  England. 


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it  is  generally  assumed  that  they  travel  at 
the   same   speed. 

During  the  war,  Dr.  Essen  was  frequently 
asked  what  was  the  correct  value  of  the 
speed  of  light.  He  began  to  suspect  that, 
although  they  had  been  carried  out  on  an 
impressive  scale,  the  experiments  were  per- 
haps not  as  accurate  as  was  generally  be- 
lieved. He  thought  that  the  NPL  might 
do  better  by  using  radio  waves,  and  he 
started  work  on  the  problem  soon  after 
the  war. 

The  method  is  similar  in  principle  to 
Michel  son's,  but,  whereas  he  used  a  tube  a 
mile  long,  Essen's  tube  is  only  7  inches 
long.  A  radio  wave  was  sent  down  this 
metal  tube  and  reflected  backwards  and 
forwards  between  the  two  ends.  When  the 
time  of  travel  between  the  ends  equals  the 
time  interval  between  successive  waves,  they 
build  up  to  produce  an  electrical  resonance 
which  can  be  detected  with  very  high  pre- 
cision. 

New  Procedure  Evolves 

In  this  experiment,  the  time  of  travel  is 
about  one  ten-thousand-millionth  of  a  second 
(1/10,000,000,000)  or,  in  other  words,  the 
waves  follow  one  another  at  a  frequency  of 
10  thousand  million  per  second,  and  it  was 
necessary  to  measure  this  frequency  with 
an  accuracy  better  than  one  part  in  a 
million.  This  is  just  the  kind  of  problem 
that  Essen  was  working  on  during  the  war 
and  the  equipment  that  was  built  then 
was  ideally  suited  to  the  velocity  experiment. 
The  construction  of  the  tube  called  for  very 
skilled  workmanship  and  its  dimensions  had 
to  be  accurate  to  one  hundred-thousandth  of 
an    inch. 

The    speed   of  light    was   not   wanted    ac- 


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CITY  &  STATE    

Dealer   Inquiries   Invited 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


April  1951 


31 


to  travel  there  and  back,  the  speed  of  the 
waves  being  the  same  as  that  of  light.  The 
new  figure  will  therefore  enable  radar  to 
be  used  more  accurately.  This  will  be  par- 
ticularly valuable  for  aerial  survey  work 
where  the  shape  of  the  ground  is  plotted 
by  means  of  radar. 

The  speed  of  light  is  also  used  in  cal- 
culating a  great  number  of  physical  con- 
stants. The  most  significant  changes  will 
probably  be  in  astronomy,  in  atomic  re- 
search, and  in  the  field  of  radio. 

From   "Electronic    Engineering"    (London) 


PROJECTIONISTS  ALREADY 
HAVE  TROUBLE  ENOUGH 

When  a  projectionist  presses  the 
button  to  open  the  curtain  and  get 
the  show  underway,  he  expects 
the  curtain  to  open — and  so  does 
the  boss. 

Failure  of  the  curtain  control 
equipment  at  that  critical  point 
sends  blood  pressure  zooming, 
clips  many  a  useful  year  from  the 
projectionist's  life.  It  also  sends 
spectators'  blood  pressure  skyward, 
clips  many  a  dollar  from  the  box 
office  take. 

Wise  projectionists  avoid  all 
these  difficulties  by  recommending 
to  the  boss  that  he  install  Vallen 
curtain  controls,  tracks  and  special 
operating  devices.  They've  been 
answering  projectionists'  demands 
"on  the  button"  for  35  years,  be- 
cause they're  precision-engineered 
to  do  their  job. 

Put  a  Vallen  catalog  in  the  front 
office  now.  Just  drop  a  note,  ask- 
ing for  a  new  catalog,  to  VALLEN, 
INC.,  Akron  4,  Ohio. 


TV  WON'T  RUIN   EVERYTHING 

(Continued  from  page  10) 

rusty  velvet.  Yet,  as  far  back  as  early 
Rome,  the  satirist  Juvenal  said,  "If  you 
want  to  get  to  the  Emperor,  don't  lick 
the  boots  of  a  knight,  curry  favor  with 
an  actor." 

In  Shakespeare's  time  actors  were 
classed  with  vagabonds  and  fined  rather 
than  licensed  for  playing.  Yet  some  of 
them  were  the  pets  of  royalty,  and  Queen 
Elizabeth  asked  Will  Shakespeare  to 
write  a  sequel  to  his  Henry  IV  and  star 
Falstaff  in  it.  Which  he  did. 

State  of  the  Theater  Today 

Today,  the  theater  has  innumerable 
enemies.  Yet  never  before  in  history  have 
certain  dramatists  made  so  much  money 
from  such  unprecedentedly  long  runs. 

There  has  probably  never  been  a  book 
or  play  to  rival  the  sales  and  perform- 
ances of  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,  but  the  poor 
little  preacher's  wife  who  wrote  it  was 
paid  only  a  small  sum  for  the  serial 
rights,  never  got  a  cent  out  of  the  num- 
berless editions  of  the  book  published  in 
America,  or  in  foreign  countries,  or  from 
the  play  which  had,  I  think,  four  com- 
panies playing  simultaneously  in  London, 
two  in  Paris  and  others  in  other  Euro- 
pean capitals. 

Nowadays,  thanks  to  modern  copyright 
laws  and  treaties,  and  the  Dramatists', 
Screen  Writers',  Radio  Writers'  and  other 
Guilds,  the  author  is  so  protected  that 
George  Bernard  Shaw  became  a  million- 


General    Precision    Earnings   for   1950 

General  Precision  Equipment  Corp., 
parent  company  of  several  large  motion 
picture  equipment  companies,  reported 
a  net  operating  profit  after  taxes  for 
1950  of  $871,899,  equal  to  $1.45  a  share. 
Earnings  the  year  previous  were  $456,- 
485,  or  76  cents  a  share.  Total  sales  in 
1950  were  $27,072,360,  an  increase  of 
about  $300,000  over  1949. 


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aire,  and  other  writers  have  amassed  even 
more  money. 

The  theater  is  dead,  but  just  try  to  get 
a  ticket  to  any  of  several  theaters  in  New 
York!  Radio  is  dead,  yet  several  radio 
comedians  are  being  paid  fabulous  sums. 
As  for  books,  the  ex-clergyman,  Lloyd 
Douglas,  wrote  a  religious  novel,  The 
Robe,  which  outsold  Forever  Amber,  and 
his  The  Big  Fisherman  about  the  Apostle 
Peter  is  outselling  all  exotic  or  obscene 
sensationalisms. 

Effect  of  New  Art  Forms 

The  point  I  want  to  make  is  this :  every 
new  form  of  art  seems  at  first  to  destroy 
the  older  forms.  But,  eventually,  it  in- 
creases or  enriches  our  culture  and  in- 
creases the  number  of  participants  in  it. 

From  the  beginning  of  mankind  and 
womankind,  he  or  she  who  could  tell  a 
story  or  act  out  a  character  or  speak  a 
thrilling  piece  or  sing  a  catchy  song  has 
found  an  audience — in  primeval  cave  or 
Metropolitan  Opera  House.  The  actor 
who  leapt  on  an  altar  and  exchanged 
dialogue  with  another  actor — and  thus 
began  the  glories  of  Greek  drama — was 
doing  just  what  an  actor  does  on  the 
modern  stage  or  before  a  camera,  micro- 
phone or  kinescope. 

Entertainers  have  fed  a  primeval,  in- 


YOU  CAN  "RELY"  ON  NATIONAL 


32 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONJST    •     April  1951 


satiable  hunger,  tor  perhaps  a  million 
years,  and  will  be  doing  so  a  million 
years  from  now.  If  I'm  wrong,  tell  me  so 
a  million  years  from  now. 

A  similar  thing  is  true  in  industry. 
Every  labor-saving  machine  throws  cer- 
tain workers  out  of  employment;  but  if 
it  succeeds,  it  vastly  increases  the  num- 
bers employed. 

Acceptance  of  the  New 

Back  in  1779  there  was  a  half-witted 
fellow  named  Ned  Lud,  who  earned  a 
pittance  by  knitting  stockings.  Along 
came  a  villain  who  invented  a  knitting 
machine.  So  Ned  Lud  was  inspired  to 
attack  the  machine.  In  1811  infuriated 
working  men  destroyed  all  the  machines 
of  every  kind  that  they  could  get  at.  This 
movement  was  given  the  name  of  the 
idiot  who  inspired  it  and  the  machine- 
haters  were  called  "Luddites."  We  see 
their  spirit  at  work  everytime  a  new  de- 
vice is  announced. 

People  ought  to  accept  new  inventions 
and  the  new  customs  to  which  they  give 
rise    as    they    accept    floods    and    earth- 


quakes. It  does  no  good  to  curse  them  or 
berate  them.  It  is  better  to  revise  one's 
habits  and  adjust  one's  life  to  the  new 
conditions. 

In  Washington's  time  the  expectancy 
of  life  was  actually  no  more  than  19 
years.  Today  it  is  68  years!  In  Washing- 
ton's time  the  biggest  city  was  Philadel- 
phia with  17,000  people.  Today  we  have 
over  150.000,000  inhabitants,  and  they 
are  living  longer  than  people  used  to. 
As  they  get  older  they  need  more,  not 
less,  of  such  diversions  and  time-fillers 
as  the  theater,  the  motion  picture,  radio, 
television,  churches,  lectures,  concerts. 

Yesteryear's  'Drowsing  Animals' 

In  the  old  days  people  lived  out  their 
lives  without  leaving  their  villages  or 
cities.  They  knew  little  or  nothing  of 
outer  life,  unless  a  war  brought  it  home. 
They  were  like  drowsing  animals.  In 
Washington's  time,  New  York  had  less 
than  20,000  inhabitants  with  only  spas- 
modic performances  at  the  few  play- 
houses. Washington  rarely  missed  a  play, 
and  he  was  such  a  joyous  spectator  that 
often  the  audience  would  hush  and  look 
up  at  the  box  and  say  "listen  to  the  Presi- 
dent's laugh!"  What  a  godsend  the 
theater  was  to  that  tormented  man !  What 
a  soul  saver  it  has  been  to  other  tor- 
mented men  and  women!  Radio  and  tele- 
vision bring  the  theater  and  the  motion 
picture  into  our  homes. 

The  children  of  today  know  far  more 
about  vast  numbers  of  things  that  the 
most  learned  men  of  a  century  ago  were 
entirely  ignorant  of.  The  motion  picture, 
radio  and  television  have  an  educational 
power  that  is  infinite,  however  little  rec- 
ognized or  praised.  And  they  create  a 
public  and  a  patronage  for  books,  plays, 
and  all  the  arts. 

More,  Not  Less,  Diversion 

There  is  room  for  all  the  arts  and  all 
the  artists  and  all  their  managers 
and  patrons.  It  is  inevitable  and  not  alto- 
gether regrettable  that  there  should  be 
fierce  competition  among  them,  and  an 
unending  search  for  new  inventions. 

Lucullus,   a   Roman   general   enriched 


by  conquests,  gave  feasts  that  were  fa- 
mous for  the  luxury  and  variety  of  the 
countless  things  to  eat  and  drink.  But 
they  were  even  more  famous  for  the  musi- 
cians, artists,  philosophers,  poets  and 
dancers  who  entertained  the  guests. 

Today  the  poorest  of  our  citizens  is 
offered  a  feast  for  eyes,  ears,  heart  and 
soul  such  as  would  make  Lucullus  feel 
like  Bill  Nye  confronted  with  the  choice 
of  tea  or  eggs? 

Why  are  we  not  rejoicing  instead  of 
complaining? 


NATIONAL 

is  on  the 

BALL 


for  EVERY 

THEATRE 

NEED! 


look  to    WENZEL 

for  the  Finest  in  Projector  Equipment 

I 


Closed  Sound   Head 


WENZEL  PROJECTOR  CO. 

2505-19  S.  State  St.  Chicago  16,  III. 


Pro-50 

Projector 

Head 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     April  1951 


33 


HONEYCOMB-CONDENSER 

(Continued  from  page  9) 

particular  type  of  crater  brilliancy-dis- 
tribution.1 Second,  the  "apospherical" 
mirror  method  suggested  by  the  writer.2 
Third,  the  Zeiss  honeycomb-condenser 
arrangement  described  in  this  issue. 

The  honeycomb-condenser  system  is 
worthy  of  special  attention  for  several 
reasons.  At  first  thought  the  advantages 
claimed  for  it  seem  almost  too  good  to 
be  true.  But  even  if  Dr.  Schultze's  op- 
timistic report  is  only  half  true,  it  still 
can  be  maintained  that  the  Zeiss  Ikosol 
arc-lamp  seems  to  me  to  be  the  most  im- 
portant advance  made  in  projection  light- 
ing since  V-E  day,  not  even  excepting 
the  ingenious  automatic  arc-control  de- 
vices introduced  since  then.  The  Ikosol 
renders  such  devices  unnecessary. 

The  firm  of  Carl  Zeiss  is  world-re- 
nowned for  technical  accuracy.  The  as- 
tonishing independence  of  the  perform- 
ance of  the  Ikosol  lamp  from  fluctuations 
in  the  position  of  the  positive  crater  and 
the  burning  of  the  trim  has  been  con- 
firmed by  F.  Hodam  of  the  DEFA-For- 
schungsabteilung,  Berlin. 

Here,  in  a  nutshell,  is  the  theory  of 
the  honeycomb-condenser  system.  The 
"spot" — the  image  of  the  positive  crater 
— is  imaged  not  on  the  picture-aperture 
but  on  a  heat-resistant  glass  plate  con- 
taining 150  plano-convex  lenses  of  rec- 
tangular shape.  Each  of  these  lenses  im- 
ages the  mirror  upon  the  corresponding 
lens  of  the  plate  containing  150  hexa- 
gonal lenses.  And  the  hexagonal  lenses, 
in  turn,  image  the  rectangular  lenses  on 
the  aperture.  The  result  is  150  superim- 
posed rectangular  "spots"  on  the  rec- 
tangular picture-aperture. 

Summary  of  Advantages 

The  obvious  advantages  of  the  Ikosol 
lamp  are: 

1.  Nearly  perfect  uniformity  of  pic- 
ture illumination  and  of  the  color  of  the 
projection  light  are  insured  by  the  super- 
position on  the  aperture  of  150  individual 
rectangular  images  which  intercept  the 
entire  light-beam  thrown  forward  by  the 
mirror. 

2.  Remarkable  freedom  from  the  ill  ef- 
fects of  varying  crater  position  is  insured 
by  the  fact  that  the  mirror,  not  the  posi- 
tive crater,  is  imaged  by  the  rectangular 
lenses  on  the  hexagonal  lenses  of  the 
lens-plate  nearest  the  projector  mechan- 
ism. 

3.  The  loss  of  light  caused  by  four  glass- 
to-air  surfaces  is  more  than  compensated 
for  by  the  fact  that  the  spot  is  rectangu- 
lar, not  circular.  This  not  only  prevents 
the  waste  of  light  inherent  in  a  circular 
spot  but  also  keeps  the  mechanism  cool. 

4.  Unprecedented  ease  of  operation  and 
servicing. 


5.  Simplification  of  lamp  design  with  re- 
sulting low  cost  to  the  exhibitor. 

The  possibility  of  using  currents  un- 
der 40  amps  for  H-I  lighting  does  not 
impress  this  writer  as  a  noteworthy  ad- 
vantage of  the  Ikosol.  There  are  very 
few  theaters  having  screens  so  small  that 
arc  currents  lower  than  the  minimum  of 
40  amps  could  be  used  to  advantage. 

Summary  of  the  Disadvantages 

The  disadvantages  are: 

1.  The  distance  from  the  mirror  to  the 
honeycomb-condenser  plates,  the  distance 
separating  the  two  plates,  and  the  dis- 
tance from  the  hexagonal-lens  plate  to 
the  picture  aperture  are  all  extremely 
critical.  There  is  absolutely  no  doubt 
about  this.  The  lamp  must  therefore  be 
set  up  on  the  projector  pedestal  with 
great  accuracy,  and  the  distance  from 
the  projection  head  kept  within  a  2-mm 
tolerance. 

2.  Danger  of  disturbing  factory  adjust- 
ment of  the  honeycomb-condenser  as- 
sembly when  taking  it  apart  for  cleaning. 
The  two  plates  form  a  coordinated  unit. 
Azimuth,  as  well  as  working  distances, 
must  be  maintained  with  the  greatest 
precision. 

3.  A  slightly  greater  angle  of  "light- 
spread"  on  the  screen  side  of  the  aper- 
ture, requiring  the  use  of  slightly  larger 
projection  lenses  in  order  to  match  the 
efficiency  of  ordinary  mirror  lamps,  and 
to  avoid  lens  "vignetting"  effects  which 
might  partially  cancel  the  uniform  aper- 
ture-illumination characteristics  of  the 
Ikosol  lamp. 

4.  A  temptation  to  ignore  entirely  the 


manner  in  which  the  carbons  burn,  thus 
increasing  the  liklihood  of  losing  the 
high-intensity  effect.  Carelessness  in  this 
regard  would  result  in  flickering  of  the 
arc,  greatly  diminished  brilliance,  and  a 
discoloration  of  the  entire  picture  notice- 
able on  changeovers. 

Some  of  these  disadvantages,  the  sec- 
ond and  fourth  in  particular,  can  be  over- 
come by  competent  engineering  of  the 
lamp.  The  Zeiss  Ikosol  may  actually  be 
free  from  some  of  these  drawbacks.  It  is 
too  early  to  be  certain  of  this  point,  as 
the  lamp  was  introduced  commercially 
only  about  a  year  ago  and  is  unknown 
outside  of  the  U.S.S.R.  and  the  Russian- 
occupied  zone  of  Germany. 


Film  Houses  in  United  Kingdom 

A  total  of  4,583  motion  picture  theater* 
are  reported  to  be  in  operation  in  the 
United  Kingdom,  with  an  estimated  total 
seating  capacity  of  4,160,000.  Another  109 
theaters  have  recently  closed  or  changed 
over  to  stage  shows. 

Statistics  for  the  first  quarter  of  1950 
reveal  that  an  average  of  28,500,000  persons 
attend  motion  picture  theaters  each  week. 
Admission  prices  range  from  3  pence  in  a 
few  theaters  to  as  high  as  11  shillings  for 
the  best  seats  in  certain  London  West-End 
theaters.  In  the  average  community  theater, 
seats  are  usually  from  1  shilling  to  three 
shillings,  7  pence.  The  usual  prices  for 
second-run  theaters  are  from  9  pence  to 
2  shillings,  9  pence.  (Pound  sterling  equals 
U.  S.  $2.80;  there  are  20  shillings  in  a 
pound,  12  pence  in  a  shilling).  The  gross 
income  of  motion  picture  theaters  during 
1950  is  estimated  to  have  been  £112,000,000. 


How  Many? 


Was  this  copy  dog-eared  when  it  came  to  you?  How 
many  men  read  it  ahead  of  you? 

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34 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     April  1951 


If  someone  in  your  family  had  cancer,  you  would  do  anything  .  .  .  every- 
thing that  would  help.  And  today  there  is  so  much  that  you  can  do  to  help, 
lens  of  thousands  of  families  just  like  yours  meet  cancer  every  year  and 
triumph  over  it.  But  we  are  still  losing  too  many  men  and  women  we  love. 


Doctors  can  now  cure  half  of  those  who  develop 
cancer  if  the  disease  is  diagnosed  in  its  early 
stages.  Yet  in  1950  some  210,000  families  lost  a 
father,  a  mother  or  a  child  to  cancer.  Manv  of 
them-probably  70,000-could  have  been  cured. 
To  save  more  lives,  we  all  must  help. 
Your  gift  to  the  Cancer  Crusade  will  help  guard 
your  family  by  providing  more  research,  more 


life-saving  education,  more  training  for  scien- 
tists and  physicians,  more  equipment,  more  serv- 
ices for  those  already  striken  with  the  disease. 

Cancer  is  man's  worst  enemy.  Striking  back  at 
cancer  costs  money.  Any  contribution  is  wel- 
come but,  the  fight  against  this  major  threat 
deserves  major  support:  dollars— tens— twenties 
—hundreds  of  dollars.  Will  you  help? 


AMERICAN      CANCER       SOCIETY 


PROJECTOR 


MOVIES  ARH  YOUR  BEST  ENTERTAINMENT-SEE  ONE  TONIGHT. 

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VOLUME   26 


NUMBER   5 


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ALONGSIDE  THESE  LAMPS  STAND 

THE  WORLD'S  FINEST 
PROJECTIONISTS 


/  ^  MAGNARC 


-KW  TO  70  AMPS 


HY-AX"    ARC    MAGNET 


TRADE   MARK    REG 


'HY-LUMEN"     REFLECTOR 


"  F  I  RST 


More  light  at  40  to  70  amperes  than  ever  thought  possible.  .  .  .  Equals  and 
excels  any  reflector  lamp  to  85  amperes,  whether  they  be  unapproved  water- 
cooled  or  resurrected  "Hi-Lows".  .  .  .  Highest  ratio  of  honest  screen  lumens 
per  arc  watt.  ...  At  70  amperes,  using  an  accurated  Glass  Hy-Lumen  Re- 
flector*, with  a  projector  having  an  efficient  revolving  shutter,  it  develops 
the  maximum  screen  brilliance  that  can  be  used  without  a  heat  filter  at  no 
risk  of  film  damage.  .  .  .  Operating  costs  under  these  conditions  are  far  below 
that  of  85-ampere  lamps. 

Magnarc  Lamps  assure  80%  side-to-center  (SMPE  Standard)  screen  light 
distribution,  not  a  deceptive  60%  or  "Hot  Center".  .  .  .  They  are  all  Und. 
Lab.,  Inc.  listed.  .  .  .  They  are  not  insurance  hazards.  .  .  .  They  are  and  have 
been  for  years  "The  First  Choice"  of  large  and  small  theatres,  drive-ins,  and 
the  motion  picture  industry. 

*  Similar  results  are  not  guaranteed  if  all-metal  reflectors  are  used. 

WITH     THE     FINEST" 


130-180  AMPERES 


TRADE   MARK   REG 


NEW     MAGNETIC    STABILIZER 

This  modern  lamp  produces  all  the  light  there  is. 
...  It  is  the  standard  equipment  of  the  nation's  largest 
and  finest  theatres.  .  .  .  Used  by  90%  of  the  largest 
Drive-In  Theatres. 

It  is  the  "Omega"  for  maximum  screen  brilliance. 
.  .  .  Nothing  can  even  approach  it  in  white  light  volume 
when  used  with  projectors  that  have  efficient  revolving 
shutters. 

Assures  satisfying  projection  for  Drive-ins  regardless 
of  the  size  of  the  picture,  length  of  throw,  and  under 
all  weather  conditions.  .  .  .  They  are  Und.  Lab.,  Inc. 
listed  and,  therefore,  not  insurance  hazards.  .  .  .  Heat 
filter  assures  no  risk  of  film-heat  damage  at  maximum 
arc   amperage   and    maximum   screen    lumens. 


"WHY     EXPERIMENT?" 

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INTERNATIONAL 

PROJECTION1S1I 


With  Which  Is  Combined  Projection  Engineering 


HENRY  B.  SELLWOOD,  Editor 


Volume  26 


MAY  1951 


Number  5 


Index  and  Monthly  Chat 3 

5 


The     Differential     Carbon-Feed 

System    

Arthur  J.  Hatch 


Report  on  the  69th  SMPTE  Con- 
vention         10 

The  Magic  of  Color 13 

Robert  A.  Mitchell 

Theater    Equipment    and    NPA 
Regulations    15 

In  the   Spotlight 16 

Harry  Sherman 


Theater  Television  via  the  RCA 
PT-100  Equipment,  VI 18 

RCA  Service  Company 

Roundup  of  Operation,  Mainte- 
nance Data  .  .  . , 19 

H-I   Carbon-Arc   Spotlights   En- 
joying a  New  Vogue 21 

IA  Elections 21 

Telecasts   22 

News  Projections 23 

Technical  Hints 

Miscellaneous  Items 


Published  Monthly  by 
INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST  PUBLISHING  CO.,  INC. 

19  West  44  Street,  New  York  18,  N.  Y. 
Telephone:  MUrray  Hill  2-2948 

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Publishing  Co.,  Inc.  International  Projectionist  is  not  responsible  for  personal  opinions 
appearing  in  signed  articles  in  its  columns. 


420 


MONTHLY   CHAT 


IT  REMAINED  for  Peter  Mole,  presi- 
dent of  the  SMPTE,  to  point  up  one  of 
the  chief  reasons  for  the  present  sluggish 
state  of  the  motion  picture  theater  box- 
office  and  at  the  same  time  deliver  a 
stinging  rebuke  to  the  "leaders"  of  the 
film  industry.  Speaking  at  the  recent 
convention  of  the  Society,  Mr.  Mole  laid 
it  right  on  the  line,  as  follows: 

'"Technical  contributions  already  at 
hand  are  so  far  ahead  of  the  industry's 
willingness  to  accept  them  that  the  lack 
of  interest  may  have  the  effect  of  apply- 
ing a  brake  on  future  technical  growth." 
The  SMPTE  prexy  went  on  to  enumerate 
these  advances  in  the  art:  stereoscopy, 
multiple  sound  tracks,  more  and  better 
color,  wide-angle  pictures,  and  theater 
1'v. 

1  he  foregoing  is  practically  a  verbatim 
transcript  of  a  theme  which  has  been 
played  in  this  column  on  several  occa- 
sions. As  far  back  as  1948  this  corner 
stated  flatly  that  the  aforementioned  ad- 
vances were  ready  and  awaiting  only 
their  adoption  by  the  industry.  Again,  in 
January,  1949,  we  opined: 

"'Three-dimensional  pictures,  stereo- 
phonic sound,  and  greatly  improved  color 
processes  are  but  three  of  the  advances 
iong  promised  by  the  film  industry.  But 
it  begins  to  look  as  though  the  Big 
Brass  have  become  very  coy  about  put- 
ting money  into  technological  develop- 
ments on  behalf  of  an  industry  which, 
while  the  source  of  their  personal  power 
and  opulence,  might  possibly  be  in  for 
a  bit  of  rough  going  .  .  .  these  develop- 
ments would  be  duck  soup  for  that  gang 
of  technicians  who  have  brought  Tv  to 
its  comparatively  high  estate." 

All  of  the  aforementioned  Big  Brass 
are  eager  beavers  when  it  comes  to  at- 
tending swank  public  functions,  or 
receiving  plaques  for  "accompbsb- 
ment,"  or  orating  before  some  un- 
suspecting Chamber  of  Commerce  or  a 
group  of  newspaper  editors  (the  latter 
resulting  in  fulsome  newspaper  space) . 
But  when  it  comes  to  taking  positive 
action  to  aid  the  industry  which  har- 
bored them  for  so  many  years  (and  we 
mean  "harbored")  their  mental  naked- 
ness is  appalbngly  revealed. 

Lush  cash  surpluses  abound  in  the 
film  industry,  both  production  and  ex- 
hibition, but  these  are  scrupulously  main- 
tained as  a  sort  of  perpetual  reminder 
of  the  management  "genius"  of  their 
guardians.  We  call  it  not  a  reminder 
but  a  monument,  because  that  is  pre- 
cisely the  function  it  will  serve  if  positive 
action  looking  toward  the  aid  of  the 
theater  field  is  not  taken  soon. 

If  industry  management  continues  to 
chant  "How  much  will  it  cost?"  the  time 
is  not  far  off  when  they  will  be  forced 
to  turn  their  attention  from  the  compara- 
tively easy  racket  of  mulcting  theaters 
via  exorbitant  film  rentals  and  go  out 
into  the  market  place  and  compete  with 
some  real  brains  in  the  advertising  and 
Tv  fields. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     May  1951 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     May  1951 


INTERNATIONAL    PROJECTIONIST 


VOLUME  XXVI 


MAY  1951 


NUMBER  5 


The  Differential  Carbon-Feed  System 


By  ARTHUR  J.  HATCH 

Strong  Electric  Corporation 

Various  fragmentary  portions  of  this  paper  have  been  published,  but 
appended  is  the  official  transcript  as  released  by  the  SMPTE.  The  dif- 
ferential carbon-feed  system  applies  a  new  principle  in  meeting  the  exact- 
ing  requirements   of  arclamp   automatic   carbon   feed   and   positioning. 


THE  allowable  tolerance  in  carbon 
crater  position  has  been  reduced  by 
the  use  of  the  higher-speed  lamp- 
house  optics,  while  the  difficulty  of  main- 
taining the  arc  crater  at  a  given  position 
has  been  increased  by  the  high  bright- 
ness carbons  with  their  higher  burning 
rates.  These  higher  burning  rates  are  un- 
fortunately accompanied  by  greater  fluc- 
tuations of  burning  rate  with  small  cur- 
rent changes. 

These  factors  have  made  it  desirable 
to  incorporate  automatic  means  in  the 
carbon  feed  to  maintain  the  position  of 
the  positive  crater  accurately  to  the 
lamphouse  optical  system. 

Basic  Feed  Requirements 

This  problem  of  providing  automatic 
positioning  to  the  positive  crater  of  high- 
intensity  projection  arc  lamps  has  ne- 
cessitated a  review  of  the  requirements 
for  carbon  feeds,  as  such  a  positioning 
control  cannot  be  conveniently  or  effec- 
tively inserted  into  the  type  of  feed 
mechanisms  in  general  use  at  present. 
Accordingly,  to  utilize  an  automatic  posi- 
tioning device  it  has  been  necessary  to 
develop  a  new  carbon-feed  system. 

We  find  that  the  principal  end  results 
t  J.  Soc.  Mot.  Pict.  &  Tv  Eng.,  Feb.  1951. 


desired  are  uniform  and  constant  intens- 
ity of  screen  illumination  with  constant 
color  temperature.  These  results  should 
be  obtained  through  a  carbon-feed  sys- 
tem that  has  simple  control  adjustments 
and  which  is  capable  of  self-compensa- 
tion for  changes  in  the  variables,  without 
attention  from  the  projectionist. 

The  major  electrical  controlling  factor 
necessary  to  obtain  constant  screen  il- 
lumination, with  a  given  carbon  trim, 
is  constant  arc  amperage.  With  proper 
arc  circuit  ballast,  the  arc  amperage  will 
assume  a  value  such  that  the  sum  of  the 
positive  and  negative  carbon-burning 
rates,  at  that  arc  current,  equals  the  sum 
of  the  positive  and  negative  feed  rates. 
Then,  assuming  for  the  moment  that  the 
carbon-burning  rates  are  constant  for  a 
given  current,  it  will  be  readily  seen  that 
a  constant  total  feed  rate  will  provide 
most  even  illumination. 

Therefore,  a  very  simple  carbon-feed 
mechanism  could  be  constructed  which 
would  advance  the  relative  positions  of 
the  carbon  holders  one  to  the  other  at 
the  constant  rate  necessary  to  maintain 
the  desired  current. 

The  negative  carbon  could  stand  still 
and  the  positive  carbon  could  be  ad- 
vanced at  a  rate  equal  to  the  total  burn- 


ing rate  of  both  carbons;  or  the  positive 
could  stand  still  and  the  negative  could 
advance  at  the  total  rate.  Any  number 
of  positive  and  negative  feed  ratios  could 
be  used  as  long  as  the  combined  feed 
added  to  the  figure  desired  for  total  feed. 

Division  of  Total  Feed 

This  simple  feed,  however,  would  not 
take  into  account  the  fact  that  to  utilize 
the  illumination  from  the  carbon  arc 
for  projection,  the  positive  crater  must 
be  kept  at  the  exact  entrance  focal  posi- 
tion of  the  lamphouse  optical  system.  It 
is,  necessary  therefore,  to  make  provi- 
sion to  divide  the  total  feed  into  positive 
and  negative  feeds,  in  a  proportion  ex- 
actly equal  to  the  positive  and  negative 
burning  rates  at  the  particular  current 
desired,  in  order  to  maintain  the  position 
of  the  positive  crater  to  the  optical 
system. 

This  division  of  the  total  feed  into  its 
components  needs  to  be  flexible,  unless 
the  lamp  is  to  be  burned  at  a  single  cur- 
rent, as  the  ratio  between  positive  and 
negative  burning  rates  varies  consider- 
ably through  the  current  range  of  the 
carbons. 

An  Ideal  Feed  System 

The  operation  of  this  ratio-fixing  con- 
trol should  not  affect  the  sum  total  feed 
rate  of  the  positive  and  negative  carbons. 
For  this  reason,  a  ratio-changing  system 
is  necessary  in  which,  if  the  negative 
feed  is  slowed  down,  the  positive  feed 
is  increased  simultaneously  so  that  total 
carbon  feed  and  constant  current  are 
maintained. 

An  ideal  feed  system  would  be  one  in 
which  one  control  determined  the  total 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


May  1951 


FIG.  1.  Carbon  position-detecting  optical  sys- 
tem, showing  prism  lens  and  bimetallic  switch. 

feed  and  the  other  control  determined 
the  ratio  between  positive  and  negative 
feeds.  With  a  system  of  this  type,  the 
total  feed  control  could  be  set  for  the 
desired  amperage,  and  the  ratio  control 
adjusted  until  the  feed  ratio  matched  the 
burning  ratio.  This  second  adjustment 
would  not  affect  the  feed-control  setting. 

Thus,  for  example,  with  a  7-mm  nega- 
tive and  8-mm  positive  copper-coated, 
high-intensity  trim  the  total  burning  rate 
for  both  carbons  at  70  amps  is  approxi- 
mately 20  in./hr.  The  current  selector 
would  be  set  to  produce  this  total  rate 
of  feed.  Then  the  ratio  control  would 
be  adjusted,  until  the  position  of  the 
burning  tip  of  the  positive  carbon  in 
relation  to  the  optical  system  was  cor- 
rect and  its  relative  movement  reduced 
to  zero. 

It  thus  might  be  found  necessary  to 
adjust  the  ratio  control  setting  so  that 
the  negative  feeds  4  in./hr.,  and  the  posi- 
tive, 16  in./hr.;  or  the  negative  might  be 
fed  41/4  in./hr.,  and  the  positive,  15% 
in./hr.  In  either  case  the  total  feed 
would  remain  at  20  in./hr.,  and  the  arc 
current  at  70  amps. 

An  ideal  feeding  system  can  be  real- 
ized with  the  use  of  a  two-motor  drive. 
One  motor,  the  feed  motor,  drives  both 
carbons  through  a  differential  gear  drive. 
The  second,  or  rate-control  motor,  is 
connected  preferably  in  the  negative 
drive.  The  resultant  difference  in  drive 
between  the  feed  motor  and  the  rate- 
control  motor  is  transmitted  to  the  posi- 
tive carbon  feed.  Gear  ratios  are  chosen 
so  that  the  resultant  total  feed  of  both 
carbons  is,  at  all  ratios,  a  constant  as 
determined  by  the  speed  of  the  main 
drive. 

Need  for  Automatic  Position 

This  feeding  system  and  almost  all 
present  arc  feeding  systems  make  an 
assumption  that  there  will  be  little  or  no 
variation  in  arc  gap  length,  carbon-burn- 
ing rate  or  power  supply  voltage.  How- 
ever, in  practical  experience  these  ideal 
conditions  are  seldom  satisfied. 

Variations  in  carbon-burning  rates  and 
ratios  at  a  given  current,  of  course,  di- 
rectly reflect  a  change  of  position  of  the 
arc  with  respect  to  the  lamphouse  opti- 
cal system.  Arc-gap  lengths  at  identical 
currents,  and  even  with  constant  applied 
arc  voltage,  will  vary  from  trim  to  trim 
and  even  within  a  trim. 


With  constant  arc  current,  the  depend- 
ent variable  that  compensates  for  varia- 
tion in  arc  supply  voltage  is  the  arc-gap 
length.  As  the  positive  carbon  has  the 
highest  burning  rate  (being  approxi- 
mately 2  to  8  times  that  of  the  negative 
carbon),  the  major  adjustment  in  posi- 
tion for  variations  in  arc-gap  length 
occurs  in  the  position  of  the  positive 
carbon.  Thus,  variations  of  arc  voltage 
or  gap  length  directly  affect  the  position 
of  the  positive  crater  in  relation  to  the 
optical  system. 

Therefore,  to  adopt  the  ideal  carbon- 
feed  system  to  these  practical  considera- 
tions, there  must  be  introduced  an  ele- 
ment that  will  maintain  the  positive 
crater  at  the  optical  focal  point  regard- 
less of  variation  in  arc  gap  or  burning 
rate. 

Bimetal  Control  Element 

It  is,  therefore,  practical  to  introduce 
a  carbon  crater  position-detecting  and 
ratio  control-actuating  mechanism  into 
this  system  to  accomplish  this  end.  The 
bimetallic  element  with  its  ruggedness 
and  simplicity  seems  to  be  most  practi- 
cal for  this  position  detector. 

This  bimetal  switch  is  simply  arranged 
to  shunt  out  a  series  resistance  in  the 
ratio-motor  field  circuit.  With  all  resist- 
ance shunted  out,  the  ratio  motor  runs  at 
a  speed  such  that  the  negative  carbon  is 
fed  at  a  rate  below  its  burning  rate,  and 
the  positive  is  fed  at  a  rate  above  its 
burning  rate.  When  the  resistance  is  in- 
serted by  action  of  the  bimetal  switch, 
the  negative  is  fed  at  a  rate  above,  and 
the  positive  at  a  rate  below,  its  burning 
rate. 

Total  rate  of  feed  at  any  selected  am- 
perage is  obtained  from  the  main-drive 
motor,  and  the  position  of  the  positive 
carbon  is  accurately  maintained  with  the 
controlled  variation  of  the  ratio  motor. 


With  the  use  of  angle-trim  lamps,  the 
general  considerations  for  constant  il- 
lumination remain  the  same,  with  the 
exception  that  to  maintain  this  even  il- 
lumination the  feed  rate  of  the  negative 
has  to  be  corrected  for  its  angular  direc- 
tion before  it  can  be  added  to  the  posi- 
tive to  obtain  the  value  for  combined 
total  feed. 

It  has  been  confirmed  by  experiment 
that,  within  a  reasonable  limit  of  move- 
ment, if  the  positive  carbon  is  underfed 
a  certain  amount,  X,  an  overfeed  of  the 
negative  equal  in  amount  to  X  cosine 
oc  will  maintain  constant  arc  current, 
where  oc  is  the  depression  angle  of  the 
negative  in  relation  to  the  positive. 

Taking  advantage  of  the  uniform  and 
predictable  speed  characteristics  of  the 
D-C  shunt  motor,  it  is  possible  to  design 
an  electrical  differential  motor  feed  cir- 
cuit whereby  the  use  of  the  mechanical 
differential  is  eliminated.  With  this  ar- 
rangement, each  carbon  is  driven  by  a 
separate  motor.  Such  a  system,  without 
an  automatic  position-control  switch, 
would  contain  two  controls,  each  con- 
sisting of  two  rheostats  connected  in 
mechanical  tandem. 

Each  of  the  rheostats  in  the  total  feed- 
rate  control  would  be  connected  in  the 
field  circuit  of  its  respective  motor,  and 
the  resistance  values  arranged  so  that  the 
carbon-feed  speeds  were  changed  ap- 
proximately in  their  correct  values 
throughout  the  entire  current  range  of 
the  carbons. 

The  ratio-control  rheostats  would  be 
connected  in  the  two-motor  field  circuits 
in  such  a  manner  that  as  the  ratio  con- 
trol was  advanced,  the  positive  feed 
motor  would  be  slowed  and  the  negative 
feed  motor  would  be  speeded  the  correct 
amount  to  maintain  the  same  current  in 
the  lamphouse. 

For  automatic  positioning,  the  bimetal- 


FIG.  2.  General  view  of  differential  feed  burner  from  operating  side,  showing  positive  and  nega- 
tive  feeds   and    the   single   adjustment  control. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


May  1951 


Exclusive  with  this  projector. 

Only  the  Eastman  16mm.  Projector,  Model  25,  provides  the  revolutionary         _ 
new  features  listed  below,  together  with  many  others . . .  A^F^k 


Arc  model  complete  with  rec- 
tifier unit. 


New  Optical  System  based  upon  use  of 
Lumenized  Kodak  Projection  Ektar 
Lenses.  The  picture  is  in  sharp  focus 
overall.  Highlights,  middletones,  and 
shadow  areas  are  clearly  defined,  with 
range  of  tones  between  highlights  and 
shadows  complete,  natural. 


For  further  information  and  prices,  write  for 
copy  of  new  16-page  book,  "Theater  Quality 
16mm.  Projection." 


New  Sound  Reproduction  employing 
"slitless"  type  sound  optical  system. 
Special  curved  cylindrical  lens  element 
forms  intermediate  image  which  is  im- 
aged on  film  at  further  reduction  of  3  to 
1,  giving  flat  image  of  uniform  width 
and  constant  intensity. 


New  Heavy-Duty  Mechanical  Design  es- 
tablishes new  standards  of  16mm.  per- 
formance. For  example:  shock  forces  in 
each  essential  kinematic  unit  are  iso- 
lated; accelerators  in  intermittent  sys- 
tem are  cushioned;  geneva  star  move- 
ment is  of  advanced  design. 


Motion  Picture  Film  Department 
Eastman  Kodak  Company 
Rochester  4,  N.  Y. 


East  Coast  Division 
342  Madison  Avenue 
New  York  17,  New  York 


Midwest  Division 

137  North  Wabash  Avenue 

Chicago  2,  Illinois 


West  Coast  Division 
6706  Santa  Monica  Blvd. 
Hollywood  38,  California 


//s 


ADMISSJOW 
Oj-cfi.anrfBafc.  0,50 


W-*.W. 


^gypp 


/" 


U--^^*-*-*       ^0,000 

MONEY  **J^J^-~-~- 


Here  is  a  sad  story.  A  movie  maker  tries  to  save  money— he  cuts 
his  studio  lighting  budget  by  $30,000.  And  what  does  he  get? 
The  movie  is  muddy.  It  has  poor  color  values.  People  must 
squint  to  see  it  —  and  word  gets  around !  The  picture  grosses 
$1,000,000  less  than  it  should  have. 


moral:  YOU  CAN'T  SKIMP  ON  STUDIO  LIGHTING 
WITHOUT  RISKING  BOX  OFFICE! 


NATIONAL   CARBON   COMPANY 

A  Division  of 
UNION  CARBIDE  AND  CARBON   CORPORATION 

30  East  42nd  Street,  New  York  17,  N.  Y. 

District  Sales  Offices:  Atlanta,  Chicago,  Dallas, 

Kansas  City,  New  York,  Pittsburgh,  San  Francisco 

IN  CANADA: 

National  Carbon  Limited 

Montreal,  Toronto,  Winnipeg 

The  term  "National"  is  a  registered  trade-mark 

of  Union  Carbide  and  Carbon  Corporation 


USE  THE 

National 

TRADE-MARK 

CARBON  ARC! 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     May  1951 


*=^=\ 


POS.  MOTOR 


t\  l-us.  muiuk  NE&  MOTOR  A 

@)+  -  <g> 

FIG.  3.  Simplified  arc  control  circuit  diagram. 

lie  element  would  be  arranged  to  shunt  in 
and  out  portions  of  this  ratio-control 
rheostat.  The  general  optical  arrange- 
ment for  projecting  the  energy  image 
of  the  positive  carbon  and  flame  to  the 
bimetallic  switch  is  shown  in  Fig.  1. 
The  90°  prism  with  a  lens  ground  in  one 
face  is  used  to  direct  the  side  view  of 
the  arc  to  the  glass-enclosed  bimetallic 
switch. 

Single-Feed  Control 

It  is  possible  to  obtain  D-C  shunt 
motors  with  speed  characteristics  such 
that  as  the  arc  voltage  is  raised,  con- 
sistent with  higher  arc  currents,  the 
negative  feed  motor  will  increase  in 
speed  approximately  the  right  amount  to 
compensate  for  the  increased  negative 
burning  rate. 

This  fact,  in  conjunction  with  the  use 
of  a  fairly  large  speed  differential  on 
both  motors,  controlled  by  means  of  the 
position-sensitive  device,  has  enabled 
considerable  simplification  of  the  con- 
trol circuit. 

The  net  result  has  been  the  develop- 
ment of  a  circuit  in  which  complete  con- 
trol of  both  carbon  feeds  throughout 
their  entire  amperage  range  has  been 
accomplished  with  but  a  single  lamp- 
house  feed-control  adjustment.  This  con- 
trol is  in  the  form  of  a  single  rheostat 
which  is  provided  with  a  pointer  and  a 
scale-indicating  arc  amperages. 

The  general  arrangement  of  compo- 
nents of  a  burner  incorporating  this  two- 
motor,  single-control  feed  system  as 
viewed  from  the  operating  side  is  shown 
in  Fig.  2.  A  simplified  wiring  diagram 
of  this  system  is  shown  in  Fig.  3. 

The  rheostat  is  connected  in  the  posi- 
tive feed  motor  field  circuit  and  has  a 
value  sufficient  to  control  the  feed  of  the 
positive  carbon  through  a  range  of  from 
14  to  32  in./hr. 

The  bimetallic  switch  is  connected  in 
such  a  manner  that  in  its  open  position 
a  resistor  is  inserted  in  the  positive  field, 
and  a  resistance  is  shunted  out  in  the 
negative  field,  thus  speeding  the  positive 
and  simultaneously  slowing  the  negative. 


When  the  bimetallic  switch  is  closed  by 
reason  of  the  positive  carbon  position 
being  slightly  too  near  the  optical  system, 
the  resistor  in  the  positive  field  circuit 
is  shunted,  and  the  resistor  is  simultane- 
ously inserted  in  the  negative  field  cir- 
cuit, thus  slowing  the  positive  and  speed- 
ing the  negative. 

The  positive  motor  will  change  speed 
sufficiently  with  this  cycling  to  change 
the  feed  rate  by  approximately  4  in./hr. 
from  fast  to  slow  rate.  With  the  negative 
carbon  being  depressed  at  an  angle  of 
52°,  its  feed  rate  is  arranged  to  change 
4  X  cos  52°,  or  approximately  2.5  in./hr. 
from  fast  to  slow. 

When  the  arc  current  selector  rheostat 
is  set  at  the  desired  current,  the  positive 
motor  assumes  a  speed  such  that  the 
average  speed  between  high-  and  low- 
cycle  speeds  is  equal  to  the  average 
burning  rate  of  the  positive  carbon  at 
the  selected  current. 

If  the  arc  current  at  a  particular  in- 


stant is  slightly  less  than  the  selected 
current,  the  positive  burning  rate  will  be 
slightly  lower  than  the  average  positive 
feed  rate.  Consequently,  the  arc  position- 
control  switch  will  remain  in  the  low- 
speed  positive  feed  position  longer  at  a 
time,  than  in  the  high-speed  positive  feed 
position.  This  will  cause  the  negative  to 
be  fed  at  a  greater  average  rate  than 
it  is  being  consumed,  thereby  shortening 
the  arc  gap  and  raising  the  current,  until 
an  equilibrium  condition  is  reached,  at 
which  the  average  negative  and  posi- 
tive burning  rates  equal  the  average  feed 
rates.  This  will  be  realized  at  approxi- 
mately a  50%  division  of  time  on  high 
and  low  speeds. 

If  the  arc  current,  and  consequently 
the  positive  burning  rate,  is  higher  than 
the  selected  rate,  the  arc  position-con- 
trol switch  will  remain  in  the  high-speed 
position  longer  at  a  time  than  in  the  low- 
speed  position.  This  will  cause  the  nega- 
tive to  be  fed  at  a  lower  than  average 


FIG.  4.    General  view  of  burner  from   non-operating  side,  showing   motors  and  bimetallic  switch 

behind  left  motor. 


FIG.  5  (a).  The  arc  burning  with  no  air  sup- 
plied from  jet,  the  characteristic  long  tail- 
flame    reaching    toward    the    optical    system. 


FIG.   5    (b).   The   burning   arc,   showing    how 

the  application  of  air  from  the  jet  shortens 

and  redirects  the  flame. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


May  1951 


rate,    thereby   lengthening    the    arc    gap 
until  equilibrium  is  reached. 

Slow  changes  in  power  supply  voltage 
are  compensated  for  by  the  automatic 
resulting  change  in  arc-gap  length,  but 
with  the  continual  maintenance  of  the 
positive  crater  at  the  required  position. 

Miscellaneous  Features 

Secondary  considerations  in  connec- 
tion with  the  realization  of  the  two-motor 
automatic  positioning  drive  include  the 
provision  of  centrifugal  fans  on  each 
of  the  motors  (see  Fig.  4).  These  fans 
exhaust  into  the  burner  base  enclosure, 
from  where  the  air  is  directed  up  through 
the  rotating  positive  feed  head,  and 
against  the  negative  feed  head,  thereby 
keeping  these  parts  at  low  operating  tem- 
peratures. 

Immediately  above  and  parallel  to 
the  negative  carbon  is  located  a  jet  tube 
which  directes  a  stream  of  air  at  the  arc 
tail  flame  immediately  above  the  crater. 

This  device  has  several  useful  func- 
tions in  that  it  shortens  and  redirects  the 
tail  flame  away  from  the  reflector,  as 
shown  in  Fig.  5.  The  white  ash  product 
of  combustion  of  the  arc  is  blown  away 
from  the  reflector,  thereby  eliminating 
deposit  on  the  reflector  and  the  conse- 
quent breakage  caused  by  heat  differen- 
tials. 

Another  benefit  derived  from  the  air 
jet  is  that  it  supplies  enough  additional 
air  to  the  vicinity  of  the  arc  that  upon 
striking  the  arc  the  soot  particles  are 
consumed  instead  of  being  released  to 
the  reflector  surface,  or  lamphouse  in- 
terior. 

Finally,  the  air  jet  causes  the  blend- 
ing of  the  negative  and  positive  flames 
and  results  in  excellent  stabilization  of 
the  arc  without  the  use  of  an  auxiliary 
magnetic  field.  Thus,  with  the  embodi- 
ment of  the  differential  concept  of  car- 
bon feed  which  was  developed  for  the 
purpose  of  obtaining  uniform  feed  in 
conjunction  with  automatic  positioning 
of  the  positive  crater,  it  is  possible  to 
stabilize  the  burning  of  the  arc  and  keep 
the  products  of  combustion  from  the 
lamphouse  optical  system. 

Expand  Cron-O-Matic  Sales 

The  recent  appointment  of  additional 
theater  supply  dealers  for  the  new  Cron- 
O-Matic  carbon  saver  provides  this  unit 
with  nation-wide  distribution.  This  unit, 
which  is  adaptable  to  Ashcraft  "D," 
Brenkert  Enarc,  Peerless  Magnarc,  and 
Strong  Mogul  arclamps,  uses  carbon 
stubs  of  all  lengths,  with  no  preparation 
required. 

Steadily  increasing  interest  in  this  de- 
vice is  believed  to  reflect,  in  part,  the 
desire  of  theaters  to  conserve  their  sup- 
ply of  carbons  which  have  the  heavier 
copper  coating.  A  brochure  on  this  device 
is  available  from  Payne  Products  Co., 
2454  West  Stadium  Blvd.,  Ann  Arbor, 
Mich. 


Report  on  SAAPTE  69th  Convention 


MEETING  in  an  atmosphere 
charged  with  not  a  little  uneasi- 
ness because  of  the  troubled  inter- 
national situation  and  the  requirements 
of  the  national  defense  program,  the  So- 
ciety of  Motion  Picture  &  Television 
Engineers  offered  a  varied  program  of 
papers  and  demonstrations  at  its  recent 
69th  semi-annual  convention  at  the  Hotel 
Statler,  New  York  City.  Particularly  con- 
cerned anent  the  critical  materials  situa- 
tion were  the  equipment  manufacturers 
and  the  film  theater  groups. 

Nathan  Golden,  film  division  director 
for  the  NPA  and  principal  opening  day 
speaker,  warned  that  diversion  of  essen- 
tial materials  for  defense  will  be  pro- 
gressively greater  in  the  months  ahead. 
With  respect  to  the  effect  of  shortages 
on  the  civilian  economy,  he  held  out  hope 
that  defense  orders  "now  totaling  billions 
of  dollars"  would  soon  relieve  the  situa- 
tion. 

Scouting  rumors  to  the  contrary, 
Golden  declared  that  there  is  at  present 
no  shortage  of  motion  picture  film. 

Industry  Ignores  Technical  Advances 

Producers  and  exhibitor's  of  motion 
pictures  were  urged  by  Peter  Mole,  So- 
ciety president,  to  take  advantage  of  ex- 
isting technical  advances  which,  he  said, 
would  help  to  maintain  motion  pictures 
as  the  greatest  medium  of  mass  educa- 
tion and  entertainment. 

"Technical  contributions  already  at 
hand,"  said  Mole,  "are  so  far  ahead  of 
the  industry's  willingness  to  adopt  them 
that  the  lack  of  interest  may  have  the 
effect  of  applying  a  brake  on  future  tech- 
nical growth."  These  advances  which  are 
now  available,  he  said,  include  not  only 
television  but  also  multiple  sound  tracks, 
wide-angle  pictures,  stereoscopy,  and 
increased  use  of  color. 

NOTABLES  AT  SMPTE  MEETING 


Nat  Golden,  NPA  official,  who  was  the  prin- 
cipal speaker  on  opening  day,  chats  with  Pete 
Mole,  Society  president. 


The  approach  of  producers  and  exhibi- 
tors to  these  technical  advances,  he  con- 
cluded, must  not  be  "What  will  it  cost?" 
but  "How  can  it  benefit  the  industry?" 

New  Visual  Presentation  Form 

The  conventional  indoor  motion  pic- 
ture theater  can  re-establish  itself  as  a 
unique  medium  of  mass  entertainment  if 
exhibitors  and  producers  of  motion  pic- 
tures will  resume  where  they  left  off 
when  sound  was  introduced  more  than 
twenty  years  ago,  and  adopt  advanced 
techniques  of  visual  presentation  for 
which  only  the  indoor  theater  has  facili- 
ties. This  was  the  advice  of  Ben 
Schlanger,  noted  theater  architect. 

By  using  larger  screens  and  stereo- 
phonic sound,  in  conjunction  with  the 
development  of  more  flexible  screen  cine- 
matography, based  on  known  factors  of 
psycho-physical  vision,  Schlanger  said, 
the  familiar  movie  house  can  offer  pa- 
trons a  type  of  entertainment  experience 
for  which  home  television  and  drive-in 
theaters  are  not  equipped. 

Schlanger  suggested  the  use  of  screens 
large  enough  to  fill  most  of  the  patron's 
field  of  vision,  giving  him  the  illusion  of 
participating  in  the  scene  instead  of  view- 
ing it  through  a  "window."  The  full 
width  of  the  screen  would  be  used  for 
panoramic  scenes,  but  during  concen- 
trated action  in  any  one  portion  of  the 
picture,  detail  and  brightness  in  the  rest 
of  the  screen  area  would  be  reduced, 
conforming  to  the  experience  of  the  eye 
in  normal  vision. 

In  viewing  a  "live"  scene,  Schlanger 
pointed  out,  we  are  aware  of  objects  in 
a  wide  field  of  vision  until  some  sound 
or  motion  concentrates  our  attention  on 
a  narrower  field.  We  then  observe  detail 
only  in  the  field  of  concentration,  al- 
though we  remain  aware  of  light,  shadow, 
and  color  in  surrounding  areas. 

Schlanger  declared  that  this  type  of 
presentation  can  be  effected  with  existing 
studio  and  theater  equipment. 

'Synthetic'  Vision  of  Future 

Synthetic  vision  "almost  as  remarkable 
as  natural  vision"  in  its  depth  perception 
and  other  characteristics  will  be  achieved 
in  motion  pictures  and  television,  it  was 
predicted  by  Major  R.  V.  Bernier  of  the 
Wright-Patterson  Air  Force  Base  in  Day- 
ton, Ohio.  Addressing  a  symposium  on 
bigh-speed  photography,  Major  Bernier 
described  and  demonstrated  a  new  tech- 
nique combining  three-dimensional  ef- 
fects with  full  color  and  high-speed,  nor- 
mal-speed,  and  time-lapse   photography. 

In  one  novel  scene  in  the  demonstra- 
tion film,  a  tray  of  refreshments  appeared 

(Continued  on  page  24) 


10 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     May  1951 


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STRONG      TROUPER      SPOTLIGHTS 


THEATRES 

State,   Sycamore,    III. 

Congress,  Saratoga,   N.  Y. 

Paramount,   Syracuse,   N.   Y. 

Olympic,   Watertown,   N.   Y. 

Victory,    New    London,    Conn. 

Howard,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Gnnd,  Evansville,  Ind. 

Campus,   Denton,  Texas 

Miracle,   Coral   Gables,    Fla. 

Miami,   Miami,    Fla. 

Valley,   Cincinnati,   Ohio 

State,  Baltimore,  Md. 

E.A.R.,   Chicago,    III. 

Oriental,    Denver,   Colo. 

Dream,   Kansas   City,   Mo. 

Crest,   Fresno,   Calif. 

Broadway,  Charlotte,  N.  C. 

Bijou,  Montreal,   Que.,  Can. 

Huntington,  Huntington,  Que.,  Can. 
HOTELS 

Statler,  Washinqton,  D.   C. 

Copley  Plaza,  Boston,  Mass. 

Palmer   House,   Chicago,    III. 
TV  STUDIOS 

WGN-TV,   Chicago,   III. 
ARENAS 

Hershey   Arena,    Hershey,   Pa. 

Hobart  Sports  Arena,  Troy,  Ohio 

Chanute  Air  Force  Base,  Rantoul,   III. 

Soorts  Arena,  Toledo,  Ohio 

Community   Centre   Ice  Arena, 
Sudbury,  Ont.,  Can. 

Springfield    Hockey   Rink, 
W.   Springfield,   Mass. 

Grand  Rapids  Stadium,  Grand 

Rao;ds,  Mich. 
COLLEGES 

Univ.  of  Denver  Field  House,  Denver, 
Colo. 

Univ.   of   Kentucky   Coliseum, 
Lexington,  Ky. 

Rp-"°'ner     Polytechnic     Inst.,     Troy, 
N.   Y. 


ICE  SHOWS 
Ice  Vogues 
Ice  Capades 
Holiday  on  Ice 
Ice  Cycles 
Ice  Parade 
International   Ice  Review 

LODGES 
Masonic    Temple,    Hammond,    Ind. 
Medina  Temple,  Chicago,   III. 
Scottish    Rite    Temple,    Dayton,    Ohio 
Zembo  Shrine,   Harrisburg,  Pa. 

INDUSTRIES 
Anaconda   Copper  Mining   Co., 

Anaconda,    Mont. 
Coca-Cola  Bottling  Co.,  Du  Quoin,  III. 
Eastman    Kodak    Athletic    Assn., 

Rochester,    N.   Y. 
Pontiac   Motor    Div.   Gen.   Motors, 

Pontiac,  Mich. 

TRAVELING   SHOWS 
Gene   Autry 
Skating   Vanities 

AUDITORIUMS 
Peabody  Auditorium,   Daytona   Beach, 

Fla. 
The  Coliseum,  Sioux   Falls,  S.   D. 
Corn   Palace,  Mitchell,  S.   D. 
Milwaukee  Auditorium,  Milwaukee, 

Wis. 
Civic   Auditorium,    Seattle,   Wash. 
Civic   Auditorium,   San   Jose,   Calif. 
Municipal  Auditorium,  Ft.  Lauderdale, 

Fla. 
Lvnn  Memorial  City  Hall,  Lynn,  Mass. 
Sioux  City  Auditorium,  Sioux  City,  la. 
M"n:cipal     Auditorium,     Birmingham, 

Ala. 
City   Auditorium,   Jackson,   Miss. 


Drawing  only  10  amperes  from  any  110-volt  A.C.  con- 
venience outlet,  the  Trouper  makes  the  use  of  heavy  rotating 
equipment  unnecessary.  With  an  adjustable,  self-regulating 
transformer  an  integral  part  of  the  base,  the  Trouper  is  ideal 
for  traveling  shows.  Mounted  on  casters  it's  easily  portable 
and  readily  disassembled  for  shipping. 

The  high  efficiencies  of  the  Trouper  are  largely  attained 
by  the  optical  system  which  utilizes  a  silvered  glass  reflector 
and  a  two-element  variable  focal  length  lens  system.  The 
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1000-watt  prefocused  projection  type  bulb. 

As  contrasted  to  the  conventional  incandescent  spotlight,  with  which  the  spot  size  is 
varied  solely  by  irising,  to  result  in  substantial  light  loss,  the  Trouperette  utilizes  all  the 
light  through  most  of  the  spot  sizes. 

6Vi     TIMES     BRIGHTER     HEAD     SPOTS 

Sharp  edges  from  head  spot  to  flood.  Horizontal  masking  control  can  be  angled  at 
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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     May  1951 


11 


/  /    /     /    / 

The  Men  Behind  the  Show 


^>I 


THE  PROJECTIONIST'S 

PROJECTOR 


To  the  people  out  front  enjoying 
a  motion  picture,  you're  the  for- 
gotten man.  But  you're  the  fel- 
lows who  make  these  pictures 
possible,  and  you're  the  fellows 
who  know  better  projection  pays! 

TO  RELAX  SEE  A  MOVIE. 


MANUFACTURED  BY  INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTOR  CORPORATION    •    DISTRIBUTED  BY  NATIONAL  THEATRE  SUPPLY 


12 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     May  1951 


The 

Magic 

of 


Col 


or 


By  ROBERT  A.  MITCHELL 

The  first  of  a  series  of  three  articles  on 
the  "what,"  "why"  and  "how"  of  color. 


THE    projectionist    is    intimately    con- 
■  cerned  with  color.    The  projection  of 
natural-color  films,  the  effect  of  extrane- 
ous  sources   of   colored   light   upon   the 
appearance    of   projected    pictures,    and 
the  color  schemes  employed  in  stage  and 
auditorim  decoration  are  encountered  by 
the  projectionist  almost  daily.  Then,  too, 
the  projectionist  has  a  very  understand- 
able interest  in  the  various  methods  of 
photographing  and  printing  colored  films. 
Color  is  by  no  means  the  easiest  thing 
in  the  world  to  understand;  but  the  sub- 
ject is  made  much  simpler  by  completely 
ignoring   controversial  theories   of  color 
vision  and  abandoning  the  classical  ap- 
proach to  its  study.  Moreover,  it  is  abso- 
lutely    necessary    to     employ     different 
names    for    different    colors,    the    same 
names  for  the  same  colors,  and  to  specify 
exactly  what  is  meant  by. red,   orange, 
yellow,  green,  etc.    Let's  avoid  the  mis- 
takes of  the  past. 

The  Visible  Spectrum 

To  see  colors  in  their  greatest  degree 
of  purity  we  naturally  turn  to  the  visible 
spectrum,  a  band  containing  all  of  the 
wavelengths  of  light  from  740  to  360 
millimicrons  (red  to  violet)  spread  out 
in  order. 

Figure  1  illustrates  a  "normal"  spec- 
trum, such  as  that  produced  when  homo- 
geneous white  light  is  analyzed  by  means 
of  a  diffraction  grating,  a  plate  of  pol- 
ished metal  ruled  with  from  10,000  to 
20,000  fine  lines  to  the  inch.  A  glass 
prism  also  produces  a  spectrum,  but  the 
grating  spectrum  is  better  for  our  pur- 
pose because  equal  intervals  along  the 
varicolored  band  correspond  to  equal 
differences  in  wavelength.   A  prism  spec- 


trum stretches  out  the  violet  end  of  the 
band  and  contracts  the  red  end. 

The  red  of  the  spectrum,  however,  is 
a  deep  orange-red,  not  true  red.  True 
red — the  "reddest  red" — cannot  be 
found  anywhere  in  the  spectrum! 

This  statement  may  seem  very  strange 
to  anyone  who  has  ever  observed  the 
brilliant  spectrum  colors.  The  color  con- 
trast between  the  two  ends  of  the  spec- 
trum is  so  great,  however,  that  the  eye 
is  deceived  into  seeing  the  orange-red  as 
real  red,  and  the  violet  as  a  pronounced 
purple.  Cover  up  from  view  all  of  the 
spectrum  except  the  red  end  (610  milli- 
microns to  infrared),  and  it  will  be  seen 
that  spectrum  red  corresponds  exactly 
to  the  dull  red  of  a  glowing  cigarette. 

Intensities  of  Hues 

All  of  the  spectrum  "colors"  from  610 
millimicrons  down  to  the  limit  of  visi- 
bility are  actually  only  different  inten- 
sities of  the  same  huel  It  is  a  fact  that 
dark  orange-red  looks  redder  than  bright 
orange-red. 

The  distinctive  name  of  spectrum  red 
is  vermilion. 

Passing  along  the  spectrum  from  ver- 
milion toward  violet,  we  find  a  narrow 
band  of  orange  hues,  a  very  narrow  band 
of  yellows,  a  broad  band  of  greens,  a 
band  of  blues  of  moderate  extent,  and 
beyond  this  a  region  containing  violet- 
blues  and  violets. 

True  purple,  the  reddish  purples,  and 
the  purplish  reds,  like  true  red,  are  miss- 
ing from  the  spectrum.  The  spectrum, 
therefore,  comprises  only  an  incomplete 
collection  of  hues. 

It  is  common  knowledge  that  by  mix- 
ing together  paints  of  different  colors, 
or  colored  lights,  we  get  new  colors — 
even  colors  which  cannot  be  found  in  the 
spectrum.  This  fact,  together  with  the 
knowledge  that  only  a  limited  number  of 
fundamental  hues  (saturated  colors)  are 
needed  to  produce  all  of  the  colors  which 
the  human  eye  can  see,  led  to  the  theory 
that  human  vision  distinguishes  one  color 
from  another  by  the  relative  degrees  of 
optical  stimulation  of  a  limited  number 
of  color-perceptive  centers  in  the  eye. 

The  pure  hue  which  stimulates  one 
color  center,  but  not  any  of  the  others,  is 
called  a  primary  hue. 

From  this  theory  it  follows  that  colors 
not  primary  colors  produce  their  charac- 
teristic visual  sensations  by  the  combina- 
tion of  two  or  more  primaries. 

Basic  Hues  for  Color  Vision 

This  theory,  which  can  be  tested  in 
various  ways,  is  today  an  established  fact. 
But  how  do  we  know  how  many  primaries 
there  are,  or  what  colors  they  are?  Ex- 
periments with  colored  lights  demon- 
strate that  all  colors  can  be  produced 
with  a  minimum  of  three  pure  hues  in 
various    combinations.     There    are    thus 


FIGURE  1 


SfW»MJ>* 

680  -$?»&$ 


660- 


640- 


620- 


600- 


580- 


560- 


540- 


520- 


500- 


480- 


460- 


440- 


420- 


400- 


380- 


V  -610  VERMILION 
g?  -  594  Orange 

§jj2  |  579  Yellow 
""  -  570  Xanth 


-  546  EMERAUDE 


-  515  Green 


=  490  Cyan 
=^-485  Blue 

z469  INDIGO 


-(420  Woad) 
-(400  Violet) 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     May  1951 


13 


mVm 

■|^J- 7 

YELLOW 

^ 

if 

til 

;5<§f  TndTgo  p^v; 

*\     "7 

4  / 

WHITE 

BLACK 

FIGURE  2 


The  addition  of  lights  of  the  three  primary 
colors. 

three  primary  colors.  It  has  also  been 
determined  that  the  various  colors  are 
reproduced  perfectly  only  when  the  pri- 
maries are  such  that  no  possible  com- 
bination of  any  two  of  them  will  repro- 
duce the  third. 

The  three  hues  which  have  been  estab- 
lished as  fulfilling  all  the  requirements 
of  human  trichromatic  color  vision  are 
vermilion  (610  to  740  millimicrons), 
emaraude  (546  millimicrons),  and  indigo 
(469  millimicrons). 

Vermilion  is  a  deep  orange-red 
Emeraude  is  a  slightly  yellowish  green 
Indigo  is  a  deep  violet-blue 

These  hues  are  commonly  called  "pri- 
mary red,"  "primary  green,"  and  "pri- 
mary blue,"  even  though  they  do  not 
correspond  to  "true"  red,  green,  and 
blue. 

If  three  lights  are  set  up  close  together 
— one  vermillion,  one  emaraude,  and  one 
indigo — any  conceivable  color  can  be  re- 
produced on  a  white  screen.  If  the  rela- 
tive intensities  of  the  three  lights  are 
correctly  balanced,  the  screen  will  ap- 
pear white  when  all  three  lights  are 
turned  on. 

By  turning  off  the  indigo  light,  a  pure 
yellow  light  is  seen — the  combining  of 
equal  intensities  of  vermilion  and  emar- 
aude. Vermilion  and  indigo  make  a  pur- 
plish red  called  magenta;  while  emar- 
aude and  indigo  together  make  a  slightly 
greenish  blue  called  cyan. 

Because  yellow  is  the  opposite  of  in- 
digo (yellow  and  indigo  lights  together 
make  white),  yellow  and  indigo  are  said 
to  be  complementary  colors.  Likewise, 
magenta  is  complementary  to  emeraude, 
and  cyan  is  complementary  to  vermilion. 

The  Subtractive  Primaries 

Yellow,  magenta,  and  cyan  are  some- 
times called  secondary  colors.  Artists 
and  printers  often  refer  to  them  as  (sub- 
tractive)    primaries. 

Yellow:     Process    yellow,    Chrome 
yellow,  "Minus  indigo." 


The  subtraction  of  primary  colors  from  white 
light   by   filters. 

Magenta:  Process  red,  Rose,  "Minus 

emeraude." 

Cyan:      Process     blue,     Turquoise, 

Peacock,  "Minus  vermilion." 

The  left-hand  panel  of  Fig.  2  shows 
the  effect  of  combining  circular  spots  of 
V,  E,  and  I  light  in  slightly  displaced 
positions.  Note  that  the  three  primaries 
superposed  give  white. 

Similar,  but  reversed,  color  effects  are 
obtained  by  superposing  in  displaced 
positions  circular  Y,  M,  and  C  color 
filters  and  viewing  them  against  a  clear 
field  of  white  light.  This  is  shown  in  the 
right-hand  panel.  Note  that  the  three 
secondaries  thus  superposed  give  black. 
Fig.  2  therefore  illustrates  both  additive 
and  subtractive  color  formation.  The  lat- 
ter is  explained  in  terms  of  the  three 
primary  hues. 

Take,  for  example,  the  formation  of 
emaraude  by  combining  yellow  and  cyan 


filters.  The  yellow  filter  subtracts  I  from 
white  light  and  lets  V  and  E  pass.  The 
cyan  filter  subtracts  V,  and  lets  E  and  I 
pass.  When  the  yellow  and  cyan  filters 
are  overlapped,  the  cyan  filter  cuts  off 
the  V  light  passing  through  the  yellow 
filter,  and  the  yellow  filter  cuts  off  the  I 
light  which  would  otherwise  pass  through 
the  cyan  filter.  Only  E  light  gets  through 
both  of  them,  so  the  resulting  color  is 
emeraude. 

Definition  by  Wavelength 

Most  hues  can  be  defined  by  their 
wavelength  in  the  spectrum.  Yellow,  for 
example,  has  a  wavelength  measured  as 
579  millimicrons.  Yet,  as  far  as  the 
human  eye  is  concerned,  an  equalized 
mixture  of  vermilion  (610)  and  emar- 
aude (546)  produces  exactly  the  same 
color  sensation  as  yellow  (579).  The 
two  yellows  which  look  alike,  even 
though  they  have  different  spectral  com- 
positions, are  called  metamers. 

Mixing  vermilion  and  indigo  lights  in 
different  proportions  results  in  the  pro- 
duction of  non-spectral  purples  and  reds. 
The  non-spectral  hues  comprise  about 
36%  of  the  total  number  of  hues. 

The  "wavelength"  of  a  non-spectral 
hue  is  usually  designated  as  the  negative 
wavelength  of  its  complementary.  Thus 
magenta,  which  has  no  real  wavelength 
because  it  does  not  occur  in  the  spec- 
trum, is  designated  as  — 546  millimic- 
rons, the  negative  value  of  the  wavelength 
of  emeraude,  the  complementary  of 
magenta. 

Wavelength,  however,  is  not  the  most 
accurate  definition  of  a  hue.  For  exam- 
ple, the  wavelength  of  cyan  is  490  milli- 
crons.  But  the  cyan  of  the  spectrum  ap- 
pears somewhat  different  in  the  middle 


FIGURE  3 


Most    I  w  „  Flavelfe 

luminous}  Yellow  (true)— ^  \^J7 
hue      J  Aurise/\579 

Pyr.d.an/^^^ 

BELLOWS 


Chlorise 


Orange  (true! 
Mandarin 

VERMILION 
Cardinal 
.Scarlet 

C  ri  mson 
Garnet 
Red  (true) 
Carmine 


Kimonelle 
559/VThallerian 
YELLOWISH  T^^e/VReseda 
GREENS/        ^<55lXEMERAUDE 
'YELLOWV^. 

572  nyt         _^REENS  X532^Irence 

,  ,  ,rlGreen  (true) 

WJ)         \r.PFFM*£0Averdante 

Beryl 

BLUE  '.        , 

fiRFFNS497  Aquamarine 


4941  Glaucme 


Cherrose 

Magenta 

Rubracinth    ^\A-ss(, 

Mulberry ^s^559, 
Amaranth 


Blue  (true) 


RED 
PURPLES   .'PUR-',6 

' '     '- -        ^^469V/ Gentian    f  Least 
,,,,       i  7ii577\><:  INDIGO \luminous 

Tyr'ian    Purple  (true) 


14 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     May  1951 


of  the  field  of  vision  to  certain  observers 
from  the  cyan  produced  by  combining 
emaraude  and  indigo.  The  disagreement 
of  some  observers  on  metameric  color 
matches  is  due  to  the  spectral-absorp- 
tion characteristics  of  the  "yellow  spot" 
of  the  eye — the  macula  lutea. 

A  difficulty  also  arises  in  the  case  of 
hues  more  violet  than  indigo.  It  happens 
that  the  vermilion-sensitivity  of  the  eye 
increases  slightly  in  the  spectral  region 
beyond  indigo,  giving  rise  to  such  bluish 
purples  as  woad  and  violet.  But  observ- 
ers seldom  agree  on  the  wavelengths 
which  should  be  assigned  to  the  hues 
lying  between  indigo  and  ultraviolet.  For 
this  reason  both  woad  and  violet  are  best 
regarded  as  non-spectral  colors  and  as- 
signed the  wavelengths  of  — 577  and 
— 575,  respectively.  (The  complemen- 
taries  are  flavelle  577  and  chartreuse 
575.) 

We  conclude  that  colors  are  best  de- 
fined not  by  wavelength  but  by  the  pro- 
portions of  primaries  required  to  repro- 
duce them. 

Color-Induced  Optical  Illusions 

There  are  two  types  of  optical  illusion 
produced  by  color.  The  most  spectacular 
one  depends  upon  the  tendency  of  the 
eye  to  adjust  its  color  sensitivity  toward 
the  complementary  of  the  predominating 
hue  in  any  colored  object  or  light  which 
is  looked  at  for  any  length  of  time.  This 
is  sometimes  called  "color  fatigue," 
sometimes  "simultaneous  contrast,"  de- 
pending upon  the  conditions  which  pro- 
duce the  illusion. 

This  peculiar  property  of  the  eye  also 
makes  colors  appear  the  most  vivid  when 
placed  in  close  proximity  to  their  comple- 
mentaries.  Thus,  pure  blue  looks  bluer 
in  close  proximity  to  orange  than  when 
viewed  by  itself. 

Place  a  red  disk  upon  a  sheet  of  white 
paper  and  gaze  at  the  center  of  the 
colored  disk  for  about  half  a  minute. 
Then  suddenly  divert  the  gaze  to  a  blank 
area  on  the  white  paper.  A  bluish  green 
disc  will  gradually  appear  on  the  paper 
where  there  is  no  color!  The  red  and 
bluish  green  are  complementary  colors. 
The  same  experiment  may  be  tried  with 
other  hues.  A  bright  yellow  disk,  for 
example,  will  create  an  apparitional  blue- 
violet  disk. 

"Simultaneous  contrast"  is  similar.  A 
white  movie  screen  surrounded  by  blue 
lighting,  for  instance,  appears  slightly 
orange,  or  yellowish.  Incandescent  light, 
decidedly  yellow  when  compared  with 
daylight,  "whitens  out"  by  virtue  of  in- 
creased blue-sensitivity  as  we  become  ac- 
customed to  it. 

The  'Purkinje  Effect' 

The  second  color  illusion  involves  a 
slight  apparent,  or  "seeming,"  change 
in  hue  with  differences  in  intensity.  This 
is  due  to  the  "Purkinje  effect." 


Theater  Equipment  and  NPA  Regulations 

A.  S  A  service  to  the  manufacturers  of  motion  picture  theater  equipment, 
'  »  no  less  than  to  the  theaters  themselves,  IP  desires  to  stress  the  appended 
points  relative  to  National  Production  Authority  regulations  applicable  to  both 
new  construction  and  the  purchasing  of  various  replacement  units  of  equipment. 

1.  Equipment  should  be  purchased  NOW  while  reasonable  deliv- 
ery terms  may  be  obtained. 

2.  There  is  no  limit  to  the  amount  of  money  that  an  exhibitor 
may  spend  for  most  theater  equipment. 

3.  The  exhibitor  needs  no  preference  ratings  for  the  purchase 
of  equipment  at  the  present  time. 

4.  It  is  possible  for  a  theater  owner  to  obtain  NPA  permission 
to  spend  more  than  $5000  at  one  time  on  alteration  and  modernization 
of  his  theater  by  making  application  to  NPA  on  Form  F-24. 

5.  Acceleration  of  the  defense  effort  will  create  shortages  of 
material  that  will  decrease  the  manufacture  of  theater  equipment  to 
a  comparatively  small  percentage  of  normal  supply. 

NPA  has  published  the  most  detailed  list  of  various  classifications  of 
equipment,  and  it  would  be  well  if  every  theater  in  the  country  had  this  list  on 
hand  against  the  time  when  their  needs  develop. 


Suppose  you  have  two  lamps,  one  with 
a  green  bulb  and  the  other  with  a  red 
bulb,  and  that  both  appear  equally 
bright.  If  you  were  to  add  another  green 
and  red  bulb  to  each  lamp,  you  would 
logically  expect  to  see  the  two  lamps  still 
equally  bright.  Actually,  the  red  lamp 
will  seem  to  be  brighter  than  the  green 
one. 

The  eye  reacts  differently  to  equal 
variations  in  the  intensity  of  green  and 
red. 

Emeraude  is  apparently  affected  least 
by  actual  changes  in  intensity;  vermilion 
the  most;  and  indigo  lies  between  the 
two. 

How  does  the  Purkinje  principle  affect 
the  apparent  hue  of  certain  colors?  Take 
the  case  of  yellow,  a  combination  of 
vermilion  and  emaraude  light.  Darken 
to  a  considerable  degree  some  true  yellow 
paint  by  adding  neutral  black  paint  to  it. 
Instead  of  obtaining  a  yellowish  brown, 
as  might  be  expected,  the  resulting  color 
will  be  a  slightly  greenish  gray-brown. 
The  vermilion  component  of  the  yellow 
decreases  more  rapidly  than  the  emer- 
aude (apparently)  as  the  black  is  added, 
thus  shifting  the  dominant  hue  from  true 
yellow  to  faintly  greenish  yellow  (fla- 
velle or  chartreuse). 

Size,  Luminosity,  Surroundings 

Most  other  alleged  color  illusions  in- 
volve the  relation  between  the  apparent 
size  of  colored  objects  and  the  lumin- 
osity of  the  objects  and  their  surround- 
ings. These  are  not  color  illusions,  strict- 
ly speaking,  since  they  can  also  be  pro- 
duced in  black-and-white.  And  still  other 


so-called  color  illusions  simply  fail  to 
work  for  most  observers. 

A  hue  may  be  defined  as  a  saturated 
color,  a  color  produced  by  one  primary 
alone  or  by  two  primaries  in  various 
combinations — never  three.  This,  of 
course,  refers  to  mixtures  of  colored 
lights.  When  paints  or  dyes  are  mixed, 
the  laws  of  subtractive  color  formation 
hold  good,  and  the  secondaries  (yellow, 
magenta,  and  cyan)  must  be  substituted 
for  the  primaries. 

The  eye  is  able  to  distinguish  about 
200  hues — for  all  practical  purposes 
exactly  192.  The  various  combinations 
of  vermilion  and  emeraude  number  63 
distinguishable  hues,  of  emeraude  and 
indigo  55,  of  indigo  and  vermilion  71. 
Add  to  these  the  three  primary  hues  used 
alone,  and  the  total  is  192. 

Strange  it  seems  that  each  bicolor 
"set"  yields  a  different  number  of  differ- 
entiate hues ;  but  the  Purkinje  principle 
offers  an  explanation.  Human  vision  is 
not  equally  sensitive  to  equal  variations 
in  the  intensity  of  the  three  primaries. 
This  fact  must  be  taken  into  account 
whenever  an  attempt  is  made  to  devise 
"equitempered"  hue  scales — color  charts 
which  are  based  upon  equal  color  differ- 
ences from  hue  to  hue. 

Color  Notation  Systems 

The  very  widely  used,  but  archaic  and 
unscientific,  Munsell  Colour  Notation 
System  ignores  equal  hue  differences  and 
certain  other  prime  requisites  of  a  per- 
fect color  system.  Small  wonder  that 
practical  color  technology  is  in  a  state 
(Continued  on  page  29) 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


May  1951 


15 


IN  THE 


SPOTLIGHT 


MOST  encouraging  was  the  renewed 
interest  in  practical  projection  ex- 
hibited at  the  recent  semi-annual  conven- 
tion of  the  SMPTE,  held  in  N.  Y.  City. 
Not  only  was  the  papers  programs  gen- 
erously lardered  with  projection  topics, 
but  there  was  the  best  representation  of 
projection  people  we  have  seen  at  any 
SMPTE  gathering  in   several  years. 

We  have  felt  that  for  all  too  long  the 
importance  of  projection  has  been  lost 
sight  of  by  the  Society.  The  recent  con- 
vention, plus  the  reorganization  of  the 
Projection  Practice  Committee  under 
the  chairmanship  of  a  practical  pro- 
jectionist— M.  D.  O'Brien  of  Loew's 
Theaters — did  much  to  dispel  our  mount- 
ing fears  anent  this  situation. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  these  develop- 
ments indicate  that  in  the  future  the 
Society  will  continue  to  accord  projec- 
tion the  attention  it  deserves. 

•  Michael  J.  Mungovan,  business  rep- 
resentative for  Local  25,  Rochester,  N.  Y., 
wound  up  a  career  of  53  years  backstage 
when  he  resigned  last  month  from  his 
job  as  chief  stagehand  at  Loew's  Roches- 
ter Theater.  He  will  now  devote  his  full 
time  to  his  numerous  union  activities. 
In  recognition  of  his  retirement  from  his 
job  at  the  theater,  all  Rochester  AF  of  L 
unions  affiliated  with  the  IATSE  feted 
Mike  at  a  midnight  party  held  at  Rund's 
Restaurant. 

Louis  Goler,  member  of  Projection- 
ists Local  253,  acted  as  master  of  cere- 
monies. Special  guests  on  hand  were 
James  L.  Burke,  president  of  Rochester 
AF  of  L;  Julius  Loos,  secretary  of  the 
Allied  Printing  Trades  Council,  and 
other  AF  of  L  members  associated  with 
Mike  during  his  half-century  service  to 
organized  labor. 

Mike  is  a  vice-president  of  the  New 
York  State  Federation  of  Labor;  a  mem- 
ber of  New  York  District  No.  10  execu- 
tive board,  and  he  belongs  to  many 
State  Labor  Department  and  AF  of  L 
organizations  and  committees. 

•  A  plan  to  combat  the  raiding  tactics 
of  NABET.  now  affiliated  with  the  CIO, 
was  drafted  recently  by  a  committee  of 
representatives  of  every  AF  of  L  union 
on   the   West   Coast   interested    in   radio 


By 

HARRY 

SHERMAN 


and  television.  At  the  first  meeting  of 
this  group,  announcement  was  made  of 
the  overwhelming  defeat  of  NABET  by 
a  vote  of  10  to  0  in  favor  of  the  IATSE 
at  radio  station  KFI-TV  in  Los  Angeles. 
The  AF  of  L  committee  will  meet  each 
week  during  the  campaign  to  eliminate 
the  CIO  union  from  the  radio  and  tele- 
vision studios.  Carl  G.  Cooper,  7th  vice- 
president,  and  Roy  Brewer,  special  West 
Coast  representative,  are  members  of  this 
committee  representing  the  IA. 

•  The  regular  monthly  meetings  of  the 
famous  25-30  Club  are  becoming  more 
and  more  popular.  Each  meeting  is  high- 
lighted by  some  special  event — either  an 
address  by  a  prominent  industry  figure 
or  a  lecture  and  demonstration  by  a 
technical  expert  on  the  latest  advances 
in  the  projection  field. 

Two  new  members  were  obligated  at 
the  April  meeting  of  the  Club — Harry 
E.  Storin,  vice-president  of  New  York 
Local  306,  and  Arthur  Raff,  member 
of  the  Local.  Among  the  "regulars"  at 
the  Club  meetings  are  Admiral  Tomkins 
and  Arthur  Meyer,  of  International  Pro- 
jector Corp.,  and  Allen  G.  Smith,  New 
York  branch  manager  for  National 
Theater  Supply  Co. 

•  Governor    Paul   A.    Dever,    of   Massa- 
NEW   SIMPLEX  X-L'S   FOR   ROXY,   N.  Y. 


Allen  Smith,  National  Theater  Supply  manager, 
and  Charles  Tally,  director  of  visual  and  sound 
projection,  inspect  installation  of  three  new 
X-L  projectors  in  this  famous  Broadway  house. 


chusetts,  reappointed  Benjamin  Hull,  for- 
mer president  of  Local  186,  Spring- 
field, Mass.,  as  associate  commissioner  of 
labor.  Despite  heavy  pressure  brought 
to  bear  on  the  Governor  to  name  a  Demo- 
crat to  replace  Hull,  a  holdover  from  the 
former  administration,  he  refused  to 
yield  and  reappointed  Hull  for  another 
term. 

•  Our  very  good  friend  Herbert  Aller, 
business  representative  of  Cameraman's 
Local  659  (Hollywood) ,  won  a  public 
speaking  contest  at  the  graduation  exer- 
cises of  the  Industrial  Relations  Course 
at  Loyola  University  in  Los  Angeles, 
Calif.,  and  was  awarded  a  medal  for 
proficiency  in  oratory.  Herb  chose  as 
his  topic  the  defense  of  President  Tru- 
man's action  in  removing  Douglas  Mac- 
Arthur  as  supreme  commander  in  the 
Far  East 

•  H.  N.  Elliott,  former  secretary  and 
long-time  member  of  Toronto  Local  173, 
and  Frank  Ford,  member  of  Cleveland 
Local  160,  were  among  the  recent  out-of- 
town  visitors  to  the  offices  of  IP. 

•  An  attendance  of  about  200  celebrated 
the  35th  anniversary  party  of  Local  433, 
Rock  Island,  111.,  which  was  held  May  3 
at  the  AF  of  L's  new  Temple  Club.  In 
addition  to  the  members  of  Local  433, 
representatives  from  many  of  the  nearby 
IA  Local  Unions  were  present.  Fred 
Parker,  business  representative  of  the 
Local,  introduced  the  toastmaster  of  the 
evening — John  H.  De  Young,  secretary 
of  the  Tri-States  Federation  of  Labor. 

Among  the  guest  speakers  were  Felix 
Snow,  IA  6th  vice-president;  William 
Donnelly,  IA  representative  and  also 
business  representative  for  Minneapolis 
Local  13,  and  Herbert  D.  Grove,  district 
manager  of  the  Tri-States  Theater  Corp. 
Grove,  incidentally,  is  a  charter  member 
of  the  Rock  Island  Local,  having  been 
one  of  its  organizers  35  years  ago.  Also 
present  were  Cliff  Carney  and  W.  E. 
Davis,  president  and  vice-president,  re- 
pectively,  of  the  Tri-States  Federation  of 
Labor;  Herb  Weinberg,  editor  of  the 
Labor  Review,  and  Gabriel  Gernaey,  Fed- 
eration board  member. 

•  Roy  M.  Brewer,  IA  West  Coast  rep- 


16 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


May  1951 


resentative,  is  chairman  of  a  committee 
appointed  by  the  Hollywood  AF  of  L 
Film  Council  to  draw  up  plans  for  the 
reopening  of  wage  negotiations  next  Oc- 
tober between  the  major  producers  and 
14  IA  Local  Unions  on  the  West  Coast. 
An  offer  of  10c  per  hour  increase  for 
hourly  workers  and  a  flat  $7  per  week 
increase  for  straight  salaried  workers, 
contingent  upon  the  Local's  agreement 
to  advance  the  existing  IA  contract  from 
October  1951  to  October  1952,  was 
turned  down  by  all  the  Locals  involved. 

•  News  of  the  accidental  death  by 
drowning  of  J.  Max  Ealy,  for  many  years 
secretary  and  business  representative  of 
Local  378,  Wichita  Falls,  Texas,  came 
as  a  shock  to  his  many  friends  in  the 
Alliance.  Max  and  his  wife,  together 
with  several  friends,  were  fishing  in 
Lake  Kickapoo,  Texas,  when  their  boat 
capsized  and  they  were  thrown  into  the 
water.  All  but  one  member  of  the  fishing 
party  were  drowned.  Max's  body  was 
not  found  until  four  days  later. 

•  Personalities  at  the  recent  SMPTE 
meeting:  RCA's  Marty  Bennett  was  eas- 
ily the  handsomest  man  present.  .  .  . 
Pete  Mole,  president  of  the  Society,  won 
the  hearts  of  all  present  at  the  dinner- 
dance  by  making  the  shortest  welcoming 
address  on  record — less  than  one  min- 
ute. ...  Ed  Lachman  (Lorraine  Carbons) 
has  won  many  friends  for  himself  and 
his  product  by  his  gracious  and  amiable 
personality.  .  .  .  Bill  Kunzmann,  as 
usual,  was  here,  there  and  everywhere, 
doing  his  level  best  to  keep  things  run- 
ning as  smoothly  as  possible.  Much  of 
the  success  of  the  gathering  may  be  at- 
tributed to  his  very  capable  and  tireless 
behind-the-scenes  efforts.  .  .  .  The  pro- 
jectionist craft  was  represented  by 
Charlie  Dentelbeck,  Toronto  Local  173; 
Jack  Sawyer,  Buffalo  Local  233;  Herman 
Gelber,  Harry  Storin,  Ernie  Lang,  Hyman 
Boritz,  John  Krulish,  Steve  DTnzillo, 
Harry  Garfman,  Harry  Hollander,  Wally 
Byrne,  and  Charley  Mueller  (Radio  City 
Music  Hall  projection  chief) ,  all  of  New 
York  Local  306.  .  .  .  Loren  Ryder,  past 
president  of  the  Society,  was  very  much 
in  evidence  greeting  his  many  old  friends. 
Loren  is  chief  sound  engineer  at  the  Para- 
mount Studios  on  the  West  Coast,  and 
is  highly  regarded  in  the  industry. 

•  Organized  labor  in  the  State  of  New 
York  is  very  much  concerned  about  the 
Hughes-Brees  Bill,  signed  recently  by 
Governor  Thomas  E.  Dewey.  In  protest 
against  the  Governor's  action,  Frederick 
F.  Umhey,  executive  secretary  of  the  New 
York  State  Advisory  Council  on  Place- 
ment and  Unemployment  Insurance  since 
1940,  resigned  from  his  post,  charging 
that  "since  the  only  sponsors  of  this  bill 


FLOYD  M.  BILLINGSLEY 

Floyd  M.  Billingsley,  third  vice-presi- 
dent of  the  IATSE  and  business  repre- 
sentative of  Local  162,  San  Francisco, 
died  on  May  2  of  surgical  shock  fol- 
lowing an  operation.  He  would  have 
been  61  years  of  age  on  May  5,  having 
spent  44  years  in  show  business. 

A  native  of  Texas,  Billingsley  became 
associated  with  the  first  nickelodeon  in 
Austin,  Texas,  in  1907,  a  few  years  fol- 
lowing which  he  moved  on  to  San  Fran- 
cisco, his  home  town  ever  since.  He 
joined  Local  162  in  1918,  and  was  its 
business  representative  almost  continu- 
ously since  1929.  He  was  appointed  an 
IA  vice-president  in  1931. 

A  delegate  to  the  San  Francisco  Cen- 
tral Labor  Council  for  the  past  17  years, 
Billingsley  served  since  1947  on  the 
World  Trade  Center  Authority  by  ap- 
pointment of  Governor  Warren  of  Cali- 
fornia. 


were  the  big  business  interests  of  this 
State,  and  since  it  was  unanimously  op- 
posed by  organized  labor,  you  have,  by 
signing  this  bill,  aligned  yourself  with 
big  business,  who  will  be  its  chief  bene- 
ficiaries. ...  It  will  do  untold  harm  to 
the  small  businessmen  of  this  State  and 
to  its  working  population.  It  has  removed 
our  unemployment  insurance  law  from 
the  category  of  social  legislation.  .  .  . 
We  will,  in  a  short  time  after  the  Hughes- 
Brees  law  goes  into  operation,  face  a 
complete  breakdown  of  unemployment 
insurance  in  this  State." 

•  We  learned  that  a  collection  of  $50,000 
for  the  Hill  Rogers  Memorial  Hospital 
at  Saranac  Lake,  N.  Y.,  was  made  at  the 
dinner  tendered  IA  President  Walsh  last 
month  by  the  film  industry.  It  may  not 
be  generally  known,  but  a  great  many 
of  the  patients  at  this  hospital  are  IA 
members  from  all  parts  of  the  country, 
and  the  care  and  attention  they  receive, 
without  any  charge,  cannot  be  improved 


upon  even  in  the  most  expensive  sani- 
toriums. 

This  is  one  organization  that  deserves 
the  support  of  every  theatrical  union  in 
the  country. 

•  Organized  labor  in  Ohio  faces  a  new 
menace  with  the  introduction  recently  of 
a  bill  called  SB-213,  which,  according  to 
the  Ohio  State  Federation  of  Labor,  out- 
Taft-Hartleys  the  T-H  law.  It  is  the  con- 
tention of  the  State  AF  of  L  legal  depart- 
ment that  Section  5  of  this  proposed  bill, 
which  prohibits  unions  from  denying 
membership  except  for  failure  to  pay 
dues  and  initiation  fees,  might  be  called 
a  "Magna  Charta  for  communists."  Many 
unions  now  refuse  to  accept  communists 
as  members,  but  under  the  SB-213  bill, 
refusal  to  admit  them  as  members  would 
subject  unions  to  civil  and  criminal  ac- 
tion. 

Among  the  other  obnoxious  features 
of  this  bill  is  a  provision  outlawing  all 
picketing,  no  matter  how  orderly  and 
peaceful.  The  language  of  the  bill  is  so 
broad  that  it  can  be  interpreted  as  pro- 
hibiting any  act  or  agreement  which 
"tends  to  have  the  result"  of  establishing 
a  union  shop,  closed  shop,  or  hiring  hall. 

The  sponsors  of  this  bill  imported 
Cecil  B.  DeMille,  movie  producer  well 
known  for  his  anti-union  leanings,  to  the 
hearing  accorded  the  proponents  of  this 
measure.  DeMille  gained  nation-wide 
publicity  when  he  gave  up  his  radio  show 
rather  than  submit  to  majority  union  rule. 

Opponents  to  the  SB-213  Bill  will  be 
heard  at  a  later  date,  at  which  time  we 
will  report  the  final  outcome  of  this  pro- 
posal. 

•  Michael  J.  Ostrowski,  veteran  member 
of  Local  233,  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  advised  us 
of  the  marriage  last  month  of  his  son 
Frank,  also  a  member  of  the  Local,  to 
Amy  Gawon,  secretary  to  Dave  Miller, 
of  Universal  Film  Corp. 


Photograph  Interior  of  the  Eye 

A  HIGH  SPEED  CAMERA  for  photo- 
graphing the  tell-tale  interior  of  the  eye  is 
now  in  production.  Developed  after  two 
years'  research  by  Bausch  &  Lomb  Optical 
Co.,  it  photographs— in  color  or  black-and- 
white — the  retina,  nerve  fibers  and  other 
structural  elements  of  microscopic  size 
within  the  eye. 

The  only  camera  of  its  kind  in  production 
today,  it  was  designed  at  the  request  of  the 
U.  S.  Public  Health  Service  for  studies  show- 
ing the  relationship  between  enlarged  retinal 
blood  vessels  and  vascular  diseases.  The  cam- 
era has  also  been  used  extensively  by  Dr. 
Walter  Kempner,  of  Duke  University  Hospi- 
tal, in  his  "rice  diet"  research  and  treatment 
of  these  diseases. 

Photographs  taken  periodically  of  the  in- 
terior of  the  eye  are  superimposed  so  that 
the  blood  vessels  may  be  compared  at  various 
stages  of  treatment. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


May  1951 


17 


Theater   Television 


via  the  RCA  PT-100  Equipment 


By  TECHNICAL  PRODUCTS  DIVISION,  RCA  SERVICE  CO.,  INC. 
VI.    Interpretation  of  Image  Characteristics 


IN  PART  FIVE  cf  this  series  of  articles 
on  the  RCA  PT-100  Theater  TV  Equip- 
ment, the  location,  function,  and  nor- 
mal settings  of  the  operating  controls 
were  discussed.  In  addition,  it  is  de- 
sirable for  the  projectionist  to  have  suf- 
ficient knowledge  of  the  capabilities  of 
the  equipment  to  enable  him  to  take  cor- 
rective action  and  adjust  the  equipment 
controls  to  obtain  best  performance. 

One  of  the  most  common  causes  of 
image  degradation,  when  broadcast  Tv 
signals  are  used,  is  interference  pickup 
from  the  ignition  systems  of  automobiles, 
buses  and  trucks.  Street  cars,  sign 
flashers,  diathermy,  X-ray  equipment  and 
similar  devices  often  radiate  interference 
which  may  cause  horizontal  streaks 
across  the  screen.  In  such  cases,  all 
that  can  be  done  to  the  equipment  at  the 
theatre  is  to  be  sure  that  the  receiver 
is  properly  tuned  and  the  Tv  receiving 
antenna  is  in  the  correct  rotational  posi- 
tion. 

Signals  transmitted  by  microwave  re- 
lay link  and  coaxial  cable  are  usually 
free  from  this  type  of  interference. 

Special  Test  Pattern  Used 

Where  signal  interference  is  present, 
or  where  a  proper  Tv  signal  is  not  being 
received,  adjusting  the  controls  of  the 
PT-100  equipment  cannot  produce  a 
normal  picture. 

Other  causes  of  a  technical  nature  may 
produce  picture  degradation.  Any  out- 
standing defects  will  be  plainly  seen  in 
the  projected  picture.  However,  when 
critically  analyzing  the  screen  image  it 
becomes  desirable  to  use  a  special  kind 
of  picture  which  is  designed  to  indicate 
the  band  width  of  the  received  signal, 
the  resolution  of  the  picture,  and  the 
correct  adjustments  of  the  operating 
controls.  Such  a  special  picture  is  called 
a  test  pattern. 

Several  different  kinds  of  test  patterns 
are  commonly  used.  A  typical  test  pat- 
tern is  shown  in  Fig.  1.  This  test  pat- 
tern consists  of  two  large  concentric 
circles  with  diameters  in  the  ratio  of 
4  to  3.  These  are  used  for  checking  the 
adjustments  of  the  height  and  width 
controls.  When  these  controls  have  been 
properly  adjusted,  the  outer  circle  will 
just   touch   the   right   and    left   sides   of 


the  screen,  and  the  inner  circle  will  just 
touch  the  top  and  bottom  of  the  screen. 

Interpreting  Test  Pattern 

At  the  center  of  the  test  pattern  there 
is  a  small  black  circle  surrounded  by 
four  narrow  concentric  rings.  These  are 
used  to  check  the  settings  of  the  video 
and  black  level  controls.  When  the 
black  level  control  is  properly  set,  the 
inner  circle  will  be  solid  black,  and  the 
inner  concentric  ring,  which  surrounds 
it,  will  be  somewhat  lighter. 

When  the  video  control  is  properly  set, 
the  outer  of  the  four  concentric  rings 
will  be  white  and  the  ring  just  inside 
it  will  be  somewhat  darker.  Thus,  the 
inner  circle  will  be  black,  and  the  rings 
surrounding  it  will  successively  be  lighter 
until  the  outer  ring  is  reached;  this  will 
be  pure  white. 

If  the  black  level  control  is  set  too 
low,  the  center  black  circle  will  have  a 
grayish  color  instead  of  solid  black.  If 
the  black  level  control  is  set  too  high, 
the  inner  concentric  ring  will  be  black, 
as  well  as  the  center  circle.  If  the  video 
control  is  set  too  low,  the  outer  con- 
centric circle  will  be  gray  instead  of 
white.  If  the  video  control  is  set  too 
high,  the  outer  two  concentric  circles 
will  both  be  white. 

If  the  video  control  is  set  too  high,  a 
condition  known  as  "blooming"  may  oc- 
cur in  the  projected  image.  When  this 


FIGURE  1 

A  typical  Tv  test 
pattern  put  on  the 
air  by  the  broadcast 
station  for  checking 
band  width  of  the 
signal,  picture  reso- 
lution, and  correct 
adjustment  of  con- 
trols. 


occurs,  the  white  parts  of  the  picture 
will  tend  to  spread  out  over  the  adjoin- 
ing black  parts,  causing  loss  of  detail 
and  also  lack  of  proper  contrast  between 
black  and  white.  This  resembles  the  well 
known  "halation"  caused  by  excess  light 
on  parts  of  a  motion  picture  film.  Or- 
dinarily this  condition  will  not  be  visible 
on  the  monitor  kinescope. 

Horizontal  Image  'Tear  Out' 

Improper  setting  of  the  Hor.  Hold 
control  will  cause  the  picture  to  "tear 
out"  horizontally.  When  this  occurs,  all 
or  part  of  the  picture  will  travel  rapidly 
across  the  screen,  producing  a  blurred 
jumble  of  picture  elements.  Resetting 
the  control  will  correct  this  condition, 
provided  the  incoming  signal  is  normal. 

Also,  the  test  pattern  shown  in  Fig.  1' 
includes  two  pairs  of  wedges.  Each 
wedge  consists  of  a  set  of  tapering  lines 
extending  inwardly  from  the  large  black 
circle  to  the  concentric  ring  pattern  in 
the  center. 

As  these  lines  approach  the  center, 
they  gradually  become  thinner  and  closer 
together.  Obviously,  the  detail  near  the 
center  ends  of  the  wedges  is  finer  than 
the  detail  at  the  outer  ends,  therefore 
these  wedges  will  indicate  the  resolution 
of  the  picture. 

The  horizontal  wedges  indicate  the 
vertical  resolution,  which  depends  on  the 
number  of  scanning  lines  used  by  the 
Tv  system.  The  present  American  scan- 
ning system  uses  525  lines,  which  is 
more  than  adequate  to  reproduce  the 
fine  detail  at  the  inner  ends  of  the  hori- 
zontal wedges. 

The  vertical  wedges  indicate  the  hori- 


18 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     May  1951 


zontal  resolution,  which  depends  on  the 
band  width  of  the  television  signal.  The 
standard  Tv  broadcast  band  width  is  6 
megacycles,  which  is  more  than  adequate 
to  reproduce  the  fine  detail  at  the  inner 
ends  of  the  vertical  wedges. 

The  RCA  PT-100  theater  Tv  equip- 
ment is  capable  of  accepting  and  using 
a  signal  having  a  bandwidth  of  8  mega- 
cycles. When  interpreting  the  test  pat- 
tern which  has  just  been  described,  it 
must  be  remembered  that  because  of 
technical  limitations  many  present-day 
video  signals  have  a  bandwidth  of  only 
2  to  4  megacycles.  When  such  a  signal 
is  used,  the  inner  ends  of  the  vertical 
wedges  will  be  blurred.  If  a  video  pic- 
ture signal  with  a  bandwidth  of  only 
2  to  4  megacycles  is  being  reproduced, 
the  finer  details  are  lost. 

Electron  Beam  Cutoff 

It  is  very  important  that  the  electron 
beam  in  the  kinescope  can  be  turned  on, 
or  cut  off  very  rapidly,  by  the  incoming 
video  signal,  in  order  to  produce  sharp 
vertical  edges  on  images  of  such  objects 
as  buildings,  chimneys,  etc. 

To  determine  the  speed  of  this  con- 
trol, two  vertical  edges  are  provided  in 
the  test  pattern.  These  can  be  seen  at 
the  extreme  right  and  left  ends  of  the 
pattern,  between  the  two  outer  circles, 
beyond  the  ends  of  the  two  horizontal 
wedges,  as  a  pair  of  blocks.  One  of 
these  is  black,  and  the  adjoining  one  is 
white. 

At  the  left  of  the  picture,  the  electron 
beam  traverses  the  black  block  and  then 
the  white  one.  If  the  electron  beam  can- 
not be  turned  on  rapidly  enough,  the 
black  edge  of  the  block,  at  the  left  of 
the  pattern,  will  extend  out  into  the 
white  block,  causing  blurring  of  the  black 
edge. 

At  the  right  of  the  pattern,  the  elec- 
tron beam  traverses  the  white  block,  then 
the  adjoining  black  one.  If  the  electron 
beam  cannot  be  turned  off  rapidly 
enough,  the  white  edge  of  the  block  at 
the  right  of  the  pattern  will  extend  out 
into  the  black  block,  causing  blurring 
of  the  white  edge. 

To  visualize  just  how  rapidly  the  elec- 
tron beam  must  be  turned  on  or  cut  off 
by  the  video  signal,  remember  that  the 
scanning  spot  travels  across  the  picture 
once,  and  returns  to  its  starting  point, 
15,750  times  each  second.  Its  travel 
across  the  screen  occurs  in  approxi- 
mately 55  millionths  of  a  second! 

Scanning  Image  Speed 

On  a  screen  20  feet  wide,  the  scan- 
ning spot  image  will  travel  one  foot  in 
55/20,  or  2.75,  millionths  of  a  second 
(2.75  micro-seconds).  This  is  a  speed 
of  1,000.000/2.75,  or  363.636.  feet  per 
second;  or  363.636/5280=68.8  miles  per 
second,  which  equals  247,680  miles  per 
hour.    At  this  speed  the  spot   could  go 


Roundup  of  Operation,  Maintenance  Data 

These  excerpts  from  a  booklet  relative  to  the  operation  and  maintenance  of  the  Peerless 
Magnarc  H-l  arclamp  introduce  a  series  of  similar  articles  culled  from  instruction 
booklets  issued  by  various  projection  equipment  manufacturers.  The  complete  Peerlees 
booklets  are  available  free  upon   request  to  the  manufacturer.* 

I.    The  Peerless  Magnarc  H-l  Arclamp 


IN  SETTING  up  the  lamphouse  on  the 
projector  pedestal,  it  is  important  that 
it  be  clamped  firmly  by  means  of  the 
screws  that  pass  through  the  pedestal 
table.  The  screws  which  retain  the  door 
to  the  lamphouse  rear  casting  may  be 
discarded,  as  they  are  used  only  for 
shipping  purposes. 

The  lamphouse  door  should  not  be 
opened  until  the  lamphouse  is  securely 
fastened  to  the  projector  table,  as  its 
weight  may  cause  the  lamphouse  to  over- 
balance. 

All  electrical  connections  between  the 
main  terminal  block  and  the  carbon 
holders,  etc.,  are  made  at  the  factory.  It 
is  necessary,  therefore,  only  to  connect 
the  main  terminals  to  the  current  supply 
circuit,  and  that  the  supply  leads  for 
the  Trim  Alarm  be  connected  to  a  6-volt 
A.  C.  source.  Higher  than  6-volts  will 
shorten  the  life  of  the  lamp  bulbs  as  well 
as  the  colored  plastic  domes  that  cover 
them. 

For  the  pilot  light  inside  the  lamp- 
house,  one  need  only  enclose  the  leads 
in  a  length  of  flexible  conduit  and  con- 
nect them  to  a  current  supply;  this  sup- 
ply may  often  be  found  at  the  projector 
motor  switch  or  at  some  convenient  110- 
volt  outlet. 

Power  Supply  Requisites 

The  Peerless  Magnarc  may  be  operated 
with  any  multiple-type  motor  generator, 
or  a  110-volt  D.  C.  service,  or  with  a 
rectifier,  providing  that  the  current  ca- 
pacity of  the  supply  unit  is  sufficient  for 
the  current  rating  of  the  carbons  to  be 
used.    Low-voltage  motor  generators  and 


*J.    E.    McAulev    Mfg.    Co.,    554    West    Adams 
St.,    Chicago   6,    III. 


rectifiers  having  satisfactory  outputs  are 
available  for  use  with  this  arc.  These 
lamps  may  also  be  operated  from  higher 
voltage  generators  if  proper  ballast  rheo- 
stats are  inserted  in  the  circuit  to  reduce 
the  generator  output  to  that  required  at 
the  arc. 

The  current  range  of  the  Magnarc, 
together  with  proper  carbon  combina- 
tions, are  shown  in  Table  A.  After  in- 
stallation, however,  if  it  be  found  de- 
sirable to  change  the  original  carbon 
sizes  to  use  more  or  less  current,  the  job 
may  be  accomplished  very  quickly  right 
in  the  projection  room  by  simply  chang- 
ing two  gears  as  illustrated  in  detail  by 
drawings  in  the  Magnarc  bulletin. 

Correct  Optical  Alignment 

Of  critical  importance  in  the  opera- 
tion of  any  arc  lamp  is  correct  optical 
alignment.  For  this  purpose  Magnarc 
makes  available  rods  and  discs  which,  to- 
gether with  a  dummy  lens  barrel,  insure 
practically  perfect  alignment.  The  op- 
erating distance  from  the  rear  surface 
of  the  reflector,  when  measured  through 
the  hole  in  its  center,  to  the  projector 
aperture  should  be  approximately  34 
inches. 

To  obtain  this  dimension,  it  may  be 
necessary  on  certain  projectors,  using 
rear  shutters,  to  remove  and  discard  the 
small  metal  light  cones  mounted  on  the 
rear  half  of  the  rear  shutter  housing. 

When  a  Magnarc  installation  is  made 
on  projectors  having  certain  types  of 
rear  shutters,  it  will  be  found  that  ap- 
proximately 35%  inches  is  the  shortest 
working   distance  that   can   be   obtained 

(Continued  on  next  page,  Col.  1) 


once  around  the  world  in  six  minutes, 
or  from  New  York  to  San  Francisco  in 
about  45  seconds! 

As  was  stated  in  an  earlier  article, 
of  this  series,  the  RCA  PT-100  Tv  equip- 
ment will  reproduce  picture  elements  at 
the  rate  of  eight  million  per  second,  or 
eight  per  micro-second.  Each  picture  ele- 
ment may  cut  off  or  turn  on  the  electron 
beam  in  the  projector  kinescope.  As 
the  spot  image  is  travelling  at  the  rate 
of  one  foot  in  2.75  micro-seconds,  and 
each  picture  element  occurs  in  one-eighth 
of  a  micro-second,  the  beam  can  be 
turned  on  or  off  8  x  2.75,  or  twenty-two 
times,  in  one  foot  of  its  travel  across 
the   screen.    This  is  approximately  one- 


half  inch  for  each  picture  element,  truly 
a  terrific  speed! 

Obviously,  all  internal  circuit  adjust- 
ments must  be  properly  made  with  the 
use  of  accurate  test  equipment — "rule- 
of-thumb"  adjustments  are  entirely  in- 
adequate and  would  serve  only  to  cause 
trouble.  However,  once  the  equipment 
has  been  properly  installed  and  adjusted, 
and  provided  with  a  good  input  signal, 
it  is  capable  of  producing  and  project- 
ing on  the  theater  screen  a  sharp  and 
acceptable  picture  of  an  event  which 
may  be  taking  place  a  thousand  miles 
away. 

[The  End] 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


May  1951 


19 


COPPER-COATED 
H-l  CARBONS 

Positive 

Negative 

Positive 

Negative 

Positive 


7-mm. 
6-mm. 
7-mm. 
6-mm. 
8-mm. 
7-mm.  Negative 


(Orotip 


"C")f 


ARC 
AMPERAGE    VOLTAGE 
RANGE  RANGE 


40-42 
42-50 
60-70 


27-28 
33-37 
36-40 


TABLE  A 

Carbon  combinations, 
arc  voltages  and  am- 
perages, as  compiled 
by  National  Carbon 
Company. 


between  the  reflector  vertex  and  the  pro- 
jector aperture.  This  is  due  to  the  added 
space  that  must  be  provided  between  the 
lamphouse  front  and  the  rear  shutter  as- 
sembly to  allow  for  the  opening  of  the 
film  gate  for  threading. 

Conventional  disc-type  rear  shutters 
and  their  housing  generally  permit  free 
passage  of  a  cone  of  light  having  a  cir- 
cular included  angle  of  30  2/3  degrees, 
beginning  at  an  apex  point  on  the  optical 
axis  line  that  is  1  3/32  inches  beyond  the 
aperture. 

Caution  Against  Excessive  Draught 

The  Magnarc  operates  at  relatively  low 
arc  voltage,  and  precautions  should  be 
taken  to  guard  against  air  drafts  which 
will  disturb  the  arc.  If  forced  draft  is 
employed  in  the  vent  pipes  to  carry  off 
arc  gases,  the  chimney  damper  should  be 
installed  in  the  exhaust  piping  just  above 
the  lamphouse  chimney  base  to  permit 
draught  regulation  to  a  point  where  no 
arc  disturbance  occurs. 

An  adjustable  friction  clutch  is  pro- 
vided for  the  negative  carbon  feed 
clutches.  The  tension  of  it  may  be  in- 
creased or  decreased  by  tightening  or 
loosening  the  large  nut  located  on  the 
extreme  left  end  of  the  negative  feed 
clutch  shaft.  This  nut  is  locked  in  posi- 
tion by  a  small  set  screw.  Upon  loosen- 
ing this  set  screw,  the  nut  may  be  screwed 
in  or  out  to  tighten  or  loosen  the  friction 
clutch  until  the  desired  degree  of  feed- 
ing tension  is  had. 

For  ease  in  rapid  arc  striking,  the 
tension  should  not  be  excessive — only 
sufficient  to  insure  accurate  feed  of  the 
negative  carbon. 

Sudden  Current  Increase 

At  infrequent  intervals  during  normal 
operations  a  relatively  sudden  increase 
of  current  may  register  on  the  ammeter. 
Generally,  the  cause  can  be  traced  to 
small  cracks  in  the  shell  of  the  positive 


A  Microfilm  Edition  of  IP 

All  or  any  part  of  any  issue  of  IP  since 
Jan.,  1950  and  in  the  future  is  now  avail- 
able on  microfilm  to  libraries,  industry  and 
other  interested  parties  as  a  result  of  ne- 
gotiations completed  with  University  Mi- 
crofilms, 313  No.  First  St.,  Ann  Arbor, 
Mich.  Complete  details  relative  to  this 
microfilm  service  is  available  from  the 
aforementioned  organization. 


carbon  or  to  overloading  the  carbon  com- 
bination used.  When  such  cracks  occur, 
they  permit  a  leakage  of  gas  from  the 
crater,  rarefying  the  gas,  which  condi- 
tion in  turn  reduces  the  normal  resist- 
ance across  the  arc. 

During  such  periods  the  crater  will 
become  very  shallow  and  the  rim  of  it 
will  burn  to  a  pronounced  rounded  edge. 
The  only  remedy  is  to  allow  the  cracked 
area  of  the  carbon  to  burn  away,  or  to 
retrim  at  the  first  opportunity. 

A  good  grade  of  lubricating  oil,  similar 
to  that  used  for  projectors,  should  be 
used  on  the  Magnarc.  Oil  should  be  used 
sparingly,  since  all  parts  of  the  Magnarc 
are  slow-moving,  requiring  only  a  few 
drops  of  oil  in  each  oil  cup — once  a 
week  should  suffice. 

Do  not  use  graphite,  or  any  lubricant 
containing  graphite,  on  a  Magnarc  lamp. 

British  Projection  Plagued  by 
Excessive  Print  Damage 

MOTION  picture  projection  is  the 
same  the  world  over,  but  the  British 
Isles  would  seem  to  be  having  more  than 
a  little  trouble  anent  the  mutilation  of 
film  prints,  of  a  character  which  has  not 
been  too  obvious  in  the  U.  S.,  except  for 
the  war  years,  for  many  a  day.  As  usual, 
there  is  the  inevitable  buck-passing  be- 
tween projectionists  and  distributors, 
with  the  latter  following  the  familiar 
pattern  of  being  excessively  vague  as  to 
their  inspection  routine,  etc. 

R.  H.  Cricks,  editor  of  the  technical 
section  of  the  Ideal  Kinema  (London) 
reports  as  follows: 

"Scratching  represents  50%  of  all 
damage  reported,  and  perforation  dam- 
age another  33%.  The  comparatively 
small  remaining  proportion  of  faults  were 
classified  under  19  different  headings. 
Every  case  of  damage  was  attributed  by 
the  renter's  (distributor)  print  manager 
— necessarily  with  some  degree  of  un- 
certainty— to  some  particular  fault. 

"Various  aspects  of  projector  adjust- 
ment or  maintenance  represented  35%, 
excluding  the  classification  of  'run  off 
sprockets'  (probably  also  a  projector  or 
a  reel  fault),  representing  another  9.9%. 
Dirt  or  emulsion  in  the  gate  represented 
18.7%  of  the  faults. 

"Faulty      threading      accounted      for 


15.3%,  and  various  rewinding  faults 
17.3%.  One  figure  which  I  frankly  ques- 
tion is  'lack  of  wax' — 0.3% ;  I  should 
have  expected  a  far  higher  figure. 

'Accidental'  and  'Deliberate'? 

"With  the  finest  of  equipment  and  the 
most  skilled  projectionists,  an  occasional 
mishap  is  bound  to  occur,  yet  the  figure 
for  'accidental'  was  only  0.5% — the  same 
as  for  a  rather  unpleasant  heading  of 
'deliberate'.  A  wide  variety  of  causes  ac- 
counted for  the  remaining  2V<>%. 

"One  thing  is  very  clear  from  these 
figures :  nearly  two-thirds  of  all  film  dam- 
age is,  in  the  opinion  of  the  renter's 
examiners,  caused  by  projectors  in  faulty 
condition.    The  moral  is  obvious." 

It  would  seem  also  that  British  projec- 
tion equipment  is  either  pretty  aged  or 
in  a  sad  state  of  disrepair. 


Importance  of  DO-97  Stressed 
by  National  Theatre  Supply 

The  importance  of  the  new  Regulation 
4  recently  issued  by  the  National  Produc- 
tion Authority  to  authorize  the  use  of  a 
priority  rating  for  business  establish- 
ments to  obtain  necessary  maintenance, 
repair  and  operating  supplies  is  being 
called  to  the  attention  of  customers  by 
National  Theatre  Supply.  This  rating, 
known  as  DO-97,  places  on  a  supplier 
or  manufacturer  receiving  it  the  obliga- 
tion to  fill  such  rated  orders  ahead  of 
non-rated  orders. 

To  alert  exhibitors,  who  may  still  be 
unaware  of  its  importance  and  to  make 
it  convenient  for  them  to  extend  the  rat- 
ing to  the  supplier,  National  has  pre- 
pared a  handy  yellow-and-black  sticker 
which  can  be  signed  and  attached  to  the 
order.  The  sticker  reads  as  follows: 

NATIONAL  THEATRE  SUPPLY 
"DO-97.   Certified 
under  Regulation  4." 

SIGNED 

A  quantity  of  these  stickers  are  sent  to 
all  customers  together  with  a  printed 
notice  pointing  out  that  their  use  in  se- 
curing and  forwarding  the  DO-97  certifi- 
cation will  eliminate  delays  and  assists 
manufacturers  in  continuing  to  obtain 
essential  raw  materials,  thus  insuring  an 
adequate  supply  of  operating  require- 
ments. 


Eastman  Kodak  Earnings  Top  '50 

Eastman  Kodak  Co.  has  announced  pre- 
liminary consolidated  sales  of  approximately 
$113  million  for  the  first  quarter  of  1951 
(12  weeks  ending  March  25).  This  compares 
with  reported  sales  of  approximately  $84% 
million  for  the  corresponding  period  in  1950. 
Sales  so  far  this  year  have  continued  the  up- 
ward trend  that  developed  in  the  last  half 
of  1950. 


20 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


May  1951 


H-l  Carbon-Arc  Spotlights  Enjoying  a  New  Vogue 


24"* 


Tilting  up  to  80' 


Dimensional  characteristics  of  H-l  spotlight  under  various  operating  conditions. 


THE  greatly  increased  number  of  large 
arenas  in  the  U.  S.  and  Canada  within 
the  past  few  years  has  revived  widespread 
interest  in  the  art  of  spotlighting — for  an 
art  it  is.  Seating  from  6,000  to  12,000 
these  arenas  offer  hockey,  basketball, 
boxing,  ice  shows  and  many  other  at- 
tractions. 

Exacting  Requirements 

Lighting  the  performers  in  an  ice  show 
is  a  prime  example  of  the  exacting  re- 
quirements for  efficient  spotlighting.  Here 
is  a  soloist  moving  around  a  rink  200  x  70 
feet,  with  12,000  pairs  of  eyes  focused 
upon  him  and  following  his  every  move. 
The  whole  arena  is  in  semi-darkness 
(similar  to  the  light  level  of  a  modern 
movie    house)     and    only    the    powerful 


0(1) 


|©|(?) 


BAND 
X^  STAGE    <^ 


ICE 

RINK 

P0R 

ICE 

SHOWS 

170' 

x  70' 

(8)(§ 


C7)  foj 


0(3) 


(6)@ 


ED  (A) 


El  (5) 


spots  cast  their  beams  on  the  skater. 

Under  such  circumstances,  8  to  14 
modern  spots  are  used,  located  in  cages 
all  around  the  arena  about  30  to  50  feet 
above  the  rink.  Not  infrequently  the  tilt 
of  the  unit  approaches  70  degrees,  at 
which  time  the  performer  comes  almost 
directly  underneath  the  light  beam. 

The  operators  of  such  spotlights  are 
more  than  a  little  busy  during  an  ice 
show.  There  is  a  master  light  plot,  of 
course,  but  changes  are  constantly  being 
telephoned  by  the  lighting  director. 
These  instructions  must  be  carried  out  in- 
stantly, especially  when  they  have  to 
"hit"  or  blackout  a  performer. 

They  must  also  follow  the  intricate, 
sometimes  unpredictable,  movements  of 
the  skater;  they  must  change  the  diame- 
ter of  the  spot  from  a  small  concentrated 
headspot  to  a  flood  covering  a  large  area 


3'6° 


lt<6« 


""^  RAILING  4  STEEL  SHEETS 
■  STEEL  SCREEN 

METROLITE 


General    arrangement   for   the    use    of    8    H-l 
carbon-arc  spotlights  in  an  arena. 


FLOOR  IN  CONCRETE  OR  STEEL 
STEEL  SCREEN  WALL  IS  2'  HIGH 

Typical    spotlight    operating    enclosure. 


of  the  rink;  they  must  change  the  color 
gelatins,  of  which  they  have  an  extensive 
supply,  and  they  must  utilize  with  judg- 
ment the  fading  iris. 

Performance  Depends  Upon  Design 

All  these  requisites  must  be  considered 
by  the  manufacturer  of  the  spot.  Easy 
and  quick  manipulation,  plus  a  perfectly 
reliable  arc  mechanism,  are  cited  as  the 
prime  requisites  by  Genarco,  Inc.,  mak- 
ers of  the  Metro-Lite  high-intensity,  car- 
bon-arc spots.  Genarco  makes  two  H-I 
spots:  the  Model  ME-4  which  pulls  125 


amps  D.C.  and  has  a  range  of  throw  of 
from  100  to  400  feet,  and  the  Model 
ME-5,  the  vaudeville-type,  which  pulls 
60-85  amps  D.C.  and  covers  the  75  to  250 
ft.  range  of  throw. 

Genarco  is  an  ardent  proponent  of  H-I 
carbon-arc  spots  because  of  the  tremen- 
dous flood  of  light  that  can  be  placed  on 
an  arena.  For  example,  when  a  per- 
former is  in  the  center  of  an  arena,  the 
throw  from  4  of,  say,  8  spots  would  be 
100  feet,  and  the  throw  of  the  other  4 
spots  would  be  200  feet.  The  illumina- 
tion from  a  Metro-Lite  spot  8  feet  in 
diameter  would  be  400  foot-candles;  the 
same  spot  at  100-feet  throw  would  give 
100  foot-candles. 

Detailed  information  on  the  Metro- 
Lite  spotlights  is  available  from  Genarco 
at  36-56  34th  St.,  Long  Island  City  6, 
New  York. 


I  A    ELECTI ONS 

LOCAL  162,  SAN  FRANCISCO,  CALIF. 

John  A.  Forde,  pres.;  Orville  G.  Roush, 
1st  vice-pres.;  Robert  M  .Wilson,  2nd  vice- 
pres.;  Raymond  Kirkpatrick,  3rd  vice-pres.; 
Wm.  Van  Ornum,  4t/i  vice-pres.;  Ernest 
Langley,  5th  vice-pres.;  Thomas  J.  Kearney, 
sec.-treas.;  Floyd  M.  Billingsley,  bus.  rep.; 
Antone  J.  Salemi,  sgt.-ot-arms ;  Roush,  Wil- 
son, Kirkpatrick,  Van  Ornum,  and  Langley, 
exec,  board.  (Floyd  Billingsley  died  shortly 
after  election  to  office.) 

LOCAL  165,  HOLLYWOOD,  CALIF. 

Edward  Egan,  pres.;  Leo  Moore,  vice-pres.; 
Howard  Edgar,  sec.-treas.;  George  Flaherty, 
bus.  rep.;  Al  Pullen,  Harold  Masser,  Frank 
Chaney,  Ed  Wirling,  J.  Higgins,  exec,  board; 
William  Hunger,  William  Harris,  John  Lina- 
han,  trustees;  Harold  Swanson,  Pat  Offer, 
John  Schwartz,  exam,  board;  Frank  Chaney, 
E.  Egan,  L.  Moore,  G.  Flaherty,  del.  to 
CLU;  G.  Flaherty,  del.  Calif.  State  Fed.  of 
Labor. 

LOCAL  277,   BRIDGEPORT,  CONN. 

Roland  J.  McLeod,  pres.;  Frank  Toth, 
vice-pres.;  Thomas  E.  Colwell,  rec.-sec; 
Leroy  Nickerson,  fin.-sec;  Fred  Lewis, 
treas.;  John  A.  Martin,  bus.  rep.;  John  C. 
Lynch,  sgt.-at-arms ;  John  Benard,  Joseph 
Cossette,  Frank  Gorman,  Harold  Ryckman, 
exec,  board;  Leslie  C.  Blakeslee,  James  Li- 
burdi,  William  Towle,  Mario  Parrelli,  Jo- 
seph Kaplan,  trustees;  Joseph  Cink,  James 
Leverone,  McLeod,  Nickerson,  Benard,  del. 
CLU;  McLeod  and  Martin,  del.  to  all  con- 
ventions. 

LOCAL  433,  ROCK  ISLAND,  ILL. 

Charles  C.  Derr,  pres.;  Mark  M.  Maston, 
vice-pres.;  Warren  Castle,  fin.-sec;  Lloyd 
Burrs,  treas.;  Fred  Parker,  rec.-sec.  &  bus. 
rep.;  Edward  Short,  exec,  board. 


Your  Very  Best  Buy 
BUY  U.  S.  SAVINGS  BONDS 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     May  1951 


21 


THEATER  Tv  got  its  biggest  shot  in 
the  arm  since  its  inception  during  the 
past  month  in  three  developments  which 
indicate  that  after  months  of  fumbling 
the  motion  picture  exhibition  field  finally 
recognizes  the  need  for  drastic  action  if 
the  economic  structure  of  the  industry  as 
presently  constituted  is  to  be  preserved. 
These  developments,  not  necessarily  in 
their  order  of  importance,  were: 

RCA  announced  that,  in  addition  to 
the  installations  already  made,  new  or- 
ders for  50  theater  Tv  systems  had  been 
received  from  13  exhibitors  in  states 
ranging  from  coast  to  coast.  Work  on 
these  jobs  will  begin  immediately. 

One  of  these  orders  was  for  20  units 
from  United  Paramount  Theaters,  which 
already  has  five  Tv  houses.  The  import 
of  this  order  lies  in  the  willingness  of  an 
experienced  operator  in  theater  Tv  to 
plunge  so  heavily  on  an  extension  of  its 
Tv  chain. 

Wonder  of  wonders,  the  Theater  Own- 
ers of  America  voted  to  raise  a  "war 
chest"  to  wage  the  fight  for  theater  Tv 
allocations. 

The  FCC  has  set  Sept.  17  next  for 
hearings  looking  toward  the  allocation 
of  frequencies  and  the  promulgation  of 
rules  and  regulations  for  theater  Tv  serv- 
ice. Fifty  parties  have  filed  petitions  ask- 
ing FCC  to  set  aside  frequencies  for  this 
purpose. 

The  National  Collegiate  Athletic  Assoc, 
reaffirmed  its  intention  to  ban  the  televis- 
ing of  member  college  football  games  for 
home  Tv  in  favor  of  cooperation  with 
theater  Tv. 

200  Tv  Theaters  This  Year? 

RCA  foresees  the  early  installation  of 
theater  Tv  equipment  in  at  least  200  loca- 
tions. There  seems  to  be  no  doubt  that 
the  foresight  of  RCA  in  going  ahead 
with  full-scale  production,  even  without 
definite  purchase  commitments,  will  per- 
mit the  delivery  of  these  units  despite  the 
growing  shortage  of  certain  critical  ma- 
terials which  go  into  their  manufacture. 
Also,  the  recent  reduction  in  price  of 
almost  $10,000  to  the  present  level  of 
$15,800  will  revive  exhibitor  interest  in 
the  equipment. 

The  IATSE  already  has  a  fairly  strong 
grip  on  the  theater  Tv  labor  setup  by 
reason  of  its  members  who  have  been 
operating  such  equipment  for  several 
years  now,  and  also  because  of  the  joint 
RCA-IA  efforts  to  instruct  a  group  of 
leading    projectionists    representative    of 


every  geographical  area  in  the  country. 
*       *       * 

Thus  the  pattern  on  the  exhibition  side. 
But  the  production  unionists  were  not 
idle  either.  Roy  Brewer,  IA  representa- 
tive on  the  West  Coast,  announced  that 
the  14  IA  Locals  concerned  with  picture- 
making  will  demand  participation  in  pro- 
ducer profits  from  pictures  sold  or  leased 
to  Tv  of  from  5  to  10%.  This  move  ad- 
heres to  the  pattern  of  the  musicians 
(AF  of  M),  who  have  already  inked  such 
deals  with  film  producers. 

Already  the  three  "talent"  guilds — 
writers,  actors  and  directors — have  earned 
serious  consideration  from  the  producers 
for  their  demand  of  35%  of  the  Tv  rev- 
enue from  pictures  made  for  the  theater, 
the  division  of  monies  to  be  made  on 
the  basis  of  1/3  each  way.  The  AF  of  M 
deal  provided  for  a  5%  cut  of  such  rev- 
enue, to  go  into  a  welfare  find,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  proviso  that  the  musical  track 
of  each  film  had  to  be  rescored  by  the 
same  number  of  musicians  originally  em- 
ployed and  taking  the  same  time  it  took 
to  do  the  job  originally.  Obviously,  this 
is  purely  and  simply  a  make-work  ar- 
rangement. 

Sale  of  Tv  Prints 

Meanwhile,  United  Paramount  The- 
aters is  missing  no  bets  with  its  inter- 
mediate Tv  system,  which  takes  programs 
off  the  air  and  records  them  on  film. 
Events  of  prime  national  importance  are 
rushed  into  print  form  and  sold  to  both 
theaters  and  Tv  stations.  Reportedly,  the 
recent  MacArthur  speech  before  Congress 
was  leased  for  $1000  per  print. 

There  is  no  doubt  in  informed  circles 
that  a  circuit  of  Tv  theaters  could  give 
the  Tv  broadcasters  plenty  of  headaches. 
For  example,  last  Fall  the  cost  to  the 
Univ.  of  Michigan  for  camera  crews  and 
the  announcer  for  one  game  ran  to  $882. 
With  10  Tv  theaters  joining  in  a  circuit 
for  the  same  game,  the  cost  would  be 
only  $88.  And  how  about  the  profit 
angle? 

Yea,  verily,  the  theater  Tv  pot  is  boil- 
ing, and  it  would  seem  that  the  extent 
to  which  the  chicken  will  be  cooked  to 
a  point  where  it  is  edible  would  depend 
entirely  on  the  courage,  energy  and  re- 
sourcefulness of  the  exhibition  field  over 
the  next  few  months. 

#       *       * 

Kinescope  Recording  a  'Must' 

Kinescope  recording  "has  withstood  the 
test  of  time  and  trial  by  ordeal"  to  the 


point  where  "it  may  now  don  long  pants 
and  take  its  place  beside  its  big  brother, 
film  distribution,  to  render  a  real  service 
on  a  practical  businesslike  basis."  So 
reported  Frank  C.  Lepore,  of  NBC,  at  the 
recent  SMPTE  convention. 

Lepore  said  that  "kinescope  recordings 
make  possible  national  Tv  networks 
guaranteeing  a  bright  future  for  the  new- 
est and  most  dynamic  medium  of  adver- 
tising and  communication  yet  devised  by 
man." 

It  was  contended  by  Lepore  that  "des- 
pite all  the  gloomy  talk  about  the  ex- 
tinction of  kinescope  recording  when  all 
stations  have  been  interconnected  by 
cable  sometime  in  the  future,  the  differ- 
ence in  time  zones  and  delayed  broad- 
casting three  or  four  hours  after  the  live 
show  for  the  benefit  of  audiences  in  far 
places  will  continue  to  make  kinescope 
recording  or  some  modification  of  same 
a  practical  reality  for  some  time  to  come." 
*       *       * 

Tv  Socks  Its  Maw — Radio 

Not  all  the  woes  passed  along  by  the 
mushroom  growth  of  television  have  been 
visited  upon  the  motion  picture  industry. 
Radio,  which  spawned  Tv,  now  finds  it- 
self a  victim  of  its  own  enfant,  terrible. 

N.B.C.  is  planning  a  reduction  of  its 
network  radio  time  charges  to  meet  a 
similar  competitive  move  announced  re- 
cently by  C.B.S.  The  latter  chain,  the  first 
among  the  four  major  radio  networks  to 
announce  a  cut,  said  its  reduction  of 
10  to  15%  would  become  effective  on 
July  1. 

The  rate  cutting,  it  is  believed,  comes 
as  a  result  of  inroads  made  on  radio 
audiences  by  Tv.  National  advertisers, 
representing  most  all  of  radio's  major 
sponsors,  have  sought  a  radio-rate  reduc- 
tion ever  since  Tv  came  into  competition 
with  the  older  medium. 

While  A. B.C.  has  announced  no  rate 
reductions,  a  spokesman  said  that  the 
chain  intends  to  "maintain  its  competi- 
tive rate  advantage"  among  three  of  the 
major  networks.  Mutual  has  reserved 
comment  so  far. 

The  rate  cut  by  N.B.C.  is  part  of  a 
three-way  economy  move  now  being  for- 
mulated, including  a  reduction  in  the 
number  of  staff  radio  personnel.  It  is 
understood  that  all  N.B.C.  radio  depart- 
ments will  be  affected,  but  the  number  of 
personnel  dismissed  is  not  known. 

In  the   case  of  sustaining  radio   pro- 


22 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


May  1951 


grams,  which  have  no  sponsors,  N.B.C. 
is  planning  less  costly  shows  for  next 
fall.  What  radio  budget  cuts  might  come 
before  then  cannot  be  foreseen. 


NEWS  PROJECTIONS 


WAGE  STABILIZATION  BOARD 
has  announced  that  motion  picture 
"talent"  will  not  be  held  to  the  10% 
limitation  on  wage  increases.  Affected 
are  players,  producers,  directors,  writers, 
composers,  musicians,  art  directors,  ward- 
robe designers,  cameramen  and  assistants, 
sound  engineers,  and  film  editors.  ...  A 
flat  per-admission  rental  charge  for  films 
for  competitive  theaters  is  advocated  by 
Allied  exhibitors.  .  .  .  Terrific  print  short- 
age, with  film  being  "run  to  death"  in 
successive  engagements  without  proper 
exchange  inspection,  is  attributed  to  dis- 
tributor economy  move  rather  than  to 
any  stock  shortage.  .  .  .  Group  of  Tv 
film  producers  assert  that  video  will  be 
purchasing  $240  million  worth  of  film 
annually  by  1954.  .  .  .  All-out  use  of  color 
film,  nothing  less  than  100%,  is  the 
"salvation  of  the  motion  picture  indus- 
try." Who  said  it?  Why,  Dr.  H.  T. 
Kalmus,  president  of  Technicolor. 

Growing  suspicion  in  film  circles  that 
surveys  made  by  advertising  agencies 
and  other  groups  purporting  to  show  the 
"decline"  of  motion  picture  interest  are 
"plants"  in  behalf  of  their  big-time  Tv 
clients.  .  .  .  General  Federation  of 
Women's  Clubs  estimates  that  there  are 
no  less  than  12  "good"  films  worth  see- 
ing each  month.  .  .  .  Princess  Theater, 
Minneapolis,  offers  3  wrestling  bouts  and 
a  feature  film  at  $1  for  adults  and  50c 
for  children.  First  such  shows  O.K.  at 
box-office.  .  .  .  "Arty"  films,  mostly 
foreign-made,  going  great  guns  at  "class" 
small  theaters.  .  .  .  Tv  programs  continue 
to  smear  movies — in  theaters,  that  is, 
because  Tv  would  die  without  film,  even 
of  the  10-to-15-year  vintage.  .  .  .  RKO 
Theaters  in  N.  Y.  City  have  renewed 
contract  with  NBC  for  the  advertising 
of  their  film  programs. 

Bingo  games,  a  tough  competitor  for 
theaters,  is  having  a  bit  of  rough  going 
because  of  rising  sentiment  against  any 
form  of  "gambling."  .  .  .  Paramount's 
releases  for  the  balance  of  this  year  rep- 
resent a  record  investment  in  production. 
.  .  .  First-quarter  craft  labor  employ- 
ment in  West  Coast  studios  this  year  was 
14,400,  a  gain  of  1700  over  same  period 
last  year.  .  .  .  Miami  crusador's  attempt 
to  have  all  film  theaters  closed  on  Sun- 
days flopped,  the  decision  being  that  the 
exhibitor  is  not  a  "merchant."  .  .  .  Some 
exhibitors  advocating  a  lower  mid-week 
admission  price  as  a  spur  to  attendance. 


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More  Illumination, 
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For  the  Best  in 
Projection  use  Super 
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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     May  1951 


23 


SMPTE  69th  CONVENTION 

(Continued   from   page    10) 

to  leave  the  hands  of  a  serving  maid  on 
the  screen  and  float  out  before  the  audi- 
ence to  a  position  just  a  few  inches 
before  the  eyes  of  each  spectator. 

The  stereoscopic  effects  are  achieved, 
first  by  filming  the  scene  from  two  dif- 
ferent displaced  positions,  correspond- 
ing to  the  displacement  of  the  eyes ;  next 
by  projecting  the  film  through  a  polaroid 
filter  which  polarizes  alternate  still  pic- 


tures in  different  directions;  and  finally 
by  viewing  the  pictures  through  polaroid 
viewing  glasses,  with  a  different  polari- 
zation for  each  lens  corresponding  to 
that  of  the  alternate  frames  of  the  pic- 
ture. 

Screen  Brightness  Sub-Standard 

Screen  brightness  lower  than  the  rec- 
ommended standards  was  found  in  nearly 
one-fourth  of  88  indoor  theaters  covered 
by  a  progress  report  presented  by  the 
Screen  Brightness  Committee. 

Constituting  findings  to  date  in  a  sur- 


ATIONAL 


THEATRE        SUPPLY 


Division    of    National  .  Simple.  •  Bludworlh.lnc 


29  BRANCHES  •  COAST  TO  COAST 


*1Vo*I(£a.  Mod  Paw&dul  SfudUaM' 


Sfc  * 


The  METRO-LITE  high-intensify 
carbon  arc  spotlight  comes  in 
two  models: — 

MODEL  ME  4     1 25  Amps  D.C. 
1 00  ft.  to  400  ft.  throw. 

MODEL    ME  5     "Vaudeville" 
60  to  85  Amps  D.C. 
75  ft.  to  250  ft.  throw. 


METRO-LITE 


Literature  available  on  both  units  upon  request  to 

GENARCO,  Inc.  36-56  b  34th  St.,  Long  Island  City  6,  N.  Y. 


vey  of  100  representative  indoor  theaters 
begun  by  the  committee  last  year,  they 
reported  that  screen  brightness  ranged 
from  3.4  to  53  foot-lambers,  with  ap- 
proximately one-fourth  below  and  one- 
half  within  the  ASA  range.  Two  theaters 
equipped  with  highly-directional  "silver" 
screens  had  a  central  maximum  screen 
brightness  in  the  range  of  30  to  53  foot- 
lamberts. 

With  respect  to  distribution  of  illumi- 
nation over  the  screen,  expressed  as  a 
ratio  of  side-to-center  intensity  of  inci- 
dental illumination,  the  committee  re- 
ported that  the  side  distribution  ranged 
from  40  to  94%  for  the  indoor  theaters, 
with  almost  two-thirds  of  the  projectors 
falling  between  60  and  80%. 

Poor  Over-All  Average 

Only  about  40%  of  the  indoor  theaters 
had  reflectivities  in  the  70-to-80-per  cent 
range  typical  of  the  matte  white  screen 
in  good  condition,  the  report  stated. 
About  25%  of  the  screens  were  a  little 
below  this  range,  and  another  20%  were 
substantially  lower,  ranging  down  to 
44%. 

"It  is  expected,"  the  report  concluded, 
"that  the  results  of  the  survey,  when 
completed,  will  form  the  basis  of  a  Com- 
mittee recommendation  for  improvement 
of  projection  practice  in  theaters."  In 
the  meantime,  it  stated,  better  attention 
to  operation  and  maintenance  could  re- 
duce the  wide  range  of  screen  brightness 
and  eliminate  many  of  the  highly  non- 
uniform distributions  of  illumination. 

Theater  Tv  Safety  Program 

Special  safety  regulations  covering  the 
installation  and  operation  of  theater  tele- 
vision systems  are  being  discussed  in 
Chicago  by  the  city's  Board  of  Examiners 
of  Motion  Picture  Machine  Operators 
the  Society  was  told  by  Samuel  R.  Todd, 
a  member  of  the  board.  Such  regulations, 
if  and  when  adopted,  will  be  adminis- 
tered by  the  same  board,  which  has  juris- 
diction over  all  motion  picture  projector 
operation  in  the  city,  including  such 
activities  in  television  studios  as  well  as 
in  theaters,  Mr.  Todd  said. 

Although  new  problems,  apart  from 
those  involved  in  film  presentation,  have 
been  presented  by  the  introduction  of 
theater  television,  he  said,  presently 
available  direct  projection  theater  tele- 
vision equipment  is  "very  well  designed 
from  the  viewpoint  of  having  adequate 
safety  disconnect  switches  at  all  points 
where  dangerous  electrical  potentials 
may  be  encountered." 

Keep  Safety  Circuits  Intact 

It  is  extremely  important,  he  said,  that 
all  of  these  safety  circuits  be  kept  intact 
at  all  times,  and  that  no  unauthorized 
modifications  be  made. 

In  the  case  of  theater  television  sys- 
tems of  the  so-called  storage  type,  em- 
ploying motion  picture  film,  he  said,  a 


24 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


May  1951 


properly  ventilated  room  with  fireproof 
construction  is  required  for  the  televi- 
sion receiver,  the  35-mm  camera,  and  the 
developing  and  drying  equipment. 

Mr.  Todd  reported  that  regulations 
governing  the  use  of  16-mm  projection 
equipment  in  all  places  except  private 
homes  have  just  been  completed  by  the 
Chicago  Board  of  Examiners,  and  will 
require  that  only  licensed  operators  be 
used  for  such  presentations  hereafter, 
the  same  as  in  the  case  of  35-mm  pro- 
jection. 

Abstracts  of  some  of  the  papers  pre- 
sented at  the  convention  are  appended 
hereto : 

THE    LUMINANCE    DISCRIMINATION 

OF  THE  HUMAN  EYE 

E.  M.  Lowry 

Eastman  Kodak  Co.,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

The  effect  of  the  luminance  to  which  the 
eye  is  adapted  on  its  ability  to  discriminate 
differences  in  luminance,  and  the  effect  of 
the  visual  angle  on  this  ocular  function  are 
discussed.  Luminance  discrimination  de- 
pends on  whether  the  observer's  attention  is 
fixed  on  a  highlight  or  shadow  region  as  is 
shown  by  data  on  threshold  luminance  in 
scenes  in  which  the  luminance  varies  widely. 

INFLUENCE  OF  COLOR  OF  SURROUND 

ON  HUE  AND  SATURATION 

David  L.  MacAdam 

Eastman  Kodak  Co.,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

The  appearance  of  a  color  picture  depends 
on  the  quality  of  light  in  its  surroundings. 
The  most  obvious  effect  is  a  shift  of  the  ap- 
parent balance  of  the  picture.  Variations  of 
the  criterion  for  white  responsible  for  this 
shift,  and  equally  important  changes  in  per- 
ceived hues  caused  by  adaptation  to  various 
surrounding  colors,  have  been  determined 
by  color  measurements  and  specified  in  chro- 
maticity  diagrams. 

QUALITY  CONTROL  DEPARTMENT  OF 

A  MEDIUM  SIZE  FILM  LABORATORY 

Edgar  E.  Berger 

Du-Art  Film  Laboratories,  N.  Y.  City 

Procedures  are  described  for  establishing 
and  maintaining  quality  standards.  Methods 
of  obtaining  developing  solution  constancy 
are  detailed.  The  mechanics  of  organizing 
and  running  printing  machine  uniformity 
tests,  negative  sound  and  negative  picture 
tests,  emulsion  tests  and  other  operational 
control  matters  are  discussed. 

SAFETY  REQUIREMENTS  IN  PROJEC- 
TION ROOMS  AND  TV  STUDIOS 
Samuel  R.  Todd 
Board  of  Examiners,  City  of  Chicago 

Nitrate  film  has  imposed  special  require- 
ments on  projection  room  design  for  many, 
years.  The  advent  of  35-mm  safety  film  may 
change  some  of  these,  and  this  possibility  is 
discussed.  The  increasing  use  of  films,  both 
nitrate  and  safety  types,  in  television  studio 
operations  calls  for  similar  precautions  and 
the  presence  of  considerable  electronic 
equipment  adds  to  the  normal  hazards.  These 
hazards  and  certain  others  peculiar  to  live 


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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


May  1951 


25 


program  presentations  are  discussed.  Safety 
problems  involved  in  the  installation  and 
operation  of  high  voltage  television  equip- 
ment in  theaters  are  outlined. 

PRODUCING  ELECTRONIC   MOVIES 

E.  Arthur  Hungerford,  Jr. 

General  Precision  Labs.,  Pleasantville,  N.Y. 

Described  are  the  various  production  tech- 
niues  for  producing  high-quality  video  re- 
cordings on  a  closed-loop  basis.  Areas  to  be 
covered  include  dramatic,  educational,  news 
and  sports,  and  commercials.  Accent  is  on 
methods  to  achieve  maximum  speed  of  pro- 
duction. Examples  of  attainable  quality  are 
shown. 

PHOTOMETRIC   FACTORS  IN   THE 

DESIGN  OF  MOTION  PICTURE 

AUDITORIUMS 

H.  L.   Logan 

Holophane   Co.,   Inc.,   N.   Y.   City 

The  photometric  factors  involved  in  de- 
signing the  visual  environment  in  a  motion 
picture  theater  so  as  to  promote  the  comfort, 
enjoyment  and  safety  of  the  audience  are 
discussed. 

SURROUND  BRIGHTNESS:  KEY 

FACTOR  IN  VIEWING  PROJECTED 

PICTURES 

Sylvester   K.  Guth 

General  Electric  Co.,  Cleveland,  Ohio 

The  problem  of  providing  general  lighting 


in  areas  where  projected  pictures  are  viewed 
and  the  effects  of  such  lighting  upon  the  pro- 
jected pictures  are  analyzed.  New  data  are 
presented  which  illustrate  the  effect  of  sur- 
round brightness  on  visibility  and  on  view- 
ing comfort.  These  data  provide  a  simple 
basis  for  establishing  surround  brightnesses 
in  auditoriums  for  optimum  viewing. 

NEW  APPROACHES   BY  RELATING 

FILM    PRODUCTION    TECHNIQUES 

TO  EXHIBITION 

Benjamin  Schlanger  and 
William  A.  Hoffberg 

A  larger  screen,  camera  angles,  factors  of 
psychophysical  vision  and  auditorium  view- 
ing are  considered  relative  to  the  develop- 
ment of  more  flexible  screen  cinematography. 
Screen  masking,  surround  and  auditorium 
environment  are  also  considered. 

NEW  SYSTEM  FOR  MEASURING  AND 
SPECIFYING   IMAGE   DEFINITION 

Otto  H.  Schade 
RCA   Victor  Division,  Harrison,  N.  J. 

The  capability  of  an  image-forming  device 
to  reproduce  fine  detail  is  specified  by  the 
characteristics  of  its  point  image.  Because  it 
is  difficult  or  in  some  cases  impossible  to 
measure  directly  the  point  image  formed  by 
a  lens,  a  photographic  film  or  an  electronic 
system,  the  diameter  of  an  equivalent  point 
image  of  standard  shape  is  evaluated  from 
measurements  of  the  sine-wave  response  of 
the  device. 


The  theory  substantiating  this  equivalence, 
as  well  as  simple  practical  methods  of  meas- 
uring the  sine-wave  response  of  lenses  and 
film,  was  discussed  and  illustrated  by  slides. 

NEW  PROCESSING  MACHINE  FILM 

SPOOL  FOR  USE  WITH 

35-  OR  16-MM  FILM 

F.  L.  Bray 

Du-Art  Film  Laboratories,  N.  Y.  City 

After  a  number  of  experiments  to  find  the 
best  sprocket  and  spool  combination  for  16- 
mm  or  35-mm  film,  it  was  decided  to  use  a 
radically  new  type  of  spool  distinguished  by 
a  tapered  profile.  The  advantages  of  this  de- 
sign, as  applied  to  sprocket-  and  friction- 
drive  machines,  are  given. 

16-MM  PROJECTION  FOR  STORAGE 
OPERATION  WITH  TV  CAMERAS 

E.  C.  Fritts 
Eastman  Kodak  Co.,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

A  projector  previously  described  for  use 
in  professional  motion  pictures  is  adapted 
for  television  use.  The  pull-down  angle  of 
the  intermittent  sprocket  permits  operation 
on  a  storage  basis  with  the  pull-down  action 
at  the  normal  rate  of  24  frames  per  second. 
The  shutter,  on  a  separate  motor,  can  be  run 
without  the  film  mechanism  for  single-frame 
projection. 

Separate  optical  systems  are  provided  for 
iconoscope  and  image-orthicon  tubes  with 
lenses   especially  corrected   for  the  magnifi- 


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26 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     May  1951 


cation.  The  preamplifier  is  equalized  for  uni- 
form response  to  7000  cycles  per  second. 
Low-pass  filters  offer  a  choice  of  cut-off 
frequency. 

CONTINUOUS  PROCESSING  MACHINE 

FOR  WIDE  FILM 

H.  E.  Hewston   and  Carlos  H.  Elmer 

U.  S.  Naval  Ordnance  Test  Station, 

China  Lake,  California 

A  new  continuous  processing  machine  for 


•  The  NEW,  im- 
proved, positive 
method  of  perma- 
nently patching  all 
types  and  makes  of 
film — 8mm.,  16mm., 
35mm.,  Tru-Kolor, 
Technicolor,  Koda- 
chrome,  Nitrate  and  Safety  Film. 
Used  and  endorsed  by  Projec- 
tionists    in     countless     theaters. 

specifically  for  lasting  Patches. 
ESSANNAY  ELECTRIC  MANUFACTURING  CO. 

1438  North  Clark  Street  Chicago  10,  Illinois 


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FOR   EVERY   ARC   PROJECTION 

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Vibration  Free 

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or    Write    to: 


THE  IMPERIAL. 

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wide  film  is  described.  This  machine  carries 
the  principles  of  motion  picture  film  proc- 
essing into  the  field  of  processing  black-and- 
white  film  ranging  in  width  from  70-mm  to 
12  inches.  Details  of  design  and  operation 
are  outlined. 

NEW  TELEVISION  RECORDING 

CAMERA 

Frank  N.  Gillette  and  R.  A.  White 

General  Precision  Labs.,  Pleasantville,  N.Y. 

The  camera  described  has  been  designed 
specifically  for  video  recording  purposes.  To 
accomplish  intermittent  film  pulldown  within 
the  short  space  of  time  available,  a  multiple 
skip  claw  movement  is  utilized.  The  usual 
mechanical  shutter  is  eliminated,  by  the 
use  of  an  electronic  shutter. 

In  order  to  obtain  the  necessary  film  sta- 
bility at  the  aperture,  a  vacuum-operated  film 
gate  is  utilized,  which  permits  the  camera 
to  be  operated  for  rather  long  uninterrupted 
periods  of  time.  Provision  is  made  within  the 
camera  for  the  simultaneous  recording  of 
sound,  at  standard  spacing  for  correct  sound 
synchronization . 

INDEPENDENT    FRAME:    RATIONAL- 
IZING PRODUCTION 
Lt.  Col.  G.  R.  Stevens,  OBE 
Television  Film  Prod.,  Ltd.,  London, 
England 

To  reduce  the  cost  and  improve  the  effi- 
ciency of  motion  picture  production,  the  in- 
dependent frame  technique,  sponsored  by  the 
J.  Arthur  Rank  Organization  of  Great  Brit- 
ain, aims  at  a  flow  system  of  production.  This 
method,  which  has  had  marked  success  in 
a  series  of  experimental  films,  now  is  being 
developed  for  use  with  television  cameras 
and  for  remote  direction  and  editing. 

RANDOM  NOISE  REQUIREMENTS 

FOR  THEATER  TELEVISION 

Pierre  Mertz 

Bell  Telephone  Laboratories 

Provisional  evaluation  of  permissible  ran- 
dom noise  for  theater  television  is  considered 
from  several  sources  of  information.  For 
broadcast  television  a  frequency  weighting, 
and  limit  on  weighted  noise  power,  have  been 
used.  The  finer  picture  detail  of  theater  tele- 
vision presumes  a  lower  random  noise. 
Changes  in  weighting  curve  are  discussed. 
A  limit  figure  of  noise  is  suggested,  compar- 
able to  graininess  effects  in  motion  pictures, 
but  slightly  more  severe  than  published  per- 
formance on  camera  tubes. 

COMPARISONS  OF  CURRENT  PROJEC- 
TION   SYSTEMS    FOR    INDOOR    AND 
DRIVE-IN  THEATERS 
H.  J.  Benham 
RCA   Victor  Division,  Camden,  N.  J. 

Motion  picture  projection  systems  are 
available  today  in  several  combinations 
which  meet  the  requirements  for  screen 
brightness  recommended  by  the  Screen 
Brightness  Committee  of  the  SMPTE  for 
practically  all  types  and  sizes  of  indoor  thea- 
ters. Standards  for  screen  brightness  and 
maximum  viewing  distances  have  not  been 
established  for  drive-in  theaters. 

It  is  generally  recognized  that  most  large 
drive-in    theaters    operate    with    inadequate 


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Dealer  Inquiries  Invited 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


May  1951 


27 


screen  illumination,  yet  the  amount  of  light 
produced  by  their  projection  system  is  more 
than  can  be  used  without  danger  of  film 
damage  unless  devices  are  used  for  cooling 
the  film  or  removing  the  heat  from  the  light 
beam. 

NEW  35-MM  TV  RECORDING  CAMERA 

John  Kiel 
Producers  Service  Corp.,  Burbank,  Calif. 

This  paper  describes  a  new  35-mm  tele- 
vision recording  camera,  with  particular  em- 


phasis on  the  mechanical  design  features  re- 
lated to  the  picture-splice.  Since  certain  film 
phenomena,  phosphor  persistence,  and  angu- 
lar shutter  size  are  directly  related  to  the  per- 
fection of  splice,  these  factors  and  their 
particular  effects  are  also  discussed. 

3-DIMENSIONAL   MOTION   PICTURE 

APPLICATIONS 

R.  V.  Bernier,  Maj.,  USAF 

Wright-Patterson   AFB,  Dayton,   Ohio 

Methods  of  taking  and  projecting  16-mm 


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high-speed,  normal  speed,  and  time-lapse 
stereoscopic  motion  pictures  of  the  alternate- 
frame  type  are  described.  Included  is  a  de- 
scription of  a  newly  patented  polaroid 
method  for  right  and  left  picture  selection 
as  used  in  the  Eastman  High-Speed  Camera 
and  as  used  in  projection. 

Other  mechanical  stereo  systems  as  used 
in  normal  and  time-lapse  cinematography 
are  discussed.  The  paper  will  be  supple- 
mented by  the  showing  of  a  stereo  film  using 
a  single  16-mm  projector  equipped  with  a 
synchronized  drum  polarizer  in  front  of  the 
lens  and  a  Morgana-type  shuttle  mechanism. 

PHOTOELECTRIC   METHOD   FOR 

EVALUATING  STEADINESS  OF 

MOTION  PICTURE  FILM  IMAGES 

R.  W.  Lavender 

Ansco  Div.,  General  Aniline  &  Film  Corp, 

Comparative  data  on  the  steadiness  of  mo> 
tion  picture  film  images  are  generally  ob 
tained  qualitatively  by  experienced  viewers 
Recently,  problems  encountered  in  evaluat- 
ing the  relative  merits  of  several  proposals 
for  a  single-perforation  standard  for  35-mm 
motion  picture  film  necessitated  the  develop- 
ment of  an  instrument  for  obtaining  specific 
quantitative  steadiness  data. 

The  instrument  described,  which  utilizes 
variable-area  photoelectric  recording  tech- 
niques, provides  quantitative  steadiness  data 
of  the  motion  picture  image  relative  to  the 
screen  and/or  perforation.  When  used  in 
conjunction  with  a  special  test  screen,  the 
film  being  tested  may  be  viewed  and  its 
steadiness  recorded  simultaneously. 

AUDITORY  PERSPECTIVE 

H.  G.  Kobrak,  MD 

University  of  Chicago 

The  principles  of  auditory  localization  as 
related  to  stereo  sound  reproduction  are 
discussed.  The  human  head  carries  on  its 
lateral  aspects  two  biological  sound  receiv- 
ers. The  position  of  the  receivers  and  the 
role  of  the  skull  in  the  sound  field  are  dis- 
cussed. 

The  attributes  of  the  acoustic  signal  (in- 
tensity, phase,  time)  relevant  in  sound  lo- 
calization are  described.  The  factors  of  ex- 
perience and  training  as  well  as  the  stereo 
performance  of  deafened  ears  are  analyzed. 

REPORT  ON  SCREEN  BRIGHTNESS 

COMMITTEE   THEATER    SURVEY 

W.  W.  Lozier 

Chairman,  Screen  Brightness  Committee 

The  Screen  Brightness  Committee  has 
undertaken  a  survey  of  screen  brightness  in 
100  representative  motion  picture  theaters 
in  this  country.  Progress  to  date  will  be  re- 
ported. 

MODIFIED  NEGATIVE  PERFORATION 

PROPOSED  AS  A  SINGLE  STANDARD 

FOR   35-MM   MOTION  PICTURE  FILM 

W.  G.  Hill 

General  Aniline  &  Film  Corp. 

The  existence  of  two  or  more  perforation 
shapes  for  35-mm  films  has,  for  many  years, 
been  considered  undesirable.  Registration 
problems  are  minimized  if  negative  perfora- 
tions are  used  throughout;  experience,  how- 
ever, has  shown  that  projection  life  is  short. 


28 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     May  1951 


The  modified  negative  perforation,  which 
fillets  at  the  corners,  has  improved  resistance 
to  tear  while  preserving  the  general  negative 
form  corresponding  to  conventional  piloting 


THE  PRACTICAL  SOLUTION  TO  THE 

SCREEN  LIGHT  DISTRIBUTION 

PROBLEM 

Charles  R.  Underhill,  Jr. 

RCA   Victor  Division,  Camden,  N.  J. 

Described  is  a  vinylite  plastic  screen  which 
has  the  center  area  compensated  for  by  a 
greater  number  of  perforations  than  the  edge 
area. 

TEMPERATURE-SENSITIVE    PHOS- 
PHORS FOR  EVALUATING  AIR 
JETS  TO  COOL  FILM 
F.  J.  Kolb,  Jr.,  and  F.  Urbach 
Eastman  Kodak  Co.,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

Temperature-sensitive  phosphors,  designed 
to  show  a  variation  in  luminescent  intensity 
— under  ultra-violet  excitation — with  tem- 
perature of  the  phosphor,  may  be  applied 
directly  to  a  piece  of  film  that  can  be  ex- 
amined in  a  projector  gate. 

When  this  coated  film  is  heated  by  radiant 
energy  (comparable  to  the  radiant  beam  used 
in  projection,  but  diminished  in  intensity 
sufficiently  to  permit  the  coated  film  to  re- 
main stationary  in  the  gate)  temperature 
differences  across  the  film  become  visible  im- 
mediately as  differences  in  the  intensity  of 
luminescence.    Cooling    patterns    of    various 


EFFICIENT  •  DEPENDABLE 


RECTIFIERS 

for  Every  Type  Projection  Lamp 


2 -Tube 
4-Tube 
6-Tube 

Single  and 

Three  Phase 

Models  for 


•  Rotating 
Angu 
High 

•  Copper 
ed    Coaxial 
High  Intensity 

•  1  K.W.  High  Intensity 

•  Low  Intensity 

Smooth  Output  Current    •     Long  Life 

Low  Operating  Temperature 

Flexibility  in  Control 

Write  today  for  literature  or 

free  demonstration 


air  jets  can  be  demonstrated,  and  relative 
efficiencies  of  several  designs  can  be  com- 
pared. 

MEASURING  TOTAL  LIGHT  OUTPUT 
AT   THE   PROJECTION   LENS 

G.   Gagliardi,   Warner   Bros.   Theaters 
A.  T.  Williams,  Weston  Electrical  Instr.  Co. 

This  instrument  utilizes  an  integrating 
sphere  and  a  Weston  Photosensitive  meter, 
used  in  conjunction  with  a  specially  de- 
signed film  aperture  plate  which  is  inserted 
at  the  projector  gate  with  holes  perforated  to 
give  a  total  light  reduction  of  ten  to  one. 
Other  plates  are  available  to  simulate  meas- 
urement in  the  prescribed  screen  locations 
in  accordance  with  Screen  Brightness  Com- 
mittee Recommendations.  Accuracy  of  this 
system  is  indicated  to  be  within  ±5%  of 
direct  screen  measurements. 


THE  MAGIC  OF  COLOR 

(Continued  from  page  15) 

of  chaos.  The  Munsell  System  blithely 
ignores  the  trichromatic  character  of  hu- 
man color  vision  and  assumes  five  pri- 
mary colors!  Naturally,  such  a  system 
must  be  considered  as  a  makeshift,  at 
best. 

An  experimental  hue  scale  may  be 
made  by  dividing  a  circle  into  a  number 
of  equal  sectors  and  coloring  the  sectors 
with  appropriate  hues  in  normal  order. 
A  circle  having  6  sectors  colored,  con- 
secutively, red,  orange,  yellow,  green, 
blue,  purple,  and  back  to  red  constitutes 
a  6-hue  scale.  Now  the  question  arises: 
is  this  6-hue  scale  a  useful  one  for  the 
many  widely  different  applications  to 
which  such  scales  are  applied?    Perhaps 


we  decide  that  the  number  of  hues  is  too 
small,  so  we  subdivide  it  to  form  a  12- 
hue  scale  as  follows:  red,  red-orange, 
orange,  orange-yellow,  yellow,  etc.,  all 
the  way  around.  Another  division  of  the 
sectors  may  be  considered  necessary  to 
give  a  24-hue  scale,  and  again  to  give  a 
48-hue  scale,  etc. 

But  as  the  number  of  hues  increases 


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CENTURY'S  water-cooled  aperture  gives^ 
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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     May  1951 


29 


it  becomes  increasingly  evident  that 
something  is  radically  wrong.  The  hues 
change  too  abruptly  both  in  the  yellow- 
green  and  in  the  purple-red  sextants. 
Furthermore,  the  colors  of  opposite  sec- 
tors are  not  always  complementary,  thus 
reducing  the  usefulness  of  the  scale. 

True  orange  and  true  blue  are  exactly 
complementary,  but  true  red  and  true 
green  are  not  quite  complementary,  and 
true  yellow  and  true  purple  are  far  from 
being  complementary.  Our  original  6- 
hue  scale  (as  well  as  all  others  derived 
from  it)  is  clearly  neither  balanced  nor 
equitempered.  We  may  as  well  throw 
the  whole  thing  away  and  start  all  over 
again  on  a  different  basis. 

An  Equitempered  Hue  Scale 

The  position  of  hues  in  the  spectrum 
is  of  no  help  in  devising  an  equitempered 
hue  scale.  A  glance  at  Fig.  1  shows  that 
hues  change  rather  rapidly  in  the  yellow 
and  blue  regions,  while  the  orange,  and 
especially  the  green,  regions  are  rather 
extenuated.  In  order  to  determine  equal 
sensation-unit  intervals  we  must  experi- 
ment with  a  large  number  of  observers. 

If  such  experiments  are  made,  and  the 
results  jotted  down  on  a  diagram  of  the 
normal  spectrum,  lines  spaced  similarly 
to  those  at  the  top  of  the  spectrum-band 
in  Fig  1  are  obtained.  This  is  data  of 
fundamental  importance. 

Now,  any  useful  hue  scale  should  be 
based  fundamentally  on  the  three  pri- 
maries and  their  complementaries.  The 
hues  which  most  observers  call  "true" 
red,  orange,  yellow,  green,  blue,  and  pur- 
ple should  also  be  included,  as  these  are 
the  most  commonly  used  colors.  Other 
hues  will  have  to  be  included  in  order  to 
maintain  equal  sensation  intervals  be- 
tween adjoining  hues;  and  any  small  ir- 
regularities which  are  present  in  the  data 
obtained  from  observers  will  have  to  be 
smoothed  out  to  insure  each  hue-sector 
being  complementary  to  the  sector  direct- 
ly opposite. 

All  this  can  be  done;  and  it  will  be 
found  that  a  minimum  of  48  hues  can 
be  used.  Fig.  3  is  such  an  equitempered 
scale. 

A  48-Hue  Color  Chart 

IP's  48-hue  color  chart  has  as  its  start- 
ing point,  not  red  as  in  other  color  sys- 
tems, but  a  strongly  yellowish  green 
called  xanth.  This  will  be  found  at  the 
very  top  of  the  chart.  The  reason  for 
this  choice  is  that  all  the  hues  from 
chartreuse  (moderately  greenish  yellow) 
to  chrysine  (yellow-green)  are  generally 
the  most  unpopular  colors  in  the  entire 
scheme  of  hues !  And  xanth,  the  first  hue 
of  the  green  group,  the  "sickliest"  of  all 
yellow-greens,  is  flanked  by  mascagna 
and  chlorise,  colors  almost  as  unpopular 
as  itself.  A  "break"  in  this  region  ac- 
cordingly occasions  far  less  inconvenience 


to  color  technologists  than  a  break  in 
the  red  region. 

The  48  hues  are  given  one-word  names, 
not  numbers,  for  identification.  Familiar 
hue  names  have  been  retained — the  few 
coined  names  present  are  intended  to  be 
suggestive  of  the  hues  they  represent. 
The  wavelengths  (millimicrons)  of  the 
hues,  and  also  of  the  dividing  lines  be- 
tween the  six  main  color  families,  are 
specified.  The  names  of  the  primaries 
are  printed  in  capitals;  those  of  secon- 
daries are  underlined. 

The  X  in  the  center  of  the  chart  as- 
sists in  locating  the  opposite,  or  comple- 
mentary, of  each  hue. 

[To  be  Continued] 


B.  &  K.  Chicago  Theaters'  Net 

Balaban  &  Katz  Corp.,  Chicago  theater 
chain,  in  1950  had  net  earnings  of  $2,- 
175,354,  or  $8.28  a  common  share,  com- 
pared with  $2,805,000  or  $10.68  a  share 
in  1949.  The  company  opined  that  it 
had  now  felt  the  full  impact  of  Tv,  al- 
though there  is  "cautious  optimism"  that 
good  pictures  will  draw  well  despite  Tv. 

The  company  reported  that  its  own  Tv 
station  in  Chicago,  WBKB,  was  operated 
at  a  profit  during  1950,  as  against  a  "con- 
siderable loss"  in  1949. 


mount  Pictures,  was  $12,351,000.  This 
included  dividends  from  affiliated  com- 
panies of  $1,420,000,  and  $209,000  of  un- 
distributed earnings  of  partly  owned,  non- 
consolidated  subsidiaries. 

During  the  year  the  company  ended 
joint  interests  in  457  theatres,  and  dis- 
posed of  all  interest  in  approximately 
241.  The  latter  were  jointly  owned  at 
the  time  of  the  consent  judgment  in  the 
anti-trust  case.  The  company  paid  $12,- 
000,000  in  cash  for  the  50%  interest  of 
its  co-owners  in  Interstate  Circuit,  Inc., 
and  Texas  Consolidated  Theatres,  Inc., 
operators  of  160  theatres  in  Texas  and 
New  Mexico. 


Estimated  consolidated  earnings  for 
the  first  quarter  in  1951  were  reported 
at  $2,791,000. 


United  Paramount  Earnings 

Net  profit  of  United  Paramount  The- 
atres, Inc.,  for  the  fiscal  year  ending 
Dec.  30,  1950,  the  first  full  year  of  op- 
eration since  the  divorcement  from  Para- 


Lenses  in  "Reasonable  Quantities" 
in   1951 — Kollmorgen 

Projection  lenses  will  be  available  in 
"reasonable  quantities"  during  1951,  des- 
pite the  NPA  controls  on  such  essential 
material  as  aluminum,  which  is  used  in 
making  lens  mounts.  This  is  the  opinion 
of  Kollmorgen  Optical  Co.,  makers  of 
the  Snaplite  series  of  lenses. 

The  firm  warned  that  "delays  in  ship- 
ments due  to  priority  orders  can  be  ex- 
pected in  1951"  and  urged  that  those  in 
the  trade  "anticipate  their  requirements 
as  much  as  possible."  It  said  that  in 
ordering  lenses  in  1951  "care  should  be 
taken  to  determine  the  exact  focal  length 
required  to  eliminate  delays  due  to  not 
ordering  the  correct  size." 


How  Many? 


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many  men  read  it  ahead  of  you? 

You  would  receive  a  clean,  fresh  copy  if  you  had  a 
personal  subscription — and  you  wouldn't  have  to 
wait — you  would  be  first  to  read  it. 

Use  coupon  below. 


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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST    •    May  1951 


\ej^nse  /sj/our/oh  too -/tow  to/ie/pj/ovreomfw/noco 


JP            ' — «^^~                 JOB 

"The  Defense*  Bonds  I  bought  through  Payroll  Savings 
in  '41  helped  me  to  buy  my  new  home !"  says  G.  F.  Nelson, 
manufacturing  technologist  at  Shell  Oil  Company.  Con- 
gratulating Mr.  Nelson  is  Shell  Vice  President  and 
former  Air  Force  General  "Jimmy"  Doolittle,  who  adds, 
"At  Shell  we  believe  in  Payroll  Savings — it's  a  patriotic 
and  practical  way  to  do  a  job  for  defense!" 


"The  Savings  Bonds  Pm  buying  now  for  America's  defense 
will  add  almost  §100  a  month  to  my  company  pension 
when  I  retire,"  SP  Engineer  Frank  Backer  tells  his  old 
friend,  A.  T.  Merrier,  President  of  the  Southern  Pacific 
Railroad.  "They're  an  extra  step  toward  independence 
in  which  the  railroad  helped  me  by  encouraging  me  to  join 
the  Payroll  Savings  Plan." 


Mrs.  Eleanor  Minkwic,  drill  press  operator  of  Bur- 
roughs Adding  Machine  Company,  introduces  her  Army 
veteran  son  Vernon,  to  her  boss,  Burroughs  President 
John  S.  Coleman.  "In  1942  I  began  buying  Bonds 
through  Payroll  Savings  at  Burroughs,"  says  Mrs.  Mink- 
wic. "Today  they're  helping  Vernon's  G.I.  allowance  to 
see  him  through  college!" 


TEAM  UP  WITH  THESE  TYPICAL  AMERICANS 
Wi  THE  PAYROLL  SAVINGS  PLAN ! 


Pasquale  Santella,  millwright  at  United  States  Steel 
Company's  Carrie  Furnaces  of  the  Homestead  District 
Works,  has  a  very  personal  reason  for  buying  Savings 
Bonds.  As  he  told  C.  F.  Hood,  United  States  Steel  Com- 
pany executive  vice  president,  "My  son  Tony,  19,  is  missing 
in  Korea.  Used  to  be  I  bought  bonds  because  it  was  my 
duty  and  it  was  a  good  way  to  save  money.  Now  I  want  to 
help  lick  the  Reds  and  get  Tony  back.  I  buy  one  bond 
every  payday  and  when  Uncle  Sam  needs  more  money, 
I'll  buy  more  bonds."  He  has  bought  bonds  regularly  since 
1943;  has  never  cashed  one. 


(/&  Swings jBoncfs  $rvDe$n$ejBof!c/s 


jBuj/JHeni^^ukf0^ 


/ 


Today  join  with  these  Americans— business  leaders 
and  employees— in  their  drive  to  make  our  country 
and  our  citizens  more  secure.  If  you're  an  employee, 
go  to  your  company's  pay  office  now  and  start  buying 
U.  S.  Defense  Bonds  through  the  Payroll  Savings 
Plan— the  safe,  sure  way  to  save  for  America's  defense 
and  for  personal  dreams-come-true. 

If  you're  an  employer,  and  have  not  yet  installed 
the  easily  handled  Plan,  you  will  soon  be  contacted 
by  one  of  industry's  leading  executives.  Sign  up  with 
him  — and  help  him  put  the  Plan  in  every  company! 
It's  a  practical,  hard-sense  way  to  help  preserve  our 
nations  future,  its  fortune,  and  the  very  institutions 
that  make  our  lives  worth  while! 


Your  Government  Joes  not  pay  for  this  advertising.  It  is  donated  by  this  pubi. cation 
in  cooperation  with  The  Advertising  Council  and  the  Magazine  Publishers  of  America. 


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4J0Y 

GO  TO   THE   MOVIES 


CHOSEN 


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naturally  demands  the  best.  That  is  why  this,  the 
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PROJECTO 


IUFACTURED  BY  INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTOR  CORPORATION    •    DISTRIBUTED  BY  NATIONAL  THEATRE  SUPPLY 


JUNE 


1951 


VOLUME  26 


NUMBER  6 


30c  A   COPY    •    S2.50  A  YEAR 


ALONGSIDE  THESE  LAMPS  STAND 

THE  WORLDS  FINEST 
PROJECTIONISTS 


/  ^  MAGNARC 


KW  TO  70  AMPS 


HY-AX'    ARC    MAGNET 


TRADE   MARK    REG 


HY-LUMEN"     REFLECTOR 


FIRST 


More  light  at  40  to  70  amperes  than  ever  thought  possible.  .  .  .  Equals  and 
excels  any  reflector  lamp  to  85  amperes,  whether  they  be  unapproved  water- 
cooled  or  resurrected  "Hi-Lows".  .  .  .  Highest  ratio  of  honest  screen  lumens 
per  arc  watt.  ...  At  70  amperes,  using  an  accurated  Glass  Hy-Lumen  Re- 
flector*, with  a  projector  having  an  efficient  revolving  shutter,  it  develops 
the  maximum  screen  brilliance  that  can  be  used  without  a  heat  filter  at  no 
risk  of  film  damage.  .  .  .  Operating  costs  under  these  conditions  are  far  below 
that  of  85-ampere  lamps. 

Magnarc  Lamps  assure  80%  side-to-center  (SMPE  Standard)  screen  light 
distribution,  not  a  deceptive  60%  or  "Hot  Center".  .  .  .  They  are  all  Und. 
Lab.,  Inc.  listed.  .  .  .  They  are  not  insurance  hazards.  .  .  .  They  are  and  have 
been  for  years  "The  First  Choice"  of  large  and  small  theatres,  drive-ins,  and 
the  motion  picture  industry. 

*  Similar  results  are  not  guaranteed   if  all-metal  reflectors  are  used. 

WITH     THE     FINEST" 


130-180  AMPERES 


TRADE    MARK   REG. 


NEW     MAGNETIC    STABILIZER 

This  modern  lamp  produces  all  the  light  there  is. 
...  It  is  the  standard  equipment  of  the  nation's  largest 
and  finest  theatres.  .  .  .  Used  by  90%  of  the  largest 
Drive-In  Theatres. 

It  is  the  "Omega"  for  maximum  screen  brilliance. 
.  .  .  Nothing  can  even  approach  it  in  white  light  volume 
when  used  with  projectors  that  have  efficient  revolving 
shutters. 

Assures  satisfying  projection  for  Drive-Ins  regardless 
of  the  size  of  the  picture,  length  of  throw,  and  under 
all  weather  conditions.  .  .  .  They  are  Und.  Lab.,  Inc. 
listed  and,  therefore,  not  insurance  hazards.  .  .  .  Heat 
filter  assures  no  risk  of  film-heat  damage  at  maximum 
arc   amperage   and    maximum   screen    lumens. 


"WHY     EXPERIMENT?" 

J.E.McAULEY  MFG. CD. 

552-554    WEST   ADAMS    STREET 
CHICAGO   6.  ILLINOIS 


INTERNATIONAL 


OECTIONISI 


With  Which  Is  Combined  Projection  Engineering 


HENRY  B.  SELLWOOD,  Editor 


Volume  26 


JUNE  1951 


Number  6 


Index  and  Monthly  Chat 3 

Lens  Correction :  What  It  Means       5 
Allen  E.  Murray 

Maskless  Screen   Steadily  Gains 
Favor    10 

Tv  Pot  Boils  Over:  Movies  Fight 
Back    13 

The  Magic  of  Color,  II    14 

Robert  A.  Mitchell 

Rear  Projection  in  the  Theater     16 
J.  L.  Stableford 

In  the   Spotlight    18 

Harry  Sherman 

Letters  to  the  Editor 19 

GPL's  New  16-mm  Sprocket- 
Intermittent    20 


Tv  Impact  on  Moving-Going 

Charted  in  Mid-West   Survey     21 

News  Projections 22 

The  Time  is  Now!   23 

Nat  Golden 

Film  Projection  in  Israel 24 

A.  Zehngeboth 

We  See  Upside  Down 24 

Personnel    25 

'Neu-Zip'   Combo   Film   Scraper     26 
News  Notes 
Technical  Hints 
Miscellaneous  Items 


Published  Monthly  by 
INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST  PUBLISHING  CO.,  INC. 

19  West  44  Street,  New  York  18,  N.  Y. 
Telephone:  MUrray  Hill  2-2948 

R.  A.  ENTRACHT,  Publisher 

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two  weeks  in  advance  of  publication  date  to  insure  receipt  of  current  issue.  Entered  as 
second  class  matter  February  8,  1932,  at  the  Post  Office  at  New  York,  N.  Y.,  under  the 
act  of  March  3,  1879.  Entire  contents  copyrighted  19,51  by  International  Projectionist 
Publishing  Co.,  Inc.  International  Projectionist  is  not  responsible  for  personal  opinions 
appearing  in  signed  articles  in  its  columns. 


420 


MONTHLY   CHAT 


MANY  hundreds  of  words  anent  vari- 
ous aspects  of  theater  television 
have  appeared  in  this  corner,  with  very 
few  of  them  even  faintly  suggestive  of 
enthusiasm  as  to  the  course  being  fol- 
lowed by  the  exhibition  field  in  develop- 
ing Tv  into  a  potent  box-office  assist. 
Happenings  of  the  past  month,  however, 
have  clearly  indicated  that  the  film  in- 
dustry no  longer  intends  to  stand  idly 
by  and  see  its  economic  structure  swept 
away  by  the  onrush  of  Tv  in  the  home 
field. 

It  remains  to  be  seen  whether  exclu- 
sive programs  offered  via  theater  Tv  will 
prove  a  strong  enough  magnet  to  make 
people  bestir  themselves  and  move  out 
of  their  homes  to  the  theater — the  notion 
of  free  Tv  programs  has  become  firmly 
imbedded  in  the  public  mind. 

But  the  existence  of  100  definite  orders 
for  theater  Tv  units,  with  many  more  a 
likely  possibibty  within  the  next  few 
months,  plus  the  vigorous  action  of  an 
exhibitor  group  in  pressing  for  exclusive 
program  fare  (mostly  sports,  it's  true) 
augurs  well  for  the  future. 

The  recent  Joe  Louis-Lee  Savold  box- 
ing match,  by  no  means  a  first-class  at- 
traction, filled  a  3346-seat  Albany,  N.  Y., 
theater  to  overflowing,  with  standees  six 
rows  deep  and  other  patrons  sitting  in  the 
aisles.  This,  at  a  higher  admission  price 
and  with  a  line  of  patrons  several  blocks 
long  standing  in  the  rain  for  several 
hours  waiting  to  gain  admittance.  New 
York  newspapermen  assigned  to  cover 
the  event  expressed  amazement  at  the 
showing  and  stated  that  sports  promoters 
had  the  answer  to  their  recent  box-office 
woes. 

Whatever  develops  on  the  theater  Tv 
front,  the  organized  crafts  in  the  amuse- 
ment field — from  cameramen  right  down 
the  line  to  the  theater  stage  and  projec- 
tion room — should  lose  not  a  day  in  ex- 
ploiting their  present  strategic  position 
and  moving  in  on  Tv  on  all  fronts.  The 
first  requisite,  of  course,  is  competency, 
and  this  may  be  accomplished  only  by 
prompt  and  sustained  action  by  craft  offi- 
cials in  providing  their  members  with  a 
means  to  learn  every  angle  of  the  Tv 
set-up.  This  will  take  a  tall  lot  of  doing, 
but  done  it  must  be — and  at  once. 

In  those  areas  in  which  theater  Tv 
units  are  already  installed,  as  well  as 
those  spots  to  be  ready  soon,  the  organ- 
ized craft  should  miss  no  opportunity  to 
familiarize  themselves  with  both  equip- 
ment and  technique.  Following  this,  there 
should  be  intensive  and  extensive  ex- 
change of  information  between  craft 
units. 

Information  relative  to  the  fundamen- 
tals of  the  Tv  art  may  be  obtained  in  a 
variety  of  ways,  including  the  printed 
page,  but  there  is  no  substitute  for  actual 
experience  in  handling  the  equipment 
itself  under  actual  showtime  conditions. 
This  much  having  been  done,  there  will 
be  no  cause  for  recriminations  and  self- 
reproach  no  matter  what  develops  in  the 
theater  Tv  field. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     June  1951 


;'--■..      ;  i 


'"""   "  


est  SCteem  demand 
nothing  more . . . 


the   brightest 

pictures    at 

lowest 

operating  cost! 


♦  Air-cooled  rotating  positive  carbon  feeding 
mechanism. 

♦  Big  I6V2"  reflector  matches  high  speed 
f/1.9  lens. 

♦  Automatic  arc  crater  positioning. 

♦  Stable  burning  and  complete  combustion  at 
the  arc,  to  avoid  any  black  soot,  are  attained 
by  a  jet  of  air  directed  just  above  the  arc. 

♦  White  smoke,  which  would  otherwise  cloud 
the  mirror,  is  also  diverted  by  this  air  stream. 

♦  Unit  construction  permits  instant  removal  of 
components  for  cleaning. 

Distributed  by 

NATIONAL 


75  to  130  ampere  high  intensity  reflector  type 

PROJECTION     ARC     LAMP 


THEATRE        SUPPLY 


"THERE'S  A   BRANCH  NEAR   YOU' 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     June  1951 


VOLUME  XXVI 


JUNE    1951 


NUMBER    6 


Lens-Correction:  What  it  Means 


By  ALLEN  E.  MURRAY 

Scientific   Bureau,   Bausch   &  Lomb  Optical  Company 

Despite  IP's  extensive  coverage  of  projection  optics,  the  color-correction  of  lenses  still 
is  not  generally  understood,  a  recent  survey  of  reader-preference  indicates.  This  topic 
has  been  covered  previously  in  IP,  but  the  imminent  advent  of  theater  Tv,  with  its 
more  exacting  color-correction  requisites,  lends  timeliness  to  the  accompanying 
summary  of  the  latest  data  on  this  topic. 


COLOR-CORRECTION  in  lenses  is 
not  a  new  wrinkle  introduced  as  a 
consequence  of  the  growing  popu- 
larity of  color  film.  Lens  designers  and 
opticians  have  been  laboring  over  the 
color-corrections  since  the  first  lenses 
were  assembled  into  optical  systems.  The 
term  "color-corrected"  is  not  so  profound 
that,  like  "abracadabra"  or  "open  ses- 
ame," it  should  become  a  conjurer's  word 
to  call  up  the  perfect  lens.  "Color-cor- 
rected" to  the  optical  designer  and  opti- 
cian has  a  very  definite  meaning,  much 
as  it  may  have  been  corrupted  to  include 
application  to  almost  any  type  of  lens. 

A  color-corrected  lens,  in  the  language 
of  the  designer,  is  one  satisfying  two 
rather  stringent  specifications,  and  no 
lens  failing  to  fulfill  these  two  require- 
ments can  fairly  be  called  "fully  color- 
corrected." 

Historically,  unwanted  color  in  images 
was  recognized  very  early,  and  consti- 
tuted one  of  the  first  challenges  to  the 
lens  designer's  skill.  The  researches 
aimed  at  discovering  the  whys  and  where- 
fores of  this  annoying  color  led  to  a  bet- 
ter understanding  of  lenses  in  general, 
and  to  new  glasses,  and  even  today  are 
not  completed. 

The  state  of  the  color-corrections  in  a 
lens  system  is  fundamental  in  the  per- 


formance of  the  system  and  constitutes 
one  of  the  first  considerations  in  design. 
The  subject  is  rather  complicated,  as 
there  are  in  reality  two  distinct  color 
aberrations  the  designer  must  eliminate 
before  he  is  entitled  to  say  that  his  sys- 
tem is  color-corrected. 

The  Behavior  of  Light 

But  before  we  undertake  to  amplify 
this  statement,  we  must  refresh  our  mem- 
ories with  a  few  facts  of  how  light  be- 
haves. 

Light  travels  in  vacuum  at  the  astound- 
ing rate  of  186,000  miles  per  second: 
that  is,  all  light  is  conjectured  to  do  so 
— blue,  yellow,  red,  infra-red,  etc. — it  all 
skips  merrily  along  at  this  dizzy  rate  in 
empty  space. 

But  something  happens  to  this  light 
when  it  reaches  a  region  filled  with  a 

FIGURE  1 


more  tangible  substance.  What  happens 
is  exactly  the  same  thing  that  occurs 
when  a  train  hits  a  snow  bank,  or  a  foot- 
ball player  enters  a  broken  field — a  re- 
duction of  speed.  At  the  boundary  of  the 
optically  denser  medium,  the  light  beam 
is-  bent,  or  refracted,  if  the  angle  at  which 
the  beam  hits  the  denser  medium  is  other 
than  90°. 

Specifically,  as  Fig.  1  shows,  on  enter- 
ing a  medium  in  which  the  speed  is  less 
the  beam  of  light  is  bent  toward  the  nor- 
mal, an  imaginary  line  perpendicular  to 
the  surface.  The  reverse  is  true  on  leav- 
ing. 

The  crux  of  the  color  effects  is  that  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  all  colors  are  trans- 
mitted through  empty  space  with  the 
same  velocity,  they  insist  upon  being 
treated  differently  when  traveling 
through  ponderable  matter.  In  glass,  for 
instance,  red  light  will  travel  about  3,000 
miles  per  second  faster  than  blue  light. 
This  speed  differential  has  as  its  conse- 
quence the  greater  bending  of  blue  bght 
over  red  light,  causing  the  dispersion 
shown  in  Fig.  2. 

Achromatic  Lens  Combinations 

In  the  design  and  manufacture  of  pho- 
tographic objectives,  several  different 
types  of  glass  are  used  whose  basic  action 
is  illustrated  in  Fig.  2.  One  type  is  of 
low  index  of  refraction,  i.e.,  it  retards 
light  little  in  passage.  This  glass,  in  gen- 
eral, will  retard  the  blue  only  slightly 
more  than  the  red. 

At  the  other  extreme  are  the  glasses 
of  high  index,  in  which  the  velocity  of 
light  is  lower,  and  this  in  turn  means  a 
greater  angle  of  deviation  whereby  the 
blue  is  affected  much  more  than  the  red, 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     June  1951 


WHITE, 


ANGLE  OF  DEVIATION 
RED 
GREEN 
BLUE 


ANGLE  OF  DISPERSION 
Showing  action  of  white  light  entering  material 
of  low  refractive  index. 


ANGLE  OF  DEVIATION 

'"*'-  RED 

GREEN 
BLUE 


ANGLE  OF  DISPERSION 


FIGURE  2 

White  light  entering  material  of  high  refractive 
index,  at  the  same  angle  as  above. 

so  that  the  angular  dispersion  is  greater. 

Sir  Isaac  Newton,  who  founded  much 
of  optics  as  we  now  know  it,  from  his 
extensive  experience  with  the  glass 
prisms  of  his  day,  concluded,  errone- 
ously, that  dispersion  is  always  propor- 
tional to  the  deviation  and  that,  as  a  con- 
sequence, achromatic  combinations  are 
impossible.  Sir  Isaac  committed  one  of 
his  rare  mistakes  in  concluding  that 
achromats  are  impossible  and  that  the 
reflecting  telescope  is  the  best  answer  to 
the  color  problem. 

Not  long  after  Newton's  death,  the 
first  achromats  were  made  in  England  by 
combining  a  positive  crown  and  negative 
flint  lens  to  produce  the  basic  type  of 
achromatic  doublet. 

We  have  seen  in  Fig.  2  that  a  ray  of 
light,  upon  passage  through  a  prism,  is 
bent,  or  deviated,  in  the  direction  of  the 
base.  This  is  essentially  the  fundamental 
reason  for  the  action  of  lenses  of  all 
kinds.  The  curved  surfaces  act  like  an 
assembly  of  an  infinite  number  of  small 
prisms,  deviating  each  ray  striking  the 
surfaces  sufficiently  to  bring  it  to  a  re- 
union, real  or  virtual,  with  the  other  rays 
forming  the  image. 

A  positive  lens  will  converge  parallel 
rays  to  a  real  focus;  while  a  negative 
lens  will  diverge  parallel  rays,  making 
tbem  act  as  if  they  came  from  a  point, 
the  virtual  focus. 

From  what  was  said  previously  con- 
cerning dispersion,  it  is  apparent  that 
any  simple  lens  cannot  have  one  definite, 
fixed  focal  point  for  all  light.  Since  the 
light-bending  power,  or  refractivity,  of 
glass  is  greater  for  blue  than  for  the  red, 
the  blue  light  will  focus  at  a  point  nearer 
the  lens  than  the  red.  This  situation  is 
illustrated  in  Fig.  3.  This  is  the  simplest 
and  most  readily  grasped  type  of  chro- 


matic  aberration,    and   usually  the   first 
corrected. 

In  practice,  this  longitudinal  chromatic 
aberration  will  mean  that  there  is  no  one 
focal  point  on  the  axis  but  several,  de- 
pending on  the  color  of  the  light  used. 
A  photograph  made  with  a  simple  posi- 
tive lens  would  show  a  large  shift  from 
visual  focus  to  photographic,  even  with 
panchromatic  negative  material.  The 
"chemical  focus"  of  the  old-time  photog- 
raphers was  of  this  nature. 

Axial  Chromatism  Correction 

A  perfect  lens  cannot  be  made,  and 
even  in  the  best  lenses  there  remains  a 
very  small  residual  of  this  aberration,  so 
that  when  a  color-blind  emulsion  re- 
sponding only  to  the  blue  is  used,  a  shift 
towards  the  lens  is  usually  necessary — 
the  so-called  "chemical  focus."  This  ef- 
fect is  familiar  also  to  those  who  have 
used  infra-red  sensitive  emulsions  in  their 
cameras:  for  best  results,  it  is  usually 
necessary  to  rack  the  lens  out  a  trifle. 

A  further  result  of  this  irresolution  of 
focal  points  is  the  situation  shown  in  Fig. 
3,  where  at  the  blue  focus  the  red  rays 
create  a  red  disc,  and  at  the  red  focus 
the  blue  rays  create  a  blue  halo.  A  point 
object  could  hardly  be  photographed  as 
a  point  under  these  conditions. 

This  axial  chromatism  is  not  difficult 
to  correct  and,  as  noted  before,  is  given 


there  existed  an  optical  material  with  a 
given  amount  of  dispersion  and  no  re- 
fractive power,  for  then  correction  could 
be  effected  with  a  plane  parallel  sheet  of 
this  wonderful  material.  Actually,  the 
only  practical  material  for  this  task  is  a 
glass  which  has  a  fortuitous  relationship 
of  refractivity  to  dispersion  such  that  the 
dispersion  will  effectively  cancel  that  of 
the  positive  lens,  while  the  refractivity 
is  insufficient  to  cancel  completely  the 
convergence  of  the  positive  lens. 

The  lens  component  effecting  this 
achromatism  is  negative,  as  shown  in  Fig. 
4,  and  must  have  higher  refractivity  and 
dispersion  than  its  positive  mate. 

This  combination,  then,  will  bring 
light  of  any  two  colors  to  a  common  focus 
on  the  axis.  The  other  colors  will  focus 
at  points  practically  identical  with  the 
chosen  colors.  Thus  this  lens  would  give 
a  color-free  star  image  on  the  axis. 

Other  Chromatic  Aberration 

The  other  type  of  chromatic  aberra- 
tion is  a  bit  more  difficult  to  understand. 
It  is  somewhat  more  complicated  both  to 
explain  and  to  show  in  a  drawing.  Some 
of  us  may  recall  mention  in  our  reading 
concerning  optics  of  certain  things  called 
"cardinal  points,"  "ideal  planes,"  etc. 
These  points  and  planes  are  convenient 
ways  of  describing  the  properties  of  lens 


FIGURE  3 


BLUE  CENTER 
RED  FRINGE 


RED  CENTER 
BLUE  FRINGE 


high  priority.  The  secret  lies  in  the  rela- 
tion of  dispersion  to  deviation.  Consider 
for  a  moment  a  simple  positive  lens  as 
shown  in  Fig.  3.  The  marginal  rays  have 
been  deviated  toward  a  focus,  and  at  the 
same  time  because  of  the  dispersion  of 
the  glass,  the  red  and  blue  rays  are 
aimed  at  different  points  on  the  axis. 
Now,   everything  would   be   perfect  if 


RED 


systems  and  are  indispensable  to  the  lens 
designer. 

Briefly,  these  cardinal  points  can  be 
looked  on  as  points  on  the  lens  axis  at 
which  the  refractive  powers  of  the  lenses 
or  lens  system  are  concentrated.  The 
cardinal  points  and  planes  are  exceed- 
ingly useful  because  they  simplify  com- 
putations by  replacing  a  complex,  almost 


BLUE 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


June  1951 


V s 


n 


u 


r~ ] 


FROM  CENTER  TO  SIDES 


y 


& 


/ 


with  this  exclusive 

RCA  EVENLITE 

'"    -        .   PATENTED 

SCREEN 

HERE'S  HOW 

These  graded  perforations  taper  from 
full  size  in  center  area  to  no  perfora- 
tions in  side  areas.  Compensate  for 
"hot-spot"  effect  of   projected  light. 


*Meets  SMPTE  Specifica- 
tions for  sound  transmission 
for  motion  picture  screens. 


\ 


•  An  ordinary  screen  has  uniform 

perforations  across  entire  face.  Screen 

surface  is  uniform  but  projected  light 

isn't.   Result:   "hot-spot"   effect  .   .   . 

reflected  light   is  brighter  at  center  of  screen, 

less  bright  at  sides. 

RCA  Evenlite  screen  has  varying  perforations, 
tapering  from  full  size  in  center  area  to  no  per- 
forations in  side  areas.  Result:  uniform  lighting 
.  .  .  full  brightness  at  center  of  screen,  full 
brightness  at  sides. 

Here  at  last  is  a  practical  solution  to  the  screen 
light  distribution  problem  ...  a  screen  that 
actually  compensates  for  non-uniform  light  pro- 
jected from  an  arc  lamp.  At  center,  where  per- 
forations are  maximum,  hole  size  does  not  exceed 


*eigbtper  cent.  So  Evenlite  gives  you  as  much  light 
at  center  as  any  standard-perforation  screen.  At 
sides,  where  perforations  are  zero,  Evenlite  gives 
you  at  least  eight  per  cent  more  light,  out  on  the 
dim  edges  where  every  bit  of  light  is  needed. 
And  these  unperforated  side  areas  are  big!  On 
larger  screens,  from  50  to  75%  of  area  has  no 
perforations!  All  this  extra  screen  light,  with  no 
loss  in  sound  quality. 

Look  into  RCA  Evenlite  now.  It  costs  no  more 
than  ordinary  screens,  yet  gives  you  a  uniformity 
of  lighting  never  before  possible.  Made  of  long- 
lasting,  high-reflecting  RCA  Snowhite  Heavy- 
weight Vinyl  Plastic.  Exclusive  with  RCA.  Avail- 
able immediately  ...  so  call  your  RCA  Dealer 
for  full  details  .  .  .  today! 


**************************** 


mfii) 


THEATRE   EQUIPMENT 

RA  DiO    CORPORA  TION  of  A  MERiCA 

ENGINEERING  PRODUCTS  DEPARTMENT,  CAMDEN.  N.J. 

In  Canada:  RCA  VICTOR  Company  Limited,  Montreal 


BACK  FOCUS 


FIGURE  5 


unmanageable  system  by  points  at  which 
all  the  refraction  can  be  considered  to 
occur,  or  more  graphically,  by  thin  lenses 
whose  laws  are  simple  and  easy  to 
handle. 

Irrespective  of  the  distance  from  the 
rear  surface  of  the  lens  to  the  focal  point 
in  parallel  light  (B.F.)  the  equivalent 
focal  length  (E.F.)  of  a  lens  is  defined 
as  the  distance  from  the  second  nodal 
point  (cardinal  point)  to  the  second 
principal  focal  point  (Fig.  5). 

We  are  all  familiar  with  the  fact  that 
even  with  infinitely  distant  objects  the 
image  size  is  proportional  to  the  focal 
length  of  the  lens  used.  The  50-mm  lens 
on  miniature  cameras  will  yield  an  image 
one-third  the  size  of  that  formed  by  a 
6-inch  lens. 

Now,  it  is  a  most  unfortunate  fact  that 
the  cardinal  points  have  positions  de- 
pendent on  the  refractive  index  of  the 
glass  comprising  the  lens.  Expressed  in 
other  words,  each  color  has  its  own  cardi- 
nal points  which  can  be  distinct  from 
those  of  any  other  color.  Now,  if  the  lens 
is  color-corrected  axially,  i.e.,  if  the  red 
and  blue  colors  unite  in  one  focal  point 
on  the  axis,  and  if  the  nodal  points  in  the 
two  colors  are  different,  automatically 
the  lens  must  have  different  focal  lengths 
in  the  two  colors.  This  is  shown  in  Fig.  6. 

However,  these  different  focal  lengths, 
as  we  saw  previously,  mean  differently 
sized  images:  that  is  to  say,  the  magni- 
fication will  be  different,  depending  on 
the  color  (Fig.  7) .  It  is  for  this  reason 
that  this  second  type  of  chromatism  is 
spoken  of  as  chromatic  difference  of  mag- 
nification, or  lateral  color. 

Lateral  Color  Aberration 

In  a  lens  afflicted  with  this  aberration 
the  points  in  the  margin  of  field  are 
drawn  into  spectra,  or  rainbows.  This 
particular  aberration  is  most  annoying 
even  with  black-and-white  film,  for  it 
quickly  sets  the  limit  of  usable  field  by 
producing  a  graded  soft  focus  near  the 
margins. 

In  the  correction  of  this  aberration,  ad- 
vantage is  taken  of  the  fact  that  some 
lens  system  will  give  a  spectrum  with  the 
red  end  closer  to  the  axis;  while  others 
will  give  a  rainbow  oriented  the  other 
way  around.  In  the  correction  of  lateral 


(TfT 


color,  then,  systems  of  these  apposing 
characteristics  are  balanced  against  each 
other  until  a  satisfactory  compromise  is 
found. 

We  have  now  seen  the  two  types  of 
pure  chromatic  aberration — longitudinal 
chromatic  aberration,  and  chromatic  dif- 
ference of  magnification.  The  former,  the 
simpler  type,  is  manifested  by  the   ab- 


practice  its  effects  will  be  mitigated  by 
stopping-down,  for  then  the  effective 
depth  of  focus  is  increased  and  the  image 
is  less  sensitive  to  improper  focus.  Longi- 
tudinal chromatic  aberration  is  corrected 
by  combining  a  positive  lens  with  a  nega- 
tive lens  of  higher  refractive  index  and 
dispersion  and  of  such  power  that  the 
dispersion  of  the  positive  lens  is  an- 
nulled, but  its  convergence  not  canceled, 
so  that  a  union  of  the  red  and  blue  colors 
occurs  on  the  axis. 

'Full  Color-Corrected' 

The  second  chromatic  aberration  is 
more  complex  and  manifests  itself  in 
differently  sized  images  in  different  col- 
ors. This  chromatic  difference  of  magni- 
fication is  troublesome  even  in  black-and- 
white  photography,  and  the  best  lenses 
are  corrected  for  this  aberration. 

Only  the  photographic  objectives  de- 
signed with  this  aberration  pared  to 
tolerable  limits  can  be  spoken  of  as  "full 
color-corrected."  This  aberration  is  pro- 


NODAL  POINTS 


FIGURE  6 


WHITE  < 


sence  of  one  single  focal  point  for  all 
colors,  with  the  existence  of  a  distant 
point  for  each  separate  color.  This  is  a 
very  troublesome  aberration  and  is  cor- 
rected in  all  but  the  most  inexpensive 
lenses.  These  lenses  can  be  spoken  of  as 
being  "color-corrected"  only  to  the  extent 
that  there  is  little  or  no  shift  of  focal 
point  with  color. 

This  aberration  is  in  theory  independ- 
ent of  the  aperture  of  the  lens,  though  in 


HGURE  7 


portional  to  the  image  height,  thus  be- 
coming worse  toward  the  corners  of  the 
picture.  Stopping  down  the  lens  is  with- 
out effect  on  this  aberration.  It  can  be 
corrected  by  employing  combinations  of 
elements  of  opposing  tendencies,  so  that 
one  set  cancels  the  effects  of  the  pre- 
ceding. 

The  corrected  lenses  of  the  reputable 
(Continued  ft.  of  Col.  1,  page  10) 


RED  BORDER 


RED  8  BLUE  AXIAL 
POINTS  COINCIDING 


Nz  FOR  RED 
LIGHT 


8 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     June  1951 


The  Eastman 


16mm. 
Projector, 


MODEL  25 


*******  t*mm 


PtOJsCTOK 


HERE  is  a  precision-designed,  craftsman- 
built  projection  instrument  which  delivers  a 
screen  image  and  sound  reproduction  from 
16mm.  film  that  compares  favorably  with  the 
performance  of  the  most  advanced  35mm. 
equipment.  You  can  be  certain  of  theater- 
quality  projection  of  your  16mm.  sound  films 
when  they  are  shown  with  an  Eastman  16mm. 


Projector,  Model  2  5. The  standard  model  may 
be  fitted  with  tungsten  or  carbon  arc  lamp. 
For  more  detailed  information,  including 
mechanical  and  installation  specifications,  fill 
out  the  coupon  below  now,  and  mail  it  today. 
Your  free  copy  of  the  booklet,  "Theater  Qual- 
ity 16mm.  Projection,"  will  be  in  the  return 
mail,  postpaid. 


Motion  Picture  Film  Department 
Eastman  Kodak  Company 
Rochester  4,  N.  Y. 

East  Coast  Division 
342  Madison  Avenue 
New  York  17,  New  York 

Midwest  Division 

137  North  Wabash  Avenue 

Chicago  2,  Illinois 

West  Coast  Division 

6706  Santa  Monica  Blvd. 

Hollywood  38,  California 


Eastman  Kodak  Company 

343  STATE  STREET 

ROCHESTER  4,  N.  Y. 

DEPT.  8 

Please  send  copy  of 

"Theater  Quality  16mm. 

Projection"  at  earliest 

convenience. 


COMPANY  (OR  THEATER). 


STREET_ 


"~l 


.ZONE. 


L_. 


-J 


Maskless  Screen  Steadily  Gains  Favor 

Renewed  interest  in  the  maskless  screen,  and  its  concomitant  of  surrounding  illumina- 
tion, was  very  definitely  in  evidence  at  the  recent  SMPTE  Convntion  in  New  York. 
Supplementing  the  various  articles  on  this  topic  which  have  appeared  in  IP  over  the 
past   several   years   is   the   appended   commentary   by   a   prominent    lighting   engineer. 


WITH  the  trend  toward  higher  lev- 
els of  schoolroom  and  industrial 
lighting,  there  is  also  a  trend  toward 
higher  levels  of  illumination  in  theater 
auditoriums  while  the  picture  is  on  the 
screen.  In  addition  to  the  obvious  advan- 
tages from  a  public  safety  standpoint, 
another  result  is  reduction  of  eyestrain 
resulting  from  reduced  contrast  between 
the  screen  and  the  area  surrounding  it. 

Evidence  from  another  quarter  sup- 
porting the  argument  for  lower  contrast 
between  visual  task  areas  and  their  sur- 
round was  available  in  abundance  at 
the  office  equipment  exhibits  of  the  Na- 
tional Office  Managers  Assoc.  Conven- 
tion in  New  York  recently.  All  desk 
manufacturers  are  offering  tops  more 
nearly  the  color  of  the  paper  you  are 
looking  at  rather  than  the  print  you  are 
reading.  Even  televiewing  authorities  tell 
Butch  to  have  lights  on  in  the  room  dur- 
ing the  Hopalong  Cassidy  show. 

Film  Theaters  Lagging  Behind? 

Why  don't  more  theaters  follow  the 
swing?    Now  that  large  aperture  lenses 

LENS  CORRECTION 

(Continued  from  page  8) 
makers  have  all  been  designed  with  this 
aberration  in  mind  and  can  justly  be 
spoken  of  as  being  fully  color-corrected. 
However,  it  is  well  to  remember  that 
nothing  perfect  is  manufactured,  and 
that  with  the  most  refined  tests  it  might 
be  possible  to  demonstrate  some  lateral 
color  with  the  most  nearly  perfect  lens 
made.  This  would  be  without  signifi- 
cance, however,  since  the  test  necessarily 
would  be  artificial  and  would  not  corre- 
spond to  the  conditions  of  use  of  the  lens. 
If  the  longitudinal  chromatic  aberration 
has  been  corrected,  and  if  the  lateral 
aberration  cannot  be  detected  on  the  film, 
for  all  practical  purposes  the  lens  is 
"fully  corrected." 

Full  color-correction  is  as  essential  in 
the  best  photography  and  projection  with 
black-and-white  emulsions  as  it  is  with 
color  film.  The  effect  of  lateral  color  in 
the  case  of  the  former  is  to  create  a  soft 
focus  effect  toward  the  margins,  while 
with  color  film  registration  difficulties  are 
the  consequence  of  this  aberration. 

Color  photography  and  projection  has 
introduced  no  new  element  into  the  de- 
sign of  good  objectives.  With  color  film 
the  color  aberrations,  particularly  lateral 
color,  becomes  visible  as  color  defects. 
The  best  lenses  have  always  been  fully 
color-corrected. 


and  methods  of  cooling  the  projector 
gate,  the  film  and  the  carbon  clamps  are 
available,  the  majority  of  theaters  are 
physically  able  to  use  larger  screens  and 
higher  levels  of  screen  brightness  which 
permit  a  substantial  increase  of  auditor- 
ium light.  Add  also  an  illuminated  screen 
surround  and  the  patrons  will  receive 
something  new  in  the  way  of  motion 
pictures. 

Light  borders  are  replacing  dark  in 
two  ways: 

1.  The  screen  end  of  the  auditorium  is 
shaped  like  the  inside  of  an  egg  shell 
(the  big  end)  with  the  side  walls  and 
ceiling  sweeping  in  at  an  increasing  rate 
to  meet  the  edges  of  the  screen.  Wall  and 
ceiling  are  finished  a  very  light  color, 
almost  white,  and  receive  a  great  deal  of 
diffuse   reflected   light   from   the   screen. 

Brightness  Ratio  Very  Important 

The  ratio  of  apparent  screen  bright- 
ness to  apparent  surround  brightness  is 
set  by  the  shape,  texture  and  color  of  the 
walls  and  ceiling. 

Once  a  desirable  ratio  is  established 
it  stays  that  way,  because  a  high-key 
scene  automatically  has  a  fairly  bright 
surround,  and  a  low-key  scene,  such  as 
the  first  reel  of  "Great  Expectations," 
will  reflect  practically  no  light  to  the 
surrounding  walls.  It  seems  mighty  im- 
portant to  select  the  brightness  ratio  that 
gives  minimum  fatigue,  and  this  calls  for 
clever  architectural  design. 

A   Typical  Installation 

The  Crown  Theater  in  New  Haven, 
Conn.,  is  an  early  practical  example. 
There  is  no  proscenium  and  there  are 
no  curtains.  It  is  a  small  motion  picture 
theater  that  does  not  feel  the  urge  to  hide 
its  screen  behind  heavy  drapes.  During 
intermission  the  white  screen  is  occupied 


with  a  slide  projected  from  the  projec- 
tion room.  The  result  is  quite  a  pleasant 
one. 

Britain's  Telekinema  System 

2.  Another  and  more  complex  system 
is  being  used  in  Telekinema,  the  motion 
picture  exhibit  featured  at  the  Festival 
of  Britain.  The  surround  is  projected 
along  with  the  picture  and  uses  bight 
reflected  from  the  rear  of  the  projector 
shutter,  which  is  silvered,  and  a  special 
projection  optical  system  that  "works" 
only  during  the  pull-down  half  of  the 
projection  cycle. 

The  result  is  an  illuminated  border 
synchronous  with  the  picture,  which  re- 
quires no  special  attention  on  the  part 
of  the  projectionist. 


Movies  Two  Miles  Under  Water 

MOTION  PICTURES  of  the  expansion 
and  contraction  of  explosion  bubbles,  taken 
at  a  depth  as  great  as  two  miles  under  the 
surface  of  the  ocean  at  a  rate  of  20,000 
frames  per  second,  are  helping  U.  S.  Navy 
scientists  to  gain  new  knowledge  of  the  be- 
havior, effectiveness  and  design  requirements 
of  underwater  explosive  weapons. 

The  explosion  bubble  is  a  gas  globe  formed 
by  the  hot,  expanded  gaseous  products  of 
detonation.  The  cameras  used  in  a  recent 
Navy  project  were  an  Eastman  Hi-Speed,  a 
35-mm  Fastax,  and  a  rotating  mirror  frame 
camera  best  described  as  a  modified  Bowen. 
Each  was  shock-mounted  in  a  heavy,  water- 
tight case. 

Intricate  Optical  System  Used 

The  latter  camera,  used  for  making  studies 
at  greater  depths,  was  enclosed  in  a  spheri- 
cal case  with  an  inside  diameter  of  22  inches 
and  walls  1%-inch  thick.  In  this  camera,  the 
image  is  formed  on  a  spinning  mirror  which 
has  the  focal  axis  of  the  taking  lens  system 
for  its  axis  of  rotation. 

The  plane  of  reflection  of  the  mirror  is  45 
degrees  to  this  axis.  The  image  is  thus  re- 
flected through  the  framing  lens  to  the  sta- 
tionary film.  With  the  mirror  revolving  at  the 
rate  of  18,000  r.p.m.,  100  pictures  can  be 
taken  at  the  rate  of  30,000  frames  per  sec- 
ond. The  light  source  most  commonly  used 
consisted  of  a  number  of  focal  plane  flash- 
bulbs having  a  flash  duration  of  about  75 
milli-seconds. 


American 
equipment  is  fea- 
tured around 
the  world,  as 
attested   by  this 

display  of 
Simplex   visual 
and  sound 
projection  equip- 
ment by   Evergreen 
Pictures  in  the 

Taj    Mahal 

Hotel,  Bombay, 

India. 


10 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     June  1951 


BRIGHTEST  SPOT  M  WE  WORLD! 


ITS  AREA  is  less  than  one  quarter  square  inch.  It  is  the  most 
powerful  "point  source"  of  light  in  the  world.  It  is  the  crater  in 
the  tip  of  an  experimental  positive  "National"  High  Intensity 
carbon. 

Into  this  tiny  spot  is  packed  the  same  amount  of  light  which 
would  be  emitted  by  137,000  brightly  burning  candles! 

This  crowding  of  a  terrific  amount  of  light  into  a  small  area  is 
a  feature  of  the  "National"  carbons  used  in  movie  production  and 
projection.  It  is  called  intrinsic  brilliance.  This  is  what  makes 
your  pictures  so  bright  and  pleasing  to  look  at. 

Furthermore,  the  light  emitted  by  "National"  High  Intensity 
Carbons  is  the  closest  approach  to  sunlight.  It  has  a  continuous 
spectrum  and  contains  all  the  colors  of  the  rainbow.  This  makes 
color  movies  glow  with  rich  natural  detail.  Your  theatre  patrons 
like  it  —  their  approval  shows  up  in  the  box  office. 


When  you  order  studio 
or  protector  carbons 
-  order  "NATIONAL"  • 


The  term  "National"  is  a  registered  trade-matk  of  Union  Carbide  and  Carbon  Corporation 

NATIONAL  CARBON  COMPANY,  A  Division  of  Union  Carbide  and  Carbon  Corporation 

30  East  42nd  Street,  New  York  17,  N.Y. 

District  Sales  Offices:  Atlanta,  Chicago,  Dallas,  Kansas  City,  New  York,  Pittsburgh,  San  Francisco 

IN  CANADA:  National  Carbon  limited,  Montreal,  Toronto,  Winnipeg 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     June  1951 


11 


Theatres,  auditoriums,  arenas,  colleges,  schools,  hotels,  ice 
shows,  lodges  and  road  shows  appreciate  the  sharp,  dazzling 
snow-white  spot  projected  by  the  Strong  Trouper  High  Intensity 
Arc  Spotlight.  Drawing  only  10  amperes  from  any  110-volt  A.C. 
convenience  outlet,  the  Trouper  makes  the  use  of  heavy  rotating 
equipment  unnecessary.  With  an  adjustable,  self-regulating  trans- 
former an  integral  part  of  the  base,  the  Trouper  is  easily  portable 
and  readily  disassembled  for  shipping. 

The  high  efficiencies  of  the  Trouper  are  largely  attained  by  the 
optical  system  which  utilizes  a  silvered  glass  reflector  and  a  two- 
element  variable  focal  length  lens  system.  The  automatic  arc 
control  maintains  a  constant  arc  gap,  free  from  hiss  or  flicker. 
A  trim  of  carbons  burns  one  hour  and  twenty  minutes  at  21  volts 
and  45  amperes. 

The  Strong  Trouperette  Incandescent  Spotlight  is  especially 
popular  with   small   theatres,  schools,   night   clubs  and   industrial 


shows,  where  physical  dimensions  and  price  are  factors  and  where 
the  tremendous  light  volume  of  an  arc  lamp  is  not  necessary.  It 
can  be  plugged  into  any  110-volt  convenience  outlet. 

It  projects  far  more  light  than  any  conventional,  incandescent 
spotlight.  This  increased  brilliancy  is  made  possible  by  a  variable 
focal  length  objective  lens  system,  a  5'  4-inch  silvered  glass  re- 
flector and  Fresnel  lens  used  with  a  standard  115-volt,  1000-watt 
prefocused  projection  type  bulb.  As  contrasted  to  the  conventional 
incandescent  spotlight,  with  which  the  spot  size  is  varied  solely 
by  irising,  to  result  in  substantial  light  loss,  the  Trouperette 
utilizes  all  the  light  through  most  of  the  spot  sizes.  The  Trouper- 
ette delivers  6V2  times  brighter  head  spots  with  sharp  edges  from 
head  spot  to  flood.  A  horizontal  masking  control  can  be  angled 
at  45  degrees  in  each  direction.  The  fast  operating  color 
boomerang  accommodates  six  slides.  The  mounting  stand  is  ad- 
justable for  height. 


SEE  ANY  OF  THE  FOLLOWING  DEALERS  OR  USE  COUPON   FOR  OBTAINING   LITERATURE 


ALBANY,  N.  Y.—  Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Albany 
Theatre  Supply 

ATLANTA— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

ATLANTIC  CITY— Boardwalk  Film  Enterprises 

AUBURN,  N.  Y.— Auburn  Theatre  Equipment 

BALTIMORE— J.  F.  Dusman  Co.;  Nat'l  Theatre  Sup- 
ply Co. 

BIRMINGHAM— The     Queen     Feature    Service,     Inc. 

BOSTON— J.  Cifre,  Inc.;  Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

BUFFALO— Dion  Products;  Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

CHARLOTTE— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Standard 
Theatre  Supply  Co. 

CHICAGO— Abbott  Theatre  Equipment  Co.;  Droll 
Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Gardner  Jansen,  Inc.;  Grand 
Stage  Lighting  Co.;  Hollywood  Stage  Lighting 
Co.;  Midwest  Stage  Lighting  Co.;  Nafl  Theatre 
Supply  Co. 

CINCINNATI— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

CLEVELAND— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

DALLAS — Hardin  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Modern  Thea- 
tre Equipment  Co.;  Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

DENVER— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Graham  Bros. 

DES  MOINES— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

DETROIT— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

FORTY  FORT,  PA.— V.  M.  Tate  Theatre  Supplies 

GREENSBORO,  N.  C— Standard  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

HOUSTON — Southwestern  Theatre   Equipment  Co. 

INDIANAPOLIS— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

ICANSAS  CITY,  MO.— Shreve  Theatre  Supply;  Nafl 
Theatre  Supply  Co. 

LOS  ANGELES— J.  M.  Boyd;  C.  J.  Holzmueller;  Nafl 
Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Pembrex  Theatre  Supply  Corp. 

LOUISVILLE— Falls  City  Theatre  Supply  Co. 


MEMPHIS— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 
MILWAUKEE— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  R.  Smith  Co. 
MINNEAPOLIS— Minneapolis   Theatre   Supply;    Nafl 

Theatre  Supply  Co. 
NEW  HAVEN— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 
NEW  ORLEANS— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 
NEW  YORK  CITY— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 
NORFOLK— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 
OKLAHOMA  CITY— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Okla- 
homa Theatre  Supply  Co. 

HI  LADE  LP  HI  A— Blum  berg    Brothers;    Nafl   Theatre 
Supply  Co. 

ITTSBURGH— Atlas  Theatre  Supply;   Nafl  Theatre 
Supply  Co. 
ALT  LAKE  CITY— Inter-Mountain  Theatre  Supply  Co. 
AN  FRANCISCO— C.  J.  Holzmueller;  Nafl  Theatre 
Supply  Co.;  W.  G.  Preddey  Theatre  Supplies 


SEATTLE— B.  F.  Shearer  Co.;  Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

SIOUX  FALLS— American  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

ST.  LOUIS— City  Electric  Co.;  Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co 

TOLEDO — Theatre  Equipment  Co. 

WESTERLY,  R.  I.— G.  H.  Payne  Motion  Picture  Service 

CANADA— 
Dominion  Sound 
General  Theatre 
General  Theatre 
General  Theatre 
General  Theatre 
General  Theatre 
Perkins  Electric 
Perkins  Electric 
Sharp's  Theatre 


Equip.,   Ltd.,  Montreal,  Que. 
Supply  Co.,  Toronto,  Ont. 
Supply  Co.,    St.    John,    N.    B. 
Supply  Co.,    Vancouver,    B.    C. 
Supply  Co.,   Montreal,   Que. 
Supply  Co.,    Winnipeg,    Man. 
Co.,  Ltd.,  Montreal,  Que. 
Co.,    Ltd.,   Toronto,   Ont. 
Supplies,   Ltd.,  Calgary,  Alta. 


THE     STRONG     ELECTRIC     CORPORATION 

"The  World's  Largest  Manufacturer  of  Projection  Arc  Lamps" 

14  CITY  PARK  AVENUE  TOLEDO  2,  OHIO 

Please  send   free   literature  on   the  □   Strong  Trouperette   Incandescent  Spotlight; 
□   Strong    Trouper   Arc    Spotlight. 

NAM  F 

COM  PA  N  Y 

STREET , 

CITY  &  STATE 


12 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


June  1951 


Tv  Pot  Boils  Over;  Movies  Fight  Back 

THE  Tv  pot  boiled  over  daring  the  past  month,  with  most  of  the  heat  being  gener- 
ated by  the  long-quiescent  motion   picture  industry.  While  much  too  early  to 
evaluate  the  end  results  of  the  frantic  pushing  and  hauling  that  ensued  in  the  en- 
tertainment arena  during  this  period,  it's  a  cinch  that  the  coming  year  will  be  pro- 
ductive of  events  that  will  set  the  pattern  for  years  to  come.  The  developments  were : 
1.  United  Paramount  Theaters  merged      set  manufacturers  full  details 


with  American  Broadcasting  Co.  (sub- 
ject to  FCC  and  stockholder  approval), 
and  thus  added  five  wholly-owned  AM- 
FM-TV  stations  and  289  affiliated  sta- 
tions to  the  650  theaters  which  it  already 
controls.  At  least  22  of  these  theaters 
will  be  equipped  with  large-screen  Tv 
equipment    by   early   Fall. 

2.  A  group  of  motion  picture  theaters 
obtained  the  exclusive  rights,  although 
on  a  restricted  coverage  basis,  to  the  Joe 
Louis-Lee  Savold  heavyweight  fight  held 
at  the  Polo  Grounds  on  June  13.  No  thea- 
ters in  the  New  York  and  adjacent  areas 
were  included  in  the  deal. 

700  Theater  Tv  Sets  in  Work 

3.  It  was  learned  definitely  that  more 
than  100  theater  Tv  equipments  are  now 
being  manufactured  by  RCA  —  which 
means  definite  orders  therefor. 

4.  Almost  a  certainty  is  that  the  ex- 
clusive rights  to  major  college  football 
games  next  Fall  will  be  granted  to  Tv- 
equipped    motion    picture    theaters. 

5.  Paramount  Pictures  Corp.  (not  to 
be  confused  with  U-P  Theaters),  which 
already  owns  a  substantial  interest  in 
the  DuMont  Tv-network  and  manufac- 
turing facilities,  purchased  an  interest 
in  Telemeter,  a  coin-operated  device  at- 
tachable to  home  receivers  thus  presag- 
ing a  possible  Tv  subscription  service. 

Paramount  also  revealed  its  50% 
ownership  of  Chromatic  Tv  Labs,  which 
makes  a  Tv  receiver  which  will  auto- 
matically tune  to  either  black-and-white 
or  color  transmission,  using  a  16  or  21- 
inch  direct  view  tube.  This  tube  would 
eliminate  the  need  for  the  rotating  disk 
now  used  on  CBS  color  transmissions. 

RCA's  Pay-as-You-See-System 

6.  RCA,  parent  company  of  the  NBC 
radio  and  Tv  network,  formally  con- 
firmed for  the  first  time  that  it  has  been 
working  on  a  system  of  home  pay-as-you- 
see  Tv.  "There  are  many  ways  of  doing 
subscription  television,"  said  an  RCA 
spokesman,  "Anything  that  can  be  done 
over  a  wire  can  be  done  through  the  air." 

7.  The  U.  S.  Supreme  Court  sustained 
the  legal  right  of  the  FCC  to  approve 
the  CBS  system  of  rotating-disk  color 
Tv  as  opposed  to  the  RCA  all-electronic 
color  tube.  Nothing  daunted,  RCA  an- 
nounced that  it  did  not  regard  the  con- 
troversy as  ended,  and  moved  promptly 
to  begin  experimental  color  transmissions 
and   to   make    available   to   all   tube   and 


its  tri- 
chromatic color  tube. 

CBS  howled  that  by  this  move  RCA 
was  again  attempting  to  "delay  color  by 
making  promises  for  the  future."  RCA 
replied  that  it  was  "goodbye  to  the  disk 
— it's  obsolete."  Competent  observers 
estimate  that  home  receiving  sets  will 
not  be  affected  by  the  court's  decision 
for  several  years  to  come. 

All  these  events  are  of  too  recent  vin- 
tage and,  probably,  are  so  interdependent 
one  upon  another  as  to  defy  analysis, 
much  less  a  forecast  of  their  impact  upon 
the  future,  even  by  those  who  are  inti- 
mately associated  with  them.  Time  alone 
will   design  the   pattern. 

However,  three  facts  of  great  signifi- 
cance to  motion  picture  people  emerge 
from  the  welter  of  events.  These  are: 

1.  The  theater  field  has  finally  snapped 
out  of  a  coma  and  come  to  the  realiza- 
tion that  it  is  do  or  don't,  now  or  never. 
Witness:  the  definite  orders  for  theater 
Tv  equipments,  and  the  evidence  that 
it  will  make  a  strong  bid  for  exclusive 
program  material  in  the  form  of  major 
events,  sports  or  otherwise.  Whether  this 
move  is  too  late,  for  better  or  worse,  is 
unpredictable — but  the  will  to  fight  back 
is  at  last  evident  in  the  tangible  form  of 
making  an  effort  and  spending  money. 

2.  Inescapable  is  the  fact  that  every- 
body concerned  —  promoters  of  major 
events,  Tv  networks,  talent,  manufac- 
turers, movie  theaters,  and  all  the  work- 
ing crafts  —  has  jumped  on  the  band- 
wagon which  is  headed  in  the  direction 
of  some  form  of  pay-as-you-see,  whether 
in  the  home  or  in  the  theater,  as  a 
source   of  badly   needed  revenue. 

3.  The  active  participation  of  the  large 
movie  producers  in  the  acquisition  of 
Tv  properties  and  their  avid  continuing 
scouting  of  future  possibilities  makes 
it  inevitable  that  it  won't  be  too  long 
before  they  announce  flatly  their  intent 
to  make  films  for  Tv. 

In  fact,  several  such  units,  even  though 
in  skeleton  form,  are  right  now  active 
in  the  major  Hollywood  studios  —  for 
a  fact. 

UP-ABC  Deal  No  Help 

As  for  the  purchase  of  ABC  by  UP, 
the  mealy-mouthed  joint  announcement 
of  the  deal  makes  it  obvious  that  the 
combine  will  do  precious  little  good  for  if 
not  actual  harm  to,  the  motion  picture 
theatre.  How  about  those  289  network 
affiliates? 

As   for  the  theater   group   gaining  the 


exclusive  on  the  Louis-Savold  fight,  this 
ice-breaker  is  significant  only  because 
of  the  statement  by  the  boxing  monopoly 
that  this  is  but  the  "first  of  a  series  of 
such  events  that  will  go  exclusively  to 
the  theater  field." 

And  there  are  other  angles  to  this 
deal.  Admittedly,  Louis  and  Savold  was 
not  a  championship  fight,  and,  in  fact, 
was  really  not  a  first-class  attraction. 
Then  there  is  the  circumstance  of  the  pro- 
moters being  turned  down  on  their  re- 
quest for  $100,000  from  a  Tv  sponsor  for 
the  event,  the  highest  bid  being  $60,000. 
It  is  doubtful  that  this  outdoor  attraction 
grossed  even  the  latter  figure  at  the 
gate. 

Rather  a  mangy-looking  first  exclusive, 
but  still  a  hopeful  portent  for  the  future. 

The  definite  orders  for  theater  Tv 
equipment  and  the  exclusive  on  the  major 
college  football  games  brighten  up  the 
over-all    picture — but    positively. 

Pay-as-You-See  Movie  Poison 

This  mad  rush  toward  the  pay-as-you- 
see  goal  could  be  poison  for  the  motion 
picture  theater.  It  indicates  that  home 
Tv  as  now  set  up  is  faltering  and  will 
ultimately  be  relegated  to  a  plodding 
medium  that  can  offer  nothing  but  15- 
and  30-minute  segments  plus  a  flock  of 
wornout  entertainers  and,  of  vital  impor- 
tance, a  dose  of  the  most  nauseating  ver- 
bal garbage  in  the  form  of  commercials 
that  is  ever  foisted  on  the  public. 

Home  Tv,  however,  would  figure  to 
dent  the  movie  theater  box-office  by 
about  20% ;  but  a  practicable  means  for 
establishing  a  nation-wide  pay-as-you-see 
home  Tv  service  would  zoom  this  figure 
to  50  or  60% — and  goodbye  movie  thea- 
ter. A  thought:  presently  there  are  no 
channels  available  for  such  a  service 
even  if  the  FCC  should  grant  approval. 

Over-all,  it  appears  that  if  the  movie 
theaters  can  get  through  this  summer 
in  fairly  good  shape  and  keep  pitching 
in  the  matter  of  acquiring  more  and 
more  large-screen  theater  Tv  sets  and 
in  snaring  exclusive  program  fare,  it 
might  yet  find  itself  in  a  spot  where  it 
would  wind  up  with  a  respectable  slice 
of   the    entertainment    dollar. 


Tv  15,000  Times  Brighter 


In  the  past,  projection  Tv  has  failed 
to  win  public  acceptance  using  projec- 
tion tubes  only  50  times  as  bright  as 
direct-view  tubes.  "It  now  seems  entirely 
feasible  to  build  a  receiver  tube  6  inches 
long  and  less  than  an  inch  in  diameter, 
which  will  have  a  screen  brightness 
15.000  times  that  of  today's  direct-view 
tube,"  declares  Philo  T.  Farnsworth. 
"With  such  a  tube  we  shall  be  able  to 
use  a  built-in  screen  in  the  receiver  or 
to  adjust  the  set  so  that  an  image  may 
be  projected  in  3  x  4-foot  size  on  a 
separate  screen  or  wall." 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     June  1951 


13 


The  Magic  of  Color 

By  ROBERT  A.  MITCHELL 

Second  in  a  series  of  articles  on  the  "what",  "why"  and  "how"  of  color. 


TABLE  A  gives  the  intensity  of  ver- 
milion, emeraude,  and  indigo  lights 
required  to  produce  the  48  hues 
(Fig.  3  is  reproduced  from  the  first  in- 
stallment, for  reader  convenience).  Zero 
means  "completely  off,"  while  100  signi- 
fies "full  intensity."  When  all  three  lights 
are  shining  at  full  intensity  (100,  100, 
100),  white  light  is  obtained. 

The  hues  are  numbered  in  Table  A  in 
such  a  way  that  complementaries  have 
the  same  number.  If  you  add  the  light 
intensities  for  any  two  complementaries, 
you  will  find  the  sum  to  be  100,  100,  100. 
The  column  headed  luminosity  indi- 
cates the  relative  visual  brightness  of  the 
hues  when  moderately  strong  illumina- 
tion is  employed.  Note  that  indigo  is  the 
least  luminous,  and  yellow  the  most  lumi- 
nous, of  the  hues.  Note  also  the  slight  ir- 
regularities in  the  way  the  luminosities 


vary.  The  relative  luminosity  indices  of 
any  two  hues  complementary  to  one  an- 
other add  up  to  10  in  all  cases. 

Table  B  gives  the  percentage  of  each 
primary  in  the  48  hues.  The  numbers  in 
the  column  headed  multiplier  are  worth 
special  attention.  They  are  significant  in 
three  ways. 

First,  by  multiplying  the  percentages 
of  components  of  each  hue  by  the  indi- 
cated multiplier,  the  values  given  in 
Table  A  are  obtained. 

Most  'Dazzling'  to  Eye 

Second,  the  hues  having  the  highest 
multipliers  are  the  most  "dazzling"  to  the 
eye  (cyan,  magenta,  and  yellow) .  All 
hues  having  the  same  multipliers  are 
equally  "dazzling,"  or  colorful. 

Third,  the  multipliers  offer  an  aston- 
ishing empirical  explanation  of  the  hues 


commonly  accepted  as  fundamental  col- 
ors— true  red,  orange,  etc.  With  the  ex- 
ception of  yellow,  the  "true"  hues  have 
multipliers  very  close  in  value  to  1:29 
and  1.63.  Here  is  how  the  correct  posi- 
tions of  these  hues  are  determined  in  the 
color  scale: 

Begin  with  yellow,  which  attracts  at- 
tention because  it  is  the  most  luminous 
hue.  Proceeding  down  the  Hst  from  yel- 
low (and  continuing  down  from  the  top 
of  the  list  when  the  bbttom  has  been 
reached),  we  find  the  second  hue  having 
the  same  multiplier,  whether  1.29  or  1.63. 
This  will  be  a  "true"  hue. 

Xanth,  we  notice,  is  1.6  (closest  to 
1.63),  limonelle  is  1.3  (closest  to  1.29, 
and  green  is  1.25  (closest  to  1.29).  This 
determines  true  green. 

Continuing,  we  encounter  aquamarine 
1.625  and  blue  1.667.  This  determines 
true  blue. 

Continuing,  we  encounter  ultramarine 
1.333  and  purple  1.3.  This  determines 
true  purple. 

Continuing,  we  encounter  mauvure  1.6 
and  red  1.625.  This  determines  true  red. 

Continuing,  we  encounter  scarlet  1.25 
and  orange  1.333.  This  determines  true 


TABLE  A.    PRODUCTION  OF  COLORED  LIGHTS 
BY  MIXING  PRIMARY  HUES 


TABLE  B.    PERCENTAGE  COMPOSITION 
OF  COLORED  LIGHTS 


PRIMARY  COMPONENTS 
Relative  Light  Intensities 


PR  MARY  COMPONENTS 
Proportions  in  Per  Cent 


Hue 


Vermilion  Emeraude       Indigo 


Luminosity 


Hue 


Vermilion      Emeraude     Indigo       Multiplier 


1. 

Xanth 

60 

100 

0 

7.000 

1. 

Xanth 

37.50 

62.50 

0 

1.6 

£. 

Chloric* 

50 

100 

0 

6.500 

2. 

Chloriae 

33.33 

66.67 

0 

1.5 

9. 

Chryaine 

40 

100 

0 

6.000 

3. 

Chryaine 

28.57 

71.43 

0 

1.4 

4. 

Limonelle 

30 

100 

0 

5.500 

4. 

Limonelle 

23.08 

76.92 

0 

1.3 

6. 

Thaller ian 

20 

100 

0 

5.000 

5. 

Thallerlan 

16.67 

83.33 

0 

1.2 

6. 

Reaeda 

10 

100 

0 

4.500 

6. 

Reaeda 

9.09 

90.91 

0 

1.1 

7. 

EMBRACER 

0 

100 

0 

4.000 

7. 

KMBRAUDS 

0 

100.00 

0 

1 

8. 

Virenee 

0 

100 

12.5 

4.125 

8. 

Virenca 

0 

88.89 

11.11 

1.126 

9. 

Green  (true) 

0 

100 

25 

4.250 

9. 

Green  (true) 

0 

80.00 

20.00 

1.25 

10. 

Verdante 

0 

100 

37.6 

4.375 

10. 

Verdante 

0 

72.73 

27.27 

1.375 

11. 

Beryl 

0 

100 

50 

4.500 

1     u» 

Beryl 

0 

66.67 

33.33 

1.5 

12. 

Aquamarine 

0 

100 

62.5 

4.625 

12. 

Aquamarine 

0 

61.54 

38.46 

1.625 

13. 

Glauoine 

0 

100 

75 

4.750 

13. 

Glauoine 

0 

57.14 

42.86 

1.75 

14. 

Bioe 

0 

100 

87.5 

4.875       \ 

14. 

Bioa 

0 

53.33 

46.67 

1.875 

15. 

CXAT 

0 

100 

100 

5.000 

15. 

CTATT 

0 

50.00 

50.00 

2 

16. 

Cerulea 

0 

83.3 

100 

4.333 

16. 

Cerulea 

0 

45.45 

54.55 

1.833 

17. 

Blue  (true) 

0 

66.7 

100 

3.667 

17. 

Blue  (true) 

0 

40.01 

59.99 

1.667 

18. 

Snalt 

0 

50 

100 

3.000 

18. 

Suit 

0 

33.33 

66.67 

1.5 

10. 

Ultramarine 

0 

33.3 

100 

2.333 

19. 

Ultramarine 

0 

24.98 

75.02 

1.333 

20. 

Gentian 

0 

16.7 

100 

1.667 

20. 

Gentian 

0 

14.31 

85.69 

1.167 

21. 

XBDIGO 

0 

0 

100 

1.000 

21. 

ITOIGO 

0 

0 

100.00 

1 

22. 

Toad 

10 

0 

100 

1.500 

22. 

Toad 

9.09 

0 

90.91 

1.1 

25. 

Violet 

20 

0 

100 

2.000 

23. 

Violet 

16.67 

0 

83.33 

1.2 

24. 

Purple  (true) 

30 

0 

100 

2.500 

24. 

Purple  (true) 

23.08 

0 

76.92 

1.3 

1. 

Tyrian 

40 

0 

100 

5.000 

1. 

Tyrian 

28.57 

0 

71.43 

1.4 

2. 

Puoelle 

50 

0 

100 

3.500 

2. 

Puoelle 

33.33 

0 

66.67 

1.5 

5. 

MauTure 

60 

0 

100 

4.000 

3. 

MauTure 

37.50 

0 

62.50 

1.6 

4. 

Amaranth 

70 

0 

100 

4.500 

4. 

Amaranth 

41.18 

0 

58.82 

1.7 

5. 

Mulberry 

80 

0 

100 

5.000 

5. 

Mulberry 

44.44 

0 

55.56 

1.8 

6. 

Rubraeinth 

90 

0 

100 

5.500 

6. 

Rubraeinth 

47.37 

0 

52.63 

1.9 

7. 

MAGENTA 

100 

0 

100 

6.000 

7. 

MAGBFTA 

50.00 

0 

50.00 

2 

8. 

Cher rose 

100 

0 

87.5 

5.876 

8. 

Cherroae 

53.33 

0 

46.67 

1.875 

9. 

Carmine 

100 

0 

75 

5.750 

9. 

Carmine 

57.14 

0 

42.86 

1.76 

10. 

Red  (true) 

100 

0 

62.5 

5.625 

10. 

Red  (true) 

61.54 

0 

38.46 

1.625 

11. 

Garnet 

100 

0 

50 

5.500 

11. 

Garnet 

66.67 

0 

33.33 

1.5 

12. 

Crlaaon 

100 

0 

37.5 

5.375 

12. 

Crlaaon 

72.73 

0 

27.27 

1.375 

15. 

Scarlet 

100 

0 

25 

5.250 

13. 

Scarlet 

80.00 

0 

20.00 

1.25 

14. 

Cardinal 

100 

0 

12.5 

5.125 

14. 

Cardinal 

88.89 

0 

11.11 

1.125 

15. 

VKRMILIOH 

100 

0 

0 

5.000 

15. 

VSHKILIOT 

100.00 

0 

0 

1 

16. 

Mandarin 

100 

16.7 

0 

5.667 

16. 

Mandarln 

85.69 

14.31 

0 

1.167 

11: 

Orange  (true) 
Pyrldian 

100 

33.3 

0 

6.333 

17. 

Orange  (true) 

75.02 

24.98 

0 

1.333 

100 

50 

0 

7.000 

18. 

Pyrldian 

66.67 

33.33 

0 

1.5 

19. 

Safran 

100 

66.7 

0 

7.667 

19. 

Safran 

59.99 

40.01 

0 

1.667 

20. 

Aurlee 

100 

83.3 

0 

8.333 

20. 

Aurlae 

64.56 

45.45 

0 

1.833 

21. 

TOELL0W  (true) 

100 

100 

0 

9.000 

21. 

TBJ/St  (true) 

50.00 

50.00 

0 

2 

1.9 
1.8 
1.7 

22. 

Blarelle 

90 

100 

0 

8.500 

22. 

narella 

47.37 

52.63 

0 

o 

23. 

Chartrauae 

80 

100 

0 

8.000 

23. 

Chartrauae 

44.44 

55.56 

24. 

Kaaoagna 

70 

100 

0 

7.500 

24. 

Kaaoagna 

41.18 

58.82 

0 

MbUKt    i 


Most  \  fl»v 

uminous\  Yellow  (true) 


C  hartreus^*55*22i42likhloris« 

A«"     J      c   ,Auri55<<^€^  ''GREENISH 

Pynd,a/WWAN6E\ 
Oranqe  (true)/\  /\[ELL0WS. 

Mandarln/^vDRANGES,    - 

585  m//. 

VERMILION 
Cardinal 
Scarlet 
Crimson 
Garnet 
Red  (true) 
Carmine 


Cherrose  V/A^EDS 

~547K/  red 
^55lXj>URPLES 
Rubracinth  \^556 

Mulberry  \^559; 


Magenta 


I9C  t 

570/567^4^0^11^ 

^  Jhallerian 
Reseda 

GREENS\/  \virence 
532\ 

.Green  (true) 
515  \ 

50AVerdante 

500\  Beryl 
BLUE  '        , 
GREENSL^J  Acluamar,ne 

494|  Glaucine 
REENISH7" 


Blue  (true) 
Smalt 


Amaranth 


47JJV/-  Ultramarine 
4^V/(3entian    f  Least 
5l1\S<-\  N  D 1 G  O "J  luminous 

Tyrian    Purple  (true) 


orange.  Continuing  down  the  list  brings 
us  back  to  yellow. 

Color  Filters  or  Mixed  Paints 

Table  C  is  useful  when  we  wish  to 
reproduce  hues  by  means  of  superposed 
color  filters  or  by  mixing  paints — a  much 
easier  method  but  less  accurate  than 
mixing  colored  lights. 

The  values  for  superposed  filters  speak 
for  themselves.  When  the  deepest  (most 
saturated)  yellow,  magenta,  and  cyan 
filters  are  laid  on  top  of  each  other  (100. 
100,  100),  no  light  can  pass,  and  the 
result  will  be  black.  Note  that  the  values 
for  any  two  complementaries  add  up  to 
black.  Equal  but  lower  values  for  the 
three  filters  (as  20,  20,  20)  will  produce 
neutral  grays. 

The  percentage  values  for  paints  re- 
quire a  word  of  caution.The  Y,  M,  and 
C  pigments  must  be  adjusted  in  strength 
beforehand  (by  diluting  the  one  or  two 
paints  which  may  be  too  highly  concen- 
trated) so  that  equal  proportions  of  the 
three  will  give  a  neutral  dark  gray. 

The  percentage  values  in  Table  C  are 
very  different,  and  vary  in  a  different 
way,  from  those  in  Table  B.  There  is  no 
simple  mathematical  interrelation  be- 
tween these  percentages  and  the  density- 
proportions  used  in  filter  superposition. 
The  matter  is  further  complicated  by 
the  fact  that  the  grays  produced  by  mix- 
ing two  complementary  colored  paints 
(with  but  three  exceptions)  do  not  con- 
tain equal  amounts  of  yellow,  magenta, 
and  cyan. 

Compound  Colors  Additively 

This  extraordinary  state  of  affairs  is 
due  to  the  fact  that  the  Y,  M,  and  C  pig- 
ments in  the  paints  consist  of  small 
opaque,  not  transparent,  particles,  thus 
forming  compound  colors  additively 
rather  than  subtractively.  The  color-mix- 


ing is  subtractive  in  method,  to  be  sure; 
but  the  color  formation  is  actually  largely 
additive. 

Nor  is  the  mixing  of  opaque  Y,   M, 


and  C  pigments  the  simple,  easy-to- 
understand  additive  color-formation  pre- 
viously discussed — the  mixing  of  ver- 
milion, emeraude,  and  indigo  lights  only 
two  at  a  time.  When  two  secondary  pig- 
ments are  mixed,  three  primary  com-  . 
ponents  are  involved.  The  resultant  color 
balance  is  shifted  in  remarkable,  some- 
times unpredictable  ways. 

When  a  few  drops  of  thick  magenta 
paint  and  a  like  amount  of  thick  yellow 
paint  are  placed  side  by  side  and  stirred 
together  with  a  toothpick  to  make  ver- 
milion, fugitive  streaks  of  green  suddenly 
appear  and  disappear  during  the  mix* 
ing!  The  green  streaks  are  unmistakable, 
even  though  faint. 

All  these  very  confusing  complications 
need  not  concern  us.  It  is  enough  to  bear 
in  mind  that  yellow,  magenta,  and  cyan 
paints,  and  all  other  types  of  pigments 
which  are  viewed  by  reflected,  rather 
than  by  transmitted,  light  cannot  pos- 
sibly make  black  when  mixed  together  in 
equivalent  proportions.  The  result  is 
neutral  gray,  not  black. 

Those   who   wish   to   experiment   with 
(Continued  on  page  30) 


TABLE  C.    SUBTRACTIVE  FORMATION  OF  COLORS 


PRIMARY  COMPLEMENTARY  COMPONENTS 


SUPERPOSED  FILTERS 
Filter  Color  Density 


OPAQUE  PIGMENT  MIXTURES 
Proportions  in  Per  Cent 


Hue 

Yellow 

Magenta 

Cyan 

Yellow 

Magenta 

Cyan 

1.  Xanth 

100 

0 

40 

86£ 

0% 

14# 

2.  Chlorine 

100 

0 

50 

80 

0 

20 

3.  Chrysine 

100 

0 

60 

74 

0 

26 

4.  Limonelle 

100 

0 

70 

68 

0 

32 

8.  Thslleriao 

100 

0 

80 

62 

0 

38 

6.  Reseda 

100 

0 

90 

56 

0 

44 

7.  EMERAUBE 

100 

0 

100 

50 

0 

50 

8.  Virenoe 

87.5 

0 

100 

42 

0 

58 

9.  Green 

75 

0 

100 

35 

0 

65 

10.  Verdante 

62.5 

0 

100 

28 

0 

72 

11.  Beryl 

50 

0 

100 

21 

0 

79 

12.  Aquamarine 

37.5 

0 

100 

14 

0 

86 

13.  Glaucine 

25 

0 

100 

7 

0 

93 

14.  Bioe 

12.5 

0 

100 

2 

0 

98 

15.  CYA¥ 

0 

0 

100 

0 

0 

100 

16.  Cerulea 

0 

16.7 

100 

0 

4 

96 

17.  Blue 

0 

33.3 

100 

0 

11 

89 

18.  Smalt 

0 

50 

100 

0 

19 

81 

19.  Ultramarine 

0 

66.7 

100 

0 

29 

71 

20.  Gentian 

0 

83.3 

100 

0 

39 

61 

21.  IITDIGO 

0 

100 

100 

0 

50 

50 

22.  Toad 

0 

100 

90 

0 

56 

44 

23.  Violet 

0 

100 

80 

0 

62 

38 

24.  Purple 

0 

100 

70 

0 

68 

32 

1.  Tyrian 

0 

100 

60 

0 

74 

26 

2.  Fuoelle 

0 

100 

50 

0 

80 

20 

3.  llauvure 

0 

100 

40 

0 

86 

14 

4.  Amaranth 

0 

100 

30 

0 

91 

9 

5.  Hulberry 

0 

100 

20 

0 

95 

5 

6.  Rubracinth 

0 

100 

10 

0 

98 

2 

7.  1UGSITTA 

0 

100 

0 

0 

100 

0 

8.  Cherrose 

12.5 

100 

0 

2 

98 

0 

9.  Carmine 

25 

100 

0 

7 

93 

0 

10.  Red 

37.5 

100 

0 

14 

86 

0 

11.  Garnet 

50 

100 

0 

21 

79 

0 

12.  Crimson 

62.5 

100 

0 

28 

72 

0 

13.  Soarlet 

75 

100 

0 

35 

65 

0 

14.  Cardinal 

87.5 

100 

0 

42 

58 

0 

15.  VBRU1LIOT 

100 

100 

0 

50 

50 

0 

16.  llandarin 

100 

83.3 

0 

61 

39 

0 

17.  Orange 

100 

66.7 

0 

71 

29 

0 

18.  Fyridian 

100 

50 

0 

81 

19 

0 

19.  Safran 

100 

33.3 

0 

89 

11 

o 

20.  Aurise 

100 

16.7 

0 

96 

4 

0 
0 
2 

21.  TKLL0¥ 

100 

0 

0 

100 

o 

22.  Plarelle 

100 

0 

10 

98 

0 
0 
0 

23.  Chartreuse 

100 

0 

20 

95 
91 

24*  Xasoagna 

100 

0 

30 

s 

Rear  Projection  in  the  Theater 


REAR  projection  was  probably  intro- 
duced into  early  theaters  because  of 
structural  difficulties.  For  example,  old 
type  music  halls,  where  it  was  not  feas- 
ible to  build  a  conventional  projection 
room,  were  converted  to  back  projection. 
The  screens  in  such  cases  usually  con- 
sisted of  cotton. 

A  cotton  sheet  will  produce  a  substan- 
tial real  image  by  rear  projection,  but 
direct  rays  of  light  will  pass  through  the 
weave  and  completely  mar  the  viewing. 
Therefore,  the  cotton  was  treated  with  a 
type  of  varnish  or  linseed  oil  medium, 
and  was  even  kept  continuously  wet  by 
dripping  water  down  it. 

Judged  by  modern  standards,  the  pic- 
ture was  unsatisfactory,  even  when  the 
screen  was  new.  The  doping  medium  rap- 
idly oxidized  and  collected  surface  dirt. 
The  actual  fibre  of  the  fabric  itself  hav- 
ing a  high  refractive  index  therefore  had 
considerable  opacity.  Whilst  acting  as  an 
efficient  diffuser,  it  also  acted  as  an  even 
more  efficient  absorber  or  stopping  agent. 

Another  unfortunate  characteristic  of 
this  type  of  screen  is  that  it  acts  as  an 
efficient  front  projection  screen;  the  dop- 
ing of  the  fabric  somewhat  reduces  this 
effect,  but  the  net  reflectivity  is  still  sub- 
stantial, probably  of  the  order  of  50%. 

Reflectivity  of  Translucent  Screens 

If  a  rear  projection  screen  reflects 
back  towards  the  incident  ray  something 
like  half  the  total  available  light  flux, 
there  is  only  one-half  of  this  light  flux 
available  for  useful  work.  Of  this  re- 
maining half,  about  25%  is  absorbed  by 
the  textile  material  of  the  screen.  The 
light  that  is  available  to  form  an  image 
on  the  front  surface  of  the  screen  is 
much  attenuated. 

A  number  of  theaters  have  survived 
in  this  country  to  the  present  day  with 
back  projection — somewhere  between  30 
and  40  out  of  a  total  of  nearly  5000— but 
I  do  not  recall  any  theater  which  has 
been  designed  and  built  for  use  with  rear 
projection. 

Our  greatest  sensation  of  stimuli  is 
received  by  foveal  or  central  vision, 
where  the  acuity  is  of  a  very  high  order. 
This  foveal  vision  functions  over  an  ex- 
tremely narrow  arc,  approximately  1°, 
and  the  fact  that  we  appear  to  see  things 
with  great  sharpness  over  a  substantial 
area  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  foveal 
vision  is  scanning  at  very  high  speed 
the  dominating  centre  of  interest.  The 
remaining  visual  impression  is  gathered 
by  macular  or  peripheral  vision,  which 
is  not  sensitive  at  high  brightness  levels. 
However,  it  has  about  16  times  the  sensi- 


By  J.  L.  STABLEFORD 

One  of  Europe's  leading  screen  manufacturers, 
in  presenting  the  accompanying  paper  before 
the  British  Kinemarograph  Society,  makes  out 
a  strong  case  for  widespread  use  of  rear  pro- 
jection in  the  motion  picture  theater.  Existing 
structures  and  equipment  are  a  decisive  factor 
against  any  early  move  in  this  direction. 


tivity  of  foveal  vision  at  low  brightness 
levels,  to  enable  us  to  deal  with  low 
levels  of  illumination. 

Objective  consideration  will  suggest 
that  only  rarely  does  acute  vision  stray 
to  the  edge  of  the  screen. 

Matte  and  Beaded  Screen 

By  far  the  most  generally  used  screen 
for  front  projection  today  is  the  matte 
white.  This  gives  a  first-class  picture  over 
a  very  wide  angle,  with  a  reflection  factor 
of  about  0.7.  It  is  rather  lacking  response 
in  blue  and  this  is  accelerated  as,  with 
increasing  age,  it  yellows  and  finally 
browns,  due  to  the  deposition  of  tobacco 
tar.  This  tar  exists  in  astonishingly  high 
concentration  in  our  film  theaters. 

The  glass-beaded  screen,  the  second  in 
general  use,  also  suffers  from  the  latter 
defect,  but  its  virtue  is  that  it  gives  a 
much  brighter  picture  over  a  narrow 
angle,  refracting  and  reflecting  the  ray 
in  the  direction  of  the  light  source.  Thus, 
it  should  be  used  only  under  appropri- 
ate conditions.  At  the  peak  of  its  reflec- 
tivity curve,  it  can  give  a  factor  of  2.0 
oi  3.0,  taking  1.0  as  the  reflecting  factor 
of  a  100%  perfect  diffuser  and  reflector. 

This  high  response  has  fallen  to  1.0 
at  about  121/2°  or  15°  from  the  normal 
to  the  screen,  that  is,  a  solid  angle  of  25° 
to  30°.  The  curve  is  not  square-topped 
but  has  a  sharp  apex  and  falls  steeply 
from  the  nodal  point:  it  continues,  but 
rather  less,  steeply,  beyond  the  above 
angles. 

Centre-to-Side  Ratio 

A  matte  white  front  projection  screen 
gives  a  centre-to-side  brightness  ratio  of 
about  1.5  : 1  with  an  average  projection 
system,  and  it  must  be  admitted  that  a 
centre-to-side  brightness  ratio  of  2  : 1  is 
not  so  rare  nor  so  objectionable  as  it 
would  appear.  It  is  true  that  projection 
engineers  as  a  rule  strive,  at  great  trou- 
ble and  expense,  to  produce  an  illumina- 
tion over  a  screen  as  even  as  possible, 
but  there  are  many  who  consider  that  a 
completely  even  illumination  over  the 
whole  of  the  screen  is  not  desirable. 

In   my  experience,   a  completely  even 


illumination,  even  when  it  is  of  high 
brightness,  produces  a  flat  and  uninter- 
esting picture,  and  side-by-side  test,  with 
two  projectors  of  the  latest  type,  have 
shown  that  a  picture  with  1.5  :  1  or 
higher  centre-to-centre  brightness  ratio 
has  more  sparkle  and  life  than  one  with 
1  : 1  ratio.  Indeed,  this  is  very  much  in 
accord  with  our  normal  sensation  of 
seeing. 

There  are  several  fundamentals  in 
which  motion  picture  presentation  falls 
short  of  nature,  i.e.,  completely  natural 
color;  adequate  contrast  ratio;  and 
method  of  masking  the  picture.  Stereos- 
copy  is  omitted  for  the  reason  that  it  is 
outside  the  orbit  of  this  paper. 

Completely  Natural  Color 

If  in  the  studio  colors  are  painted  in 
with  all  the  delicacy  of  nature,  it  is  to  be 
feared  that  a  high  proportion  of  them 
will  be  reproduced  only  as  monotone 
grey.  There  are  two  reasons  for  this. 

Frequently  the  picture  is  inadequately 
lit,  consequently  there  is  insufficient  con- 
trast ratio  to  generate  color  in  the  low- 
est lights.  The  spectral  response  of  even 
a  new  front  projection  screen  is  lacking 
in  blue;  as  a  screen  gets  dirty,  there  is  a 
pronounced  shift  further  to  the  red:  it  is 
equivalent  to  projecting  color  through 
a  pale  yellow  filter,  then  a  dark  yellow 
filter,  and  finally  a  brown  filter. 

Contrast  Ratio 

Front  projection  screens  as  used  today 
have  been  stabilized  as  to  their  contrast 
ratio.  Their  very  efficiency  as  a  reflecting 
agent  limits  their  capacity  for  contrast. 
A  picture  is  produced  only  by  relative 
brightness;  highlights  must  be  produced 
at  such  intensity  that  the  screen  already 
illuminated  by  the  house  lights  appears 
in  the  low-lights  relatively  black. 

An  efficient  back  projection  screen 
is  a  very  inefficient  front  projection 
screen,  so  that  high  orders  of  maintained 
house  illumination  have,  consequently,  a 
very  reduced  capacity  to  debase  or  de- 
grade the  low  lights  of  the  projected  pic- 
ture. This  principle  is  being  used  in  an 
ever  increasing  fashion  in  domestic  tele- 
vision, by  using  a  dark  filter  placed  in 
front  of  the  cathode-ray  tube,  so  reduc- 
ing the  front  reflection  effect. 

Change  in  Method  of  Masking 

Viewing  a  motion  picture  through  the 
encircling  frame  of  a  dense  black  mask 
is  not  the  manner  in  which  we  normally 
view  anything  seen  in  nature.  It  must 
produce  some  jarring  effect  on  the  retina, 
particularly  as  the  motion  and  changing 
light  value  at  the  edge  of  the  screen,  so 


16 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


June  1951 


abruptly  cut  off,  are  in  the  main  viewed 
by  peripheral  vision,  which  is  extraordi- 
narily sensitive  to  movement  and  low  key 
illumination. 

It  is  obvious  that  a  good  deal  of  un- 
conscious accommodation  has  to  be  done 
by  the  eye  to  cope  with  these  conflicting 
factors.  The  black  mask  is  a  relic  of  the 
days  when  we  had  insufficient  illumina- 
tion to  produce  a  first-class  picture,  and 
subterfuges  like  this  were  almost  com- 
pulsory. 

If  the  black  mask  were  suppressed 
and  the  picture  gradually  merged  into 
the  auditorium,  less  eyestrain  would  re- 
sult. 

This  proposal  is  introduced  herein  be- 
cause, if  the  suppression  of  the  hard 
masking  is  carried  out  under  conditions 
of  back  projection,  it  is  thought  that  col- 
ors will  appear  more  water-clear  and  nat- 
ural, and  particularly  the  blacks  much 
blacker.  The  eye  will  lack  the  hammering 
effect  of  the  black  border,  which  does  not 
help  quiescent  adjustment  to  the  picture 
it  is  viewing.  It  might  also  be  said  that 
the  picture  will  have  a  spatial  effect 
rather  than  that  of  a  peep-show. 

Studio  Rear  Projection 

Rear  projection  has  been  in  use  for 
many  years  in  the  film  studios,  although 
up  to  about  three  years  ago  it  had 
reached  a  static  stage  in  so  far  as  the 
screens  were  concerned,  the  main  devel- 
opments continuing  along  the  lines  of 
obtaining  ever  more  illumination.  Even 
in  the  film  studios,  however,  rear  pro- 
jecton  was  looked  upon  with  suspicion. 
It  was  used  for  passing  window  shots  in 


10'-- 


BRIGHTNESS   /» 
FACTOR 


\ 


train  or  taxicab  scenes  and  limited  to  a 
very  small  area  of  the  picture.  One  half 
of  1%  of  the  whole  film  footage  would 
probably  represent  the  average  use  of 
rear  projection  up  to  1945. 

The  screens  used  in  the  studios  were 
usually  made  of  cellulose  acetate,  and 
although  a  certain  amount  of  experi- 
mental work  had  ben  done  on  them,  the 
characteristics  were  accepted  as  fairly 
standardized.  Their  overwhelming  defect 
was  the  hot-spot  effect. 

Some  modification  of  this  defect  was 
produced  by  coating  the  centre  of  the 
screen  with  an  absorbent  agent,  in  order 
to  deaden  some  of  the  brightness  in  that 
region.  This  expedient  only  partially  met 
the  trouble,  as  the  extra  opacity  was 
effective  only  from  one  viewing  point.  As 
the  studios  were  concerned  only  with 
one  viewing  point — the  lens  of  the  cam- 
era— this  defect  was  not  of  much  conse- 
quence. 

'Independent  Frame'  System 

During  1946,  a  new  conception  of  film 
production  was  envisaged,  known  as  "In- 
dependent Frame."  One  essential  re- 
quirement of  this  process  was  that  80% 
or  even  90%  of  the  film  footage  was  shot 
with  process  rear  projection,  and  it  will 
be  obvious  that  the  very  gravest  optical 
problems  had  to  be  faced  in  embarknig 
upon  such  an  undertaking. 

The  essential  characteristics  of  the  de- 
sirable screen  were  that  it  should  have 
no  hot-spot  from  any  viewing  angle,  when 
viewed  with  the  picture  in  the  gate,  and 
only  traces  of  a  hot-spot  when  viewed 
with  clear  projection  illumination.  It  had 


• 

FIGURE  1 

Characteristic  curves 
of  various  types  of 
translucent  screens, 
obtained  by  the  use 
of  different  grades 
and  quantities  of 
powdered  glass.  It 
will  be  seen  that  the 
range  varies  from  a 
center  brightness  15 
times  that  of  the 
theoretical  lambert 
surface  to  a  1.5:1 
ratio.  The  latter, 
however,  is  very 
dense  and  occasions 
o  high  loss  in  over- 
all   illumination. 


M     50      25      "20      15      )0 


SO     7.9      SO     f>S 


ANGLE  OF  DIFFUSION  (Degrees) 


to  provide  a  sufficiently  even  picture  over 
a  wide  angle  so  that  the  camera  could 
pan,  zoom  or  track,  and  the  actors  move 
about  in  front  of  the  back  projection 
screen  without  the  effect  showing  in  the 
resultant  film.  In  fact,  its  characteristics 
should  provide  almost  the  same  amount 
of  scope  and  freedom  as  given  by  an 
orthodox  set. 

Characteristics  of  Translucent  Screens 
Measurements  of  screen  characteris- 
tics, which  were  taken  in  the  experi- 
mental work  on  screens,  used  as  a  datum 
a  theoretically  perfect  lambert  surface 
with  a  factor  of  1.0.  The  lambert  surface 
readings  were  taken  at  the  same  time  as 
the  other  curves.  Fig.  1  shows  such 
curves.  The  range  varies  from  a  centre 
brightness  15  times  that  of  the  theoreti- 
cal lambert  surface  to  a  1.5  : 1  ratio.  The 
latter,  however,  is  very  dense  and  pro- 
duces an  unnecessarily  high  loss  in  over- 
all illumination.  For  normal  work,  a 
centre-to-side  brightness  ratio  of  between 
2  and  3  :  1  was  completely  acceptable, 
and  this  gives  a  brightness,  as  compared 
with  a  theoretically  perfect  lambert  sur- 
face, of  3  or  4  times. 

These  are  very  high  orders  of  efficiency 
and  are  probably  beyond  the  scope  of 
any  generally  used  front  projection 
screen  material.  It  must  be  observed  that 
the  best  of  these  screens  were  capable  of 
producing  a  standard  of  quality  beyond 
that  required  for  entertainment  purposes, 
since  they  had  to  be  photographed  by  a 
camera,  the  film  processed,  positives 
made  and  then  reprojected  in  a  theater 
— all  this  tending  to  degrade  the  defini- 
tion and  quality. 

Theater  Tests  of  Screens 

As  a  practical  experiment,  four  thea- 
ters which  were  using  back  projection, 
and  all  of  which  had  for  long  dissatisfied 
projection  engineers,  were  selected.  No 
particular  screen  characteristic  was 
aimed  at;  what  was  thought  would  be  a 
satisfactory  screen  was  tried.  It  must  be 
said  immediately  that  the  resultant  pic- 
ture, from  the  first  showing,  produced 
an  astounding  effect.  On  a  picture  18  feet 
wide,  the  quality  and  brightness  were 
better  than  anything  seen  in  the  West 
End  (London  de-luxe  theaters)  or  else- 
where. There  was  no  sensation  of  hot- 
spot,  and  the  coverage  from  the  widest 
front  seats  were  quite  adequate. 

An  interesting  characteristic  was  the 
spectral  response  of  the  screen.  The  pic- 
ture shown  on  this  occasion  was  "The 
Red  Shoes" — a  film  which  was  a  distinct 
step  forward  in  the  handling  of  color  as 
an  art.  In  this  film,  several  of  the  scenes 
are  shot  with  the  chief  actors  wearing 
evening  dress,  and,  as  is  usual,  their 
shirts  were  pale  blue  in  color.  On  normal 
front  projection  screens,  either  matte  or 
beaded,  which  have  a  minus-blue  reflec- 
(Continued  on  page  27) 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     June  1951 


17 


IN  THE 

SPOTLIGHT 

By 

HARRY 

SHERMAIS 

UNDERSCORING  the  importance  at- 
tached by  Labor  to  the  matter  of 
wage  ceilings  in  an  industry  where  no 
price  ceiling  is  in  effect  (such  as  motion 
pictures)  was  the  attendance  at  the  re- 
cent hearings  held  by  the  Wage  Stabili- 
zation Board  in  Washington  in  an  at- 
tempt to  unravel  this  knotty  problem. 
Labor  is  unreservedly  and  unremittingly 
opposed  to  any  such  one-sided  situation, 
its  stand  being  that  any  leeway  extended 
to  industry  in  the  way  of  exemption  from 
price  ceilings  should  extend  to  cover  the 
workers  therein. 

Included  among  the  principal  wit- 
nesses appearing  before  the  WSB  special 
panel  which  was  set  up  to  decide  the 
question  were  Frank  R.  Murdock,  gen- 
eral counsel  for  the  IA  and  Robert  W. 
Gilbert  of  the  AF  of  L  Film  Council. 
The  IA  counsel  laid  it  flatly  on  the  line: 

"In  World  War  II,  I  was  very  close  to 
this  price  and  wage  picture,  as  many  of 
you  know.  At  that  time  there  was  gen- 
eral compliance.  Today,  although  we 
have  a  Korea,  we  have  no  Pearl  Harbor. 
Without  a  Pearl  Harbor,  we  have  and 
will  have  no  voluntary  compliance. 

"'Congress  made  it  quite  evident,  when 
it  did  not  include  these  industries  in  the 
price-fixing  blanket,  that  it  did  not  intend 
them  to  be  brought  under  any  wage  ceil- 
ings. Our  employers  are  selling  and  we 
are  producing  intangibles.  There  is  talk 
of  hoarding.  How  can  there  be  hoarding 
in   the   amusement   field? 

"Are  people  going  to  see  more  pictures 
or  more  shows  because  there  may  not  be 
any  more  movies  or  shows?  Are  prices 
going  to  increase  beyond  what  the  traffic 
will  bear?  How  can  there  possibly  be 
any  skyrocketing  of  wages  in  our  field? 
We  have  had  to  fight  for  every  extra 
nickel  that  we  have  squeezed  out  of  our 
employers." 

This  viewpoint  seems  to  us  to  make 
sense,  not  because  it  gives  Labor  a  break 
but  because  it  is  equitable. 

In  passing,  it  might  be  mentioned  that 
those  workers  in  industries  which  have 
price  ceilings  but  whose  Labor  contracts 
do  not  provide  for  a  cost-of-living  in- 
crease, are  in  a  tough  spot.  Their  em- 
ployers need  only  shrug  and  point  their 


fingers  at  the  WSB  and  utter  only  a 
single  word,  "forbidden." 

•  While  we're  on  the  topic  of  workers' 
welfare,  we  offer  the  following  important 
suggestions  anent  your  Social  Security 
status.  Here  are  a  few  things  that  are 
often  neglected  in  the  daily  rush.  Be 
sure  to  tell  your  family  these  four  things: 

1.  That  you  have  a  Social  Security  ac- 
count and  that  this  may  mean  monthly  in- 
surance benefits  for  your  family. 

2.  Where  you  keep  your  S.  S.  account 
card. 

3.  To  get  in  touch  with  the  nearest 
S.  S.  office  in  case  of  your  death. 

4.  To  file  their  claims  promptly  so 
that  they  may  not  lose  any  of  their  pay- 
ments. 

Also,  did  you  know  that  if  you  elect 
to  retire  there  are  three  kinds  of  benefits 
available  to  you?  Or  that  in  case  of  your 
death  there  are  five  kinds  of  benefits  your 
family  may  elect  to  receive?  It  might  be 
well  if  all  workers  familiarized  them- 
selves with  these  various  benefits,  and. 
with  the  S.  S.  formula  in  general,  right 
now.  Detailed  information  is  available  at 
your  nearest  S.  S.  office. 

•  All  this  furor  about  the  effect  of  Tv 
on  the   entertainment   field  has  not   de- 


terred that  old  warrior,  prexy  Jimmy 
Petrillo  of  the  Musicians,  from  swinging 
some  nice  deals  for  his  men.  His  latest 
move  was  to  sign  two  picture  companies, 
Republic  and  Monogram,  to  contracts 
under  which  the  companies  will  turn  over 
to  the  AF  of  M  5%  of  all  monies  reabzed 
from  the  sale  of  Tv  rights  to  their  pro- 
ductions. The  agreements  run  for  three 
years,  with  all  such  payments,  estimated 
to  run  to  $2  million,  to  go  into  the  union's 
welfare  fund. 

Where  old  Republic  and  Monogram 
films  are  concerned,  the  agreement  pro- 
vides that  they  be  rescored  by  AF  of  M 
members  before  exhibition  on  Tv. 

•  The  Consumers'  Price  Index,  published 
recently  by  the  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Labor,  re- 
veals an  increase  of  9.6%  above  a  year 
ago  in  the  retail  price  of  goods  and  serv- 
ices bought  by  the  average  moderate-in- 
come urban  family. 

•  IA  President  Dick  Walsh  attended  the 
dedication  service  of  the  Carter  Barron 
Amphitheatre  in  Washington  D.  C.  last 
month  as  a  tribute  to  the  late  Eastern  di- 
vision manager  for  Loew's,  Inc.,  who  died 
last  November. 

•  N.  Y.  City  Local  306  has  named  as  its 


GALA  CELEBRATION  MARKS  40TH  ANNIVERSARY  OF  PHILADELPHIA  LOCAL  307 


Guests  at  the  party  included  (left  to  right):  Thomas  J.  Shea,  assistant  IA  president;  from  Local 
307:  Abbott  Oliver,  vice-president;  Horace  Johns,  business  representative;  and  Harry  Abbott, 
president  of  the  Local  and  8th  IA  vice-president;  Richard  F.  Walsh,  IA  president,  and  William 
P.  Raoul,  general  secretary-treasurer.  Gold  life  membership  cards  were  presented  to  the  Local 
307  officials  shown  here,  while  all  Local  members  for  35  years  or  more  received  special  lapel 
buttons.  Charles   Humphries,  sec.-treas.  of  Local   307,   did   a  swell  job  on   arrangements. 


18 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


June  1951 


general  counsel  Herman  E.  Cooper,  noted 
anti-Communist.  He  replaces  Harry 
Sacher,  who  was  one  of  the  defense  coun- 
sel for  the  11  national  officers  of  the 
Communist  Party  whose  conviction  was 
recently  upheld  by  the  U.  S.  Supreme 
Court.  Sacher,  incidentally,  was  cited 
for  contempt  of  court  during  the  trial 
and  must  himself  serve  a  jail  term. 

•  We  understand  that  Bill  Covert,  2nd 
IA  vice-president  and  business  represen- 
tative for  Toronto  Local  173,  is  busy  or- 
ganizing radio  and  Tv  workers  in  Cana- 
da. This  may  set  off  a  jurisdictional  dis- 
pute between  the  IA  and  CIO's  National 
Ass'n  of  Broadcast  Engineers  and  Tech- 
nicians. 

•  We  regret  to  have  to  record  the  death 
of  Arthur  F.  Morrone,  71,  president  of 
the  Superior  M.  P.  Supply  Co.  in  Pitts- 
burgh, Penna.  Born  in  Italy,  Art  came  to 
this  country  when  he  was  six.  Until  he 
went  into  business  for  himself  20-odd 
years  ago,  Morrone  was  a  projectionist 
member  of  IA  Local  171,  having  been 
in  the  industry  a  total  of  45  years.  He 
was  also  a  member  of  the  Variety  Club. 

•  Among  the  visitors  to  the  IP  offices 
lately  were  Gus  Demery,  Local  173,  Tor- 
onto, and  Frank  Jiruska,  Secretary  of 
Local  191,  Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa. 


IA-IP  Radio  Man  of  Month 


Here  is  a  bkeness  of  Herb  Kleinback  as 
he  works  his  amateur  radio  station 
W9RTA  at  Elmhurst,  Illinois.  A  member 
of  IA  Local  110,  Chicago,  Herb  has  been 
on  the  job  as  projectionist  at  the  Four 
Star  Theater  for  32  years.  He  is  not  only 
an  outstanding  radio  "ham,"  but  he  is 
an  accomplished  musician  as  well,  much 
of  his  time  being  given  to  giving  his 
three  children  a  thorough  grounding  in 
music. 

Herb  started  back  in  1908  as  a  road 
projectionist.  He  is  more  of  a  CW  than  a 
phone  man  and  can  copy  a  solid  35  per. 
If  you  want  a  really  interesting  QSO, 
contact  W9RTA. 


TTERS    TO    THE    EDIT 


To  the  Editor  of  IP: 

I  would  appreciate  any  information 
you  can  give  me  relative  to  a  "crackle" 
which  I  get  in  the  sound  horns  behind 
the  screen.  This  crackling  noise  shows  up 
when  I  change  over  on  either  machine. 
This  crackling  is  also  audible  through 
the  projection  room  monitor. 

The  equipment  consists  of  Simplex 
projectors,  RCA  soundheads  and  ampli- 
fier, and  Brenkert  lamphouses.  I  have 
audio  trouble-shooting  charts,  but  they 
cite  no  apparent  reason  for  this  particu- 
lar trouble. 

New  Jersey  Projectionist 

Although  akin  to  treating  a  human  ill- 
ness by  mail,  IP  will  try  to  help  by  pass- 
ing on  the  appended  communication  from 
RCA  Service  Co.: 

From  what  little  information  your  cor- 
respondent has  given,  the  trouble  appears 
to  be  in  the  main  amplifier  system.  This 
type  of  noise  could  be  caused  by  a  de- 
fective tube,  leaky  condenser,  a  poor 
solder  connection,  or  it  could  be  picked 
up  from  some  outside  source,  such  as  a 
sign  flasher,  X-ray  equipment  or  motor 
commutator.  Noises  of  this  type  have  also 
been  known  to  originate  in  the  arc  lamp 


relay   contacts   and   other   electrical   cir- 
cuits. 

The  best  advice  to  give  this  man,  if 
the  theater  is  not  on  RCA  Service,  is  to 
have  him  contact  one  of  our  District  Serv- 
ice Offices,  or  one  of  our  Field  Engi- 
neers, and  give  the  equipment  a  thorough 
overhauling.  If  it  is  a  small  theatre  and 
they  cannot  afford  a  regular  service  call, 
then  a  demand  call  can  be  made.  We  be- 
lieve that  he  would  actually  be  saving 
time  and  money  by  having  a  qualified 
engineer  go  over  the  equipment. 

RCA  Service  Co.,  Inc. 

To  the  Editor  of  IP: 

Here  is  a  thought  for  the  boys  in  the 
craft.  Some  of  our  fellows  get  bad  breaks 
and  wind  up  for  prolonged  periods  in  a 
hospital  or  a  sanitorium.  Why  can't  we 
more  fortunate  fellows  who  have  a 
brother  craftsman  in  such  a  spot  send 
along  a  gift  subscription  to  IP  so  that 
the  man  may  keep  abreast  of  what's  hap- 
pening in  the  craft  against  the  time  when 
he  is  out  and  active  again? 

It's  not  a  million-dollar  proposition, 
but  I  am  sure  that  such  a  gesture  would 


be  most  appreciated.  Please  don't  publish 
my  name. 

Long-Time  Subscriber 

To  the  Editor  of  IP: 

During  the  last  few  years  I  have  picked 
up  many  thousands  of  feet  of  35-mm 
nitrate  film  which  is  composed  mostly  of 
outdated  trailers  for  which  I  have  no  use. 
I  wonder  if  you  know  of  anybody  who 
could  use  this  film,  possibly  for  various 
experiments   which   IP   mentioned. 

I  would  be  glad  to  give  this  film  to 
anybody  who  has  use  for  it.  I  should 
like  an  answer  on  this  within  a  reason- 
able time,  otherwise  I  will  destroy  the 
stock. 

George  E.  Read 
131  Merritt  Ave.,  Syracuse  7,  N.  Y. 

To  the  Editor  of  IP: 

Here  is  our  remittance  for  the  men 
on  the  attached  list.  The  boys  all  get  a 
great  deal  out  of  IP  and  are  extremely 
pleased  with  it.  I  myself  have  been  a 
subscriber  for  many  years,  and  having 
been  a  visual  and  sound  projection  serv- 
ice man  in  the  past.  I  appreciate  the 
manner  in  which  IP  keeps  up  with  the 
new  stuff  as  it  comes  out. 

Ernest  Gossert 
Secretary,  IA  Local  430,  Fortuna,  Calif. 

Majors7  Earnings  Hold  Up 

20TH  CENTURY-FOX:  For  quarter  ended 
March  31  last  a  net  of  $874,776.  Film  rentals 
and  theater  receipts  were  $35,866,841,  as 
compared  with  $35,689,073  in  same  quarter 
a  year  ago. 

RKO  THEATRES  CORP.:  For  final  op- 
erating year  as  part  of  RKO  production- 
exhibition  setup,  a  net  of  $1,195,577. 

WARNER  BROTHERS:  For  the  six 
months  ended  Feb.  24  last  a  net  of  $3,827,000, 
as  compared  with  a  net  of  $5,897,000  for 
the  same  period  last  year.  But  the  company 
spent  $2,927,000  during  the  last  six-month 
period  to  buy  235,300  shares  of  its  own  com- 
mon stock  on  the  N.  Y.  Stock  Exchange. 

PARAMOUNT  PICTURES  CORP.  (not 
to  be  confused  with  United  Paramount  The- 
aters) :  For  the  first  quarter  of  this  year 
ending  March  31  a  net  of  $1,411,000,  as 
compared  with  a  net  of  $1,441,000  for  the 
same   period   last   year. 

ALLEN  B.  DuMONT  LABS.:  For  12 
weeks  ending  March  25  last  a  net  of  $1,022,- 
000,  as  compared  with  $1,967,000  in  same 
period  last  year.  Profit  was  off  48%  although 
sales  advanced  25%.  Lower  net,  it  was  ex- 
plained, resulted  from  increased  costs  of 
certain  critical  materials,  higher  wage  rates, 
and  higher  income  tax  rate.  No  mention  of 
how  much  stockpiling  was  done  or  of  ex- 
penditure   for    expansion,   etc. 

EASTMAN  KODAK  CO.:  For  12  weeks 
ending  March  25  last  a  net  of  $10,597,009. 
slightly  higher  than  for  same  period  last 
year.  This  despite  the  fact  that  sales  for  this 
year's  quarter  jumped  about  $35  millions. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     June  1951 


19 


GPL's  New  16-mm  Sprocket-Intermittent 


FEW  high-precision  devices  have  proved 
as  rugged  and  reliable  as  the  35-mm 
sprocket-type  projector  intermittent  that 
operates  hour  on  hour,  year  on  year 
throughout  the  world.  But  because  these 
are  precision  devices,  and  making  them 
smaller  calls  for  even  greater  precision, 
16-mm  equipment  has  usually  been  re- 
stricted to  the  less  accurate,  claw-type 
intermittent. 

Now,  General  Precision  Laboratory 
has  produced  a  16-mm  sprocket  inter- 
mittent. It  is  standard  on  four  of  the 
PA-series  projectors  developed  spe- 
cifically for  use  in  television  studios  and 
theatre  television.  This  new  sprocket  in- 
termittent provides  greater  efficiency  in 
light  transmission,  reduces  film  wear  and 
damage  to  a  negligible  factor,  guides  the 
film  without  abrasion,  is  easily  framed, 
and  is  virtually  silent. 

Many  Advantages  Cited 

With  the  sprocket  intermittent  con- 
struction, GPL  projectors  have  the  fol- 
lowing advantages: 

Less  Film  Wear — At  least  four  teeth 
are  engaged  in  the  film  at  all  times.  Wrap 
of  film  around  sprocket  relieves  the  strain 
on  film  sprocket  shoes;  there  is  a 
smoother  film  acceleration  during  pull- 
down. 

Greater  Screen  Brigtness — Smaller 
width  shutter  blades  can  be  used,  be- 
cause of  faster  pull-down  and  smaller 
cutoff  angle.  Framing:  The  sprocket  is 
rotated  for  framing,  instead  of  displac- 
ing the  aperture  plate.  This  avoids  un- 
even and  reduced  screen  illumination; 
also  avoids  readjustment  of  projector  tilt. 

Side-Guiding  Film — Film  is  guided  by 
rotating  with  flange  at  intermittent 
sprocket.  It  avoids  the  wear  problem  of 
the  usual  spring-loaded  guide  shoe.  Long 
Service  Life — No  skip  movement,  no 
fast-moving  parts;  automatic  spring  take- 
up  for  wear  of  star  wheel  teeth  and  cam. 

Gear  Box — Provides  oil-bath  lubrica- 
tion, requires  less  lubricant  attendance. 
Quieter  operation  due  to  insulating  effect 
of  gear  box  walls.  Easy  Replacement — 
Unit  construction  permits  quick  replace- 
ment, if  necessary.  Threading:  Sprocket 
teeth  are  in  the  open,  always  visible  for 
threading. 

Design  Features  of  Gear  Box 

The  intermittent  is  housed  in  an  oil- 
filled  gear  box  containing  a  cam,  star 
wheel  and  synchronizing  gears  for  motor 
shaft  and  cam  shaft.  Three  design  fea- 
tures insure  against  oil  leakage:  the 
splash  system  keeps  the  oil  level  below 
the  lowest  shaft  bearing;  all  bearings  are 
mounted  in  tandem  with  oil  seals;  oil 
shafts  contain  oil  grooves  cut  in  the  re- 
verse direction  of  shaft  rotation. 


The  input  shaft,  coupled  directly  to 
an  A-C  motor,  is  geared  to  maintain  a 
cam  shaft  speed  of  1440  r.p.m.  Other 
motors  and  other  currents  than  60-cycle 
A-C  may  be  used  by  substituting  gears 
that  will  maintain  this  speed  for  pull- 
down of  24  frames  per  second. 

The  cam  is  a  hardened  steel  flange, 
about  the  size  of  a  fifty-cent  piece,  which 
rotates  at  right  angles  to  the  12-tooth 
star  wheel.  The  cam  lobe  is  on  the  side, 
or  face,  of  the  disc.  The  major  portion 
of  the  flange  is  flat  and  corresponds  to 
the  dwell  period  of  intermittent  cycle. 
The  remaining  portion  of  the  disc  is 
raised  to  effect  the  pull-down.  The  cam 
is  proportioned  to  give  the  film  a  dwell 
period  of  310  degrees  and  a  pull-down 
period  of  50  degrees. 

At  each  revolution  of  the  cam  shaft, 
one  of  the  12  teeth  of  the  star  wheel  is 
engaged  between  the  cam  and  annular 
spring.  Since  the  normal  gap  is  slightly 
less  than  the  tooth  thickness,  the  tooth 
presses  laterally  against  the  spring  and 
is  held  there  without  vibration.  Com- 
pensation for  any  wear  is  automatic  in  the 
spring  loading. 

Fixed  Aperture  Framing 

During  310  degrees  of  each  revolution 
of  the  cam,  the  tooth  remains  motionless. 
In  the  remaining  50  degrees  of  turn,  the 
star   wheel   tooth   is   indexed    one-twelfth 


of  a  turn,  or  30  degrees,  and  the  next 
tooth  in  line  engaged. 

The  intermittent  works  similarly  to 
35-mm  movements,  where  framing  is  ac- 
complished by  rotating  the  intermittent 
sprocket.  Film  is  moved  into  register 
with  a  fixed  aperture.  This  eliminates 
two  troubles  common  in  most  16-mm  pro- 
jectors. 

In  the  conventional  claw-type,  the 
aperture  plate  is  moved  up  or  down  to 
mask  the  film  picture  area.  But  then  the 
projected  picture  is  displaced  on  the  pro- 
jection screen  and  requires  adjustment 
of  projector  tilt.  Also,  the  aperture  is 
moved  off  the  center  line  of  the  optical 
path,  resulting  in  uneven  or  reduced 
screen  illumination  and  poorer  picture 
definition. 

In  the  usual  construction  of  16-mm 
projectors,  the  film  is  guided  laterally 
by  means  of  a  leaf  spring.  It  bears 
against  one  edge  of  the  film  and  presses 
the  film  against  the  opposite  side  of  the 
film  channel.  Rubbing  action  is  con- 
stantly against  the  same  area  and  even- 
tually results  in  formation  of  a  groove, 
which  can  open  splices  or  possibly  tear 
film.  Even  padding  the  guide  with  a 
sapphire  only  delays  the  groove's  ap- 
pearance. Once  the  groove  is  present,  it 
may  weaken  film  guiding  because  of 
decrease  in  spring  pressure.  There  is  also 
a  tendency  to  cock  the  film  if  the  groove 
is  uneven. 

The  cam  lobe  is  shaped  to  give  a  uni- 


COMPARISON  OF  FILM  TRAVEL,  VELOCITY  *  ACCELERATION  CURVES 

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20 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


June  1951 


form  acceleration  for  the  first  20  degrees 
of  the  pull-down,  and  a  uniform  decelera- 
tion for  the  last  30  degrees  of  pull-down. 
By  spreading  the  deceleration  over  a 
longer  time  interval,  the  value  of  de- 
celeration is  reduced  and  in  turn  permits 
the  use  of  less  film  trap  drag. 

Smaller  Shutter  Blades 

The  sprocket  intermittent  allows  the 
use  of  smaller  width  shutter  blades  than 
in  the  usual  16-mm  claw  movement. 
Smaller  width  shutter  blades  are  de- 
sirable in  that  they  either  increase  screen 
brightness  or  permit  the  same  screen 
brightness  with  less  power  in  the  lamp. 
The  width  of  a  shutter  blade  depends 
on  the  size  of  the  pull-down  angle  and 
the  cutoff  angle.  The  theoretical  width 
of  the  shutter  blade  in  degrees  is  equal 
to  the  sum  of  these  two  angles. 

The  GPL  intermittent  sprocket  has 
smaller  width  shutter  blades  than  claw 
movements  for  two  reasons:  first,  it  has 
a  faster  pull-down  angle,  50  degrees  as 
compared  to  the  range  from  60  to  90  de- 
grees for  the  usual  claw  movement; 
second,  the  intermittent  operates  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  aperture.  This  al- 
lows the  shutter  to  operate  in  close 
proximity  to  the  aperture  where  the  light 
cone  is  small  and  the  shutter  can  have 
a  small  cutoff  angle. 

Close  Shutter  Positioning 

The  shutter  on  the  GPL  16-mm  pro- 
jector is  perhaps  closer  to  the  aperture 
than  on  any  other  16-mm  projector.  On 
the  other  hand,  claw  movements  operate 
on  the  same  side  of  the  aperture  as  the 
shutter.  The  shutter  must  be  spaced 
sufficiently  away  from  the  aperture  in 
order  to  avoid  interference  with  the  claw. 
This  requires  the  shutter  to  operate  at 
a  larger  cross-section  of  the  light  beam 
and  at  a  larger  cutoff  angle. 

The  new  sprocket  intermittent  is  used 
on  all  GPL  projectors:  the  PA-100  Tv 
sync  projector;  the  PB-100  portable 
utility,  which  has  a  special  cam  and 
shutter  arrangement  making  it  possible 
for  an  image  orthicon  Tv  camera  to  pick 
up  the  picture  without  special  phasing 
facilities;  and  the  two  arc  propectors  for 
theatre  use:  the  30-amp  PB-101,  and  the 
46-amp  PB-102. 

Top  Safety  Award  to  National  Carbon 

The  National  Safety  Council  has 
granted  its  highest  honor,  The  Distin- 
guished Service  to  Safety  Award,  to  Na- 
tional Carbon  Co.,  which  firm  has  re- 
duced employee  accident  rates  each  year 
for  four  consecutive  years.  The  com- 
pany's accident  rate  at  21  plant  locations 
was  only  one-fourth  the  1947-1949  na- 
tional average  for  all  industries,  and 
slightly  over  one-half  the  rate  for  com- 
parable industries. 


Tv  Impact  on  Movie-Going  Charted  in  Mid-West  Survey 


MORE  families  owning  television  sel.- 
go  to  their  neighborhood  theaters 
than  families  without  Tv  sets,  the  Minne- 
sota Poll,  a  sampling  organization  spon- 
sored by  the  Minneapolis  Star  and  Tri- 
bune, has  revealed.  The  Poll  recently 
completed  a  study  of  movie-going  habits 
of  Minnesotans  based  on  a  carefully  pre- 
pared sampling  of  598  men  and  women 
21  years  of  age  or  older,  and  an  analysis 
of  the  findings  have  been  made  public 
by  the  American  Newspaper  Publishers 
Ass'n. 

Questions  on  neighborhood  theater  at- 
tendance, however,  were  asked  only  in  a 
sampling  of  the  Minneapolis  and  St. 
Paul  districts.  The  Poll  revealed  that 
68%  of  Tv  set  owners  attend  neighbor- 
hood theaters,  while  only  52%  of  non-Tv 
owners  went  to  neighborhood  houses. 
However,  the  first  runs  get  a  larger  at- 
tendance from  the  non-Tv  homes — 28% 
of  the  individuals  polled  who  did  not 
have  Tv  said  they  go  to  downtown  houses, 
and  20%  of  the  set  owners  said  they  went 
to  first-run  theaters. 


As  to  whether  film-going  habits  change 
on  getting  a  Tv  set.  Minnesotans  re- 
ported as  follows:  27%  of  those  having 
Tv  never  go  to  movies,  and  14%  of  those 
without  Tv  never  go  to  a  theater.  Also, 
it  was  shown  that  80%  of  those  who  have 
sets  go  less  often,  and  only  35%  of  those 
without  sets   go  less  often. 

Age  Is  Not  a  Factor 

Age,  apparently,  is  not  an  important 
factor  in  keeping  Minnesotans  from 
going  to  the  movies.  Only  2%  said  they 
were  not  going  to  movies  because  of  old 
age.  Only  3%  said  they  couldn't  afford 
to  go  or  thought  prices  were  too  high. 

Of  those  Minnesotans  who  attend 
movies,  87%  receive  advance  information 
on  the  pictures  before  going  to  the  show. 
Of  this  number,  90%  said  they  received 
their  information  through  newspapers, 
another  10%  got  the  information  by  con- 
sulting others,  3%  got  it  through  pre- 
views, 2%  by  calling  the  theater,  and 
9%  from  miscellaneous  sources. 

Despite   some   of  the  negative   factors 


CHARTS  SHOWING  IMPACT  OF  TV  ON  MOVIE-GOING  HABITS 


STATEWIDE 


TWIN    CITIFS 


How  Tv 

Affects 

Movie-Going 

Habits 


NEVER  GOTO 
THE  MOVIES 


f^l    GO  TO  NEIGHBORHOOD  MOVIES 
^^    GO  TO  DOWNTOWN  MOVIES 
(ZZ)    GO  TO  BOTH 


Reasons 

for 

Non-Movie 

Attendance 


How 
Information 
on  Movies 
is  Obtained 


Twin 

Cities  Area 

Outstote 

Television 

28% 

3% 

Hove  bobies,  young  children 

6% 

5% 

Con't  afford  it— less  money  for 

amusements,  or  prices  loo  high 

3% 

8% 

Movies  aren't  as  good 

5% 

6% 

Too  busy 

3% 

6% 

Age;  getting  old 

2% 

1% 

Other  reasons,  or  don't  know  why 

11% 
58%  •::- 

11% 

40%  -::- 

f;.---Some  gove  more  than  one  reosor 

) 

HOW  THE  87%  OF  PEOPLE  WHO  SEE 

ADVANCE  INFORMATION  BEFORE  GOING  TO  A  SHOW 

GET  THE  FACTS 


NEWSPAPERS 90% 

PREVIEWS    3% 

CALL  THEATRES 2% 


CONSULT  OTHERS 

WHO  ATTENDED 10% 

OTHER  SOURCES 9% 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     June  1951 


21 


brought  out  in  the  poll  regarding  the  Tv 
impact  on  theater  attendance,  there  were 
many  bright  aspects.  The  fact  that  69% 
of  Tv  families  go  to  neighborhood  movies 
was  encouraging.  This  is  in  direct  rebut- 
tal to  the  position  taken  by  many — in 
forecasting  the  future  of  movies  in  a  Tv 
world — that  it  will  be  the  neighborhood 
house  which  will  suffer  most.  If  four- 
fifths  of  St.  Paul  and  Minneapolis  Tv  set- 
owners  still  go  to  neighborhoods,  the 
prospects  for  continued  good  business 
are  bright. 

Another  encouraging   factor  was  that 
only   6%    of   those   interviewed    out-state 


and  5%  polled  in  the  Twin  Cities  gave 
"movies  aren't  as  good"  as  Tv  as  their 
reason. 


New  Vallen   Catalog    Now  Available 

A  new  1951  catalog  has  been  published 
by  Vallen,  Inc.,  Akron,  Ohio,  firm  spe- 
cializing in  the  design  and  construction 
of  curtain  controls,  tracks  and  special 
operating  devices.  The  15-page  catalog, 
printed  in  two  colors,  gives  specification 
and  installation  data  as  well  as  descrip- 
tions of  the  items  in  the  Vallen  line.  It 
is  available  free  on  request. 


Movies  are  better  than  ever! 
—but  how  good  is  the  HEART 
of  your  theatre  ?  ^ 


If  costs  so  little  to  protect  so  much 

The  advantages  of  RCA 
Service  are  yours  at  a 
cost  so  low,  a  few  ad- 
missions daily  pay  for  it. 
Write  for  free  foldei — 
"Performance  Security." 


It's  good  showmanship  to  make  sure  that 
your  projection  room  equipment — the  heart 
of  your  theatre — operates  at  peak  form  .  .  . 
at  top  efficiency.  Even  with  the  best- 
designed  and  best-made  picture  projection 
equipment  and  sound  reproduction  system, 
constant  usage  causes  wear  and  tear.  If  not 
properly  maintained,  projection  room 
equipment  may  cause  trouble  .  .  .  run  up 
costly  repair  bills  .  .  .  result  in  a  "blackout" 
and  loss  of  box-office  receipts. 

With  RCA  Service  you  can  be  sure  the 
heart  of  your  theatre  is  maintained  in  a  thor- 
oughly dependable  condition.  RCA  Service 
technicians  are  skilled  in  the  systematic 
point-to-point  checkup  and  maintenance 
of  all  types  of  projection  and  sound  equip- 
ment regardless  of  make.  RCA  Service 
Plans  combine  expert  technical  assistance 
with  comprehensive  parts  and  repair  pro- 
visions for  motion  picture  and  theatre  TV 
equipments. 


RCA  SERVICE  COMPANY,  INC. 

A  RADIO  CORPORATION  of  AMERICA  SUBSIDIARY 
CAMDEN,  MEW  JERSEY 


NEWS   PROJECTIONS 

EXHIBITORS  squawking  that  while 
studios  brag  about  reducing  produc- 
tion costs,  film  rentals,  expecially  per- 
centage pics,  continue  at  the  same  high 
level  .  .  .  Cinecolor  this  year  will  register 
a  250%  increase  over  last  year  on  its 
new  2-color  process  .  .  .  Next  two  years 
hold  key  to  the  future  of  the  exhibition 
field,  says  H.  M.  Richey,  head  of  Metro's 
exhib  relations.  File  this  under  the  no- 
news  department  .  .  .  No  trade  show  at 
the  Tesma  meeting  this  Fall.  Reason: 
raw  material  shortages.  Incidentally, 
Oscar  Neu,  TESMA  prexy  for  the  past 
18  years,  will  not  be  a  candidate  for  re- 
election .  .  Zenith  Radio  states  that  its 
recently  concluded  Phonevision  test  in 
Chicago  took  in  $1.73  a  week  per  family 
among  the  300  subscribers,  or  3%  times 
the  national  American  family  movie-going 
average  .  .  .  The  SMPTE  is  now  installed 
at  its  new  quarters  at  40  West  40th  St., 
N.  Y.  City,  18  ...  So  Tv  "spot"  announce- 
ments will  help  the  movie  box-office,  will 
they?  Well,  under  existing  rates  in  N.  Y. 
City  for  Class  A  time,  a  minimum  cam- 
paign involving  twenty  20-second-to-one- 
minute  spots,  spread  over  four  stations, 
would  cost  $12,000! 


Hollywood's  production  of  film  exclu- 
sively for  Tv  programs  by  27  producers 
now  exceeds  the  footage  turned  out  for 
movie  theater  consumption  .  .  .  Another 
one  of  those  movie  theater  vs.  Tv  surveys, 
This  time  by  Woodbury  College,  Calif. 
Announced  results:  58%  would  be  will- 
ing to  pay  $1  for  a  first-run  program  on 
their  home  Tv  set  but  would  not  pay  the 
same  amount  for  an  exclusive  major  event 
on  a  large  screen  in  a  theater  .  .  .  20th 
Century-Fox  will  have  to  divest  itself  of 
its  theater  interests,  and  National  Thea- 
ters, its  subsidiary,  will  be  forced  to  re- 
linquish 100  theaters,  under  the  terms  of 
a  recent  Dept.  of  Justice  order  in  the 
anti-trust  suit  .  .  .  Says  Dave  Snaper, 
prexy  of  New  Jersey  exhibitors  group: 
"While  Lichtman  (20th-Fox  sales  head) 
was  mouthing  (to  the  press)  his  senti- 
ments about  helping  to  keep  theaters 
open,  his  New  York  branch  was  insisting 
upon  higher  rentals  for  'On  the  Riviera' 
than  they  have  received  on  any  previous 
picture  in  recent  years." 

Reliable  estimates  place  the  number 
of  drive-in  theaters  in  the  U.S.  at  3000. 
Price  war  is  raging  among  these  exhibit- 
ors, the  reason  being  the  practice  of  some 
drive-ins  charging  a  flat  fee  per  car  re- 
gardless of  the  number  of  occupants,  as 
opposed  to  per-head  charge.  Four-wall 
theaters  have  joined  the  drive-in  houses 


22 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


June  1951 


supporting  the  individual  charge  in  pro- 
testing to  the  Internal  Revenue  Bureau 
.  .  .  "Unless  the  televising  of  college 
sports  events  is  eventually  put  on  a 
pay-as-you-see  basis,  the  entire  college 
sports  program  faces  the  threat  of  col- 
lapsing," states  Bob  Hall,  athletic  director 
of  Yale.  He  pointed  out  that  more  than 
72%  of  the  revenue  needed  for  the  en- 
tire Yale  sports  program  comes  from 
football  game  receipts,  which  have  been 
seriously  affected  by  Tv. 


The    Time    is    Now! 

By  NAT  GOLDEN 
National  Production  Authority 

IF  THEATER  equipment  is  obsolete  or 
inefficient  and  has  not  been  recently 
modernized,  noiv  is  the  time  to  do  it  while 
the  equipment  is  available.  Waiting  until 
one  can  simultaneously  remodel  his  thea- 
ter may  be  fatal  on  the  score  of  losing 
one's  competitive  position. 

In  the  past,  many  theater  owners  have 
refrained  from  modernizing  their  equip- 
ment, particularly  projection  and  sound 
reproducing  equipment,  unless  they  were 
able  to  simultaneously  do  a  remodeling 
or  refurbishing  job.  Apparently,  the 
basis  for  this  is  that  the  theater  parton 
may  be  unaware  of  the  equipment  re- 
placement, and  in  order  to  appreciate  the 
effort  of  the  theater  owner,  he  must  vis- 
ibly see  the  type  of  modernization  that  is 
involved,  such  as  in  remodeling  the  front, 
lobby,  auditorium,  or  rest  rooms. 

Decrease  in  Equipment  Inevitable 

Now  that  such  remodeling  is  limited  to 
the  degree  where  in  many  instances 
nothing  can  be  accomplished,  the  theater 
owner  inherently  eliminates  from  his 
plans  equipment  replacement.  This  pol- 
icy, we  feel,  is  most  short-sighted. 

As  the  defense  program  accelerates, 
the  production  of  35-mm  motion  picture 
equipment  must  inevitably  decrease. 
Thus,  it  may  not  be  as  easy  to  replace 
equipment  six  or  eight  months  from  now 
as  it  is  at  the  present  time.  How  long 
this  program  will  continue  is,  of  course, 
unknown,  because  it  depends  on  world 
affairs. 

Theater  owners  are,  therefore,  strongly 
urged,  as  are  other  segments  of  industry 
now,  to  launch  their  modernizing  pro- 
grams immediately. 


LOCAL  1,  NEW  YORK,  N.  Y. 

Election  results:  Vincent  Jacobi,  pres. ; 
George  Fitzgerald,  vice-pres.;  John  C. 
McDowell,  sec;  John  J.  Garvey,  treas.; 
Solly  Pernick  and  John  Goodson,  bus. 
reps.;  Louis  Yeager,  Tv.  organizer;  John 
McCarthy,  sgt.-at-arms;  Joseph  Hughes, 
replacement  committee. 


^VHSSr 


® 


when  you  use 

sm»i:ir-s\  apmti: 


projection  lenses 


Yes  "MOVIES  ARE  BETTER"  and  they're  "BETTER  THAN  EVER"  if  you 
use  Super  Snaplite  f/1.9  Projection  Lenses.  These  superb  lenses 
give  you  maximum  light,  maximum  sharpness,  and  maximum  contrast 
.  .  .  maximum  viewing  satisfaction  for  your  patrons. 

True  speed  of  f/1.9  in  every  focal  length  up  to  7  inches. 
Ask  for  Bulletins  207  and  209. 

"You  Get  More  Light  with  Super  Snaplite" 


$ 


KOLLA\Olt<;EN      , 


2  Franklin  Avenue 
Brooklyn  11,  New  York 


OKI'OltilTION 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


June  1951 


23 


Film  Projection  in  Israel 

By  A.  ZEHNGEBOTH 

Chief,  Zlil  Theater,  Jaffa 

(N  ISRAEL,  nearly  all  employees  of 
both  film  and  the  legitimate  theaters, 
including  actors,  are  organized  as  a  sec- 
tion of  the  Histadruth  (General  Federa- 
tion of  Labor),  which  not  only  negoti- 
ates for  wages  and  working  conditions 
but  also  conducts  examinations  for  com- 
petency, notably  that  of  projectionists. 

Wages  would  correspond  to   approxi- 
mately $300  monthly  for  a  first  projec- 


tionist or  cashier,  and  about  $225  for 
ushers.  Payday  is  every  four  weeks,  in- 
cluding two  weeks  vacation  annually 
with  pay.  We  give  three  shows  daily  for 
six  days  of  the  week,  with  two  evening 
sbows  off  each  week.  All  previews  and 
extra  shows  are  paid  for  separately. 

Except  for  one  theater  now  being  con- 
structed by  20th  Century-Fox,  all  movie 
theaters  are  privately  owned,  some  of 
them  by  cooperatives  whose  members  do 
all  the  work  themselves.  I  myself  belong 
to  such  a  cooperative  of  disabled  vet- 
erans. Being  both  owners  and  employees, 
we  are  in  the  unique  position  of  being 


ANSWER 
TO  YOUR 
TECHNICAL 
PROBLEMS... 


The  Altec 
Service  Man  and 
the  organization 
behind  him 


161   Sixth  Avenue, 
New  York  13,  N.  Y. 

PROTECTING    THE    THEATRE  -  FIRST    PLACE   IN    ENTERTAINMENT 


CLAYTON  BALL-BEARING 

EVEN  TENSION  TAKE-UPS 

For  all  projectors  and  sound  equipments 

AU  take-ups  wind  film  on  2,  4  and  5  inch  hub  re«la. 
Silent  Chain  Drives 

THE  CLAYTON  REWINDER 

For  perfect  rewinding  on  2000-foot  reel*. 

CLAYTON    PRODUCTS    CO. 

31-45  Tibbetr  Avenue  New  York  63,  N.  Y. 


members  of  both  the  Cinema  Owners 
Association  and  the  Federation  of  Labor. 
In  the  bigger  towns,  tickets  sell  for 
about  $1,  with  40%  of  this  amount  going 
for  municipal  and  Government  taxes. 
Film  theaters  are  overcrowded:  in  Tel 
Aviv,  for  example,  there  are  only  10  thea- 
ters with  14,000  seats  to  accommodate  a 
population  of  1%  million. 

Varied  Projection  Equipment 

Throughout  Israel  there  are  about  120 
film  theaters  equipped  with  35-mm  pro- 
jectors. There  are  many  Ernemann  (Ger- 
man-made) projectors,  some  of  the  newer 
type  with  water-cooled  gates,  and  not  a 
few  which  have  served  well  for  17  years. 
British  Kallee  also  has  quite  a  number 
of  installations ;  but  there  are  few  Amer- 
ican makes. 

We  also  have  about  200  16-mm  thea- 
ters in  small  settlements,  with  most  of 
the  projectors  being  either  Bell  &  Howell 
or  RCA.  We  use  many  American-made 
speakers,  rectifier  bulbs  and  carbons,  the 
latter  being  difficult  to  obtain.  Since  we 
have  no  very  large  theaters,  or  drive-ins, 
our  arc  current  seldom  passes  the  60- 
ampere  level.  American-made  films  pre- 
dominate. 

Each  producer  affiliated  with  the  dis- 
tributor's organization  maintains  his  own 
office  and  facilities  for  circulating  films. 
The  theater  receives  its  film  in  tins,  never 
on  reels.  The  inspection  of  film  by  the 
distributors  is  very  lax  with  repairs  sel-. 
dom  being  made. 

Distributors  are  always  straining  to 
squeeze  a  few  more  runs  out  of  a  poor 
print,  and  projectionists  must  be  espe- 
cially vigilant  to  spot  and  repair  film 
deficiencies.  In  fact,  it  is  due  solely  to 
the  efforts  of  proectionists  that  we  have 
not  had  a  serious  film  fire  for  years. 


We  See  Upside  Down 

WHEN  a  simple  lens  casts  an  image, 
the  image  is  reversed  both  up  and 
down  and  side  to  side.  Use  the  lens  of 
an  ordinary  reading  glass  to  throw  an 
image  of  a  lamp  on  a  sheet  of  paper,  or 
look  at  the  image  on  the  ground  glass 
screen  of  a  camera,  and  see  that  this  is 
true. 

The  eye  is  often  compared  with  a  cam- 
era, and  rightly  so.  Like  a  camera,  the 
eye  has  a  lens  system  that  bends  the 
entering  light,  forming  an  image  of  what 
is  seen  on  the  retina,  or  sensitive  back 
surface  of  the  eyeball.  The  pupil — the 
round  opening  at  the  front  of  the  eye — 
controls  the  amount  of  light  that  enters, 
just  as  the  diaphragm  of  a  camera  lens 
does. 

If  the  eye  acts  like  a  miniature  cam- 
era, then  the  image  on  the  retina  must 
be  upside  down.  Why,  then,  do  we  not 
see  things  turned  wrong  way  up — chan- 
deliers   sprouting    from    the    floor    and 


24 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


June  1951 


chairs  and  tables  hanging  from  the  ceil- 
ing? The  reason  is  that  from  earliest 
infancy  we  have  learned  to  interpret  the 
upside  down  images  as  being  upright. 

A  Simple  Experiment 

Here  is  a  little  experiment  to  convince 
yourself  that  the  retinal  images  are  really 
upside  down.  Hold  a  pencil  a  few  inches 
from  a  piece  of  paper  lying  on  your  desk 
so  that  a  lamp  casts  a  shadow  of  the  pen- 
cil on  the  paper.  If  you  now  hold  a 
reading  glass  just  below  the  pencil,  the 
lens  cannot  reverse  or  otherwise  change 
the  shadow  because  the  pencil  is  too 
close  to  it. 

Now  do  the  same  thing,  using  your 
eye  in  place  of  the  reading  glass:  stick  a 
hole  in  a  card  with  a  pin,  holding  the 
perforated  card  about  half  an  inch  in 
front  of  one  eye,  and  look  at  a  bright 
surface  such  as  a  lighted  lampshade  or 
the  sky.  Grasping  the  pin  by  its  point, 
hold  it  between  card  and  eye  and  move 
its  head  upward  in  front  of  the  hole. 
What  you  see  is  a  shadow  picture  of  the 
pin  moving  downward  across  the  hole.  We 
know  from  the  reading  glass  experiment 
that  the  shadow  on  the  retina  is  right 
side  up;  your  brain,  however,  interprets 
it  as  being  upside  down! 


Electronic  Materials  Shortages 

Following  a  discussion  by  industry  rep- 
resentatives anent  availability  of  materials 
for  electronics  equipment,  NPA  officials  in- 
dicated a  continuing  tight  situation  in  the 
following: 

Tungsten:  There  is  little  relief  in  sight 
despite  a  plan  under  consideration  to  pur- 
chase additional  supplies  abroad.  A  consid- 
erable reduction  is  expected  in  the  amount 
of  tungsten  available  during  July  and  Au- 
gust. NPA  said  the  industry  could  assist  in 
meeting  defense  needs  by  providing  a  pro- 
gram of  estimated  requirements  for  the  re- 
mainder of  1951  and  for  all  of  1952. 

Cobalt:  The  future  picture  for  cobalt  is 
somewhat  brighter  than  for  tungsten,  despite 
the  industry's  report  of  growing  shortages 
of  products  using  cobalt. 

Nickel:    Little  immediate   relief   is   to   be 


expected,  although  CMP  procedures  should 
ease  the  situation  to  some  extent  for  the 
electronics  industry. 

Fine  Wire:  Although  there  is  no  immedi- 
ate problem  in  fine  wire  drawing  production, 
tube  programs  for  radar  and  other  military 
and  essential  industrial  uses  probably  will 
create  shortages. 


NPA's  Controlled  Materials  Plan 

Under  Controlled  Materials  Plan,  effec- 
tive in  the  third  quarter  of  1951,  all  manu- 
facturers of  motion  picture-photographic 
products  (equipment,  accessories  and  mo- 
tion pictures)  are  required  to  submit  during 
the  month  of  May  their  requirements  on 
CMP  4B  forms,  the  NPA  announced.  NPA 
will  soon  make  an  announcement  on  the 
rules,  regulations  and  procedures  to  be 
followed  with  respect  to  the  Controlled  Ma- 
terials Plan,  and  the  various  forms  involved. 


PERSONNEL 

Walter  W.  Simons,  sound  picture  pio- 
neer first  with  Vitaphone,  then  with  Erpi, 
and  then  with  Altec  Service  Corp.  for 
many  years,  is  now  associated  with  Altec 
Lansing  Corp.,  Beverly  Hills,  Calif. 

W.  F.  Kelley,  secretary-treasurer  of 
the  Motion  Picture  Research  Council. 
Hollywood,  has  been  awarded  a  certifi- 
cate of  service  by  the  American  Stand- 
ards Assoc,  for  his  contribution  to  the 
development  of  American  Standards. 

Fred  Whitney,  formerly  with  Altec 
and  Erpi,  has  joined  the  SMPTE  stall 
to  oversee  test  film  technical  operations. 
A  formal  quality  control  program  will 
insure  consistently  high  quality  in  the 
SMPTE  test  films,  which  are  largely  re- 
sponsible for  the  present  high  level  of 
quality  of  reproducing  equipment  in  the 
35-  and  16-mm  fields. 

John  R.  Coleman  and  Dr.  L.  C. 
Faulkenrerry  have  been  appointed  as- 
sistant superintendents  in  the  film  emul- 
sion coating  division  of  Eastman  Kodak. 


NEVER 


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SLOW    BURNING 


SAVINGS   IN    POWER  CONSUMPTION 
SAVINGS  IN  MAINTENANCE 


ESSENTIAL 


THERE  IS  A  LORRAINE  CARION    TAILORED  FOR 
YOUR  SPECIFIC      PROJECTION  REQUIREMENT 

Send  neressary  projection  equipment 
data  to  guide  us  in  recommending  the 
Lorraine  Carbons  that  will  do  your 
theatre  or  drive-in  projection  job  better 
and  More   Economically. 


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favorite  dealer.  He  has  them  on  dis- 
play. Just  pick  yours  off  the  card,  and 
your  splicing  worries  are  over. 

Recommended    by    Eastman 
Used    in    Major    Exchanges 


PRODUCTS        CORP. 
330  W.  42nd  St.,  New  York  18,  N.  Y. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     June  1951 


25 


The    Neu-Zip'  Combo  Film  Scraper  for  Safety  Film 


r 

Wrong 

The  ever-increasing  use  of  safety  film 
has  occasioned  the  development  of  a  new 
combination  wire  brush-scraper  blade 
device  for  use  in  splicing  film.  This  new 
unit,  known  as  "Neu-Zip"  and  developed 
by  Neumade  Products  Corp.,  is  now 
available  at  the  very  low  price  of  $2.95 
through  all  theater  supply  dealers. 

Neu-Zip  was  developed  at  the  sugges- 
tion of  film  handlers  of  long  experience 
in  theaters  and  exchanges,  who  found 
that  there  is  an  essential  difference  be- 
tween nitrate  and  safety  stock.  In  the 
latter,  there  is  a  binder  between  the  base 
and  the  photographic  emulsion  which  is 
tough  and  glossy,  making  proper  splicing 
more  difficult  than  with  nitrate  film. 

The  Neu-Zip  combines  the  conven- 
tional scraper  blade  with  a  stiff  wire 
brush,  both  of  which  are  used  on  the 
film.  After  scraping  with  the  blade,  a 
flick  or  two  with  the  wire  brush  across 
the  area  to  be  spliced  removes  all  traces 
of  the  emulsion  and  the  binder  and 
"fogs"  the  base  to  allow  film  cement  to 
penetrate  and  make  a  perfect  weld. 

Before  using  Neu-Zip  a  minor  adjust- 
ment of  the  splicer  is  necessary.  For 
example,  on  the  Griswold  splicer  the 
cement   guard   is   a    fraction   of   an   inch 


FIGURE  1 


Correct 

away  from  the  scraping  blade.  This  guard 
on  the  upper  left  jaw  should  be  moved 


FIGURE  2 


to  the  right  so  that  it  comes  just  barely 
to  the  edge  of  the  blade,  as  shown  in 
Fig.  1.  In  Fig.  2  is  shown  the  use  of  the 
wire  brush  so  that  the  film  has  the  frosty 
appearance  shown  in  the  right-hand  sec- 
tion. 

If  desired,  both  the  emulsion  and  the 
binder  may  be  removed  by  the  use  of  the 
steel  brush  alone.  To  clean  the  brush 
and  restore  to  original  shape  requires 
only  a  simple  twisting  between  the  thumb 
and  forefinger.  The  unit,  individually 
boxed  with  instruction  sheet,  is  recom- 
mended by  Eastman  Kodak  Co. 


U.S.  Air  Force  Stereo  Color  Film 

A  three-dimensional  color  process  in- 
vented by  Maj.  Robert  V.  Bernier,  Air 
Force,  employs  a  single  film,  requires 
some  alteration  of  the  projector,  and 
spectators  wear  Polaroid  glasses.  The 
Air  Force  has  taken  out  patents  in  Major 
Bernier's  name. 

Process,  in  development  for  16  years, 
employs  a  system  of  alternate  frames  to 
eliminate    projection    of   a    second    film, 


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CENTURY'S  water-cooled  aperture  gives) 
as  much  light  with  a  90  ampere  arc  as  i 
other  projectors  using  a  180  ampere  arc I 
and  heat  filters!— Reduce  power  cost— Gera 
sharper  pictures— Save  film. 

CENTURY'S  sealed,  oil-less  bearings  and 
glass-hard  gears  reduce  maintenance 
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film  or  projection  room. 

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while  a  revolving  shutter  with  alternate 
concave  and  convex  mirrors  is  attached 
to  the  projector.  16-mm  color  film  is 
used. 


A  Sprocketless  Developer 

A  SPROCKETLESS  developing  machine 
for  motion  picture  film  has  been  developed 
in  Europe  in  which  the  film  in  a  flattened 
helical  path  is  carried  on  racks  whose  single 
upper  and  lower  rollers  have  neither  flanges 
nor  sprocket  teeth.  Overlapping  of  adjacent 
strands  of  film  is  prevented  by  fixed  separa- 
tor fingers  at  the  sides  of  the  rack  where  the 
film  approaches  the  rollers. 

Swelling  and  shrinkage  of  the  film  are 
accommodated  by  a  change  in  effective  roller 
diameter  in  response  to  tension  in  the  film 
strands.  It  is  said  this  machine  can  be  con- 
verted from  35-  to  16-mm  film  merely  by 
changing  the  strand-spacing  fingers,  with  a 
corresponding  increase  in  film  capacity.  Al- 
ternatively, 16-mm  film  can  be  spliced  to 
35-mm  and  permitted  to  follow  it  through 
the  machine  with  mechanical  adjustment. 

French  Lenticular  Film  System 

THE  LENTICULAR  color  film  process 
employing  a  lenticular  positive  has  been 
revived  in  France  under  the  name  "Opti- 
color"  by  the  Societe  Civile  de  Recherches 
Scientifiques  B.L.V. 

The  problem  of  printing  from  a  lenticular 
negative  is  avoided  by  making  three  color- 
separation  negatives  simultaneously  in  a 
beam-splitting  camera  provided  with  a  prism 
block  and  three  lenses  working  at  an  aper- 
ture of  F:2,  and  of  variable  focus  from  30 
lo  68  mm.  A  special  printer  has  been  devel- 
oped in  which  the  three  separation  images 
are  printed  on  a  lenticular  positive  film 
having  30  minute  lenses  to  the  mm.  in  the 
picture  area  only. 

RCA  and  NBC  joined  in  urging  the 
FCC  to  take  immediate  steps  to  lift  the 
Tv  "freeze"  and  permit  new  stations. 
Considering  the  amount  of  critical  ma- 
terials which  go  into  Tv  stations  and 
transmitters,  no  less  than  the  tough  at- 
titude of  NPA,  the  hid  likely  will  fail. 


26 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


June  1951 


REAR  PROJECTION 

(Continued  from  page  17) 

tivity,  these  are  reflected  as  a  clear  white. 
On  the  back  projection  screen,  they  were 
reproduced  quite  distinctly  as  pale  blue, 
although  it  is  doubtful  if  the  ordinary 
patrons  noticed  this  particularl  charac- 
teristic. 

Practical  Factors  of  Rear  Projection 

Some  of  the  more  practical  factors  in 
using  back  projection  will  now  be  dealt 
with. 

During  a  busy  evening,  a  film  theater 
loses  a  high  proportion  of  its  picture  il- 
lumination through  scattering  of  the 
rays,  both  incident  and  reflected,  in  the 
dense  tobacco  haze.  In  foggy  weather 
this  effect  is  increased,  and  under  bad 
conditions  the  loss  of  light  arriving  in 
the  retina  of  the  patron  can  be  as  high 
as  40%.  More  than  half  of  this  loss  can 
be  saved  by  back  projection — that  is,  the 
whole  of  loss  in  the  incident  ray,  and 
shall  we  say  that  in  the  reflected  ray. 
This  is  no  mean  attraction. 

Again,  it  must  be  confessed  that  light 
scattered  from  the  incident  ray  is  most 
irritating  to  a  patron  sitting  beneath  it. 
Without  any  apparent  loss  of  picture 
quality,  it  would  be  possible  to  increase 
greatly  the  maintained  house  lighting. 

The  location  of  the  projection  room 
brings  in  a  number  of  important  factors, 
the  most  important  of  which  is  the  length 
of  throw.  If  we  take  a  2-inch  lens  as  a 
datum,  a  20-foot  picture  needs  a  48-foot 
throw.  This  is  an  inconvenient  length  to 
find  and  cloak  with  a  tunnel. 

Projection  by  Mirror 

The  most  obvious  answer  to  this  is  to 
fold  the  ray  once  by  means  of  a  mirror, 
the  projection  room  being  placed  imme- 
diately under  the  stage,  where  it  could  be 
housed  conveniently  as  a  suite.  The  ray 
would  be  projected  from  a  point  as  near 
to  the  bottom  picture  line  as  feasible, 
upon  a  mirror  placed  approximately 
half-way  along  the  throw.  This  would 
necessitate  a  10-foot  plate-glass  mirror. 
The  use  of  a  mirror  would  not  produce 
any  noticeable  loss  of  definition.  The 
weak  "ghost"  image  from  the  front  sur- 
face of  the  mirror,  if  the  latter  were  of 
Vi-inch  plate  glass,  would  be  so  near  the 
main  image  that  probably  it  would  be 
separated  by  less  than  the  grain  size  of 
the  film  stock,  as  magnified  on  the  screen. 

The  mirror  would  cause  a  loss  of  light 
of  between  9  and  12%,  according  to  its 


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state  of  cleanliness,  but  this  would  be 
more  than  offset  by  the  increased  T-value 
of  the  longer  focal  lens,  which  the  double 
throw  permitted.  There  is  an  additional 
advantage  in  using  a  mirror:  the  pro- 
jector could  be  threaded  with  the  film  the 
normal  way  round  and  not  laced  back 
to  front  or,  as  has  been  the  usual  prac- 
tice, the  picture  reversed  through  a 
prism. 

Life  Expectancy  of  Screens 

The  type  of  rear  projection  screens  we 
are  discussing  seem  to  have  a  life  of 
three  years  or  more,  depending  very 
largely  upon  missiles  projected  by  young 
patrons.  Unfortunately,  they  are  very  ex- 


pensive screens  to  produce,  so  that  amor- 
tized over  a  period  of  three  years,  the 
standing  charges  are  somewhat  higher 
than  those  for  front  projection,  although 
it  is  thought  that  part  of  the  expense 
might  be  saved  by  alleviation  of  resurfac- 
ing costs. 

Insufficient  experience  has  been  gained 
in  the  use  of  such  screens  in  the  theater 


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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     June  1951 


27 


to  know  the  maintenance  problems,  al- 
though it  can  be  said  that  in  the  film 
studios  they  are  washed  regularly  with 
6oap  and  water.  The  inevitable  deposition 
of  tar  will  not  have  such  a  disastrous 
effect  upon  them  as  it  has  upon  a  matte 
white  screen  or  a  beaded  screen. 

A  matte  white  screen  is  a  reflecting 
agent  by  reason  of  the  white  particles  of 
its  makeup  (omitting  the  more  technical 
cause  and  effect) .  If  these  particles  are 
impregnated  with  a  brown  staining  agent, 
such  as  tobacco  tar,  their  very  capacity 
to  reflect  has  been  destroyed  to  the  ex- 


tent of  the  color  to  which  they  have  been 
stained. 

If  a  translucent  type  of  screen  is 
stained  to  the  same  degree,  its  inherent 
capacity  for  transmission  of  light  has 
not  been  destroyed  at  all.  All  that  has 
happened  is  that  a  transparent  filter, 
from  the  deposition  of  tobacco  tar,  forms 
on  its  surface. 

Effect  of  Increased  Brightness 

If  by  increased  brightness  visual  acu- 
ity is  stimulated,  then  the  magnification 
factor  can  be  reduced.  This  is  aptly  il- 
lustrated when  one  views  an  object  under 


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skilled  operators  using  newest,  most  modern  equipment.  Identical, 
completely  interchangeable— they  save  time,  trouble,  expense, 
assure  smoother  operation  and  better  pictures. 

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a  reading  lamp  for  closer  examination: 
the  acuity  increases,  and  as  the  viewing 
distance  or  magnification  is  left  un- 
changed, the  sight  stimulus  is  increased. 
The  inference  is  that  the  increased 
brightness  and  increased  acuity  which 
the  back  projection  screen  can  provide 
could  lead  to  a  substantial  reduction  in 
picture  size  without  loss  of  visiual  sensa- 
tion. 

A  smaller  picture  will  improve  the 
viewing  conditions  and  sightline  prob- 
lems in  almost  all  theatres,  although  it 
is  not  suggested  that  any  wholesale  re- 
duction in  size  be  contemplated.  As  an 
illustration  of  what  must  be  the  extreme 
in  this,  a  special  high  reflection  type  of 
screen  using  a  20-foot  picture  was  being 
tested.  When  showing  a  richly  colored 
scene  under  starlight  conditions,  a  group 
of  experienced  theater  controllers  and 
technicians  were  able  to  see  an  accept- 
able picture  at  1800  feet  viewing  dis- 
tance. This  is  the  unbelievable  ratio  of 
90:1. 

Sound  Reproduction 

There  is  one  final  aspect  of  rear  pro- 
jection that  must  be  mentioned,  but  on 
which  no  opinion  will  be  passed,  and  that 
is  sound  reproduction.  Obviously,  one 
cannot  have  a  perforated  rear  projection 
screen,  and  sound  must  therefore  be  dis- 
seminated from  outside  the  screen  peri- 
phery. Standard  practice  nowadays  is  to 
put  the  high-frequency  speakers  above 
the  centre  of  the  screen,  and  the  low- 
frequency  speakers  on  either  side,  all 
three  radiating  through  the  wool  mask- 
ing. Theater  engineers  who  service  such 
theaters  have  reported  that  they  receive 
no  complaints  on  sound  and  that,  in  their 
opinion,  this  arrangement  is  a  workable 
one. 

[The  advantages  of  back-projection  were 
the  subject  of  a  number  of  demonstrations. 
Two  identical  16-mm  projectors  ran  matched 
prints  side  by  side,  one  with  front  and  the 
other  back  projection,  the  latter  showing  a 
marked  superiority  in  brightness  and  con- 
trast ratio.  On  a  2  ft.  screen,  a  picture  was 
shown  to  be  of  adequate  entertainment  value 
at  a  distance  of  30  ft. — a  ratio  of  15:1.  An- 
other demonstration  showed  that  the  use  of 
a  mirror  in  the  beam  caused  no  perceptible 
loss  of  definition.  The  small  effect  of  ambient 
lighting  was  also  shown.] 

SUPPLEMENTARY  DISCUSSION 

Q:  I  believe  there  are  considerable  me- 
chanical difficulties  to  be  overcome  in 
sound  head  construction  for  rear  projec- 
tion. The  question  of  speaker  placement 
is  very  important  in  view  of  the  possi- 
bility of  stereophonic  sound;  maybe  the 
last  place  we  want  the  sound  is  in  the 
centre  of  the  picture. 

A:  I  think  a  mirror  is  essential,  when 
the  film  can  be  laced  up  the  normal  way. 

Q:  Rear  projection  screens  at  the  mo- 


28 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     June  1951 


ment    have    sometimes    a    centre-to-side 
ratio  of  4  or  5  to  1. 

A:  The  curve  relating  to  the  new 
screen  is  appreciably  flatter.  In  the  stu- 
dio, we  worked  at  an  angle  of  60°,  and 
did  not  get  more  than  a  2  to  1  brightness 
ratio.  At  this  angle  a  beaded  screen 
would  show  about  5  to  1. 

Hot  Spot  Eliminated? 

Q:  Do  I  understand  that  the  travelling 
hot-spot  has  been  eliminated  with  this 
type  of  screen? 

A:  With  an  open  gate  you  can  just  see 
the  increased  brightness  in  the  centre. 
But  when  there  is  a  picture  in  the  gate, 
nobody  would  see  any  change  in  the 
light. 

Q:  Could  we  have  further  elaboration 
on  the  maintenance  of  rear  projection 
screens?  This  seems  to  be  the  main 
source   of   trouble  with   back-projection. 

Favorable  Life  Characteristics 

A:  The  old  rear  projection  screen  had 
a  cotton  base,  doped  with  some  secret 
formula.  Almost  inevitably  these  screens 
oxidized  and  collected  surface  dirt,  and 
the  problem  of  cleaning  was  quite  out  of 
the  question.  When  reasonably  dry  dopes 
were  introduced,  the  problem  of  cleaning 
could  be  approached,  but  oxidation — the 
inevitable  fall-off  opacity  effect — went  on. 

The  new  screen  has  no   cotton   base, 


PROJECTIONISTS  FIND  CURE 
FOR  "CURTAIN  IRRITATION" 

No  patent  medicine  will  cure  the 
sinking  feeling  projectionists  get 
when  they  push  the  curtairT  button 
to  start  a  show — and  nothing  hap- 
pens. 

That  kind  of  "all-gone"  feeling 
(which  makes  projectionists  grow  old 
before  their  time)  requires  a  strong 
remedy — a  remedy  that  consists  of 
curtain  controls,  tracks  and  special 
operating  devices  that  work  properly 
all  the  time. 

Specifically,  it  calls  for  Vallen 
equipment.  For  35  years  the  products 
of  Vallen  precision  engineering  have 
served  projectionists  all  over  the 
world  faithfully  and  well.  The  supe- 
rior design  and  construction  of  Vallen 
curtain  controls,  tracks  and  special 
operating  devices  makes  them  all-time 
favorites  of  the  men  behind  the  show. 

To  make  certain  the  front  office 
sees  eye-to-eye  with  them  on  this 
important  subject,  wise  projectionists 
are  putting  copies  of  the  latest  Vallen 
catalog  on  their  bosses'  desks.  You 
can    do    the    same.    Write   today   to 

VALLEN,  INC.,  Akron  4,  Ohio. 


and  the  formula  of  the  plastic  can  be 
designed  to  be  as  nearly  as  possible  light- 
fast.  The  life  from  the  point  of  view  of 
the  maintenance  of  picture  brightness  is 
a  very  good  one.  The  deposit  of  surface 
dirt  is  the  .same,  but  it  is  an  astonishing 
fact  that  the  tar  deposit  does  not  deteri- 
orate the  light  value  of  the  screen  to  any 
marked  degree.  The  life  of  the  screen 
appears  to  be  limited  by  the  activities  of 
the  small  boy. 

Q:  Do  you  agree  that  it  is  impossible 
to  clean  any  type  of  screen  in  the  thea- 
ter? 

A:  I  agree  that  it  is  very  difficult. 

Q:  Our  experience  is  that  after  two 
years,  the  deterioration  of  the  screen  is 
much  less  than  we  should  get  with  the 
ordinary  front  projection  screen  in  six 
months.  One  of  our  control  people — who 
is  no  technician — was  so  impressed  that 
when  he  was  transferred  to  another  area 
I  received  a  note  asking  me  to  transfer 
all  his  theaters  from  front  to  rear  pro- 
jection. 

A:  The  reason  a  front  projection 
screen  turns  yellow  quicker  than  a  front 
projection  screen  is  that  it  is  perforated. 

Q:  What  would  be  the  effect  on  repro- 
duction by  the  screen  in  daylight? 

A:  Under  daylight  conditions  you 
would  not  hope  to  get  a  picture  with  a 
matte  screen;  you  would  get  a  slight 
picture  with  a  beaded  or  silver  screen. 
But  with  a  back-projection  screen  you 
would  get  a  picture  provided  it  is  hooded 
to  keep  light  rays  off  the  front  of  the 
screen,  and  that  no  stray  light  struck  the 
rear  of  the  screen.  The  front-projection 
efficiency  of  a  back-projection  screen  is 
of  the  order  of  .25,  as  compared  with  .7 
with  a  matte  screen.  With  the  beaded 
screen  the  efficiency  of  3  to  1  would  kill 
the  possibility  of  daylight  projection. 

Enhanced  Showmanship 

Q:  From  the  point  of  showmanship 
there  are  two  factors  in  back-projection. 
One  is  that  the  beam  is  invisible,  the  sec- 
ond that  the  picture  is  covered  by  the 
tabs  as  they  close. 

A:  Prior  to  1945  all  studio  screens 
were  of  American  make.  They  had  a  cen- 
tre-to-side brightness  ratio  of  from  12  to 
20  to  1.  Efforts  were  made  by  Hollywood 
to  produce  screens  for  the  Independent 
Frame  process,  but  they  never  got  away 
from  the  hot-spot. 

Q:  Do  you  consider  that  putting  glass 
beads  on  the  surface  of  the  translucent 
screen  would  help?  The  Translux  people 
do  it. 

A:  It  has  some  effect  on  the  character- 
istics, but  it  is  so  much  bound  up  with 
the  problems  of  size  of  bead,  how  they 
are  bonded,  the  depth  to  which  they  are 
embedded,  and  what  other  diffusing 
methods  are  used. 


BEING  A 
CARBON 
WASTER 


THE  CRON-O-MATIC 
Fully  Automatic 
CARBON  SAVER 

uses  up  stubs  of  all  lengths.  No 
preparation  required.  Simply  insert  in 
the  holder. 

In  no  way  interferes  with  the  regular 
operation  of  the  lamp. 

Cuts  Carbon  Costs  25% 

Conserves  your  supply  of  carbons 
with  the  heavier  copper  coating. 

Adaptable  to  Ashcraft  "D",  Brenkert- 
Enarc.  Peerless  Magnarc  and  Strong 
Mogul  lamps. 

Only  $52.50.  Quickly  pays  for  itself 
.  .  .  then  goes  on  to  make  money 
for  you. 

SOLD  BY 
ALBANY,  N.  Y.  DENVER,  COLO. 

National  Theatre  Sup.      National  Theatre  Sup. 
ATLANTA,  GA.  JACKSONVILLE,  FLA. 

Southeastern  Theatre        Southeastern  Theatre 

Equipment  Co.  Equipment  Co. 

BOSTON,  MASS.  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 

Joe  Cifre,  Inc.  Shreve  Theatre  Supply 

BUFFALO,  N.  Y.  Stebbins  Theatre 

Eastern  Theatre  Supply         Equipment 
Co.,  Inc.  MEMPHIS,  TENN. 

CHARLESTON,  W.  VA.  Monarch  Theatre  Sup- 
Charleston  Theatre  ply  Co.,  Inc. 

Supply  National  Theatre  Sup. 

CHARLOTTE,   N.  C.  NEW  ORLEANS,  LA. 

Southeastern   Theatre        Southeastern   Theatre 

Equipment  Co.  Equipment  Co. 

CINCINNATI,    OHIO  PITTSBURGH,  PA. 

Midwest  Theatre  Sup-       At|as  Theatre  Supply 

DALLAS    TEX  SALT  LAKE  CITY,  UTAH 

Hardin  Theatre  Supply  Service  Theatre  Supply 

Co.  Co- 
Southwestern  Theatre  SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 
Equipment  Co.  Western  Theatre  Sup. 

If   your   theatre    equipment   dealer    cannot 
supply  you,  order  direct. 


PAYNE  PRODUCTS  COMPANY 

Cron-O-Matic  Division 

2454  W.   Stadium   Blvd.,   Ann   Arbor,   Mich. 

(     )     Please    send    free    literature    on    Cron-O- 
Matic  Carbon   Saver. 

(     )     Please    ship    Cron-O-Matic    Carbon    Saver, 
(     )     C.O.D.,   including   postage. 
(     )     Remittance    herewith. 


NAME  .  . 
THEATRE 
STREET    . 


CITY  &  STATE    

Dealer  Inquiries  Invited 

Export:  Frazar  &  Hansen,  Ltd. 

San   Francisco,   New  York,  Los  Angeles 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     June  1951 


29 


THE  MAGIC  OF  COLOR 

{Continued  from  page  15) 

colored  pigments  will  find  the  following 
show-card  water  paints  both  satisfactory 
and  inexpensive: 

YELLOW :  Carter's  "Tempera"  Yellow. 
MAGENTA:  Derayco  "Poster"  Brilliant 

Magenta. 

CYAN:    Carter's    "Tempera"    Turquoise 

Blue. 

A  knowledge  of  primary  and  second- 
ary colors  and  the  in-between  hues  is  nec- 
essary for  a  perfect  understanding  of  the 
various  processes  of  motion  picture  color 
photography,  film  processing,  and  projec- 
tion— topics  to  be  discussed  later  in  this 
series  of  articles.  But  now  that  the  sat- 
urated colors  and  the  additive  and  sub- 
tractive  methods  of  producing  them  have 
been  described,  colors  which  are  not  sat- 
urated warrant  a  few  words.  Brown,  ma- 
roon, salmon,  olive,  pink,  lavender,  flesh, 
and  slate  are  examples  of  unsaturated 
colors.  None  of  these  can  be  found  in 
any  hue  chart. 

What  happens  when  white  paint  is 
added  to  pure  magenta  paint,  or  white 
light  mixed  with  magenta  light?  The  re- 
sulting color  is  rose-pink.  And  when 
black  paint  is  added  to  magenta  paint,  or 
magenta  light  reduced  in  intensity?  Ma- 
roon, a  purplish  brown,  is  obtained. 

In  both  cases  the  saturation  of  the 
magenta  has  been  reduced.  Pink  is  a 
tint  of  magenta,  and  maroon  is  a  shade 
of  magenta.  Pink  and  maroon  both  have 
the  same  dominant  hue. 

The  same  applies  to  the  tint  "tan"  and 
the  shade  "brown."  Orange  is  the  domi- 
nant hue  of  both.  Tints  of  the  yellow- 
greens  are  the  apple-  and  fern-greens; 
shades  of  these  hues  are  the  olive-greens 
and  russets. 

'Shades'  of  Tints 

In  addition  to  these  simple  tints  and 
shades  we  find  shades  of  tints.  These  are 
the  tinted  grays.  By  adding  a  small  quan- 
tity of  black  to  "baby  blue"  (a  tint  of 
blue),  slate  results.  And  by  adding  black 
to  pink  (a  tint  of  magenta),  we  get  a 
rosy  gray  called  ash-rose. 

When  the  eye  has  been  educated  to  an 
appreciation  of  these  delicate  unsatur- 
ated colors,  observation  will  reveal  that 
many  of  the  objects  which  are  commonly 
described  as  white,  gray,  or  black  actu- 
ally possess  hue.  "White"  clay  may  be 
bluish,  yellowish,  or  reddish,  etc.  A 
"gray"  stone  may  be  perceptibly  violet. 
A  "black"  lump  of  coal  may  show  green, 
blue,  and  brown  variegations. 

Also,  the  "native"  colors  of  things — ■ 
the  colors  which  things  actually  possess 
— are  profoundly  affected  by  the  color 
of  the  light  which  illuminates  them. 
Fresh  snow  is  the  whitest,  the  most 
nearly  hueless,  substance  in  nature.  But 
in  the  light  of  the  setting  sun  snow  ac- 


quires various  red,  orange,  and  yellow 
hues;  and  in  shadows,  where  it  receives 
light  only  from  the  sky  directly  overhead, 
snow  is  distinctly  blue. 

A  complete  cataloguing  of  colors  is 
fortunately  by  no  means  as  complicated 
as  might  be  thought.  It  has  been  claimed 
that  the  human  eye  is  able  to  discern  a 
total  of  2,000,000  seperate  colors;  but 
this  overwhelming  estimate  is  greatly  in 
error.  To  be  sure,  photometric  devices 
have  been  made  which  can  differentiate 
2,000,000  colors.  Human  vision,  however, 
does  well  to  distinguish  1/1000  of  this 
number. 

The  truth  of  the  matter  is  revealed  by 
IP's  48-hue  color  chart  (Fig.  3).  By 
maintaining  the  equal-sensation  unit 
intervals  of  this  chart  throughout  a  com- 
plete color  scheme  of  unsaturated  colors, 
the  total  number  of  colors  (including  the 
48  saturated  colors  and  13  tones  of  neu- 
tral gray  in  addition  to  black  and  white) 
comes  out  to  be  approximately  400. 

This  estimate  represents  all  the  colors 
and  tones  which  can  be  easily  distin- 
guished from  one  another  by  normal 
vision.  The  very  best  natural-color  pho- 
tographic processes  are  unable  to  repro- 
duce even  half  this  number. 

The  total  number  of  colors  distinguish- 
able from  one  another  by  normal  vision 
is  from  4  to  5  times  the  number  which 
can  be  derived  from  the  IP  48-hue  scale; 
that  is,  from  1600  to  2000  colors  includ- 
ing neutral  tones.  Only  very  exceptional 
individuals  can  differentiate  more  than 
2000  colors. 

[TO  BE  CONTINUED] 


Westrex  Magnetic  Recorder 

Westrex  Corp.  has  announced  and  pre- 
sented demonstrations  of  its  new  1951 
Series  1100  standard  magnetic  recording 
systems.  These  systems  are  fixed  studio 
or  portable  location  recording  equip- 
ments for  the  use  of  35-mm,  17V2-mm  0r 
16-mm  magnetic  film. 

Each  complete  system  includes  two  dy- 
namic microphones,  a  microphone  floor 
stand,  a  2-position  mixer-transmission 
unit,  a  magnetic  recording  machine  con- 
taining the  power  unit  and  auxiliary 
equipment,  a  complete  set  of  spare  glass- 
ware and  fuses,  and  interconnecting 
cables  for  operation  from  single  phase, 
50  or  60  cycles,  115-volt  power  source. 

Exceptional  Low  Noise  Level 

A  new  line  of  amplifiers  and  transmis- 
sion equipment  has  been  developed  hav- 
ing exceptionally  low  noise  to  take  full 
advantage  of  the  inherent  signal-to-noise 
ratio  of  magnetic  film.  The  complete  re- 
cording transmission  circuit  consists  of 
three  amplifiers,  two  microphone  pre- 
amplifiers, and  one  main  recording  am- 
plifier. They  are  small  in  size,  each  with 
a  normal  flat  gain  of  70  db  from  30  to 
10,000  cycles.  There  frequency  character- 
istic may  be  changed  by  means  of  inter- 
stage plug-in  equalizer  units. 

Only  one  type  of  spare  amplifier  is  re- 
quired, thus  reducing  maintenance.  If 
it  is  desired  to  change  the  transmission 
frequency  characteristic,  it  is  done 
merely  by  changing  plug-in  equalizer 
units. 


How  Many? 


Was  this  copy  dog-eared  when  it  came  to  you  ?  How 
many  men  read  it  ahead  of  you? 

You  would  receive  a  clean,  fresh  copy  if  you  had  a 
personal  subscription — and  you  wouldn  t  have  to 
wait — you  would  be  first  to  read  it. 

Use  coupon  below. 

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30 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     June  1951 


The  bonds  we  bought  for  our 
"         countrys  defense  bought  and 
helped  equip  our  farm !■'' 


MR.  AND  MRS.  CHARLEY  L.  WHATLEY  OF  CUTHBERT,  GAi 

CAN  TELL  YOU— IT'S  PRACTICAL  AS  WELL  AS 

PATRIOTIC  TO  BUY  BONDS  FOR  DEFENSE 


Mr.  Whatley  inspects  a  beehive  on 
his  202-acre  farm.  "I  wouldn't  own 
a  farm,  clear,  today,"  he  says,  "if 
it  weren't  for  U.  S.  Savings  Bonds. 
We  bought  a  new  truck,  refrigerator 
and  electric  range,  too.  I've  dis- 
covered that  bonds  are  the  best  way 
of  saving  for  a  working  man." 


Mr.  Whatley  says,  "My  wife  and  I 
bought  our  first  bonds  in  1943, 
through  the  Payroll  Savings  Plan  at 
the  Martha  Mills  plant  of  the  B.  F. 
Goodrich  Co.  in  Thomaston.  Our 
pay  averaged  $40  a  week  apiece  and 
we  put  about  a  quarter  of  that 
amount  into  U.  S.  Savings  Bonds." 


"We'd  saved  $6,925  by  1950.  $4,000 
bought  us  our  202-acre  farm  and  a 
6-room  house.  Then  we  bought  a 
new  truck,  a  refrigerator  and  electric 
range.  Now  Mrs.  Whatley  has  time 
for  tending  her  flowers  while  I  can 
enjoy  my  hobby  of  bee-keeping. 
We  owe  it  all  to  planned  saving." 


"We're  still  holding  bonds,  too.  We 
don't  believe  that  anyone  should 
cash  his  bonds  unless  he  has  to,  so 
we're  holding  about  $1,800  worth. 
With  that  cash  reserve,  and  our  farm 
clear,  we  can  grow  old  with  comfort 
and  peace  of  mind.  Everybody  should 
buy  TJ.  S.  Savings  Bonds!" 


flie  Whatleys'  story  can  be  your  story/bo ! 


You  can  make  your  dream  come  true,  too 
—just  as  the  Whatleys  did.  It's  easy!  Just 
start  now  with  these  three  simple  steps: 

1.  Make  one  big  decision — to  put  saving 
first,  before  you  even  draw  your  pay. 

2.  Decide  to  save  a  regular  amount  sys- 
tematically, week  after  week  or  month  after 
month.  Even  small  sums  saved  on  a  sys- 
tematic basis,  become  a  large  sum  in  an 
amazingly  short  time! 

3.  Start  saving  automatically  by  signing 


up  today  in  the  Payroll  Savings  Plan  where 
you  work  or  the  Bond-A-Month  Plan 
where  you  bank.  You  may  save  as  little  as 
$1.25  a  week  or  as  much  as  $375  a  month. 
If  you  can  set  aside  just  $7.50  weekly,  in 
10  years  you'll  have  bonds  and  interest 
worth  $4,329.02  cash! 

You'll  be  providing  security  not  only  for 
yourself  and  your  family  but  for  the  free 
way  of  life  that's  so  important  to  us  all. 
And  in  far  less  time  than  you  think,  you'll 
have  turned  your  dreams  into  reality,  just 
as  the  Whatleys  did. 


U.  5.  SAVINGS  BONDS  ARE  DEFENSE  BONDS 
—BUY  THEM  REGULARLY! 


Your  government  does  not  pay  for  this  advertisement.  It  is  donated  by  this  publication  in  coop: 
eratwn  with  the  Advertising  Council  and  the  Magazine  Publishers  of  America  as  a  public  service. 


MANUFACTURED  BY  INTERNATIi 


fflp 


'f*TZ 


i    A  T  I. 


*~**'     /     ^ 


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;»»>-- 


JULY 


1951 


VOLUME   26 


NUMBER   7 


30c   A   COPY    •    S2.50  A  YEAR 


ALONGSIDE  THESE  LAMPS  STAND 

THE  WORLDS  FINEST 
PROJECTIONISTS 


/  ^         MAGNARC 


-KW  TO  70  AMPS 


'HY-AX"    ARC    MAGNET 


TRADE    MARK    REG 


HY-LUMEN"     REFLECTOR 


More  light  at  40  to  70  amperes  than  ever  thought  possible.  .  .  .  Equals  and 
excels  any  reflector  lamp  to  85  amperes,  whether  they  be  unapproved  water- 
cooled  or  resurrected  "Hi-Lows".  .  .  .  Highest  ratio  of  honest  screen  lumens 
per  arc  watt.  ...  At  70  amperes,  using  an  accurated  Glass  Hy-Lumen  Re- 
flector*, with  a  projector  having  an  efficient  revolving  shutter,  it  develops 
the  maximum  screen  brilliance  that  can  be  used  without  a  heat  filter  at  no 
risk  of  film  damage.  .  .  .  Operating  costs  under  these  conditions  are  far  below 
that  of  85-ampere  lamps. 

Magnarc  Lamps  assure  80%  side-to-center  (SMPE  Standard)  screen  light 
distribution,  not  a  deceptive  60%  or  "Hot  Center".  .  .  .  They  are  all  Und. 
Lab.,  Inc.  listed.  .  .  .  They  are  not  insurance  hazards.  ...  They  are  and  have 
been  for  years  "The  First  Choice"  of  large  and  small  theatres,  drive-ins,  and 
the  motion  picture  industry. 

*  Similar  results  are  not  guaranteed   if  all-metal  reflectors  are  used. 

FIRST     WITH     THE     FINEST11 


130-180  AMPERES 


TRADE   MARK   REG. 


NEW     MAGNETIC    STABILIZER 

This  modern  lamp  produces  all  the  light  there  is. 
...  It  is  the  standard  equipment  of  the  nation's  largest 
and  finest  theatres.  .  .  .  Used  by  90%  of  the  largest 
Drive-In  Theatres. 

It  is  the  "Omega"  for  maximum  screen  brilliance. 
.  .  .  Nothing  can  even  approach  it  in  white  light  volume 
when  used  with  projectors  that  have  efficient  revolving 
shutters. 

Assures  satisfying  projection  for  Drive-Ins  regardless 
of  the  size  of  the  picture,  length  of  throw,  and  under 
all  weather  conditions.  .  .  .  They  are  Und.  Lab.,  Inc. 
listed  and,  therefore,  not  insurance  hazards.  .  .  .  Heat 
filter  assures  no  risk  of  film-heat  damage  at  maximum 
arc   amperage   and    maximum   screen    lumens. 


"WHY     EXPERIMENT?" 

J.E.MeAULEY  MFD. CD. 

552-554    WEST   ADAMS    STREET 

CHICAGO   6.  ILLINOIS 


JUL  27  1%!  B  "    311467 

INTERNATIONAL 

PROJECTIONS! 

With  Which  Is  Combined  Projection  Engineering 


HENRY  B.  SELLWOOD,  Editor 


Volume  26 


JULY  1951 


Number  7 


Index  and  Monthly  Chat 3 

The  Magic  of  Color,  III 5 

Robert  A.  Mitchell 

Electronic  Color  Measuring  In- 
strument              6 

Number  of  Tv  Receivers  in  Use: 
Nation- Wide  Figures 9 

Carbon  Arc  Screen  Light 10 

M.  T.  Jones 
F.  T.  Bowditch 

Seven- Year  Survey  of  Film  Print 

Damage 12 

Ernest  Tieman 
Dencil  Rush 

Theater    Equipment    in    Critical 
Supply  Listed  by  NPA   12 

Effective  Cleaning  Aids 14 


Proposed    Lantern-Slide,    Slide- 
film  Standard   16 

Tips    on    Non-Theatrical    Movie 
Slidefilm   Showings    16 

Projection  Around  the  World  .  .      17 

In  the  Spotlight 18 

Harry  Sherman 

Wide  Technical  Gains  in  1950        20 
SMPTE  Progress  Report 

Telecasts    23 

GPL's    'Simplex'    Direct-Projec- 
tion Theater  Tv  System 24 

Filters  in  Tv  Projection 24 

News  Notes 

Technical  Hints 

Miscellaneous  Items 


Published  Monthly  by 
INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST  PUBLISHING  CO.,  INC. 

19  West  44  Street,  New  York  18,  N.  Y. 
Telephone:  MUrray  Hill  2-2948 

R.  A.  ENTRACHT,  Publisher 

SUBSCRIPTION  REPRESENTATIVES 

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second  class  matter  February  8,  1932,  at  the  Post  Office  at  New  York,  N.  Y.,  under  the 
act  of  March  3,  1879.  Entire  contents  copyrighted  1951  by  International  Projectionist 
Publishing  Co.,  Inc.  International  Projectionist  is  itbt  responsible  for  personal  opinions 
appearing  in  signed  articles  in  its  columns. 


420 


MONTHLY  CHAT 


PREDICTIONS  of  six  months  ago 
anent  the  impending  shortage  of  mate- 
riels  vitally  important  to  the  motion  pic- 
ture theater  are,  alas,  well  on  the  way 
toward  realization.  There  is  no  question 
now  that  it  will  take  a  lot  of  tall  doing 
on  the  part  of  all  concerned,  particularly 
by  projectionists,  to  see  the  job  through. 
High  on  the  list  of  materiels  in  critical 
supply  is  motion  picture  film.  The  physi- 
cal condition  of  film,  and  its  conservation, 
is  by  no  means  wholly  within  the  prov- 
ince of  the  projectionist,  but  he  still  is 
in  a  position  to  render  a  vital  service  to 
the  over-all  program.  Probably  the  most 
important  single  factor  in  preserving 
film,  sprockets,  still  are  in  plentiful  sup- 
ply. Why  not  do  a  complete  sprocket 
job  now? 

Slated  for  revival  from  World  War  II 
days  is  the  plan  for  salvaging  copper 
drippings  from  carbons.  Mention  of  this 
program  will  force  a  grim  smile  from 
projectionists,  who  will  recall  the  inept 
manner  in  which  this  task  was  handled 
previously,  largely  because  there  was  no 
provision  for  insuring  the  transit  of  drip- 
pings from  projection  room  to  their  in- 
tended destination.  This  time,  we  are 
assured,  things  will  be  different. 

Drippings  will  be  picked  up  regularly 
from  theaters  by  the  film  delivery  drivers, 
with  ultimate  delivery  to  the  reclamation 
point  being  assured.  We  urge  all  projec- 
tionists to  give  this  plan  another  whirl. 
If  the  plan  bogs  down,  IP  will  sound  off, 
and  loudly,  in  the  proper  quarter. 

Another  important  angle:  many  thea- 
ters have  lying  about  old  equipment,  or 
equipment  which  by  reason  of  a  change 
of  policy  will  never  be  used.  This  is 
prime  fodder  for  the  reclamation  pro- 
gram. Much  better  that  it  be  sold  for 
junk. 

It  should  be  distinctly  understood  that 
the  reclamation  program  is  just  now  get- 
ting up  a  full  head  of  steam,  largely  in 
an  anticipatory  sense.  New  equipments 
of  every  description,  however,  are  avail- 
able right  now  in  fulsome  measure.  If  at 
all  possible,  buy  NOW;  six  months  from 
now  may  be  too  late. 

PORTENDING  a  tough  battle  ahead  is 
the  move  by  Tv  set  manufacturers  in 
outbidding  film  theaters  for  the  Ezzard 
Charles-Joe  Walcott  fight— $100,000  as 
against  the  $65,000  bid  by  the  movie 
houses.  Of  course,  as  the  theater  Tv  cir- 
cuit grows,  even  $100,000  will  be  in  the 
picayune  category.  Significant  here,  how- 
ever, is  that  the  Tv  people  are  not  going 
to  see  their  market  for  sets  harmed  by 
the  failure  of  stay-homers  to  see  those 
events.  This  out-and-out  subsidy  by  Tv 
set  makers  gives  film  theaters  much  to 
ponder. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


July  1951 


FOR  THE  LEAST  MONEY 


, 


with  the  popular  priced 

0  T  I  0  G  R  n  P  H 

DIRECT  CURRENT,  HIGH  IRTERSITV 
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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     July  1951 


VOLUME  XXVI 


JULY   1951 


NUMBER  7 


The   Magic   of   Color 

By  ROBERTA.  MITCHELL 
III.    Motion  Picture  Color  Processes 


EVEN  though  certain  types  of  story 
are  more  effective  dramatically  when 
filmed  in  monochrome  (black-and- 
white),  the  increasingly  widespread  use 
of  color  in  motion  pictures  indicates  that 
all  but  a  few  feature  films  will  be  photo- 
graphed in  full  natural  color  in  the  near 
future. 

There  are  several  distinct  processes  by 
which  movies  may  be  made  in  color  on 
35-mm  film.  Of  all  these  various  methods. 
Technicolor  is  generally  regarded  as  the 
most  satisfactory  in  regard  to  color  ren- 
dition and  the  preparation  of  release 
prints  in  color. 

In  order  to  appreciate  the  niceties  of 
modern  Technicolor,  we  must  turn  back 
the  years  and  glance  briefly  at  a  few  of 
the  trials  and  tribulations  of  Technicolor 
during  its  development.  The  earliest 
Technicolor  films,  needless  to  say.  bear 
scant  resemblance  to  those  of  the  present 
time.  Perfect  Technicolor  did  not  come 
into  being  in  a  moment.  Like  most  other 
modern  marvels,  many  years  were  re- 
quired to  bring  it  to  its  present  estate. 

Inception  of  Technicolor 

Dr.  Herbert  T.  Kalmus.  inventor  of 
Technicolor,  first  tackled  the  problem  of 
color  movies  back  in  the  days  of  World 
War  I.  Then  there  were  no  natural-color 
films  which  could  be  run  on  standard  the- 
ater projectors  at  the  normal  "silent" 
speed  of  16  frames  per  second. 

Color  was  sometimes  suggested  by  in- 
genious tinting  and  toning  of  black-and- 
white  prints;  occasionally  a  novelty  reel 


such  as  Pathe  Review  might  contain  a 
few  feet  of  hand-colored  film.  (Hand-col- 
oring required  each  individual  frame  of 
every  print  to  be  tinted  by  hand  with 
water  colors.)  But  no  true  natural  color, 
except  Kinemacolor.  existed. 

Kinemacolor,  a  British  process,  was 
the  only  noteworthy  motion-picture  color 
method  in  existence  at  the  time  Dr.  Kal- 
mus made  his  first  experiments  along  this 
line  (1909).  It  was  the  first  serious  at- 
tempt at  color  movies,  even  though  Kine- 
macolor prints  could  not  be  run  on  a 
standard  projector  operating  at  normal 
speed  and  not  fitted  out  with  a  rotating 
color  filter.  This  process,  of  the  greatest 
historical  interest,  must  therefore  be  con- 
sidered non-standard. 

The  Kinemacolor  Process 

The  Kinemacolor  camera  made  succes- 
sive exposures  through  a  rotating  color 
filter  having  two  sectors,  one  red  and  the 
other  green.  The  print  made  from  the 
negative  was  black-and-white,  but  latent 
color  values  resided  in  the  density  of  the 
picture  images.  For  example,  a  red  apple 
in  a  frame  exposed  through  the  red  cam- 
era filter  appeared  nearly  white,  but  very 
dark  gray  in  the  succeeding  frame  ex- 
posed through  the  green  camera  filter. 
All  that  was  needed  to  provide  natural 
color  in  projection  was  a  rotating  filter 
attached  to  the  projector. 

Kinemacolor  negative  was  photo- 
graphed at  32  frames  per  second — twice 
the  standard  "silent"  speed.  Because 
most  theater  projectors  were  cranked  by 
hand,  it  was  extremely  difficult  to  double 


the  film  speed  in  order  to   project  Kine- 
macolor satisfactorily. 

The  upshot  of  this  was  a  motor-driven 
Kinemacolor  projector  replete  with  the 
rotating  filter  having  red  and  green  sec- 
tors. In  threading  up  this  machine  it  was 
necessary  to  make  sure  that  even-num- 
bered frames  synchronized  with  the  red 
lilter.  and  odd-numbered  frames  with  the 
green  filter.  A  mistake  of  one  frame  in 
threading  (or  in  splicing  a  Kinemacolor 
print)  resulted  in  a  complete  reversal  of 
red  and  green  colors  in  the  picture. 

Kinemacolor  an   Additive   Process 

Kinemacolor  was  thus  an  additive  color 
method — the  two  fundamental  colors 
used  (red  and  green)  were  added  to- 
gether in  various  proportions  to  give  a 
semblance  of  natural  color.  The  eye  of 
the  movie  patron  accomplished  the  actual 
mixing  of  the  two  colors:  and  this  was 
made  possible  by  the  great  rapidity  with 
which  red  and  green  frames  followed  one 
another — 32  a  second. 

A  white  object  in  the  projected  Kine- 
macolor picture  was  actually  red  for 
1/32  of  a  second,  green  for  the  same 
length  of  time,  then  red  again,  green,  red, 
etc.  An  apple  would  appear  red  by  being 
almost  black  when  the  green  frames  were 
projected  and  red  during  projection  of 
the  red  frames. 

It  was  absolutely  essential  that  the 
frames  of  the  print  be  projected  by  the 
same  colors  used  in  exposing  the  corre- 
sponding frames  of  the  negative. 

The  very  first  Technicolor  film  was 
very  much  like  Kinemacolor.  except  that 
the  then  standard  film  speed  of  16  frames 
per  second  was  used.  But  instead  of  a 
rotating  color  filter  attached  to  the  pro- 
jector, every  other  frame  of  the  print  was 
dyed  red  all  over  its  area,  the  alternate 
frames  being  tinted  green.  It  may  be  said 
that  the  prints  had  their  own  color  filters 
"built  in." 

The  first  production  filmed  in  the  origi- 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     July  1951 


nal  Technicolor  was  The  Gulf  Between, 
released  in  1917.  This  was  the  first  nat- 
ural-color film  which  could  be  run  on  any 
35-mm  projector  at  normal  speed  and 
without  special  attachments.  The  color 
reproduction,  however,  was  far  from  sat- 
isfactory. The  picture  nickered  very 
badly,  and  bright  red  and  green  fringes 
and  halos  surrounded  all  objects  in  mo- 
tion. 

It  is  easy  to  understand  why  moving 
objects  were  fringed  with  red  and  green. 
Adjoining  red  and  green  frames  were  ex- 
posed successively  in  the  camera,  one 
after  the  other — not  simultaneously.  A 
horse's  tail,  for  example,  might  swish 
through  a  considerable  distance  in  l/16th 
second.  The  effect  on  the  screen:  two 
tails,  one  red  and  the  other  green.  But 
when  movement  ceases,  the  red  and  green 
tails  merge  into  one  of  natural  color, 
restoring  the  animal  to  equine  propriety. 

Subtractive  Process  Utilized 

Dr.  Kalmus  then  abandoned  his  origi- 
nal color  process  for  another  in  which 
two  prints,  one  of  them  toned  red  and  the 
other  green,  were  cemented  together 
back  to  back — a  kind  of  forerunner  of 
the  present-day  "duplitized"  print.  This 
second  Technicolor  process  was  impor- 
tant for  two  reasons.  First,  a  split-beam 
camera  was  developed  in  order  to  avoid 


the  color  fringes  which  bordered  moving 
objects.  This  new  camera  photographed 
two  frames  simultaneously,  the  intermit- 
tent unit  pulling  down  two  frames  at 
each  shift  instead  of  one.  A  special  opti- 
cal prism  accomplished  the  beam-split- 
ting. A  red  filter  was  placed  over  one 
aperture,  and  a  green  filter  over  the  other. 

Second — and  this  is  very  significant. — 
subtractive,  rather  than  additive,  color- 
formation  was  utilized  in  projecting  the 
prints.  In  short,  pictures  in  full  natural 
color  were  produced  on  the  positive  film. 
In  the  additive  process,  white  is  produced 
on  the  screen  by  a  rapid  succession  of 
colors.  But  in  the  subtractive  process, 
white  is  white  on  the  finished  print.  This 
brings  up  the  difference  between  tinting 
and  toning  positive  prints. 

It  was  seen  that  in  the  additive  process 
alternate  frames  were  tinted,  or  dyed,  all 
over  their  entire  area  with  the  appropri- 
ate color — red  or  green.  But  in  the  dou- 
ble-print subtractive  process  the  black 
silver  image  of  each  print  is  bleached  out 
chemically  and  then  toned  to  the  desired 
color.  The  white  areas  of  the  print  re- 
main free  from  color. 

Subtractive  Process  Details 

One  of  the  two  prints  was  made  from 
the  frames  exposed  through  the  green 
camera    filter,    the    "red"    frames    being 


Electronic  Color  Measuring  Instrument 


COLOR  from  a  direct  light  source  can 
be  measured  quickly  and  accurately 
through  the  use  of  a  new  instrument  de- 
veloped by  RCA  Laboratories.  Called  a 
"tristimulus  photometer,"  the  new  instru- 
ment uses  only  five  electron  tubes  and  is 
no  larger  than  a  shoe-box.  It  simultane- 
ously determines  the  relative  strength 
of  the  three  basic  color  components  in 
a  light  source  under  study  and  gives  an 
instantaneous  reading. 

Previous  methods  of  color  specification 
require  roughly  one-half  hour  of  meas- 
urement with  a  spectrometer  followed  by 
several  hours  of  computation. 

Though  the  spectrophotometric  method 
gives  a  higher  degree  of  accuracy,  the 
tristimulus  photometer  can  give  values 
of  the  three-color  components  sufficiently 
precise  for  every-day  engineering  work 
and  can  readily  distinguish  between  two 
different  color  samples  which  are  close 
enough  together  in  value  so  they  would 
appear  identical  to  the  eye. 

Measures  Reflected  Light  Also 

The  instrument  was  designed  speci- 
fically to  provide  a  laboratory  and  studio 
check  on  the  faithfulness  of  color  repro- 
duction in  color  television.  However, 
since  it   can   determine  the  values  of  a 


reflected  light  source  as  well  as  a  direct 
one,  the  device  may  also  have  valuable 
application  in  other  industries  where 
color  matching  is  critical. 

A  direct-reading  electronic  instrument 
has  been  designed  by  the  National  Bu- 
reau of  Standards  of  the  U.  S.  Depart- 
ment of  Commerce,  which  can  define  the 
components  of  reflected  light,  but  can- 
not handle  a  direct  light  source  such  as 
that  of  a  television  screen. 

Apparatus  Has  "Eye"  and  "Brain" 

The  new  instrument  consists  essen- 
tially of  an  "eye"  and  a  "brain."  The 
"eye"  is  made  up  of  a  lens  which  focuses 
the  light  under  study  onto  a  mirror  as- 
sembly designed  to  split  the  beam  into 
three  parts  of  equal  intensity.  The  three 
beams  then  pass  through  three  filters, 
each  sensitive  to  a  range  of  wavelengths 
corresponding  to  the  basic  color  com- 
ponents. 

The  "brain"  of  the  instrument  starts 
with  three  photocells,  one  for  each  filter. 
The  photocells  convert  the  light  energy 
to  electrical  energy  which  passes  through 
circuits,  each  of  a  different  design,  to 
compensate  for  the  mathematical  dissimi- 
larities between  the  three  color  compo- 
nents. Finally,  a  corrected  value  for  each 
component  is  read  on  microammeters. 


omitted  by  step  printing.  The  other  print 
contains  only  the  frames  omitted  from 
the  first  print — that  is,  the  frames  ex- 
posed through  the  red  camera  filter.  Each 
of  these  two  prints  is  accordingly  exactly 
one-half  the  length  of  the  complete  cam- 
era negative  from  which  they  were  made. 

Now,  the  black-and-white  print  made 
from  the  "green"  frames  of  the  negative 
is  toned  to  a  red  image,  and  the  print 
made  from  the  "red"  frames  to  a  green 
image.  When  combined  by  cementing 
them  together,  the  composite  print  simu- 
lates, but  does  not  reproduce  exactly,  the 
original  colored  scene. 

Reds,  greens,  and  brown  shades  came 
out  with  great  accuracy;  but  the  process 
was  incapable  of  reproducing  pure  yel- 
low, violet-blue,  and  the  various  purples. 
This  deficiency  was  caused  by  the  fact 
that  only  two  colors — orange-red  (crim- 
son) and  blue-green  (aquamarine)  — 
were  employed.  Because  human  color  vi- 
sion is  trichromatic,  three  colors  are 
needed  to  give  perfect  wide-range  color 
reproduction. 

Why  was  each  print  toned  to  a  color 
complementary  to  that  of  the  camera  fil- 
ter through  which  the  frames  on  the  neg- 
ative were  exposed? 

Suppose  a  girl  in  a  blue-green  dress 
is  photographed.  Blue-green  looks  light- 
colored  through  a  blue-green  filter,  but 
black  through  an  orange-red  filter.  The 
positive  printed  from  the  green-exposed 
frames  (toned  red)  reproduces  the  dress 
as  white,  or  colorless.  The  positive 
printed  from  the  red-exposed  frames 
(toned  green)  reproduces  the  dress  as 
green.  And  when  the  two  toned  frames 
are  superposed,  there  is  no  red  in  the 
image  of  the  dress  to  subtract  green  from 
the  light  shining  through  the  film.  The 
dress  therefore  appears  green  in  the  pic- 
ture. 

It  is  therefore  a  rule  for  all  subtractive 
color-film  printing  that  the  color  used 
for  each  "separation"  be  complementary 
to  the  color  of  the  filter  through  which 
the  particular  negative  was  exposed. 

This  second  Technicolor  process  was 
far  more  satisfactory  than  the  additive 
one  with  alternate  red  and  green  frames. 
Nevertheless,  it  contained  headaches 
aplenty.  The  double  prints  frequently 
buckled  very  badly  in  the  projector — so 
badly,  in  fact,  that  the  Technicolor  Cor- 
poration had  to  keep  "de-cupping"  teams 
on  the  road  to  assist  projectionists  in  the 
running  of  such  productions  as  Toll  of 
the  Sea,  made  in  1922. 

Technicolor's  Imbibition  Printing 

But  this  process  was  also  discarded. 
Dr.  Kalmus,  by  discovering  the  secret  of 
imbibition  printing,  had  at  last  cleared 
the  path  for  really  satisfactory  Techni- 
color. This  dates  back  to  1923-1924.  Im- 
(Continued  on  page  9) 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


July  1951 


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Invitation  to  Imagination... 

Consider  the  world  we  live  in  . . .  Consider  the  way  we  live  . . .  Consider  today's  new  ideas  in  motion- 
picture  equipment  and  materials  . . . 

What  a  tremendous  invitation  to  imagination  all  this  is!  No  wonder  pictures  of  increasing  insight  and 
originality — pictures  richer  than  ever  in  the  use  of  advanced  technics — are  now  available. 

Integral  with  this  progress  is  the  Eastman  Kodak  Company.  Through  the  Eastman  Technical  Service      •   ^ 
for  Motion  Picture  Film,  it  aids  studios  and  laboratories  in  the  selection  and  exposure  of  film,  black- 
and-white  and   color;  helps  set  up  control  systems,  establish  standards  of  quality  and   economy, 
"trouble-shoot"  when  the  need  arises;  co-operates  with  exchanges  and  exhibitors,  making  sure  that 
each  foot  of  film  produces  optimum  results,  gives  best  possible  showing. 

To  maintain  this  service,  the  Eastman  Kodak  Company  has  branches  at  strategic  centers . . .  invites 
inquiry  on  all  phases  of  film  use  from  all  members  of  the  industry.  Address: 

Motion  Picture  Film  Department 

EASTMAN  KODAK  COMPANY 

Rochester  4,  N.  Y. 

East  Coast  Division                        Midwest  Division                                  West  Coast  Division 
342  Madison  Avenue                   137  North  Wabash  Avenue              6706  Santa  Monica  Blvd. 
New  York  17,  New  York              Chicago  2,  Illinois                                Hollywood  38,  California 

INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     July  1951 


EVERY    BIG    SCREEN    IS    A 

STRONG-SIZED 


L    I    G 


TING        JO 


THAT'S    WHY     DEALERS    ARE     GOING     STRONG 

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long  as  28  years  ago,  are  still  working  every  day. 

That's  why,  year  after  year,  more  theatres  prefer  Strong  lamps — why  continual  expansion  of  plant  facili- 
ties has  been  necessary. 


ALWAYS    THE    BIGGEST    VALUES    IN    LAMPS 
ALWAYS    THE    LATEST    DEVELOPMENTS 


\L 


As  the  world's  largest  manufacturer  of  projection  arc  lamps.  Strong  has  a  line  that  includes  lamps 
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NAME- 


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STREET- 


CITY  &  STATE- 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     July  1951 


bibition  printing  still  is  the  heart  and 
soul  of  the  Technicolor  process. 

A  fundamental  requirement  to  be  met 
in  subtractive  color  printing  is  exact  reg- 
istration of  the  superimposed  colored  pic- 
ture-images. If  the  superimposed  images 
are  not  accurately  registered,  the  colored 
picture  will  look  blurry  on  the  screen, 
no  matter  how  carefully  the  projectionist 
focuses  the  lens. 

With  the  old-style  Technicolor,  only 
two  colors,  crimson  and  aquamarine,  had 
to  be  combined.  This  was  hard  enough  to 
do;  but  modern  Technicolor  makes  use 
of  three  printing  colors.  The  perfection 
of  modern  full-range  Technicolor  is  a 
truly  marvelous  engineering  achievement. 

But  let  us  return  to  old-style  Techni- 
color to  see  how  the  first  imbibition- 
printed  color  films  (The  Black  Pirate 
in  1925,  followed  by  The  Viking  and  a 
number  of  "fashion  reels")    were  made. 

Early  Imbibition  Printing 

From  the  negative  made  in  the  split- 
beam  movie  camera,  two  positive  prints 
are  made,  ome  from  the  "red"  frames  and 
the  other  from  the  "green"  frames,  as 
previously  described.  Instead  of  being 
toned,  however,  the  two  prints  are  left 
uncolored.    These    are    not    intended    for 


projection,  but  are  converted  by  Tech- 
nicolor magic  into  "'wash-off  relief"  print- 
ing films  called  matrices. 

The  two  positives  are  chemically 
treated  to  convert  the  black  silver  images 
they  contain  into  creamy-white  silver 
chloride.  A  subsequent  "tanning"  opera- 
tion results  in  a  hardening  of  the  gelatine 
in  the  image.  Washing  then  removes  all 
of  the  gelatine  from  the  clear  areas  of 
the  film.  This  leaves  the  image  in  faint 
outline,  raised  in  relief  like  a  rubber 
stamp.  The  dark  and  light  portions  of 
the  picture  are  therefore  represented  by 
varying  thicknesses  of  hardened  gelatine. 

All  that  now  remains  to  be  done  is  to 
print  colored  positives  from  the  two  mat- 
rices for  projection.  This  feat  requires  a 
special  printing  machine  which  bears  not 
the  slightest  resemblance  to  a  regular 
black-and-white  film  printer.  The  imbibi- 
tion process  is  not  photographic  at  all — ■ 
it  is  more  like  lithography  than  anything 
else.  Clear  gelatine-coated  film  is  used 
as  the  printing  stock.  It  need  not  contain 
any  silver  unless  a  soundtrack  is  to  ac- 
company the  picture. 

The  matrix  made  from  the  green-ex- 
posed frames  is  passed  over  rollers  which 
transfer  red  (crimson)  dye  to  its  relief 
images.  The  gelatine  of  these  images 
soaks  up  the  dye,  the  amount  of  ink  any 


particular  part  of  the  image  imbibes  de- 
ixmding  on  the  thickness  of  the  gelatine. 
Areas  having  thick  gelatine  soak  up  a 
large  amount  of  dye;  thin  layers  of  gela- 
tine imbibe  relatively  little;  the  clear 
film-base  none  at  all.  The  other  matrix — 
the  one  made  from  the  red-exposed 
(rames — is  treated  with  green  (aqua- 
marine)  dye. 

As  the  process  was  carried  out,  the 
clear  gelatine-coated  film  used  as  raw 
stock  was  impressed  first  with  the  crim- 
son and  then  with  the  corresponding 
aquamarine  images  in  superposition. 
Pressure  rollers  effected  the  impression. 
To  insure  perfect  registration,  the  raw 
printing  stock  and  the  matrices  are  held 
very  taut  in  the  printing  machine.  The 
sprocket  teeth  are  the  exact  shape  and 
size  of  the  film  perforations. 

Technicolor  Positive  Prints 

The  Technicolor  positive  is  ready  foi 
projection  as  it  comes  from  the  printer. 
A  large  number  of  positives  may  be 
printed  from  a  single  set  of  matrices; 
but  when  these  wear  out,  a  new  set  is 
made  from  the  camera  negatives. 

The  emulsion  side  of  an  imbibition 
print  has  a  glossy  appearance,  almost 
(Continued  on  page  33) 


Number  of  Tv  Receivers   in   Use:   Nation-Wide   Figures 


The  following  figures  are  based  on  the 
population  residing  within  the  0.1 -millivolt 
contour,  which  is  considered  to  fall  approxi- 
mately 60  miles  from  station.  Computations 


based  on  national  totals  projected  to  June 
1,  1951.  This  table  prepared,  published 
and  copyright,  1951,  by  TELE-TECH,  the 
leading    journal    in    the    electronics    field. 


iii 


Number 

Number 

Sets 

% 

of 

Sets 

% 

of 

Families 

Installed 

Saturation 

Stations 

City 

Families 

Installed 

Saturation 

Stations 

195,200 

49,000 

25% 

1 

Pittsburgh 

729,200 

247,000 

34% 

1          " 

311,000 

99,000 

32% 

2 

Providence 

406,100 

141,000 

34% 

1 

461,000 

292,000 

63% 

3 

Richmond 

133,700 

70,500 

53% 

1 

252,400 

47,500 

19% 

2 

Rochester 

216,700 

795,000 

37% 

1 

49,300 

1 5,400 

32% 

1 

Schenectady 

322,500 

151,000 

47% 

1 

1,084,000 

720,000 

66% 

2 

St.    Louis 

567,700 

275,000 

48% 

1 

309,400 

195,000 

63% 

1 

Syracuse 

205,200 

111,000 

54% 

2 

330,800 

63,000 

19% 

1 

Toledo 

300,100 

89,000 

30% 

I 

1,668,400 

910,000 

55% 

4 

Utica 

124,100 

39,500 

32% 

1 

432,600 

249,000 

58% 

3 

Washington 

450,600 

249,000 

55% 

4 

804,800 

465,000 

58% 

3 

Wilmington 

135,400 

61,000 

45% 

1 

327,300 

141,000 

43% 

3 

205,100 

51,000 

25% 

2 

275,500 
907,200 

123,000 

450,000 

45,500 

45% 
50% 
54% 

2 
3 

NON-INTERCONNECTED   CITIES 

84,800 

Number 

194,500 

79,000 

41% 

Sets 

% 

of 

162,100 

59,000 
39,000 

36% 
21% 

*-J ?*Y 

Families 

Installed 

Saturation 

Stations 

187,500 

Albuquerque 

133,100 

8,100 

6% 

1 

390,200 

1 20,000 

31% 

Binghamton 

84,100 

35,300 

42% 

1 

113,800 

28,700 

26% 

Dallas,    Ft.   Worth 

369,800 

111,000 

31% 

3 

310,100 

77,000 

35% 

Houston 

307,500 

71,000 

23% 

1 

153,700 

36,000 

23% 

Los  Angeles 

1,537,800 

890,000 

58% 

7 

471,900 

111,000 

24% 

Miami 

154,600 

56,500 

37% 

1 

215,900 

86,500 

40% 

New   Orleans 

257,700 

53,500 

21% 

1 

206,900 

47,200 

23% 

Oklahoma  City 

239,000 

81,500 

34% 

1 

256,400 

85,000 

33% 

2 

Phoenix 

89,600 

38,500 

43% 

1 

269,900 

81,000 

30% 

Salt   Lake   City 

83,700 

39,500 

47% 

2 

373,600 

232,000 

62% 

San  Antonio 

157,000 

42,500 

27% 

2 

452,900 

257,000 

57% 

San    Diego 

182,100 

89,000 

49% 

1 

205,700 

25,500 

12% 

San    Francisco 

974,300 

171,000 

18% 

3 

515,400 

149,000 

29% 

Seattle 

425,400 

77,000 

18% 

1 

3,887,000 

2,300,000 

59% 

Tulsa 

152,500 

67,000 

44% 

1 

204,200 

61,500 

30% 

217,600 

68,000 

31% 

2 

Total  Stations 

107 

Total  TV  Sets 

12,7: 

1,343,900 

835,000 

62% 

3 

Total  Families 

26,571,500 

Average  Satu 

ration         48 

% 

Ames 

Atlanta 

Baltimore 

Birmingham 

Bloomington 

Boston 

Buffalo 

Charlotte 

Chicago 

Cincinnati 

Cleveland 

Columbus 

Davenport 

Dayton 

Detroit 

Erie 

Grand   Rapids 

Greenboro 

Huntington 

Indianapolis 

Jacksonville 

Johnstown 

Kalamazoo 

Kansas  City 

Lancaster 

Lansing 

Louisville 

Memphis 

Milwaukee 

Minneapolis 

Nashville 

New  Haven 

New    York 

Norfolk 

Omaha 

Philadelphia 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


July  1951 


Carbon   Arc   Screen    Light 


By  M.  T.  JONES  and  F.  T.  BOWDITCH 

National  Carbon  Co.  Research  Laboratories 


In  a  carbon  arc  motion  picture  projector,  definite  relations  exist  be- 
tween screen  light  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  arc  current,  current 
density,  carbon  size  and  the  speed  and  collection  angle  of  the  projec- 
tor optical  system  on  the  other.  Measurements  on  more  than  100 
standard  and  experimental  carbon  arcs,  with  carbons  ranging  in  size 
from  9-  to  16-mm,  have  provided  data  to  establish  these  relationships. 


IN  AN  earlier  paper1  a  method  is  de- 
scribed for  calculating  motion  picture 
screen  light  from  measurements  of 
brightness  over  the  carbon  arc  crater  as 
viewed  from  selected  angles,  and  from  a 
consideration  of  the  characteristics  of 
the  particular  optical  system  involved. 
This  method  has  now  been  applied  to  a 
variety  of  standard  and  experimental 
carbons,  and  the  resulting  data  analyzed 
to  establish  certain  significant  relation- 
ships. 

These  relationships  are  concerned  with 
the  distribution  and  the  amount  of  light 
delivered  to  the  motion  picture  screen, 
as  these  are  determined  by  the  arc  cur- 
rent, the  current  density,  the  size  of  car- 
bon and  the  collection  angle  and  speed 
of  the  optical  system. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  basic  data 
from  which  these  trends  are  established, 
calculations  made  from  measurements  on 
three  experimental  trims,  each  at  its 
maximum  operating  current,  are  shown 
in  Figs.  1,  2  and  3.  In  this,  and  in  all 
subsequent  cases  throughout  this  paper, 
these  calculations  are  made  according  to 
the  method  previously  described,1  for  the 
one  best-focus  condition  giving  maximum 
screen  light. 

Light  Loss  Correction  of  Data 

Each  of  these  curves  shows,  on  the  left, 
the  lumens  through  the  motion  picture 
aperture  and,  on  the  right,  the  light  dis- 
tribution across  the  aperture,  each  over 
a  range  of  light-collecting  angles  from 
the  source,  and  for  a  series  of  optical 
speeds  into  the  aperture. 

Light  losses  due  to  absorption,  shadow- 
ing and  vignetting,  which  always  occur 
in  varying  degree  in  any  specific  optical 
system,  have  not  been  included  in  these 
present  calculations,  a  permissible  sim- 
plification since  only  relative  values  are 
considered  in  the  conclusions  drawn  here. 


A  suitable  loss  correction  of  approxi- 
mately 50%  would  have  to  be  applied  to 
the  lumen  values  given  in  this  paper  in 
order  to  determine  the  actual  screen-light 
level  in  any  particular  instance. 

As  an  example,  crater  light  measure- 
ments on  an  8-mm  to  7-mm  "Suprex" 
trim  at  70  amp,  calculated  for  an  F:2.0 
mirror,  predict  a  flux  of  27,600  1m 
on  the  aperture,  compared  with  14,000 
lm  motion  picture  screen  light  realized  in 
practice.  This  is  because  mirror  absorp- 
tion and  reflectance  losses,  plus  shadow- 
ing due  to  the  positive  head,  etc.,  amount 
to  about  20% ;  while  of  the  total  lumens 
passing  the  film  aperture,  no  more  than 
about  65%  reaches  the  screen  due  to  a 
combination  of  spill-over,  vignetting  and 
glass  transmittance  losses  at  the  projec- 
tion lens. 

With  respect  to  the  aperture-lumen 
variations  shown  by  Figs.  1.  2  and  3, 
these  confirm  the  earlier  conclusion1  that 
maximum  luminous  flux  is  not  necessar- 
ily obtained  at  the  maximum  collection 
150 


angle;  the  simple  concept  that  a  bigger 
collection  angle  picks  up  more  light  from 
the  source  and  hence  delivers  more  light 
to  the  picture  screen  fails  to  work  out. 

With  a  fixed  speed  into  the  aperture, 
the  optical  geometry  is  such  that  the 
magnification  of  the  crater  image  on  the 
aperture  increases  as  the  pickup  angle 
increases,  thus  introducing  a  loss  factor, 
working  against  the  greater  light  collec- 
tion. 

The  light  distribution  characteristics 
of  high-intensity  carbon  arcs  are  such 
that  a  collection  angle  is  reached  at  each 
speed  beyond  which  more  light  is  thrown 
outside  the  aperture  by  the  enlarged 
image  than  can  be  collected  by  the  higher 
pickup  angle.  The  exact  pickup  angle  at 
which  this  maximum  light  value  occurs 
will  depend  in  each  instance  on  the  par- 
ticular light  distribution  characteristics 
of  the  carbon  in  question. 

Various  Trims  Light  Characteristics 

A  small  carbon,  for  instance,  with  a 
peaked  light  distribution,  effectively  uti- 
lizes a  higher  magnification  ratio  and 
hence  a  higher  pickup  angle  than  is  re- 
quired with  a  larger  carbon  with  a  more 
uniform  light   distribution. 

Figure  1  gives  the  light  characteristics 
of    an   experimental   9-mm   carbon   oper- 


100 


3       - 


CO 

Q 


< 

v> 


60 


80        100      120      140 
MIRROR    COLLECTING 


80        100       1 20 
ANGLE    IN    DEGREES 


140 


t  J.  Sec.  Mot.   Pict.  &  Tv  Eng..  March,  1951. 

1  "Motion  Picture  Screen  Light  as  a  Function 
of  Carbon  Arc  Crater  Brightness  Distribution," 
by  M.  T.  Jones;  J.  Soc.  Mot.  Pict.  Eng.,  Sept., 
1947. 


FIG.   1.    Screen-light  characteristics  of  an   experimental  9-mm   high-intensity  positive  carbon  at 
its  maximum  operating  current  in  water-cooled  jaws. 

NOTE:    All   light  and   distribution  values  throughout   this  paper  are  based   upon   the  best- 
focus  condition  giving  maximum  screen  light. 


10 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


July  1951 


one  type  of  16-mm  positive  carbon  was 
found  to  give  32.000  lm  at  its  maximum 
current  of  150  amp;  while  another  16-mm 
positive  carbon  of  very  different  construc- 
tion gives  68,000  lm  at  its  maximum  cur- 
rent of  460  amp. 

The  curves  of  Fig.  4  show  the  smallest 
carbon  most  efficient  in  current  utiliza- 
tion, although,  as  will  be  indicated  later, 
factors  other  than  maximum  current  em-, 
ciency  are  involved  in  the  choice  of  a  pre- 
ferred trim  for  a  particular  situation. 


80        100       120       140  80       DO       120 

MIRROR    COLLECTING  ANGLE    IN    DEGREES 

FIG.   2.    Screen-light  characteristics  of  an   experimental    16-mm    high-intensity   positive  carbon, 
with  small  core,  at  its  maximum  operating  current  in  water-cooled  jaws. 


aled  at  180  amp,  a  very  high  current  for 
this  size.  It  is  seen  that  high  collection 
angles  are  effectively  utilized  at  the  vari- 
ous optical  speeds  to  give  good  screen 
light  values,  but  at  comparatively  low 
distribution  ratios. 

Figure  2  shows  the  similar  character- 
istics for  an  experimental  16-mm  carbon 
with  a  small  care,  operated  at  210  amp. 
Here  a  much  smaller  collection  angle 
gives  maximum  screen  light,  and  the  dis- 
tribution ratios  are  considerably  higlier. 

Figure  3  shows  the  light-output  char- 
acteristics of  another  experimental  16- 
mm  carbon  with  a  large  core,  operated 
at  460  amp,  the  maximum  current  used 
with  any  of  the  approximately  100  posi- 
tive carbons  upon  which  the  conclusions 
of  this  paper  are  based.  Particularly  with 
this  carbon,  the  light  output  and  distribu- 
tion ratio  are  comparatively  insensitive 
to  the  choice  of  collecting  angle,  since, 
with  the  large  core  and  high  current,  the 
effective  source  is  quite  large  and  of 
more  uniform  brightness. 

Light  Distribution  Ratio 

It  might  be  noted  that  in  no  case  is  a 
100%  distribution  ratio  reached.  Particu- 
larly with  the  large-cored  16-mm  carbon 
at  F:2.0,  the  effective  source  size  is  quite 
sufficient  to  fill  the  aperture  completely 
from  all  angles  of  view.  However,  the 
crater  of  any  high-intensity  carbon  is 
always  brightest  near  the  center,  and  this 
peak  is  carried  through  as  higher  illumi- 
nation in  the  center  of  the  screen. 

Data  such  as  those  shown  in  the  pre- 
ceding figures  have  been  correlated  for 
approximately  100  different  positive  car- 
bons, both  production  and  experimental 
types,  of  9-,  11-,  13.6-  and  16-mm  diam- 
eter. It  is,  of  course,  recognized  that  the 
smaller  7-  and  8-mm  Suprex  carbons  are 


very  important  items,  commercially,  al- 
though they  were  not  within  the  scope  of 
the  investigation  reported  here. 

Certain  basic  behaviors  have  been  dis- 
closed by  these  correlations.  The  first 
such  relationship  is  that  between  screen 
lumens  and  arc  current  for  various  car- 
bon sizes  and  optical  speeds. 

Basic  Behaviors  Revealed 

Figure  4  shows  this  relationship  at  a 
speed  of  F:2.0  and  for  carbons  of  9-,  11-, 
13.6-  and  16-mm  diameter.  Each  curve 
results  from  measurements  on  a  number 
of  different-type  carbons  of  a  given  size, 
each  carbon  represented  by  a  single 
value  determined  at  the  maximum  stable 
current  for  that  carbon. 

For  example,  referring  to  the  extreme 
points  on  the  curve  for  the  16-mm  size, 


100         200         300        400 
ARC    AMPERES 

FIG.  4.    Relation  between  screen  light  and  arc 
current  at  an  optical  speed  of  F:2.0. 

It  will  be  noted  that  the  curves  for  the 
13.6-  and  16-mm  carbon  sizes  are  con- 
cave downward,  indicating  a  falling-off 
in  current  efficiency  with  increasing  am- 
perage on  a  given  size,  which  is  probably 
the  result  of  the  inability  to  cool  the 
larger  diameters  as  effectively  as  the 
smaller.  For  instance,  the  16-mm  carbon 
at  150  amp  gives  more  than  200  lm/amp; 

(Continued  on  page  30) 


150 


100% 


1 6 mm.    Carbon 
with    large   core 
at    460  amperes 

(EXPERIMENTAL) 


80  100 

MIRROR 


120       140 
COLLECTING 


100       120 
DEGREES 


FIG.  3. 


Screen-light  characteristics   of  an   experimental    16-mm    high-intensity   posi 
with   large  core,  at  its  maximum  operating  current  in  water-cooled   jaws 


five   carbon, 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     July  1951 


11 


Seven-Year  Survey  of  Film  Print  Damage 

By  ERNEST  TIEMANN  and  DENCIL  RICH 
University  of  Indiana  Film  Center 


IN  VIEW  of  the  emerging  critical  short- 
age of  raw  film  stock,  the  division  of 
adult  education  and  public  services  at 
Indiana  University  has  made  a  number 
of  studies  covering  a  seven-year  period  to 
determine  the  cost  of  film  maintenance 
and  film  damage  and  ways  to  reduce  such 
film  damage. 

In  making  the  study,  a  detailed  classi- 
fication of  injuries  to  film  was  developed 
from  film  damage  reports  filled  out  by 
inspectors  of  periodical  analysis  and 
evaluation.  From  this  information  a  com- 
plete report  was  prepared  to  determine 
what  course  of  action  needs  to  be  taken 
to  assist  users  in  keeping  film  damage  to 
a  minimum. 

Accessioned  print  control,  inspection, 
and  booking  cards  were  studied  for  each 
of  the  192  prints.  It  was  found  that  care- 
ful inspection  and  use  records  were  main- 
tained for  each  of  these  films.  By  check- 
ing the  booking  records,  we  found  that 
the  192  prints  were  used  a  total  of  18.149 
days — an  average  of  94.5  days  for  each 
film. 

Average  Replacement  Footage 

We  discovered  that  for  the  seven-year 
period  83  of  the  192  prints  were  dam- 
aged to  the  extent  that  replacement  foot- 
age was  needed.  A  total  of  110  different 
replacement  parts  were  added,  requiring 
5,264  feet  of  film.  All  of  these  replace- 
ments were  black-and-white  except  one. 
The  total  cost  amounted  to  $476.36.  Our 
figures  showed  that  the  average  cost  for 
replacement  footage  per  print  has  been 
approximately  $2.50.  Our  maintenance 
costs  for  replacement  parts  alone  totaled 
$2.50  for  each  print  in  general  during 
the  seven  years. 

Our  further  study  showed  that  a  num- 
ber of  factors  influence  the  maintenance 
cost  of  damaged  film  replacement.  These 
include:  1)  the  number  of  bookings;  2) 
standards  of  maintenance:  3)  propor- 
tion of  black-and-white  and  color  prints; 
4)  fluctuating  costs  of  replacement 
parts;  5)  technical  improvement  in  pro- 
jection equipment;  6)  training  of  pro- 
jectionists. 

Faulty  Threading  a  Major  Cause 

We  find  that  the  damage  of  sprocket 
teeth  marks  on  sound  tracks  is  no  longer 
as  serious  as  it  was  in  former  years.  This 
may  be  due  to  one  of  two  things,  or  both : 
the  use  of  silent  projectors  has  dropped 
off  considerably,  or  the  literature  sent  out 
by  many  film  distributors  is  working  for 
our  benefit  also.  Many  of  these  concerns 
are  using  leaflets  with  their  shipments 
which    warn     of     the     consequences     of 


threading  sound  film  into  silent  projec- 
tors. 

Were  it  not  for  our  constant  practice 
of  keeping  each  film  provided  with  a 
leader  and  credit  title  of  appropriate 
length,  the  damages  reported  would  no 
doubt  be  much  more  numerous.  On  many 
occasions  various  films  are  saved  from 
injury  by  the  fact  that  the  leader  and 
the  credit  title  serves  as  the  necessary 
margin  of  warning  to  the  operator  to  stop 
the  machine  when  the  film  does  not  feed 
correctly. 

Failure  of  proper  loop  formation,  for 
instance,  accounted  for  many  of  the  nu- 
merous injuries  at  the  beginning  of  films. 
We  are  overcoming  this  hazard  to  a  con- 
siderable extent  by  sending  all  users  of 
our  films,  without  cost,  a  100-foot  roll  of 
practice  film.  We  recommend  this  pro- 
cedure to  all  film  libraries  as  a  sound 
measure  of  reducing  film  damage. 

Checking  Procedure  Followed 

Our  survey  has  borne  out  our  previous 
conclusion  that  800-foot  films  require 
proportionately  less  maintenance  expense 
than  films  of  shorter  length.  In  our  li- 
brary, 800-ft.  prints  comprised  approxi- 
mately 26%  of  the  total,  yet  only  17 
per  cent  of  the  partial  damages  and  17 
per  cent  of  the  total  damages  were  among 
these  films.  Damages  rarely  occur  at  the 
ends  of  800-ft.  films. 

As  a  basis  for  our  study,  we  followed 
the   following   procedures: 


We  separated  total  from  partial  dam- 
ages, then  broke  down  the  reports  into 
months  and  into  the  four  lengths  of  films 
involved— 400,  800.  1200,  and  1600  feet. 
For  each  month  for  each  length  of  film 
we  tabulated  and  classified  all  the  dam- 
ages, indicating  the  data  relative  to  the 
color  of  the  film  amount  and  location  of 
the  injury,  and  the  type  of  injury. 

After  all  damages  were  classified  each 
damage  type  was  given  a  code  number 
for  ease  in  handling  data.  There  were  28 
such  classifications  which  we  set  up  in  a 
series  of  charts  from  which  the  conclu- 
sions herein  were  taken. 

Some  Damage  Classifications 

In  the  survey,  the  total  black-and-white 
film  damage  at  the  beginning  of  400-foot 
films  amounted  to  2863  feet,  with  814 
feet  of  color  film  damaged.  Chipped 
sprocket  holes  accounted  for  40%  of 
the  96  damages  reported. 

Damages  that  started  and  ended  in 
the  middle  of  400-foot  films  amounted  to 
1874  feet  for  black-and-white,  and  271 
feet  for  color  film.  On  the  extreme  end  of 
400-foot  films,  a  total  of  58  damages  was 
found.  Damage  to  black-and-white  film 
amount  to  1225  feet,  and  589  feet  of  color 
film  were  damaged. 

A  total  of  57  damages  on  800-foot 
black-and-white  films  were  found,  and  a 
total  of  10  damages  on  color  film  was 
found.  Total  footage  damaged  on  black- 
and-white  film  amounted  to  1386  feet, 
and  686  feet  on  color  film.  Few  damages 
to  1200-foot  films  were  found,  with  only 
31  reported  and  1081  feet  damaged.  On 
1600-foot  films.  22  damages  were  re- 
ported, with  2442  feet  of  film  involved. 


Theater  Equipment  in  Critical  Supply  Listed  by  NPA 

NPA  has  asked  IP  to  enlist  the  support  of  all  projectionists  in  the 
conservation    of    critical    materials    needed    for    national    defense. 


Full  cooperation  of  the  motion  picture 
industry  in  promoting  conservation  and 
salvage  of  critical  materials  to  aid  the  na- 
tion's defense  effort  was  promised  by  mo- 
tion picture  industry  representatives  at  a 
recent    conference    with    NPA    officials. 

Need  for  conservation  of  such  materials 
as  copper,  cobalt  and  nickel,  used  in  manu- 
facture of  motion  picture  equipment  is 
acute.  A  single  jet  engine  requires  one 
ton  of  nickel.  A  shortage  of  in-car  speakers 
for  drive-in  theaters  looms  within  the  next 
few  months,  officials  say.  Demand  for  loud- 
speakers for  this  use  can  be  met  by  repair- 
ing defective  speakers  which  ordinarily  are 
discarded  and  by  guarding  against  loss  of 
speakers.  Speaker  magnets  contain  nickel 
and  cobalt.  As  these  magnets  may  be  used 
again  in  rebuilt  speaker  units,  NPA  pointed 
out  that  manufacturers  and  distributors  who 
establish  a  rotating  inventory  of  rebuilt 
speaker  units  will  help  greatly  to  keep  the 
drive-in  theaters  in  operation. 

Other     conservation     measures     discussed 


centered  on  copper  drippings,  dry  plate 
rectifiers,  obsolete  equipment  and  film  hand- 
ling. Trade  sources  estimate  that  100,000 
pounds  of  pure  copper  could  be  recovered, 
annually,  from  motion  picture  theater  drip- 
pings. The  copper  content  of  the  drippings 
averages  about  94%. 

Manufacture  of  copper-oxide  dry  plate 
rectifiers  up  to  65-ampere  capacity  may 
have  to  be  prohibited  to  save  copper.  This 
dry  plate  rectifier  uses  about  35  pounds  of 
copper,  in  contrast  to  the  one-half  pound 
of  copper  used  in  tube  rectifiers.  If  making 
of  copper-oxide  dry  plate  rectifiers  up  to 
65  ampere  capacity  is  prohibited,  NPA  does 
not  contemplate  eliminating  manufacture  of 
repair   parts   for   rectifiers   now   installed. 

Thirty-five  mm  film  is  the  most  critical  of 
all  the  materials  used  in  the  motion  pic- 
ture industry.  NPA  stressed  the  need  for 
great  vigilance  in  handling  film  to  get  the 
greatest  possible  use  from  the  available 
supply. 


12 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


July  1951 


A  SHARP,  SNOW-WHITE  SPOT 

Quiet  •  FHckerless  •  Portable 

REQUIRES   NO   HEAVY  ROTATING   EQUIPMENT 


J 


THE 


^ 


STRONG 
TROUPER 


til 


E-iIGH    INTENSITY   ARC    SPOTLIGHT 

Ideal  for  theatres,  auditoriums,  arenas,  hotels,  ice  shows, 
schools,  colleges  and  lodges.  Draws  only  10  amperes  from 
any  110-volt  A.C.  convenience  outlet.  Adjustable,  self-regu- 
lating transformer  in  base.  Silvered  glass  reflector.  Two- 
element  variable  focal  length  lens  system.  Automatic  arc 
control.  A  trim  of  carbons  burns  one  hour  and  20  minutes 
at  21  volts  and  45  amperes.  Easily  disassembled  for  shipping. 


'** 


6'/2   TIMES   BRIGHTER   HEAD  SPOTS 

Sharp  Edges  From  Head  Spot  to  Flood 

THE  STRONG   TROUPERETTE 

INCANDESCENT     SPOTLIGHT 


for  night  clubs,  small  theatres  and  schools  where 
physical  dimensions  and  price  are  factors.  As  con- 
trasted to  conventional  incandescent  spotlights, 
with  which  the  spot  size  is  varied  solely  by  irising, 
to  result  in  substantial  light  loss,  the  Trouperette 
utilizes  all  the  light  through  most  of  the  spot  sizes. 
Variable   focal    length   objective    lens   system,   5V4" 


silvered  glass  reflector,  Fresnel  lens.  Uses  standard 
115-volt,  1000-watt  prefocused  projection  type  bulb. 
Horizontal  masking  control  can  be  angled  at  45 
degrees  in  each  direction.  Fast  operating  color 
boomerang  accommodates  six  slides.  Height  adjust- 
able mounting  stand.  Plugs  into  any  110-volt  con- 
venience outlet. 


SEE  ANY  OF  THE  FOLLOWING  DEALERS  OR  USE  COUPON    FOR 


ALBANY,  N.  Y—  Naf I  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Albany 
Theatre  Supply 

ATLANTA— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

ATLANTIC  CITY— Boardwalk  Film  Enterprises 

AUBURN,  N.  Y. — Auburn  Theatre  Equipment 

BALTIMORE— J.  F.  Dusman  Co.;  Nat'l  Theatre  Sup- 
ply Co. 

BIRMINGHAM— The     Queen     Feature     Service,     Inc. 

BOSTON— J.  Cifre,  Inc.;  Nat'l  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

BUFFALO — Dion  Products;  Nat'l  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

CHARLOTTE— Nat'l  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Standard 
Theatre  Supply  Co. 

CHICAGO— Abbott  Theatre  Equipment  Co.;  Droll 
Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Gardner  Jansen,  Inc.;  Grand 
Stage  Lighting  Co.;  Hollywood  Stage  Lighting 
Co.;  Midwest  Stage  Lighting  Co.;  Nat'l  Theatre 
Supply  Co. 

CINCINNATI— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

CLEVELAND— Nat'l  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

DALLAS — Hardin  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Modern  Thea- 
tre Equipment  Co.;  Nat'l  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

DENVER— Nat'l  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Graham  Bros. 

DES  MOINES— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

DETROIT— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

FORTY  FORT,  PA.— V.  M.  Tate  Theatre  Supplies 

GREENSBORO,   N.  C— Standard  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

HOUSTON — Southwestern  Theatre   Equipment  Co. 

INDIANAPOLIS— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

KANSAS  CITY,  MO.— Shreve  Theatre  Supply;  Nafl 
Theatre  Supply  Co. 

LOS  ANGELES— J.  M.  Boyd;  C.  J.  Holzmueller;  Nafl 
Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Pembrex  Theatre  Supply  Corp. 

LCUfSVILLE— Falls  City  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

MEMPHIS— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 


MILWAUKEE— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  R.  Smith  Co. 
MINNEAPOLIS— Minneapolis   Theatre   Supply;    Nafl 

Theatre  Supply  Co. 
NEW  HAVEN— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 
NEW  ORLEANS— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 
NEW  YORK  CITY— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 
NORFOLK— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 
OKLAHOMA  CITY— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co.:  Okla- 
homa   Theatre    Supply    Co.;    The    Century    Theatre 
Supply  Co. 

HILADELPHIA— Blumberg    Brothers;    Nafl    Theatre 
Supply  Co. 

ITTSBURGH— Atlas  Theatre  Supply;   Nafl  Theatre 
Supply  Co. 
ALT  LAKE  CITY — Inter-Mountain  Theatre  Supply  Co. 
AN   FRANCISCO— C.  J.   Holzmueller;  Nafl  Theatre 
Supply  Co.;  W.  G.  Preddey  Theatre  Supplies 


OBTAINING   LITERATURE 

SEATTLE— B.  F.  Shearer  Co.;  Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

SIOUX  FALLS— American  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

ST.  LOUIS— City  Electric  Co.;  Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

TOLEDO — Theatre  Equipment  Co. 

WESTERLY,  R.  I.— G.  H.  Payne  Motion  Picture  Service 

CANADA— 
Dominion  Sound 
General  Theatre 
General  Theatre 
General  Theatre 
General  Theatre 
General  Theatre 
Perkins  Electric 
Perkins  Electric 
Sharp's  Theatre 


Equip.,   Ltd.,  Montreal,   Que. 
Supply  Co.,   Toronto,   Ont. 
Supply  Co.,    St.    John,    N.    B. 
Supply  Co.,    Vancouver,    B.    C. 
Supply  Co.,   Montreal,   Que. 
Supply  Co.,    Winnipeg,    Man. 
Co.,   Ltd.,   Montreal,   Que. 
Co.,    Ltd.,    Toronto,    Ont. 
Supplies,   Ltd.,   Calgary,  Alta. 


THE     STRONG     ELECTRIC     CORPORATION 

"The  World's  Largest  Manufacturer  of  Projection  Arc  Lamps" 

14  CITY  PARK  AVENUE  TOLEDO  2,  OHIO 

Please   send   free    literature   on    the   □   Strong   Trouperette    Incandescent   Spotlight; 
□   Strong    Trouper   Arc    Spotlight. 

NAME 

COM  PA  N  Y 

STREET 

CITY  &  STATE 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


July  1951 


13 


Effective  Cleaning  Aids 


BOTH  as  routine,  to  keep  his  appa- 
ratus in  top  trouble-free  condition, 
and  on  special  occasions,  as  when  a 
generator  bearing  threatens  to  "freeze," 
the  projectionist  is  faced  with  cleaning 
jobs.  Mechanical  aids,  such  as  brushes, 
rags,  lens  tissue  and  vacuum  cleaner  are 
obvious  helps.  Liquid  or  "chemical" 
cleaning  aids  are  not  always  so  well  un- 
derstood because  they  are  of  several 
types,  and  the  right  type  must  be  used 
for  a  given  job.  They  act  primarily  by 
dissolving  the  dirt,  and  the  kind  of  liquid 
to  be  used  depends  upon  the  kind  of  dirt 
to  be  dissolved.  The  type  of  apparatus 
on  which  the  cleanser  is  to  be  used  must 
also  be  considered. 

Classifying  these  "chemical"  aids  in 
the  broadest  possible  sense,  they  are  of 
three  general  types.  One,  of  course,  is 
water — hot  or  cold.  A  second  consists  of 
non-aqueous  solvents — liquids  that  dis- 
solve substances  which  water  won't  at- 
tack— for  example,  carbon  tetrachloride. 
The  third  and  most  numerous  type  might 
be  called  coupling  agents — something 
that  couples  water  with  substances  that 
normally  do  not  dissolve  in  water,  en- 
abling the  water  to  dissolve  them.  A 
more  correct  but  narrower  term  for 
"coupling  agent"  is  "emulsifying  agent." 
Common  soap  is  an  emulsifying  agent 
but  by  no  means  the  best  one  for  all 
purposes. 

Non-Aqueous  Solvents 

What  cannot  be  cleaned  with  water — 
as  applied,  for  example,  with  a  damp 
rag — may  perhaps  be  cleaned  by  sub- 
stances of  the  second  type  named,  car- 
bon tetrachloride,  for  example,  applied 
by  means  of  a  rag.  In  the  case  of  a 
motor  or  generator  bearing,  where  the 
lubrication  has  gummed  and  must  be  re- 
moved and  replaced,  carbon  tetrachloride 
also  is  used.  So  is  kerosene,  warm  or 
cold;  and  hot  oil — the  same  lubricating 
oil — is  very  useful. 

Wherever  oil  or  grease  must  be  re- 
moved, water  alone  can  be  ruled  out  as 
ineffective.  Oil  and  water  don't  mix.  An 
emulsifying  agent  is  needed  to  make  them 
mix — soapy  water  will  remove  grease  that 
plain  water  won't  touch.  But  there  are 
also  direct  solvents,  as  stated,  depending 
on  the  type  of  oil.  In  addition  to  those 
already  mentioned,  alcohol  and  acetone 
may  prove  effective. 

Various  Coupling  Agents 

Alcohol  and  acetone,  although  solvents 
in  their  own  right,  can  act  more  or  less 
as  coupling  agents,  that  is,  some  sub- 
stance not  soluble  in  water  can  often  be 
washed  away  by  mixtures  of  alcohol  and 
water,  or  of  acetone  and  water.  Tri- 
sodium  phosphate,  or  tetra-sodium  phos- 


phate, which  can  be  obtained  either  at 
the  drug  store  or  from  the  firm  that  sup- 
plies the  theatre's  porters  with  cleaning 
materials,  are  highly  effective  on  some 
problems.  Many  commercial  soap  pow- 
ders and  cleansers,  obtainable  at  any 
grocery,  are  mixtures  of  these  phosphates 
and  common  soap. 

Hydrogen  peroxide  —  which  actually 
consists  of  about  2%  peroxide  and  98% 
water — acts  as  a  coupling  agent  in  clean- 
ing out  projector  heads  after  film  fires. 
The  action  in  this  case  possibly  is  one 
of  oxidation  rather  than  an  emulsifying 
action.  Common  lye  has  a  very  powerful 
action  on  some  types  of  grease  in  still 
another  way — it  converts  the  grease  to 
soap. 

The  practical  problem  confronting  the 
projectionist  in  his  choice  of  cleaning 
agents  boils  down  to  three  simple,  prac- 
tical points:  the  agent  must  be  effective, 
it  must  not  cause  corrosion. 

Effectiveness  can  always  be  determined 
by  trial  and  error;  the  other  two  points 
will  require  either  some  understanding 
of  the  actions  involved  or  else  a  small 
bit  of  memorizing. 

Harmful  Cleanser  Residues 

As  to  harmful  residues:  any  substance 
which  does  not  evaporate  completely  is 
going  to  leave  a  residue  which  may  or 
may  not  be  harmful.  Soap,  unless  most 
thoroughly  flushed  away,  will  leave  a 
soapy  film.  Tri-sodium  phosphate  and 
similar  detergents,  unless  thoroughly 
flushed  away,  will  leave  crystalline  de- 
posits. Hot  oil  used  for  cleaning  bear- 
ings and  grease  cups  is  almost  certainly 
going  to  leave  an  oily  film  behind — that 
is  why  only  the  same  lubricating  oil 
should  be  used.  Kerosene  is  for  that 
reason  less  satisfactory:  some  will  re- 
main to  dilute  the  new  lubricant  at  first. 
However,  it  is  slowly  volatile  and  in  time 
will  evaporate.  Carbon  tetrachloride  will 
evaporate  quickly. 

Acetone,  alcohol  and  carbon  tet  all 
evaporate  much  faster  than  water.  They 
leave  no  residue.  Water  leaves  none, 
neither  does  hydrogen  peroxide.  How- 
ever, water  and  hydrogen  peroxide  are 
a  little  slow  to  evaporate,  and  they  may 
cause  some  corrosion  before  they  disap- 
pear completely. 

Hydrogen  peroxide  has  a  corrosive  ef- 
fect on  metals;  this  applies  to  water  also, 
but  to  a  somewhat  lesser  extent.  Soapy 
water  not  thoroughly  flushed  off  is  par- 
ticularly corrosive  because  any  film  that 
remains  behind  will  be  a  film  of  water 
as  well  as  soap,  and  the  water  won't  dry 
off  for  a  very  long  time.  The  soap  will 
hold  it  in  contact  with  the  metal,  keeping 
the  metal  moist,  possibly  for  weeks. 

Stirring    kerosene    into    water,    up    to 


about  one  part  kerosene  to  two  parts 
water,  reduces  the  possibility  of  the  water 
causing  corrosion  of  metal  with  which 
it  comes  into  contact. 

Kerosene  and  hot  oil,  alcohol,  acetone 
and  carbon  tetrachloride  produce  no  ap- 
preciable corrosion.  Lye  is  extremely 
corrosive. 

So/vent  Effect  on  Film 

Acetone  and  even  alcohol  have  a  sol- 
vent effect  on  motion  picture  film,  and 
should  not  be  used,  or  used  only  with 
great  care,  in  cleaning  film  or  grease. 
Hot  water  exercises  a  solvent  action  on 
the  emulsion  of  film,  tending  to  soften  or 
dissolve  it.  Even  cold  water  may  cause 
the  emulsion  to  swell  after  a  period  of 
time,  but  can  be  used  for  cleaning  film 
with  perfect  safety  unless  the  film  is  go- 
ing to  be  left  wet  for  hours. 

The  "organic"  solvents — carbon  tet, 
alcohol,  acetone — should  not  be  used  in 
cleaning  compound  lenses.  Should  they 
seep  into  the  cement  that  holds  the  lenses 
together,  they  may  dissolve  it. 

Many  of  the  aids  here  named  are  used 
in  commercial  cleaning  compounds.  In 
order  to  avoid  their  misuse,  always  ap- 
ply such  compounds  strictly  according  to 
directions  and  only  for  the  purposes  and 
conditions  specified. 

Many  of  these  aids  also  can  be  ob- 
tained in  commercial  form  under  other 
names.  Impure  carbon-tet  is  used  in  fire 
extinguishers;  mixed  with  kerosene  or 
naptha  it  is  found  in  popular  dry  clean- 
ing and  stain  removing  compounds.  Ace- 
tone is  a  component  of  many  film  cements 
and  is  found  also  in  nail  polish  remover 
and  in  varnish  and  lacquer  removers. 

Revised  Audio-Visual  Booklet 

National  Audio- Visual  Assoc,  845  Chi- 
cago Ave.,  Evanston,  111.,  is  out  with  a 
new  revised  edition  of  "Current  Models 
of  Projection  Equipment."  Copies  are  $1 
each,  postpaid. 

The  12-page  pamphlet  contains  up-to- 
date  specifications  and  prices  for  the  pro- 
jection equipment  manufactured  by  40 
companies.  It  includes  a  total  of  186 
models  of  projection  equipment  classi- 
fied as  follows:  39  16-mm.  sound  pro- 
jectors, 15  automatic  projectors,  one  mi- 
croscopic projector,  15  opaque  and  com- 
bination projectors,  11  overhead  pro- 
jectors, 80  slide  and  filmstrip  projectors 
and  25  sound  slidefilm  projectors. 


U.  S.  Dominance  in  World  Film  Mart 

Approximately  74%  of  all  feature  films 
shown  in  the  world's  theaters  are  made  in 
the  U.  S.,  reports  the  Dept.  of  Commerce. 
About  38%  of  total  motion  picture  profits 
are  derived  from  foreign  showings,  with 
about  |100  million  remitted  to  the  U.  S. 
annually. 


14 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


July  1951 


THE  National  CARBON 


TRADE-MARK 


ARC'S  BIG  FIVE: 

*  small-source  size 

*  terrific  brightness 

*  great  power  from  one  unit 

*  white  light 

*  minimum  heat  per  foot-candle 

make  it  indispensable 
on  movie  sets! 


THE  "National"  carbon  arc  offers  an  ideal  combination  of  the 
qualities  most  desirable  in  a  studio  light.  The  carbon  arc's 
small-source  size  —  less  than  one  quarter  square  inch  —  insures 
sharp  shadows,  simulates  one-source  lighting  better,  creates  a 
perfect  "follow-spot."  The  carbon  arc's  high  brightness  pene- 
trates deep  sets,  establishes  high  light  levels  without  excessive 
heat,  creates  better  the  illusion  of  a  third  dimension.  The  carbon 
arc's  great  power  from  one  unit  cuts  illumination  pathways 
through  general  set  illumination,  boosts  daylight,  lights  large 
sets  so  generously  that  camera-lens  apertures  may  be  reduced  and 
great  depth  of  focus  obtained.  The  carbon  arc's  white  light 
matches  outdoor  shooting  conditions,  lends  itself  better  to  filters 
because  it  has  equal  quantities  of  blue,  green  and  red  and,  finally, 
makes  colored  objects  appear  visually  the  same  inside  and  outside. 

There  is  no  substitute  for  the  carbon  arc. 

MORAL:  YOU  CAN'T  SKIMP  ON  STUDIO  LIGHTING 
WITHOUT  RISKING   BOX  OFFICE! 


When  you  order  studio 

or  projector  carbons  — 

order  "NATIONAL"! 


The  term  "National"  is  a  registered  trade-mark  of 
Union  Carbide  and  Carbon  Corporation 

NATIONAL  CARBON  COMPANY 

A  Division  of 
Union  Carbide  and  Carbon  Corporation 

30  East  42nd  Street,  New  York  17,  N.  Y. 

District  Sales  Offices:  Atlanta.  Chicago,  Dallas, 
Kansas  City,  New  York,  Pittsburgh,  San  Francisco 

IN  CANADA:  National  Carbon  Limited 

Montreal,  Toronto,  Winnipeg 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     July  1951 


15 


Proposed  Lantern-Slide, 
Slidefilm  Standard 

Numerous  suggestions  have  been  re- 
ceived by  the  American  Standards  As- 
sociation following  the  circulation  in  the 
field  for  the  usual  period  of  one  year  of 
the  proposed  American  Standard  for 
Lantern  Slide  and  Slidefilm  Projection. 
This  proposed  standard  (Z38.7.20), 
first  promulgated  on  June  1,  1950,  will 
now  be  reconsidered  by  the  proper  com- 
mittee, with  final  recommendations  ex- 
pected shortly. 

Anybody  having  any  suggestions  to 
offer  anent  this  proposed  standard  is 
urged  to  communicate  immediately  with 
the  ASA  at  70  East  45th  St.,  N.  Y.  City, 
17.    The  proposed  standard  follows: 

1.  Screen  Illumination 

1.1  The  illumination  on  the  screen 
should  be  adequate  to  give  at  least  5 
foot-lamberts. 

1.2  The  projector  illumination  should 
be  maintained  to  give  the  illumination 
indicated  in  Fig.  1  for  beaded  or  matte 
screens  of  the  size  required  to  meet  the 
other  items  of  this  standard. 

1.3  Screen  lumens  shall  be  measured 
according  to  Section  3.4  of  American 
Standards  Methods  of  Testing  Printing 
and  Projection  Equipment,  Z38.7.5,  1948. 

2.  Screen  Maintenance 

2.1  When  the  illuminated  screen  ap- 
pears darker  than  a  clean  piece  of  white 
typewriter  paper  held  in  contact  with 
the  screen,  the  screen  should  be  cleaned, 
resurfaced,   or  replaced. 

3.  Use  of  Beaded-Type  Screens 

3.1    The   front   row  of  seats   shall  be 


IOOO 

900 

800 

700 

2   600 


at  least  2V2  times  the  width  of  the  screen 
away  from  the  screen. 

3.2  The  back  row  of  seats  should  be 
not  more  than  5  times  the  width  of  the 
screen  away  from  the  screen. 

3.3  The  outer  row  of  seats  on  each 
side  should  be  not  farther  than  20  de- 
grees from  a  line  connecting  the  pro- 
jector and  the  center  of  the  screen. 

4.  Use  of  Matte-Type  Screens 

4.1  The  front  row  of  seats  should  be 
at  least  two  times  the  width  of  the  screen 
from  the  screen. 

4.2  The  back  row  of  seats  should  be 
not  more  than  five  times  the  width  of  the 
screen  away  from  the  screen. 

4.3  The  outer  row  of  seats  on  each 
side  should  be  not  farther  than  30  de- 
grees from  a  line  connecting  the  pro- 
jector with  the  center  of  the  screen. 

5.  Room  Illumination 

5.1  During  the  projection  periods  the 
illumination  of  the  room  should  not  ex- 
ceed 0.1  foot-candle.  The  room  lights 
should  be  arranged  so  that  no  direct 
light  from  them  reaches  the  screen.  Dim- 
mer circuits  for  providing  a  graded 
transition  of  lighting  are  recommended 
for  auditoriums   and  classrooms. 


klO   Feet  -A 


Tips  on   Non-Theatrical  Movie, 
Slidefilm  Showings 

Many  very  helpful  hints  anent  the  vari- 
ous factors  affecting  the  success  of  non- 
theatrical  movie  and  slide  projection  are 
contained  in  a  recent  bulletin  issued  by 
Da-Lite  Screen  Co.,  Chicago  39,  111.  Of 
prime  importance  is  the  use  of  the  right 
size  and  type  of  screen  for  a  given  show- 


900 
400 


300 


200 


Q- 


or 

o 


o 
a. 


100 

90 
80 
70 
60 

50 
40 


^ 

^, — ■"" 

MATTE    SCREEN -10   FOOT    LAM££*fTS 

yS 

^^ 

/MATTI 
i  FOOT 

I  SCREEI 
-AMBERT 

\S^ ^ 

/  5- 

BEADED 
20    F001 

SCREEn 
r    LAMBE 

- 
RTS 

FIGURE   1 

Showing    the 

maximum 
recommended 
picture  widths 
for  projector 
light  output. 


Inch  —  80  Feet 


Da-Lite  screen  viewing  chart,  Open,  ruled 
squares  relate  to  the  positioning  of  a  35-mm 
slide  projector,  with  various  lenses;  solid  black 
squares  relate  to  a  16-mm  motion  picture  pro- 
jector, with  various  lenses.  Unshaded  portion 
denotes,  of  course,  preferred  viewing  area. 

ing,  and  to  this  end  Da-Lite  provides  the 
accompanying  handy  chart. 

A  simple  formula  used  by  many  audio- 
visual specialists  recommends  a  mini- 
mum viewing  distance  of  twice  the  screen 
width,  and  a  maximum  viewing  distance 
of  six  times  the  screen  width.  To  apply 
this  2x6  formula  as  illustrated  by  the 
chart,  divide  the  maximum  viewing  dis- 
tance (back  row  of  seats)  by  6.  The 
result  is  recommended  screen  width.  If 
a  square  screen  is  to  be  used,  height  will 
be  the  same  as  width.  In  rectangular 
screens  the  height  is  automatically  estab- 
lished on  the  basis  of  a  3  x  4  proportion. 
In  cases  where  the  available  projection 
lens  does  not  fit  the  recommended  screen 
size,  it  may  be  necessary  to  use  a  longer 
or  shorter  focal  length  lens. 

To  find  the  exact  screen  size:  aper- 
ture width  x  projection  throw  -4-  lens 
focal  length  =  width  of  screen  needed. 
For  example:  Aperture  0.38  (16-mm 
movie  projector)  x  26  feet  (projection 
throw — desired  distance  from  screen)  -f- 
2  (lens  focal  length)  =  4.94  feet,  or 
approximately  58  +  inches.  Thus  one 
would  use  a  45  x  60-inch  screen. 

Copies  of  this  bulletin  and  other  Da- 
Lite  projection  aids  are  available  for  the 
asking. 


48  60  72  84  96 

PICTURE    WIDTH   (W)  IN    INCHES 


108 


120 


Scientific   Film   Show  at  The   Hague 

The  Fifth  Annual  Congress  of  the  Inter- 
national Scientific  Film  Association  will  be 
held  in  the  Municipal  Museum  of  The 
Hague,  Holland,  from  Sept.  15  to  22  next. 


16 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     July  1951 


■ 


Projection  Rooms 


Around 


the   World 


PROJECTION    IN   THE   ANTIPODES 


SPACIOUSNESS,    UTILITY   MARK   THIS   SWEDISH    ROOM 

A  most  interesting  installation  in  the  China  Theater,  Stockholm, 
showing  belt-driven  Ernemann  projectors  mounted  on  an  elevation, 
and,  at  rear  right,  control  panels  for  all  power  and  light  in  the 
theater.  Cleanliness  is  a  "must"  in  all  Swedish  projection  rooms. 


NO  TENT  SHOWS:  PROJECTION  ROOMS  IN  THE  STRAITS  SETTLEMENTS 


Comparing  favorably  with  America's 
best  is  this  projection  room  in  the  Re- 
gent Theatre,  Melbourne,  Australia. 
Complete  installation  by  Westrex,  in- 
cluding Australian-made  arc  lamps  of 
indubitable  American  design  much 
like  the  Peerless. 


Capitol  Theater,  Singapore  (left):  Simplex  E-7  projectors  and  sound  equipment, 
Peerless  lamps,  Brenkert  effect  projector,  Rect-O-Lite  rectifiers.  The  largest  in 
Singapore,  this  theater  was  opened  in  1929.  Note  "surface  wiring."  The  Rex 
Cinema,  Singapore  (right):  Super  Simplex  projectors,  RCA  sound,  Peerless 
lamps,  and  tungar  rectifiers. 


CINE  METRO,  LIMA,  PERU 

This  closeup  of  front  room  wall  evidences  typical  Loew 
planning  and  attention  to  detail. 


METRO  PASSEIO,  RIO  DE  JANEIRO 

This  sleeper-jump  from  projectors  to  amplifier  rack  suggests 
possible  future  conversion  of  room  to  a  skating  rink. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     July  1951 


17 


IN  THE 


SPOTLIGHT 


LAST  month  we  presented  a  few  sug- 
gestions about  the  individual's  Social 
Security  status,  in  the  course  of  which 
we  mentioned  that,  in  the  event  of  re- 
tirement, there  were  three  kinds  of  bene- 
fits available,  and  that  in  the  event  of 
death  there  were  five  elective  courses  for 
a  man's  family.  We  advised  consulation 
with  the  nearest  S.  S.  field  office  by  any- 
body interested,  assuming  that  this  was 
the  easiest  procedure. 

Not  so.  We've  had  many  requests  for 
details  of  these  various  forms  of  benefits. 
So  here  goes,  although  we  still  favor  a 
personal  visit  to  the  nearest  S.  S.  office. 

S.S.  Retirement  Benefits 

During  your  retirement,  three  kinds  of 
benefits  are  available.    These  are: 

1.  The  primary  amount,  which  is  the 
monthly  sum  paid  to  a  retired  man  himself, 
beginning  at  age  65  and  continuing  for 
life.    This  ranges  from  $20  to  $80  a  month. 

2.  The  wife's  benefit,  which  is  half  of 
the  primary  amount,  paid  to  the  man's  wife 
during  her  lifetime  if  she  qualifies.  A  man 
and  wife  together  may  receive  $120  a  month 
or  $1440  a  year. 

3.  The  child's  benefit,  also  half  the  pri- 
mary amount,  paid  to  a  qualified  child, 
usually  until  the  age  of  18.  The  maximum 
benefit  to  a  family  is  $150,  or  $1800  a  year. 

S.S.  Death  Benefits 

A  family  is  entitled  to  one  or  more  of 
five  possible  S.S.  benefits,  if  the  head 
of  the  family  dies.   They  are: 

1.  Widow's  benefit:  a  monthly  payment 
of  three-quarters  of  her  husband's  benefit. 

2.  Mother's  benefit:  a  monthly  payment 
of  three-quarters  of  the  primary  amount 
paid  to  a  widowed  mother  having  a  quali- 
fied child  in  her  care.  (She  may  receive 
either  the  widow's  benefit  or  the  mother's 
benefit,  but  not  both). 

3.  Child's  benefit:  three-quarters  of  the 
primary  amount  for  one  qualified  child.  If 
there  are  two  or  more  qualified  children, 
each  receives  one-half  of  the  primary  amount 
and  another  one-quarter  is  divided  among 
them. 

4.'  Parent's  benefit.  In  some  cases,  a 
parent  is  entitled  to  three-quarters  of  the 
primary  amount. 

5.  Lump-sum  benefit.  Under  the  new  law, 
whenever  a  fully  or  currently  insured  per- 
son  dies,   a   lump   sum   amounting   to   three 


By 

HARRY 

SHERMA1S 


times  the  primary  amount  is  paid  to  cover 
funeral  expenses. 

If  a  retired  worker  earns  more  than 
$50  a  month  as  an  employe  or  in  self- 
employment,  he  and  all  those  receiving 
benefits  through  him  are  cut  from  the 
S.S.  rolls.  An  exception  is  the  75-year- 
old  worker,  who  may  earn  as  much  as  he 
pleases  without  the  loss  of  any  benefits. 

Incidentally,  veterans  of  World  War  II 
are  credited  with  having  earned  $160  a 
month  during  the  period  of  their  service. 

•  The  membership  of  Local  253,  Ro- 
chester, N.  Y.  turned  out  en  masse  at  a 
breakfast  party  given  in  honor  of  their 
president,  Louis  Levin,  and  Fred  Boek- 
hout,  their  business  representative.  Beau- 
tifully inscribed  cigarette  lighters  bear- 
ing the  IA  emblem  were  presented  to 
Lou  and  Fred  in  appreciation  for  their 
long  service  to  the  Local. 

•  New  York  City  Local  306  has  insured 
its  members  for  complete  medical  care 
through  the  Helath  Insurance  Plan 
(HIP)  of  Greater  New  York.  Under  this 
plan,  about  2300  members  and  their  wives 
will  receive  comprehensive  medical,  sur- 
gical and  specialist  care  at  their  homes, 
at  the  offices  of  doctors  chosen  by  the 
members  themselves,  in  HIP  medical 
centers,  and  in  hospitals.  In  addition, 
they  will  be  entitled  to  laboratory  tests, 
X-ray  examinations,  visiting  nurse  serv- 
ice, and  ambulance  transportation. 

The  HIP  premium  is  paid  out  of  a  5% 
contribution  to  the  Union  welfare  plan 
by  employers,  who  make  this  contribu- 
tion in  lieu  of  a  wage  increase  direct  to 
the  members.  The  first  group  of  mem- 
bers began  to  receive  this  service  last 
February;  the  other  members  will  bene- 
fit from  this  plan  as  soon  as  additional 
employers  contribute  to  the  fund. 

The  foregoing  brings  to  mind  an  item 
we  read  in  a  recent  issue  of  the  United 
Mine  Workers  Journal,  and  which  is  in 
direct  contrast  to  the  services  rendered 
by  HIP.  Asked  about  the  doctor  situa- 
tion in  his  area,  a  Kentucky  miner  told 
this  story:  "My  wife  was  about  due  to 
have  a  baby.  I  went  to  the  doctor's  office 
four  times  and  asked  him  to  come  down 


and  see  her.  Each  time  he  gave  me  some 
excuse.  The  fifth  time  I  took  my  snub- 
nose  (a  small  pistol,  in  Kentucky  par- 
lance) along  and  brought  him  back  with 
me."  The  ironic  part  of  this  story  is  that 
the  doctor  had  a  contract  with  the  union 
to  which  the  miner  belonged  and  was 
handsomely  paid  through  the  checkoff 
system  for  his  services  to  the  miners. 

•  We  were  sorry  to  hear  that  Bill  Maxon. 
member  of  Syracuse  Local  337  and  vice- 
president  of  the  AF  of  L  Union  Label 
Council,  has  been  ailing  for  the  past  few 
weeks  and  has  been  ordered  by  his  doctor 
to  forego  all  activities  for  a  spell.  We 
hope  it  will  not  be  long  before  Bill  is 
back  in  harness  and  pitching  on  all  fronts. 

•  The  Wage  Stabilization  Board  heard 
arguments  recently  on  behalf  of  the 
Hollywood  AF  of  L  Film  Council  and 
its  affiliates  (including  the  IA,  American 
Federation  of  Musicians,  and  the  Ameri- 
can Federation  of  Radio  Artists)  that 
wages  in  the  motion  picture  industry 
should  not  be  frozen  since  no  controls 
exist  over  theater  admissions  and  film 
rentals.  Robert  W.  Gilbert,  representing 
the  film  unions,  told  the  Board  that  the 
Defense  Production  Act  of  1950  does  not 
authorize  wage  controls  in  industries  ex- 
empt from  price  controls.  "If  this  panel 
cannot  find  an  express  authorization  for 
regulation,"  said  Gilbert,  "then  the  panel 
must  resolve  that  doubt  in  favor  of  no 
regulation." 

The  panel,  headed  by  Chairman  Theo- 
dore Kheel,  includes  two  labor  members, 
one  of  whom  is  Woodruff  Randolph, 
president  of  the  International  Typo- 
graphical Union.  Findings  and  recom- 
mendations on  the  problems  of  wage 
stabilization  in  the  industries  exempt 
from  price  ceilings  will  be  made  after 
further  study.  Industries  exempt  from 
price  control  are  motion  pictures,  rail- 
roads, communications,  trucking,  insur- 
ance, public  utilities,  real  estate,  airlines, 
local  transit  companies,  newspaper  print- 
ing and  publishing,  radio  broadcasting 
and  television. 

•  Some  30-odd  years  ago,  when  we  were 
financial  secretary   of  New  York   Local 


18 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


J.ly  1951 


306,  our  sidekick  at  that  time  was  Joe 
Hoinstein,  who  was  the  union  treasurer. 
"Hoboken  Joe,"  as.  he  was  known  to  his 
fellow  projectionists,  was  extremely 
popular  with  his  brother  craftsmen. 
When  he  founded  the  Joe  Hornstein  Mo- 
tion Picture  Theater  Supply  Co.  some 
years  later  his  success  was  assured  from 
the  start.  Joe's  sudden  death  last  month 
was  a  shock  to  his  many  friends  in  and 
out  of  the  motion  picture  industry.  His 
business  interests  will  be  carried  on  by 
his  three  sons. 

•  More  than  1300  delegates  attended  the 
New  York  State  Federation  of  Labor  Con- 
vention, held  last  month  in  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 
This  is  a  record  attendance  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  State  organization.  The  meet- 
ing followed  the  annual  10th  District 
Convention,  and  many  of  the  IA  dele- 
gates remained  for  the  State  Federation 
conferences. 

William  Green,  president  of  the  AF  of 
L,  and  George  Meany,  AF  of  L  secretary- 
treasurer,  were  among  the  speakers. 
Ralph  Wright,  TJ.  S.  assistant  secretary 
of  Labor;  Charles  Halloran,  president  of 
the  Buffalo  Federation  of  Labor,  and 
Harold  C.  Hanover,  secretary-treasurer 
of  the  N.  Y.  State  Federation  of  Labor 
also  addressed  the  gathering.  Topics  dis- 
cussed by  the  various  speakers  included 
the  Taft-Hartley  Law,  the  Hughes  Brees 
Unemployment  Insurance  Law  (see  IP 
for  May,  1951,  p.  17),  and  Communism. 
Needless  to  say,  these  topics  were  sub- 
jected to  considerable  criticism  and  were 
roundly  denounced  by  the  speakers  and 
the  delegates. 

Among  the  IA  men  present  at  the  State 
Federation  meeting  were  IA  President 
Walsh;  James  J.  Brennan,  IA  4th  vice- 
president;  H.  Paul  Shay,  10th  District 
secretary;  J.  C.  McDowell,  Solly  Pernick, 
N.  Y.  Local  1;  Herman  Gelber,  Edward 
Stewart,  N.  Y.  Local  306;  Tom  Murtha, 
Brooklyn  Local  4;  Tom  Brogan,  Auburn 
L.  119;  Kenneth  Bassler,  Niagara  Falls 
Local  121;  Donald  Rood,  Utica  Local 
128;  Bert  Ryde,  Buffalo  Local  233;  Fred 
Boekhout,  Rochester  Local  253,  Ralph 
Halloran,  Elmira  Local  289;  Edward 
Wendt,  Albany  Local  324;  George  Raa- 
flaub,  Syracuse  Local  337;  Earl  Tuttle, 
Binghamton  Local  396 ;  John  Short,  Corn- 
ing Local  480;  and  Gerald  Henderson, 
Batavia  Local  581. 

•  William  Monroe,  Jr.,  52,  and  Frank 
K.  Carlin,  59,  members  of  Atlantic  City 
Local  310,  died  recently  within  10  days 
of  each  other.  Monroe,  who  was  financial 
secretary-treasurer  of  the  Local,  suc- 
cumbed to  a  heart  attack  on  June  26; 
and  Carlin,  a  charter  member  of  the 
Local,  died  July  5  from  a  stroke  suffered 
two  weeks  earlier.  Both  men  were  veter- 
ans of  World  War  I. 

•  Recent     out-of-town     visitors     to    the 


offices  of  IP  included  Walter  Roberts, 
Local  178,  Salisbury,  N.  C;  Mike  Os- 
trowski,  Local  233,  Buffalo,  N.  Y.;  James 
Manion  and  Charles  Serkes,  Local  143, 
St.  Louis,  Mo. 

•  Jake  Pries,  former  secretary  and  busi- 
ness representative  for  Atlanta  Local  225, 
informed  us  that  his  son,  Ralph,  pre- 
sented him  with  a  third  grandchild — a 
girl.  Young  Pries  formerly  managed  the 
Philadelphia  branch  of  the  National  The- 
atre Supply  Company,  and  is  now  asso- 
ciated with  the  Berlo  Vending  Machine 
Co. 

•  Existing  and  projected  employe  bene- 
fit plans  in  the  motion  picture  field  look 
a  little  pallid  when  compared  with  the 
following  example  of  enlightened  busi- 
ness management: 

Eastman  Kodak  employes  leaving  for 
military  service  receive  a  special  allow- 
ance equal  to  four  weeks'  pay  if  with 
Kodak  a  year;  two  weeks'  pay  if  with 
Kodak  six  months.  If  eligible  for  a  vaca- 
tion at  the  time  he  enters  service,  he  will 
receive  his  normal  vacation  pay. 

His  group  life  insurance  will  be  con- 
tinued for  a  period  of  six  months  after 
he  leaves;  it  will  be  put  back  into  effect 
immediately  he  returns  to  Kodak.  He  will 
receive  a  wage  dividend  payment  in  the 
year  subsequent  to  leaving,  the  amount 
to  be  about  the  same  as  if  he  had  not 
been  away.  On  rejoining  Kodak,  his 
eligibility  under  various  Kodak  plans  will 
be  the  same  as  if  he  had  not  left.  Time 
spent  in  the  service  will  be  counted 
toward  his  service  record.  He  will  be 
credited  with  retirement  annuities  for 
the  time  he  is  in  service. 

Kodak  will  assume,  on  a  year-to-year 
basis,  the  cost  of  family  hospitalization, 
if  such  a  contract  were  in  effect  at  the 
time  of  departure  for  military  service. 

•  We  were  saddened  to  learn  of  the  re- 
cent death  of  Charlie  (Sheriff)  Hunt,  74, 
member  for  over  50  years  of  Detroit 
Local  38.  Charlie  was  a  charter  member 
of  Local  38  and  worked  in  many  of  De- 
troit's theaters  until  about  a  year  ago, 
when  he  retired  because  of  ill  health. 
Many  stagehand  and  projectionist  road 
men  will  remember  Charlie  as  the  stage 
carpenter  at  the  Gayety,  Avenue  and 
Palace  theaters. 

•  Little  Rock,  Ark.  Local  204  celebrated 
its  40th  anniversary  with  a  dinner-dance 
at  the  Hotel  Marion,  Little  Rock.  About 
175  persons  participated  in  the  affair, 
which  was  one  of  the  most  successful 
ever  held  by  the  Local.  Representing  the 

IA  were  General  Secretary-Treasurer 
Wm.  P.  Raoul;  Charlie  Hathaway,  IA 
representative  and  business  representa- 
tive of  Oklahoma  City  Local  112,  and 
Al  S.  Johnstone,  New  Orleans  Local  293, 
representing  President  Walsh,  who  was 


unable  to  appear.  Acting  for  the  Local, 
Raoul  presented  charter  members  J.  B. 
Cowpland  and  Noel  Withrow  with  dia- 
mond lapel  pins. 

Sam  M.  Wassell,  mayor  of  Little  Hock. 
C.  K.  Call,  State  labor  commissioner,  and 
S.  P.  Dixon,  deputy  labor  commissioner, 
were  among  the  invited  guests. 

•  The  7th  District  held  its  annual  con- 
vention last  month  at  the  Henry  Grady 
Hotel  in  Atlanta,  Ga.  N.  L.  Liggett,  presi- 
dent of  Atlanta  Local  225  was  the  pre- 
siding officer.  Gov.  Herman  Talmadge, 
G.  Simons,  representing  the  mayor  of 
Atlanta,  Henry  W.  Chandler,  president 
of  the  Atlanta  Federation  of  Trades,  and 
J.  B.  Pate,  president  of  the  Georgia  State 
Federation  of  Labor  were  among  the 
prominent  speakers.  A  banquet  in  the 
Dixie  ballroom  of  the  Henry  Grady  Hotel 
closed  the  sessions. 

•  The  Tri-State  (Pennsylvania,  West 
Virgina,  and  Ohio)  Association  held  its 
27th  annual  meeting  last  month  at  the 
Elk's  Home  in  New  Kensington,  Penna. 
F.  P.  (Reel)  McCoy,  secretary  of  New 
Kensington  Local  444,  was  unanimously 
reelected  secretary  of  the  Association. 
President  Walsh  and  other  top  IA  execu- 
tives addressed  the  meeting. 

Among  the  guests  of  honor  were  Harry 
J.  Abbott,  8th  IA  vice-president;  Law- 
rence J.  Katz,  IA  representative;  N.  Wil- 
liams and  Harry  Russell,  National  The- 
atre Supply  Co.;  Tom  Cocklin,  National 
Carbon  Co.;  and  Frank  Hamre,  Radio 
Corp.  of  America.  Delegates  from  Penn- 
sylvania Locals  included  Paul  Ferry,  Wil- 
liam and  Luther  Thompson,  Pittsburgh 
Local  171 ;  Emory  Myers,  York  Local 
283;  Sam  Rubin,  Harrisburg  Local  488; 
Roy  Bryan,  Altoona  Local  130;  Wm. 
McClay,  Uniontown  Local  208,  and  Frank 
Karalfa,  Johnstown  Local  561. 

Supply  Dealers  Sign  For  Altec  Service 

With  the  continuing  expansion  of  elec- 
tronic developments  in  the  motion  pic- 
ture industry,  theater  supply  dealers  are 
becoming  acutely  aware  of  the  need  for 
qualified  sound  engineering  advice,  re- 
ports Altec  Service  Corp.  Latest  to  join 
the  Altec  fold  is  Ringold  Theater  Equip- 
ment Co.,  Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 

Renewal  agreements  for  Altec  service 
were  signed  recently  by  GerOBar,  Inc., 
Indianapolis;  Ohio  Theater  Supply  Co., 
Cleveland,  and  McArthur  Theater  Equip- 
ment Co.,  Detroit. 


Tv  Set  Implosions  Negligible 

When  Tv  was  new,  there  was  a  great  deal 
of  fear  that  picture-tubes  would  implode 
and  do  damage  and  injury.  But  to  date, 
after  15,000,000  sets  have  been  in  use,  there 
are  authenticated  cases  of  only  one  or  two 
actual  "implosions."  So  the  hazard  ratiu 
seems   almost   negligible. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     July  1951 


19 


Wide  Technical  Gains  in  1950 

SMPJE  Progress  Report  Details  Film,  Tv  Advances* 


PROGRESS  in  the  motion  picture  stu- 
dios during  1950  was  highlighted  by 
the  advances  in  various  color  systems 
and  the  apparent  acceptance  of  color 
for  pictures  of  all  classes  and  types. 
The  taking  speed  of  the  Technicolor  sys- 
tem has  been  increased  considerably. 
Several  laboratories  within  and  without 
studios,  have  been  remodeled  to  handle 
the  various  other  color  systems  which 
are  now  in  active  use. 

The  drive  for  production  economies 
continues  and  a  number  of  different 
things  have  been  tried  with  varying  suc- 
cess. During  1950,  radio  communication 
facilities  were  used  extensively  between 
studios  and  location  units,  as  well  as 
for  the  control  of  production  personnel 
and  equipment.  The  F.C.C.  allocated 
radio  channels  to  the  motion  picture  in- 
dustry specifically  for  this  purpose. 
Closer  pre-picture  planning  among  the 
production  groups,  resulting  in  the  re- 
duction of  shooting-days  per  picture,  has 
probably  been  the  greatest  money-sav- 
ing factor. 

100-7 heater  Light  Survey 

In  picture  and  sound  reproduction  the 
work  of  the  Screen  Brightness  Commit- 
tee has  created  a  great  deal  of  interest 
among  studio  personnel,  and  the  results 
of  the  100-theater  survey  promise  to 
bring  about  a  better  relationship  between 
negative  density,  print  density  and  aver- 
age projection  light. 

The  various  Tv  broadcasters  are  con- 
tinuing with  the  policy  of  moving  into 
studios  where  space  limitation  is  not 
such  a  serious  factor. 

The  use  of  motion  films  in  Tv  has 
grown  steadily  throughout  the  year. 
Already  a  considerable  number  of  shows 
are  being  filmed,  and  there  are  indica- 
tions that  the  majority  of  the  sponsored 
shows  may  eventually  be  broadcast  from 
film.  Much  of  this  shooting  is  being  done 
by  independent  producers,  but  with  in- 
creased studio  space  some  Tv  companies 
are  preparing  to  film  their  own  produc- 
tions. 

35-mm  Photography  Advances 

Zenith  Phonevision  system  has  been 
undergoing  a  consumer  test  with  the  per- 
mission of  the  F.C.C.  These  tests  have 
used  35-mm  films  produced  for  theatrical 
release.  The  prints  have  been  regular 
color  releases,  or  regular  black-and-white 
releases,  as  well  as  special  black-and- 
white  prints  made  to  Zenith's  specifica- 
tions of  density  and  contrast. 

*  J.  Soc.   Mot.   Pict.  &  Tv  Eng.,  May  195X. 


By  July  of  1950  conversion  to  safety 
film  was  approximately  85%  complete. 
Eastman  discontinued  the  manufacture 
of  35-mm  nitrate  positive  film  for  mo- 
tion pictures.  Some  Eastman  safety  stock 
is  being  used  by  Du  Pont  pending  pro- 
duction of  a  suitable  safety  stock  by  the 
latter  company. 

The  Eastman  35-mm  negative-positive 
color  process,  introduced  experimentally 
in  1949  has  now  been  used  in  a  number 
of   full-length   pictures. 

Intense  Color  Activity 

One  studio  is  shooting  pictures  with 
Eastman  color  negative,  viewing  dailies 
on  Eastman  color  positive,  and  will  re- 
lease on  SUPERcineCOLOR  three-color 
print  stock. 

A  second  studio  has  made  a  feature 
picture  on  Eastman  color  negative  and 
will  release  on  Du  Pont  color  print  stock. 

Another  studio  is  shooting  a  feature 
picture  on  Ansco  negative-positive  and 
is  doing  all  of  the  processing  in  the 
studio. 

Other  studios  are  preparing  to  pro- 
duce some  of  their  own  color  films  by 
any  one  or  more  of  the  aforementioned 
processes,  or  by  shooting  on  black-and- 
white  stripping  film  and  using  the  three- 
color  separations  for  printing  on  any 
one  of  the  print  stocks. 

Cinecolor  Laboratory  Report 

In  laboratories  in  the  color  field,  Cine- 
color  Corp.  reports  the  following: 

(1)  Installation  of  equipment  and  pro- 
duction processing  of  the  Eastman  color 
negative  film. 

(2)  Installation  of  equipment  and  pro- 
duction processing  of  the  Eastman  color 
positive  film   (with  sound). 


The    Aquaflex    underwater    photographic    unit. 

(3)  Full  scale  conversion  for  the 
SUPERcineCOLOR  three-color  release 
printing. 

Consolidated  Film  Industries  has 
equipped  both  its  Fort  Lee  (N.  J.)  and 
Hollywood  laboratories  for  production  of 
Trucolor.  The  company  is  now  in  re- 
lease production  of  the  new  three-color 
Trucolor  prints.  The  print  stock  is  Du 
Pont  three-color  material  type  875,  and 
the  original  negative  is  the  Eastman 
automatic  masking  three-color  film  type 
5247. 

The  sequential  operations  are:  three 
separation  prints  on  panchromatic  film 
from  the  color  negative,  three  duplicate 
negatives  optical  effects  incorporated,  on 
gray  base  stock  through  selective  filters 
from  these  prints  which  are  then  printed 
through  proper  filters  for  layer  selec- 
tivity, on  the  multiple-layer  Du  Pont 
print  stock. 

Du-Art  Laboratories  in  New  York  will 


Eclair  "Cameflex" 

takes  35-mm  and 

16-mm  film   inter 

changeably  by 

changing   film 

magazines. 


20 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


July  1951 


make  "Tri-Art"  color  on  Eastman,  Ansco, 
and  Du  Pont  color  materials. 

Technicolor  is  at  present  working  with 
films  for  the  three-strip  cameras  which 
are  balanced  for  a  color  temperature  of 
approximately  3350  K.  It  is  claimed  that 
this  system  will  bring  illumination  re- 
quirements within  the  range  of  that  now 
used  for  black-and-white  photography. 
The  system  will  be  available  for  general 
use  within  a  few  months. 

Lighting  Equipment,  Techniques 

Technicolor  announced  a  change  in 
color  balance  of  the  three-strip  system 
from  that  of  sunlight  to  a  color  tempera- 
ture of  approximately  3350  K.  This  re- 
sulted in  the  production  of  gelatin-type 
filters  for  the  carbon-arc  lamps  to  re- 
duce their  color  temperature  sufficiently 
for  them  to  operate  in  conjunction  with 
unfiltered  tungsten  lamps. 

This  change  is  at  present  in  the  tran- 
sition stage.  Some  time  ago  the  Tech- 
nicolor system  was  increased  in  speed 
by  a  ratio  between  450  ft-c  and  300  ft-c 
key-light  on  a  white  light,  or  sunlight, 
basis.  Later,  by  going  to  a  3350  K  basis, 
a  further  increase  in  speed  to  150  ft-c 
was  announced.  This  latter  increase  in 
speed  is,  however,  applicable  only  to 
incandescent  tungsten  lamps,  because  it 
is  necessary  to  filter  the  high-intensity 
carbon  arcs  by  approximately  the  amount 
gained  in  order  to  provide  a  color  bal- 
ance. 

At  the  time  of  completion  of  this  re- 
port only  tests  and  picture  sequences 
have  been  completed  with  the  150-ft-c 
system  balanced  for  3350  K.  Produc- 
tions have  been  made  with  the  300-ft-c 
white  light  system. 

While  no  mercury-cadmium  lamps  are 
in  present  use  for  set  lighting  in  the 
West  Coast  studios,  the  bulbs  are  avail- 
able and  are  being  evaluated. 

Reflector-type  incandescent  bulbs,  such 
as  photoflood  and  photospot  lamps,  have 
been  increasingly  used  on  location  where 


the  documentary  type   of  lighting  is  in- 
dicated  and   for  non-theatrical   releases. 

Cameras  and  Accessories 

A  system  for  special  effect  shots  has 
been  devised  and  applied  at  present  to 
panning  and  tilting  the  camera,  which 
permits  the  cameraman  to  pan  and  tilt 
the  camera  in  a  normal  manner  and  fol- 
low the  action  as  desired.  A  record  is 
made  of  the  movement  and,  for  subse- 
quent exposures  on  the  same  film,  the 
record  controls  the  camera  movement, 
matching  the  original  relation  between 
the  camera  position  and  picture  frame 
during  these  subsequent  shots. 

In  France,  two  new  lenses  were  an- 
nounced. "Retrofocus,"  a  very  short 
focus  lens  designed  so  as  to  permit  at- 
tachment and  use  on  normal  35-mm 
cameras,  and  "Erax,"  a  highly  corrected 
lens  developed  by  Societe  Kinoptik  in 
which  the  graduation  of  the  aperture  of 
the   diaphragm  is   proportional. 

The  Eclair  Camerette.  introduced  in 
the  U.  S.  from  France  in  1949.  now  has 
a  companion  model,  the  "Cameflex," 
which  takes  35-mm  and  16-mm  film  in- 
terchangeably. 

Navy's  Underwater  Photography 

The  "Aquaflex"  was  introduced  in  the 
U.  S.  in  1950,  the  first  one  being  used 
by  the  U.  S.  Navy.  Essentially,  it  is  a 
standard  '35-mm  Camerette  with  a  spe- 
cially designed  magazine  in  an  under- 
water blimp  which  permits  external 
stopping  and  starting,  speed  control, 
focus  and  diaphragm  changes. 

A  compressed  cylinder  attached  to  the 
underwater  housing,  working  on  a  de- 
mand valve,  maintains  an  internal  pres- 
sure of  3  psi  above  the  external  pressure, 
irrespective  of  the  depth  to  which  the 
camera  is  submerged.  Stabilizing  fins 
allow  the  camera  to  be  moved  through 
the  water  smoothly.  The  camera  and 
housing  weigh  about  100  lbs.  when  out 
of  the  water. 

Great    flexibility    of    operation    is    at- 


The  Westrex  portable  magnetic  sound  recording  system,  introduced  recently. 


RCA    theater    television    projector    mounted    on 
front   of   theater   balcony. 


tained  by  using  diving  equipment  with 
self-contained  air  supply  for  the  operator. 
While  propelling  himself  and  the  camera 
by  means  of  swim  fins  attached  to  his 
feet,  the  cameraman,  unaided,  can  man- 
euver the  camera  and  operate  aperture 
and  focus  controls.  Smooth  travel  shots, 
following  divers  or  native  fish  down  to 
a  depth  of  80  ft.,  have  been  shown  be- 
fore the  Society. 

35-mm  Sound  Recording 

The  year  1950  has  seen  noteworthy 
progress  in  the  application  of  magnetic 
recording  to  motion  picture  production. 
The  extent  of  the  application  has  varied 
among  the  producers  from  cautious  plan- 
ning and  preliminary  experimentation, 
with  the  view  of  future  conversion,  to 
complete  conversion  to  magnetic  record- 
ing on  all  production  and  music  record- 
ing work. 

While  many  advantages  with  respect 
to  quality  of  production,  maintenance 
and  operation  of  equipment,  and  con- 
servation of  film  raw  stock  accrue  from 
the  use  of  magnetic  recording,  the  over- 
all recording  operation,  from  the  orig- 
inal recording  of  dialogue  and  music  to 
the  production  of  the  final  release  print, 
has  been  considerably  complicated.  As 
a  result,  many  of  the  extensive  claims 
of  great  economies  to  be  effected  by  the 
use  of  magnetic  recording  have  been  con- 
siderably modified,  and  conversion  pro- 
grams are  now  more  in  the  nature  of 
plant  modernization. 

The  great  demand  for  smaller  and 
lighter  portable  equipment  for  location, 
has  been,  possibly,  the  strongest  in- 
fluence in  affecting  the  choice  of  mag- 
netic   recording,    as    magnetic-recording 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


July  1951 


21 


equipment  has   been  the   answer  to  this 
problem. 

Various  Magnetic  Applications 

Since  April  1,  1950,  all  Paramount 
production,  both  in  the  studio  and  on 
distant  location,  has  been  done  on  super- 
portable  recording  channels,  weighing 
65  lbs.  and  using  17V2-mil  recording 
stock. 

New  portable  magnetic-recording  sys- 
tems for  35-mm,  17V2-mm  or  16-mm  film, 
featuring  compact,  light  weight  construc- 
tion, were  introduced  by  Westrex,  and 
are  now  in  wide  use  in  studios  both  here 
and   abroad. 

The  use  of  magnetic  equipment  and 
re-recording  has  gained  momentum.  It 
has  become  the  practice  in  a  number 
of  studios  to  record  rehearsals  on  mag- 
netic film.  A  good  "rehearsal"  becomes 
a  "take"  and  unsatisfactory  "rehearsals" 
are  erased.  The  "take"  can  be  reviewed 
at  any  convenient  time  and  then  trans- 
ferred to  photographic  film  for  release 
printing.  In  this  connection,  a  multi- 
track  magnetic  equipment  has  been  used 
to  good  advantage. 

This  equipment  records  one,  two  or 
three  tracks  on  the  same  film  strip  on 
which  music,  speech  or  sound  effects, 
or  any  combination  thereof,  can  be  re- 
corded with  the  same  relative  volume 
variations  as  they  have  in  the  finished 
product.  The  benefits  of  this  equipment, 
as  experienced  by  Columbia  Studios, 
follow: 

Summary  of  Advantages 

Saves  track  storage  space  by  a  factor 
of  about  10  to  1. 

Reduces  the  cost  of  foreign  versions 
by  50%. 

Provides  a  ready  means  of  furnishing 
duplicate  release  negatives  as  needed. 

Provides  a  convenient  source  of  ma- 
terial for  Tv  versions  "minus  music"  and 
it  provides  a  source  from  which  dialogue, 
music  and  effects  can  be  rebalanced  in 
the  dubbing  of  16-mm  versions. 

The  increased  use  of  magnetic  pro- 
duction recording,  together  with  a  lack 
of  suitable  means  of  editing  this  ma- 
terial, has  resulted  in  the  development 
and  use  of  equipment  to  make  direct- 
positive  photographic  duplicates  of  the 
magnetic  recordings  for  use  by  film 
editors. 

Re-Recording  Procedure 

Re-recording  is  being  done  in  some 
studios  directly  from  magnetic  tracks, 
and  in  some,  from  photographic  dupli- 
cates. Photographic  duplicates  may  be 
either  direct  positives  or  electrical  trans- 
fers to  a  photographic  negative  from 
which  re-recording  prints  are  made. 

The  Signal  Corps  Studios  have  ap- 
plied several  modifications  to  standard 
magnetic  recording  systems,  which  pro- 
vide   improved    operating    efficiency    as 


well  as  economies  in  time  and  material. 
These  include  facilities  for: 

(1)  Stopping,  reversing  and  restart- 
ing recorder,  recorder  and  projector  in 
interlock,  and  (2)  silently  changing  over 
from  record  to  playback,  or  vice  versa, 
while  running.  Thus,  errors  in  narra- 
tion and  re-recording  jobs  may  be  cor- 
rected without  rethreading,  splicing  or 
blooping  the  film.  Also,  this  studio  has 
perfected  a  method  for  lip-synchronous 
production  which  makes  use  of  35-mm 
magnetic  loops. 

The  year  1950  has  seen  continued 
and  extended  use  of  nonsynchronous, 
sprocketless-type  magnetic  recording 
equipments,  particularly  in  the  field  of 
radio  transcription.  There  have  been  a 
number  of  schemes  that  have  been  de- 
veloped to  make  these  equipments  op- 
erate synchronously  with  picture  film  for 
use  in  Tv  and  for  cue-track  recording. 

Last  year  also  saw  the  use  of  low- 
shrinkage  safety-base  film  extended  to 
sound  recording.  By  the  end  of  the  year 
practically  all  photographic  recording 
was  being  done  on  acetate-base  stock. 

16-mm  Photography,  Recording 

Ansco  has  marketed  a  new  16-mm 
color  duplicating  film.  Ansco's  new  film 
Type  238  is  designed  for  making  dupli- 


Eastman     Kodak    16-mm    television    projector, 
Model  250,  in  one  self-contained   unit. 


cates  with  soft  gradation  color  originals. 

The  Naval  Ordnance  Lab.  has  de- 
veloped techniques  in  the  high-speed 
photography  of  underwater  explosions. 
Pictures  ranging  from  2,000  to  3,000 
frames/sec  have  been  made  of  explo- 
sions of  charges  up  to  1  lb.,  at  depths 
down  to  2  miles. 

Early  in  1950  a  new  lOO-ft.-film  ca- 
pacity, 16-mm,  single-system  sound-re- 
cording camera  called  the  "Cine-Voice" 
was  introduced  by  the  Auricon  Division 
of  Berndt-Bach,  Inc.,  of  Hollywood, 
Calif.  It  is  available  with  a  galvano- 
meter for  recording  either  variable-area 
or  variable-density  high-fidelity  sound 
track  to  SMPTE  Standards. 

The  camera  weighs  only  12  lbs.  and 
the  entire  equipment,  including  ampli- 
fier, microphone,  cable,  headphones,  ac- 
cessories and  carrying  case,  weighs  34 
lbs.  It  operates  from  either  constant 
speed  or  synchronous  motors.  A  port- 
able power  supply  to  drive  the  camera 
from  an  ordinary  6-volt  storage  battery 
is  also  available. 

16-mm  Magnetic  Recording 

The  RCA  type  RT-11A  magnetic  tape 
recorder  was  built  for  professional  serv- 
ice and  is  being  used  widely  in  the  broad- 
casting and  Tv  fields.  It  has  also  found 
limited  acceptance  in  motion  pictures 
for  recording  projection  takes. 

Comparatively  little  use  was  made  of 
16-mm  magnetic  film,  although  recorders 
were  available. 

Reeves  Soundcraft  Corp.  introduced  a 
service  for  edge-coating  16-mm  raw  stock 
or  developed  film  with  magnetic  ma- 
terial to  permit  the  use  of  magnetic  sound 
tracks  with  16-mm  prints.  Excellent 
sound  reproduction  from  such  prints  was 
demonstrated,  using  a  modified  pro- 
jector. 

J.  A.  Maurer,  Inc.,  demonstrated  a 
new  multiple-track  16-mm  sound-record- 
ing system  that  reduces  distortion  re- 
sulting from  nonuniformity  of  the  pro- 
jector sound-scanning  light  beams. 

35-mm  Film  Sound  Reproduction 

The  activities  of  the  Screen  Brightness 
Committee  in  obtaining  accurate  informa- 
tion on  a  group  of  100  theaters  through- 
out the  country  has  already  had  an  effect 
on  the  motion  picture  studio  laboratories, 
where  the  preliminary  information  is 
being  used  to  determine  if  changes  should 
be  made  in  print  density. 

In  at  least  one  studio  it  was  found  de- 
sirable to  increase  set  lighting  levels 
slightly  in  order  to  improve  the  projec- 
tion quality  of  the  prints. 

This  work  promises  to  bring  about  a 
much  better  correlation  between  produc- 
tion and  exhibition  both  as  to  print 
quality   and   projection  conditions. 

At  least  two  new  mirror-type  carbon- 
{Continued  on  page  26) 


22 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


July  1951 


TELEVISION  developments  of  particu- 
lar interest  to  the  motion  picture 
theater  field  during  the  past  month  were 
so  numerous  and  varied  as  to  leave  both 
the  Tv  broadcasters  and  theatermen  in  a 
continual  dither.  Unfortunately  for  the 
theater  field,  not  all  the  happenings  were 
on  the  right  side  of  the  ledger.  To  recap: 
The  second  closed-circuit  telecast  of  a 
boxing  match  between  Jake  La  Motta 
and  Bob  Murphy  was  made  to  11  theaters 
in  9  cities  and  was  a  box-office  wow. 
Within  a  few  days  after  the  bout  RCA 
reported  that  orders  for  large-screen 
theater  Tv  units  were  coming  in  "from 
left  and  right"  and  that  the  year-end  goal 
of  100  installations  appeared  a  certainty. 

200  Equipments  On  Order 

RCA  now  has  200  theater  Tv  orders 
on  hand  and  estimates  that  within  six 
months  the  total  will  exceed  400.  A 
warning  note  was  sounded  by  a  Loew 
executive,  who  said:  "Still  to  be  an- 
swered is  the  question  of  what  will  hap- 
pen when  more  than  one  theater  in  a 
locality  has  the  facilities  to  carry  such 
sporting  events.  Full  houses  are  not 
likely  to  be  the  rule  when  that  happens." 

On  July  12  the  theater  Tv  showing  of 
the  Rex  Layne-Rocky  Marciano  bout  was 
also  a  box-office  bonanza. 

Bad  news  for  theaters  was  the  request 
of  the  Society  of  Independent  Motion 
Picture  Producers  for  FCC  approval  of 
subscription  Tv — that  is,  a  pay-as-you- 
see  service.  Precedent  is  the  FCC  denial 
some  years  ago  of  subscriber-fee  radio 
programs. 

Actors  Guild  Makes  Move 

The  Screen  Actors  Guild  will  enforce 
the  clause  in  its  basic  contract  with  the 
studios  which  bars  the  showing  on  the 
air  of  any  film  made  after  Aug.  1,  1948. 

Leaders  of  the  Theater  Owners  of 
American  and  Allied  States,  which  have 
been  at  odds  as  to  which  band  of  the 
spectrum  to  press  for  at  the  FCC  hear- 
ings on  allocations  set  for  Sept..  finally 
agreed  to  request  UHF  channels. 

Cowboy  star  Roy  Rogers  obtained  a 
temporary  injunction  preventing  Repub- 
lic Pictures  from  disposing  of  78  films 
to  the  Tv  networks. 

An  Exhibitor  Point  of  View 

Abram  F.  Myers,  board  chairman  and 
general  counsel  for  Allied  States  ex- 
hibitors,   observed:    "The    stampede    to- 


ward large-screen  Tv  is  only  natural, 
but  there  remain  several  vexing  questions 
as  to  the  ultimate  effect  of  theater  Tv, 
particularly  as  it  may  affect  the  stand- 
ing of  the  theater  in  the  community. 

"The  cost  of  a  television  installation  is 
very  high,"  he  pointed  out.  "There  is  a 
dearth  of  first-class  fighters.  The  attitude 
of  other  sports  toward  theatre  Tv  has  not 
crystallized.  The  public  reaction  to  having 
to  pay  for  programs  which  were  promised 
for  free  remains  in  doubt. 

"The  ultimate  effect  on  regular  movie  at- 
tendance is  not  known.  And,  of  course,  there 
are  still  the  same  old  uncertainties  as  re- 
gards systems  and  channels."  Mr.  Myers  em- 
phasized the  possible  danger  of  "turning 
theatres  into  prize  fight  arenas  from  time 
to  time. 

"One  cannot  escape  wondering  what  typi- 
cal movie-goers — say  parents,  persons  of  re- 
finement and  children — will  think  of  such 
goings   on.    Will    they   be    willing    to    space 


their  movie-going  to  avoid  these  brawls,  or 
will  the  theatre  lose  easte  in  their  estima- 
tion? The  experience  would  hardly  endear 
the  theatre  to  them  as  a  place  of  polite 
entertainment." 

Also,  the  Allied  official  continued,  as  soon 
as  the  fight  ends  the  audience  rushes  for  the 
exits  "leaving  the  theatre  empty  and  ex- 
posing motion  pictures  to  an  unwarranted 
humiliation."  He  cited  the  lack  of  good 
fights  and  the  possibility  of  eventual  com- 
plaints  to   the   FCC. 

Out  of  the  welter  of  events  emerged 
the  firm  conviction  by  well-informed  mo- 
tion picture  men  that  the  greatest  menace 
to  the  film  theater  box-office  still  is  the 
possibility  of  FCC  approval  of  pay-as- 
you-see  Tv  programs  sent  into  the  home. 
The  tremendous  revenue  obtainable  from 
such  a  system  would  make  it  unnecessary 
to  obtain  advertising  sponsorship  of  pro- 
grams. 


GPL's    Simplex'  Direct-Projection  Theater  Tv.  System 
for  Distribution  by  National  Theater  Supply 


FURTHER  impetus  to  the  rapid  ex- 
pansion of  theater  Tv  was  supplied 
by  the  announcement  (July  9)  of  a  di- 
rect-projection system  designed  and 
manufactured  by  General  Precision  Lab- 
oratory for  distribution  through  Na- 
tional   Theatre    Supply    Co.     Orders    for 


Whose  Ox  is  Gored? 

The  Kansas  City  Star,  powerful  mid- 
west newspaper,  attacked  the  exclusive 
theater  telecasting  of  boxing  matches,  de- 
claring that  "the  families  owning  13,000,- 
000  Tv  sets  have  a  right  to  feel  cheated  at 
being  denied  the  pleasure  of  a  sports  pro- 
gram which  otherwise  would  have  been 
brought  into  the  homes  of  most  of  them." 

Admitting  that  there  was  no  contract 
to  this  effect  when  the  Tv  sets  were 
bought,  the  Star  said  people  "assumed" 
they  would  be  able  to  see  as  well  as  hear 
the    major    sports    events. 

This,  from  a  representative  member  of 
the  national  association  of  newspaper  pub- 
lishers which,  when  radio  was  burgeoning, 
tacitly  agreed  among  themselves  not  to 
publish  radio  program  listings  because  it 
might  hurt  their  business. 

The  advertising-free  theater  Tv  pres- 
entations, requiring  no  aspirin,  are  as  a 
breath  of  fresh  air  compared  with  the 
nausea-inducing  columns  of  any  metro- 
politan newspaper. 


this  new  unit,  to  be  known  as  the  Sim- 
plex Theater  Tv  System,  are  now  being 
accepted  for  late  Fall  delivery. 

An  outstanding  feature  of  this  system 
is  an  improved  mirror  design  which  gives 
a  balanced  light  distribution  over  the 
entire  screen.  GPL  promises  that  the 
trade  showing  scheduled  for  early  August 
will  reveal  that  the  system  delivers 
illumination  at  the  corners  of  the  screen 
in  the  ratio  of  80%  of  that  at  the  center, 
the  eliminating  "hot  spot"  center  glare. 
Overall  definition  is  rated  as  excellent 
over  the  entire  screen  area. 

Simplex  Tv  Technical  Data 

The  projection  tube  has  a  suspension 
mounting  that  permits  removal  for  clean- 
ing without  disturbing  the  positioning 
adjustment.  The  tube  is  suspended  from 
the  top  of  the  barrel,  and  the  tube  mount- 
ing bracket  may  be  removed  through 
the  top  with  the  tube  in  place.  All  ad- 
justments and  controls  for  the  barrel  are 
al  the  top,  easily  adjustable  without 
using  ladders  or  catwalks. 

A  re-circulating  system  for  cooling 
the  optical  barrel,  rendering  it  dust- 
proof,  is  provided.  The  same  cooling 
system  controls  the  humidity  in  the  bar- 
rel and  eliminates  arc-over  of  high  volt- 
age. Tilt  of  the  barrel  is  not  limited 
in  any  way.  since  all  cabling,  including 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


July  1951 


23 


high-voltage  lines,  comes  in  through  a 
single  junction  box  in  the  rear  of  the 
barrel.  The  barrel  itself  has  a  three-point 
suspension.  Thumb  screws  permit  easy 
adjustment,  with  a  positive  lock  when 
positioned. 

The  80  Kv  power  supply  is  compact, 
light  and  easy  to  install.  It  utilizes  a 
new  type  of  flexible  high-voltage  cable 
so  that  the  installation  site  of  the  power 
supply  may  be  as  far  removed  as  is 
necessary.  It  is  assumed  that  the  power 
supply  will  be  installed  in  the  theater 
projection  room. 

Projection   Throw,  Screen  Size 

The  system  includes  a  high-quality 
receiver  for  off-the-air  reception.  It  also 
accommodates  inputs  from  microwave  or 
coaxial  feeds.  New  circuit  designs  pro- 
vide greater  reliability  and  extreme 
flexibility,  while  using  fewer  tubes  and 
other  components.  All  circuits  are  pro- 
tected by  a  "fail-safe"  design:  failure  of 
one  component  cannot  cause  failure  or 
injury  to   any  other  component. 

With  the  preferred  throw  distance  of 
65  feet,  a  picture  20  x  15  feet  is  ob- 
tained. However,  the  system  may  be 
operated  over  a  wide  range  from  32  feet 
and  an  8  x  10  picture  on  up  to  80  feet 
and  a  picture  approximately  25  x  19 
feet. 

Merchandising  details  for  the  system 
have  not  been  announced,  but  National 
Theatre  Supply  Co.  states  that  the  sys- 
tem will  be  "competitively  priced." 
Service  will  be  provided  by  Altec  Service 
Corp.  GPL  will  continue  to  make  avail- 
able its  film-relay  theater  Tv  system 
which  was  successfully  demonstrated 
last  year. 


SLASS  FILTEC  COMBINATION 
CORN  INS  No.  9780  3MM 
PITT5BURGH    No.204"3    6MM 


Filters  in  Tv  Projection 

A  MARKED  improvement  in  televi- 
sion picture  quality  from  16-mm 
motion  pictures  has  been  obtained  by 
using  optical  filters  which  prevent  the 
red  and  infrared  radiation  of  the  projec- 
tion beam  from  falling  on  the  iconoscope 
mosaic.  The  bias  light  is  also  filtered, 
which  prevents  the  red  and  infrared  il- 
lumination from  falling  on  the  back  of 
the  mosaic  and  inner  walls  of  the  icono- 
scope. 

The  greatest  improvement  is  obtained 
when  a  tungsten  light  source  is  used,  but 
a  marked  improvement  is  noticeable 
when  the  filters  are  used  with  a  carbon 
arc  source. 

A  series  of  filters  were  used  for  experi- 
mental purposes  between  the  condenser 
system  in  the  projector  that  removed  all 
the  radiation  beyond  560,  590,  and  620, 
respectively.  It  is  recommended  that  for 
the  present  a  Pittsburgh  heat-absorbing 
glass,  No.  2043  (6  mm  thick),  plus  a 
Corning  No.  9780  or  9788  (3  mm  thick) 
be  used  in  the  Eastman  Model  250  Tv 
projector. 


Curve     showing     transmission     vs.     wave-length 
for  combination  glass  filters  for  Tv  projection. 

This  combination  of  filters  reduces  the 
light  on  the  iconoscope  mosaic  to  the 
10%  point  at  590  millimicrons. 

Substantial  Improvement  Cited 

The  improvements  in  reproduced  Tv 
pictures  by  the  use  of  these  filters  are 
as  follows: 

1.  It  reduces  the  over-all  haze  or  veil 
characteristic  of  a  Tv  picture. 

2.  It  prevents  difficult  shading  prob- 
lems with  scene  changes. 

3.  It  increases  contrast  and  resolution 
and  gives  an  increased  brightness  range 
or  tone  scale  that  can  be  reproduced. 

4.  It  prevents  edge  flare. 

5.  It  reduces  highlight  saturation. 

6.  It  increases  video  signal.  When  the 
filters  are  inserted,  there  is  a  reduction 
in  light  on  tbe  iconoscope  mosaic  of  ap- 
proximately 30%.  However,  there  is  an 
increase  in  video  signal  of  approximately 
20%,  as  indicated  by  the  oscilloscope  in 
the  master  monitor. 

The  filter  used  over  the  bias  light  is  a 
2  by  2  inch  by  3  mm  Corning  No.  9780 
or  9788.  The  use  of  this  filter  gives  an 
increased  video  signal  and  reduces  the 
projector  shutter  pulse  to  a  minimum; 
that  is,  the  signal  light  transient  caused 
by  the  short,  bright  application  of  light 
to  the  iconoscope  mosaic. 

Commercial  Color  Usable 

The  addition  of  these  filters  to  the  pro- 
jection beam  in  a  Tv  projector  with  ade- 
quate light  output  and  to  the  iconoscope 
bias  light  will  allow  the  Tv  stations  to 
use  commercially  available  color  prints 
as  program  material  without  an  undue 
sacrifice  of  picture  quality,  as  there  has 
been  heretofore. 

It    also    enables    the    projectionist    to 


BUY 

U. 

S. 

SAVINGS 

BONDS 

Your 

Very  Best  B 

uy 

BUY 

U. 

s. 

SAVINGS 

BONDS 

focus  the  picture  sharply  on  the  mosaic 
because  of  the  reduction  in  scattered  and 
reflected  light  from  the  face  of  the  icono- 
scope. It  reduces  the  heat  at  the  motion 
picture  projector  gate  to  a  minimum  so 
that  a  single  16-mm  frame  may  be  held 
stationery  in  the  projector  gate  and  may 
be  projected  onto  the  iconoscope  mosaic 
for  thirty  minutes  without  excessive  heat- 
ing and  distortion  of  the  film,  which 
would  cause  the  image  to  go  out  of  focus 


Hanover  Carbon  Burner 

The  Hanover  Continuous  Carbon 
Burner,  rated  as  effecting  carbon  savings 
as  high  as  25%,  has  been  introduced  to 
the  trade  by  Norpat  Sales,  Inc.  War- 
ranted to  burn  any  Suprex-type  carbon 
down  to  the  last  inch,  this  new  burner 
replaces  the  existing  positive  carbon  jaw 
with  a  new  type  of  great  accuracy.  The 
automatic  action  is  designed  to  provide  a 
new  pre-heated  carbon  when  the  stub  has 
burned  down  to  a  predetermined  size, 
with  no  disruption  in  or  loss  of  light. 
The  burner  has  adjustments  for  warped 
carbons. 

The  Hanover  does  not  have  to  grip  the 
carbon  at  its  end,  thus  carbon  guides 
may  be  eliminated  to  accomplish  a  fuller 
distribution  of  light  from  the  reflector 
into  the  aperture.  Electrical  resistance 
decreases  and  arc  voltage  changes  with 
shortening  of  carbons  due  to  consump- 
tion. Thus  the  use  of  the  shorter  clamp- 
ing length  steadies  the  arc  noticeably. 

Precision-built  and  wholly  automatic 
in  operation,  with  no  parts  to  wear  out 
and  thus  no  maintenance  cost,  the  Han- 
over burner  may  be  installed  quickly  and 
easily  by  projectionists. 

Norpat's  merchandising  plan  includes 
a  guarantee  for  five  years,  with  free  re- 
placement of  any  part  worn  due  to  nor- 
mal use.  Distribution  mainly  through 
projectionist  agents  in  planned.  Full  de- 
tails are  available  from  "Doc"  Faige,  at 
Norpat,  at  43  West  45th  St.,  N.  Y.  C,  19. 


Vallen  Thrives  on  Restrictions 

Faced  with  the  problem  of  reducing 
the  quantity  of  critical  materials  used  in 
their  Aero  Speed  Curtain  Control,  Val- 
len, Inc.,  of  Akron,  Ohio,  has  actually 
increased  the  efficiency  of  the  unit  by 
complying  with   government  restrictions. 

The  new  Control  is  smaller  and  more 
compact  than  the  former  model,  differ- 
ing completely  in  basic  construction  and 
appearance.  There  is  actually  less  mecha- 
nism, fewer  parts  to  get  out  of  order,  and 
almost  no  possibility  of  breakdown.  By 
scaling  down  the  design,  Vallen  will  be 
able  to  supply  a  dependable  control  of 
the  precisely  correct  capacity  for  any 
installation,  thus  eliminating  the  need 
for  over-capacity  units. 


24 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     July  1951 


Safety  Switches  Important; 
Don't  Neglect  Them 

ONE  urgently  needed  new  habit,  in- 
dispensable in  dealing  with  Tv 
equipment,  should  be  formed  by  projec- 
tionists now  before  such  equipment  ap- 
pears in  the  theatre.  A  large  majority  of 
projectionists  appear  to  have  a  certain 
contempt  for  the  dangers  inherent  in 
handling  live  circuits.  The  practice  of 
disregarding  safety  switches  with  which 
careful  manufacturers  equip  sound  ap- 
paratus, is  widespread.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  some  projectionists  in  their  eager- 
ness to  handle  "hot"  circuits,  jam  these 
switches,  nullifying  the  manufacturer's 
precaution. 

These  projectionists  know  very  well 
that  ordinary  lighting  voltage  has  killed 
many  persons;  that  people  have  been 
killed  repairing  common  household 
radios.  But  these  things  do  not  happen 
very  often,  therefore  a  complete  disre- 
gard for  the  300  to  900  volts  that  may  be 
found  in  a  sound  amplifier  has  become 
increasingly  common — and  a  great  many 
men  have  developed  a  positive  habit  of 
disregarding  electrical  dangers. 

Tv  Unit's  Exacting  Demands 

That  will  be  a  sad  habit  to  carry  over 
into  the  days  of  Tv,  when  working  po- 
tentials can  be  expected  to  run  between 
60,000  and  100,000  volts.  Of  course,  such 
voltages  will  be  surrounded  by  precau- 
tions built  into  the  apparatus  by  the 
manufacturers ;  but  the  projectionist  who 
today  deliberately  put  out  of  action  the 
safety  switches  of  their  present  apparatus 
probably  will  carry  over  that  tendency 
in  dealing  with  the  safety  gadgets  sur- 
rounding 100,000  volts.  Especially  when 
the  show  stops  suddenly  and  a  man  rushes 
to  his  apparatus  to  do  something  about 
it  quick,  old-established  habits  will  tend 
"to  carry  over. 

The  time  to  form  new  habits  is  now. 

Every  projectionist  knows  that  he 
should  open  switches  and  bleed  conden- 
sers before  working  on  electrical  circuits. 
He  also  knows  that  he  should  form  the 
habit  of  doing  that  always — even  with 
circuits  that  are  not  very  dangerous  and 
even  when  his  show  has  stopped.  Every 
projectionist  group  should  foster  the  de- 
velopment of  correct  habits  in  handling- 
electrical  circuits  among  its  own  mem- 
bers. The  formulation  of  such  a  good 
habit  will  stand  the  craft  in  good  stead 
now  and  in  the  future. 


Altec's  Role  in  Theatre  Tv  is 
Spelled  Out  by  Bessey 

Altec  Service  Corp.  intends  to  play  a 
very  important  role  in  the  development 
of  theater  Tv,  according  to  an  announce- 
ment by  Harry  M.  Bessey,  executive  vice- 


B.A. 

(BOXOFFICE 
APPEAL) 


e*. 

fijfWyW®  *(BOXOFFICE 


APPEAL) 


SIIPGIE  SXM'U TB 


phjOJVffijdYb  $JIMAU- 


•  GREATER  LIGHT  •  GREATER  CONTRAST  •    GREATER  SHARPNESS 

Watch  your  "B.  A."  climb  when  you  install  Super  Snaplite 
Lenses.  Give  your  patrons  the  benefit  of  pictures  at  their  best. 
You  can't  beat  the  Super  Snaplite  f/1.9  when  it  comes  to 
putting  a  clear,  sharp  picture  on  your  screen. 

Super  Snaplites  give  you  a  true  speed  of  f/1 .9  in  every  focal 
length  up  to  7  inches.  Ask  for  Bulletins  207  and  209. 

"You  Get  More  Light  with  Super  Snaplite" 


ICOLLAlOltlplTK       / 


2  Franklin  Avenue 
Brooklyn  11,  New  York 


^•P® 


OKPOKjITION 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


July  1951 


25 


president.  Emphasizing  the  fact  that 
Altec  is  the  only  independent  service 
company  operating  on  a  national  basis, 
and  with  a  backlog  of  diversified  experi- 
ence in  all  branches  of  the  electronic  art, 
Bessey  said  that  the  combination  of 
manufacturing,  development  and  labora- 
tory facilities  with  a  trained  national 
service  group  adds  up  to  a  technical 
know-how  that  could  never  be  matched 
on  a  local  basis. 

Altec  has  already  reached  an  agree- 
ment with  National  Theatre  Supply  Co. 
to  supervise  and  service  installations  of 
the   GPL   Simplex   Tv   system.    Negotia- 


tions with  other  manufacturers  are  now 
in  progress. 

Close  cooperation  with  projectionists, 
said  Bessey,  is  a  major  aspect  of  the 
Altec  program. 


Westrex-Reeves   Magnetic   Film   Deal 

Westrex  Corp.  and  Reeves  Soundcraft 
Corp.  have  completed  negotiations  under 
which  Westrex  will  distribute  on  a 
world-wide  basis  the  complete  line  of 
Reeves  professional  magnetic  recording 
films.  This  includes  not  only  the  stand- 
ard 35-,  No.  ITV2-,  and  16-mm  full-width 
magnetic-coated  film  used  in  original  re- 


THIS   ONE   WORKS 


burns   carbons  down  to  the  last  inch 


A — Stub  in  burning 
position. 

B — Stub  burned 
down  to  the  last 
inch  —  new  car- 
bon  finish- 
ing  reel. 

Both     Peerless     Mag- 
narc    Mounting. 

Below:  Strong  Mogul 
Mounting. 


HANOVER 


Cont 


muous 


CARBON 
BURNER 

•  Any  operator  can  install  it  .  .  . 
quickly,  easily  in  a  Suprex  type 
lamp. 

•  Parts  don't  wear  out— no  mainte- 
nance  cost. 

o   Precision   built,   completely   auto- 
matic. 
O   Pre*heats   incoming   carbon. 

•  No  disruption  or  loss  of  light  in 
changeover. 

•  Eliminates  uncertainty  of  burning 
period    of  any   size   carbon   stub. 

•  Pays  for  itself  immediately  by 
using  accumulated   waste! 

Priced  Higher  ^^^^^^^"j 

I  Actually  it  costs  less  because  I 
the  initial  cost  is  the  only  cost  I 
.  .  .  there  are  no  extras  to  buy  I 
nor  are  periodic  changes  of  the  | 
jaw  necessary. 

Actually  Costs  Less 
How  to  order:  send 
name,  address  and  type 
of  arc  lamp  —  we  ship 
correct  unit  C.  0.  D. 
SOME  AREAS  STILL  OPEN  FOR 
SALES-MINDED  PROJECTIONISTS- 
WRITE  TO   "DOC"    FAIGE   AT: 


N 


MINUTES  MEAN  MONEY 

Carbons  which  still  have  from  2  to  15  minutes  "burning  life" 
but  are  too  short  to  take  a  chance  with,  now  can  be  used  right 
down   to  the  last  inch  .  .  .  without  loss  of  light  .  .  .  without  risk! 

5  YEAR  PRODUCT  GUARANTEE 

against  inferior  materials  and  workmanship  and  against  normal 
wear  and   tear. 

MONEY-BACK  GUARANTEE 

You  have  5  days  from  the  time  you  receive  the  unit  to  install 
and   test  it  thoroughly.     It  costs  you   nothing   to  prove   it! 

OTHERS  BEFORE  YOU  HAVE  PROVED  IT 

One  theatre  burned  stubs  for  2  days  .  .  .  proof  of  "true" 
economy!  Ellis  Theatres  of  Philadelphia  tried  one  and  ordered 
25  .  .   .  "true"  economy  proved  ! 

0RPATSALES,INC.47W.45thST.,N.Y.19-  cables:  norpacrest,  new  york 


cording,  but  a  new  product  "Magna- 
Stripe"  a  narrow  strip  of  magnetic  ma- 
terial coated  on  clear  motion  picture 
film  base  intended  for  use  in  the  edi- 
torial departments  in  the  professional 
motion  picture  field. 

These  films,  available  at  100  Westrex 
offices  throughout  the  world,  offer  nu- 
merous distinct  technical  features,  one  of 
which  is  footage  edge-numbering  of  the 
film. 


Joe  Hornstein,  Pioneer  Supply  Dealer 

Joe  Hornstein,  pioneer  projectionist  and 
theater  equipment  supply  dealer,  died  on 
June  19  of  a  heart  attack  suffered  at  his 
New  York  City  home.  He  was  65  years  of 
age.  Starting  as  a  projectionist  in  1903, 
Hornstein  soon  entered  the  supply  field. 
First  as  general  manager  of  the  old  Howell 
Cine  Equipment  Co.,  then  with  National 
Theatre  Supply,  and  later  as  head  of  Con- 
tinental Theatres  Accessories  ( Warner  Bros, 
subsidiary),  Hornstein  became  one  of  the 
best  known  equipment  men  in  America. 

In  1934  the  firm  of  Joe  Hornstein,  Inc.. 
was  formed,  and  it  now  has  three  branches — 
New  York,  St.  Louis,  and  Miami.  Hornstein 
was  a  member  and  former  treasurer  of 
IA  Local  306,  N.  Y.  City,  and  a  member  of 
the  Odd  Fellows,  Masons  and  Motion  Pic- 
ture Pioneers.  He  is  survived  by  his  wife, 
three  sons,  and  a  sister. 


TECHNICAL  GAINS  IN  1950 

(Continued  from  page  22) 
arc  projection  lamps  have  been  described. 
These  units  feature  fast  optics,  arc-posi- 
tioning devices,  forced  air  control  of  ex- 
haust gases  and  new  methods  of  auto- 
matic arc  control. 

In  the  field  of  control  of  heat  in  the 
projection  optical  train,  there  have  been 
a  number  of  installations  of  units  with 
lieut-absorbing  glass  filters  and  others 
with  compressed  air  blowing  against  the 
film.  In  addition,  considerable  work  is 
being  done  experimentally  and  in  field 
tests  with  treated  mirrors  and  optical 
train  filters  of  the  interference  type. 

A  new  all-plastic  screen  made  of 
Firestone  "Velon"  plastic  and  known  as 
RCA  Snowhite  Evenlite  vinyl  screen 
made  its  bow.  The  material  is  0.012  in. 
thick,  weighs  1/9  psi  and  is  said  to  be 
sag-proof.  It  is  pigmented  with  titanium 
dioxide  and  surface  embossed  for  high 
efficiency  and  diffusion.  It  is  also  flame- 
proof, mildew  proof  and  unaffected  by 
heat,  cold  or  moisture.  The  surface  is 
rugged  and  can  be  cleaned  by  washing, 
soft  brush  or  vacuum  cleaner. 

A  new  Walker  high-intensity  screen 
is  made  of  plastic  in  which  no  vinyl  is 
used.  The  metallized  surface  is  made 
up  of  elliptical  forms  which  spread  the 
light  fanwise  to  control  reflection.  It  is 
recommended  for  theaters  with  wide- 
angle  viewing  conditions,  but  with  no 
more  than  a  12-deg.  projection  angle. 
It   is   claimed   that   the   control   of   stray 


26 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


July  1951 


light   improves   contrasts    and   results   in 
better  apparent  definition. 

Cinerama,  a  system  of  exhibiting  three 
frames  of  film  in  a  curved  panorama, 
has  been  demonstrated.  It  is  stated  that, 
while  the  inventor  does  not  claim  stereo- 
scopic results  from  a  strictly  technical 
standpoint,  the  effect  is  one  of  super 
reality.  The  system  includes  the  use  of 
several  sound  tracks  for  projection  of 
stereophonic   sound. 

16-mm  Film,  Sound  Reproduction 

1950  has  been  a  year  of  marked  im- 
provement in  the  whole  16-mm  process, 
inspired  mainly  by  Tv.  A  number  of  pro- 
fessional-type 16-mm  projectors  have 
been  made  available,  with  performance 
approaching  35-mm  standards. 

Eastman  announced  and  demonstrated 
a  heavy-duty  16-mm  professional  pro- 
jector which  uses  the  same  type  of  in- 
termittent sprocket  movement  as  in 
35-mm   professional   projectors. 

International  Projector  Corp.  has  de- 
scribed a  sturdy,  high-quality  16-mm 
projector  designed  to  meet  U.S.  Navy 
Bureau  of  Ships  Specification  CS-P-41A. 

Mitchell  Camera  Corp.  announced  a 
new  "giant"  16-mm  professional  pro- 
jector which  offers  optional  high-intensity 
carbon  arc  or  incandescent  lamp  illu- 
mination. It  was  designed  to  function  with 
standard  35-mm  sound  equipment. 

Big  Navy  16-mm  Program 

Approximately  1.400  16-mm  sound 
motion  picture  projectors,  built  to  com- 
ply with  the  high  performance  required 
by  the  Joint  Army-Navy  Specification 
JAN-P-49,  were  put  into  service  by  the 
armed  forces  during  the  past  year.  The 
Navy  is  employing  these  projectors  to 
evaluate  and  accept  all  16-mm  prints  pro- 
cured by  the  Navy. 

The  prints  are  screened  with  both  lead 
sulfide-  and  caesium-type  photoelectric 
cells  to  insure  that  there  will  be  no  ma- 
terial difference  in  sound  reproduction 
when  the  prints  are  presented  to  the 
Fleet  on  either  type  of  equipment. 

Television  'Comes  of  Age' 

Many  people  have  said  that  Tv  came 
of  age  in  1950.  There  is  considerable 
truth  in  this  statement  and  it  may  be 
traced  largely  to  the  fact  that  the  in- 
dustrial companies  of  America  have 
recognized  Tv's  tremendous  sales  appeal 
and  have  consequently  devoted  large 
sums  of  money  to  the  production  of  shows 
intended  for  release  in  many  cities 
throughout  the  nation. 

It  has  been  possible  to  cover  many  of 
these  cities,  and  consequently  a  large 
percentage  of  the  Tv  audience,  with  live 
programming  via  the  facilities  of  A.T.&T. 
The  so-called  nonconnected  cities  are  still 
covered  by  the  use  of  video  recordings, 
the     quality     of     which     has     improved 


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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


July  1951 


27 


greatly  during  the  period  covered  here. 
The  availability  of  higher  budgets  has 
allowed  the  Tv  networks  and  studios  to 
use  more  care  in  production  techniques 
and  staging.  Notable  improvements  have 
resulted,  for  example,  in  lighting,  cos- 
tuming and  make-up,  the  use  of  process 
screens,  and  in  a  general  recognition  of 
how  the  limitations  of  the  system  must 
always  be  carefully  considered  in  the 
staging  of  a  studio  production. 

The  marked  change  in  Tv  has  re- 
quired a  great  expansion  of  many  Tv 
stations  and  studios  throughout  the  coun- 
try. There  seems  to  be  a  trend  toward 
more  and  more  space,  and  the  industry 
has  concluded  that  facilities  at  least  ap- 
proaching in  size  those  of  the  motion 
picture  production  lot  will  ultimately  be 
required.  There  have  been  several  pur- 
chases of  large  acreages  on  which  nu- 
merous buildings  will  operate  in  order 
to  handle  the  production  requirements 
which    are    foreseen. 

Extensive  Use  of  Film 

Direct  photography  for  Tv  shows  has 
increased  during  the  year.  A  number  of 
production  companies  have  operated  spe- 
cifically for  this  purpose  and  with  con- 
siderable success.  Most  such  productions 
have   been    of   half-hour   shows,   some   of 


which  have  been  serialized.  Both  16-mm 
and  35-mm  cameras  have  been  employed, 
although  the  trend  at  the  moment  seems 
to  be  the  favor  of  the  latter,  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  many  Tv  stations  are  forced 
later  to  use   16-mm  reduction  prints. 

Of  the  top  Tv  network  shows  on  the 
air  at  the  close  of  1950,  approximately 
20%  were  on  film.  There  has  been  some 
interest  in  the  technique  of  so-called 
simultaneous  filming  of  live  Tv  shows; 
however,  this  technique  still  is  not  widely 
used. 

The  demand  for  special  prints  reflects 
the  growing  practice  in  the  Tv  industry. 
Most  large  stations  on  Tv  networks  have 
established  standards  for  print  charac- 
teristics which  give  optimum  Tv  quality. 
Background  projection  as  an  adjunct  to 
live  programming  is  becoming  more 
common. 

Tv  Film  Projection 

The  technique  of  film  projection  for 
Tv  transmission  has  received  a  lot  of 
study.  A  method  of  improving  the  image 
quality  by  using  filters  in  the  projector 
to  remove  infrared  radiation,  and  by 
filtering  edge-  and  bias-light  in  icono- 
scope film  cameras  has  been  proposed. 
As  a  result  of  the  interfering  effects  of 
light  level   and  tube  variation,  this  pro- 


cedure is  still  controversial. 

Eastman  has  manufactured  a  new 
16-mm  Tv  projector,  model  250,  which 
is  intended  to  give  superior  performance 
for  film  chains.  The  projector  operates 
on  the  conventional  5%  application 
principle,  but  offers  improved  picture 
steadiness,  brightness  and  definition  as 
well  as  excellent  sound  quality.  Facili- 
ties are  provided  for  continuous  projec- 
tion of  a  single  frame,  or  regular  pro- 
jection with  remote  operation. 

Video  Recording  Problems 

Video  recording  progress  during  1950 
has  been  very  great.  In  fact,  it  is  gen- 
erally agreed  that  within  the  limits  of 
the  Tv  system  as  established  by  the  FCC 
and  as  further  laid  down  by  equipment 
limitations,  the  recording  system  can 
take  down  what  is  delivered  to  it.  Phrased 
another  way,  it  is  conceded  now  that 
the  operation  inside  the  studio  is  the 
point  where  the  recording  is  made  or 
broken. 

Unfortunately,  many  Tv  shows  are  re- 
hearsed so  little  that  certain  funda- 
mental rules  that  affect  the  quality  of  a 
recording  are  violated.  Whenever  this  is 
done  the  results  are  extremely  unfor- 
tunate. 

To  be  more  specific,  it  is  necessary 
that   lighting    be    handled    with    extreme 


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23 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     July  1951 


care.  A  lighting  contrast  of  no  more 
than  3  or  4  to  1  should  he  maintained 
at  all  times.  In  addition,  since  generally 
more  than  one  camera  is  used  in  a  Tv 
studio,  the  camera  angles  must  be  care- 
fully observed  so  that  lighting  will  be 
adequate  regardless  of  which  camera  is 
in  operation. 

Furthermore,  camera  levels  must  be 
controlled  in  order  to  maintain  a  balance 
between  cuts.  It  is  much  more  important 
that  this  balance  be  observed  with  Tv 
recording  than  when  producing  a  show 
which  will  be  released  only  as  a  live 
show. 

Much  New  Tv-Film  Equipment 

The  sound  portion  of  Tv  recordings 
has  been  handled  in  numerous  ways  by 
the  various  studios  throughout  the  coun- 
try. Some  of  the  best  sound  has  been 
obtained  through  the  use  of  tape  record- 
ing which  is  synchronized  electrically 
or  by  the  use  of  perforated  tape.  Both 
single  and  double  system  recordings  are 
still  employed. 

A  new  complete  chain  of  equipment 
for  either  Tv  recording  or  large-screen 
Tv  projection  by  an  intermediate  film 
system  has  been  developed  by  General 
Precision  Labs.  This  equipment  con- 
sists of  a  high-quality  monitor,  16-mm 
recording  camera  rapid  film  processor 
and  projector.  The  monitor  is  provided 
with  electronic  blanking  for  the  frame- 
rate  conversion  and  gradient  correction 
circuits.  The  camera  has  the  rapid  pull- 
down required  of  all  Tv  recording 
cameras  and  a  high-quality  sound-re- 
cording head.  The  rapid  film  processor 
can  be  used  directly  with  the  camera  or 
separately. 

Navy's  Tv  Educational  Program 

During  1950  the  Navy  continued 
studies  of  Tv  as  a  method  of  mass  train- 
ing. The  psychological  studies  to  measure 
the  relative  effectiveness  of  Tv  training 
showed  conclusively  a  definite  superiority 
over  direct  classroom  instruction.  In  the 
spring  of  1950  the  Signal  Corps  col- 
laborated to  present  eight  weeks  of  one- 
hour  programs  over  a  ten-city  CBS  net- 
work to  reach  approximately  5000  re- 
serves. 

In  continuing  its  investigations  of  new 
Tv  equipment  for  Navy  use,  work  was 
advanced  toward  the  final  design  of  a 
prefabricated  classroom  which  could  be 
mass  produced  in  time  of  emergency. 

The  Navy  experiments  have  attracted 
wide  attention  and  have  helped  focus  the 
interest  of  educators  on  Tv  training.  The 
recent  FCC  hearings  on  allocations  for 
educational  television  stations  is  con- 
crete  evidence  of  this   aroused  interest. 

The  first  acceptable  motion  picture 
photography  of  color  Tv  kinescope 
images  was  performed  by  the  Navy,  com- 
bining techniques  developed  for  record- 
ing of  radar  PPI  scopes  and  Tv  kine- 


scopes. A  modified  professional  16-mm 
camera  and  a  specially  designed  high- 
speed, 25-mm,  F:0.7  lens  were  employed. 

Tv  Remote  Presentations 

The  tremendous  impact  of  Tv  as  a 
means  of  taking  the  home  audience  to 
the  scene  of  a  remote,  whether  it  be  a 
sporting  event  or  another  type  of  special 
feature,  has  been  demonstrated  time  and 
again  during  1950.  In  fact,  the  effect  of 
Tv  on  the  local  audience  at  a  sporting 
event  has  created  a  national  controversy. 
The    "gate"    at    football     and     baseball 


games  has  been  increased,  decreased  and 
unchanged  —  depending  entirely  upon 
whom  you  talk  to  and  in  what  part  of  the 
country  your  conversation  takes  place. 
However,  that  the  public  enjoys  the  tele- 
casts of  such  events  is  without  contro- 
versy. 

Theater  Tv  Developments 

In  the  early  months  of  1950.  RCA 
completed  the  design  of  its  first  com- 
mercial theater  Tv  equipment,  the  Model 
PT-100.  This  is  a  direct-projection  sys- 
tem   employing    a    projection    kirn-scope 


It  takes  a  SPECIALIST 
to  Protect  the  HEART  of  Theatre  TV 


I                    7Z       SOUND 
1  PROJECTION-  ••  = 


Xheatre  TV's  complex  circuits  require 
trained  and  experienced  service  special- 
ists— capable  of  using  specialized  test 
equipment.  This  is  not  a  job  for  the 
inexperienced. 

Finest  Theatre  TV  Service  Anywhere.  RCA 

Service  field  technicians  are  theatre  TV 
experts  with  specialized  training  in  the 
television  laboratories  and  factories  of 
RCA — pioneer  in  theatre   TV.   They  are 

If  costs  so  little  to  protect  so  much 


Nowhere  else  do  you  get 
such  specialized  theatre 
TV  service  at  a  price  so 
low.  Write  for  complete 
information. 


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technically  qualified  to  supervise  the  in- 
stallation of  complete  theatre  TV  systems. 
They  know  how  to  properly  maintain  the 
equipment  for  maximum  performance.  The 
RCA  Service  Company  has  installed  and 
serviced  more  theatre  TV  systems  than 
any  other  service  organization — anywhere. 
There  is  no  substitute  for  the  RCA  Service 
Company's  specialized  experience  in 
Theatre  TV. 

Scheduled  Service  and  Parts  Plan.  Like  the 
Service  Plan  for  sound  motion  picture 
theatre  equipment,  RCA's  Theatre  TV 
Service  includes  regular  scheduled  point- 
to-point  checkup  and  maintenance  as  well 
as  emergency  service.  Tubes  and  com- 
ponents are  replaced  without  additional 
charge  when  Parts  Plan  is  included. 


RCA  SERVICE  COMPANY,  INC. 

A  RADIO  CORPORATION  of  AMERICA  SUBSIDIARY 
CAMDEN,  NEW  JERSEY 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     July  1951 


29 


and  Schmidt  optics.  A  pilot  run  was 
placed  in  production  and  twelve  equip- 
ments were  delivered  and  installed  in 
theaters  in  Providence,  Albany,  Bing- 
hamton,  Brooklyn,  the  Bronx,  Queens 
Village,  Chicago  and  Los  Angeles  in 
time  for  the  start  of  the  fall  football 
season. 

At  the  Tesma  Convention  in  Chicago 
in  October.  General  Precision  Labs,  an- 
nounced and  demonstrated  an  interme- 
diate film  theater-Tv  equipment  using 
16-mm  film. 


United  Paramount  Theaters,  Inc.,  in- 
stalled Paramount's  intermediate  film 
equipment  in  one  of  its  Detroit  theaters 
just  prior  to  the  start  of  the  football 
season. 

The  Eastern  theaters  have  all  shown 
a  series  of  football  games  carried  by 
the  Tv  broadcasting  networks.  In  spite 
of  the  fact  that  the  theaters  were  attempt- 
ing to  sell  entertainment  that  was  avail- 
able free  on  home  Tv,  the  over-all  box- 
office  results  were  highly  favorable   and 


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THERE  IS  A  LORRAINE  CARION    TAILORED  FOR 
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Send  necessary  projection  equipment 
data  to  guide  us  in  recommending  the 
Lorraine  Carbons  that  will  do  your 
theatre  or  drive-in  projection  job  better 
and  More   Economically. 


SLOW    BURNING 


SAVINGS   IN   POWER  CONSUMPTION 
SAVINGS  IN  MAINTENANCE 


ECONOMIZE 

<dwttU*te   CARBONS,  INC.,  •OONTON.  N.  J. 


improved  as  the  season  advanced. 

Several  theaters  are  using  Tv  news 
programs  on  a  daily  basis  to  replace  a 
regular  film  newsreel.  This  has  been 
very  popular  because  of  the  timeliness 
of  the  news. 

Exclusive  Tv  Program  Rights 

United  Paramount  Theaters  obtained 
the  exclusive  television  rights  to  the 
Univ.  of  Illinois  and  Univ.  of  Michigan 
football  games  and  showed  them  in 
theaters  in  Chicago  and  Detroit.  At- 
tendance at  these  first  exclusive  show- 
ings was  very  satisfactory,  with  sellouts 
toward  the  end  of  the  season. 

A  group  of  Eastern  theaters  is  work- 
ing on  exclusive  programming  which 
they  hope  to  get  under  way  before  the 
year  is  out.* 

Twentieth  Century-Fox  secured  the 
exclusive  use  of  the  Swiss  Eidophor  sys- 
tem for  theater  Tv.  This  system  pro- 
vides excellent  image  clarity  and  screen 
brightness  and  uses  a  high-intensity  car- 
bon arc  as  a  light  source. 


*  This  program  has  already  been  effectuated; 
and  recent  estimates  place  the  number  of  theater 
Tv  installations  at  100  by  the  end  of  this  year. 


U.  S.  Army  Contract  to  Genarco 

Genarco.  Inc.,  of  Long  Island  City, 
N.  Y.,  makers  of  the  Metro-Lite  high-in- 
tensity corbon  arc  spotlight  which  is  used 
extensively  in  the  theater  and  auditorium 
fields,  has  been  awarded  a  substantial 
contract  by  the  U.  S.  Army  for  the  de- 
velopment of  a  powerful  searchlight 
which  will  outmode  any  spotlight  made 
during  World  War  II. 

While  the  full  Genarco  facilities  will 
be  concentrated  on  the  needs  of  the  Army, 
its  production  facilities  are  still  flexible 
enough  to  supply  the  needs  of  the  enter- 
tainment field  with  spotlights  and  re- 
placement parts  for  both  old  and  new 
units. 

CARBON  ARC  SCREEN  LIGHT 

(Continued  from  page  11) 
while  the  larger-cored  16-mm  carbon  at 
460  amp  gives  only  150  lm/amp. 

This  relationship  is  shown  more  di- 
rectly by  Fig.  5  which  utilizes  the  data 
shown  on  Fig.  4,  together  with  similar 
data  calculated  for  the  other  optical 
speeds  indicated.  Here  lumens-per-am- 
pere  are  plotted  against  carbon  diameter 
for  each  of  four  different  optical  speeds. 
Each  curve  is  represented  as  a  band, 
including  the  extremes  in  current  effi- 
ciency encountered  with  each  carbon 
size.  Here  again,  the  higher  current  effi- 
ciency of  the  small-diameter  carbon  is 
confirmed  for  each  of  the  optical  speeds 
investigated. 

The  data  so  far  have  been  concerned 
only  with  current  efficiency,  and  if  this- 


30 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


July  1951 


800 


600 


tc 
m 
a.  400 


200 


F/ 

1.3 

1  fi 

2.0 

25 

W2Z 

FIG.    5. 


9      10      I  I      12      13  14      15      16 

CARBON    DIAMETER  IN  MM. 

Current    efficiency    in  screen-light 
production. 


were  the  only  criterion,  the  smallest  pos- 
sible carbon  would  always  be  chosen  for 
a  given  job.  However,  no  consideration 
has  yet  been  given  to  the  screen-light  dis- 
tribution ratio,  the  burning  rate  of  the 
carbon,  or  the  color  uniformity  of  the 
screen,  all  important  factors  in  making 
a  choice  in  any  particular  situation. 

Size  vs.  Light  Uniformity 

Figure  6  shows  the  variation  in  screen- 
light  distribution  ratio  with  carbon  size, 
at  the  same  optical  speeds  previously 
considered.  Here  the  decided  improve- 
ment in  screen-light  uniformity  with  in- 
creasing size  is  effectively  demonstrated, 
particularly  as  the  optical  speed  in- 
creases to  give  a  steeper  slope  to  the 
curve.  The  data  shown  in  Fig.  6  repre- 
sent the  average  for  all  the  carbons 
tested,  individual  values  showing  some 
scattering  around  these  curves,  but  not 
sufficient  to  invalidate  the  general  trend. 

It  should  be  pointed  out,  however,  that, 
contrary  to  the  general  indication  of  Fig. 
6.  all  9-mm  carbons,  for  instance,  do  not 
yield  a  lower  screen-light  distribution 
than  all  of  10-mm  size.  In  fact,  the  re- 
verse is  sometimes  the  case  in  practical 
service   comparisons.   Different   ratios   of 


100 
% 

:  80 


60 


40 


or 
o 
(/>  20 


F/ 

2V' 

2.0/ 

1,6/ 

1.3/ 

9       10       II       12      13      14      15     16 
CARBON   DIAMETER  IN  MM. 

FIG.  6.    Screen-light  uniformity;  side-to-center 
brightness   ratio. 


core-to-shell  diameter,  different  methods 
of  construction  and  burning,  all  contri- 
bute to  the  scattering  previously  de- 
scribed. 

Two  additional  factors  contribute  to 
the  screen  distribution  value  actually 
acheived  in  a  given  commercial  situation. 

Two  Additional  Factors 

The  first  is  due  to  the  slight  departure 
in  shape  of  all  commercial  lamp  mirrors 
from  the  perfect  ellipse  assumed  in  the 
present    calculations.    Instead    of   all    the 


riater  images  from  all  angles  of  view 
being  precisely  centered  in  the  aperture, 
they  are  displaced  in  practice,  by  normal 
errors  in  mirror  shape,  to  spread  the  light 
in  less  peaked  fashion,  but  with  negli- 
gible loss  in  total  lumens  on  account  of 
litis  spreading. 

In  the  second  place,  the  projectionist, 
in  adjusting  his  optics  to  give  the  best- 
looking  screen,  may  decide  upon  a 
slightly  out-of-focus  setting,  and  sacrifice 
somewhat  on  screen  light  in  favor  of  a 
flatter  screen. 

The  distribution  values  of  Fig.  6,  there- 


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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


July  1951 


31 


BEING  A 
CARBON 
WASTER 


The  practice  of  throwing  away  carbon  stubs 
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full  reel.  Simply  insert  in  the  holder.  When 
it  is  entirely  consumed,  the  new  carbon  goes 
into    use    without     losing     the     light.     The 
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fore,  are  not  necessarily  the  same  as 
those  which  would  be  obtained  in  a  prac- 
tical projector  assembly,  although  the 
basic  trends  between  sizes  and  optical 
speeds  are  as  indicated. 

Carbon  Consumption   Rate 

Let  us  consider  next  the  consumption 
rate  of  the  carbon.  This  depends  so 
much  on  carbon  design,  on  the  method 
of  burning,  whether  the  carbon  is  plated 
or  unplated,  whether  it  is  burned  with  or 
without  current  jaws,  and  with  or  with- 
out water-cooling,  that  no  simple  rela- 
tionship exists.  However,  in  situations 
where  equivalent  screen  light  is  given  by 
carbons  of  different  sizes,  the  smaller 
carbon  will  always  burn  the  faster.  The 
exact  magnitude  and  economic  signifi- 
cance of  this  difference  requires  determi- 
nation in  each  specific  case,  and  is  always 
an  important  factor  to  be  considered. 

Blowing  of  the  arc  according  to  prin- 
ciples recently  defined  by  Dr.  Edgar 
Gretener,2  is  also  a  major  factor  in  the 
determination  of  current  and  carbon 
efficiency.  Apparently  the  light  secured 
at  a  given  current  is  very  substantially 
increased  by  this  blowing,  while  the  car- 
bon consumption  per  unit  of  light  output 
is  less  markedly  affected. 

Screen  Light  Color  Value 

With  respect  to  screen  color,  it  is  most 
difficult  to  express  color  differences  in 
terms  of  numbers  of  true  comparative 
significance,  and  no  attempt  has  been 
made  to  do  this  with  the  various  trends 
reported  here.  However,  the  larger  car- 
bon gives  a  more  complete  filling  of  the 
aperture  from  all  angles  of  view,  and 
also  tends  to  give  a  more  uniform  screen 
color  in  any  comparison  of  different  sizes 
at  equivalent  light  levels.  Further,  with 
the  larger-sized  carbon,  screen  light  and 
color  uniformity  is  better  maintained  over 
a  wider  range  of  maladjustment  of  the 
positive-carbon    position. 

It  was  previously  indicated  that  the 
smaller  carbon  requires  a  higher  collec- 
tion angle  for  maximum  screen  light  than 
does  the  larger  carbon.  This  general  re- 
lationship is  indicated  for  four  different 
optical  speeds  by  the  curves  of  Fig.  7. 
The  increasing  slope  at  the  higher  speed 
shows  that  this  effect  of  carbon  size  be- 
comes more  pronounced  as  the  speed 
increases. 

Speed  of  Optical  System 

Finally,  the  relationships  plotted  in 
Fig.  8  show  that  increases  in  optical 
speed  into  the  aperture  do  not  result  in 
as  great  increases  in  illumination  as  the 
relative  optical  speeds  alone  would  pre- 

2  "Physical  Principles,  Design  and  Performance 
of  the  Ventarc  High-Intensity  Projection  Lamps," 
by  Edgar  Gretener;  J.  Soc.  Mot.  Pict.  &  Tv  Eng., 
Oct.,  1950. 


S  1 30 


F/ 

1.3  y 

2.0. 

2.5* 

9  10        II         12  13         14         15        16      , 

DIAMETER     OF     CARBON     IN     MM. 

FIG.  7.    Collecting  angle  giving  maximum 
screen   light. 

diet.  Compared  to  the  illumination  ob- 
tained with  an  F:2.5  system,  an  increase 
to  F:2.0  should  theoretically  give  6.25/ 
4.00  or  1.56  times  as  much  illumination. 
The  ratio  calculated  with  16-mm  carbons 
is  1.48,  and  for  9-mm  carbons,  1.40 
— 95%  and  90%,  respectively,  of  the 
theoretical  amount. 

As  might  be   expected,  this  departure 
from  the  theoretical  is   areatest  for  the 


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32 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


July  1951 


smallest  carbon,  the  reason  being  that 
the  crater  images  on  the  aperture  are  not 
sufficiently  large  to  fill  the  aperture  com- 
pletely at  all  angles  of  view,  and  that  the 
brightness  distribution  across  the  crater 
is  most  peaked  for  the  smaller  carbons. 
This  paper  thus  defines  certain  basic 
relationships  which  should  be  recognized 
in  the  most  effective  development  of  the 


100 

< 

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t- 

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uj  60 

X 

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fe<*0 

1- 

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IT 

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1 

1 

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FIG.  8.  Actual  versus  theoretical  gain  in  screen 
light  with  increasing  optical  speed. 

combined  arc  carbon  and  optical  system 
to  do  a  given  job. 

Broadly  speaking,  a  small  carbon  can 
be  utilized  to  give  highest  current  effi- 
ciency; this  requires  the  use  of  a  high 
collection  angle,  gives  a  less  uniform 
screen-light  distribution  and  screen  color, 
and  is  more  sensitive  to  light  and  color 
variations  as  the  carbon  is  moved  from 
the  exact  focal  position.  The  larger  car- 
bons operate  with  lower  current  efficiency 
but  give  a  higher  quality  performance  in 
all  other  respects,  at  a  higher  cost. 

The  choice  in  a  particular  situation 
should  be  based  upon  a  balance  of  these 
various  factors  as  applied  to  the  specific 
economic  considerations  involved.  As  in 
other  fields,  there  are  proper  applications 
for  many  possible  combinations  of  cost 
and  quality. 


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THE  MAGIC  OF  COLOR 

(Continued  from  page  9) 
indistinguishable  from  the  blank  side  of 
the  film.  This  was  especially  true  of  silent 
Technicolor   films,   for  these   carried  no 
soundtrack  or  frame  lines  in  silver. 

Like  the  older  double-film  Technicolor, 
the  old-style  imbibition-process  color 
films  depended  on  two  colors,  and  hence 
could  not  cope  with  yellow,  purple,  and 
certain  other  colors.  Also,  blue  sky  had 
a  distinctly  greenish  tint.  Only  red,  green, 
and  brown  with  their  several  shades  and 
tints  appeared  at  all  natural  on  the 
screen.  The  next  step  in  the  development 
of  the  Technicolor  process  was  to  adapt 
it  to  the  well-known  principles  of  tricolor 
photography. 

Early  Tricolor  Processes 

Tricolor  photography  is  much  older 
than  Technicolor — older,  even,  than  the 
movies.  Several  pioneers  in  the  art  of 
photography  had  successfully  made  tri- 
color separation  negatives  as  long  ago 
as  the  1860's.  Some  of  these  sets  of  three 
negatives  each  were  made  by  successive 
exposures  in  ordinary  "still"  cameras 
through  vermilion,  emeraude.  and  indigo 
filters.  Other  experimenters  had  actually 
constructed  workable  "one-shot."  or 
beam-splitting,  cameras  in  which  the 
three  negatives  could  be  exposed  simul- 
taneously. 

Only  the  lack  of  panchromatic  photo- 
graphic emulsions  hampered  these  early 
experiments  in  color  pictures.  It  took  an 
enormously  long  exposure  to  get  an  im- 
pression on  the  plate  exposed  through 
the  vermilion  filter. 


Vermilion     (orange-red),     emeraude 

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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


July  1951 


33 


CLAYTON  BALL-BEARING 

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these  colors,  and  to  no  others,  that  the 
color-receptive  centers  of  the  eye  are 
tuned.  "In-between"  colors  are  synthe- 
sized by  the  eye  from  various  proportions 
of  the  three  primaries.  Any  method  of 
color  photography  which  utilizes  all  three 
primaries  is  therefore  capable  of  repro- 
ducing every  color  which  human  vision 
can  appreciate. 

The  old-time  photographers  who  had 
devised  one-shot  color  cameras  repro- 
duced their  pictures  by  additive  projec- 
tion., The  cameras,  themselves,  were  used 
as  projectors.  The  negatives  were  printed 
on  lantern-slide  plates  and  placed  in  the 
projector  (camera)  which  was  fitted  out 
with  three  separate  light  sources.  Each 
positive  plate  was  placed  behind  the  same 
color  filter  used  for  photographing  the 
negative  from  which  it  was  printed.  Thus 
one  plate  was  projected  with  vermilion 
light,  the  second  with  emeraude,  and  the 
third  with  indigo  light. 

Thomascolor,  Rouxcolor  Processes 

Superposition  of  the  three  primaries, 
in  varying  proportions,  resulted  in  a  re- 
creation on  the  screen  of  the  original 
scene  in  full  natural  color.  The  results 
were  said  to  be  very  good.  This  process 
has  no  limitations  as  far  as  color  rendi- 
tion is  concerned. 

Thomascolor  and  Rouxcolor  are  at- 
tempts to  adapt  the  simultaneous  additive 


^  **y  Bo*^ 


tricolor  process  to  motion-picture  pro- 
jection. Four  frames,  two  side  by  side, 
occupy  the  space  of  a  single  frame  of 
standard  35-mm  film.  Three  of  the  di- 
minutive frames  carry  the  color  record  in 
black-and-white;  the  fourth  frame,  un- 
needed,  is  totally  black.  A  special  lens 
containing  aligning  elements  and  V,  E, 
and  I  filters  must  be  used  in  order  to 
provide  color  filtering  and  to  superimpose 
the  colored  images  on  the  screen. 

This  additive  process  is  not  satisfac- 
tory. From  the  projectionist's  point  of 
view,  too  much  light  is  wasted.  (About 
80%  is  lost.)  And  registration  of  the 
superposed  frames  is  not  easily  attained 
in  the  desired  degree  of  perfection.  More- 
over, the  tiny  Rouxcolor  frames  are  very 
"grainy,"  and  slight  defects  in  the  opera- 
tion of  the  projector  intermittent  are 
highly  magnified  on  the  screen. 

Thomascolor,     alias     Rouxcolor,     may 


therefore  be  dismissed  as  of  no  practical 
importance  as  far  as  theatrical  motion 
pictures  are  concerned. 

The  Keller-Dorian  Method 

Another  additive  tricolor  process  of 
academic  interest  was  the  Keller-Dorian 
method  known  as  Kodacolor.  This  was 
extensively  used  for  16-mm  "home 
movies"  before  the  introduction  of  Koda- 
chrome,  an  entirely  different  method. 

The  blank  side  of  Kodacolor  raw  stock 
was  "lenticulated,"  or  embossed,  with 
tiny  cylindrical  lenses  running  length- 
wise— about  559  of  them  to  the  inch.  The 
film  is  threaded  up  in  the  camera  with 
the  lenticulated  side  facing  the  lens,  over 
which  a  special  filter  comprising  three 
vertical  color  strips  (vermilion,  emer- 
aude, and  indigo)  is  placed.  The  function 
of  the  color  filter  and  film-lenticulations 
is  to  cause  the  image  to  be  impressed 
upon  the  emulsion  of  the  film  as  three 
distinct  images.  Each  of  these  images  cor- 
responds to  one  of  the  filter  areas,  and 
only  one. 

Kodacolor  film,  upon  development  and 
reversal  into  a  positive  for  projection, 
looked  to  the  eye  like  an  ordinary  black- 
and-white  film.  To  use  the  film,  it  was 
necessary  to  place  an  exact  replica  of 
the  camera  color  filter  over  the  lens  of 
the  projector.  The  process  was  then  re- 
versed; and  the  original  scene  appeared 
upon  the  movie  screen  in  full  natural 
color.  The  chief  drawbacks  to  Kodacolor 
were  loss  of  light  by  absorption  and  fuzzy 
picture  definition  on  the  screen. 

[TO  BE  CONTINUED] 


How  Many? 


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many  men  read  it  ahead  of  you? 

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wait — you  would  be  first  to  read  it. 

Use  coupon  below. 

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34 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


July  1951 


Master  Sergeant  Travis  Watkins,  of  Gladewater,  Texas— Medal  of  Honor. 
On  September  3.  1950,  near  \ongsan,  Korea,  Sergeant  Watkins  was  wounded 
and  paralyzed  from  the  waist  down.  Ordering  his  squad  to  pull  out  and 
leave  him,  he  stayed  behind  and  died  covering  their  withdrawal. 

Sergeant  Watkins  gave  his  life  for  freedom.  What  can  you  do  ? 

This.  You  can  begin  today  to  do  your  share  in  defense  of  the  country  he 
defended  far  "above  and  beyond  the  call  of  duty"  by  buying  more  .  .  .  and 
more  .  .  .  and  more  United  States  Defense'"'  Bonds. 

For  your  Defense  Bonds  strengthen  America.  And  if  you  will  make  our 
country  strong  enough  now,  American  bo)s  may  never  have  to  give  their 
lives  again.  Defense  is  your  job,  too. 


Remember  that  when  you're  buying  bonds 
for  national  defense,  you're  also  building  a 
personal  reserve  of  cash  savings.  Remem- 
ber, too,  that  if  you  don't  save  regularly, 
you  generally  don't  save  at  all.  So  go  to 
your  company's  pay  office — now — and  sign 
up  to  buy  Defense  Bonds  through  the  Pay- 
roll Savings  Plan.  Don't  forget  that  now 


every  United  States  Series  E  Bond  you 
own  automatically  goes  on  earning  inter- 
est for  20  years  from  date  of  purchase  in- 
stead of  10  years  as  before.  Tiiis  means,  for 
example,  that  a  Bond  you  bought  for  §18.75 
can  return  you  not  just  §25  but  as  much  as 
$33.33!  For  your  country's  security,  and 
your  own,  buy  U.  S.  Defense  Bonds  now  ! 


*Z7/5!  Savings  Bonds  are  Defense  Bonds  -  Buy  them  regularly! 


The  U.  S.  Government  docs  nol  pay  for  this  advertisement .  It  is  donated  b\  this  publication 
in  cooperation  with  tlie  Advertising  Council  and  the  Magazine  Publishers  of  America  as 

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risk  of  film  damage.  .  .  .  Operating  costs  under  these  conditions  are  far  below 
that  of  85-ampere  lamps. 

Magnarc  Lamps  assure  80%  side-to-center  (SMPE  Standard)  screen  light 
distribution,  not  a  deceptive  60%  or  "Hot  Center".  .  .  .  They  are  all  Und. 
Lab.,  Inc.  listed.  .  .  .  They  are  not  insurance  hazards.  .  .  .  They  are  and  have 
been  for  years  "The  First  Choice"  of  large  and  small  theatres,  drive-ins,  and 
the  motion  picture  industry. 

*  Similar  results  are  not  guaranteed   if  all-metal  reflectors  are  used. 


"FIRST     WITH     THE     FINEST" 


130-180  AMPERES 


TRADE   MARK   REG. 


NEW     MAGNETIC    STABILIZER 

This  modern  lamp  produces  all  the  light  there  is. 
...  It  is  the  standard  equipment  of  the  nation's  largest 
and  finest  theatres.  .  .  .  Used  by  90%  of  the  largest 
Drive-In  Theatres. 

It  is  the  "Omega"  for  maximum  screen  brilliance. 
.  .  .  Nothing  can  even  approach  it  in  white  light  volume 
when  used  with  projectors  that  have  efficient  revolving 
shutters. 

Assures  satisfying  projection  for  Drive-Ins  regardless 
of  the  size  of  the  picture,  length  of  throw,  and  under 
all  weather  conditions.  .  .  .  They  are  Und.  Lab.,  Inc. 
listed  and,  therefore,  not  insurance  hazards.  .  .  .  Heat 
filter  assures  no  risk  of  film-heat  damage  at  maximum 
arc  amperage  and   maximum   screen   lumens. 


"WHY     EXPERIMENT?" 

J.E.Mr. AULEY  MFD. CD. 

552-654    WEST   ADAMS    STREET 

CHICAGO  6.  ILLINOIS 


B 


316690 


28  8  » 


INTERNATIONAL 

PR0JECTI0NIS1I 


With  Which  Is  Combined  Projection  Engineering 


HENRY  B.  SELLWOOD,  Editor 


Volume  26 


AUGUST  1951 


Number  8 


Index  and  Monthly  Chat 3 

The  Magic  of  Color,  IV  5 

Robert  A.  Mitchell 

New  All-Purpose  Film  Leader  9 

SMPTE  Committee  Report 

Stereoscopic  Motion  Pictures  12 

J.  A.  Norlinc 

'Natural  Vision'  Latest  3-D   (?) 
Entry 14 

Training  British  Projectionists         15 

The  Matching  of  Loudspeakers       16 
John  F.  Rider 

Carbon  Arc  Copper  Salvage  17 

In  the  Spotlight   20 

Harry  Sherman 


Eidophore  Tv  With  Color 22 

SMPTE  Out  of  FCC  Hearing  22 

New    RCA    Magnetic   Recorder- 
Projector  23 

Current    IA-IP    Amateur    Radio 
Listing 24 

TV  Viewing  Difficulty  Corrected 
by  B.  &  L.  Tele-Ban 25 

IA-IP   Radio   :Hams'   a  Theater 
Tv  Backlog  25 

Cleaning  Projector  Lenses    ...        26 

Letters  to  the  Editor  26 

News  Notes 

Technical  Hints 

Miscellaneous  Items 


Published  Monthly  by 
INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST  PUBLISHING  CO.,  INC. 

19  West  44  Street,  New  York  18,  N.  Y. 
Telephone:  MUrray  Hill  2-2948 

R.  A.  ENTRACHT,  Publisher 

SUBSCRIPTION  REPRESENTATIVES 

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Yearly  Subscription:  United  States  and  possessions,  $2.50  (two  years,  $4)  ;  Canada  and 
foreign  countries,  $3;  single  copies,  30  cents.  Changes  of  address  should  be  submitted 
two  weeks  in  advance  of  publication  date  to  insure  receipt  of  current  issue.  Entered  as 
second  class  matter  February  8,  1932,  at  the  Post  Office  at  New  York,  N.  Y.,  under  the 
act  of  March  3,  1879.  Entire  contents  copyrighted  1951  by  International  Projectionist 
Publishing  Co.,  Inc.,  International  Projectionist  is  not- responsible  for  personal  opinions 
appearing  in  signed  articles  in  its  columns. 

420 


MONTHLY   CHAT 


THREE  facets  of  the  news,  all  signifi- 
cant and  all  interwoven:  three-dimen- 
sional movies  without  a  viewing  aid  are 
a  reality;  competency  still  is  the  payoff 
for  the  professional  projectionist  (we 
have  nothing  else  to  sell),  and  there  still 
are  industry-wise  people  who  are  ada- 
mant in  their  determination  not  to  sell 
short  the  motion  picture  industry. 

Stereoscopic  motion  pictures  have  been 
available  to  these  salary-conscious  brains 
( ? )  of  the  film  business  for  several  years 
now.  This  is  a  fact,  disputed  by  nobody 
with  even  average  intelligence.  The  same 
quality  of  brains  that  wrought  the  mira- 
cle of  Tv  has  long  been  available  to  those 
whose  innatecaution  and  terrific  concern 
with  their  annual  take  ("after  me  the 
deluge")  has  militated  against  the  best 
interests  of  the  industry  which  made  it 
possible  for  them  to  wear  their  first  clean 
shirt. 

RCA,  wise  in  the  ways  of  finance  and 
trade,  announces  publicly  that  it  stands 
ready  to  invest  millions  of  dollars  in  the 
future  of  the  motion  picture  theater.  No 
philanthrophy  here — just  sound  business 
sense.  Meanwhile,  the  industry  brass  sits 
back  and  look  to  somebody  else  to  carry 
the  ball. 

Sure,  they  go  through  the  motions  of 
"exploring"  this  and  that  possibility  for 
perking  up  the  movie  box-office — but  their 
safaris  are  strictly  of  Boy  Scout  nature. 
Bilk  the  exhibitor,  cut  down  the  number 
of  lamps  on  a  set,  and  attend  industry 
functions  at  the  Waldorf-Astoria — these 
are  the  contributions  of  the  "brains"  of 
this  business. 

Nor  has  Labor  been  too  active  in  its 
own  behalf:  with  some  60,000  working 
men  and  women  dependent  upon  the  sur- 
vival of  the  movie  industry,  Labor  has 
contributed  pretty  much  of  nothing  to 
that  technological  progress  which  alone 
can  provide  security  for  its  own.  As  for 
competency — read  elsewhere  herein  how 
the  British  purpose  providing  a  steady 
flow  of  technical  competency.  Pretty  high 
standards — yes? 

No  oracle  the  writer  of  these  lines,  but 
it  must  be  pretty  obvious  to  even  the  dolt 
that  concerted  action  by  all  branches  of 
the  movie  industry  is  necessary  in  order 
to  keep  things  on  a  fairly  even  keel.  Mr. 
Charles  and  Mr.  Zilch  may  collect  such 
unconscionable  salaries  as  $900,000  an- 
nually— but  this  serves  only  to  deplete 
not  add  to  industry  resources. 

We  can  dispense  with  the  Mr.  Charles 
and  the  Mr.  Zilch,  but  we  as  working 
people  should  not  stand  idly  by  and  see 
washed  away  in  a  wave  of  incompetency 
that  which  provides  sustenance  for  our 
own.  By  which  we  mean  that  the  biggest 
stake  in  this  business  of  ours  is  that  of 
the  workers — and  if  they  remain  passive, 
they  may  now  pick  their  own  economic 
burial  ground. 

These  gloomy-sounding  words  may  be 
readilv  transposed  to  the  bright,  sunny 
side  of  the  street  if  the  will  to  do  so  is 
exercised. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     August  1951 


75  to  130  ampere  high  intensity  reflector  type 

PROJECTION    ARC    LAMP 


•  Air-cooled  rotating  positive  carbon  feeding  mechanism. 

•  Big  16% "  reflector  matches  high  speed  f/1.9  lens. 

•  Automatic  arc  crater  positioning. 

•  Stable  burning  and  complete  combustion  at  the  arc,  to  avoid  any 
black  soot,  are  attained  by  a  jet  of  air  directed  just  above  the  arc. 

•  White  smoke,  which  would  otherwise  cloud  the  mirror,  is  also 
diverted  by  this  air  stream. 

•  Unit  construction  permits  instant  removal  of  components  for 
cleaning. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     August  1951 


VOLUME  XXVI 


AUGUST  1951 


NUMBER  8 


The   Magic   of   Color 

By  ROBERT  A.  MITCHELL 


IV.  Color  Film  Processes 


MOST  interesting  is  the  modifica- 
tion of  the  additive  color  method 
by  the  Lumiere  Autochrome  pro- 
cess, used  for  making  colored  transpar- 
encies on  glass  plates.  The  glass  side  of 
a  panchromatic  photographic  plate  is 
coated  with  a  special  emulsion  contain- 
ing innumerable  tiny  grains  of  starch 
dyed  vermilion,  emeraude.  and  indigo. 
The  plate  is  placed  in  the  camera  with 
the  photographic  emulsion  away  from 
the  lens.  All  of  the  light  striking  the 
emulsion  must  accordingly  pass  through 
the  colored  starch  grains,  which  act  as 
filters. 

The  Autochrome  negative,  upon  de- 
velopment, has  everything  in  reverse,  in- 
cluding the  colors.  So  the  plate  is  re- 
versal— processed  to  turn  it  into  a  posi- 
tive. The  white  areas  are  entirely  cleared 
of  silver  in  the  positive,  just  as  in  an 
ordinary  print  on  a  lantern  slide.  But 
white  on  an  Autochrome  plate  looks 
white  only  because  these  areas  are  viewed 
by  equivalent  quantities  of  vermilion, 
emeraude,  and  indigo  light.  The  colored 
starch  grains  remain  permanently  on  the 
back  side  of  the  plate. 

A  yellowish  green  leaf  appears  yel- 
lowish green  on  the  Autochrome  plate 
simply  because  the  silver  deposit  has 
been  removed  from  behind  the  emer- 
aude starch  grains,  but  remains  behind 
the  vermilion  and  indigo  grains,  thus 
covering  up  those  two  colors. 

The  Autochrome  process  was  adopted 


by  Agfa  and  called  Agfacolor.  Instead 
of  starch  grains,  however,  Agfa  used 
colored  resin  grains.  Modern  Agfacolor, 
however,  is  an  entirely  different  type  of 
process. 

This  additive  process  might  seem 
usable  for  colored  movies,  but  such  is 
not  the  case.  It  has  two  serious  disad- 
vantages. It  is  unavoidably  grainy.  It 
cuts  down  light  transmission  to  such  an 
extent  that  the  clearest  whites  are  really 
neutral  grays  which  allow  only  about 
25%  of  the  light  to  pass. 

Rigid  Tricolor  Requisites 

Tricolor  motion  picture  processes  have 
to  meet  two  very  rigid  requirements  in 
addition  to  the  prime  requisite  of  rea- 
sonably faithful  color  reproduction 
throughout  a  wide  range  of  light  inten- 
sities. First,  such  processes  must  permit 
the  preparation  of  a  large  number  of 
theatre-release  prints.  Second,  the  char- 
acter of  the  prints  must  be  such  that 
adequate  picture  illumination  can  be 
obtained  from  existing  standard  pro- 
jection  equipment. 

It  is  the  second  of  these  requirements 
which  definitely  rules  out  additive  proc- 
esses. Only  subtractive  color  methods 
can  be  used  successfully  in  the  profes- 
sional 35-mm  field. 

In  the  days  of  2-color  motion  pictures, 
Technicolor,  with  its  imbibition  method 
of  printing  release  positives,  proved  itself 
the    peer    of    all    existing    movie    color 


processes.  But  shortly  after  the  advent 
of  sound  pictures,  Dr.  Kalmus  felt  that 
the  2-color  process  was  no  longer  ade- 
quate. He  accordingly  directed  his  ef- 
forts towards  the  building  of  vastly  im- 
proved Technicolor  cameras  and  proc- 
essing machinery. 

First  3-Color  Technicolor 

Much  scientific  research  and  a  large 
outlay  of  capital  lay  back  of  the  first 
3-color  Technicolor  camera  and  the  new 
processing  plant,  first  ready  for  use  early 
in  1932.  The  first  production  thus  filmed 
was  a  2-reel  short  titled  La  Cucaracha. 
Walt  Disney  immediately  adopted  the 
new  medium.  The  first  full-length  fea- 
ture in  tricolor  Technicolor  was  Becky 
Sharp. 

There  are  three  ways  of  filming  a 
Technicolor  "separation"  negative.  The 
simplest  method  consists  of  exposing 
three  frames  in  succession  through  ver- 
milion, emeraude,  and  indigo  filters.  This 
method,  obviously  not  suitable  for  photo- 
graphing scenes  in  motion,  is  confined 
to  the  animated  cartoon.  Three  matrix 
positives  are  made  from  the  single  nega- 
tive by  means  of  a  step  printer  which 
prints  every  third  frame  of  the  negative. 
One  matrix,  therefore,  is  the  vermilion 
record,  the  second  is  the  emeraude,  and 
the  third  the  indigo  record. 

The  standard  method  of  filming  in 
Technicolor  involves  a  special  camera 
which  makes  use  of  the  beam-splitting 
principle.  But  even  though  three  separ- 
ate negatives,  one  for  each  primary  color, 
are  made  by  the  Technicolor  camera,  the 
beam-splitting  device  produces  only  two 
identical  images  of  the  scene  being 
photographed.  How  then,  does  this  cam- 
era  produce  three  negatives? 

A  prism  of  special  design  is  positioned 
directly  behind  the  lens.  Part  of  the 
light   passes   straight   through   the   prism 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     August  1951 


and  through  an  emeraude  filter  to  a 
panchromatic  negative  film  which  records 
the  scene  by  emeraude  light. 

The  remainder  of  the  light  from  the 
lens  is  reflected  at  a  right  angle  to  form 
an  image  of  the  scene  in  a  second  pic- 
ture aperture.  Through  this  aperture  two 
negatives  run  together  in  "bipack." 

Sensitive  Film  Layers 

The  film  nearest  the  prism  has  a  stand- 
ard emulsion  sensitive  only  to  indigo  light, 
thus  becoming  the  indigo  record  of  the 
scene.  But  this  film  also  acts  as  a  filter 
for  the  film  behind  it,  and  which  runs 
in  contact  with  it.  For  this  purpose  the 
indigo-recording  film  is  backed  by  a 
layer  of  vermibon-dyed  gelatine.  It  there- 
fore acts  as  a  light-filter  for  the  rear  film 
of  the  bipack,  a  very  sensitive  panchro- 
matic negative,  which  records  the  scene 
by  vermilion  light. 

In  this  way  the  Technicolor  camera, 
although  forming  only  two  picture 
images,  photographs  three  negatives  si- 
multaneously, each  negative  being  a  rec- 
ord of  the  scene  in  one  of  the  three  pri- 
mary colors. 

The  third  method  of  filming  Techni- 
color, which  is  enjoying  increasingly 
wide  use,  requires  only  an  ordinary  one- 
film  motion  picture  camera  and  a  special 
"monopack"  color  negative.  How  this 
single  negative  actually  records  a  scene 
in  full  natural  color  will  be  described 
in  connection  with  Agfacolor  and  Koda- 
chrome. 

But  no  matter  which  of  these  three 
methods  of  photographing  Technicolor 
are  used,  three  seperate  matrix  films  must 
be  printed,  one  for  each  primary.  The 
monopack  color  negative  is  usually  re- 
versal-processed, converting  it  to  a  "di- 
rect positive"  in  full  natural  color.  From 
this  "original"  three  negative  records 
are  made  by  running  it  three  times 
through  a  film  printer,  a  different  pri- 
mary color  filter  being  used  in  the  printer 
at  each  operation.  Matrices  are  then 
printed  from  the  three  separation  nega- 
tives. 

The  black-and-white  matrices  are  sub- 
sequently     processed      and      imbibition- 


The  chromatic  adaptation  of  the  eye  is  very 
well  demonstrated  by  illuminating  a  trans- 
parent window  A  with  a  light  of  a  certain 
color  and  the  surrounding  field,  B,  first  with 
artificial  daylight,  for  instance,  and  then  with 
incandescent  light.  Shortly  after  changing  over 
from  daylight  to  lamplight  the  eye  directed 
upon  A  sees  a  change  of  color  in  the  window. 

printed  as  previously  described  for  old- 
style  Technicolor.  Each  matrix  is.  o£ 
course,  printed  in  the  color  which  is 
exactly  complementary  to  the  color  of 
the  filter  used  in  photographing  the  nega- 
tive from  which  it  was  made. 

These  primary  complementaries  (sec- 
ondary colors)  are  yellow  (true  yellow, 
complementary  to  indigo),  magenta  (a 
decidedly  purplish  red,  complementary 
to  emeraude),  and  cyan  (a  slightly  green- 
ish blue,  complementary  to  vermilion). 

Subtractive  Process  Example 

The  new  Technicolor,  like  the  old  2- 
color  process,  is  thus  a  subtractive  proc- 
ess. Suppose  yellowish  green  foliage  is 
photographed.  Foliage  of  this  color  comes 
out:  (1)  black  on  the  matrix-positive 
made  from  the  vermilion-exposed  nega- 
tive, (2)  white  on  the  matrix  printed 
from  the  emeraude  negative,  and  (3) 
black  on  the  matrix  printed  from  the 
indigo  negative. 

In  imbibition-printing  from  these  ma- 
trices, the  foliage  is  printed:  (1)  cyan 
from  the  cyan-inked  vermilion  matrix, 
it  is  printed  clear  (no  color  at  all)  from 
the  (2)  magenta-inked  emeraude  matrix, 
and  (3)  yellow  from  the  yellow-inked 
indigo   matrix.    Cyan   and   yellow    super- 


imposed give  the  true  emeraude  color  of 
the   foliage. 

The  "subtraction"  of  colors  from  the 
white  light  of  the  projector  may  be 
described  this  way:  cyan  and  yellow 
subtract  their  complementaries  (the  pri- 
mary colors  vermilion  and  indigo,  re- 
spectively) from  the  white  projection 
light.  Only  one  primary  component  of 
the  light  remains,  emeraude,  to  pass  on 
to  the  screen  to  form  an  image  in  na- 
tural color  of  the  emeraude  foliage. 

The  Printing  Procedure 

In  the  actual  imbibition-printing  of 
modern  Technicolor,  yellow  is  printed 
first,  then  magenta,  and  finally  cyan. 
The  printing  stock  is  regular  positive 
film  which  has  previously  been  printed 
with  the  soundtrack  and  framelines  in 
silver  image.  The  reason  why  the  sound- 
track must  be  in  silver  is  because  all  the 
Technicolor  dyes,  including  the  cyan, 
are  nearly  transparent  to  infrared  light. 
Although  invisible  to  the  eye,  infrared 
affects  the  modern  red-sensitive  type  of 
photoelectric  cell.  A  track  printed  in 
Technicolor  dyes  would  therefore  give 
very  feeble  sound. 

Hold  up  a  strip  of  "black"  Techni- 
color film  to  the  light — a  fadeout,  for 
example.  Instead  of  being  truly  black, 
the  film  will  appear  dark  red.  This  shows 
that  the  cyan  dye,  which  theoretically 
should  cut  off  all  red  light,  transmitting 
only  emeraude  and  indigo,  actually  does 
allow  the  "low  red"  to  pass.  And  it  is 
even  more  transparent  to  the  invisible 
infrared  rays. 

Technicolor  Print  Misalignment 

It  was  formerly  the  practice  to  over- 
print the  Technicolor  dye-images  with 
a  faint  silver  image  to  assist  the  correct 
balance  of  color  values.  Recent  improve- 
ments in  Technicolor  make  this  prac- 
tice less  necessary.  As  a  result,  the  purity 
of  colors  in  a  Technicolor  print  is  very 
high,  and  the  over-all  color  balance  prac- 
tically perfect.  Of  all  the  movie  color 
processes,  Technicolor  reigns  supreme. 

One  minor  criticism  may  be  directed 
{Continued  on  page  32) 


Color  Temperatures  of  Light  on  the  Projection  Screen  with  Various  Carbon  Arc  Projection  Systems 


Lamp 
Low  Intensity  Lamp 
Lamp  for  "Pearlex"  Trim 
"One  Kilowatt"  d-c  Lamp 

"One  Kilowatt"  a-c  Lamp 

Simplified   H.I.    Lamp 

Simplified    H.I.    Lamp 


Carbon  Trim 

12-mm-8-mm  Low  Intensity 
6-mm-5.5-mm  "Pearlex" 
7-mm   "Suprex"   Positive- 
6-mm  "Orotip"  C  Negative 
7-mm-7-mm  "Suprex"  Pbsitives 

7-mm   "Suprex"   Positive- 
6-mm  "Orotip"  C  Negative 
8-mm  "Suprex"  Positive- 
7-mm  "Orotip"  C  Negative 


COLOR  TE 

MPERATURE 

Amperes 

Absolute 

Fahrenheit 

30 

3870 

6500 

30 

4450 

7550 

40 

5300 

9080 

52 

5260 

9010 

65 

5420 

9300 

42 

5020 

8580 

50 

5060 

8650 

65 

5340 

9160 

70 

5270 

9030 

INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     August  1951 


NEWEST  PLOT  in  the  world. . . 


Boy  meets  girl  is  one  of  the  oldest  plots  in  the  world.  Yet  in  the  hands  of  today's  writers,  directors,  and 
technicians  it  is  the  newest — sparkling,  ever  fresh. 

Great  credit  is  due  these  men — their  imagination  and  their  skill  in  the  use  of  modern  equipment  and 
materials. 

The  Eastman  Kodak  Company  is  proud  of  the  part  it  has  been  able  to  play.  Through  the  Eastman 
Technical  Service  for  Motion  Picture  Film,  it  helps  studios  in  the  selection,  exposure,  and  processing  of 
black-and-white  and  color  film;  helps  laboratories  in  setting  up  control  systems  and  to  establish  new 
standards  of  quality  and  economy;  helps  exchanges  and  exhibitors — always  making  sure  that  each  foot 
of  film  produces  optimum  results,  gets  its  best  showing. 

In  carrying  out  this  work,  the  Eastman  Kodak  Company  maintains  branches  at  strategic  centers,  in- 
vites inquiries  from  all  concerned.  Address: 

Motion  Picture  Film  Department 

EASTMAN  KODAK  COMPANY,  ROCHESTER  4,  N.Y. 


East  Coast  Division 
342  Madison  Avenue 
New  York  17,  New  York 


Midwest  Division 

137  North  Wabash  Avenue 

Chicago  2,  Illinois 


West  Coast  Division 
6706  Santa  Monica  Blvd. 
Hollywood  38,  California 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


August  1951 


THE  National  CARBON 


TRADE-MARK 


ARCS  BIG  FIVE: 

*  small-source  size 

*  terrific  brightness 

*  great  power  from  one  unit 

*  white  light 

*  minimum  heat  per  foot-candle 

make  it  indispensable 
on  movie  sets! 


THE  "National"  carbon  arc  offers  an  ideal  combination  of  the 
qualities  most  desirable  in  a  studio  light.  The  carbon  arc's 
small-source  size  —  less  than  one  quarter  square  inch  —  insures 
sharp  shadows,  simulates  one-source  lighting  better,  creates  a 
perfect  "follow-spot."  The  carbon  arc's  high  brightness  pene- 
trates deep  sets,  establishes  high  light  levels  without  excessive 
heat,  creates  better  the  illusion  of  a  third  dimension.  The  carbon 
arc's  great  power  from  one  unit  cuts  illumination  pathways 
through  general  set  illumination,  boosts  daylight,  lights  large 
sets  so  generously  that  camera-lens  apertures  may  be  reduced  and 
great  depth  of  focus  obtained.  The  carbon  arc's  white  light 
matches  outdoor  shooting  conditions,  lends  itself  better  to  filters 
because  it  has  equal  quantities  of  blue,  green  and  red  and,  finally, 
makes  colored  objects  appear  visually  the  same  inside  and  outside. 

There  is  no  substitute  for  the  carbon  arc. 

MORAL:  YOU   CAN'T  SKIMP   ON  STUDIO   LIGHTING 
WITHOUT  RISKING   BOX  OFFICE! 


When  you  order  studio 

or  projector  carbons  — 

order  "NATIONAL"! 


The  term  "National"  is  a  registered  trade-mark  of 
Union  Carbide  and  Carbon  Corporation 

NATIONAL  CARBON  COMPANY 

A  Division  of 
Union  Carbide  and  Carbon  Corporation 

30  East  42nd  Street,  New  York  17,  N.  Y. 

District  Soles  Offices:  Atlanta,  Chicago,  Dallas, 
Kansas  City,  New  York,  Pittsburgh,  San  Francisco 

IN  CANADA:  National  Carbon  Limited 

Montreal,  Toronto,  Winnipeg 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     August  1951 


NEW 


ALL-PURPOSE 


FILM 


LEADER 


This  proposal  for  a  new  film  leader  has  been  under  extensive 
and  exhaustive  tests  by  an  SMPTE  committee.  Designed  to  best 
serve  the  interests  of  all  film  users,  in  both  the  theater  and  Tv 
fields,  a  report  on  this  proposed  leader  is  herewith  offered 
for  constructive  criticism  by  all  branches  of  the  film  industry. 


THE  Subcommittee  on  Film  Leaders 
has  worked  to  produce  a  new  leader 
design  retaining  all  the  excellent  fea- 
tures of  the  Academy  Leader  now  in  gen- 
eral use,  and  providing  some  features 
which  are  highly  desirable  from  the  view- 
point of  a  new  and  growing  user  of  film 
productions  —  television.  It  is  believed 
that  this  has  been  accomplished. 

Early  in  the  work  a  purely  Tv  cen- 
tered program  was  abandoned  in  favor 
of  a  broadly  applicable  design.  Since 
then  the  leader  has  been  tested  by  com- 
mercial laboratories,  professional  theater 
projectionist  groups,  and  equipment 
manufacturers.  Several  Tv  vision  com- 
panies have  been  using  the  new  leader 
on  their  recording  releases  and  on  cer- 
tain other  Tv  films.  More  than  10,000 
prints  have  been  so  made  and  used  with 
excellent   results. 

It  is  hoped  that  all  interested  persons 
will  consider  the  proposed  leader  care- 
fully, use  it  widely  for  test  and  evalua- 


tion, and  send  the  Subcommittee  their 
findings.  It  is  the  intention  that  a  pro- 
posal for  standardization  shall  be  made 
when   widespread   results  warrant   it. 

Features  of  the  New  Leader 

The  present  American  Standard 
Z22.55-1947  is  the  foundation  for  the 
new  leader  design.  Only  additions  have 
been  made,  and  only  such  additions  as 
cause  no  deletion  of  past  features.  Under 
Z22.55,  paragraphs  (1)  and  (2)  remain 
unchanged.  Paragraph  (3)  is  changed 
only  as  to  frame  content,  and  paragraphs 
(4),  (5),  (6)  and  (7)  are  unchanged. 

2.1 :  The  main  body  of  the  leader  ahead 
of  the  three-foot  mark  is  changed  from 
a   solid   black  to    an   appropriate   simple 


SAMPLE   FOOTAGE   FROM   PROPOSED  LEADER 

Read  from  the  upper  left  to  the  lower  right;  broken 
edges   indicate   duplicate  frames  deleted. 

The  basis  of  the  pattern  is  familiar 
to  most  Tv  engineers.  A  neutral  gray 
background  provides  a  foundation  for  the 
pattern  proper,  which  consists  of  two 
concentric  circles  having  diameters  in 
the  ratio  of  4:3,  and  four  arrows  whose 
tips  establish  the  limits  of  scanning  as 
defined  by  the  Smpte  Tv  Test  Reel. 

Tv  Reference  Levels 

Approximately  equal  areas  of  black 
and  white  are  used  to  provide  reference 
levels  for  video  gains  and  pedestal  set- 
tings. These  two  limits,  together  with 
the°  background  gray,  provide  a  rough 
check  of  system  transfer  characteristic, 
since   the    gray   value    used    is    approxi- 


pattern  (see  illustration).   The  design  is  mately  centered  between  the  blacK  ana 

intended    to    be    used    in    Tv    to    permit  white    tones.     Experience    will    indicate 

checking  system  operation  before  switch-  where  the  gray  level  should  fall  on  trie 

ing  into  the  first  picture  frame.  wave-form  monitor  when  the  system  pro- 


fj.  Soc  Mot.  Pict.  Eng.,  May,  19S1. 
INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     August  1951 


vides    best    reproduction.     The    assigned 
density  values  of  these  areas  are: 
White     0.2  ±  0.1 
Gray       1.0  approximately 
Black      2.0  ±  0.2 

The  pattern  also  provides  a  secondary 
indication  of  scanning  adjustment  and 
camera-projector  alignment.  This  will 
greatly  reduce  the  need  for  "blind" 
switching;  that  is,  for  switching  into  a 
film  sequence  from  equipment  having 
only  accidental  scanning  control  settings. 

Much  of  the  foregoing  information 
can  be  gained  during  the  rolling  time 
of  a  normally  threaded  leader.  In  addi- 
tion, when  stop-frame  projection  is  avail- 
able (its  use  is  rapidly  increasing),  the 
projected  pattern  permits  advance  check 
of  the  entire  electrical  system,  including 
effects  of  beam  current,  edge-light,  back- 
light, etc.  Also,  the  presence  of  the  "av- 
erage video"  information  between  cue 
numbers  reduces  the  tendency  of  the 
system  to  "bounce"  as  the  cues  go  by. 

Footage  Numbers  Changed 

2.2:  The  footage  numerals  have  been 
changed  to  project  right  side  up.  It  has 
been  found  that  precise  Tv  program 
switching  has  caused  these  numerals  to 
become  of  great  value  to  program  di- 
rectors. They  can  count  to  their  first- 
frame  cue  from  the  rhythm  set  by  the 
passing  numerals,  resulting  in  excellent 
switching  accuracy.  Rightside-up  pro- 
jection makes  them  easier  to  read  for 
this  service.  To  prevent  errors  of  read- 
ing by  both  production  directors  and 
projectionists  the  "SIX"  and  "NINE" 
markers  are  spelled  out. 

2.3:  The  picture  threading  frame  for 
each  35-mm  foot  is  identical  with  the  old 
leader,  consisting  of  a  full  white  back- 
ground with  black  numerals  overlaid. 
No  threading  problems  are  introduced 
there.  However, .  a  $ingle  frame,  when 
projected,  does  not  have  enough  visual 
effect  to  permit  positive  recognition  of 
the  numeral;  therefore,  each  numeral  is 
repeated  one  frame  before  and  one  frame 
after  each  threading  frame,  but  with  the 
outer  portions  of  the  main  target  design 
added. 

As  seen  in  the  illustration,  there  is 
no  possibility  of  confusing  the  threading 
frame  with  those  added  for  visual  effect. 
This  permits  normal  threading  proce- 
dures used  in  theater  projection  to  con- 
tinue without  modification. 

Sound  Threading  Marks 

2.4:  The  35-mm  sound  threading  marks 
have  been  changed  to  read  in  plain  Eng- 
lish "35  Sound,"  replacing  the  previously 
used  diamond  mark.  No  explanation  of 
function  is  necessary,  therefore,  for  per- 
sons unfamiliar  with  the  use  of  a  leader, 
as  was  the  case  before  this  change.  The 
lettering  used  is  right-side  up  to  the 
projectionist,    and    on    the    side    of    the 


10 


film  occupied  by  the  sound  track.  No 
change  in  threading  procedure  is  re- 
quired. 

2.5:  16-Mm  sound  threading  marks 
have  been  added  to  define  the  sound 
scanning  position  for  that  service.  As  in 
the  35-mm  case,  the  sound  mark  reads 
in  plain  English  and  occurs  on  the  side 
of  the  film  next  to  the  sound  track.  The 
leader  can  thus  be  used  for  both  reduc- 
tion printing  and  contact  work  without 
change. 

Previously  no  indication  was  provided 
of  proper  threading  for  16-mm  use.  Yet 
it  has  been  found  that  most  projectors 
can  be  misthreaded.  Past  practice,  in 
cases  of  controversy,  has  been  to  count 
26  frames  and  mark  the  sound  position 
with  grease  pencil.  No  problems  of  this 
sort  need  occur  with  the  new  leader.  Of 
course,  the  presence  of  an  indication  of 
correct  threading  position  also  increases 
the  precision  of  ordinary  operation. 

Black  Frames  Altered 

2.6:  The  black  frames  following  the 
three- foot  marker  are  slightly  changed 
to  a  dark  gray.  The  tone  value  is  not 
altered  enough  to  affect  theater  projec- 
tion, but  will  permit  Tv  operations  to 
switch  into  the  dark  frames  without  as 
much  "flare"  and  "black-spot"  as  now 
occur.  No  change  in  theater  practice  is 
required. 

The  density  value  used  for  these 
frames  is  approximately  1.6  but  may 
vary  somewhat,  depending  upon  print- 
ing, conditions.  In  general,  the  intention 
is  to  provide  some  iconoscope  plate 
illumination  to  stabilize  its  operation. 

2.7:  A  small  switching  cue  (see  illus- 
tration, third  frame  above  lower  right- 
hand    corner)     has    been    added    in    the 


eighth  dark  frame  before  the  first  frame 
of  picture.  The  cue  is  the  standard  mark 
used  for  changeovers  but  confined  to  one 
frame.  It  is  to  be  used  as  an  indication 
to  Tv  directors  that  the  picture  will  start 
within  normal  switching  reaction  time. 
Since  the  cue  is  very  small,  occurs  only 
on  one  frame,  and  is  on  a  part  of  the 
film  not  normally  shown  in  theaters,  it 
will  not  affect  theater  practice  in  any 
way. 

The  switching  cue  also  gives  a  clear 
indication  to  a  cutter  when  a  particular 
leader  has  been  used  too  often,  resulting 
in  excessive  loss  of  frames  due  to  splic- 
ing. A  few  frames  can  be  lost  without 
serious  consequences,  but  when  their 
number  exceeds  four  or  five,  that  leader 
should  not  be  re-used. 

Reel  Identification 

2.8:  Reel  identification  standards  have 
not  been  changed.  It  is  worth  noting, 
however,  that  nonstandard  practices 
have  grown  up,  particularly  in  Tv  film- 
making. American  Standard  Z22.55-1947 
defines  proper  procedures  and  should  be 
followed  rigorously.  The  proposed  leader 
is  carefully  designed  to  supply  needed 
information  throughout  its  active  length. 
If  should  not  be  mutilated  by  slates  or 
special  markings  in  any  position  other 
than  the  standard  allows  or  its  useful- 
ness will  be  greatly  impaired. 

3.1:  Any  new  thing  is  strange  at  first, 
inevitably.  Every  effort  has  been  made 
to  reduce  this  strangeness  by  retaining 
unimpaired  the  previous  functions  of  the 
leader.  But  each  new  function  has  in- 
troduced some  new  appearance.  It  is 
suggested  that  evaluation  be  a  slow  proc- 
ess, with  time  for  all  to  become  familiar 
(Continued  on  page  31) 


Main  body  pattern  of  proposed  identification  for  standard   leader. 

INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     August  1951 


SflOUJ-UJHITE  LIGHT 

on  youR  ATTRflCTions 


A  sharp,  brilliant  spot  .  .  .  quiet,  flicker- 
less,  portable  ...  is  yours  without  the  use 
of  heavy  rotating  equipment  when  you  use 
the  Strong  Trouper  or  Trouperette. 

The  Trouper  High  Intensity  Arc  Spotlight 
is  ideal  for  theatres,  auditoriums,  arenas, 
hotels,  ice  shows,  schools,  colleges  and 
lodges.  It  draws  only  10  amperes  from  any 
110-volt  A.C.  convenience  outlet.  An  adjust- 
able, self-regulating  transformer  is  an  in- 
tegral part  of  the  base.  A  two-element  vari- 
able focal  length  lens  system  and  silvered 
glass  reflector  account  for  much  of  the  effi- 
It  has  an   automatic  arc  control.  A  trim   of 

carbons  burns  one  hour  and  20  minutes  at  21    volts  and  45  amperes. 

The  Trouper   is   easily  disassembled   for  shipping. 
The   Trouperette    Incandescent  Spotlight   is   particularly   adapted   to 

the  needs  of  night  clubs,   small   theatres  and   schools  where   physical 


TROUPER 
ciency  of  this  spotlight. 


dimensions  and  price  are  factors.  As  con- 
trasted to  conventional  incandescent  spotlights, 
with  which  the  spot  size  is  varied  solely  by  "" 
irising,  to  result  in  substantial  light  loss,  the 
Trouperette  utilizes  all  the  light  through  most 
of  the  spot  sizes.  This  results  in  head  spots 
which  are  6Vz  times  brighter.  Sharp  edges  are 
maintained  from  head  spot  to  flood.  Features 
include  a  variable  focal  length  objective  lens 
system,  5Vi"  silvered  glass  reflector,  Fresnel 
lens,  fast  operating  color  boomerang  which  ac- 
commodates six  slides  and  a  height  adjustable 
mounting  stand.  The  horizontal  masking  control 
can  be  angled  at  45  degrees  in  each  direction. 
The  Trouperette  uses  a  standard  115-volt,  1000- 
watt  prefocused  projection  type  bulb  and  plugs 
convenience  outlet. 


TROUPERETTE 


into    any    110-volt 


SEE  ANY  OF  THESE   DEALERS  OR   USE   COUPON    FOR  OBTAINING   LITERATURE. 

MILWAUKEE — Nat'l  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  R.  Smith  Co.  SEATTLE — B.  F.  Shearer  Co.;  Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co 

MINNEAPOLIS— Minneapolis   Theatre    Supply;    Nafl  SIOUX  FALLS— American  Theatre  Supply  Co. 
Theatre  Supply  Co. 

Nat'l  Theatre  Supply  Co 


ALBANY,  N.  Y.—  Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Albany 
Theatre  Supply 

ATLANTA— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

ATLANTIC  CITY— Boardwalk  Film  Enterprises 

AUBURN,  N.  Y. — Auburn  Theatre  Equipment 

BALTIMORE— J.  F.  Dusmon  Co.;  Nafl  Theatre  Sup- 
ply Co. 

BIRMINGHAM — The    Queen     Feature    Service,     Inc. 

BOSTON— J.  Cifre,  Inc.;  Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

BUFFALO — Dion  Products;  Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

CHARLOTTE— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Standard 
Theatre  Supply  Co. 

CHICAGO — Abbott  Theatre  Equipment  Co.;  Droll 
Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Gardner  Jansen,  Inc.;  Grand 
Stage  Lighting  Co.;  Hollywood  Stage  Lighting 
Co.;  Midwest  Stage  Lighting  Co.;  Nafl  Theatre 
Supply  Co. 

CINCINNATI— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

CLEVELAND— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

DALLAS — Hardin  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Modern  Thea- 
tre Equipment  Co.;  Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

DENVER— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Graham  Bros. 

DES  MOINES— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

DETROIT— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

FORTY  FORT,  PA.— V.  M.  Tate  Theatre  Supplies 

GREENSBORO,  N.  C— Standard  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

HOUSTON — Southwestern  Theatre   Equipment  Co. 

INDIANAPOLIS— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

KANSAS  CITY,  MO.— Shreve  Theatre  Supply;  Nafl 
Theatre  Supply  Co. 

LOS  ANGELES— J.  M.  Boyd;  C.  J.  Holzmueller;  Nafl 
Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Pembrex  Theatre  Supply  Corp. 

LPUFSVILLE— Falls  City  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

MEMPHIS— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 


NEW  HAVEN- 
NEW  ORLEANS— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

NEW  YORK  CITY— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

NORFOLK— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

OKLAHOMA  CITY— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co.:  Okla- 
homa Theatre  Supply  Co.;  The  Century  Theatre 
Supply  Co. 

PHILADELPHIA— Blumberg  Brothers;  Nafl  Theatre 
Supply  Co. 

PITTSBURGH— Atlas  Theatre  Supply;  Nafl  Theatre 
Supply  Co. 

SALT  LAKE  CITY— Inter-Mountain  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

SAN  FRANCISCO— C.  J.  Holzmueller;  Nafl  Theatre 
Supply  Co.;  W.  G.  Preddey  Theatre  Supplies 


ST.  LOUIS— City  Electric  Co.;  Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co 

TOLEDO — Theatre  Equipment  Co. 

WESTERLY,  R.   I.— G.  H.  Payne  Motion  Picture  Service 

CANADA— 

Dominion   Sound  Equip.,   Ltd.,  Montreal,  Que. 

General  Theatre  Supply  Co.,  Toronto,  Ont. 

General  Theatre  Supply  Co.,    St.    John,    N.    B. 

General  Theatre  Supply  Co.,    Vancouver,    B.    C. 

General  Theatre  Supply  Co.,   Montreal,   Que. 

General  Theatre  Supply  Co.,    Winnipeg,    Man. 

Perkins   Electric  Co.,   Ltd.,   Montreal,   Que. 

Perkins    Electric  Co.,    Ltd.,   Toronto,    Ont. 

Sharp's  Theatre  Supplies,   Ltd.,  Calgary,  Alta. 


j  THE 

«                  /j 
*      J4  CITY. 

■     NAME 

STRONG     ELECTRSC     CORPORATION 

The  World's  Largest  Manufacturer  of  Projection  Arc  Lamps" 

PARK  AVENUE                                                                                                             TOLEDO  2,  OHIO 
Please  send   free   literature   on    the  □   Strong   Trouperette    Incandescent  Spotlight; 
□   Strong    Trouper   Arc    Spotlight. 

I      COMPANY 

1      STREET 

I     CITY  & 

STATE 

J 

Stereoscopic 
Motion 


Pictures 

By  J.  A.  NORLING 

President,  Loucks  &  Norling  Studios,  Inc.,  New  York 


A  comprehensive  summary  of  the  present  status  of  a  technical  develop- 
ment which  has  been  receiving  increasing  attention  and  exploration  by 
the  motion  picture  industry — although  mostly  on  the  "thinking"  side. 
The  writer  is  an  outstanding  authority  on  the  art,  his  various  three- 
dimensional  movies  having  received  world-wide  acclaim. 


NO  GRAPHIC  means,  beside  the 
stereogram,  can  substitute  for  the 
re-creation  of  the  "real"  in  a  still- 
life,  and  in  stereo  movies  realism  reaches 
the  ultimate,  for  they  can  include  move- 
ment, color,  and  action  as  well  as  depth. 
The  principles  employed  in  photograph- 
ing and  projecting  stereoscopic  slides  also 
apply  to  stereoscopic  motion  pictures. 
The  same  fundamental  requirement  that 
each  eye  sees  only  the  picture  intended 
for  it  also  applies  to  the  moving  stereo- 
gram. 

35-mm  Movie  Stereoscopy 

It  seems  incredible  to  many  of  us  who 
have  worked  with  three-dimensional  pic- 
tures that  the  vast  motion  picture  in- 
dustry does  not  have  a  stereoscopic  en- 
gineering and  development  research  pro- 
gram. The  only  joint  engineering  get- 
togethers  are  the  meetings  of  the  Society 
of  Motion  Picture  and  Television  En- 
gineers, and  it  is  at  a  very  few  of  these 
meetings  that  three-dimensional  photog- 
raphy processes  are  presented. 

But  whenever  the  subject  of  three- 
dimensional  films  comes  up,  there  is  a 
remarkable  response  from  the  members 
present,  and  also  from  the  press.  The 
art  of  stereoscopy  has  "sex  appeal,"  but 
it  seems  to  have  escaped  the  concentrated 
attention  of  most  of  the  people  in  the 
Hollywood  area.  The  men  in  the  drivers' 
seats  of  the  movie  industry  have,  for  the 
most  part,  failed  to  have  a  vital  personal 
interest  in  and  understanding  of  three- 
dimensional  movies. 

Formidable  Competition  to  Tv 

That  the  industry  could  use  some- 
thing to  combat  television's  capture  of 
more  and  more  of  the  theatre  audience 


is  undeniable.  Stereo  movies  might  well 
induce  people  to  return  to  their  former 
favorite  amusement.  But  the  return  is 
likely  to  come  about  in  the  mass  only  if 
the  film  theatre  gives  them  something 
they  can't  get  on  a  17-inch  Tv  tube, 
namely  the  ultimate  in  photographic 
realism,  the  stereoscopic  movie  in  full 
color,  with  all  the  dramatic  possibilities 
that  are  only  waiting  to  be  appreciated. 
The  enthusiastic  public  reception  given 
some  earlier  stereo  movies  and  the 
dollar  profits  from  these  movies  are  a 
matter  of  record.  Newer,  better  stereo 
techniques  are  now  available,  and  the 
reason  for  introducing  them  was  never 
more  pressing.  Will  the  motion  picture 
industry  take  action? 

Early  Anaglyph  Process  Films 

One  of  the  early  and  noteworthy  the- 
atrical exhibitions  of  stereoscopic  motion 
pictures  occurred  in  1924,  when  J.  F. 
Leventhal  produced  a  few  "shorts"  uti- 
lizing the  anaglyph  process.  There  fol- 
lowed an  eleven-year  lull  in  the  use  of 
stereoscopic  films. 


Then,  in  1935,  Loucks  and  Norling 
Studios  and  Mr.  Leventhal  jointly  pro- 
duced a  series  of  short  films  again  em- 
ploying the  anaglyph  principle,  this  time 
in  talking  picture  form.  These  films, 
which  were  called  "Audioscopiks,"  were 
released  by  Loews,  Inc.  and  proved  to 
be  some  of  the  most  successful  short  sub- 
jects ever  issued,  winning  not  only  do- 
mestic acceptance  but  an  unprecedented 
play  in  the  foreign  field,  notably  in 
France,  Spain  and  Great  Britain. 

That  their  success  should  have  indi- 
cated further  pursuit  of  the  anaglyph 
process  seems  logical.  But  the  producers 
had,  from  the  beginning,  realized  the 
inherent  limitations  of  the  anaglyph 
process  and  concluded  that  films  ex- 
hibited by  that  process  would  only  be 
adequate  as  novelties  and  would  never 
be  tolerated  for  full-length  feature  re- 
leases. 

'Retinal  Rivalry'  Induced 

This  conclusion  was  arrived  at  by  a 
recognition  of  the  visual  "insult"  re- 
sulting from  the  projection  of  one  color 
to  one  eye  and  its  complementary  to  the 
other.  This  sort  of  delivery  of  images, 
one  color  to  one  eye,  another  to  its  mate, 
produces  "retinal  rivalry"  and  brings  on 
physiological  disturbances  that  may  in- 
duce nausea  in  some  observers  if  they 
look  at  the  anaglyph  longer  than  a  few 
minutes. 

Since  this  process — the  anaglyph — has 
played  an  important  role  in  the  advance 
of  the  stereoscopic  art,  it  would  be  well 
to  describe  it  here  briefly.  Its  invention 
is  credited  to  Ducos  du  Hauron,  who  ap- 
plied it  in  1895,  although  there  is  some 
evidence  that  its  possibilities  had  been 
explored  many  years  before  that. 

The  Viewing  Process 

In  one  form,  the  anaglyph  images  are 
on  two  separate  films.  One  member  of 
the  stereoscopic  pair  is  projected  through 
a  filter  of  one  color,  the  other  through 
a  filter  having  a  color  complementary  to 
that  of  the  first.  In  another  form,  the 
one  that  was  used  for  "Audioscopiks," 
the  anaglyph  images  are  printed  in  com- 
plementary  colors    directly   on   film   and 


The  Norling 
three-dimensional 
camera  for  stills. 
It  has  provision 
for  variable  lens 

interaxial  and  . 

convergence. 


12 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


August  1951 


IB      *.           \\ 

^  ^teJjN.1 

*  *tI 

;■' 

V^l^B 

I    ^ 

JJM 

1  #- 

K&  ' 

' 

Front  view 

of  the  Norling 

three-dimensional 

motion  picture 

camera,  showing 

variable   interaxial 

optical  system 

in  front  of  the 

two  lenses. 


projected  in  a  standard  projector  with- 
out niters. 

The  projected  images  are  viewed  with 
spectacles  having  windows  of  the  same 
colors  as  the  colors  on  the  screen.  Red- 
orange  for  the  right  eye  filter  and  blue- 
green  for  the  left  are  often  used.  The 
right-eye  red-orange  filter  in  the  viewing 
spectacle  renders  the  blue-green  right- 
eye  image  in  monochrome  and  the  left- 
eye  blue-green  filter  renders  the  red- 
orange  left-eye  image  also  in  mono- 
chrome. 

Since  dyes  and  pigments  hardly  ever 
are  capable  of  transmitting  only  the 
color  they  are  supposed  to  transmit, 
there  is  rarely  a  complete  "cutting"  of 
one  color:  some  of  it  always  comes 
through  so  that  part  of  the  blue-green 
image  which  is  supposed  to  be  blocked 
by  the  blue-green  spectacle  filter  leaks 
through,  producing  a  "ghost"  image.  So, 
in  reality,  the  one  eye  sees  a  part  of  the 
image  intended  for  the  other ;  the  "part," 
of  course,  being  defined  as  a  very  dim, 
but  still  discernible  remnant  of  the 
whole  "other-eye"  image. 

Good  picture  quality  has  never  char- 
acterized the  colored  anaglyph.  This  and 
other  shortcomings  make  it  eligible  for 
discard  as  a  practical  system  for  motion 
picture  features. 

Since  the  introduction  of  Polaroid 
light-polarizing  filters  it  is  possible  and 
practical  to  substitute  these  for  the  red 
and  green  filters  of  the  original  anaglyph 
process.  Strictly  speaking,  the  polarized 
light  method  may  be  defined  as  another 
form  of  the  anaglyph.  Actually,  Pola- 
roid Stereoscopy  would  be  a  good  name 
for  it.  It  was  Dr.  Edwin  H.  Land,  head 
of  Polaroid  Corp.,  and  his  invention  of 
the  first  practical  and  efficient  synthetic 
polarizer  which  hastened  the  increasingly 
widespread  use  of  the  present  satisfactory 
methods  of  stereoscopic  projection. 


World's  Fair  (1939)  Film 

The  first  large-scale  public  exhibition 
of  a  stereoscopic  motion  picture  with  ex- 
cellent picture  quality  took  place  in  1939 
at  the  New  York  World's  Fair.  That 
year  a  black-and-white  film  was  shown. 
The  following  year  a  similar  subject  was 
exhibited  in  Technicolor.  More  than  five 
million  people  saw  these  films,*  and 
they're  still  talking  about  them.  Some 
of  the  production  and  exhibition  prob- 
lems posed  by  these  pictures  are  inter- 
esting to  consider. 

The  camera  assembly  for  the  black- 
and-white  picture  consisted  of  two  Bell 
and  Howell  professional  35-mm  cameras 
mounted  so  that  one  was  "upside  down" 
in  relation  to  the  other.  This  was  done 
so  that  the  lenses  could  be  brought  close 
together. 

Even  with  this  arrangement,  the  inter- 


*  Produced  by  the  writer. 


axial  was  not  ideal.  It  was  fixed  at  V-/^ 
inches,  although  calculations  showed  that 
some  scenes  actually  required  as  close 
as  \y%  inch  inleraxials.  But  no  such 
camera  was  available  then,  nor  was  there 
time  to  have  one  built.  However,  a  com- 
plete set  of  matched  lenses  of  different 
focal  lengths  effected  a  quite  satisfactory 
compromise  with  the  ideal. 

'Stop-Motion'  Photography 

The  greater  part  of  the  picture  was  a 
sort  of  phantasy,  showing  the  parts  com- 
prising a  Plymouth  car  dancing  around 
and  assembling  themselves.  Their  move- 
ments were  in  synchronism  with  music 
and  required  the  use  of  "stop  motion" 
photography,  that  is,  "one  frame-at-a- 
time"   shooting. 

But  a  substantial  part  of  the  film  con- 
tained "live  action"  shots  taken  in  the 
foundry  and  shops  and  along  the  as- 
sembly line.  The  narrator  for  the  film 
was  Major  Bowes  of  Amateur  Hour 
fame.  He  appeared  in  "live  action"  in 
one  sequence  in  which  he  spoke.  This 
was  the  first  "live  action-live  dialogue" 
shot  ever  made  in  a  stereoscopic  pre- 
sentation. It  created  some  difficult  prob- 
lems since  the  cameras  would  not  fit  into 
any  available  studio  "blimps."  However, 
the  sequence  was  shot  without  any  para- 
site camera  noises  being  recorded. 

Dual  Projection  Set-up 

Since  the  Chrysler  film  was  shot  in  a 
two-camera  setup,  and  no  special  photo- 
graphic and  projection  facilities  for 
single-film  handling  was  available,  it  was 
necessary  to  project  with  two  projectors. 
A  rather  complex  Selsyn  motor  drive  was 
used  for  interlock,  although  a  much 
simpler  synchronization  could  have  been 
attained  by  a  straightforward  mechani- 
cal   linkage,    such    as    we    used    for    the 


Rear  view 

of  the  Norling 

camera,  showing 

"racked-over" 

position  for  lining 

up  a  scene  through 

the  binocular 

view-finder. 

Camera  contains 

built-in   spirit   level 

and  footage 

counter. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     August  1951 


13 


Diagram   of  a 

double  projector 

installation   using 

Polaroid   filters  on 

the   projectors,   plus 

viewing  spectacles. 


ELECTRICALLY  ■ 
INTERLOCKED 
OR  I  WE 


POLAROID 
SPECTACLti 


Pennsylvania  Railroad's  stereoscopic 
movie  display  at  the  Golden  Gate  Inter- 
national Exposition  in  San  Francisco  in 
1940. 

A  Technicolor  film,  using  the  stop-mo- 
tion technique  was  our  next  stereo  pro- 
duction. A  unique  filter  attachment  was 
arranged  in  front  of  the  camera  lenses. 
The  filters  were  mounted  on  wheels  which 
rotated  together.  Color  balance  was  at- 
tained by  making  sectors  having  angular 
dimensions  calculated  to  pass  the  quan- 
tity of  light  required  for  each  color  and 
as-  demanded  by  the  sensitivity  of  the  film. 

The  "A"  (red)  filter  passed  light  to 
which  the  film  was  more  sensitive  than 
that  passed  by  the  "B"  (green)  and  "C5" 
( blue  I  filters.  Consequently  the  red 
filter  had  the  narrowest  opening  of  all, 
and  the  "C5,"  to  whose  transmission  the 
film  was  least  sensitive,  had  the  widest 
opening.  The  exposures  were  made  by 
the  alternate  frame  method  of  color 
separation.  Three  frames,  one  the  red 
record,  one  the  green,  and  one  the  blue, 
were  made  instead  of  one  frame  as  in 
ordinary   photography. 

These  separation  negatives  were  used 
by  Technicolor  to  make  the  printing 
matrices  from  which  the  dye  imbibition 
prints  were  produced. 

Two  Separate  Films  Advocated 

It  has  always  been  the  writer's  opinion 
that  the  stereoscopic  camera  for  profes- 
sional use  should  be  built  to  take  the 
images  on  two  separate  films.  This  is 
to  afford  the  greatest  flexibility  in  the 
studio  and  to  permit  the  use  of  short 
focus  lenses  and  to  facilitate  the  mak- 
ing of  optical  effects  in  the  duplicating 
processes. 

One  such  camera  was  built.  It  con- 
tains the  features  deemed  essential  to  a 
versatile  camera.  The  most  important 
are  a  variable  interaxial  and  a  converg- 
ence control,  but  important  too  is  a 
binocular  finder  showing  in  miniature  a 
three-dimensional  view  of  the  scene  to  be 
photographed.  Visual  inspection  during 
focusing  seems  superior  for  stereoscopic 
work  and  focusing  is  easier  when  the 
view  is  seen  in  three  dimensions. 

The  binocular  view  finder  has  an  addi- 


tional advantage:  it  enables  the  camera- 
man to  compose  the  scene  stereoscopic- 
ally,  using  the  interaxial  and  convergence 
controls,  manipulating  them  until  he  gets 
the  best  possible  arrangement.  He  can 
increase  the  interaxial  if  he  wants  to  in- 
crease the  apparent  depth  of  the  scene. 


He   can  reduce  it  if  nearby  objects  de- 
mand it. 

The  dual  projector  system  used  at  the 
New  York  and  San  Francisco  Fairs  is 
substantially  the  same  as  that  currently 
on  exhibition  at  the  Festival  of  Britain. 
According  to  press  reports,  it  is  also  the 
same  system  which  has  recently  been 
demonstrated  by  Natural  Vision  Corp. 
of  Hollywood. 

Dual  Images  on  One  Film 

Systems  for  stereoscopic  films  using 
dual  images  side  by  side  or  one  above 
the  other  have  also  been  proposed.  One 
of  the  problems  in  the  two-image  ar- 
rangement, whether  in  tandem  or  side 
by  side,  is  the  loss  of  light,  because  the 
light-covering  circle  covers  a  large  area 
around  the  area  occupied  by  the  two 
images. 

The  ordinary  circular  light  spot  from 
the  projector  arc  spills  light  all  around 
(Continued  on  page  28) 


Natural  Vision/  Latest  3-D  (?)  Entry 


HOLLYWOOD  is  currently  ex- 
cited by  another  seeming  pal- 
liative for  the  drooping  box-office 
— three-dimensional  films,  of  all 
things.  This  latest  wide-eyed 
wonder  (of  a  temporary  nature, 
of  course)  is  the  effusion  of  Natu- 
ral Vision  Corp.  which,  employing 
age-old  technical  knicknacks,  com- 
paratively speaking,  promises  to 
open  up  the  road  to  the  Promised 
Land.  As  reported,  Natural  Vision 
goes  like  this; 

The  only  special  equipment  nec- 
essary to  photograph  a  picture  in 
the  Natural  Vision  system  in- 
cludes a  housing  which  holds  two 
standard  cameras  facing  each 
other.  They  receive  their  images 
from  two  mirrors  mounted  be- 
tween their  lenses  in  a  V  and  sepa- 
rated by  the  normal  distance  be- 
tween tne  human  eyes. 

The  mirrors  can  be  adjusted  to 
angle  so  that  the  point  of  optical 
convergence  will  correspond  to  any 
focal  point  at  which  the  cameras 
are  set.  Each  camera  takes  a  com- 
plete negative  which  may  be  used 
to  produce  standard  two-dimen- 
sional prints  for  normal  exhibition 
anywhere. 

Special  Viewing  Aids 

The  three-dimensional  effect  re- 
quire the  use  of  two  prints,  one 
from  each  negative,  two  projec- 
tors simultaneously,  and  polarized 
spectacles  for  audiences.  Trans- 
parent gelatins  of  opposite  polari- 
zation immediately  in  front  of 
each  projector  polarize  the  beams, 


which  are  adjusted  to  proper  con- 
vergence on  the  screen  and  the 
viewer  equipped  with  correspond- 
ing glasses  sees  one  image  with 
one  eye  and  the  other  image  with 
the  other  eye.  Consequently,  he 
experiences  normal  depth  percep- 
tion. The  system  will  work  either 
in  color  or  black-and-white. 

Disadvantages  of  System 

Its  disadvantages  are  several. 
For  continuous  screening  without 
interruption  for  rewinding,  a  the- 
ater must  use  four  projectors  in- 
stead of  the  standard  two.  The 
system  will  work  only  on  a  metal- 
lic-surfaced screen,  and  many 
theaters  are  equipped  with  porous 
screens,  replacement  of  which 
would  cost  about  $200.  And,  final- 
ly, the  exhibitor  must  buy  spec- 
tacles for  his  patrons  at  a  cost  of 
five  to  ten  cents  a  pair,  and  the 
patrons  must  be  persuaded  to  wear 
them. 

Nevertheless,  says  Natural 
Vision,  the  obstacles  are  by  no 
means  insuperable  in  big,  first-run 
theaters,  which  normally  have 
three  projectors  anyway.  In  situ- 
ations where  innovation  is  im- 
practical, hopefully  explains  Nat- 
ural Vision,  a  single  print  can  be 
used  to  show  the  picture  in  the 
regular  two-dimensional  form. 

Readers  of  IP  will  recognize  in 
the  foregoing  much  that  is  old- 
hat  technologically,  and  this  im- 
pression will  be  strengthened  af- 
ter a  reading  of  the  adjacent  ex- 
position by  J.  A.  Norling. 


14 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


August  1951 


Training  British  Projectionists 


BASIC  outlines  of  a  program  for  train-, 
ing  British  projectionists,  as  agreed 
upon  by  the  exhibitors  (C.E.A. )  and  the 
union  (N.  A.  T.  K.  E.)  have  been  made 
available  to  IP  through  the  courtesy  of 
our  good  friend  and  colleague,  R.  How- 
ard Cricks,  editor  of  the  technical  sec- 
tion of  the  Ideal  Kinema   (London). 

The  plan  will  be  administered  by  local 
committees  of  CEA  and  NATKE.  All  ap- 
prentices must  be  at  least  16  years  of 
age,  and  except  with  the  approval  of  the 
local  committee  they  must  not  be  more 
than  17.  Apprentices  shall  be  inden- 
tured for  four  years,  of  which  six  months 
shall  be  considered  a  probationary  period 
during  which  the  indenture  may  be  ter- 
minated by  14  days'  notice  on  either 
side. 

Deferment  of  military  service  will,  it 
is  hoped,  be  obtained  for  apprentices. 
They  shall  attend  technical  classes  which, 
if  held  during  working  hours,  shall  be 
attended  without  loss  of  wages  to  the 
apprentice 

Successive  Steps  in  Time 

At  the  end  of  the  indenture  (four 
years)  the  apprentice  shall  take  an  ex- 
amination which  will  qualify  him  as  a 
projectionist.  A  further  12  months'  ex- 
perience will  qualify  him  for  another 
examination  as  a  "second"  (next  highest 
rating),  and  after  another  12  months  he 
may  take  an  examination  as  "chief"  (top 
man  in  a  projection  room) . 

Provision  is  made  for  existing  "chiefs" 
or  "seconds"  with  the  requisite  ex- 
perience to  be  issued  certificates  of  com- 
petency without  examination;  while 
other  projectionists  over  the  age  of  21, 
with  more  than  six  years  experience, 
may  take  an  examination  for  the  cer- 
tificate of  a  "second."  The  examinations 
will  be  administered  by  the  Ministry  of 
Education  (governmental)  and  the  Brit- 
ish Kinematograph  Society. 

Mr.  Cricks,  having  spent  the  World 
War  II  years  in  charge  of  training  of 
about  1500  Army  projectionists,  has 
some  very  definite  notions  as  to  the  cur- 
riculum and  the  locale  and  manner  in 
which  it  is  to  be  conducted.  Excerpts 
from  his  published  views  are  appended 
hereto : 

Centers  of  Training 

"First,  a  practical  point:  where  are 
the  training  courses  to  be  held?  The 
obvious  suggestion  is  at  the  numerous 
technical  institutes  which  are  to  be 
found  in  all  towns.  It  may  be  argued 
that  classes  could  as  well — or  even  bet- 
ter— be  held  in  a  vacant  room  at  some 
theater,  but  in  such  a  case  the  problem 
of    instructors    is    intensified    the    while 


a  valuable  attribute  of  the  instruction 
will  be  lost — the  scholastic  atmosphere 
and  technical  and  social  amenities  of 
the  teaching  institute.  These,  I  urge,  are 
points  that  must  not  be  overlooked. 

"As  against  the  technical  institute 
there  is  a  strong  argument:  there  is  in 
such  institutes  a  natural  tendency  for 
instruction  to  be  scholastic  in  nature 
.  .  .  which  would  be  quite  out  of  keep- 
ing with  the  present  scheme.  Even  with 
youths  whose  educational  background 
enables  them  to  follow  the  accepted 
theoretical  and  mathematical  approach 
to  subjects,  I  have  found  a  tendency  to 
lose  sight  of  the  practical  aspects  in  a 
fog  of  theory. 

"Electricity,  for  instance,  becomes  not 
a  living  practical  science  but  a  mys- 
terious natural  obedience  to  obscure 
mathematical  formulae.  We  must  face 
the  fact  that  the  standard  of  education 
in  our  elementary  schools  just  does  not 
enable  youths  attending  a  class  prob- 
ably one  half-day  a  week  to  cope  with 
instruction  of  a  type  which  may  be  very 
suitable  for  full-time  students  of  ma- 
triculation   standard. 

Training  Army  Projectionists 

"As  an  example,  let  me  describe  how 
we  taught  Army  projectionists  the  rudi- 
ments of  electricity — and  remember  that 
after  six  weeks  of  primary  instruction 
and  a  further  two  weeks  of  practical  tu- 
ition they  were  expected  to  become  qual- 
ified projectionists,  capable,  under  super- 
vision, of  putting  over  a  show  and  of  main- 
taining equipment.  The  majority  of  these 
men  had  had  no  prior  experience  of  pro- 
jection, and  their  standard  of  education 
varied  from  illiterates  (quite  literally  we 
had  several  who  had  to  be  taught  to  read 
and  write)    to  university  students. 

"We  had  a  number  of  so-called  meter 
boards  made  up.  Each  board  carried  a 
voltmeter  and  ammeter,  open  fuses,  a  d-p 
switch,  a  variable  resistor,  and  terminals 
for  attaching  separate  resistors,  either  in 
series  or  parallel.  Half  a  dozen  of  these 


R.  H.  Cricks  in  New  British  Post 

R.  Howard  Cricks,  many  of  whose  ex- 
tensive contributions  to  the  technical 
literature  on  sound  motion  pictures  have 
appeared  in  these  pages,  has  resigned  as 
technical  adviser  to  the  British  Kinema- 
tographic  Society  and  as  editor  of  its 
Journal  to  become  a  director  of  Marsland 
Publications,  Ltd.,  of  London.  This  com- 
pany specializes  in  technical  books,  cata- 
logs, etc.,  for  the  photographic,  movie 
and  Tv  industries. 

Mr.  Cricks  will  continue  as  editor  of 
the  technical  section  of  Ideal  Kinema, 
British  film  industry  journal. 


boards    were    fed    from    a    battery    ol    a 
dozen  cells. 

The  first  thing  students  were  shown 
was  how,  when  the  terminals  were 
shorted,  the  fuse  blew.  Next  they  wen- 
taught  to  read  the  meters  and  to  notice 
roughly  at  what  current  the  fuse  blew, 
and  also  that  the  voltage  was  immaterial. 
Then  they  were  given  several  fixed  re- 
sistors of  marked  value  which  were  con- 
nected up  in  series;  a  number  of  tests 
were  made  with  different  voltages  and 
different  resistance  values,  and  from  these 
tests  many  of  the  students  derived  Ohm's 
Law  for  themselves. 

"Not  until  this  stage  was  reached  was 
the  simplest  mathematical  treatment  at- 
tempted. But  from  then  on  it  was  pos- 
sible to  tackle  series  and  parallel  calcu- 
lations with  the  assurance  that  students 
really  understood  what  they  were  doing. 
Learning  From  Practice 

"Since  the  majority  of  Army  projec- 
tors, both  35-  and  16-mm,  used  filament 
lamps,  few  of  the  students  were  taught 
anything  about  arc  lamps.  But  those  few 
classes  who  had  to  cover  this  subject 
learnt  the  theory  of  the  arc  from  prac- 
tical experience,  and  not  vice  versa.  By 
means  of  meters  they  discovered  how 
some  of  the  volts  were  absorbed  in  the 
ballast  and  some  in  the  arc,  and  saw  how 
the  proportion  altered  as  the  carbons 
were  jammed  together.  Similarly,  the 
principles  of  optics  were  taught  by  tracing 
the  refraction  of  rays  through  prisms  or 
half-lenses. 

"This  method  of  tuition  is  foreign  to 
the  normal  technical  institute.  Yet  I  con- 
sider it  essential  that  it  should  be  adopted 
if  youths  are  not  to  regard  classes  as  dry- 
as-dust  instruction,  divorced  from  the 
realities  of  the  projection  room. 

Selection  of  Subjects 

"Next,  what  subjects  are  to  be  covered 
in  the  syllabuses  of  the  three  courses,  the 
apprenticeship  course.  the  second's 
course,  and  the  chief's  course? 

"I  am  not  contradicting  what  I  have 
before  said  if  I  insist  that  mathematics 
must  be  an  essential  part  of  all  these 
courses.  The  apprentice  during  his  four 
years'  training  must  progress  far  enough 
to  have  facility  in  the  handling  of  deci- 
mals and  fractions,  and  a  smattering  of 
the  principles  of  algebra  and  geometry. 
The  second  should  have  a  knowledge  of 
logarithms  and  decibels.  For  the  final 
course  the  embryo  chief  should  find  suf- 
ficient mathematical  practice  in  his  other 
studies. 

"In  electricity  the  apprentice  must  be- 
come familiar  with  D.C.  calculations  and 
touch  upon  A.C.  and  also  learn  the  elec- 
trical aspects  of  sound  reproduction.  The 
following  two  years  must  include  A.C. 
calculations  and  a  survey  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  all  the  electrical  equipment  and 
wiring  of  the  theater.  Other  subjects  of 
(Continued  on  page  27) 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST.   •     August  1951 


15 


AMPL.< 
OUTPUT* 


Us  n*i 


FIG.  1. 

When  three  8-ohm 

loudspeakers  are 

connected  in 

series,  the  total 

impedance  will 

match  that  of  a 

24-ohm  tap. 


The  Matching  of  Loudspeakers 

An  excerpt-  from  the  book  "Installation  and  Servicing  of  Low  Power  Public 
Address  Systems,"  by  John  F.  Rider,  publisher,  480  Canal  St.,  N.  Y.  City  13. 


THE  matching  of  one  component  to  an- 
other in  a  public  address  system  is 
very  important.  A  bad  match  between  a 
good  amplifier  and  a  loudspeaker  will 
give  poor  results  in  terms  of  power  out- 
put and  fidelity. 

Given  an  output  tube  having  a  stated 
plate  circuit  impedance,  it  is  necessary 
that  the  loudspeaker  voice-coil  impedance 
match  the  impedance  of  the  plate  circuit. 
For  the  best  possible  fidelity,  the  source 
and  load  impedances  should  match  with- 
in about  10%. 

The  impedance  of  a  loudspeaker  is  the 
impedance  of  the  voice  coil  and  is  always 
included  in  loudspeaker  specifications. 
This  impedance,  which  is  equal  to  the 
voltage  across  the  moving  coil  divided  by 
the  current  through  it,  is  given  at  a  par- 
ticular frequency,  usually  400  cycles. 
Voice-coil  impedances  generally  range 
from  2  to  15  ohms,  with  most  between  6 
and  8  ohms;  however,  in  special  loud- 
speakers it  may  be  as  much  as  50  ohms. 

Range  of  Impedances 

When  loudspeakers  are  directly  con- 
nected in  various  types  of  series,  parallel, 
or  series-parallel  combinations,  the  im- 
pedance offered  by  the  total  load  may 
be  anywhere  from  0.1  ohm  to  500  ohms 
in  commercial  practice. 

Generally  when  the  distance  between 
the  amplifier  output  transformer  and  the 
loudspeaker  is  about  200  feet  or  less,  the 
line  can  be  run  at  the  impedance  of  the 
voice  coil.  The  term  "line  impedance" 
as  used  here  does  not  refer  to  any  char- 
acteristic which  the  line  itself  has  but 
means  that  the  conductors  are  connected 
to  a  load  of  that  type  impedance.  Thus, 
a  low-impedance  line  means  that  the 
wires  are  connected  to  a  low-impedance 
load.  Any  combination  of  loudspeakers 
can  be  connected  by  a  low-impedance 
line. 

Matching  on  Low-Impedance  Lines 

The  total  load  impedance  offered  by 
two  or  more  loudspeakers  connected  in 
series  is  the  sum  of  their  individual  im- 
pedances. This  total  load  can  match  the 
amplifier  output  by  connecting  it  across 
the  same  value  of  tap  impedances.  Thus, 


if  three  8-ohm  loudspeakers  are  series- 
connected,  matching  is  secured  by  con- 
necting the  entire  load  across  a  24-ohm 
tap  on  the  output  transformer  as  shown 
in  Fig.  1. 

The  total  load  impedance  offered  by 
two  or  more  loudspeakers  connected  in 
parallel,  when  all  have  the  same  voice- 
coil  impedance,  is  equal  to  the  impedance 
of  any  one  loudspeaker  divided  by  the 
number  of  loudspeakers.  Thus,  if  four 
8-ohm  loudspeakers  are  connected  in 
parallel,  the  total  load  impedance  Zr  = 
8/4  —  2  ohms.  For  proper  matching, 
the  loudspeakers  should  be  parallel-con- 
nected to  a  2-ohm  tap  on  the  output  trans- 
former as  shown  in  Fig.  2. 


The  total  load  offered  by  four  or  more 
loudspeakers  connected  in  series-parallel, 
when  all  have  the  same  voice-coil  im- 
pedance, is  equal  to  the  impedance  of 
any  series  branch  line,  divided  by  the 
number  of  such  series  lines  that  are  in 
parallel. 

If  four  8-ohm  loudspeakers  are  series- 
parallel  connected  so  that  there  are  two 
loudspeakers  connected  in  series  in  each 
branch  and  two  branches  in  parallel,  then 
the  effective  load  is  16/2  =  8  ohms.  This 
load  should  be  connected  to  an  8-ohm 
tap  for  proper  matching,  as  shown  in 
Fig.  3. 
Matching  on  High-Impedance  Lines 

Where  several  loudspeakers  are  situ- 
ated at  some  distance  from  the  amplifier 
and  from  each  other,  then  each  loud- 
speaker (or  group  of  loudspeakers)  can 
be  matched  to  a  500-ohm  line  (or  other 
high  impedance)  by  means  of  an  in- 
dividual transformer  having  a  primary 
impedance  such  that  in  combination  with 
the  other  individual  transformer  primary 
impedances  the  total  load  is  500  ohms 
(or  equal  to  the  amplifier  tap  impedance 
used). 

Four  loudspeakers  in  series-parallel  us- 
ing two  matching  transformers,  or  nine 
loudspeakers  in  three  series-parallel 
groups  using  three  matching  trans- 
formers, can  each  be  connected  so  as  to 
(Foot  of  Col.   1,  Next  Page) 


AMPL. 
OUTPUT' 


rj°n°r<]  8n|rr°rrr<J  sri[rjrrj<]  t^-F^^T1^ 


FIG.  2.    Four  8-ohm  loudspeakers  connected  in  parallel  will  match  the  impedance  of  a  2-ohm  tap. 


AMPL. 
OUTPUT. 


16/1 


jpoe 


k8A» 


<! 

1*8*1-1 


FIG.  3.    When  four  8-ohm  loudspeakers  are  connected   in   two  parallel  branches  of  two  series- 
connected  loudspeakers  each,  the  total  load  impedance  will  be  8  ohms. 


pospd 


i_r 


8n     ^ 


(A) 


an 


Oil  ^^ 

rTTrrCI 


T 


an       _- 
8a      ^x 


Oil  ^0+ 


FIG.  4.    Low-impedance  loudspeakers  can  be  connected  to  a  high-impedance  amplifier  in  many  ways 
using  line  matching  transformers.    Parts  (A)  and  (6)  illustrate  two  such  possible  configurations. 


16 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     August  1951 


Carbon  Arc  Copper  Salvage 


THE  National  Production  Authority, 
charged  with  the  conservation  and 
allocation  of  critical  materiels  essential 
to  the  defense  program  has  announced 
(Aug.  2)  a  program  for  the  salvaging  of 
copper  coating  dripping  from  the  carbon 
arcs  used  in  practically  all  motion  pic- 
ture theaters  in  the  United  States.  No 
mention  was  made  of  similar  action  by 
Canada. 

The  program  involves  the  collection  of 
the  drippings  by  projectionists  in  every 
theater,  studio,  and  exchange — in  fact, 
wherever  a  carbon  arc  is  in  operation. 
The  carriers  who  deliver  film  to  the  thea- 
ter will  collect  the  drippings  and,  with- 
out charge,  turn  them  over  to  a  "desig- 
nated" theater  equipment  dealer  in  each 
film  distributing  city.  The  latter  will 
periodically  sell  the  drippings  to  an 
"authorized"  metal  scrap  dealer. 

Estimate  100,000  Pounds  Salvage 

It  is  estimated  that  approximately 
100,000  pounds  of  copper  can  be  sal- 
vaged annually  by  this  program.  NPA 
emphasizes  that  the  success  of  this  pro- 
gram may  well  insure  the  industry  get- 
ting enough  copper-coated  carbons  to 
maintain  full  operation. 

Cooperating  in  the  program  are  the 
following  industry  organizations:  IATSE, 
film  carriers  in  all  territories,  National 
Theater  Supply  Co.,  Allied  States  ex- 
hibitors group,  Theater  Owners  of  Ameri- 
ca, TESMA  and  TEDA  (manufacturers 
and  dealers  associations,  respectively)  ; 
Motion  Picture  Assoc,  (producers)  and 
the  Variety  Clubs  International. 

All  money  collected  from  the  sale  of 
such  drippings  will  be  turned  over  to 
the  Welfare  Fund  of  the  local  Variety 
Club.  The  chairman  of  the  Welfare  Com- 
mittee of  each  Variety  Tent  will  assume 
the  responsibility  for  supervising  the  op- 
eration of  the  program  with  the  film  de- 
livery service  and  the  equipment  dealer 
in  each  film  distributing  territory. 

Procedure  for  the  various  cooperating 
groups  is  outlined  as  follows: 

Projectionists 

Collects  copper  drippings  from  pro- 
jector carbons  in  arc  lamphouses. 

Place  copper  drippings  in  container 
(avoid  mixing  stubs  therein). 

When  container  is  filled,  see  that  it  is 


MATCHING  LOUDSPEAKERS 

offer  an  impedance  equal  to  that  of  the 
line.  Fig.  4  illustrates  line  matching  of 
the  aforementioned  series-parallel  con- 
nected loudspeakers.  It  will  be  noticed 
that  the  matching  transformer  secondary 
impedance  equals  the  load  connected 
across  it. 


picked  up  by  film  carrier  to  be  delivered 
to  "designated"  theatre  equipment  dealer. 
In  film  distributing  cities,  certain  thea- 
tre owners  may  prefer  to  have  filled  con- 
tainer delivered  to  the  theatre  equipment 
dealer  from  whom  he  buys  his  projector 
carbons.  There  is  no  objection  to  this 
procedure. 

Theater  Owners,  Managers 

Cooperate  with  projectionists  to  collect 
copper  drippings  from  projector  carbons 
in  suitable  containers. 

Either  see  that  filled  containers  are 
given  to  film  carrier  for  delivery  to  "des- 
ignated" equipment  dealer  or  deliver 
same  to  dealer  from  whom  you  buy  pro- 
jector carbons. 

Film  Carriers 

Pick  up  containers  filled  with  copper 
drippings  from  any  theatre  served  by 
carrier. 

Deliver  container  to  "designated"  thea- 
tre equipment  dealer  in  film  distributing 
city. 

Dealers  Not  'Designated' 

Where  theatre  owner  delivers  filled 
container  of  copper  drippings  to  you, 
accept  same  and  periodically  deliver  ac- 


cumulated    drippings     to     "designated" 
equipment  dealer. 

If  such  is  not  convenient  or  practic- 
able, notify  your  Variety  Club  when  you 
have  accumulated  100  pounds  or  more 
of  such  drippings  and  he  will  assist  in 
disposing   of  them. 

'Designated'  Equipment  Dealer 

Accept  filled  containers  of  copper 
drippings  delivered  to  you  by  film  car- 
riers and  theatre  owners  and  other  thea- 
tre equipment  dealers. 

When  you  have  accumulated  several 
hundred  pounds  of  drippings  (not  less 
than   100  lbs.)    notify  the  Variety  Club. 

Cooperate  with  Variety  Club  in  dis- 
posing of  copper  drippings  to  authorized 
metal  scrap  dealer  who  will  pay  the 
Variety  Club  the  most  money  for  them. 

During  World  War  II  a  similar  copper 
dripping  salvage  program  was  carried  on. 
In  some  instances,  however,  difficulty  was 
encountered  because  the  copper  drip- 
pings do  not  look  like  copper.  They  are 
black  in  color,  due  to  the  presence  of 
small  amounts  of  copper-oxide,  although 
analysis  shows  the  true  copper  content  to 
be  in  the  range  of  94%.  Scrap  dealers 
hesitated  to  purchase  copper  salvaged  by 
theatres  for  these  reasons  and  also  be- 
cause the  quantities  offered  seldom  ex- 
ceeded 50  pounds. 

The  full-scale  publicity  program  now 
in  progress  is  expected  to  iron  out  this 
and  related  shortcomings  of  the  last 
campaign. 


NPA  Building  Limit  Lifted 

The  amended  National  Production  Au- 
thority construction  order,  M-4A,  lifts 
the  limitation  of  $5,000  on  theater  build- 
ing costs,  it  was  confirmed  by  NPA  of- 
ficials on  Aug.  13.  Under  the  amended 
order  theater  construction  work  can  be 
started  until  Oct.  1  without  any  limit  on 
the   amount  of  materials  used. 

An  application  for  a  permit  must  be 
obtained  after  that  date  only  if  comple- 
tion of  a  project  will  require  the  use  of 
more  than  two  tons  of  carbon  steel,  or 
200  pounds  of  copper,  or  any  quantity 
of  aluminum  alloy  steel  or  stainless  steel. 
There  will  be  no  limitation  on  the  amount 
of  other  materials  that  can  be  used  after 
Oct.  1. 

An  exhibitor  can  start  a  project  be- 
fore Oct.  1  no  matter  how  much  carbon 
steel,  copper,  aluminum  alloy  or  stain- 
less steel  is  called  for  provided  those  ma- 
terials already  are  on  hand.  Applications 
for  more  than  two  tons  of  carbon  steel, 
200  pounds  of  copper  or  any  quantity  of 
aluminum  alloy  steel  or  stainless  steel 
after  Oct.  1  must  be  made  on  Form 
CMP-4C  and  Form  NPAF-24A. 

The  opinion  was  voiced  in  equipment 
industry  circles  that  the  amended  order 
will  permit  the  construction  of  a  large 
number  of  drive-in  theaters  providing  the 


limitations  on  metals  listed  in  the  order 
are  not  exceeded.  200  pounds  of  copper 
suffice  a  drive-in  for  10,000  feet  of  under- 
ground cable,  enough  to  take  care  of  600 
cars. 


4th  Movie  Tv  Fight  Telecast 

Reaction  to  the  fourth  in  a  series  of 
exclusive  theater  presentations  of  boxing 
attractions  proved  strong  enough  this 
time  to  warrant  further  offerings,  based 
on  a  roundup  of  box  office  figures  at  the 
15  theaters  which  carried  the  Joe  Louis- 
Jimmy  Bivins  fight. 

Fight,  a  routine  affair  in  which  Louis 
bested  his  opponent  in  slow  methodical 
fashion,  could  not  provide  a  fair  yardstick 
of  audience  reaction.  However,  as  a  test 
of  the  public's  willingness  to  come  out 
to  see  a  fight  at  a  New  York  theater,  the 
experiment  proved  a  success.  With  the 
fight  outside  of  the  Metropolitan  area  for 
the  first  time,  six  local  houses  were  per- 
mitted to  telecast  the  fight:  of  these,  four 
played  to  overflow  crowds,  despite  a  heavy 
downpour  from  8  to  9:30  p.m. 

Theaters  experiencing  the  biggest 
siege  at  the  box  office  were  the  Warner 
Theater  in  Times  Square,  and  RKO"s 
Fordham  in  the  Bronx.  At  the  latter, 
crowds  were  turned  away  after  8  o'clock. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     August  1951 


17 


Now... RCA  ready 

TO  STAKE  MORE  MILLIONS 


in  your  Theatre  Business 


Offers  this  bold  plan 

to  help  you  modernize  now 

on  low-cost  Credit  Deal 

Effective  Immediately:  For  you,  the  theatre  owners,  RCA  now 
makes  available  additional  millions  of  dollars  in  new  credit  financ- 
ing in  an  all-out  effort  to  give  you  the  theatre  equipment  you  need 
to  modernize  right  now  for  better  house  appeal,  bigger  grosses! 

This  offer  to  stake  new  millions  in  helping  you  modernize  your 
theatres  tells  you  in  the  most  positive  terms  that  RCA  has  bound- 
less  faith  in  the  future  of  the  theatre  business. 


Included  in  this  great  RCA  Theatre  Moderniza- 
tion Plan  is  virtually  every  item  now  carried  by 
your  RCA  Dealer:  projectors,  lamps,  power  sup- 
plies, sound  systems,  screens,  chairs,  carpets,  air 
conditioning.  All  the  things  you  need  right  now 
to  give  your  theatre  greater  house  appeal  for 
more  pulling  power.  All  available  on  early  de- 
livery. All  yours  on  low-cost,  long-term,  easy 
RCA  credit  under  this  broad  Modernization  Plan. 

Your  own  RCA  Dealer  has  full  details.  He's  all 
ready  to  work  with  you  ...  to  help  you  in  every 
possible  way  to  get  what  you  need  for  modern- 
izing your  theatre  immediately ...  to  help  you 
actually  do  something  now  about  winning  bigger 
box  office  with  better  house  appeal. 


You  profit  these  9  ways  with  new  RCA  Plan 


1.  You  gain  greater 
house  appeal 

This  has  already  been  proved  by 
hundreds  of  recently  modernized 
theatres  that  are  outpulling  less 
attractive  houses.  Equally  impor- 
tant, your  modernized  theatre 
offers  the  increased  entertainment 
value  that  could  possibly  com- 
mand a  higher  admission  price 
(more  in  line  with  today's  higher 
operating  costs). 

Prove  all  this  for  yourself.  Visit 
the  nearest  modernized  theatre. 
Check  the  gate.  See  how  much 
better  than  average  a  modern 
house  can  do.  Then  do  likewise. 


2.  You  are  ready, 
come  war  or  peace 

If  we  do  get  into  a  major  war, 
your  modernized  theatre  is  ready 
for  the  long,  tough  hours  of  oper- 
ating .  .  .  ready  to  serve  again  as 
morale  builder  for  war  workers. 
Ready  with,  new  equipment  .  .  . 
precious  equipment  you  may  not 
be  able  to  get  in  wartime. 

If  we  just  go  on  building  de- 
fenses, your  modernized  theatre  is 


still  getting  its  extra  share  of  busi- 
ness through  greater  house  appeal. 
So  you  win  either  way  if  you 
modernize  now. 


3.  You  are  ready  for 
theatre  TV 

As  theatre-TV  develops,  your 
house  still  needs  good  sound, 
screen,  seats,  carpet,  and  air  con- 
ditioning. Theatre-TV  can't 
change  these  basic  needs.  What's 
more,  your  house  still  needs  good 
projectors  and  lamps.  Because 
theatre-TV  is  an  addition,  not  a 
successor,  to  movie  film. 


4.  You  improve  your 
competitive  position 

By  modernizing  now,  you  take  an 
important  step  to  win  and  hold  a 
bigger  share  of  patrons,  not  only 
for  the  present,  but  for  the  years 
ahead.  Only  by  offering  better  and 
better  facilities  to  the  public  can 
you  hope  to  improve  (or  even 
maintain)  your  position.  So  mod- 
ernize now. 


5.  You  get  plenty  of 
modernization  under 
current  NPA  rules 

NPA  regulations  are  still  liberal 
in  allowing  you  to  modernize  your 
theatre.  You  can  add  or  replace 
booth  equipment,  sound,  screen, 
chairs,  carpet,  ductless  air  condi- 
tioning, and  much  miscellaneous 
equipment.  And  virtually  all  of 
these  items  are  available  under 
this  helpful  RCA  Theatre  Mod- 
ernization  Plan. 


6.  You  let  credit 
work  for  you 

You  get  practically  everything 
you  need  for  modernizing  your 
theatre,  all  for  a  modest  cash  out- 
lay. Balance  is  on  a  long-term, 
low-cost  contract  set  up  to  fit  your 
requirements. 

7.  You  save  on  today's 
equipment  prices 

You  know  that  the  defense  effort 
and  the  threat  of  war  may  push 


prices  higher.  So  act  now  and  save 
at  today's  prices. 

8.  You  save  on  valuable 
tax  deductions 

If  in  your  modernization  program, 
you  scrap  any  equipment  or  fur- 
nishings that  aren't  fully  written 
off,  you  can  deduct  the  undepre- 
ciated portion  on  your  tax  returns 
and  gain  an  important  saving.  Ask 
your  tax  advisor. 

9.  You  gain  a  million 
dollars  worth  of  cheer 

What's  more  important  than  get- 
ting a  little  joy  out  of  your  busi- 
ness? The  kind  that  comes  from 
operating  a  clean,  attractive, 
modern  theatre  that's  pulling  in 
the  patrons! 

Give  yourself  a  break.  You  only 
live  once.  Get  up  out  of  the  dol- 
drums. Get  busy  on  housecleaning. 
Get  happy.  Go  modern.  You  gross 
a  million  dollars  worth  of  pride 
and  self-satisfaction  when  you 
run  a  house  thafs  ready  to  pull 
'em  in  with  greater  house  appeal. 


Follow  these  4  Simple  Steps  to  modernize  now 


Step  h 


Look  at  your  theatre  critically 
(the  way  your  patrons  do). 
Make  an  actual  list  of  items  you 
need  to  bring  it  up  to  date: 
new  projection  and  sound 
equipment,  screen,  chairs,  car- 
pet, air  conditioning. 


Step  2: 


Call  in  your  helpful  RCA 
Dealer.  Let  him  help.  You'll 
find  he  can  furnish  you  with 
virtually  every  item  you  need. 
All  on  early  delivery.  All  on 
this  broad,  new  RCA  Moderni- 
zation Plan. 


Pick  up  your  phone 


Step  3: 


Now  get  down  to  brass  tacks. 
Find  out  how  little  cash  it  ac- 
tually takes  to  get  delivery  on 
nearly  everything  you  need  to 
modernize  your  theatre  right 
now.  You'll  find  your  RCA 
Dealer  will  work  with  you  on 
this.  He  will  try  to  work  out 
the  deal  that  is  best  for  you. 


Step  4: 


Make  the  modest  cash  pay- 
ment, take  what  you  need  and 
get  going.  Make  a  clean  sweep. 
Perk  up  your  projection,  sound, 
screen.  Reseat.  Recarpet.  Dress 
up  your  front.  Then  bally-hoo 
it  all  over  town.  And  start 
reaping  the  quick  rewards  that 
modernization  pays. 


Call  your  RCA  Dealer  . .  .  Get  going  now. 


Why  your  credit  is  so 
good  with  RCA 

You  theatre  owners  have  earned  a  lot  of  valuable 
i  credit  here  at  RCA.  Because  you  pay  your  bills. 

In  the  past  22  years,  you  have  bought  many  mil- 
lions of  dollars  worth  of  RCA  theatre  equipment 
. . .  mostly  on  credit.  Your  record  for  payment  is 
almost  perfect. 

This  is  another  good  reason  why  RCA  is  willing 
to  help  you  modernize  with  long-term,  easy  RCA 
credit.  You  have  earned  this  confidence.  So  use  this 
good  credit  to  modernize  now. 

Are  you  competing  for  1951 
patrons  with  a  1936 Theatre? 

Competition  can  be  tough  when  your  house  is  out  of 
date.  And  most  theatres  haven't  been  modernized 
since  1936  ...  15  years  ago!  They  have  fallen  far 
behind  in  the  parade  of  progress. 

Remember:  in  business  you  never  stand  still. 
Either  you  move  forward  or  you  move  backward. 

So  now  as  never  before  is  the  time  to  move  for- 
ward again  ...  to  get  up  to  date  with  a  clean  modern 
attractive  hard-pulling  house. 

Modernization  is  so  simple  under  this  new  RCA 
Plan. 

You  get  greater  house  appeal  for  better  grosses. 
You're  ready,  come  war  or  peace  or  theatre  TV.  You 
improve  your  competitive  position.  You  get  plenty 
of  modernization  under  NPA  rules.  You  let  credit 
work  for  you.  You  save  on  present  prices  and  you 
save  on  tax  deductions.  And  best  of  all,  you  gain  a 
million  dollars  worth  of  "happier  outlook  on  life" 
by  modernizing  now. 

Don't  delay  another  day.  Call  your  helpful  RCA 
Dealer  and  get  started  right  now! 

Offer  May  Be  Limited  .  .  .  Act  Now 

Restrictions  and  shortages  may  curtail  this  RCA  Thea- 
tre Modernization  Plan  at  any  time!  So  please  do  not 
delay.  Call  your  RCA  Dealer  and  reserve  your  share 
of  this  available  equipment . . .  now. 

Get  Full  Story  .  .  .  Mail  Coupon  "today 


Are  you  worried  about  the  future 
of  your  Theatre  Business? 

These  facts  may  give  you  new  confidence. 

RCA,  more  than  any  other  company  in  America,  knows  the  inter- 
relations of  theatre  business,  theatre  television,  and  home  televi- 
sion. Because  RCA  pioneered  in  all  three  fields. 

Armed  with  all  this  knowledge,  RCA  stands  ready  to  pour  more 
millions  of  dollars  into  the  theatre  business  right  now!  Because 
when  all  the  facts  are  known,  the  future  of  the  theatre  business 
still  looks  good. 


THEATRE  EQUIPMENT 

RADIO  CORPORATION  of  AMERICA 

ENGINEERING   PRODUCTS  DEPARTMENT.  CAMDEN.  N.J. 

In  Canada:  RCA  VICTOR  Company  limited,  Montreal 


Want  More  Information?  For  full  story  on  this  great  new  RCA 
Theatre  Modernization  Plan,  just  clip  and  mail  coupon  . . .  today. 


Theatre  Equipment,  Dept.  63T 
RCA  Engineering  Products 
Camden,  N.  J. 

Without  obligation,  please  give  me  full  story  on  the  broad,  new 
RCA  Theatre  Modernization  Plan  which  will  make  available  my 
share  of  the  additional  millions  of  dollars  in  credit  financing  to 
help  me  modernize  my  theatre  now. 


Name- 


Position. 


Address- 


IN  THE 


SPOTLIGHT 


By 

HARRY 

SHERMAN 


IN  RECENT  issues  we  have  been  giving 
tips  on  Social  Security  benefits,  as 
culled  from  official  sources.  Although  a 
booklet  outlining  these  benefits  in  detail 
is  available  from  the  nearest  SS  office, 
requests  for  further  data  continue  to  ar- 
rive at  our  office.  So  here  goes  with  what 
we  think  should  be  the  final  instalment 
of  this  series  in  this  department. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  the  terms 
"fully  insured"  and  "currently  insured." 
A  fully  insured  person  is  one  who  has  40 
"quarters  of  coverage."  That  is,  if  you 
have  had  SS  earnings  of  at  least  $50  a 
quarter  in  at  least  40  calendar  quarters 
(equivalent  to  10  full  years ) .  A  "cal- 
endar quarter"  is  any  three-month  period 
ending  March  31,  June  30,  September 
30,  or  December  31.  These  don't  have  to 
be  consecutive. 

Under  the  new  amendments,  a  person 
also  is  fully  insured  if  he  has  SS  earn- 
ings in  at  least  half  of  the  calendar 
quarters  between  January  1,  1951,  and 
the  date  he  becomes  65.  However,  the 
minimum  is  six  "quarters"  of  coverage. 

A  currently  insured  person  is  one  who 
has  at  least  six  "quarters"  of  coverage 
during  the  13-quarter  period  before 
reaching  65,  or  dying. 

All  benefits  paid  under  SS,  it  can  be 
seen,  hinge  on  the  primary  insurance 
amount.  In  the  1950  amendments,  a  new 
and  simpler  method  of  figuring  payments 
is  provided,  which  may  be  used  when 
you  have  had  a  year  and  a  half  of  work 
under  the  law  after  1950.  Under  it,  if 
you  average  $100  or  less  in  monthly  earn- 
ings after  1950,  your  own  retirement 
payment  will  be  half  of  your  average 
wages.  If  you  average  from  $100  to  $300 
a  month  (the  maximum  for  insurance 
purposes),  your  payment  will  be  between 
$50  and  $80  each  month. 

The  new  formula  is  used  by  those  who 
reach  age  22  after  1950,  and  who  have  at 
least  six  quarters  of  coverage  after  1950. 
Those  who  reach  age  22  during  1950  or 
before,  and  who  have  at  least  six  quarters 
of  coverage  after  1950,  will  use  either 
the  new  formula  or  the  old  one,  which- 
ever gives  the  larger  benefit.  Those  who 
don't  have  at  least  six  quarters  of  cover- 
age after  1950  must  use  the  old  formula 


and  the  "conversion  table"  provided. 

The  new  method  calls  for  the  averag- 
ing of  monthly  income  (up  to  $300  a 
month)  taking  50%  of  the  first  $100 
and  adding  to  it  15%  of  the  remainder. 

Suppose,  on  reaching  65  in  January, 
1955  your  total  wages  from  January, 
1951,  to  December,  1954  (48  months) 
were  $11,040.  Your  monthly  average 
would  be  $230.  Fifty  percent  of  the  first 
$100  is  $50.  Adding  15%  of  the  remain- 
ing $130  ($19.50),  your  total  old-age  in- 
surance will  amount  to  $69.50. 

For  more  than  12  years  your  pay  en- 
velope was  a  penny  on  the  dollar  lighter. 
Commencing  January  1,  it  was  a  penny- 
and-a-half  lighter.  From  1954  through 
1959,  there  will  be  a  2%  deduction; 
1960-64,  2y2%;  1965-69,  3%;  1970  and 
after,  3%%.  These  deductions,  matched 
by  employer's  contributions,  go  into  the 
central  fund  out  of  which  all  payments 
are  made. 

•  Several  years  ago  projectionist  Local 
150  of  Los  Angeles  sponsored  legislation 
to  amend  the  California  State  Labor  Code 
so  as  to  provide  better  ventilation  in  pro- 
jection rooms.  This  legislation  was 
adopted  and  is  now  a  part  of  the  State 
Labor  Code.  However,  experience  dur- 
ing the  intervening  years  has  shown  that 


when  the  wind  blows  in  a  certain  direc- 
tion, noxious  gases  still  are  blown  back 
into  the  projection  room. 

Local  150  is  moving  to  meet  this  situa- 
tion by  sponsoring  a  resolution  to  be 
presented  to  the  forthcoming  conven- 
tions of  the  California  State  Federation 
of  Labor  and  the  State  Theatrical  Fed- 
eration. 

Improved  projection  room  ventilation 
has  ever  been  one  of  the  pet  projects  of 
this  department,  and  we  are  glad  to  note 
the  vigorous  manner  in  which  Local  150 
is  moving  in  this  situation.  So  important 
do  we  regard  such  legislation  for  all  IA 
Locals  that  we  are  publishing  the  Local 
150  resolution  in  full.  The  resolution 
follows : 

WHEREAS:  the  Labor  Code  of  the  State  of 
California  adequately  provides  for  the  num- 
ber of  cubic  feet  of  air  circulation  in  pro- 
jection, rewind  and  generator  rooms  of  mov- 
ing picture  theaters,  and, 

There  is  no  provision  in  the  State  Code 
to  insure  that  a  back  draft  does  not  occur, 
thereby  bringing  the  carbon  monoxide  back 
into   the  projection  room,  and, 

It  has  been  found  upon  investigation  that 
the  prevailing  wind,  if  of  great  enough  velo- 
city and  blowing  in  the  direction  of  the  ex- 
terior arc  lamp  exhaust  stack,  forms  an  im- 
passe   for    the    exhausted    gases    creating    a 


Reproduction  of  a  sketch 
accompanying      the 
recommendations  of  Los 
Angeles  projectionist   » 
Local    150    for    an    im-   " 
proved     means     of     ex-  I 
hausting    noxious    gases  I 
from     projection     rooms,  i 
Details    of    the    hookup 
are  given  in  the  accom 
panying  story. 


k. 


Wind      Fl 


Wind      Fl 


.  Ball  Bearing  Raceway 
djwr  Halt  Stationary 


18"  Dla.  s 

7       Exterior  Stationary  Duet 


20 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •  .  August  1951 


back-draft  and  bringing  the  fumes  back  into 
the    projection  room,   and, 

The  installation  of  automatic  funnels,  or 
hoods,  at  the  extremities  of  the  exterior  arc 
lamp  exhaust  stacks  will  prevent  the  return 
of  carbon  gases  to  the  projection  room.  These 
devices  are  similar  to  the  funnels  used  on 
shipboard  to  ventilate  between  decks.  The 
funnels  are  L-shaped  and  finned  so  that  the 
prevailing  wind  may  rotate  them  360  degrees. 
They  should  be  mounted  over  on  ball  bear- 
ings to  allow  for  ease  in  rotation :  in  this 
manner  the  funnel  is  turned  away  from  the 
direction  of  the  wind,  making  it  impossible 
for  a  back-draft  to  occur.  This  is  an  inex- 
pensive installation  and  would  remedy  the 
situation,  and, 

In  drive-in  theaters,  in  most  instances,  the 
exterior  arc  lamp  exhaust  stack,  or  duct,  is 
too  close  to  the  projection  room  ventilation 
intake  duct,  with  the  result  that  the  lamp- 
house  exhausted  gases  are  being  drawn  back 
into  the  projection  room.  The  exhaust  stacks, 
or  ducts,  should  extend  not  less  than  25  feet 
away  from  the  projection  room  intake  duct 
and  be  equipped  with  automatic  directional 
exhaust  hoods  to  correct;   now 

THEREFORE  BE  IT  RESOLVED  that 
Local  150,  International  Alliance  of  Theatri- 
cal Stage  Employees  and  Moving  Picture 
Machine  Operators  of  the  United  States  and 
Canada  hereby  requests  that  steps  be  taken 
to  amend  the  State  Labor  Code  to  provide 
that  directional  exhaust  hoods  be  installed 
on  all  exterior  arc  lamp  exhaust  stacks,  or 
ducts,  leading  from  projection  rooms  in  mov- 
ing picture  theaters,  and, 

BE  IT  FURTHER  RESOLVED  that  copies 
of  this  resolution  be  sent  to  the  California 
State  Theatrical  Federation,  The  California 
State  Federation  of  Labor  and  that  they  be 
requested  to  use  their  influence  and  power 
with  the  State  Legislature  in  amending  the 
State  Labor  Code  to  improve  the  ventilation 
in  projection  rooms  in  moving  picture  thea- 
ters as  outlined  in  this  resolution. 
Respectfully  submitted, 

John  Maynard,  President 

Chas.  A.  Vencill,  Secretary-Treasurer 

Geo.  J.  Schaffer,  Business  Manager 

•  The  sudden  death  of  Bruce  I.  Stein- 
metz,  65,  president  for  many  years  of 
Local  213,  Great  Falls,  Mont.,  stunned 
his  many  friends  in  the  Alliance.  Stein- 
metz  was  elected  last  Spring  secretary- 
treasurer  of  District  No.  1,  comprising 
the  states  of  Montana,  Idaho,  Oregon, 
Washington  and  British  Columbia,  and 
for  the  past  19  years  he  served  as  presi- 
dent of  the  Cascade  County  Trades  and 
Labor  Assembly.  During  World  War  II 
he  served  as  a  panel  member  of  the  War 
Labor  Board  in  his  territory,  and  was  a 
member  of  the  City  Post-War  Planning 
Commission. 

Steinmetz  had  an  extensive  acquaint- 
anceship with  the  political  leaders  in  his 
State,  having  taken  active  part  in  many 
labor  bills  inaugurated  in  Montana. 

•  If  you  have  any  old  greeting  cards, 
such  as  birthday,  anniversary,  Christmas, 
Mother's    Day,    Father's    Day,    get-well. 


Bruce  I.  Steinmetz 

etc.,  do  not  destroy  them  but  send  them 
on  to  Morris  J.  Rotker,  1258  College 
Ave.,  Bronx  56,  N.  Y.,  who  turns  them 
over  to  centers  devoted  to  helping  vic- 
tims of  cerebral  palsy  regain  the  use  of 
their  crippled  muscles.  These  victims  are 
taught  to  make  many  ingenious  articles 
with  these  discarded  cards,  while  at  the 
same  time  they  are  exercising  their 
withered  limbs.  An  old-time  member  of 
New  York  Local  306,  Rotker  may  always 
be  counted  upon  to  extend  a  helping 
hand  to  his  less  fortunate  fellow-men. 

•  The  32nd  biennial  convention  of  the 
Theatrical  Mutual  Associations  (TMA) 
was  held  at  the  Neil  House,  Columbus, 
Ohio,  July  9  to  11,  inclusive.  The  dele- 
gates were  welcomed  by  representatives 
of  Locals  12  and  386,  both  of  Columbus. 
Much  constructive  legislation  was  adopted 
at  the  sessions,  with  particular  attention 


being  paid  to  an  organizing  drive  for  new 
Lodges  in  the  United  States  and  in 
Canada.  Special  attention  will  be  given 
to  the  latter  area,  with  the  next  conven- 
tion being  set  for  Toronto. 

William  R.  Noon,  of  New  York  Lodge 
1,  was  re-elected  Crand  President,  and 
Phil  Hitter,  of  Long  Island,  N.  Y.,  Lodge 
67  was  re-elected  Grand  Secretary- 
Treasurer. 

The  delegates  reported  that  there  is 
an  increasing  awareness  throughout  the 
theatrical  crafts  of  the  good  work  being 
done  by  all  the  TMA  Lodges,  which 
promises  well  for  the  expansion  drive 
now  under  way. 

•  At  a  luncheon  meeting  at  the  Holly- 
wood-Roosevelt Hotel  last  month  with  75 
officers  and  members  of  the  Hollywood 
IA  Locals,  President  Walsh  pledged  full 
support  of  the  International  to  the  Holly- 
wood Locals  in  their  forthcoming  con- 
tract negotiations  with  the  producers. 
Although  actual  negotiations  will  not 
begin  until  October  1  next,  President 
Walsh  urged  the  negotiating  committees 
for  the  16  Hollywood  Locals  to  sift 
through  all  demands  in  order  to  deter- 
mine those  most  important  to  the  mem- 
bers as  a  whole.  This,  he  pointed  out, 
would  help  to  keep  major  issues  upper- 
most and  reduce  the  danger  that  actual 
negotiations  would  be  unduly  prolonged, 
as  they  were  in  1946. 

Walsh  stated  that  he  planned  to  be 
present  in  Hollywood  during  the  actual 
negotiations  in  order  to  see  to  it  that 
"we  get  as  much  as  possible  and  as 
quickly  as  possible  from  management." 
He  pointed  out  that  wages  in  the  indus- 
try have  fallen  far  behind  the  increased 


GRAND    LODGE    OF    THEATRICAL    MUTUAL    ASSOCIATIONS    (TMA)    IN    32nd    BIENNIAL 
CONVENTION  AT  THE  NEIL  HOUSE,  COLUMBUS,  OHIO,  JULY  9-11  LAST. 


Front  row  (left  to  right):  Robert  Glasgow,  4th  vice-pres.  (Omaha  Lodge  7);  Phil  Hitter,  sec- 
treas.  (Long  Island,  N.  Y.,  67);  Luke  Callahan,  1st  vice-pres.  (Cincinnati  33);  Wm.  R.  Noon, 
grand  pres.  (New  York  1);  Nat  Stein,  past  grand  pres.  (Chicago  4);  Phil  Lynch  (Bronx,  N.  Y. 
38);  Irving  Schlesinger  (Long  Island,  N.  Y.,  67);  Frank  Galluzzo  (Chicago  4) — all  three  on  the 

laws  and  appeals  committee; 

Center  row:   George  Postel,  tiler  (Cincinnati  33);  Wm.  R.  Mull,  6th  vice-pres.  (New  York  1); 

A.  W.  Fried,  5th  vice-pres.  (Brooklyn  30);  Paul  Stahl,  2nd  vice-pres.  (New  York  1);  S.  Mazzucca, 

trustee  (Chicago  4);  M.  Torreano,  trustee   (Pittsburgh   37);   H.  Bluming,  trustee   (Brooklyn   30); 

B.  Norton,  trustee  (Brooklyn  30);  C.  W.  Rockwood,  marshal   (Toronto  11); 

Back  row:    R.  Hostetter,  7th  vice-pres.  (Hollywood  142);  J.  Mitchell,  trustee  (New  York  1); 

J.  A.  Gallagher,  3rd  vice-pres.  (New  York  1);  S.  Nicenholtz,  trustee  (Brooklyn  30);  J.  Bauman, 

trustee  (New  York  1);  E.  Sullivan   (New  York  1). 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     August  1951 


21 


cost-of-living,  and  that  layoffs  and  un- 
reasonable dismissals  of  old-timers  from 
their  jobs  meant  that  a  pension  and  wel- 
fare plan  would  have  to  be  seriously  con- 
sidered by  the  producers. 

•  The  members  of  Laboratory  Techni- 
cians Local  702,  New  York  City,  won  a 
10%  wage  increase,  retroactive  to  April 
1,  1951.  Should  the  Consumers'  Price 
Index  show  a  cost-of-living  increase  in 
April,  1952.  the  members  of  Local  702 
will  receive  a  further  increase.  This  is 
in  line  with  the  General  Motors  plan  for 
keeping  wages  in  line  with  the  cost-of- 
living.  John  Francavilla.  president, 
headed  the  Local  negotiating  committee. 

•  We  received  a  mixed  reaction  to  the 
item  that  appeared  in  this  department 
last  month  relative  to  the  Health  Insur- 
ance Plan  (HIP)  recently  inaugurated 
by  New  York  Local  306.  Under  this  plan 
members  are  entitled  to  comprehensive 
medical  care  from  doctors  of  their  own 
choosing.  Of  course,  like  all  new  pro- 
jects, HIP  has  its  share  of  dissenters, 
some  of  whom  are  justified  in  their  com- 
plaints, and  others  who  are  natural 
"kickers." 

One  letter  we  received  stated  that  the 
writer  was  dissatisfied  with  his  choice  of 
doctor.  He  stated  that  although  he  made 
an  appointment  for  a  complete  physical 
check-up,  the  doctor  seemed  rather  dis- 
interested and,  after  asking  a  few  ques- 
tions, gave  him  a  perfunctory  examina- 
tion and  suggested  another  appointment. 
When  the  man  left  the  doctor's  office  he 
knew  no  more  about  the  physical  ail- 
ment which  prompted  his  request  for  a 
checkup  than  he  did  when  he  entered  it. 
In  our  opinion,  the  member,  instead  of 
griping  about  HIP  to  all  who  would 
listen  to  him.  should  have  reported  the 
incident  to  the  proper  Local  officials  and 
then  selected  another  doctor. 

From  our  own  personal  experience,  we 
can  say  that  the  plan  is  an  excellent  one 
as  far  as  it  goes,  and  that  as  time  goes 
on  many  of  its  present  kinks  will  be 
ironed  out. 

•  One  of  our  old  subscribers,  Walter 
Dunkelberger,  1443  Fourth  Avenue 
South,  Fargo,  N.  Dak.,  is  very  anxious 
to  obtain  copies  of  the  following  back 
issues  of  IP:  November  1948;  March, 
August,  September.  October  1949;  Feb- 
ruary, April,  and  October  1950.  Walter 
needs  these  missing  copies  to  complete 
his  IP  files  and  is  willing  to  pay  a  reason- 
able price  for  them. 

•  A  demand  for  a  50c-per-hour  increase 
for  the  members  of  Local  348,  Vancou- 
ver, B.  C,  is  a  subject  for  discussion  in 
the  negotiations  between  officials  of  the 
Local  and  the  Odeon,  Famous  Players, 
and   independent   theaters.    The    present 


scale  ranges  from  $2  to  $2.15  per  hour, 
with  drive-ins  and  downtown  houses  pay- 
ing the  top  scale.  As  usual,  the  old  ex- 
hibitor chestnut — the  two-man  shift — has 
come  up  in  the  discussions. 

•  George  Weidemeyer,  56,  member  of 
Local  384.  Hudson  County,  N.  J.,  died 
several  weeks  ago  after  a  short  illness. 
Weidemeyer,  a  member  of  Local  384 
for  the  past  36  years,  was  also  a  member 
of  the  25-30  Club. 

•  Recent  out-of-town  visitors  to  the 
offices  of  IP:  Bert  Ryde,  business  repre- 
sentative, Local  233,  Buffalo,  N.  Y.; 
Henry  J.  Benefield,  executive  board 
member.  Local  568,  Columbus,  Ga.; 
J.  Gibbons,  recording-secretary,  Local 
182.  Boston,  Mass.;  A.  E.  Bradshaw, 
Local  175,  Tacoma,  Wash.;  Charley 
Hahn,  J.  E.  McAuley  Mfg.  Co.,  and  Na- 
tional   Carbon's    Bill   Kunzmann. 


Eidophore  Tv  With  Color  Set 
for  Roxy,  N.  Y.,  Oct.  1 

Theater  Tv  rights  to  the  CBS  color 
method  for  use  in  its  Eidophore  system 
purchased  in  February  from  Swiss  in- 
terests were  acquired  recently  by  20th- 
Fox.  With  the  acquisition.  20th-Fox  will 
employ  the  CBS  system  to  bring  color 
Tv  to  American  theaters,  with  the  initial 
demonstration  of  the  system  scheduled  for 
Oct.  1  at  the  Roxy  Theater,  New  York. 
It  is  planned  to  install  the  system  in  all 
500  of  the  National  Theaters  chain  (West 
Coast).  System  will  also  be  made  avail- 
able  to   other   theaters. 

Ambitious  Program  Plans 

Programming  contemplated  will  be  all- 
live  and  all-closed  circuit,  with  no  films 
to  be  used.  CBS  will  not  produce  program 
material  for  the  project.  Preliminary 
plans  look  to  the  theater  networking  in 
color  of  Broadway  plays,  with  "South 
Pacific"  mentioned  as  a  possible  first. 
Sportswise,  20th-Fox  plans  colorcasts  of 
top  football  games  or  outstanding  boxing 
bouts. 

An  important  phase  of  programming 
is  expected  to  be  the  use  of  local  events 
from  various  key  cities,  such  as  the  aqua- 
show,  or  top  civic  events  around  the 
country. 


SMPTE  Out  of  FCC  Hearings; 
'Primary  Aims  Accomplished' 

In  announcing  that  the  SMPTE  would 
not  appear  at  the  forthcoming  (first  week 
in  December)  F.  C.  C.  hearings  on  theater 
Tv,  the  Society  indicated  that  it  is  con- 
vinced that  the  matters  under  considera- 
tion at  these  hearings  can  be  "adequately 
and  informatively  handled  by  the  quali- 
fied   engineering    representatives    of    the 


motion    picture    organizations    there    ap- 
pearing. 

"Present  broad  interest  of  the  motion 
picture  industry,  as  well  as  the  construc- 
tive measures  which  the  industry  now 
proposes"  are  evidence  that  the  Society's 
mission  in  the  present  preliminary  stages 
of  theater  Tv  development  have  been  ac- 
complished. The  three  primary  functions 
of  the  Society  on  theater  Tv  were: 

Primary  Function  of  SMPTE 

1.  Coordinate  the  varied  approaches  of 
individuals  and  companies  toward  theater 
Tv. 

2.  Establish  desirable  performance  ob- 
jectives. 

3.  Arrange  for  free  exchange  of  infor- 
mation on  video  band  width,  number  of 
lines  and  suitable  signal-to-noise  ratios. 

It  was  pointed  out  that  the  interests  of 
the  Society  are  technical  rather  than  com- 
mercial and  it  does  not  seek  channels  for 
its  own  use.  To  avoid  creating  the  im- 
pression that  the  Engineers,  who  have 
been  active  in  this  field  for  the  greater 
part  of  a  decade  are  now  stepping  aside, 
the  Society  has  invited  the  FCC,  eight 
industry  organizations  and  all  individual 
interests  to  call  upon  the  Society  at  any 
time  in  a  search  for  answers  to  particu- 
lar technical  questions. 


Picture  Co.  Home  Tv  Surveys 

The  impact  of  home  Tv  on  the  movie 
theater  box-office,  the  topic  of  numerous 
"surveys"  which  in  the  main  disagree 
radically  with  one  another,  is  now 
summed  up  in  two  versions  by  within- 
the-industry  companies.  As  reported  by 
the  Financial  World   (Aug.  8)  : 

"It  is  obvious  that  motion  picture  theater 
revenues  are  adversely  affected  by  home  in- 
stallation of  Tv  sets  although  there  is  dis- 
agreement as  to  degree.  The  trade  paper. 
Variety,  quotes  a  Columbia  Pictures  source 
that  for  each  2%  saturation  of  television  sets 
in  an  area,  movie  box  office  receipts  are  re- 
duced by  1%;  while  studies  by  Paramount 
Pictures  conclude  that  for  every  3%  of  Tv 
set  saturation  in  an  area,  gross  declines  1%. 

The  decline  in  box-office  receipts  this  year 
from  the  comparatively  television-free  year 
of  1948  is  estimated  by  Columbia  at  9.4%. 
Business  in  non-Tv  areas  nevertheless  is  ex- 
pected to  be  better  this  year.  Box-office 
receipts  in  July  picked  up  surprisingly  in 
nearly  all  localities,  which  may  mean  that 
there  has  been  some  wearing  off  of  the 
novelty  of  Tv." 


Du  Mont  Tv  Profits  in  Sharp  Dip 

Net  profit  of  Allen  B.  Du  Mont  for  the 
24  weeks  ended  June  17  was  $109,000. 
with  earnings  equal  to  two  cents  per 
share  after  preferred  dividends,  com- 
pared with  $1.16  in  the  1950  period. 

Sales  in  the  first  24  weeks  of  this  year 
were  $25,612,000.  compared  with  $26,- 
786.000. 


22 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


August  1951 


New  RCA  Magnetic  Recorder-Projector 


ANEW  16-mm  recorder-projector, 
providing  the  first  means  of  di- 
rectly recording  commentary  or  musical 
background  magnetically  on  the  edge  of 
16-mm  picture  film,  has  been  publicly 
demonstrated  by  RCA. 

The  new  equipment  for  the  first  time 
makes  available  the  special  advantages 
of  magnetic  recording  and  reproduction 
in  many  applications  of  16-mm  film 
where  allowable  costs  are  restricted  by 
the  need  for  only  a  limited  number  of 
prints.  It  is  of  equal  significance  in  ap- 
plications demanding  the  opportunity  for 
revision  or  variation  of  sound  treatment 
without  the  cost  and  time  involved  in 
laboratory  processing. 

In  addition  to  recording  and  reproduc- 
ing magnetic  sound,  primary  objectives 
in  its  development,  the  new  equipment, 
designated  the  RCA  "400"  Magnetic 
Sound  Projector,  can  also  be  used  to 
reproduce  optically  recorded  sound. 

Recording,  Playback,  Erasure 

Three  main  features  of  the  equipment 
make  it  possible  for  non-professional 
users  to  obtain  excellent  results  in  mag- 
netic recording:  (1)  To  record,  it  is  nec- 
essary only  to  turn  a  switch  and  talk  or 
play  music  into  a  plug-in  microphone. 
(2)  After  the  recording  is  completed,  an- 
other control  may  be  set  for  immediate 
playback.  (3)  If  revisions  are  needed 
or  if  re-recording  of  the  film  is  desired, 
an  electronic  erase  head  may  be  acti- 
vated by  another  simple  control.  A  me- 
chanical safeguard  prevents  accidental 
erasing. 

Recording  on  the  RCA  "400"  Magnetic 
Sound  Projector  requires  no  special 
preparation  or  studio  facilities.  The  new 
method  also  eliminates  the  time  normally 
consumed  in  waiting  for  processing  of  a 
photographic  track. 

A  new  film  process  has  removed  the 
last  barrier  to  wide  employment  of  mag- 
netic recording  on  16-mm  film.  A  stripe 
of  magnetic  oxide  one-tenth  inch  wide 
can  now  be  coated  on  the  edge  of  a 
16-mm  film  economically.  Moreover,  the 
striping  can  be  placed  on  the  film  either 
before  or  after  it  has  been  used  for  pic- 
ture-taking and  even  if  it  already  has  an 
optical  or  photographic  sound  track. 

80-to-7200-Cycle  Range 

RCA  asserts  that  the  new  equipment 
achieves  a  new  realism  because  it  per- 
mits the  recording  and  reproduction  of 
sound  over  a  frequency  range  of  80  to 
7200  cycles  and  because  background 
noise  is  virtually  eliminated. 

Hailed  as  the  most  significant  advance 
in  the  16-mm  field  since  the  introduction 
of  synchronized  sound,  the  new  recording 
technique  is  expected  to  find  many  ap- 
plications in  films  designed  for  industry. 


New  RCA  '400'  magnetic  16-mm  combination 
recorder-projector.  Magnetic  record-and-play- 
back  head  and  optical-reproduce  head  are 
both  located  behind  sound  drum,  above  and  to 
the  right  of  lower  film  sprocket. 

schools,  medical  education,  advertising, 
military  and  government  agencies,  and 
religious  education. 

For  example,  a  narrative  or  commen- 
tary can  be  quickly  applied  to  any  previ- 
ously made  single-perforation  film  to 
which  has  been  applied  the  magnetic 
track.  The  same  picture  can  be  presented 
with  two  or  more  different  sound  tracks, 
each  suited  to  a  particular  application, 
location  or  type  of  audience.  The  prepa- 
ration of  a  single  subject  in  several 
different  languages  or  dialects  can  be 
quickly  and  expertly  accomplished. 

The  cost  of  recording  a  400-foot  reel 
of  film  with  the  new  equipment  has  been 
estimated  to  be  only  about  one-third  of 
the  cost  of  achieving  comparable  results 
photographically.  In  addition,  film  waste 
clue  to  recording  errprs  is  eliminated. 


Big  Biz  Mag  Tells  Us  How 

Hollywood  can  win  substantial  con- 
trol of  Tv  if  it  is  willing  to  risk  its  money. 
Fortune  Magazine  concludes  in  a  survey 
of  Tv  in  the  August  issue.  Development, 
however,  "may  require  extensive  reor- 
ganizations and  the  disappearance  of 
many  of  the  Old  Guard."  magazine 
opines. 

Article,  titled  "Tv's  Time  of  Trouble." 
declares:  "The  big  story  about  Tv  today- 
is  no  longer  one  of  irresistible  power.  It 
lies  rather  in  the  unexpectedly  strong 
bargaining  position  of  Tv's  competitors, 
heretofore  given  up  for  lost,  and  in  the 
equally  unexpected  weaknesses  of  the 
new  medium." 

Fortune  survey  holds  that  the  poten- 
tialities of  video  are  so  enormous  that 
scarcely  any  limit  on  its  ultimate  size  can 
be  set.  However,  high  costs,  inherent  dav- 


time  weakness,  and  the  difficulty  of  cross' 
ing  time  zones  on  national  hookups  are 
predicted  as  bringing  many  advertisers 
back  to  radio  with  its  less  expensive, 
around-the-clock   programs. 

"The  theater  owners,  the  only  group  in 
absolute  competition  with  Tv  are  marked 
for   slaughter."   Fortune   declares. 

Theater  Tv  is  found  by  Fortune  to  be 
'more  a  delaying  tactic  than  a  weapon, 
for  though  it  can  duplicate  the  coverage 
ol  Tv  it  has  no  defense  against  the  home 
comforts  of  Phonevision."  However,  ar- 
ticle points  out,  "The  exhibitors  cannot 
be  jettisoned  so  long  as  theater  distribu- 
tion is  the  only  way  of  financing  the  $1- 
million  average  cost  of  a  grade-A  film. 

New  Order  of  Things  Forecast 

Discussing  the  reluctance  of  major 
studios  to  produce  films  for  Tv,  as  the 
networks  and  independents  prepare  to  fill 
in  the  gap,  Fortune  asserts:  "It  is  clear 
that  Tv's  need  for  film  will  not  be  denied 
just  because  Hollywood's  'royal  families" 
have  barred  the  gates.  As  all  elemental 
forces  do  under  restraint,  Tv  will  simply 
raise  a  new  empire  and  crown  its  own 
kings."  

RCA  in  Theater  Tv  Color  Race 

RCA  will  demonstrate  at  an  early  date 
ilh  theater  Tv  system  which  will  be  "fully 
compatible"  with  the  black-and-white 
RCA  systems  already  installed.  This  in- 
dicates that  only  minor  modifications  will 
be  necessary  to  permit  full-color  recep- 
tion and  reproduction. 

In  the  meantime,  it  was  said.  RCA 
is  co-operating  with  the  Tv  industry  on 
the  formulating  of  standards  for  a  com- 
patible system  to  go  on  the  air,  in  keeping 
with  the  standards  laid  down  by  the  Com- 
mission. It  was  emphasized  that  the  FCC 
approved  a  standard,  and  not  necessarily 
a  system,  leaving  the  door  open  for  fu- 
ture acceptance  of  RCA,  or  any  other 
color  system.  Such  acceptance,  said  David 
Sarnoff,  RCA  board  chairman  would  not 
necessarily  be  to  the  exclusion  of  any 
other  system  already  approved  (CBS  I 
mechanical)  ;  in  fact.  Sarnoff  declared, 
he's  perfectly  willing  to  meet  the  com- 
petition of  any  other  systems  which  the 
FCC  would  approve  side-by-side  with  the 
RCA's.  "Not  only  willing,  but  anxious." 
he  appended. 

Tv  Set  Totals,  Compatibility 

Sarnoff  estimated  that  there  are  13.- 
000.000  sets  in  operation  at  present  in 
the  U.  S.,  and  that  there  would  probably 
be  about  15.000.000  by  the  end  of  the 
year.  The  fact  that  these  sets  could  not 
pick  up  any  signal  at  all  if  CBS  mechan- 
ical color  system  is  the  only  licensed 
transmitter  should  militate  against  its 
general  acceptance,  whereas  the  RCA  all- 
electronic  color  system  is  entirely  com- 
patible with  present  black-and-white  re- 
ceivers, he  stressed. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     August  1951 


23 


Current  IA-IP  Amateur  Radio   Listing 


CALL 

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NAME 


LOCAL  NO. 


C.  J.  Crowley— L.  459 
Woodrow  Gnile— L.  459 
Norman  Soules — L.  459 
Arthur    Madsen — L.    182 
Otto  Halquist— L.  182 
Tom  McNamara — L.  505 
Don  Fancher — L.  439 
Harold  Wyman— L.  96 
George  Gravell — L.  96 
J.  Roland  Lizotte — L.  546 
Theodore  Kahn— L.  86 
Howard  Bruya — L.  505 

Victor  Buns— L.  365 
Erich  Pattky— L.  244 
Frank  Larham — L.  108 
Fred  Ramhorst — L.  534 
Sydney  Trisch — L.  306 
Hugh  Newcomb— L.  462 
Alfred   Beckett— L.  462 
Frank   Tamborel — L.   306 
Edward  Ricca— L.  306 
Mike  Revzin— L.  306 
Charles  Roop — L.418 
Alex  Knight— L.  353 
Jack  Garritson — L.  306 
Peter  Hurgon— L.  306 
Fred  Huff— L.  306 
John  V.  Richards — L.  1 
W3JAX) 

Frank  Lipinske — L.  337 
Charles  Beckett — L.  462 
William  Axton— L.  524 
Albert  Dietricht — L.  306 
Lloyd  Matteson — L.  290 
Kenneth  H.  Allfrey— L.  290 
Jack  North— L.  640 

Harris  Good — L.  661 
Leo  Foran — L.  335 
Nelson  Stover — L.  283 
Ralph  Rushworth — L.  181 
John  Nordine — L.  296 
Charles  Gibson — L.  444 
Al  Edwards— L.  307 
Bernard  Rask— L.  171 
Harry  Drew — L.  171 

Bob  Cobble— L.  405 
Arlie  Belflower — L.  225 
Jim  Davis — L.  552 
Buddy  Rogers— L.  225 
M.  H.  Sanders— L.  507 
Bill  Britton— L.  537 
Marvin  Storler — L.  144 
Howard  Ross — L.  574 
E.  M.  Karcher— L.  482 
James  File— L.  290 
J.  Wyatt— L.  793 
D.  Holye  Knight— L.  412 
Adrian  McCroskey — L.  446 


W5IIP  Pat  Talbot— L.  249 

W5DYV  Paul  Belian— L.  604 

W5CQ  Ray  J.  Morrow— L.  597 

W5CQQ  Rajmunt  J.  Machu— L.  597 

W5IMT  A.  S.  Johnstone— L.  293 

W50DA  Bill  Couse— L.  450 

W50QJ  Norman  Olstad— L.  279 

W50DA  William  Couse— L.450 

W6BAA  Amos  Kanaga— L.  409 

W6UZA  Malcomb  Keele— L.  150 

W6DPU  Roy  Brann— L.  150 

W6PFF  Frank  Champlin—  L.  150 

W6PQS  Joe  Wilson— L.  504 

W6ALO  Tom  Jentges— L.  504 

W6GTP  E.  Schwartz— L.  695 

W6MTO  Leroy  Wardel— L.  762 

W6DYJ  Ed  Pothier— L.  215 

W6IV  Delos  Trim— L.  297 

W6PB  Dan  O'Brien— L.  159 

W6RKB  Bob  Gillespie— L.  241 

W6YWC  Lewis  Howard— L.  162 

W6EFL  A.  H.  Whitney— L.  150 

W6EAQ  E.  L.  Kline— L.  150 

W6CAG  August  De  Grazia— L.  150 

W6CYW  Frank  Hemerlein— L.  150 

W6KNI  Cliff    Sch  wander— L.    150 

W6REH  Harrv  Gould— L.  150 

W6BPT  Roy  Pinkham— L.  431 

W6FBW  Frank   Amarantes— L.  431 

W6WPG  Robert  Hyde— L.  796 

W6IDY  Dom  Lucido— L.  241 

W6EP  Leslie  Hewitt— L.  695 

W6HK  Frank  Creswell— L.  728 

W6YDU  C.  R.  Putnam— L.  490 

W6BWI  Harry  Morse— L.  297 

W6VTX  Ralph  Addy— L.  521 

W6EIR  Leroy  Ward— L.  521 

W6ZOK  Max  Miller— L.  521 

W6FGV  Norman  Owens— L.  521 

W6BEP  C.  C.  Applegate— L.  187 

W6WPG  Robert  Hyde— L.  796 

W6ZEN  Floyd  McPherson— L.  709 

W6FOP  George  Abrams— L.  297 

W6AGN  Arthur  Hansen— L.  297 

W6EWU  Tom  Wells— L.  297 

W6YBC  Hansen  Cresap— L.  297 

W6ZBX  George  Kiaser— L.  297 

W6CZK  Ray  Baumann— L.  434 

W6CML  Tom  Moore— L.  169 

W6IYT  L.  H.  King— L.  796 

K6CH  H.  H.  Quackenbush— L.  510 
W6GCF  Charles  Busby— L.  599 

W6HUE  Homer  Elias— L.  599 
W6UVO  Edward  Ives— L.  150 
W6WER         Clarence  Woerth— L.  150 

W6RN  Lynn  Bradshaw— L.  162 

W7LAT  Fred  Jones— L.  720 

W7PEC  Jim  Harford— L.  720 

W7AXY  John  Murphy— L.  91 
W7ALM         Chester  Lamont — L.  446 
W7FJZ  Z.  A.  Sax— L.  159 

W7HE  Dee  Hart— L.  91 

W7HPF  John  Gilbert— L.  91 


W7GXN 

Edwin  McMurray — L.  180 

W7IU 

Donald  Johnston — L.  401 

W7AVM 

J.  Elmer  Newell— L.  429 

W7JTM 

J.  Allen  Evans— L.  294 

W70AS 

George  Olson— L.  294 

W7KMO 

James  A.  Furr — L.  294 

W7FTV 

Lloyd  J.  Hagaman — L.  240 

W8VDP 

Jack  Harwood — L.  160 

W8BYT 

L.  Grazier — L.  388 

W8NS 

Carl  Bacon— L.  199 

W8WSL 

Denzel  Murphy— L.  239 

W80WK 

Edw.  Miller— L.  199 

W8EEW 

Muriel  Murtagh — L.  291 

W8QIX 

F.  W.  McDonald— L.  199 

W8QFK 

Jim  Robinson — L.  64 

W8BWU 

James  T.  Smith— L.  100 

W8CHI 

C.  W.    Salchli— L.   315 

W9NLP 

Roily  Long— L.  110 

W90L 

W.  P.  Atchison— L.  323 

W9NPG 

John  Bain— L.  323 

W9LBL 

R.  B.  Connelly— L.  110 

W9EDW 

Harold  Nelson— L.  221 

W9RTA 

Herb  Kleinbeck,  Sr.— L.  110 

W9FOL 

Merrill  Smith— L.  110 

W9AZA 

Kenneth   Mass — L.   721 

W9GQD 

Clarence  Hawkins — L.  263 

W9DBY 

Kenneth  G.  Alley— L.  421 

W9VNV 

Charles    Mitten — L.   194 

W0VGC 

H.  F.  Heckel— L.  230 

W0ZIM 

M.  Geiskieng— L.  230 

W0GSW 

James  E.  Evans— L.  242 

W0JKU 

John  Cresap — L.  242 

W0UOP 

Clair  Rockholz— L.  286 

W0WSH 

Herschell  Allredge— L.  443 

W0DOL 

E.  M.  Karcher— L.  482 

W0SJK 

O.  S.  Keay— L.  219 

W0SLV 

Walker  Faussett— L.  395 

W0BTT 

R.  R.  Kerwood— L.  586 

W0WHV 

Max  Hollingsworth — L.  465 

W0BVO 

Paul  Hunter— L.  191 

W0QI 

E.  D.  Van  Duyne— L.  191 

W0BSO 

Don  C.  Atherton— L.  191 

W0GFN 

Ira  Hasket— L.  491 

CANADA 

; 

VE3ABV 

Jack  Snider — L.  173 

VE3BAK 

F.  Winkle— L.  173 

VE3BVC 

E.  H.  Whyat— L.  173 

VE3BWG 

Lou  Lodge — L.  173 

VE3DBF 

M.  Winslow— L.  461 

VE30G 

H.  Horner— L.  173 

VE3TE 

Tom  Burrows — L.  173 

VE3APR 

Harry  McClelland— L.  582 

VE5JK 

Jack  Kyle— L.  295 

VE70T 

M.  Thoreau— L.  348 

VE7US 

C.  Moorehouse — L.  348 

VE7MN 

C.  H.  Richards— L.  348 

VE3AYQ 

Cecil  D.  O'Neill— L.  461 

VE5RJ 

Ron  Marchant— L.  300 

VE3AHJ 

Walt  Mann— L.  467 

VE7ALW 

Merle  Wilson— L.   348 
Jack  Stone— L.  348 

VE7APN 

VE7APU 

Tom  Hepple— L.  348 

VE7BJ 

Edward  S.  Brooks— L.  348 

VE7ACB 

F.  J.  McGuire— L.  680 

[NOTE:  Additions  and  corrections  should 
be  sent  to  AMOS  R.  KANAGA  (W6BAA), 
262    La    Casa    Ave.,   San    Mateo,    Calif.] 


24 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     August  1951 


Tv  Viewing  Difficulty  Corrected  by  B.  &  L's  Tele-Ban 
By  BAUSCH  &  LOMB  OPTICAL  COMPANY 


NOT  so  long  ago  ophthalmologists  and 
optometrists  began  to  notice  that  an 
increasing  number  of  patients  complained 
of  "difficulty"  in  viewing  television.  The 
severity  of  this  trouble,  as  reported, 
ranged  anywhere  from  a  sensation  of 
tiredness  after  several  hours  of  viewing 
to  an  inability  to  tolerate  more  than  a 
few  minutes  of  watching. 

Examinations  revealed  that  many 
needed  corrective  lenses.  Many  others, 
however,  were  already  adequately  cor- 
rected or  did  not  require  prescription 
changes.  These  latter  patients  posed  a 
new  problem.  A  specific  solution,  to  be 
prescribed  for  patient  relief,  remained  to 
be  determined. 

Sense  and  Nonsense 

Some  professional  people  arranged  Tv- 
set  experiments  at  home  to  ferret  out  the 
probable  cause  of  their  patients'  com- 
plaints. Various  tinted  lenses  were  tested, 
including  several  sunglass  types.  Rules 
for  Tv  viewers  to  follow  appeared  in 
papers  and  periodicals,  along  with  news 
stories  about  Tv.  Some  of  the  printed  ma- 
terial was  sound,  and  some  was  ridiculous. 

Soon  we  began  to  receive  inquiries  as 
to  what  we  might  offer  as  an  answer  to 
the  dilemma.  Our  answer  is  the  new  tele- 
vision glass,  Tele-Ban,  developed  spe- 
cifically for  relief  of  discomfort  in  Tv 
viewing,  and  for  giving  he  wearer  crisp, 
sharp  pictures. 

X-  and  Gamma  Ray  Tests 

It  should  be  understood,  at  the  outset, 
that  Tv  is  not  dangerous  to  the  eyes. 
There  are  no  X-  and  gamma-ray  radia- 
tions evident  when  tested,  over  a  40-hour 
period,  with  health  film  in  contact  with 
the  kinescope  tube  face,  and  with  volt- 
ages up  to  12  Kv.  Discomfort,  rather,  is 
compounded  of  several  factors  including 

(a)  the  energy  distribution  of  the  source, 

(b)  too   short   an   observation   distance, 

(c)  lack  of  surround  illumination,    (d) 
the  chromatic  aberration  of  the  eye. 

One  might  look  at  the  energy  distribu- 
tion of  the  kinescope  tube,  see  its  simi- 
larity to  the  energy  distribution  of  a  day- 
light fluorescent  lamp,  and  conclude  that 
no  cause  for  investigation  existed.  But 
this  would  not  take  into  account  the  fact 
that  the  daylight  lamp  illuminates  what 
we  see  by  reflected  (and  therefore  al- 
tered) light,  whereas  we  view  the  kine- 
scope tube  directly. 

As  far  back  as  1888,  Konig  and 
Brodhun  studied  brightness  discrimina- 
tion at  scotopic  levels  (adjusted  to  see 
in  a  dark  environment) ,  and  demon- 
strated higher  sensitivity  for  short-wave 
light.     Crozier    and    Holway,    in    1939, 


studied  brightness  discrimination  at  pho- 
topic  levels  (adjusted  to  see  in  a  bright 
environment) ,  in  several  sizes  of  test  field, 
with  chromatic  illuminations,  and  from 
their  data  one  can  extract  the  information 
that  sensitivity  is  highest  in  the  blue,  with 
green  and  white  second,  and  red  the 
lowest. 

The  separation  for  sensitivity  levels  for 
blue,  green  and  red  is  substantial.  Hence, 
the  kinescope  tube  high  level  of  energy 
at  about  440m/u  (blue)  is  important,  after 
all.  It  is  responsible  for  the  high  energy 
level  in  the  area  where  the  brightness 
sensitivity  of  the  eye  is  greatest. 


IA-IP  Radio  Hams  Constitute 

Theater  Tv  Talent  Backlog 

By  AMOS  KANAGA  (W6BAA) 

Sec.  L.  419,  San  Mateo,  Calif. 

Activity  on  the  ham  bands  has  been 
at  an  all-time  low  except  for  the  75-meter 
phone  band  which  still  sparks  out  with 
the  midnight  wisecracks  from  the  boys 
down  South  and  up  around  Montana. 
We  often  wonder  if  that  years'-old 
checker  game  of  two  IA  guys  who  are 
well  known  to  the  hams  will  ever  be 
wound  up,  to  the  intense  disappointment 
of  the  dozens  of  BCL  listeners  who  kibitz 
right  along  with  them. 

Becoming  ever  more  popular  with  the 
boys  is  75  and  10  mobile.  Could  this  be 
the  reason  why  a  lot  of  fellows  are  leav- 
ing for  work  earlier  than  usual? 

Of  great  importance,  we  think,  to  radio 
hams  everywhere  is  the  announcement 
by  President  Walsh  of  the  IA's  intention 
ot  doing  a  thorough  organizing  job  on 
the  Tv  field.  For  our  part,  we  do  not 
know  of  a  gang  more  qualified  for  Tv 
work  than  are  the  radio  hams — those 
technically-qualified  men  from  the  IA-IP 
amateur  radio  list. 

Nice  Backlog  of  Tv  Talent 

Most  certainly  there  is  experience  in 
the  electronic  field  on  that  list  that,  with 
just  a  little  more  schooling,  could  be 
used  to  the  great  advantage  of  the  craft. 
Perhaps  we  could  profit  by  going  back 
over  those  issues  of  IP  which  presented 
basic  data  anent  Tv.  After  all,  the  funda- 
mentals of  Tv  remain  pretty  much  the 
same,  and  I  doubt  whether  anybody 
knowing  these  fundamentals  would  have 
any  great  trouble  in  handling  any  form 
of  theater  Tv. 

Many  thanks  to  the  boys  for  their 
many  nice  letters,  and  we  do  try  to  an- 
swer all  of  them.  Keep  the  suggestions 
coming.  An  up-to-date  list  of  IA-IP  hams 
appears  in  this  issue.    73. 


Viewing  Distance  Important 

Too.  many  Tv  viewers  feel  that  they 
see  the  picture  better  if  they  hug  the 
screen — one  to  six  feet  away.  When  at  an 
observation  distance  of  about  five  feet, 
the  short-wave  light  (blue)  and  long- 
wave light  (red)  are  about  equally  out  of 
focus  (because  of  chromatic  aberration), 
with  energy  in  the  blue  predominating. 
(At  greater  distances  the  blue  is  more 
out  of  focus.)  This  fact  is  recognized  and 
is  commonly  used  in  the  theater  to  create 
a  soft,  out-of-focus  effect  by  illuminating 
the  scene  with  blue  spotlights.  Hence, 
again,  the  excess  energy  in  the  short- 
wave portion  of  the  visible  spectrum  is  a 
source  of  difficulty. 

It  does  not  take  much  imagination,  at 
this  point,  to  guess  that  a  reduction  in  the 
energy  in  the  short-wave  part  of  the  spec- 
trum should  effectively  halt  complaint. 
But,  how  to  do  it?  Available  filters  either 
do  not  absorb  enough,  in  the  right  places, 
or  absorb  too  much.  Those  that  absorb 
too  little  do  not  do  the  job.  Filters  that 
absorb  too  much,  such  as  Kalichrome  C, 
are  harsh;  they  distort  colors,  and  are 
worthless  for  colored  Tv.  The  criterion — 
absorption  of  the  proper  amount  of  blue 
with  minimum  absorption  elsewhere — 
had  to  be  met  by  a  new  filter. 

After  several  months  of  fruitless  work 
with  colored  glass  with  proper  optical 
characteristics  and  additional  time  spent 
on  coated  lenses  the  solution,  in  Tele- 
Ban,  was  found.  Tele-Ban  lenses  are 
coated.  They  are  stable.  The  coating  is 
permanent  and  as  hard  as  the  glass  itself. 
St  mi-finished  Tele-Ban  lenses  can  be  fin- 
ished in  the  prescription  shop,  with  no 
more  than  normal  precaution  against 
scratching. 

Tele-Ban  is  unique  and  is  unlike  other 
selective  absorptive  lenses.  It  is  designed 
specifically  for  the  job.  Tele-Ban  assures 
comfortable  Tv  viewing. 

The  effectiveness  of  Tele-Bans  has  been 
amply  demonstrated  by  field  tests  and  by 
an  intensive  user  survey.  Reports  have 
been  enthusiastic:  Tele-Bans  definitely 
make  Tv  viewing  more  comfortable.  When 
people  complain  about  difficulties  in  view- 
ing Tv,  apart  from  those  produced  by 
ametropia  (erroneous  refraction  of  the 
eye,  causing  imperfect  vision),  one  can 
be  sure  of  obtaining  relief  by  the  use  of 
Tele-Bans.  They  will  be  available  gen- 
erally later  this  year. 


Seager  in  Ansco  Sales  Post 

Charles  W.  Seager  has  been  named 
Eastern  Manager  of  Ansco's  professional 
motion  picture  sales  department,  with 
headquarters  in  the  Chrysler  Building, 
N.  Y.  City.  Seager  joined  Ansco  in  1946, 
following  an  extended  tour  of  duty  as  a 
Major  in  the  U.  S.  Signal  Corps  during 
World  War  II.  Previously  he  had  been 
identified  with  the  visual  education  field. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     August  1951 


25 


Networks' Vested  (?)  Rights  in  Tv 

Stockholders  of  both  companies  have 
approved  the  merger  of  American  Broad- 
casting Co.  with  United  Paramount  The- 
aters, in  which  the  latter  would  exercise 
dominant  control.  Next  step  is  to  get  the 
approval  of  the  FCC. 

Meanwhile,  a  self-appointed  body  of 
people,  "acting  in  the  public  interest," 
announced  that  it  would  oppose  not  only 
the  ABC-UP  merger  but  all  exclusive  the- 
ater Tv.  "Subscription  radio  was  never 
approved  by  the  FCC,"  says  the  Fair 
Television  Practices  Committee,  heavily 
weighted  as  to  membership,  of  course, 
by  lawyers.  "No  precedent  of  any  kind 
exists  for  granting  to  theater  Tv  exclu- 
sive use  of  any  publicly-owned  channels." 

FTPC  charged  that  efforts  are  being 
made  to  stampede  the  motion  picture  in- 
dustry into  Tv  despite  doubtful  legality, 
lack  of  technical  proof  on  ultra  high  fre- 
quencies, and  absence  of  evidence  of 
economic  value. 

QUERY:  Do  the  Tv  networks  operate  on 
"publicly-owned"  channels  for  free?  Sure,  ex- 
cept that  the  advertiser  picks  up  the  gigantic 
tab  the  proceeds  from  which  go  into  network 
tills,  not  to  any  philanthropic  enterprise.  More- 
over, the  cost  of  the  Tv  network  program  is 
figured  into  the  retail  (we  mean  consumer) 
price    of   the    commodity    advertised. — ED. 


Kodak   16-mm  Multi-Speaker 

Eastman  Kodak  has  developed  a  new 
multi-speaker  unit  for  use  with  the  regu- 
lar speaker  of  its  Pageant  16-mm  sound- 
film  projector.  These  four  widely  sepa- 
rated speakers  permit  considerably 
greater  flexibility  in  sound  reproduction, 
making  it  unnecessary  for  the  projection- 
ist to  raise  the  sound  volume  to  such  high 
levels  as  to  impair  fidelity. 

Each  of  the  speakers  in  the  new  unit 
is  an  8-inch  speaker  mounted  in  in- 
dividual baffles.  One  is  supplied  with  a 
35-foot  cord;  two  with  45-foot  cords. 
Assembled  together,  the  three  speakers 
form  a  convenient  carrying  case.  The 
complete  unit  weighs  only  17  pounds, 
and  will  enclose  a  2000-foot  reel. 

The  speakers  are  equipped  with  con- 
nectors which  make  it  easy  to  arrange 
them    in   the   correct    electrical   hook-up. 


Major  Company  Color  Upswing 

Another  cheering  note  in  the  seeming 
resurgence  of  motion  pictures  as  the 
prime  source  of  family  entertainment  was 
sounded  with  the  Metro  announcement 
that  more  than  half  of  its  output  for  the 
next  12  months  will  be  in  Technicolor — 
color  being  one  of  the  more  important 
facets  of  the  triumvirate  of  color,  ster- 
eophonic sound  and  three-dimensional 
pictures  which,  informed  sources  hold, 
will  contribute  materially  to  the  box-of- 


26 


fice  upswing  within  the  next  few  years. 

RKO,  meanwhile,  has  announced  that 
only  12  of  its  projected  36  features  for 
the  coming  year  will  be  in  color.  This  per- 
centage is  generally  regarded  as  some- 
what low  for  a  so-called  major  company. 
Of  the  next  15  releases  from  Fox  within 
the  next  four  months,  only  4  will  be  in 
color. 


TYPICAL  PROJECTION  ROOM  IN  HOLLAND 


Theater-Nets  Tv  War  Opens 

Indicating  a  continuous  battle  between 
theater  Tv  interest  and  the  Tv  networks 
for  the  rights  to  large-scale  sports  events. 
Du  Mont  has  named  Tom  Gallery  to  head 
a  new  sports  department  whose  special — 
nay,  sole — function  will  be  to  sign  and 
sell  major  sports  events.  Gallery  has  a 
background  of  promoting  big-time  sports 
events  and,  significantly,  was  moved  to 
his  present  spot  from  that  of  network 
sales  director. 


U.  S.  'Essential'  Job  Classification 

"Prospects  for  the  motion  picture  in- 
dustry or  any  substantial  number  of  its 
job  classifications  being  catalogued  as 
"essential  industry"  are  extremely  slight. 


Cleaning  Projector  Lens 

For  the  benefit  of  those  who  may 
have  been  misled  by  the  nonsense 
that  has  appeared  lately  in  the  non- 
technical press,  IP  offers  here  a  few 
basic  tips  anent  the  proper  care  of 
a  projection  lens,  coated  or  un- 
coated,  as  supplied  by  Kollmorgen 
Optical  Co.: 

1.  Remove  lens  from  projector  at 
least  once  a  day  for  cleaning. 

2.  Remove  all  particles  of  dust  or 
lint  with  a  clean  camel's  hair  brush, 
which  should  be  used  only  for  this 
purpose. 

3.  Wet  sheet  of  clean  "Lens  Tis- 
sue" in  any  good  liquid  lens  cleaner 
similar  to  the  "Guild  Craft"  lens 
cleaner,  grain  alcohol  or  acetone, 
and  wipe  the  surfaces  gently  but 
thoroughly. 

4.  Cloths  of  any  character  are  not 
recommended  for  cleaning — use  Lens 
Tissue. 

5.  Dry  the  surface  with  a  clean 
dry  piece  of  "Lens  Tissue." 

6.  Never  attempt  to  open  Super  or 
Series  II  Snaplites  since  they  are  fac- 
tory-sealed  to  eliminate  oil  seepage. 


Slide  projector  (top),  which  utilizes  a  mercury 
vapor  light  source.  Over-all  room  view  (bottom). 

it  was  suggested  bluntly  at  the  U.  S. 
Dept.  of  Commerce,  whose  spokesman 
pointed  out  that  only  works  immediately 
associated  with  industrial  production  are 
regarded  essential  today. 


Letters  to  the  Editor 

To  the  Editor  of  IP: 

Manufacturers  of  Class  A  and  Class 
B  Products  (motion  picture  equipment 
is  Class  B),  using  over  a  minimum 
quantity  of  controled  materials  (steel, 
copper,  and  aluminum)  apply  to  the  Na- 
tional Production  Authority  for  material 
allocation  and  DO-Rating  to  facilitate 
the  purchase  of  materials  in  short 
.  supply. 

The  NPA  after  a  study  of  the  request, 
allocates  to  the  manufacturer  certain 
weights  of  these  materials. 

Though  Motiograph's  request  for  ma- 
terial allocations  for  sound  and  projec- 
tion equipment  was  based  on  a  lower 
than  normal  production  schedule,  the 
NPA  allocated  for  its  4th  quarter  opera- 
tion approximately  50%  of  the  materials 
requested. 

If  other  theatre  equipment  manufac- 
turers' allotments  were  similarly  low,  as 
there  is  good  reason  to  believe,  then 
it  is  certain  that  equipment  is  to  become 
scarce  by  year  end.  Right  now  most 
theatre  equipment  is  in  good  supply,  so 
it  is  advisable  for  the  theatre  owner  to 
buy  now  while  equipment  can  be  ob- 
tained on  reasonably  good  delivery  terms. 
Fred  C.  Matthews 
Vice-President,  Motiograph,  Inc. 

To  the  Editor  of  IP: 

Many  of  my  colleagues,  no  less  than  I, 
enjoy  your  publication  very  much.  We  all 
(Continued  on  page  28) 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     August  1951 


BRITISH  TRAINING 

(Continued  from  page  15) 

a  theoretical  nature  must  include  optics, 
photometry,  sound  and  acoustics  and — 
a  most  important  topic — regulations. 

Projectors,  Soundheads 

"The  practical  side  is  at  least  as  im- 
portant as  the  theoretical.  Every  train- 
ing centre  must  be  equipped  with  a  var- 
iety of  old  projectors  and  sound-heads, 
which  the  students  must  dismantle  and 
reassemble,  in  order  to  become  conver- 
sant with  the  mechanical  principles  of 
projection. 

"Film  handling  is  a  subject  that  should 
not  be  left  for  instruction  in  the  rewind 
room;  one  still  sees  projectionists  mak- 
ing joins  in  the  time-honoured  manner  of 
applying  the  cement,  then  holding  the 
two  ends  of  the  film  in  mid-air  to  register 
the  perforations — a  method  that  simply 
cannot  be  used  with  safety  base. 

"An  important  aspect  that  throughout 
the  course  must  be  kept  to  the  fore  is 
showmanship.  However  good  a  techni- 
cian a  man  may  be,  he  will  never  make 
a  good  projectionist  without  that  touch 
of  showmanship  in  his  make-up.  Stage 
technique  must  also  be  touched  upon. 

Training  for  the  'Seconds' 

"The  training  for  the  second  projec- 
tionist's certificate  will  be  a  continuation 
of  the  previous  training.  But  the  train- 
ing for  the  chief  should  be  regarded  in 
a  rather  different  light.  Technically,  the 
second  should  have  the  same  knowledge 
as  the  chief,  since  on  the  chief's  days  off 
he  will  be  in  charge.  But  the  chief  must  be 
trained  to  accept  responsibility,  to  offer 
technical  advice  to  his  boss,  and  to  be- 
come a  prominent  figure  in  the  running 
of  his  theater.  Much  of  the  last  year  of 
training  should  therefore  be  devoted  to 
consideration  of  present  problems — pic- 
ture brightness,  auditorium  lighting, 
sound  quality — and  possible  future  de- 
velopments— steroscopy.  stereophony,  tel- 
evision. 

Qualified  Teaching  Staff 

"It  may  be  thought  that  this  syllabus 
is  too  ambitious.  Certainly  it  introduces 
a  pressing  problem:  where  are  the  in- 
structors to  be  found? 

"For  the  more  theoretical  subjects  — 
mathematics,  electricity,  optics  —  the  ser- 
vices of  existing  technical  teachers  are 
virtually  necessary.  There  is  far  more  in 
teaching  than  just  knowing  one's  sub- 
ject— as  I  learnt  during  my  war-time  ex- 
perience. But  I  repeat,  these  teachers, 
must  be  prevailed  upon  to  give  instruc- 
tion in  an  essentially  practical  manner. 

"Unfortunately,  few  institutes  will  boast 
instructors  capable  of  teaching  the  more 
piactical  subjects,  such  as  projection 
principles,     sound-on-film     reproduction, 


film  handling,  showmanship.  For  instruc- 
tors in  such  subjects  we  must  turn  to  the 
industry:  projectionists,  theatre  engin- 
eers, equipment  engineers,  and  salesmen. 
But  first,  I  emphasize,  they  must  be  given 
a  course  of  instruction  in  the  actual  job 
of  teaching. 

Small-Town  Applicants 

"Everything  I  have  written  previously 
can  apply  only  to  the  apprentices  and 
projectionists  working  in  theaters  in  and 
around  the  larger  towns.  What  of  the 
many  projectionists  in  country  shows,  too 
far  from  the  nearest  town,  where  the  in- 


auguration of  training  classes  for  two  or 
three  projectionists  is  quite  out  of  the 
question? 

"The  only  practical  answer  to  give 
such  men  a  fair  deal  is  the  correspon- 
dence course.  Provision  should  be  made 
for  such  courses  to  be  available  without 
charge  to  the  country  apprentice.  The 
apprentice  should  be  allowed  the  appro- 
priate time  from  his  duties  to  study  the 
course,  and,  if  possible,  a  room  should  be 
made  available  to  him  in  the  theater." 

[ED.'s  NOTE:  Comment  on  the  foregoing  is 
contained  in  the  Monthly  Chat  column  begin- 
ning on  page  3  of  this  issue.] 


Give  the  HEART  of  your  theatre  a  "Break" 
...  or  it  may  SRE  AK  your  box-office 


^~ TIm     sound 

PROJECTION  ••jL 


-J**CA  service 


Sc 


Scheduled  inspection  check- 
ups and  regular  maintenance  are  more 
than  a  "break"  for  your  projection  room 
equipment — the  heart  of  your  theatre.  They 
are  performance  security  that  assure 
high-quality  showmanship  for  your  movie 
presentations. 

Neglect  of  proper  maintenance  control 
results  in  equipment  troubles  that  seri- 
ously interfere  with  box-office  takes. 

ft  costs  so  little  to  protect  so  much 

The  advantages  of  RCA 
Service  are  yours  at  a 
cost  so  low,  a  few  ad- 
missions daily  pay  for 
it.  Write  for  complete 
information. 


Protect  your  equipment  with  RCA  service 

— Constant  usage  of  sound  and  projec- 
tion equipment  causes  wear  and  tear  of 
critical  parts  .  .  .  tubes  become  weak 
.  .  .  transformers  and  condensers  need  to 
be  replaced  .  .  .  wiring  must  be  checked. 
The  possible  scarcity  of  new  sound  and 
projection  equipment  .  .  .  even  replace- 
ment parts  .  .  .  makes  it  important  that 
you  protect  the  life  of  the  equipment 
you  now  have. 

RCA  Parts  Plans  cover  all  makes  and 
types  of  theatre  sound  equipment,  as 
well  as  projectors  and  accessory  units. 
This  protection  is  more  vital  today  than 
ever  before. 


RCA  SERVICE  COMPANY,  INC. 

A  RADIO  CORPORATION  of  AMERICA  SUBSIDIARY 
CAMDEN,  NEW  JERSEY 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


August  1951 


27 


Letters  to  the  Editor 

wish  that  we  could  see  the  many  wonder- 
ful technical  developments  in  America. 
Each  month's  issue  of  IP  is  eagerly 
awaited  by  all  of  us. 

A.  Zehngeboth 
Zlil  Cinema,  Haifa,  Israel 

New  'Fluid  Sound'  Phone  Pickup 

Utilizing   the    principles    of    fluid-damping 
and   fluid-coupling,  the  Fluid   Sound   Phono 


Pickup  has  been  introduced  by  Lindberg 
Instrument  Co.,  830  Folger  Ave.,  Berkeley  10, 
Calif.  It  consists,  essentially,  of  an  actu- 
ating arm  to  which  a  sapphire-pointed  stylus 
is  affixed;  a  pastic  body  containing  three 
cells  filled  with  an  electrolytic,  non-toxic, 
conducting  fluid,  and  a  rubber  diaphragm. 
In  operation,  D.C.  flows  through  the  three 
cells  in  series  and  is  modulated  by  the  record 
track  oscillations  (acting  through  the  stylus) . 
The  current  modulations  thus  produced  cause 
an  output  voltage  to  appear  on  the  center 
cell  electrode.  This  voltage  is  then  fed  in 
the    usual    manner    to    any   audio    amplifier. 


ANSWER 
TO  YOUR 
TECHNICAL 
PROBLEMS... 


The  Altec 

Service  Man  and 

the  organization 

behind  him 

The            jD 

Altec            ^H 

AITET 

Service         ^| 

ALI  £L 

Man 

161   Sixth  Avenue, 
New  York  13,  N.  Y. 

PROTECTING    THE    THEATRE -FIRST    PLACE    IN    ENTERTAINMENT 


n   nHd 


ESSENTIAL 


THERE  IS  A  LORRAINE  CARION    TAILORED  FOR 
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Send  neressary  projection  equipment 
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ECONOMIZE 

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Needle-record  contact  is  used  only  to  modu- 
late the  externally  supplied  D.C.  voltage  as 
it   flows   through   the   fluid. 

The  same  basic  Fluid  Sound  cartridge  is 
used  for  all  disc-recorded  sound  reproduc- 
tion, but  three  different  points  are  available 
to  accommodate  variations  in  groove-width. 
Each  point-size  is  mounted  in  a  cartridge  of 
distinctive  color  to  insure  quick  and  positive 
identification. 


STEREOSCOPIC  FILMS 

(Continued  from  page  14) 

the  images.  This  condition  can  be  im- 
proved upon  by  a  light  condensing  sys- 
tem having  a  cylindrical  lens  element. 
Then  the  light  spot  becomes  oval  instead 
of  round. 

The  Newcomer  Anamorphoser 

Another  method  is  to  introduce  an 
optical  device  on  the  camera  to  compress 
the  images  in  one  direction,  and  a  similar 
device  on  the  projector  to  expand  them 
back  to  normal  proportions.  Such  an 
optical  device  is  called  an  "anamor- 
phoser." Several  types  have  been  con- 
structed, but  it  remained  for  Dr.  H.  Sid- 
ney Newcomer  to  design  one  that  does 
not  introduce  serious  aberrations  and 
have  other  optical  handicaps.  The  New- 
comer Anamorphoser  is  capable  of  effect- 
ing a  compression  of  the  image  to  al- 
most 2/3  and  an  expansion  of  about  I*/*} 
times. 

Among  the  methods  suggested  for  the 
employment  of  a  single  film  to  carry  the 
two  images  is  the  "beam-splitter"  in  one 
form  or  another.  The  device  has  two 
pairs  of  mirrors  placed  in  front  of  the 
lens  and  arranged  so  that  the  pair  on 
the  left  will  cause  the  left-eye  image  to 
be  selected  for  projection  to  the  screen 
and  the  right-hand  pair  will  do  the  same 
for  the  right-eye  image. 

The  beam-splitter  is  a  device  that  does 
exactly  what  its  name  implies — it  splits 
the  light  beam  into  two  parts.  Hence, 
the  intensity  of  each  part  cannot  be 
greater  than  half  of  the  whole  beam. 
It  is  a  simple  device  and  easy  to  use. 

Beam-Splitter  Deficiencies 

But  in  addition  to  light  loss,  it  has 
another  drawback.  The  pictures  overlap 
considerably,  making  it  impossible  to 
mask  them  to  a  stereoscopic  window. 
The  window  must  be  artificially  pro- 
duced by  a  black  border  on  the  screen, 
usually  of  velvet,  to  absorb  spill-over 
light.  Another  shortcoming:  The  camera 
lens  works  at  something  less  than  half 
the  F  stop  setting  shown  on  the  lens.  This 
means  more  than  twice  the  amount  of 
light  required  for  conventional  photog- 
raphy. 

When  it  comes  to  shooting  interiors, 
this  added  light  requirement  proves  to 
be  an  economic  disadvantage  of  the  beam 
splitter  method.    There  is  a  correspond- 


28 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     August  1951 


ing  light  loss  in  projection,  and  here 
the  loss  is  even  more  significant.  Take 
the  loss  inherent  in  the  heam  splitter, 
add  that  to  the  loss  in  polarization,  and 
you  find  that  you're  getting  about  one- 
twelfth  the  light  that  you  had  when  you 
projected  the  full  frame  in  the  conven- 
tional way. 

Another  disadvantage  of  the  beam- 
splitter is  the  picture  proportions  it  gives 
— a  narrow  and  tall  picture,  certainly  in- 
appropriate for  stereoscopic  representa- 
tion which  is  so  well  suited  for  pano- 
ramic views. 

Other  Proposed  Devices 

Another  proposed  device  has  dual 
lenses  producing  square  pictures  side  by 
side.  There  is  no  light  loss  in  the  cam- 
era, since  two  lenses  are  used  and  the 
window  for  each  picture  is  quite  sharp. 
However,  there  is  considerable  loss  in 
projection  if  the  attachment  is  used  on 
a  projector  not  provided  with  a  special 
condenser  system.  If  the  standard  pro- 
portions are  retained,  each  image  is  less 
than  one-fourth  the  area  of  the  full 
frame. 

Another  method  which  has  been  pro- 
posed for  simultaneous  projection,  is  the 
arrangement  of  images  with  one  mem- 
ber above  the  other.  Special  projectors 
would  be  required. 

Sequential  Frame  Projection — 
The  'Eclipse'  System 

From  time  to  time,  the  alternate  pro- 
jection of  the  members  of  a  stereo  pair 
has  also  been  proposed.  In  this  system, 
the  right  eye  image,  for  instance,  is  pro- 
jected first,  then  the  shutter  interrupts 
the  light  beam  while  the  film  moves  down 
to  position  the  left  eye  image.  Thus  there 
are  periods  of  flicker  that  occur  at  dif- 
ferent times  for  each  eye. 

If  we  break  this  sequence  of  events 
down,  we  find  that  the  first  light  period 
has  a  value  of  12.5%  of  the  complete 
picture  cycle.  The  flicker  blade  on  the 
projector  shutter  (considering  a  two- 
bladed  shutter)  gives  a  dark  period  last- 
ing 12.5%  to  be  followed  by  a  light 
period  of  the  same,  then  a  long  dark 
period  consuming  62.5%  for  pull-down 
and  eclipse  to  permit  the  other  eye  to 
see  its  image. 

If  standard  sound-film  speed  of  24 
frames  a  second  is  used,  the  resulting 
flicker  is  very  annoying.  Stepping  up 
the  projection  to  48  frames  a  second  in- 
creases nicker  frequency  twice,  but  it 
still  is  noticeable. 

Physiological  Effects 

There  is  a  physiological  effect  that  is 
likely  to  become  disagreeably  apparent 
— usually  headache  or  nausea — after  a 
few  minutes  of  viewing  pictures  projected 
in  this  way.  A  complete  period  of  dark- 
ness for  one  eye,  while  light  reaches  the 
other,  will  probably  always  result  in 
visual  fatigue,  if  not  in  nausea,  no  mat- 


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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     August  1951 


29 


ter  how  high,  within  workable  limits,  the 
flicker  frequency  is  brought. 

Flicker  of  low  frequency  calls  for  trac- 
tion on  the  control  muscles  of  the  irises 


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Strong  Rectifiers  are 
the  only  rectifiers  on  the 
market  which  are  espe- 
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with  and  for  use  with  motion  picture  pro- 
jection arc  lamps.  This  is  highly  important,  as 
efficient  operation  of  each  type  and  rating  of  arc 
necessitates  a  rectifier  specifically  engineered  to  its 
particular  requirements. 
There  is  a  dependable  Strong  Rectifier  for  every  type 
projection  lamp:  2-Tube  •  4-Tube  •  6-Tube  •  Single 
and  Three  Phase  Models  for 

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when  bright  light  enters  one  or  both  eyes. 
The  rapid  occurrence  of  the  transmis- 
sion of  stimuli,  first  from  one  eye,  then 
from  the  other,  and  the  motor  messages 
from  the  brain  to  the  muscles,  delivered 
in  rapid  sequence,  probably  accounts,  in 
part,  for  the  visual  discomfort  experi- 
enced by  most  people  when  viewing 
"eclipse"  stereo  movies. 

Perception  of  flicker  depends  upon 
the  intensity  of  the  interrupted  light,  as 
well  as  the  flicker  frequency.  The  more 
intense  the  light,  the  higher  the  fre- 
quency must  go  before  flicker  fusion  is 
attained.  Also,  the  larger  the  angular 
field  over  which  flicker  is  distributed,  the 
greater  the  consciousness  of  flicker. 
Hence  the  dimmer  the  picture  and  the 
smaller  it  is,  the  lower  becomes  the 
flicker  fusion   frequency. 

Projecting  'Eclipse   Stereograms 

There  are  two  ways  to  project  and  view 
eclipse  stereograms.  One  is  by  using  ro- 
tating or  vibrating  shutter  devices  held 
up  in  front  of  the  eyes.  These  are  syn- 
chronized electrically  with  the  projector. 
The  other  method  is  to  employ  a  rotating 
polarizer  in  front  of  the  projector  lens 
and  polarizing  spectacles  for  the  viewer. 
In  one  position  the  polarizer  delivers 
light  through  the  left  spectacle  filter,  in 
the  other  through  the  right  filter. 


Alternate  frame,  or  eclipse,  projection 
must  have  twice  the  number  of  frames 
required  for  conventional  films.  That 
means  doubling  the  length  and  provid- 
ing for  faster  projection  speed. 

If  the  alternate  frames  are  photo- 
graphed alternately,  there  is  a  very  ob- 
jectionable fringing  in  pictures  of  mov- 
ing objects.  This  is  a  cause  of  eyestrain, 
especially  in  a  picture  where  the  action 
seen  by  one  eye  is  in  quite  a  different 
stage  of  progress  than  the  action  seen 
by  the  other.  Difficulty  in  fusion  invari- 
ably results.  This  combination  of  dis- 
turbing effects  caused  by  flickers  out  of 
phase  between  the  eyes  and  by  fusion 
trouble,  limits  the  appreciation  of  the 
eclipse  method. 

Complete  visual  comfort  can  be  at- 
tained in  stereo  movies  only  if  the  two 
images  are  projected  simultaneously,  if 
they  are  rock-steady,  if  they  are  of  equal 
brightness,  if  they  are  of  equal  contrast, 
if  they  are  properly  aligned  vertically 
and  horizontally,  if  far  distant  points  are 
not  separated  too  far  in  one  image  from 
that  of  the  other,  and  if  they  are  of 
exactly  the  same  size. 

NOTE:  IP  will  present  soon,  possibly  in 
the  next  issue,  complete  technical  data  on 
a  system  for  three-dimensional  motion  pic- 
tures which  is  startlingly  simple,  eminently 
practical  and  truly  economical. — ED. 


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for  even  the  largest  drive-in  screens.         £ 

CENTURY'S  water-cooled  aperture  gives| 
as  much  light  with  a  90  ampere  arc  asj 
other  projectors  using  a  180  ampere  arc'i 
and  heat  filters!— Reduce  power  cost— Get 
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CENTURY'S  sealed,  oil-less  bearings  and! 


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PROJECTIONISTS  ALREADY 
HAVE  TROOBLE  ENOUGH 

When  a  projectionist  presses  the 
button  to  open  the  curtain  and  get 
the  show  underway,  he  expects 
the  curtain  to  open — and  so  does 
the  boss. 

Failure  of  the  curtain  control 
equipment  at  that  critical  point 
sends  blood  pressure  zooming, 
clips  many  a  useful  year  from  the 
projectionist's  life.  It  also  sends 
spectators'  blood  pressure  skyward, 
clips  many  a  dollar  from  the  box 
office  take. 

Wise  projectionists  avoid  all 
these  difficulties  by  recommending 
to  the  boss  that  he  install  Vallen 
curtain  controls,  tracks  and  special 
operating  devices.  They've  been 
answering  projectionists'  demands 
"on  the  button"  for  35  years,  be- 
cause they're  precision-engineered 
to  do  their  job. 

Put  a  Vallen  catalog  in  the  front 
office  now.  Just  drop  a  note,  ask- 
ing for  a  new  catalog,  to  VALLEN, 
INC.,  Akron  4,  Ohio. 


30 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     August  1951 


ALL-PURPOSE    FILM    LEADER 

(Continued  from  page  10) 
with  the  entire  content  of  the  leader.  In 
this  way  the  information  in  it  which  is 
not  pertinent  to  the  particular  use  can  he 
ignored  and  full  attention  can  he  given 
to  the  useful  cues. 

Production  Footage  Cues 

For  instance,  suppose  a  production  di- 
rector is  primarily  interested  in  the 
footage  cues.  He  may  at  first  see  the 
sound  cues  too  clearly,  but  once  they 
have  become  familiar,  and  he  knows 
they  are  of  no  importance  to  him.  they 


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will  recede  in  visual  impact  and  become 
completely  unnoticed. 
Familiarity  With  Pattern 

Again,  a  theater  projectionist  may  be 
primarily  interested  in  the  threading 
cues  and  feel  that  the  Tv  pattern  is  con- 
fusing; but  once  he  thoroughly  under- 
stands the  pattern,  it  is  of  no  interest 
and  so  diminishes  in  importance,  per- 
mitting the  useful  cues  to  emerge.  When- 
ever a  little  time  has  been  allowed  for 
this  phenomenon  to  take  place,  no  per- 
manent objections  have  been  registered. 

3.2:  Some  feeling  has  been  expressed 
that  the  leader  is  "hard  to  print."  As 
compared  with  the  dupe  of  a  dupe  of  a 
dupe  sometimes  used  for  the  old  leader, 
it  is  somewhat  more  difficult.  But  any 
good  laboratory  can  do  a  thoroughly  ac- 
ceptable job  without  difficulty,  and  the 
result  is  good  dressing  for  a  fine  print- 
ing job. 

Dual  Standards  Avoided 

At  first  there  was  some  feeling  that 
a  special  Tv  leader  might  be  produced 
which  would  exist  as  a  special-service 
standard  and  leave  unmodified  the  old 
Academy  Leader.  At  that  time  major  de- 
sign changes  were  considered,  including 
24-frame  spacing  for  the  threading  cues. 
However,  after  long  debate  by  repre- 
sentatives of  laboratories  and  projec- 
tionists, it  was  decided  that  the  prob- 
lems of  dual-purpose  release  (including 
reduction  printing)  and  the  confusion 
always  resulting  from  dual  standards 
could  be  avoided  by  a  proper  common- 
use  leader  design.  Thereafter  all  the 
efforts  of  the  Subcommittee  were  di- 
rected toward  the  production  of  a  leader 
to  fit  this  policy. 

From  the  beginning  excellent  coopera- 
tion was  obtained  from  producers, 
laboratories,  projectionists  and  broad- 
casters, resulting  in  the  issuance  on 
April  19,  1950,  of  the  first  sample  leader 
(in  card  form)  for  limited  comment  and 
criticism.  Some  two  months  later  these 
comments  were  embodied  in  the  first 
sample  leader  film  intended  for  actual 
test  use.  It  was  then  discovered  that 
the  projected  visual  impact  of  the  foot- 
age cues  was  insufficient  to  permit  good 
cuing,  so  the  two  additional  cue  frames 
were  added,  and  that  version  of  the 
leader  was  tested  with  good  results. 

Samples  of  the  new  leader  were  sent 
to  many  organizations.  Again  the  reac- 
tions were  reasonably  approving,  except 
that  the  Motion  Picture  Research  Coun- 
cil objected  on  the  grounds  that  the 
leader  would  work  an  undue  hardship 
on  theater  projectionists. 

Projectionist  Aid 

In  order  to  obtain  the  reactions  of  pro- 
fessional theater  projectionists  to  the 
proposed  leader,  the  services  of  the  Pro- 
jectionists' Union  were  enlisted.  After 
several   weeks    of    consideration    an    en- 


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Dealer  Inquiries  Invited 

Export:  Frazar  &  Hansen,  Ltd. 

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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


August  1951 


31 


thusiastic  report  thereon  was  received. 
Other  meetings  considered  and  adopted 
or  rejected  proposals  received  until  on 
March  22,  1951,  the  Subcommittee  de- 
cided that  the  foundations  for  the  new- 
leader  had  been  well  established,  that 
the  time  had  come  to  request  that  it  be 
publicized  to  the  fullest,  with  the  broadest 
sort  of  operational  and  functional  test, 
directed  toward  the  writing  of  an  official 
standard.  This  status  report  is  intended 
to  be  the  first  step  in  that  direction. 


When  and  if  the  parent  Committee 
decides  that  the  above  extensive  test  may 
be  undertaken,  the  Subcommittee  will 
canvass  by  letter  the  TV  film  producers 
and  advertising  agencies,  requesting  that 
the  new  leader  be  used  on  their  special 
releases.  It  is  hoped,  also,  that  the  major 
feature  film  producers  will  cooperate  in 
the  test.  Certainly  in  this  way  all  possi- 
bilities can  be  explored  and  all  answers 
firmly   given. 


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in  changeover.  Eliminates  uncertainty  of  burning  period  of  any  size  carbon  stub. 
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THE  MAGIC  OF  COLOR 

(Continued  from  page  6) 

at  Technicolor  prints,  however.  For  some 
reason  the  framelines  are  printed  in  sil- 
ver. When  printed  too  heavily,  the  frame- 
lines  fog  at  the  edges  and  encroach  upon 
the  picture  area,  reducing  its  height  90 
that  framing  is  extremely  critical.  In  fact, 
more  slight  misframes  occur  with  Tech- 
nicolor than  with  any  other  type  of 
print.  The  projectionist  must  always  be 
on  guard  to  clear  the  top  or  bottom  of 
the  picture  from  the  frameline  when 
running  Technicolor. 

This  mischief  is  almost  wholly  due 
to  the  ill-advised  recommendation  of  the 
Smpte  regarding  the  dimensions  of  the 
camera  aperture.  Existing  conditions 
could  be  improved  considerably  by  using 
thinner  framelines  —  in  other  words, 
larger  camera  apertures.  The  present 
Smpte  standard  for  the  height  of  the 
camera  aperture  is  16  mm  (0.63  in.). 
This  should  properly  be  17  mm  (0.67  in.), 
a  fact  recognized  by  certain  foreign  man- 
ufacturers   of    movies    cameras. 

Other  Tricolor  Processes 

In  addition  to  the  tricolor  Techni- 
color process,  two  other  tricolor  sub- 
tractive  processes  appeared  commer- 
cially in  1932.  These  are  the  Agfacolor 
(German)  and  Kodachrome  (American). 
Agfacolor  is  very  important  in  Europe 
and  Asia;  but  Kodachrome  has  appeared 
in  theatres  only  via  Technicolor  prints. 
Both  are  variants  of  a  process,  first  sug- 
gested by  du  Hauron  in  1869. 

Other  and  later  variants  are  Ansco- 
Color  (a  development  of  Agfacolor)  ; 
Technicolor  Monopack  (  development  of 
Eastman  Kodachrome),  and  DuPont's 
Polymer  Color  Film.  All  of  these  films 
have  three  distinct  layers  of  emulsion, 
each  layer  made  sensitive,  either  by 
means  of  photo-sensitizing  dyes  or  by 
color-filter  layers,  to  only  one  of  the 
three   primary  colors. 

du  Hauron  Specifications 

Ducos  du  Hauron  specified  a  glass 
photographic  plate  coated  with  three 
emulsion  layers.  In  front  there  was  to 
be  placed  a  slow,  very  transparent  yel- 
low-dyed emulsion  sensitive  only  to  indigo 
light.  Behind  this  there  was  to  be  a 
moderately      transparent      magenta-dyed 

Cannes  Amateur  Film  Festival 

The  Cine  Club  de  Cannes  (France)  will 
again  sponsor  an  International  Festival  of 
the  Film  Amateur  at  the  Palais  de  Cannes 
from  Sept.  8  through  the  18th,  next.  Ama- 
teurs throughout  the  world  are  invited  to 
participate,  with  all  categories  of  amateur 
film  being  acceptable — 8-mm,  9^-mm,  and 
16-mm.  silent  or  sound.  Full  details  from 
the   Club  at  20  Blvd.   de  Lorraine,  Cannes. 


32 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


August  1951 


emulsion  sensitive  to  emeraude;  while 
the  bottom  emulsion  was  to  be  a  cyan- 
dyed  emulsion  sensitive  to  vermilion — the 
only  color  passed  by  the  yellow-and 
magenta-dyed   layers. 

This  process  works  because,  under  cer- 
tain conditions,  a  photographic  emulsion 
becomes  sensitive  to  the  color  absorbed 
by  the  admixed  dye.  The  color  absorbed 
is,  of  course,  complementary  to  the  color 
of  the  dye.  Thus,  ordinary  black-and- 
white  panchromatic  films  are  sensitized 
to  red  by  mixing  certain  green  dyes  with 
the    emulsion. 

The  exposed  plate  was  developed,  re- 
versed, and  finally  treated  with  chemi- 
cals which  "fixed"  the  dye  images  which 
then  appeared  in  full  natural  color  when 
the  excess  dye  and  silver  images  had 
been  bleached  and  washed  out  of  the 
three  emulsions. 

Triple-Emulsion  Film 

A  variant  of  this  process  uses  filter 
layers  of  dyed  gelatine  between  the  three 
emulsions.  The  first  emulsion,  undyed 
and  unfiltered,  is  a  slow  ''positive"  emul- 
sion which  is  affected  only  by  indigo 
light.  This  emulsion  therefore  furnishes 
the  indigo  record.  Behind  this  is  placed 
a  layer  of  yellow  gelatine. 

Now,  yellow  transmits  both  emeraude 
and  vermilion  light.  But  the  emulsion 
directly  behind  the  yellow  layer  is  an 
orthochromatic  emulsion  sensitive  to  all 
colors  except  vermilion.  Only  emeraude 
affects  this  emulsion,  however,  because 
the  yellow  layer  cuts  off  the  indigo.  Be- 
tween this  emulsion  and  the  bottom  emul- 
sion there  is  a  layer  of  vermilion-dyed 
gelatine.  This  cuts  off  all  colors  except 
vermilion.  The  bottom  emulsion,  being 
panchromatic,  is  sensitive  to  this  color. 

The  processing  of  this  triple-emulsion 
film  is  rather  complicated.  Briefly,  it  is 
reversal-processed  and  then  bleached  and 
treated  with  chemicals  which  form  yel- 
low, magenta,  and  cyan  dye-images  by 
virtue  of  dye  intermediates  incorporated 
into  the  three  emulsions.  The  end  re- 
sult is  a  direct  positive  in  natural  colors. 

Certain  variants  of  the  monopack 
process — Agfacolor  in  particular^have 
been  so  improved  in  recent  years  that 
they  are  almost  as  easy  to  process  as 
black-and-white  films.  Moreover,  the  con- 
trast factors  of  the  three  emulsions  have 
been  equalized  to  correct  the  tendency 
of  monopack  to  appear  bluish  if  slightly 
underexposed  in  the  camera.  This  same 
tendency  has  been  responsible  for  dis- 
tinctly blue  shadows  in  scenes  photo- 
graphed in  the  less  perfect  monopack 
systems. 

Monopack  may  be  reversal-processed 
(as  is  usually  done  in  America)  or 
"straight  developed"  into  a  negative  hav- 
ing all  tones,  including  the  colors,  in 
reverse.  From  such  a  negative,  monopack 
positives  may   be   printed  with  ease  and 


in  any  desired  number.  Color  values  may 
be  balanced  in  any  way  desired  during 
the  printing  process  by  means  of  lightly- 
tinted  filters.  Like  Technicolor,  Agfa- 
color  is  balanced  for  the  "color  tempera- 
ture" of  the  high-intensity  arc. 

Agfacolor,   Kodachrome   Processes 

Certain  noteworthy  advantages  are 
claimed  for  modern  Agfacolor.  It  is  as 
simple  to  use  as  black-and-white  film. 
It  is  almost  as  easy  to  process-  -any  film 
laboratory  can  handle  it  with  only  minor 
modifications  in  the  processing  equip- 
ment. And  because  it  is  a  monopack 
process,  registration  of  the  three  colors — 


yellow,  magenta,  and  cyan  is  always 
perfect.  A  satisfactory  sound-track  can 
be  printed  in  dye  image.  In  a  word,  all 
the  difficult  "bugs"  of  color  photography 
are  overcome  during  the  manufacture  of 
the  raw  stock. 

Kodachrome,    like    Agfacolor.    has    an 
indigo-sensitive    top    emulsion,    an    enter- 


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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     August  1951 


33 


aude-sensitive  middle  emulsion,  and  a 
vermilion-sensitive  bottom  emulsion.  Du- 
Pont  Polymer  Color  Film  switches  the 
positions  of  the  indigo-  and  vermilion- 
sensitive  layers. 

The  individual  emulsion  layers  are 
only  about  1/10,000  of  an  inch  thick, 
making  monopack  only  a  trifle  thicker 
than  ordinary  black-and-white  film. 

Theatre-release  prints  of  Monogram 
shorts  on  Ansco  Color  35-mm  mono- 
pack  film  are  familiar  to  many  projec- 
tionists in  America. 

Duplitized  Film  Stock 

No  discussion  of  movie  color  processes 
would  be  complete  without  a  mention 
of  the  so-called  "duplitized"  (double- 
coated  film)  processes.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  a  few  3-color  films  prepared  by 
Cinecolor.  these  are  all  2-color  processes 
— Gnecolor.   Trucolor,   Magnacolor,   etc. 

The  two  complementary  colors  used 
by  old-style  Technicolor  were  crimson 
and  aquamarine.  The  results  with  this 
combination  were  remarkably  good,  con- 
sidering the  limitations  of  the  2-color 
process;  but  it  was  impossible  to  re- 
produce truly  blue  sky  with  2-color  Tech- 
nicolor. Since  the  ability  to  photograph 
blue  sky  is  a  prime  requisite  for  the 
production  of  "outdoor"  color  movies, 
both  Cinecolor  and  Trucolor  have  ad- 
justed their  set  of  complementaries  to 
effect  this  end.  Cinecolor,  for  example, 
uses  vermilion  and  cyan.  (To  refresh 
the  memory:  vermilion  is  orange-red.  and 
cyan  is  a  slightly  greenish  blue.) 

There  are  several  ways  to  photograph 
and  process  duplitized  films.  To  pro- 
duce the  2-color  negative,  simultaneous 
2-frame  exposure  through  vermilion  and 
cyan  filters  may  be  made  in  a  split-beam 
camera  as  in  old-style  Technicolor;  or 
two  films,  one  sensitive  to  red  and  the 
other  to  blue,  may  be  run  together  in 
bipack  in  an  ordinary  movie  camera 
fitted  with  double  magazines;  or  a 
single  duplitized  color  negative  may  be 
used.  The  bipack  method  has  been  the 
most  popular. 

In  a  2-color  bipack  the  negative  nearest 
the  camera  lens  has  a  regular  positive- 
type  emulsion  which  is  sensitive  only  to 
blue  colors.  The  back  of  the  film  is  coated 
with  vermilion-dyed  gelatine  to  act  as 
a  filter  for  the  panchromatic  film  behind 
it.  This  latter  film  thus  records  only  the 
red-orange  colors. 

The  two  negatives  are  developed  to 
black-and-white,  and  are  used  for  print- 
ing the  duplitized  release  positives  pho- 
tographically. The  imbibition  process,  ex- 
clusive with  Technicolor,  is  not  used. 

Nature  of  Duplitized  Stock 

Duplitized  raw  stock  is  merely  or- 
dinary double-coated  positive  film  ex- 
cept that  both  gelatine  "bonding  layers" 
which  lie  beneath  the  photographic  emul- 
sion, and  which  serve  to  make  the  emul- 


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film — 8mm.,  16mm., 
35mm.,  Trucolor, 
Technicolor,  Koda- 
chrome,  Nitrate  and  Safety  Film. 
Used  and  endorsed  by  Projec- 
tionists    in     countless     theaters. 

specifically  for  lasting  Patches. 

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Chicago  10,  Illinois  1438  North  Clark  Street 


sion  adhere  firmly  to  the  film-base,  are 
dyed    a    deep    orange-red. 

Now,  the  purpose  of  the  red  bonding 
layers  is  to  permit  the  two  sides  of  the 
duplitized  film  to  be  printed  individ- 
ually. Positive  emulsions  are  insensitive 
to  red;  so  when  one  side  of  the  dupli- 
tized film  is  printed,  the  other  side  is 
not  affected  at  all.  and  is  afterwards 
printed  separately.  (Or  both  sides  may 
be  printed  simultaneously  in  a  duplex 
picture  printer.) 

One  side  is  printed  from  the  "red" 
negative  and  the  other  side  from  the 
"blue"  negative,  corresponding  frames  of 
the  two  negatives  being  superimposed  on 
the  duplitized  print. 


The  film  is  then  developed  in  the  or- 
dinary way,  coming  out  as  a  double- 
coated,  black-and-white  film  having  pic- 
tures on  both  sides.  A  thorough  washing 
removes  the  soluble  red  dye  of  the 
binder  layers — or  at  least  most  of  it.  If 
not  all  of  the  dye  is  washed  away,  the 
finished  print  will  have  an  orange  tint 
all  over  on  both  sides,  as  every  pro- 
jectionist knows. 

The  'Dye-Toning'  Operation 

Now  for  the  "dye-toning"  operation 
which  puts  the  color  into  the  duplitized 
print.  After  developing,  the  film  is 
bleached  to  a  silver  chloride  image.  The 
print  is  then  passed  through  a  special 
processing  machine  which  transfers  ton- 
ing chemicals  to  each  side.  After  sub- 
sequent washing  and  drying  the  print  is 
ready  for  use.  The  side  printed  from  the 
vermilion-exposed  negative  is  toned  cyan : 
the   other   side   vermilion. 

The  two  colors  of  Cinecolor,  Tru- 
color. and  other  duplitized  prints  are 
oriented  so  that  the  blue,  or  cyan,  images 
are  on  what  would  be  the  normal  emul- 
sion side  of  a  standard  35-mm  print.  This 
is  done  so  that  the  soundtrack,  printed 
in  blue,  will  be  in  correct  focus. 

Unlike  Technicolor's  cyanine-blue  dye, 
the  blue  ferricyanide  image  on  dupli- 
tized prints  is  comparatively  opaque 
to  infrared  rays,  thus  making  a  non-silver 
soundtrack  possible.  (Technicolor  cyan. 
however,  is  a  much  more  "saturated" 
and  accurate  color,  far  superior  to  metal- 
organic  compounds  for  the  purposes  of 
colored   pictures.) 

[TO  BE  CONTINUED] 


How  Many? 


Was  this  copy  dog-eared  when  it  came  to  you?  How 
many  men  read  it  ahead  of  you? 

You  would  receive  a  clean,  fresh  copy  if  you  had  a 
personal  subscription — and  you  wouldn't  have  to 
wait — you  would  be  first  to  read  it. 

Use  coupon  below. 


INTERNATIONAL    PROJECTIONIST. 
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34 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     August  1951 


Private  First  Class  Melvin  Brown,  of  Mahaffey,  Pennsylvania — Medal  of  Honor 
for  valor  in  action  near  Kasan,  Korea,  September  4,  1950.  Stubbornly  holding 
an  advanced  position  atop  a  wall,  Pfc.  Brown  stood  off  attacking  North  Koreans 
until  all  his  rifle  ammunition  and  grenades  were  gone.  When  last  seen  he  was 
still  fighting — with  only  an  entrenching  shovel  for  a  weapon — rather  than  give 
up  an  inch  of  ground. 

Never  forget  the  devotion  of  Melvin  Brown! 

Now,  this  very  day,  you  can  help  make  safer  the  land  he  served  so  far  "above 
and  beyond  the  call  of  duty."  Whoever  you  are,  wherever  you  are,  you  can 
begin  buying  more  .  .  .  and  more  .  .  .  and  more  United  States  Defense*  Bonds. 
For  every  time  you  buy  a  bond  you're  helping  keep  solid  and  stable  and  strong 
the  country  for  which  Private  Brown  gave  everything  he  had. 

And  remember  that  strength  for  America  can  mean  peace  for  America — so 
that  boys  like  Melvin  Brown  may  never  have  to  fight  again. 

For  the  sake  of  Private  Melvin  Brown  and  all  our  servicemen — for  your  own 
boy — buy  more  United  States  Defense  Bonds  now.  Defense  is  your  job,  too! 


Remember  that  when  you're  buying  bonds 
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The  U.  S.  Government  does  not  pay  jor  this  advertisement.  It  is  donated  by  this  publication 
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NUMBER  9 


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excels  any  reflector  lamp  to  85  amperes,  whether  they  be  unapproved  water- 
cooled  or  resurrected  "Hi-Lows".  .  .  .  Highest  ratio  of  honest  screen  lumens 
per  arc  watt.  ...  At  70  amperes,  using  an  accurated  Glass  Hy-Lumen  Re- 
flector*, with  a  projector  having  an  efficient  revolving  shutter,  it  develops 
the  maximum  screen  brilliance  that  can  be  used  without  a  heat  filter  at  no 
risk  of  film  damage.  .  .  .  Operating  costs  under  these  conditions  are  far  below 
that  of  85-ampere  lamps. 

Magnarc  Lamps  assure  80%  side-to-center  (SMPE  Standard)  screen  light 
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been  for  years  "The  First  Choice"  of  large  and  small  theatres,  drive-ins,  and 
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Drive-In  Theatres. 

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when  used  with  projectors  that  have  efficient  revolving 
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of  the  size  of  the  picture,  length  of  throw,  and  under 
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listed  and,  therefore,  not  insurance  hazards.  .  .  .  Heat 
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CHICAGO  6.  ILLINOIS 


323352 


INTERNATIONAL 

PRQJECTIONISI 


With  Which  Is  Combined  Projection  Engineering 


HENRY  B.  SELLWOOD,  Editor 


Volume  26 


v  SEPTEMBER  1951 


\S 


Number  9 


Index  and  Monthly  Chat 3 

The  Magic  of  Color 

V.   Conclusion    5 

Robert  A.  Mitchell 

The   Scientific   Basis   for   Estab- 
lishing Brightness   of  Motion 

Picture  Screens    9 

SMPE  Round-Table 
Discussion 

The  Allied   Arts  &  Sciences 

I.  Photographic  Optics   13 

Bausch  &  Lomb  Optical  Co. 


In  the  Spotlight   .  . 
Harry  Sherman 


16 


N.  T.  S.  Observes  25th  Birthday     18 

Exhibitor-Producer  Group  Meet 
to  Spur  Theatre  Tv    19 

Letters  to  the  Editor   .....'....      20 

News  Notes 
Technical  Hints 
Miscellaneous  Items 


Published  Monthly  by 
INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST  PUBLISHING  CO.,  INC. 

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appearing  in  signed  articles  in  its  columns. 

420 


MONTHLY  CHAT 


THE  motion  picture  theatre — and  the 
whole  pattern  of  making,  distributing 
and  showing  motion  pictures  as  we  have 
known  it  to  date — is  embarking  upon 
its  most  crucial  season  from  the  stand- 
point of  competition  for  the  entertain- 
ment dollar.  Much  more  is  involved  in 
this  situation  than  the  dollars  invested 
in  studios,  theatres  and  other  facilities: 
the  major  stake  is  the  livelihoods  of 
thousands  of  workers  who  have  been 
placed  in  a  precarious  position  largely 
through  the  ineptness,  the  timidity  and 
the  downright  ignorance  of  the  so-called 
executive  brains  of  the  industry. 

Not  a  new  theme  for  this  department, 
but  a  story  ever  new  and  growing  more 
important  with  every  passing  day. 

Time  and  again  we  have  cited  in  this 
corner  the  several  technological  advances 
which,  if  promptly  and  properly  utilized, 
would  have  placed  in  a  deep  shadow 
the  current  "Movietime,  U.  S.  A."  drive 
as  a  builder  of  box-office  receipts.  Exert 
the  major  effort  inside,  not  outside,  the 
theatre  walls.  The  glamour  of  personal 
appearances  and  thousands  of  lines  of 
cheery  advertising  copy  is  of  a  strictly 
transitory  nature.  They  still  pay  off  for 
that  which  is  shown   on  the   screen. 

We're  all  for  such  promotional  efforts 
as  the  Movietime,  U.S.A.  campaign  now 
in  full  swing.  But  the  same  type  of  cam- 
paign that  promoted  such  technological 
advances  as  three-dimensional  motion 
pictures  (without  the  aid  of  individual 
viewing  aids)  ;  truly  stereophonic  sound 
reproduction,  and  vastly  improved  color 
processes  (the  list  is  not  all-inclusive  I 
would,  we  think,  be  infinitely  more  ef- 
fective and  certainly  of  more  lasting 
benefit,  than  any  trans-continental  trek 
by  a  raft  of  glamour-pusses.  Imagine — ■ 
more  than  $2%  million  for  a  campaign 
that  has  for  its  objective  inducing  people 
to  go  to  movie  theatres — to  see  that  very 
same  entertainment  which  has  been 
readily  available  for  years  past.  Now. 
just  imagine  if,  instead  of  selling 
glamour,  we  had  the  aforementioned 
technological  advances  to  sell — perman- 
ently, night  after  night! 

If  we  asked  the  industry  Brass  for 
$2^2  million  to  perfect  any  one  or  all 
of  such  technological  aids  to  the  show- 
ing of  better  motion  pictures,  they'd 
likely  freeze  into  utter  speechlessness. 
Still,  just  one  of  these  birds  managed  to 
collect  $900,000  salary,  exclusive  of  ex- 
pense money,  within  one  year! 

We  confess  that  we  don't  know  what 
can  be  done  about  such  a  ludicrous 
situation;  but  we  do  know  that  no  Mo- 
vietime, U.  S.  A.  campaign,  of  whatever 
magnitude,  could  ever  provide  a  box- 
office  stimulant  comparable  to  that  which 
is  readily  available  right  noiv  to  every 
theatre  in  the  land.  The  making,  the 
showing  and  the  selling  of  motion  pic- 
tures to  the  public  depends  almost  wholly 
on  the  technical  excellence  of  the  product 
— that  which  hits  the  screen  and  reaches 
the  ears. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     September  1951 


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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     September  1951 


VOLUME  XXVI 


SEPTEMBER  1951 


NUMBER  9 


COLOR  and  the  various  methods  of 
making  movies  in  natural  color 
were  described  in  the  preceding  in- 
stallments. Now,  in  conclusion,  let  us 
direct  attention  to  the  projection  of 
color  films.  This  is  our  metier.  The  ad- 
vantages of  filming  theatrical  motion 
pictures  in  natural  color  are  multifar- 
ious and  self-evident.  Some  of  these  ad- 
vantages are  all  but  lost,  however,  when 
the  technique  of  screening  color  films 
is  faulty. 

The  quality  of  projection  depends  pri- 
marily upon  the  condition  of  the  pro- 
jection equipment,  of  course;  but  there 
are  also  other  important  factors  to  be 
considered.  If,  for  example,  the  prints 
are  bad,  or  if  the  projectionist  is  care- 
less in  his  work,  or  if  conditions  in  the 
auditorium  are  unfavorable  to  the  best 
screen  results,  not  even  the  best  equip- 
ment can  give   quality  performance. 

Technicolor  is  very  "fussy"  anent  con- 
ditions under  which  its  prints  are  pro- 
jected— justifiably  so — and  no  effort,  no 
expense  is  spared  to  insure  quality 
prints.  But  it  is  entirely  possible  to  fol- 
low meticulously  Technicolor's  instruc- 
tions regarding  auditorium  lighting,  the 
burning-in  of  new  carbon  trims,  check- 
ing the  focus,  etc.,  and  still  obtain  poor 
color    pictures    on    the    screen. 

Equipment  Condition  Governs 

The  condition  of  the  projection  equip- 
ment is  the  governing  factor.  One  can't 
project  good  color  with  low-intensity 
lamps,  uncoated  projection  lenses,  and 
old-style  projector  shutters — color  qual- 
ity notwithstanding.  The  use  of  obso- 
lete equipment  is  like  playing  a  modern 
electrically-recorded  phonograph  record 
on  a  1910  gramophone. 

Low-intensity  (L-I)  lamps  may  be  ac- 
ceptable for  the  projection  of  black-and- 
white  prints,  providing  the  arcs  are 
bright  enough  (which  they  seldom  are). 


The 

Magic  of 

Color 


By  ROBERT  A.  MITCHELL 

V.   (Conclusion) 
The  Projection  of  Color  Films 


and  providing  the  exhibitor  just  doesn't 
give  a  damn  about  screen  image  quality. 
Technicolor  prints  are  balanced  in 
color  value  for  high-intensity  (H-I) 
lighting.  L-I  arcs  have  too  low  a  color 
temperature  for  the  faithful  reproduc- 
tion of  colored  prints — too  yellowish  and 
thus  dull  all  the  blues,  violets,  purples, 
and  purplish  reds  in  the  picture.  And 
don't  let  anyone  tell  you  that  the  public 
tolerates  a  wide  divergence  from  true 
color  values  "when  there  is  no  standard 
of  comparison."  The  writer  can  see  the 
alteration  of  hue  when  an  amber-tinted 
print  is  projected  via  L-I  or  H-I  light- 
ing. You  can,  too,  and  so  can  the  aver- 
age movie-goer.  These  facts  should  be 
seriously  pondered  in  view  of  the  pres- 
ent widespread  use  of  natural  color. 

'Hot  Spot'  Screen  Effect 

Even  H-I  lighting  is  not  faultless.  It's 
the  old,  old  story  of  "hot-spot."  How  can 


one  possibly  get  good  colors  near  the 
edges  and  corners  of  the  screen  if  the 
lamps  can  do  no  better  than  60-  to  80% 
side-to-center  light  distribution?  It  just 
can't  be  done. 

Yellowish-green  turns  to  an  olive  shade 
at  the  edges  of  the  screen  when  light 
distribution  is  not  uniform.  Red  changes 
to  terra-cotta;  blue  to  a  steel-gray; 
orange  to  brown;  and  yellow  to  a  shade 
too  unpleasant  to  be  described.  If  var- 
iations in  the  color  of  the  projected  light 
accompany  the  variations  in  intensity 
(usually)  faces  will  appear  unnatural, 
and  other  weird  color  effects  will  be 
produced. 

Here  is  a  test  which  is  not  so  rough 
but  that  it  will  give  a  fairly  good  idea 
of  the  quality  of  light-distribution  de- 
livered by  the  lamps. 

Project  light  to  the  screen — projector 
running  but  without  film.  By  means  of 
the  mirror  knobs,  move  the  spot  from 
side  to  side  or  up  and  down  as  rapidly 
as  possible.  If  a  "hot-spot"  is  present, 
this  test  will  reveal  it  immediately — no 
doubt  about  it.  You  will  actually  see 
the  bright  center  of  the  illumination- 
field  moving  horizontally  or  vertically 
on  the  screen.  It  is  the  movement  of  the 
field  of  light  on  the  screen  which  shows 
up  the  hot-spot  so  plainly. 

Over-All  Screen  Brightness 

If  you  find  a  trace  of  a  "hot-spot" 
notify  the  manager:  he  has  a  right  to 
know  the  facts  about  such  conditions. 
Lumens  are  cheap,  but  uniform  illumina- 
tion is  a  rare  bird.  This  is  a  fact  which 
every  exhibitor  who  wants  his  money's 
worth  should  remember  when  purchas- 
ing new  lamp  equipment. 

Over-all  picture  brightness  is  also  an 
important  factor  in  the  projection  of 
color  films.  Colors  and  their  proper  con- 
trast values  as  photographed  on  the  film 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     «     September  1951 


5 


appear  natural  only  when  the  screen 
illumination  lies  within  certain  very  defi- 
nite limits.  To  be  more  exact,  the  bright- 
ness of  the  illuminated  screen  as  seen 
by  the  audience  should  be  specified. 

For  example,  the  intensity  of  the  pro- 
jection light  falling  upon  the  surface  of 
the  screen  is  measured  in  foot-candles 
(ft-c).  Now,  it  is  commonly  assumed 
that  a  minimum  of  10  ft-c  is  necessary 
for  the  satisfactory  projection  of  films 
in  natural  color.  This  recommendation 
does  not  take  into  account  the  degree 
of  whiteness  (the  reflectance)  of  the 
screen,  however.  A  screen  besmirched 
with  tattle-gray  will  not  give  as  bright 
a  picture  under  10  ft-c  as  a  new  or 
freshly  surfaced  screen. 

Screen  Reflecting  Power 

Table  A  lists  the  approximate  re- 
flectances (as  percentages)  of  both  per- 
forated and  solid  matte  screens — aver- 
age, new,  and  old.  This  table  will  give 
an  idea  of  the  reflecting  power  of  your 
screen,  provided  you  are  not  using  a 
beaded   or   aluminum-surfaced   screen. 

Even  a  new  screen,  if  it  be  soiled,  is 
just  as  bad  as  an  old  screen.  Screens 
"age"  much  faster  in  cities  than  in  small 
towns  because  smoke,  dust,  and  several 
kinds  of  chemical  fumes  are  usually 
present  in  the  air  of  cities. 

The  best  white  bond  writing-paper  re- 
flects from  65  to  70%  of  the  light  falling 
upon  it.  It  is  possible,  therefore,  to 
judge  approximately  the  condition  of 
any  mate  screen  by  comparing  its  white- 
ness with  that  of  fresh  writing  paper. 
But  if  the  comparison  be  made  on  the 
stage,  10%  must  be  subtracted  because 
the  sound  perforations  occupy  about  10% 
of  the  total  area  of  the  screen. 

Calculated  in  Foot-Lamberts 

It  can  therefore  be  appreciated  that 
a  specification  of  ft-c  of  projection  light 
at  the  screen  cannot  tell  how  bright  the 
picture  will  appear  to  the  audience.  In- 
stead of  foot-candles  (intensity  of  light 
from  the  projector  running  without  film, 
measured  at  the  screen),  the  brightness 
must  be  specified  in  foot-lamb erts  (ft-L). 

If  a  screen  has  a  reflectance  of  100%, 
10  ft-c  would  furnish  a  screen  brightness 
of  10  ft-L.  No  matte  screen,  however, 
even  if  "solid,"  is  able  to  reflect  all  the 
light  falling  upon  it.  In  fact,  a  brand- 
new  unperforated  matte  screen  does  well 


TABLE  A 

APPROXIMATE  REFLECTANCE  OF 

MATTE  SCREENS 


TYPE  OF 
SCREEN 


AVERAGE       NEW 


Perforated 
Solid 


OLD 


54% 
60% 


72% 
80% 


36% 
40% 


to  reflect  even  as  much  as  80%  of  the 
light.  By  using  such  a  screen,  10  ft-c  of 
projection  light  at  the  screen  results  in 
a  screen  brightness  of  only  8  ft-L — not 
quite  enough  for  top-notch  results  with 
color  films. 

The  best  opinion  is  that  screen  bright- 
ness should  not  be  less  than  10  nor  more 
than  20  ft-L  for  the  projection  of  modern 
theater-release  prints,  including  natural- 
color  films,  such  as  Technicolor. 

Table  B  gives  the  ft-c-ratings  (meas- 
ured at  the  screen  with  projector  run- 
ning, but  without  film)  required  to  fur- 
nish 10,  15,  and  20  ft-L  of  screen  bright- 
ness for  perforated  and  solid  matte 
screens — average,   new,   and   old. 

Maintaining  Spectral  Balance 

It  seems  almost  unnecessary  to  add 
that  an  old,  soiled  screen  is  very  likely 
to  be  yellowish  in  color,  besides  having 
poor  reflective  power.  A  yellowed  screen 
gives  exactly  the  same  color-distorting 
effects  of  L-I  projection.  Yet  many  ex- 
hibitors, apparently  expecting  their  pro- 
jectionists to  perform  miracles,  post- 
pone the  purchase  of  fresh,  white  screens 
capable  of  reflecting  all  of  the  colors  in 
proper  spectral  balance. 

Although  considerable  latitude  in 
screen  brightness  is  allowed,  the  hues 
in  a  Technicolor  picture  actually  shift 
slightly  in  the  hue  scale  if  the  illumina- 
tion is  too  faint  or  too  intense.  These 
changes  are  caused  by  the  Purkinje 
(pronounced  poor-keen-ya)    effect. 

If  the  picture  is  too  dim,  bright  red 
assumes  a  slightly  magenta  cast,  orange 
becomes  brick-red,  orange-yellow  be- 
comes brown,  bright  yellow  appears 
khaki-colored,  and  the  blues  and  purples 
"wash  out"  to  gray.  Only  the  greens 
appear  normal.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the 
picture  be  too  bright,  the  reds,  oranges 
and  the  yellows  appear  too  intense  in 
comparison  with  the  greens;  and  blue 
looks  slightly  violet.  Moreover,  the 
deepest  blacks  in  Technicolor  prints 
have  sufficient  red  transmission  to  ac- 
tually look  red  on  the  screen  when  too 
much  screen  illumination  is  used. 

Too  Little,  Too  Much  Light 

Then,  too,  detail  in  the  shadows  is 
lost  when  the  picture  is  too  dim;  while 
a  terrific  shutter-flicker  becomes  vis- 
ible when  the  picture  is  too  bright. 
Flicker  caused  by  the  rotating  shutter 
(48  cutoffs  per  second)  would  not  be  a 
problem  if  we  had  5-to-l  intermittents 
(such  as  the  Powers  pin-cross  move- 
ment) thus  permitting  3  shutter  cutoffs 
per  frame  instead  of  2. 

Shutter  flicker  is  especially  annoying 
to  patrons  seated  in  the  front  rows  be- 
cause averted  vision  does  not  have  as 
much  "persistence"  as  does  direct  vis- 
ion. You  cannot  help  but  see  the  flicker- 
ing  of  the   light   when   the   screen   sub- 


TABLE  B 

FOOT-CANDLES  TO  FURNISH  10,  15 

AND  20  FOOT-LAMBERTS 


TYPE  OF 

FOOT-LAMBERTS 

MATTE  SCREEN 

10 

15 

20 

Perforated : 

Average 

18.5 

27.8 

37.0 

New 

13.9 

20.8 

27.8 

Old 

27.8 

41.7 

55.6 

Solid: 

Average 

16.7 

25.0 

33.3 

New 

12.5 

18.8 

25.0 

Old 

25.0 

37.5 

50.0 

tends  a  large  angle  of  the  visual  field. 

A  picture  which  is  both  too  big  and 
too  bright  therefore  makes  the  front 
rows  of  seats  less  useful  to  the  exhibitor 
than  other  seats.  Everyone  except  the 
kids  (who  want  to  see  the  picture  BIG 
at  any  cost)  avoids  the  "down-front" 
seats.  Exhibitors  would  find  their  seats 
nearer  the  screen  increasing  in  popu- 
larity by  using  projectors  having  5-to-l 
intermittents  and  3-blade  shutters  (72 
cutoffs  per  second),  for  these  would 
permit  bigger  and  brighter  pictures  with 
less  flicker.  At  present,  however,  such 
machines  are  not  to  be  had  for  love  nor 
money,  and  only  the  projector  manu- 
facturers know  why. 

We  all  know  that  these  machines  can 
be  made  at  no  increase  in  cost. 

Auxiliary  Lighting  Effects 

Technicolor  warns  us  not  to  use  col- 
ored lighting  on  or  near  the  screen  dur- 
ing the  showing  of  Technicolor  films, 
and  also  to  eliminate  red  and  amber  dec- 
orative lighting  in  the  auditorium.  These 
suggestions  are  well-founded. 

Color-flooding  the  titles  of  Techni- 
color productions,  either  by  projecting 
the  titles  on  a  colored  curtain  or  by 
using  colored  foot-  and  strip-lights,  is 
bad  practice  because  Technicolor  titles 
are  designed  with  artistic  care.  Color- 
flooding  alters  the  colors  recorded  on 
the  film — colors  which  not  only  make 
the  titles  pleasing  to  see,  but  which  har- 
monize the  titles  with  the  dramatic  mood 
oi  the  picture  to  follow. 

Nearly  every  projectionist  has  color- 
flooded  titles  at  one  time  or  another. 
In  the  case  of  black-and-white  films,  the 
effects  obtained  are  often  very  pleasing 
and  in  good  taste:  they  "dress  up"  the 
show  and  provide  an  extra  note  of  that 
glamour  to  which  the  motion  picture  in- 
dustry owes  its  very  existence. 

The  titles  of  comedy-romances  and 
serious  dramas,  for  instance,  might  ad- 
vantageously   be    flooded    with    pink-ma- 

(Continued  on  page  30) 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


September  1951 


The  National  Carbon  a 


res 

TRADE- MARK 


means 

BETTER  MOVIES! 

BIGGER  BOX  OFFICE! 


On  all  movie  sets —  particularly  on  medium  and  large  sets  — 
where  long  throws  and  deep  penetration  of  light  are  necessary, 
the  carhon  arc  offers  a  unique  combination  of  advantages : 

•  SMALL   SOURCE   SIZE 

•  HIGH    BRIGHTNESS 

•  GREAT   POWER   FROM   ONE   UNIT 

•  WHITE   LIGHT 

•  MINIMUM   HEAT   PER   FOOT   CANDLE 

If  you're  after  real  quality,  the  carbon  arc  is  tops.  It  gives  yon 
the  kind  of  sharp,  dramatic  movies  that  customers  want  to  see 
—  helps  keep  box  office  in  the  black! 

YOU  CAN'T  SKIMP  ON  STUDIO  LIGHTING, 
WITHOUT  RISKING   BOX  OFFICE! 

The  term.  "National"  is  a  registered  trade-mark  of 
Union  Carbide  and  Carbon  Corporation 

NATIONAL    CARBON    COMPANY 

A  Division  of  Union  Carbide  and  Carbon  Corporation 
30  East  42nd  Street,  New  York  17,  N.  Y. 

District  Sales  Offices:   Atlanta.  Chicago.  Dallas, 
Kansas  City,  New  York,  Pittsburgh.  San  Francisco 

IN  CANADA:  National  Carbon  Limited, 

Toronto,  Montreal,   Winnipeg 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     September  1951 


Invitation  to  Imagination. . . 


Consider  the  world  we  live  in  . . .  Consider  the  way  we  live  . . .  Consider  today's  new  ideas  in  motion- 
picture  equipment  and  materials  .. . 

What  a  tremendous  invitation  to  imagination  all  this  is!  No  wonder  pictures  of  increasing  insight  and 
originality — pictures  richer  than  ever  in  the  use  of  advanced  technics — are  now  available. 

Integral  with  this  progress  is  the  Eastman  Kodak  Company.  Through  the  Eastman  Technical  Service 
for  Motion  Picture  Film,  it  aids  studios  and  laboratories  in  the  selection  and  exposure  of  film,  black- 
and-white  and  color;  helps  set  up  control  systems,  establish  standards  of  quality  and  economy, 
"trouble-shoot"  when  the  need  arises;  co-operates  with  exchanges  and  exhibitors,  making  sure  that 
each  foot  of  film  produces  optimum  results,  gives  best  possible  showing. 

To  maintain  this  service,  the  Eastman  Kodak  Company  has  branches  at  strategic  centers . . .  invites 
inquiry  on  all  phases  of  film  use  from  all  members  of  the  industry.  Address: 


Motion  Picture  Film  Department 

EASTMAN  KODAK  COMPANY 


East  Coast  Division 
342  Madison  Avenue 
New  York  17,  New  York 


Rochester  4,  N.  Y. 

Midwest  Division 

137  North  Wabash  Avenue 

Chicago  2,  Illinois 


West  Coast  Division 
6706  Santa  Monica  Blvd. 
Hollywood  38,  California 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     September  1951 


The  Scientific  Basis  for  Establishing 
Brightness  of  Motion  Picture  Screenst 

By  FREDERICK  J.  KOLB,  Jr. 

The  appended  report  covers  a  round-table  discussion  initiated  by 
Dr.  W.  W.  Lozier,  chairman  of  the  SMPTE  Screen  Brightness  Com- 
mittee. The  conference  was  held  at  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  thus  as  a  matter 
of  expediency  only  men  available  there  were  asked  to  participate. 
Participating  in  the  discussion  were  the  following  men,  all  actively 
engaged  in  the  fields  of  projection  optics  and  psychology: 

Dr.  Lozier,  National  Carbon  Co.;  from  various  departments 
of  Eastman  Kodak  Co. :  G.  A.  Chambers,  Motion  Picture  Film ; 
R.  M.  Evans,  Color  Contrast;  D.  F.  Lyman,  Camera  Works; 
S.  M.  Newhall,  Color  Contrast;  Otto  Sandvik,  Research; 
K.  F.  Weaver,  Research;  F.  J.  Kolb,  Jr.,  Engineering  Ex- 
periments; and  D.  Wood,  Camera  Works.  Also,  from  the 
University  of  Rochester :  Brian  O'Brien,  Institute  of  Optics, 
and  S.  D.  S.  Spragg,  Department  of  Psychology. 


DR.  LOZIER  reviewed  the  back- 
ground for  this  discussion  by  noting 
that  a  "temporary  standard"  for  the 
brightness  of  motion  picture  screens  was 
adopted  by  the  Society  in  1938,  after  the 
available  data  had  been  summarized. 
Slight  modification  was  made  in  1944, 
but  actually  the  interval  from  1936  to 
the  present  has  been  characterized  by 
the  accumulation  of  considerable  fun- 
damental information  without  the  op- 
portunity for  consolidating  the  data,  or 
for  the  Screen  Brightness  Committee  to 
consider  modification  of  the  temporary 
standard. 

The  present  standard  for  screen  bright- 
ness (Z22.39 — 1944) ,  Lozier  pointed  out, 
specifies  "the  brightness  at  the  center 
of  a  screen  for  viewing  35-mm  motion 
pictures  shall  be  10  ft-L  (foot-lamberts) 
(+4  or  — 1  ft-L)  when  the  projector  is 
running  with  no  film  in  the  gate." 

Origin  of  the  Standard 

In  discussing  the  present  standard, 
Lozier  pointed  out  the  work  culminat- 
ing in  the  SMPE  symposium  of  1935-36 
which  led  to  the  adoption  of  a  screen 
brightness  standard.  The  Committee  re- 
port, relying  upon  the  survey  of  technical 
knowledge  presented  in  the  symposium, 
discussed,  first,  the  desirable  levels  of 
screen  illumination,  and  second,  attain- 
able levels.  The  fundamental  data  of 
physiological  optics  were  not  directly  ap- 
plicable to  the  problem  at  that  time,  the 
Committee  concluded,  because  the  work 
had  not  been  complete  enough  to  permit 
the  prediction  of  response  under  theater 
viewing  conditions.  Instead,  considera- 
tion was  given  to  the  more  practical  ex- 
periments. 


From  these  observations  the  Commit- 
tee concluded  that  an  ideal  brightness 
level  probably  should  be  something  in 
the  order  of  30  ft-L,  and  that  a  periph- 
eral brightness  of  the  order  of  0.05  ft-L 
would  be  desirable  at  this  brightness 
level. 

Properties  of  Release  Prints 

Considering  next  the  properties  of 
release  prints,  the  Committee  decided 
that  very  little  change  in  print  density 
can  be  expected  since:  (1)  Release 
prints  can  be  made  no  more  transparent 
because  of  the  limitations  of  the  exist- 
ing photographic  materials;  lighter 
printing  would  endanger  tone  reproduc- 
tion in  the  highlights.  (2)  It  would  not 
be  practical  to  increase  print  density, 
since  an  increase  of  about  0.15  in  density 
would  be  necessary  to  place  the  high- 
light density  of  release  prints  nearer 
to  the  straight-line  portion  of  the  charac- 
teristic curve  for  positive  film:  one  might 
thereby  improve  tone  reproduction,  but 
only  at  the  expense  of  a  necessary  in- 
crease in  illumination  approximating 
40%  to  maintain  equal  apparent  bright- 
ness. 

For  the  slight  advantage  offered,  this 


shift  in  print  density  (probably  requiring 
a  reduction  in  screen  size  to  maintain  pic- 
ture brightness)  was  judged  impractical. 
Considering  then  what  screen  bright- 
nesses might  be  possible  with  existing 
equipment,  the  Committee  concluded  that 
for  a  30-ft  screen  an  attainable  bright- 
ness of  about  7  ft-L  would  be  the  maxi- 
mum. In  order  to  reduce  the  discrepancy 
among  theaters,  and  between  theaters 
and  review  rooms,  the  Committee  de- 
cided that  a  temporary  standard  on  the 
basis  of  attainable  brightness  would  have 
the  advantage  of  stimulating  an  over-all 
improvement  in   picture   quality. 

Set  7  ft-L  as  Minimum 

Therefore,  assuming  that  a  30-ft  screen 
might  be  the  maximum  size  which  the  So- 
ciety should  attempt  to  recognize,  the 
Committee  decided  that  the  minimum  ac- 
ceptable screen  brightness  should  be  7ft- 
L. 

In  order  to  choose  an  upper  limit  the 
Committee  attempted  to  determine  what 
range  of  brightness  could  be  tolerated 
without  an  objectionable  change  in  the 
apparent  contrast  of  the  picture.  It  was 
considered  undesirable  to  set  the  upper 
limit  at  30  ft-L,  since  this  would  result 
in  an  excessive  spread  in  screen  bright- 
nesses among  the  various  theaters.  On 
the  basis  of  available  data,  the  Commit- 
tee selected  a  maximum  value  of  screen 
brightness  such  that  the  predicted  appar- 
ent change  in  contrast  would  be  15% 
between  the  average  and  either  extreme 
(for  picture  densities  corresponding 
either  to  the  average  of  the  whole  frame, 
or  to  the  area  of  principal  interest). 

Modification  of  Standard 

Summarizing  its  recommendations,  the 
Committee  said,  "The  value  7  is  based 
upon  the  value  attainable  for  a  diffusing 
screen  about  30  ft.  wide  with  an  efficient 
optical  system  in  good  adjustment.  The 
value  14  is  the  limiting  value  beyond 
which  print  contrast  adjusted  for  the 
mean  level  of  10  ft-L  will  appear  too 
great.  The  value  should  be  determined  at 
the  center  of  the  screen,  with  a  projec- 
tor running,  with  no  film  in  the  gate." 

Subsequently,  the  Screen  Brightness 
Committee  suggested  a  modification  in 
this  standard  from  7-14  ft-L  to  9-14  ft-L 


TABLE 


Print  Density 
Min.       Mean      Max. 


tJ.   Soc.   Mot.   Pict.   &   Tv   Eng.,  April,   1951 


Average  of  entire  frame 0.67  1.15      1.90 

"Face"  or  area  of  principal  interest     .   .  0.60  0.99       1.60 

Brightest  highlight 0.19  0.43       0.90 

Deepest  shadow             1.87  2.40      3.20 

Highest  scene  contrast  =  2,45  Lowest 


Screen  Brightness, 
ft-L 


Max.       Mean        Min. 


2.1  0.71  0.13 

2.5  1.0  0.25 

6.5  3.7  1.3 

0.13  0.040  0.0063 


scene  contrast  =  1.38 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


September  1951 


in  1941;  the  revised  standard  was  adopt- 
ed by  the  ASA  in  1944. 

'Actual'  Picture  Brightness 

It  should  be  emphasized  especially  for 
those  not  used  to  motion  picture  prac- 
tice that  the  screen  brightness  as  speci- 
fied by  the  standard  is  markedly  reduced 
when  there  is  film  in  the  projector  and 
a  picture  on  the  screen.  Assuming  the 
available  data  to  be  approximately  cor- 
rect for  the  fine-grain  print  stock  now 
generally  used,  actual  picture  bright- 
nesses for  a  "screen  brightness"  of  10 
ft-L  would  be  as  shown  in  Table  I. 

The  problems  of  screen  brightness  for 
both  35-mm  and  16-mm  are  generally 
similar,  and  16-mm  practice  has  tended 
to  follow  the  35-mm  standard.  It  is  usual, 
however,  to  permit  a  higher  variation 
from  the  average  brightness  in  16-mm 
installations. 

Recent  Investigational  Work 

Since  the  1936  symposium  there  has 
been  considerable  discussion  and  some 
additional  work  pertinent  to  the  setting 
of  a  suitable  screen-brightness  standard. 
Reeb  reported  results  of  an  experimental 
study  in  Germany,  investigating  the  con- 
trast sensitivity  of  the  eye  under  con- 
ditions similar  to  those  found  in  viewing 
motion   pictures. 

The  German  investigators  concluded 
that  maximum  contrast  sensitivity  occurs 
at  about  14  ft-L,  that  only  the  central 
brightness  is  important  in  attaining  vis- 
ual effect,  that  rapid  changes  in  bright- 
ness of  a  scene  do  not  affect  sensitivity, 
and  that  screen  areas  of  varying  sizes  do 
not  cause  different  brightness  impres- 
sions. From  this  it  was  concluded  that 
the  optimum  brightness  level  would  be 
14  ft-L  with  the  improvement  being  grad- 
ual beyond   8   ft-L. 

The  German  investigators  further  pro- 
posed that  standardization  would  be  in- 
complete without  specification  of  the 
permissable  drop  of  brightness  with 
angle  of  view,  since  directional  screens 
are    becoming    important. 

A  British  survey  examined  visibility  of 
grain,  appearance  of  flicker  and  glare, 
and  also  tabulated  specific  comments 
on  individual  subjects  and  on  the  general 
quality  of  projection.  From  these  data 
curves  were  prepared  from  which  the 
Committee  concluded  that  screen  bright- 
nesses should  conform  to  the  following: 

Subject  Min.  Max. 

Black-and-White    . .     12  ft-L         24  ft-L 

Technicolor     7  ft-L         14  ft-L 

As  a  summary  recommendation,  the 
Committee  proposed  a  minimum  screen 
brightness  of  8  ft-L  and  a  maximum  of 
16  ft-L,  and  this  has  been  adopted  as 
British  Standard  1404. 

Further  discussions  have  been  pub- 
lished, but  it  does  not  seem  that  they 
offer   any  additional  basic   data   suitable 


for  the  further  analysis  of  this  particu- 
lar problem.  In  many  cases,  however, 
they  provide  excellent  summaries  of  the 
data  available  and  of  the  practical  ap- 
plication of  the  data,  and  of  standards 
and   recommendations. 

Temporary  Nature  of  Standard 

In  the  report  of  the  Projection  Screen 
Brightness  Committee  in  1936,  it  was 
emphasized  that  their  recommendation 
was  for  a  tentative  standard,  to  be  modi 
fied  as  soon  as  practical:  "It  appears  to 
the  Committee  .  .  .  that  the  industry 
might  stand  to  benefit  by  the  adoption  of 
a  temporary  screen-brightness  standard. 
Logical  Mmits  for  such  a  standard  would 
appear  to  be  7  ft-L  for  the  low  value  and 
14  for  the  high  value." 

In  its  discussion,  the  Committee  con- 
cluded that,  on  the  other  hand,  an  ideal 
standard  "should  be  something  of  the  or- 
der of  30  ft-L  and  that  a  peripheral 
brightness  of  the  order  of  0.05  ft-L  is  de- 
sirable at  this  brightness  level.  If  such 
a  brightness  were  obtainable,  logical 
brightness  limits  would  be  20  ft-L  mini- 
mum and  45  ft-L  maximal." 

Having  thus  proposed  a  temporary 
standard,  the  Committee  listed  some  of 
the  questions  which  should  be  answered 
in  order  that  the  temporary  standard 
might  be  replaced  by  an  operating  stand- 
ard closer  to  the  ideal  range  of  screen 
brightness.  These  questions,  promulgated 
in  1936,  follow: 

Basic  Questions  Posed 

1.  What  correlation  is  there  between  best 
print  contrast  and  screen   brightness? 

2.  What  effect  does  the  brightness  standard 
have  upon  the  standard  of  release  print  qual- 


ity? Shall  release  prints  of  different  con- 
trasts be  made  available  to  theaters  operat- 
ing at  different  screen-brightness  levels? 
(Any  work  done  on  the  standard  release 
print  must,  for  obvious  reasons,  consider  the 
screen-brightness  standard  if  it  is  adopted.) 

3.  Is  highlight  density,  average  density, 
density  of  the  area  of  principal  interest,  or  a 
combination  of  these  factors,  the  thing  that 
determines    preferred    brightness? 

4.  What  possibilities  are  there  for  im- 
provement in  projection  optics,  pull-down 
efficiency,   and   source   brilliance? 

5.  What  is  the  effect  of  color  of  the  light 
source,  color  of  the  screen,  and  color  of 
the   print   upon   the   desired  brightness? 

6.  What  proportion  of  moving  picture  goers 
see  pictures  on  screen  greater  than  20  ft, 
25  ft,  30  ft?  Statistical  data  on  theater  sizes, 
screen  sizes,  projection  equipment  and  at- 
tendance figures  are  needed.  A  complete 
paper  of  this  kind  would  be  valuable  also 
in  connection  with  other  problems  con- 
fronting the  Society. 

7.  What  factors  determine  screen  width? 
Would  it  not  be  better,  for  instance,  to  use 
a  25-ft  screen  at  9  ft-L  than  a  30-ft  screen 
at  7  ft-L?  The  data  of  visual  acuity  tell  us 
that  the  picture  detail  visible  at  great  view- 
ing distances  should  not  suffer. 

8.  What  are  the  possibilities  for  the  de- 
velopment of  simple,  rugged,  and  inexpen- 
sive brightness-measuring  instruments?  Can- 
not a  satisfactory  simple  brightness  tester 
be  developed  with  two  fields,  one  at  the 
higher  and  one  at  the  lower  brightness  limit? 
Could  not  such  an  instrument  be  used 
easily  by  the  theater  projectionist  to  deter- 
mine whether  he  is  operating  within  the  rec- 
ommended brightness  range? 

9.  What  is  the  effect  of  auditorium  illu- 
mination upon  the  required  brightness  level? 

10.  What  is  the  effect  of  the  visual  angle 
or  the  screen  size  upon  this  value? 

11.  What    tolerance    in    nonuniformity   of 

(Continued  on  page  24) 


WESTREX  FOREIGN  MANAGERS,  SPECIALISTS  CONVENE  IN  NEW  YORK 


Representatives  from  all  over  the  world  are  shown  inspecting  the  new  Westrex  M4D  re-record- 
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general  manager  of  Westrex;  W.  L.  Bell  (France);  R.  W.  Wight  (Hollywood);  W.  DeMello 
(Colombia);  D.  Pollock  (South  Africa);  R.  J.  Engler  (England);  R.  R.  Abarbanell  (Philippines); 
Second  row:  W.  E.  Kollmyer  (India);  J.  Cuevas  (Brazil);  O.  J.  Forest  (Trinidad,  B.  W.  I.); 
M.  Storms  (Panama);  S.  Wiedemann   (Switzerland);   A.  C.   Leonoel   (Algeria). 


10 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


September  1951 


TROUPERETTE 


SEE  ANY   OF  THE   FOLLOWING   DEALERS  OR 
USE  COUPON    FOR  OBTAINING   LITERATURE 

ALBANY,    N.    Y— Nat'!    Theatre    Supply    Co.;    Albany   Theatre    Supply 

ATLANTA— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

ATLANTIC  CITY— Boardwalk  Film  Enterprises 

AUBURN,  N.  Y.— Auburn  Theatre  Equipment 

BALTIMORE— J.    F.    Dusman   Co.;    Nafl   Theatre   Supply   Co. 

BIRMINGHAM— The    Queen    Feature    Service,     Inc. 

BOSTON— J.  Cifrc,  Inc.;  Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

BUFFALO— Dion  Products;  Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

CHARLOTTE— Nafl   Theatre   Supply   Co.;   Standard    Theatre    Supply   Co. 

CHICAGO— Abbott  Theatre  Equip.  Co.;  Droll  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Gardner 
Jansen,  Inc.;  Grand  Stage  Lighting  Co.,  Hollywood  Stage  Lighting 
Co.;   Midwest  Stage    Lighting   Co.;   Nafl   Theatre  Supply  Co. 

CINCINNATI— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

CLEVELAND— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

DALLAS — Hardin  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Modern  Theatre  Equip.  Co.;  Nat'l 
Theatre  Supply  Co, 

DENVER— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Graham  Bros. 

DES  MOINES— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

DETROIT— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

FORTY  FORT,  PA.— V.  M.  Tate  Theatre  Supplies 

GREENSBORO,  N.  C— Standard  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

HOUSTON — Southwestern  Theatre  Equipment  Co. 

INDIANAPOLIS— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

KANSAS   CITY,    MO.— Shreve   Theatre    Supply;    Nafl   Theatre    Supply    Co. 

LOS  ANGELES— J.  M.  Boyd;  C.  J.  Holzmueller;  Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co.; 
Pembrex   Theatre   Supply  Corp. 

LOUISVILLE— Falls  City  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

MEMPHIS— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

MILWAUKEE— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  R.  Smith  Co. 

MINNEAPOLIS— Minneapolis   Theatre   Supply;    Nafl   Theatre  Supply  Co. 

NEW  HAVEN— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

NEW  ORLEANS— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

NEW  YORK  CITY— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

NORFOLK— Naf  I  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

OKLAHOMA  CITY— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Oklahoma  Theatre  Supply 
Co.;   The   Century  Theatre   Supply  Co. 

PHILADELPHIA—  Blumberg    Bros.;    Nafl    Theatre    Supply    Co. 

PITTSBURGH— Atlas    Theatre    Supply;    Nafl    Theatre    Supply   Co. 

SALT  LAKE  CITY— Inter-Mountain  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

SAN  FRANCISCO— C.  J.  Holzmueller;  Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  W.  G. 
Preddey  Theatre  Supplies 

SEATTLE— B.  F.  Shearer  Co.;  Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

SIOUX  FALLS — American  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

ST.  LOUIS— City  Electric  Co.;  Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co 

TOLEDO — Theatre  Equipment  Co. 

WESTERLY,  R.  I.— G.  H.  Payne  Motion  Picture  Service 

CANADA — Dominion  Sound  Equipment,  Ltd.,  Montreal,  Quebec;  General 
Theatre  Supply  Co.,  Toronto,  Ontario;  General  Theatre  Supply  Co., 
St.  John,  N.  B.;  General  Theatre  Supply  Co.,  Vancouver,  B.  C;  Gen- 
eral Theatre  Supply  Co.,  Montreal,  Quebec;  General  Theatre  Supply 
Co.,  Winnipeg,  Man.;  Sharp's  Theatre  Supplies,  Ltd.,  Calgary,  Alta.; 
Perkins  Electric  Co.,  Ltd.,  Montreal,  Quebec;  Perkins  Electric  Co., 
Ltd.,   Toronto,   Ontario. 


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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     September  1951 


11 


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OUTSIDE  U.S.A. 
AND    CANADA 


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The  Allied  Arts  and  Sciences 

There  is  a  vast  field  of  artistic  and  scientific  endeavor  which  is  directly 
contributory  to  the  motion  picture  process  and,  therefore,  to  the 
practice  of  projection.  The  true  craftsman  should  have  a  well-rounded 
understanding  of  these  contributory  factors,  particularly  in  view  of 
the  imminent  widespread  utilization  of  television  and,  possibly,  stereo- 
scopic pictures  and  stereophonic  sound.  To  this  end,  IP  here  inaugu- 
rates a  special  department  which  will  provide  basic  information  on  the 
aforementioned  arts  and  sciences. 

I.   Photographic  Optics 

Bausch  £r  Lomb  Optical  Company,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 


THE  optics  of  photography  is  cus- 
tomarily looked  upon  as  a  subject 
too  difficult  for  general  consumption, 
and  as  a  consequence  the  basic  factor — 
the  factor  without  which  photography 
could  be  but  a  shadowgraph  curiosity — 
is  neglected  and  left  to  chance.  No 
wonder,  then,  that  a  large  mass  of 
hoary  misapprehensions  has  gathered 
about  the  optics  of  the  processes. 

Here  we  shall  discuss  two  things — 
the  general  conditions  underlying  image 
formation,  i.e.,  what  the  lens  designer 
must  do  to  provide  the  photographer  with 
good  images,  and  second,  practical  char- 
acteristics  of   lenses. 

We  shall  see  that  optics  as  applied  to 
photography,  particularly  in  its  practical 
aspects,  is  not  remote  and  theoretical, 
but  built  up  step-by-step  from  common 
experience,  and  all  that  is  necessary  to 
understand  the  most  essential  facts  of 
lens  performance  is  a  willingness  to 
learn  and  an  average  endowment  of  com- 
mon  sense. 

Meaning  of  a  'Good  Image' 

We  must  first  establish  in  our  minds 
some  fundamentals:  What  is  an  image? 
What  is  meant  by  a  good  image?  How 
good  must  an  image  be? 

What  is  an  image?  To  a  physicist  or 
an  optician,  an  image  formed  by  a  lens 
system  is  the  totality  of  reunion  points 
of  light  rays  emitted  from  the  corre- 
sponding points  on  the  object  being 
imaged.  Let  us  translate  this  statement 
into    English   more    easily   digested. 

The  object  being  imaged  consists  of 
an  indefinite  assembly  of  points  each  of 
which  is  emitting  light  in  accordance 
with  its  brightness.  To  form  an  image 
of  this  object  it  is  necessary  to  reunite 
into  their  corresponding  points  the  light 
emitted  from  points  of  the  object. 

In  this  manner  the  points  which  are 
bright    in    the    object    will    send    out    a 


larger  cmantity  of  light,  which  will  result 
in  brighter  image  points,  the  less  bril- 
liant object  points  being  more  conserva- 
tive of  light  and  their  corresponding 
image  points  likewise.  Thus  the  lens 
establishes  a  one-to-one  correspondence 
between  object  points  and  image  points 
both  for  relative  brightness  and  for  gen- 
eral location. 

Point-tpr-Point  Representation 

This,  then,  almost  automatically  gives 
us  the  conditions  to  be  satisfied  by  the 
ideal  image, — it  must  be  an  accurate 
point-for-point  representation  of  the  ob- 
ject with  each  part  of  the  image  in  the 
proper  relation  to  every  other  part  of 
the  image.  Anything  which  hinders 
either  the  reunion  of  the  light  rays  into 
points,  or  disturbs  the  relationship  of 
the  image  parts,  causes  a  departure  from 
ideal  imagery,  and  is  spoken  of  as  an 
aberration.  A  perfect  image  in  the  terms 
here  used  is  never  found,  for  we  have 
been  dealing  with  mathematical  con- 
cepts, which  are  only  idealizations,  while 
we  must  live  in  a  somewhat  imperfect 
and  practical  world. 

Because  our  senses  are  imperfect,  and 
further,  because  of  the  grain  in  photo- 
graphic emulsions,  we  find  that  we  can 
use  rather  less  than  perfection  in  our 
lenses,  thus  making  pictorial  photography 
possible  by  creating  depth  of  field. 

Functional  Test  Fairest 

Lest  the  preceding  paragraph  seem 
like  a  paradox,  let  us  hasten  to  say  that 
the  only  fair  test  of  a  product  is  a  func- 
tional test.  If  a  product  satisfies  the 
function  for  which  it  was  intended,  it 
has  fulfilled  its  intention.  Tests  usually 
can  be  devised  to  show  flaws  in  the 
best  products.  These  tests  are  often  ar- 
tificial and  always  purposely  hyper- 
critical. Photographic  lenses  can  be 
tested  in  the  same  manner. 

But  what  difference  does  it  make,  if 


the  flaws  seen  in  an  artificial  test  are 
invisible  in  the  camera?  In  other  words, 
if  your  lens  is  performing  satisfactorily 
and  has  given  what  seem  to  you  to  be 
perfect  images,  for  your  purposes  you 
have  the  perfect  lens,  in  spite  of  what 
will  be  said  here.  We  should  of  necessity 
have  to  split  hairs  to  show  the  aberra- 
tions, for  some  of  them  are  of  very  small 
magnitude  in   modern   lenses. 

Because  we  are  not  dealing  with 
mathematical  perfection  but  with  prac- 
tical physics,  we  do  not  have  to  demand 
that  our  lens  yield  a  mathematical  point 
image.  If  a  disc  of  about  three  one  thous- 
andths of  an  inch  diameter  were  presented 
to  the  eye  at  10  inches,  it  would  be  ap- 
preciated as  a  point.  To  all  intents  and 
purposes  this  disc  would  be  a  point,  and 
we  have  no  right  to  demand  less  diam- 
eter in  our  final  prints. 

This  disc,  of  maximum  size  still  per- 
ceived as  a  point,  permits  the  depth  of 
field  so  necessary  to  photography,  and 
further  allows  reasonably  satisfactory 
images  from  imperfect  lenses.  How  this 
'  depth  of  field  through  finite  image  disc- 
points is  accomplished  will  be  seen  far- 
ther along,  in  our  discussion. 

The  Pinhole  Camera 

The  simplest  camera  is  usually  given 
consideration  at  the  beginnnig  of  a  dis- 
cussion like  this  with  good  reason, — it 
teaches  us  much  concerning  the  funda- 
mentals of  our  subject.  Parenthetically. 
the  photographer's  education  is  not  com- 
plete until  he  has  actually  made  and 
used  a  pinhole  camera.  It  is  easy  to 
make,  and  instructions  are  readily  found. 

The  principles  of  the  pinhole  camera 
are  well  illustrated  in  the  diagram.  Each 
point  of  the  object  emitting  light  which 
falls  on  the  camera  front  creates,  in 
effect,  a  shadow  of  that  front  on  the 
emulsion.  The  only  light  actually  getting 
through  to  the  emulsion  is  that  finding 
the  pinhole.  This  light  having  come  from 
a  point  is  diverging,  and  will  continue 
to  diverge  after  passage  through  the  hole, 
and  by  the  time  it  reaches  the  emulsion 
it  will  have  spread  into  a  disc  larger 
or  smaller  depending  on  the  distance 
betwee  nthe  pinhole  and  the  emulsion, 
and  the  size  of  the  pinhole.  This  disc 
will  then  represent  the  point  on  the  ob- 
ject from  which  the  light  originally  came. 
i.e.,  it  will  be  the  pinhole  image  of  that 
point. 

Image-Governing  Factors 

The  collection  of  overlapping  discs 
will  be  the  image  of  the  whole  object. 
Pinhole  imagery  is  largely  pure  geometry, 
as  is  the  formation  of  images  by  means 
of  lenses,  the  geometry  being  more 
clearly  seen  in  the  case  of  the  former 
(Fig.  1). 

The  size  of  the  image  in  a  pinhole 
camera  will  depend  on  two  factors,  just 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


September  1951 


13 


PINHOLE  GEOMETRY 
Top  to  bottom:  Figs.  1,  2  and  3. 

as  in  lens  camera:  the  distance  of  the 
object,  and  the  distance  between  the  pin- 
hole and  the  film  (Figs.  2-3).  The  closer 
the  pinhole  and  film,  with  a  fixed  object 
distance,  the  smaller  the  image,  i.e.,  the 
greater  the  reduction.  The  size  of  the 
image  discs  likewise  depends  in  theory 
upon  these  factors;  however,  practically 
the  only  factor  having  effect  is  the  dis- 
tance between  the  hole  and  the  film, 
since  the  object  is  usually  at  virtual  in- 
finity. 

It  is  apparent  that  the  size  of  the  pin- 
hole influences  the  size  of  the  image  disc, 
which  we  call  the  circle  of  confusion  in 
accord  with  standard  practice.  The  larger 
the  pinhole,  the  larger  the  circle  of  con- 
fusion, and  further,  the  more  light  fall- 
ing on  the  film,  that  is,  the  "faster"  the 
pinholes  lens.  In  fact,  the  speed  may  be 
defined,  just  as  in  the  case  of  a  lens, 
by  the  ratio  of  the  diameter  of  the  hole 
to  the  distance  from  the  hole  to  the 
screen,  and  the  illumination  on  the  screen 
will  vary  as  the  square  of  this  ratio.  (In 
practice  the  reciprocal  of  this  ratio  is 
used.  It  is  used  here  in  this  manner  for 
purposes  of  illustration.) 

Pinhole  Camera  Attributes 

The  pinhole  camera  possesses  sev- 
eral distinct  advantages  over  cameras 
equipped  with  lenses:  it  is  of  universal 
focus;  everything  to  infinity  is  focused 
on  the  emulsion;  it  will  give  a  truly  dis- 
tortionless image,  or  in  scientific  lan- 
guage, an  orthoscopic  or  angle-true 
image;  it  is  the  perfect  wide-angle  sys- 
tem, permitting  the  photography  of 
angular  fields  practically  unattainable 
with  lenses;  and,  finally,  it  is  so  simple 
anyone  can  make  and  use  it. 

However,   the    pinhole   camera    is   not 


a  panacea  for  ills  photographic — it  is 
extraordinarily  slow  compared  even  with 
the  slowest  of  lenses,  requiring  extremely 
long  exposure  times;  and  most  impor- 
tant of  all,  the  image  leaves  something 
to  be  desired  in  the  way  of  sharpness,  as 
is  to  be  expected.  This  softness  of  image 
is  not  always  undesirable,  however. 

We  have  seen  from  the  geometry  of 
the  pinhole  camera  that  there  is  a  focus 
of  a  sort  at  any  separation  of  the  hole 
from  the  film,  but  that  the  size  of  the 
image,  i.e.,  the  magnification,  is  propor- 
tional to  the  distance,  in  addition  to 
varying  inversely  with  the  object-to-pin- 
hole  distance. 

Two  Simple  Explanations 

The  pinhole-to-film  distance  is  the 
focal  length  of  the  camera.  The  focal 
length  of  the  lens  counterpart  is  defined 
as  the  distance  from  the  equivalent  re- 
fracting point  of  the  lens  to  the  axial 
point  ivhere  parallel  rays  of  light  are 
united. 

In  the  case  of  simple,  thin  lenses  such 
as  are  used  by  optometrists,  the  focal 
length  is  closely  equal  to  the  distance 
from  the  lens  to  the  focal  point  in  parallel 
light.  This,  however,  is  not  true  for  the 
more  complicated  lenses  we  must  use  in 
our  cameras.  The  focal  length,  which 
determines  the  magnification,  the  stop 
number,  and  the  angle  of  view  of  the 
lens  with  any  particualr  film  size  is 
called  "equivalent  focal  length,"  abbre- 
viated E.F.,  and  is  perhaps  the  most  im- 
portant single  characteristic  distinguish- 
ing any  one  ens  from  the  universe  of 
all  possible  lenses. 

It  is  found,  when  lenses  become  com- 
plex, that  there  are  two  points  on  the 
axis  of  the  system,  where  equivalent  thin 
lenses  can  be  placed  having  the  same 
refractive  effect  as  the  given  system. 
With  these  principal  points  in  a  lens  in 
air  coincide  a  sort  of  generalized  center 
of  the  complicated  lens  or  lens  system, 
the  nodal  points  which  have  the  property 
that  a  ray  of  light  directed  toward  one 
will  emerge  from  the  other  nodal  point 
undeviated. 

The  E.  F.  of  a  Lens 

The  equivalent  focal  length  of  a  lens 
is  defined  as  the  distance  between  the 
second  or  emergent  principal  point  and 
the  point  on  the  optical  axis  where  the 
lens  unites  a  parallel  beam  of  light.  In 
most  lenses  the  distance  from  the  rear 
surface  of  the  lens  to  this  focal  point 
will  be  less  than  the  equivalent  focal 
length.  This  distance  is  called  the  "back 
focus"  and  is  the  one  really  measured  in 
a  simple  lens,  where  the  second  nodal 
point  is  very  close  to  the  lens  surface 
(Fig.  4).  In  most  lenses  the  nodal  points 
are  approximately  at  the  center  of  the 
lens  at  the  point  where  the  diaphragm 
is  found. 


FIG.  4.    The  thick  lens. 

For  many  practical  purposes,  the  dia- 
phragmn  position  (halfway  through  the 
shutter)  may  be  looked  on  as  the  cen- 
ter of  the  lens,  and  equivalent  focal 
length  as  the  distance  from  the  diaphragn 
to  the  emulsion  when  the  lens  is  focused 
on  infinity.  The  foregoing  statements 
are  true  with  any  lens  except  a  true 
telephoto,  in  which  the  principal  points 
are  actually  outside  the  lens,  in  front. 

Earlier  we  saw  that  the  requirements 
for  ideal  image  formation  were  that  the 
rays  leaving  each  point  in  the  object  be 
united  in  proper  relation  to  the  neighbor- 
ing points.  We  further  said  that  any  dis- 
turbance of  the  orderly  reunion  of  the 
light  rays  constituted  an  aberration.  The 
most  important  aberrations  are  seven  in 
number:  five  so-called  third-order  aberra- 
tions which  are  independent  of  color  but 
whose  magnitudes  vary  with  different 
colors,  and  two  pure  chromatic  aberra- 
tions. 

Spherical  Aberration  Data 

This  is  the  only  monochromatic  aberra- 
tion which  can  occur  on  the  axis  of  a  well- 
made  lens.  It  has  its  origin  in  the  fact 
that  the  margins  of  lenses  made  with  all 
but  certain  strange  mathematical  surfaces 
have  effectively  more  light  bending,  or 
refractive  power  than  the  regions  near 
the  axis,  so  that  the  marginal  rays  are 
brought  to  a  focus  closer  to  the  lens  than 
the  near  axial  rays. 

Surfaces  which  can  bring  all  rays  strik- 
ing a  lens  to  a  common  focus  are  weird 
mathematical  creatures,  impractical  for 
the  lens  grinder  to  duplicate,  and  impos- 
sible in  mass  production  as  yet.  The 
manufacturer  prefers  to  work  with  spher- 
ical surfaces  whose  complete  symmetry 
he  uses  to  give  him  accurately  reproduc- 
ible surfaces,  thus  making  possible  quan- 
tity production  of  usable  lenses. 

As  this  particular  aberration  cannot  be 
corrected  in  one  lens,  two  of  essentially 
opposing  tendencies  must  be  used  to  gain 
relief.  We  shall  see  more  of  the  method 
of  correction  when  we  consider  chromatic 
aberration. 

Practical  Effect  of  S.  A. 

Spherical  aberration  has  the  practical 
effect  of  laying  a  haze  over  the  sharply 
defined  image  of  axial  points,  and  is 
equivalent  to  a  diffusion  disc  before  the 
lens.  As  a  corollary  of  this,  a  lens  with 
considerable  spherical  aberration  will 
give  a  soft  image,  and  indeed,  some  thirty 
years  ago  lenses  with  variable  amounts  of 


14 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


September  1951 


L20NAt 
.MARGINAL 


FIG.  5.    Spherical  aberration. 


CORRECTION  OF  SPHERICAL  ABERRATION. 
Top  to  bottom:  Figs.  6  and  7. 

this  aberration  were  sold  as  variable  soft- 
focus  lenses,  and  some  may  even  be  on 
the  used  lens  markets  today.  A  further 
consequence  of  this  aberration  is  the 
greater  depth  of  field  and  of  focus,  since 
no  one  plane  is  sharply  defined  (Fig.  5). 

Spherical  aberration  cannot  be  per- 
fectly corrected — the  best  that  can  ever 
be  done  is  to  bring  to  a  common  focus 
the  axial  rays  and  the  rays  passing 
through  some  other  point  on  the  lens 
diameter,  usually  near  its  periphery.  This 
effects  the  best  compromise  correction, 
and  is  that  most  favored  (Fig.  6) . 

This  aberration  is  a  function  of  the 
aperture  of  the  lens,  and  will  naturally 
be  less,  the  smaller  the  stop  used.  Stop- 
ping down  the  lens  will  cut  out  the  mar- 
ginal and  zonal  rays,  leaving  the  rays 
which  normally  would  strike  the  axis 
closer  together.  The  image  would  then 
appear  to  gain  in  crispness,  while  the 
depth  of  field  increases    (Fig.  7). 

Spherical  aberration  is  one  of  the  more 
important  of  the  aberrations,  largely 
under  the  control  of  the  designer,  and 
usually  reduced  to  a  safe  magnitude. 
However,  there  are  lenses  in  which  this 
aberration  is  left  practically  untouched 
for  various  reasons.  If  your  lens  gives 
crisp  images  with  the  film  you  normally 
use,  rest  assured  that  the  maker  has  paid 
due  respect  to  this  troublesome  aberra- 
tion. 

Coma:  Most  Important 

This  is  the  most  important  and  most 
annoying  single  aberration  of  the  whole 
battery  afflicting  lenses.  Coma  is  the 
image  destroyer  which  effects  more  ruin 
unaided  than  any  other  aberration.  Pho- 
tographic objectives  otherwise  perfect 
might  have  left  in  them  each  of  the  other 
aberrations  singly  and  still  be  usable, 
but  if  uncorrected  coma  alone  is  present 
in  an  objective  the  lens  is  utterly  worth- 
less. 

Coma    affects    only   the    points    in    the 


field  of  the  lens,  i.e.,  the  extra  axial 
ponits.  In  the  presence  of  this  aberra- 
tion those  points  are  drawn  into  unsym- 
metrical  figures,  causing  an  unsightly 
blending  of  detail,  and  a  loss  of  the 
possibility  of  recognition  in  extreme 
cases. 

The  nature  of  coma  can  be  recognized 
from  a  consideration  of  the  diagram  (Fig. 
8).  The  ray  through  the  center  of  the 
lens  is  called  the  principal  ray,  and 
strikes  the  image  plane  at  the  point 
shown.  In  the  presence  of  coma  the 
rays  through  the  outer  zones  of  the  lens 
do  not  strike  the  image  plane  at  the 
same  point  as  the  principal  ray.  The  dis- 
crepancies of  these  points  measured  in 
the  image  plane  represent  coma. 

The  actual  image  in  pure  coma  is 
shown  in  the  illustration.  Each  circle 
represents  the  locus  of  the  foci  of  rays 
passing  through  a  corresponding  zone 
of  the  lens,  the  larger  circles  represent- 
ing the  outermost  zones,  and  the  vertex 
the  principal  ray.  Actually  the  whole 
patch  is  not  seen,  for  the  figure  shades 
off  quite  rapidly,  and  only  the  form 
shown  in  the  figure  is  seen.  Even  so,  it 
is  readily  apparent  that  this  aberration 
deserves  the  attention  given  it. 

Correction  for  Coma 

Coma  is  corrected  in  lens  systems  by 
making  suitable  choice  of  the  curves  on 
the  lens  surfaces,  technically  by  "bend- 
ing" the  lenses,  i.e.,  by  changing  the 
shape  of  the  lenses. 

Coma  varies  with  the  aperture  in  the 
same  way  as  spherical  aberration,  and 
stopping  the  lens  has  the  same  effect. 
This  is  another  reason  for  the  adage, 
"stop  the  lens  for  sharpness."  Coma  fur- 
ther varies  as  the  image  height,  which 
means  that  it  will  be  worse  near  the 
margins  of  the  picture.  As  the  lens  is 
stopped  down,  obviously  light  cannot 
pass  through  the  outer  zones  and  the 
corresponding  image  circles  are  missing, 
until,  at  the  limit,  when  but  one  ray 
gets  through,  true  point  imagery  is  at- 
tained  (Fig.  9). 

Pure  coma  is  exceedingly  rare,  and 
the  comatic  figures  drawn  are  practically 
never  seen,  for  this  aberration  is  usually 


CIRCLE      OF 
LEAST     CONFUSION 


ILLUSTRATING  COMA 
Top  to  bottom:  Figs.  8  and  9. 


FIG.    10.    Astigmatism. 

seen    together    with    astigmatism,    which 
leads  to  peculiarly  complicated  figures. 

Astigmatism:  Separated  Images 

This  is  one  of  the  strangest  of  the 
aberrations,  for  while  the  others  govern 
either  the  shape  or  position  of  an  image 
point,  this  one  demonstrates  two  image 
positions  as  definitely  separated  image 
lines  which  are  mutually  perpendicular 
and  perpendicular  to  the  axis.  In  the 
presence  of  this  aberration  a  point  in  the 
object  gives  rise  to  two  separated  images, 
lines  at  right  angles.  This  particular 
aberration  is  rather  frequently  seen  in 
photographs. 

Better  to  comprehend  this  aberration, 
consider  the  drawing  (Fig.  10).  We  saw 
that  each  point  of  the  object  reflects  rays 
which  strike  the  lens  or  lens  system  over 
its  whole  aperture:  as  far  as  the  lens  is 
concerned,  each  object  point  sends  a 
cone  of  light  to  the  objective  sufficient 
to  fill  the  clear  aperture. 

These  rays  upon  reaching  the  lens  can- 
not all  be  treated  the  same,  for  even  in 
the  case  of  an  axial  point  the  focus  de- 
pends upon  the  incident  height  of  the 
ray.  Here,  with  an  object  point  off  the 
axis,  the  situation  is  even  more  compli- 
cated, for  the  rays  in  an  oblique  plane 
will  find  an  effective  surface  curvature 
different  from  that  in  the  plane  at  right 
angles.  The  result  of  this  difference  in 
curvature  is  astigmatism. 

Tangential,  Sagittal  Planes 

One  plane,  the  one  we  normally  con- 
sider in  making  drawings  and  in  de- 
signing, the  one  containing  the  object, 
we  call  the  primary  or  meridional  plane, 
the  "focus"  of  which  gives  sharp  images 
of  points  lying  on  a  circle  whose  center 
is  the  axis,  and  fuzzy  images  of  radial 
lines.  This  particular  focus  is  called 
the  tangential  focus,  and  the  meridional 
plane  alternatively  as  the  tangential 
plane. 

The  plane  perpendicular  to  this  we  call 

(Continued  on  page  22) 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


September  1951 


15 


IN   THE 

SPOTLIGHT 


By 

HARRY 

SHERMAN 


J^  FAR-REACHING  decision  affecting  the  status  of  radio  and  television  broad- 
casting  studio  employes  was  handed  down  recently  by  the  National  Labor 
Relations  Board.  The  Board  found  that  without  modifying  the  unit  description 
(stage  electricians,  stage  carpenters,  and  stage  property  men,  excluding  all  other 
employes  and  supervisors  at  station  WNBT,  New  York,  of  the  National  Broad- 
casting Company),  engineers  or  any  other  NBC  employes,  irrespective  of  their 
job  designations,  who  regularly  spend  more  than  50%  of  their  time  handling 
and  placing  Tv  lights  in  the  manner  set  forth  in  the  decision  in  this  case,  are  in 
effect  stage  electricians  and  belong  in  the  unit  for  which  the  IATSE  has  been 
certified  as  exclusive  bargaining  representative. 

On  July  13  last,  IATSE,  NABET  (Na-      tack.    However,  upon  his  removal  to  the 


tional  Association  of  Broadcasting  Engi- 
neers and  Technicians),  and  NBC  filed  a 
joint  petition  requesting  the  Board  to 
clarify  the  unit  description  by  indicating 
whether  or  not  in  its  decision  the  Board 
intended  the  classification  "stage  elec- 
tricians" to  be  limited  only  to  those  em- 
ployes bearing  that  title  on  the  NBC  pay- 
roll; or  whether  the  Board  also  intended 
that  NBC  employes,  regardless  of  their 
job  titles,  who  regularly  spend  more  than 
50%  of  their  time  in  the  handling  and 
placing  of  Tv  lights  should  be  included 
in  the  unit.  In  its  decision,  the  Board 
states,  in  part: 

"Having  reconsidered  the  record  on 
which  the  decision  in  this  case  was  based, 
we  are  convinced  that  this  work  can 
be  and  is  effectively  being  accomplished 
by  the  traditional  stage  electrician  of  the 
stage  and  amusement  world.  When  an 
engineer  ceases  to  perform  such  work  as 
a  mere  incident  to  his  all-around  engin- 
eering functions,  but  regularly  takes  on 
these  duties  as  his  main  operation,  he 
thereby  forsakes  his  special  field  and  as- 
sumes the  character  of  a  stage  electri- 
cian." 

•  We  are  happy  to  report  that  Bill 
Covert,  2nd  IA  vice-president  and  busi- 
ness representative  for  Toronto  Local 
173,  has  licked  a  six-weeks  stretch  in  the 
hospital  and  is  now  recuperating  at  home. 

•  We  were  saddened  to  learn  of  the  sud- 
den death  several  weeks  ago  of  Julius  J. 
(Chief)  Schaefer,  62,  member  of  Dallas 
Local  249.  Schaefer  was  found  lying  on 
the  floor  of  the  projection  room  of  the 
Palace  Theater,  where  he  had  worked  for 
the  past  30  years,  and  it  was  at  first 
thought  that  he  succumbed  to  a  heart  at- 


Parkland  Hospital  it  was  discovered  that 
a  skull  fracture  caused  his  death. 

Schaefer  was  one  of  the  original  organ- 
izers of  Local  249  and  served  as  its  presi- 
dent for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century. 
In  January,  1949,  he  was  awarded  a  gold 
life  membership  card  for  his  unswerving 
loyalty  to  the  organization.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  American  Federation  of 
Labor  for  44  years,  of  Dallas  Masonic 
Lodge,  Hella  Temple,  and  of  the  Ameri- 
can Legion.  He  was  a  veteran  of  World 
War  I,  having  served  overseas  with  our 
fighting  forces. 

He  is  survived  by  his  widow  and  seven 
brothers — Henry,  Rudolph,  Ernest,  Os- 
car, Conrad,  Herman  and  Harry  Schae- 
fer, all  of  Cisco,  Texas.  Pallbearers  at 
the  funeral  were  Henry  Long,  Earl  Holt, 
Clarence  Holt,  H.  D.  Hill,  Charles  A. 
Harcum,  Paul  W.  Humphries,  Fred  Han- 
son, and  Leon  Saucier. 

•  We  received  a  visit  several  weeks  ago 
from  Archie  Stone,  member  since  1908 
of  Cleveland  Local  160,  and  his  son,  Dr. 
Harry  J.  Stone.  Father  and  son,  and  their 
respective  families,  were  en  route  to 
Wrightsville  Beach,  N.  C,  where  the  doc- 


Studio  Blacksmiths  in  I A 

If  there  be  any  Labor  organization  with 
more  diversity  of  occupation  among  its 
members  than  the  IA,  we  have  yet  to  hear 
of  it.  For  now  we  have  as  IA  brothers — 
take  a  deep  breath — blacksmiths!  The  IA 
recently  won  an  election  contest  with  the 
Blacksmiths'  International  to  add  to  the 
IA  roster  the  25  blacksmiths  in  Hollywood 
studios.   The  vote  was  17  to  3. 


tor  was  elected  national  senior  vice-com- 
mander of  the  National  Army  and  Navy 
Legion  of  Valor.  Dr.  Stone,  who  now 
makes  his  home  in  Ashland,  Ky.,  was 
awarded  the  Distinguished  Service  Cross 
in  World  War  II  for  "extraordinary  hero- 
ism in  action  near  Anzio,  Italy."  (See 
IP  for  July,  1944,  p.  18.) 

•  The  66th  annual  convention  of  the 
Ohio  State  Federation  of  Labor  was  held 
in  Columbus,  Ohio,  last  month,  with  the 
Columbus  Central  Body  acting  as  host  to 
the  delegates.  Bob  Greer,  old-line  mem- 
ber of  Columbus  Local  386  and  president 
of  the  Body,  extended  a  hearty  welcome 
to  the  gathering. 

•  Pinch-hitting  for  the  labor  editor  of 
the  New  York  World-Telegram  and  Sun, 
who  was  on  vacation,  IA  President  Walsh 
was  the  guest  columnist  for  Wednesday, 
August  29.  His  subject,  of  course,  was 
the  effect  of  Tv  on  the  members  of  the 
Alliance  and  their  ability  to  cope  with 
this  revolutionary  development  in  the 
entertainment  world.  He  outlined  briefly 
the  early  history  of  the  IA,  telling  of  its 
struggles  to  gain  a  foothold  as  an  organ- 
izing unit  and  how  it  overcame  many  ob- 
stacles on  the  road  to  its  present  high 
estate  in  Labor  circles. 

"The  cooperative  merit  of  show-busi- 
ness unionism  again  was  demonstrated 
in  1919,"  wrote  Walsh,  "when  stage  em- 
ployes played  a  large  part  in  gaining  rec- 
ognition for  Actors  Equity  in  New  York 
— and  later  when  both  stage  employes 
and  moving  picture  machine  operators 
helped  gain  recognition  for  the  studio  me- 
chanics in  Hollywood. 

"By  today  our  services  have  been  ex- 
tended to  virtually  all  film-studio  tech- 
nicians, as  well  as  to  front-of-the-house 
personnel  at  the  theaters  and  employes 
at  the  home  offices  and  regional  exchanges 
of  the  film  companies.  .  .  . 

"Now,  for  a  fourth  time,  the  horizon  of 
show  business  is  being  pushed  back.  As 
before,  we  have  good  reason  to  believe 
we  can  take  it  in  our  stride — and  are 
confident  that  the  theater  will  continue 
to  prosper,  drawing  sustenance  from  tele- 
vision and,  in  turn,  helping  to  sustain  it. 

"In    organizing   television,   we    of   the 


16 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


September  1951 


IA  seek  to  avoid  labor  strife  .  .  .  vvc 
always  bargain  with  patient  firmness,  and 
the  completeness  of  our  organization  has 
made  strikes  largely  unnecessary.  Thus 
the  industry  has  been  stabilized.  Today 
the  skills  of  IA  members  are  behind 
every  network  telecast.  Quite  a  number 
of  our  veterans  have  entered  this  field, 
and  we  have  enrolled  many  of  its  previ- 
ously-unorganized workers.  To  others 
who  find  employment  in  the  big  expan- 
sion which  lies  ahead,  our  ranks  are 
open." 

•  The  recent  promotion  of  Mike  Yahr. 
for  many  years  Chicago  representative 
for  RCA,  to  that  of  manager  of  sound 
products  sales  of  the  RCA  Engineering 
Products  Dept.,  came  as  no  surprise  to 
his  many  friends  in  the  craft.  Mike  is 
highly  regarded  in  the  industry  and  he 
has  the  best  wishes  of  his  many  IA 
friends  for  success  in  his  new  post. 

•  The  3rd  District  (New  England)  held 
its  annual  convention  last  month  at  the 
Hotel  Statler,  Boston,  Mass.  IA  President 
Walsh  addressed  the  gathering,  outlining 
approved  IA  procedure  in  organizing 
independent  radio  and  television  stations. 
He  suggested  that  the  Local  Unions  take 
the  necessary  preliminary  steps  to  lay 
the  groundwork,  and  that  a  representa- 
tive from  the  General  Office  be  called  in 
to  close  the  negotiations. 

Other  speakers  included  General  Sec- 
Treas.  Raoul;  Ass't  IA  Pres.  Shea; 
Trustee  Wm.  Scanlan,  and  Benjamin  J. 
Hull,  Associate  Commissioner  of  Labor 
for  Mass.  and  member  of  Springfield 
Local  186.  About  70  delegates,  repre- 
senting 60  Local  Unions,  were  present  at 
the  meeting. 

•  We  were  sorry  to  hear  that  ill  health 
forced  the  resignation  of  Matt  Kennedy 
as  business  representative  for  Local  273, 
New  Haven,  Conn.  Matt  has  represented 
the  Local  for  the  past  15  years  and  is 
very  popular  with  his  brother  craftsmen. 

•  Many  of  the  more  progressive  IA-  Lo- 
cals Unions  have  working  contracts  cov- 
ering 16-mm  showings  in  their  respective 
localities.  The  terms  of  these  contracts 
vary  somewhat,  depending  upon  condi- 
tions prevailing  in  the  different  locali- 
ties. George  Schaffer,  business  represen- 
tative for  Los  Angeles  Local  150,  re- 
cently sent  us  a  copy  of  the  Local's 
agreement  with  the  Thorobred  Photo 
Service  of  L.  A.,  relative  to  the  showing 
of  16-mm  pictures  at  race  tracks.  High- 
lights of  the  agreement  follow: 

A.  Projectionists  employed  full  time  shall 
receive  $132.50  per  week,  basic  weekly 
salary,  8  hours  per  day,  5  days  per  week. 
All  time  over  8  hours  in  any  one  day 
shall  be  paid  at  the  rate  of  |4.97  per 
hour.  All  time  worked  over  5  days  in 
any  one  week  shall  be  paid  at  the  rate 
of    $4.97    per    hour    for    an    8-hour    day. 


Marty  Bennett  Heads  Up 
RCA  Theatre  Sales 

Martin  F.  Bennett,  well-known  RCA 
theatre  sales  representative  in  the  East- 
ern Region,  has  been  named  Sales  Man- 
ager of  the  Theatre  Equipment  Sales 
Section  of  RCA  Engineering  Products 
Department.  Mr.  Bennett  succeeds  J.  F. 


Marty 

Bennett, 

new  head 

of  RCA 

theater 

equipment 

sales 


O'Brien,  recently  promoted  to  the  post 
of  Sales  Manager  of  RCA's  Theatre,  Vis- 
ual and  Sound  Section. 

A  native  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  Mr.  Ben- 
nett has  been  active  in  theatre  circles 
for  more  than  20  years.  Prior  to  joining 
RCA  in  1946,  he  served  for  14  years  with 
Warner  Bros.  Theatres  as  supervisor  of 
sound  projection  in  the  New  York  area. 
He  is  active  in  the  Society  of  Motion 
Picture  and  Television  Engineers  and 
the  Variety  Club,  and  served  as  Presi- 
dent of  the  Warners  Club  for  several 
years.  He  is  a  graduate  of  New  York 
University  and  also  attended  St.  Francis 
College. 

An  8-hour  day  shall  be  worked  within 
8%  consecutive  hours  in  any  one  day, 
with  one-half  hour  lunch  period. 

B.  Projectionists  shall  receive  four  percent 
(4%)  of  their  total  salary  at  the  end  of 
employment  for   vacation   pay. 

C.  The      PARTY      OF      THE      FIRST      PART       (the 

employer)  agrees  that  when  desiring  to 
dispose  of  the  services  of  a  projectionist 
furnished  by  the  party  of  the  second 
part  (ia  Local  Union),  he  will  give  the 
projectionist  two  weeks'  notice,  in  writ- 
ing, said  notice  to  be  considered  as  start- 
ing with  the  next  payroll  week;  or  two 
weeks'  salary  in  lieu  thereof,  except  in 
case  of  drunkenness,  dishonesty,  or  in- 
competency, in  which  case  notice  will 
not  be  required.  This  notice  may  be 
waived  by  permission,  in  writing,  from 
the  party  of  the  second  part. 

D.  Party  of  the  second  part  agrees  that 
all  projectionists  furnished  by  them  who 
desire  to  leave  the  employment  of  the 
party  of  the  first  part  shall  give  the 
party  of  the  first  part  two  weeks' 
notice,  in  writing,  said  notice  to  be  con- 
sidered as  starting  with  the  next  payroll 
week.  This  notice  may  be  waived  by 
permission,  in  writing,  of  the  party  of 
the  second  part. 

E.  The  party  of  the  first  part  further 
agrees  that  in  the  event  he  dispenses 
with  the  services  of  any  projectionist 
hired  under  this  agreement,  or  said  pro- 


jectionist   leaves,   the  employmenl   of  the 

PARTY    OF   THE    FIRST   PART   for   any   reason 

whatsoever,  said  party  of  the  fihvi  pari 
will  replace  the  employe  leaving  with 
another  projectionist  thai  is  furnished  bj 
the  party  of  the  second  part. 

F.  Projectionists  will  not  he  requested  or 
required  to  perform  any  act  that  is  in 
violation  of  the  terms  of  this  agreement 
or   the   Constitution   and   By-Laws   of  the 

PARTY  OF  THE  SECOND  PART. 

G.  It  is  further  mutually  agreed  that  inas- 
much as  the  party  of  the  second  part 
is  a  member  of  the  iatse  of  the  United 
States  and  Canada,  nothing  in  this  agree- 
ment shall  ever  be  construed  as  inter- 
fering with  any  obligation  the  party  of 
the  second  part  owes  to  such  iatse  of 
the  United  States  and  Canada  by  reason 
of  a  prior  obligation. 

Schaffer  advised  us  that  copies  of  this 
agreement  have  been  sent  to  all  IA  Lo- 
cals in  California,  as  a  guide  in  future 
16-mm  negotiations. 

•  We  regret  having  missed  the  visit  of 
W.  E.  J.  Rose,  member  of  Local  91, 
Boise,  Idaho,  when  he  called  at  the  IP 
offices  recently.  Rose  and  his  family  had 
just  returned  to  the  States  after  an  ex- 
tensive tour  through  several  European 
countries.  Another  out-of-town  visitor  we 
failed  to  connect  with  was  Walter  Rob- 
erts, member  of  Local  178,  Salisbury, 
N.  C,  who  called  for  the  second  time  in 
as  many  months — both  times  while  we 
were   out-of-town. 

Safety  Film  in  Mass.  Suit 

Contending  that  safety  base  film  is  less 
hazardous  than  common  newspaper  and 
that  the  application  of  the  regulation 
concerning  nitrate  film  should  not  ap- 
ply when  safety  film  is  used,  three  Mas- 
sachusetts theatres  have  filed  an  amend- 
ment to  their  suit  seeking  clarification 
of  existing  laws  concerning  the  regula- 
tion of  projection  practices. 

Amendment  to  the  petition  states  that 
the  laws  applying  to  nitrate  films  should 
no  longer  apply  to  cellulose  acetate  or 
equally  incombustible  safety  film. 


//"[•^ 


From  American  Cinematographer 

'Hello!   A.  S.  C?   Send  me  two  more 
cameramen — LEAN  ONES!" 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


September  1951 


17 


N.T.S.  Observes  25th  Birthday 


NATIONAL  THEATRE  SUPPLY  CO. 
observed  its  25th  anniversary  early 
this  month  (Sept.  3).  Pioneer  nation- 
wide distributor  of  motion  picture  thea- 
tre supplies,  the  NTS  record  has  been 
embellished  by  a  complete  theatre  ser- 
vice which  has  featured  construction,  re- 
modelling, and  equipping  theatres  from 
roof  to  cellar,  with  the  over-all  operation 
being  financed  by  the  most  liberal  credit 
plans  ever  known  in  the  theatre  field. 

Nor  has  the  NTS  operation  been  con- 
fined to  the  national  scene:  today  its 
export  department  renders  the  same  in- 
clusive service  to  theatres  and  audi- 
toriums in  the  far  corners  of  the  earth. 

Technological  Revolution  in  1926 

The  natal  year  of  N.  T.  S.,  1926.  saw 
the  industry  almost  overwhelmed  tech- 
nologically by  the  sudden  and  furious 
onslaught  of  sound  motion  pictures. 
"Revolutionary"    is    the    only    truly    de- 


OSCAR 

OLDKNOW 

Vice-President 


scriptive  word  to  describe  the  abrupt 
change  in  both  equipment  and  technique 
in  America's  motion  picture  theatres. 
Speed  in  both  installing  equipment  and 
in  training  personnel  was  of  the  essence. 

It  was  in  this  surcharged  atmosphere 
that  N.  T.  S.  was  launched,  and  it  is  one 
of  the  company's  proudest  boasts  that 
events  were  "taken  in  their  stride  and 
thousands  of  theatres  equipped  with  a 
mass  of  new  equipment  without  scarcely 
missing  a  show  in  the  process. 

N.  T.  S.  headquarters  were  first  estab- 
lished in  Chicago,  with  Harry  S.  Dut- 
ton  as  president;  while  Walter  E.  Green 
and  Oscar  Oldknow  were  vice-presidents. 


In  an  incredibly  short  time  31  branch 
offices  were  opened  in  the  major  film 
centers  throughout  the  United  States. 
Today  there  are  29  National  branches 
in  operation,  the  reduction  of  two  being 
effected  as  a  result  of  improved  com- 
munications and  speedier  distribution 
methods. 

Personnel  With  'Know-How' 

President  of  National  today,  and  for 
the  past  23  years,  is  Walter  E.  Green. 
The  headquarters  were  removed  in 
1930  to  New  York  at  92  Gold  Street, 
where  they  have  been  ever  since.  Oscar 
Oldknow  is  now  vice-president  on  the 
West  Coast,  he  and  Mr.  Green  being 
the  only  officers  of  the  company  who  are 
members  of  National's  25-year  club. 

Other  personnel  who  have  been  with 
National  for  25  years  or  more  are:  A. 
T.  Crawmer,  Minneapolis;  Louise  Fer- 
guson, Denver;  N.  C.  Haefele,  Balti- 
more; J.  H.  Kelley,  Cincinnati;  Bertha 
Kreinik,  Buffalo;  G.  C.  Lewis,  Phila- 
delphia; G.  J.  Libera  and  B.  A.  Ben- 
son, Warehouse;  F.  J.  Masek,  Cleve- 
land; J.  J.  Morgan,  Denver;  Marion 
Oviatt,  Kansas  City;  0.  A.  Peterson, 
Minneapolis;  M.  B.  Smith,  Los  Angeles; 
and  N.  F.  Williams,  Pittsburgh. 

N.  T.  S.  now  has  an  operating  per- 
sonnel of  about  300  people,  including 
125  sales  and  service  representatives.  It 
would  seem  that  the  imminence  of  wide- 
spread theatre  Tv  will  occasion  further 
moves  to  strengthen  and  expand  this  or- 


A.  F.  BALDWIN 
Export  Manager 


ganization  in  this  highly  important  re- 
spect. '  National  is  now  serving  more 
than    13,500    exhibitors    throughout    the 


J.  W.  SERVIES  W.  J.  TURNBULL  J.  E.  CURRIE 

Carpets  and  Purchasing  Sales  Promotion  Drive-ins   Theatres 


A.   J.   LINDSLEY 
Advertising  Manager 


WALTER   E.  GREEN 
President,  National  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

United    States,   the   theatres   ranging  in 

size  from  200  seats  all  the  way  up  to 

the  gigantic  Radio  City  Music   Hall  in 
New  York. 

Close  Projectionist  Ties 

One     of    the    cardinal    principles    of 
N.    T.    S.    operation    down    through    the 


ARTHUR  MEYER 

Vice-President 

in  Charge  of 

Projector  Dept. 


years  has  been  the  extremely  close  ties 
it  has  established  and  maintained  with 
projectionists,  this  policy  being  based 
on  the  belief  that  the  man  who  uses  the 
equipment  is  a  vital  factor  in  the  un- 
interrupted smooth  operation  of  the  mo- 
tion picture  theatre.  N.  T.  S.  is  always 
among  the  very  first  and  the  most  liberal 
in  support  of  all  projectionist  activities 
— a  policy  which  has  earned  the  com- 
pany the  gratitude  and  full  cooperation 
of  the  craft.  Particularly  instrumental  in 
the  furtherance  of  this  policy  has  been 
Arthur  Meyer,  who  directs  the  projector 
— visual  and  sound  —  department  of 
N.  T.  S.  The  name  Meyer  is  practically 
synonymous  with  Simplex   projectors. 

Bases  of  Operating  Policy 

The  list  of  products  sold  and  installed 
by  N.  T.  S.  would  fill  this  page  and 
more,  but  it  never  ceases  growing  in 
order  to  effectuate  National's  promise  to 
supply  every  bit  of  equipment  for  every 
type  of  theatre  from  cellar  to  roof — in 
addition  to  servicing  all  open-air  amuse- 
ment centers. 

Exhibitors  and  projectionists — in  fact, 
(Continued  Col.  1,  next  page) 


18 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


September  1951 


Exhibitor-Producer  Groups  Meet  to   Spur  Theater  Tv 


REPRESENTATIVES  of  exhibitor  or- 
ganizations meeting  formally  for  the 
first  time  with  the  MPAA's  (producers) 
Tv  committee  (Sept.  10)  rung  up  prog- 
ress toward  a  unified  industry  approach 
to  the  FCC  on  the  allocation  of  exclusive 
Tv  channels  for  theaters.  One  concrete 
result  of  the  meeting  was  the  designation 
of  an  engineering  committee  comprising 
engineers  of  the  exhibitor  groups,  the 
MPAA,  and  several  of  its  member  com- 
panies. 

Appointed  to  serve  on  the  group,  which 
will  meet  from  time  to  time  in  advance 
of  the  FCC  hearings  on  the  pending  ap- 
plication for  channel  allocations,  were: 
Frank  Mcintosh,  Andrew  Ingles,  MPAA ; 
C.  M.  Jansky  and  Stuart  Bailey,  TOA; 
Earl  I.  Sponable,  20th-Fox;  Paul  Rai- 
bourn,  Paramount;  Frank  Cahill,  Jr., 
Warners ;  David  W.  Atcheley,  Jr.,  United 
Paramount  Theaters. 

Vital  Questions  Posed 

Among  other  things,  the  engineering 
committee  is  charged  with  coordinating 
the  thinking  of  the  organizations  repre- 
sented on  the  numerous  technical  prob- 
lems involved  in  the  Tv  frequencies  allo- 
cation move  and  the  development  of  a 
theater  Tv  network.  In  the  discussion 
these  questions  loomed  large: 

1.  Should  the  size  of  the  channels  for 
theater  Tv  be  eight  or  10  megacycles? 
Color  Tv  is  a  factor  here. 

2.  Is  it  desirable  to  rely  for  program 
transmission  upon  a  private  carrier  or,  in- 
stead, upon  a  "co-operative"  carrier? 

3.  If  a  "co-operative  carrier"  is  to  be 
established,  what  financing  will  be  entailed, 
and  how  will  it  be  provided? 


N.T.S.  OBSERVES  25TH  BIRTHDAY 

all  elements  of  the  equipment  branch 
of  the  industry — are  expected  to  join  in 
extending  recognition  during  this  25th 
anniversary   year    to  a    company   which 


The  latter,  it  was  estimated,  eventually 
could  entail  the  expenditure  of  milbons. 
However,  the  present  plans  are  to  develop 
network  theater  Tv  gradually.  Thus,  in 
the  presentation  to  the  FCC  the  hook-up 
proposed  will  span  the  distance  from 
Washington  to  Boston,  taking  in  of 
course  the  cities  in  between.  Admittedly, 
the  problems  arising  are  made  the  more 
difficult  of  solution  because  there  are  no 
precedents  to  go  by. 

While  the  FCC  hearings  are  now  set 
for  Nov.  26,  it  was  said  that  a  further 
delay  was  not  impossible.  Thus,  the  hear- 
ings might  be  held  sometime  early  in  the 
new  year.  No  date  was  set  for  the  next 
joint  meeting,  but  it  was  said  that  further 
parleys  to  hammer  out  a  joint  approach, 
mutually  agreeable,  would  be  held. 


Tv  equipment  was  installed  in  the  Fulton 
Theatre,  Pittsburgh,  where  it  lias  been 
operating  since  last  March. 


NTS  Spots  35  Simplex  Tv  Units 
in  Theaters  in  West  fir  South 

Sales  of  35  Simplex  theater  Tv  equip- 
ment within  the  past  two  months  are  re- 
ported by  National  Theatre  Supply  Co., 
distributors  of  the  theater  Tv  equipment 
■ — both  direct-projection  and  videofilm — 
manufactured  by  its  affiliate,  General 
Precision  Laboratory.  The  orders  include 
23  direct-view  and  12  videofilm  equip- 
ments. 

This  report  by  National  followed  a 
series  of  special  Tv  "clinics"  held 
through  the  South  and  West  at  which  ex- 
hibitor reaction  was  described  as  "most 
enthusiastic."  National  is  at  present  the 
only  company  offering  both  types  of 
Theater  Tv  units. 

The  first  Simplex  large-screen  theater 


has  launched  and  kept  operating  year 
after  year  many  thousands  of  motion 
picture  theatres,  and  which  has  done  so 
on  a  basis  of  fine  equipment,  speedy  and 
reliable  service,  and  an  over-all  policy 
of  fair  and  square  dealing. 


National  Theatre  Supply  Branch  Managers 


K.J. 
J.C. 
A.  C 


H. 
V. 


R.  D 
R.  P. 
J.  H. 
F.J. 
R.  L. 

J.  B. 

A.  C. 
C.  B. 

B.  N 


Mauro — Alb  any 
Brown — Atlanta 
.  Haefele — Baltimore 

McKinney — Boston 
.  Sandford — Buffalo 
,  Turnbull — Charlotte 

Rosser — Chicago 

Kelley — Cincinnati 
Masek — Cleveland 

B  OSTWICK — Dallas 

Memphis 

Stone — Denver 

Schuyler — Des  Moines 

Williamson — Detroit 
.  Peterson — Indianapolis 


A.  DE  Stefano — Kansas  City 

Lloyd  C.  Ownbey — Los  Angeles 

A.  J.  Larsen — Milwaukee 

A.  T.  Crawmer — Minneapolis 

W.  G.  Milwain — New  Haven 

A.  G.  Smith— New  York 

T.  W.  Neely— New  Orleans 

J.  I.  Watkins — Oklahoma  City 

G.  K.  Slipper — Omaha 

W.  J.  Hutchins — Philadelphia 

N.  F.  Williams — Pittsburgh 

W.  C.  Earle— St.  Louis 

II.  H.  Randall — San  Francisco 

O.  L.  Chinquy — Seattle 

Chicago  Warehouse — 
B.  A.  Benson 


Tv-Vaudeo  Looms  via  Coaxial 
Unit  in  Capitol  Theatre,  N.  Y. 

Now  it's  Tv-vaudeo  in  the  making. 
A.  T.  &  T.  has  installed  in  the  basement 
of  Loew's  Capitol  Theatre  on  Broadway, 
N.  Y.,  a  coaxial  cable  junction.  A.  T. 
&  T.  sought  and  paid  for  the  installation 
because  of  the  Capitol's  advantageous 
location  as  a  central  service  point  for 
theatre  Tv  to  houses  in  the  Times  Square 
area. 

Loew's  executives  see  in  the  develop- 
ment the  makings  of  a  hookup  which 
would  enable  them  to  stage  a  show  at 
the  Capitol  and  transmit  it  by  direct 
wire  to  many  chain  outlets  in  innumer- 
able cities. 

Unlimited  Program  Possibilities 

Possibilities  of  such  a  program  are 
virtually  unlimited.  Under  the  setup, 
theatre  audiences  able  to  see  top  head- 
liners  would  be  the  largest  in  history. 
At  the  same  time,  artists'  salaries  would 
zoom  to  unprecedented  heights  because 
of  the  huge  audience  in  various  cities. 
At  the  same  time,  commercially  spon- 
sored video  would  have  to  compete  with 
theatre  Tv  for  headliners,  just  as  tele 
sponsors  must  vie  with  theatres  in  the 
showing  of  prize  fights. 

Problems  to  be  met,  once  a  theatre- 
vaudeo  circuit  is  established,  will  be  tre- 
mendous, as  full  development  of  this 
facet  of  the  business  will  create  a  show 
business  revolution.  It's  conceivable  that 
a  similar  system  can  be  used  for  trans- 
mission of  legit  plays,  operas,  etc. 

The  Capitol  installation  will  also  per- 
mit the  house  to  receive  direct  wire  trans- 
missions from  another  theatre,  studio  or 
outside-inside  location  where  a  special 
event  is  staged,  and  thus  can  serve  as  a 
relay  point  to  other  theatres. 


New  Rates  Set  for  Tv  Cameramen 

The  Association  of  Documentary  and 
Television  Film  Cameramen  has  an- 
nounced new  wage  scales,  effective  Aug. 
15,  as  follows:  cameramen,  $62.50  per 
day.  $225  week;  soundmen,  $35  per  day, 
$150  per  week;  assistant  soundmen,  $28 
per  day.  $120  per  week. 


Role  of  Photography  in  Tv 

Photography's  role  in  television  is  re- 
viewed in  the  current  issue  of  "High- 
lights," Eastman  Kodak  publication  for 
stockholders.  The  article  states,  in  part: 
"At  least  30%  of  all  Tv  programs  now 
on  the  air  are  on  film   (recent  trade  press 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     September  1951 


19 


estimates  even  put  the  figure  at  50%). 
This  percentage,  moreover,  is  rising  as 
the  advantages  and  methods  of  using 
films  become  better  known. 

"For  1951  Tv  will  use  an  estimated 
300  to  350  million  feet  of  film.  Most  of 
this  will  be  black-and-white,  16-mm  mo- 
tion picture  film;  the  rest  35-mm."  Dis- 
cussing the  usefulness  of  film  in  televi- 
sion, the  article  states:  "Film  enables  pro- 
ducers to  make  some  programs  .  .  .  that 
would  be  next  to  impossible  to  do  'live.' 
.  .  .  Again,  film  can  be  slowly  and  care- 
fully edited — 'on  the  air'  pressure  is  ab- 
sent. There  are  no  'flubbed'  lines.  Special 
effects,  like  animated  cartoons,  can  be 
created. 

"Films  can  be  used  repeatedly.  In  this 
way  the  cost  of  a  show  can  be  spread  out 
over  more  air  time  and  more  sponsors. 
Larger  audiences  can  be  reached — a  film 
show  can  be  projected  at  the  best  time 
for  advertising  regardless  of  time  zones. 
Interestingly,  a  number  of  producers  are 
already  shooting  Tv  films  in  color.  These 
are  printed  on  black-and-white  film  for 
screening  now.  But,  when  needed,  they'll 
be  ready  for  use  again  on  color  telecasts." 


Tv  Greater  Threat  to  Mags 

News  and  picture  magazines  which  are 
prematurely  burying  the  motion  picture 
industry  as  a  victim  of  television  are  more 
likely  to  supply  the  corpse,  Allied's  gen- 
eral counsel,  A.  F.  Myers,  warned.  Myers 
had  reference  to  a  recent  story  in  Life 
magazine,  based  upon  a  survey  in  which 
interviewers  were  shown  agreed  that  Tv 
will  kill  off  the  movies. 

"Weekly  news  magazines,  like  Life  and 
its  stablemate  Time,  have  a  lot  more  to 
fear  from  Tv  than  the  movies,"  said 
Myers,  reminding  that  "Tv's  great  con- 
tribution is  the  instantaneous  transmis- 
sion of  important  and  interesting  events 
by  sight  and  sound.  As  an  art  medium, 
even  as  an  entertainment  medium,  Tv 
has  limitations  which  cannot  be  over- 
come. It  can  never  be  more  than  a  parlor 
peep  show  or  animated  billboard.  But  as 
a  medium  for  the  instantaneous  depiction 
of  great  events,  it  has  no  rival." 


Marconi's  Famous  'Why?" 

Hitherto  unpublished  correspondence  of 
Guglielmo  Marconi  has  been  incorporated 
in  a  new  booklet  written  by  Orrin  E.  Dun- 
lap,  Jr.,  vice  president  of  RCA.  Unfolded 
here  is  story  of  Marconi's  yearning  to  learn 
the  mysterious  cause  of  the  great  invention 
he  fathered. 

"Indeed,  the  'why'  of  radio  continually 
challenged  Marconi,"  Mr.  Dunlap  writes. 
"After  a  night  of  vigil  in  long-distance  test 
of  wireless  between  the  English  Channel 
and  Australia,  he  turned  to  a  friend  on 
board  the  Elettra  (Marconi's  yacht)  and 
with  a  perplexed  expression  remarked: 

"  'There  is  one  thing  I  would  like  to  know 
hefore  I  die — why  this  thing  works!'" 


To  the  Editor  of  IP: 

I  have  read  the  articles  on  "The  Magic 
of  Color,"  by  Robert  A.  Mitchell,  with 
great  interest.  There  is  one  point  in  Mr. 
Mitchell's  treatment  of  the  subject  which 
I  should  like  to  correct — namely,  where 
he  refers  to  me  as  "inventor"  of  Techni- 
color. Actually,  the  Technicolor  process 
was  not  invented  by  any  one  man  but  by 
a  group  of  men;  and  no  doubt  Mr.  Mit- 
chell intended  to  convey  that  I  was  one 
of  the  group  of  which  I  have  functioned 
as  Director  and  General  Manager  from 
the  outset. 

Herbert  T.  Kalmus 
President,  Technicolor 
Motion  Picture  Corp. 

To  the  Editor  of  IP: 

I  read  with  great  interest  the  article 
on  film  damage  in  IP  for  July  ("Seven- 
Year  Survey  of  Film  Print  Damage," 
p.  12)  and  I  am  wondering  whether 
similar  surveys  have  been  made  cover- 
ing  35-mm   film. 

Film  exchanges  keep  booking  records, 
but  they  do  not  seem  to  tabulate  the  num- 
ber of  runs  during  a  single  booking,  a 
figure  that  would  be  needed  in  any  ac- 
curate evaluation  of  film  life.  From 
time  to  time  replacement  footage  is  in- 
serted in  features  of  recent  release,  par- 
ticularly the  so-called  big  pictures,  but 
the  data  on  such  replacements,  other 
than  that  required  to  order  the  footage 
from  the  laboratory,  is  sketchy. 

I  believe  that  it  would  be  interesting 
to  have  such  information  on  35-mm  film 
recorded  and  published. 

L.  F.  Adams 
Beverly  Hills,  California 

[Inquiries  by  IP  reveal  that  no  such  data 
in  the  form  outlined  by  Mr.  Adams  is  avail- 
able. Such  a  project  would  certainly  be  very 
much  worth-while,  particularly  in  view  of  the 
present  critical  shortage  of  film  stock.  IP  is 
exploring  the  topic  further  and  hopes  to  be 
able  to  present  such  data  in  the  near  fu- 
ture.— Ed.] 

To  the  Editor  of  IP: 

I  am  extremely  interested  in  your  ex- 
cellent magazine  which  is  contributing 
highly  thought-provoking  articles  in  the 
field  of  motion  picture  and  sound  pro- 
jection. Unfortunately,  we  here  do  not 
enjoy  the  many  facilities  available  to 
your  people — magazines,  books,  labora- 
tories, etc.  I  have  received  your  maga- 
zine for  the  past  three  years,  but  we 
have  missed  many  fine  articles  in  past 
issues   which   are  now   unavailable. 

I   am    particularly   interested   in    data 


on  drive  transmission  and  on  sound  pic- 
ture equipment  circuits.  Shortly  I  shall 
send  to  you  the  prospectus  of  our  course. 
M.  Ram  Murthy 

Instructor,  Sound  Dept., 
S.  I.  Occupational  Institute, 
Bangalore,  South  India 

To  the  Editor  of  IP: 

Will  you  please  kindly  teach  us  the 
competent  authorities  for  motion  picture 
theater  projectionists  as  followed  in  the 
United  States?  In  Japan,  the  Ministry 
of  Labour  and  the  fire-brigade  are  both 
the  competent  authorities  in  such  mat- 
ters. 

Also,  we  should  like  it  very  much  if 
you  could  send  us  samples  of  the  ques- 
tions asked  in  the  United  States. 

Toshio  Miyamoto 
Manager,  Shinkoiwa  Theatre, 
Tokyo,  Japan 

[Every  possible  assistance  will  be  rendered 
to  these  advocates  of  better  projection  in  for- 
eign lands.  It  would  seem  that  the  examina- 
tion of  projectionists  in  Japan  does  not  differ 
in  the  main  from  the  pattern  established  in 
the  U.  S.  A.  Here  are  two  standout  examples 
of  people  who  are  thirsty  for  information, 
so  readily  available,  that  we  in  America  so 
blithely  gloss  over  or,  worse,  ignore. — Ed.] 

To  the  Editor  of  IP: 

Having  resurfaced  hundreds  of  motion 
picture  screens,  I  have  become  convinced 
that  the  weakest  link  in  the  projection 
chain  is  the  screen  itself.  Deterioration 
takes  place  slowly,  insidiously,  and  is 
often  not  noticeable  to  the  exhibitor  and 
the  projectionist  who  view  the  surface 
daily. 

Checking  screen  efficiency  is  a  simple 
matter:  go  on  stage  and  switch  on  the 
footlights  or  the  border  lights;  if  such 
lights  are  not  available,  use  a  150-watt 
flood-  or  spotlight.  Take  a  freshly  laun- 
dered handkerchief  and  hold  it  against 
the  screen.  The  contrast  is  amazing! 

A  new  screen  is,  of  course,  the  best 
solution.  But  lacking  this,  resurfacing, 
which  is  90%  effective,  is  the  answer.  A 
simple  process,  resurfacing  can  be  done 
by  anybody — provided  a  special  paint 
properly  compounded  is  used.  A  diffu- 
sive-type paint  and  a  highly  reflective  sur- 
face are  "musts."  Our  product,  Arctic 
Blanch,  can  be  applied  successfully  by 
anyone  familiar  with  the  operation  of  a 
spray-gun.  Use  40  pounds  pressure, 
which  is  enough  to  go  through  the  sound 
perforations  without  occasioning  clog- 
ging. 

A  large  majority  of  screens  are  in   a 


20 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


September  1951 


deplorable  condition:  they  cause  eye- 
strain which  induces  a  headache — for  the 
patron  and  for  the  box-office.  This  situa- 
tion is  right  down  the  projectionist's 
alley,  and  he  should  be  on  his  toes  to 
check  and  advise  management  as  to  the 
condition  of  the  screen. 

Ken  Cladwell 
National  Screen  Refinishing, 
Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

To  the  Editor  of  IP: 

I  should  appreciate  it  if  you  would 
give  me  a  simple  explanation  of  the 
term  "peak  inverse  voltage,"  particu- 
larly as  applied  to  rectifers. 

Herbert  R.  Salter 

Los  Angeles,  Calif. 

[In  rectifier  terminology,  inverse  voltage 
is  that  voltage  which  is  applied  across  the 
rectifier  (and  which  the  rectifier  must  be 
able  to  withstand)  when  the  applied  A.C. 
voltage  is  passing  through  its  negative  half- 
cycle  and  the  rectifier  is  not  conducting. 
Peak  inverse  voltage  is  the  maximum  value 
of  voltage  which  is  applied  to  the  rectifier 
unit   under  these  circumstances. 

If  the  peak  inverse  voltage  is  too  high, 
the  rectifier  may  be  damaged  by  breakdown. 
For  this  reason,  the  peak  inverse  voltage 
rating  is  an  important  rectifier  character- 
istic which  must  not  be  neglected  by  de- 
signers and  users  of  power  supply  equip- 
ment. 

The  magnitude  of  the  peak  inverse  volt- 
age depends  upon  the  nature  of  the  recti- 
fier load  circuit,  as  well  as  upon  the  type 
of  rectifier  circuit  and  the  applied  A.C.  and 
output  D.C.  voltages. — Ed.] 

Carbon  Drippings  Collection 

The  copper  dripping  salvage  program, 
initiated  last  month,  is  well  under  way, 
according  to  Nathan  D.  Golden,  of  the 
NPA.  Communications  from  the  various 
trade  and  union  associations  participat- 
ing in  the  program  indicate  a  high  de- 
gree of  cooperation  on  the  part  of  all  seg- 
ments of  the  industry. 

Marc  J.  Wolf,  Chief  Barker  of  Vari- 
ety Clubs  International,  has  charged  the 
Chairman  of  the  Welfare  Committee  of 
each  Tent  with  the  responsibility  of  su- 
pervising the  operations  of  the  program 
in  each  film  distributing  territory.  In  the 
point-by-point  instructions,  it  was  empha- 
sized that  the  basic  responsibility  for  the 
collection  of  such  copper  drippings  from 
theaters  was  in  the  hands  of  a  designated 
group  of  theater  equipment  dealers  in 
each  film  distributing  city.  The  instruc- 
tions also  provided  that  all  theater  equip- 
ment dealers  in  every  city  would  coop- 
erate in  the  program. 

Procedure  for  Disposal 

In  general,  it  was  provided  that  any 
theater  equipment  dealer  in  the  country 
who  received  copper  drippings  from  thea- 
ters would  either  transfer  such  drippings 
to     the     designated     theater     equipment 


dealer  in  his  city,  or  would  arrange  witli 
the  local  Variety  Club  Welfare  Commit- 
tee to  sell  the  drippings  which  he  collects 
to  a  suitable  metal  scrap  dealer.  The  pro- 
ceeds from  such  sales  go  to  the  Welfare 
Fund   of  the   local  Variety   Club. 

This  entire  copper  dripping  program  is 
an  industry-wide  effort  and  every  seg- 
ment in  the  industry  is  being  asked  to 
cooperate  to  the  greatest  extent  possible. 


NEW    BALLANTYNE   SOUNDHEAD 


Delay  in  Filing  CMP  Forms; 
Oct.  1  Absolute  Deadline 

Although  the  Controlled  Materials 
Plan  providing  for  the  allotment  of  spe- 
cific quantities  of  iron,  steel,  copper  and 
aluminum  was  introduced  by  the  NPA 
July  1,  1951,  it  will  become  fully  effective 
during  the  fourth  quarter  of  this  year. 
Commencing  October  1.  1951,  manufac- 
turers will  find  it  virtually  impossible  to 
obtain  suitable  quantities  of  controlled 
materials  without  CMP  allotments.  At  the 
same  time,  they  will  require  a  priority 
rating  for  the  procurement  of  non-con- 
trolled materials  and  components. 

Some  Manufacturers  Lax 

All  manufacturers  were  instructed  to 
file  fourth  quarter  CMP-4B  applications 
for  controlled  materials  with  their  Indus- 
try Division  of  NPA  during  the  month 
of  July.  A  considerable  number  of  manu- 
facturers who  filed  third  quarter  applica- 
tions have  so  far  failed  to  file  their  fourth 
quarter  applications,  as  instructed.  NPA 
applications  for  controlled  materials  for 
the  first  quarter  of  1952  must  be  filed  be- 
for  October  1,  1951. 

Manufacturers  are  reminded  of  the  fact 
that  they  should  file  only  one  CMP-4B 
application  under  each  product  code  for 
their  requirements.  However,  where  the 
production  of  repair  and  replacement 
parts  are  separately  scheduled,  the  re- 
quirements for  such  parts  must  be  in- 
corporated into  a  separate  CMP-4B  ap- 
plication. 


Model  9  Ballantyne  Soundhead 

Simplicity  in  design  and  operation, 
plus  an  extremely  low  flutter  level,  marks 
the  new  Ballantyne  Model  9  soundhead 
which  has  just  been  put  into  operation 
in  theaters.  Flutter  in  the  Model  9  is 
more  than  50%  less  than  the  accepted 
Academy  minimum:  the  Academy  stand- 
ard is  0.15%.  while  the  Model  8  has  a 
rating  of  from  0.02  to  0.08%. 

The  complete  gear  box  and  film  drive 
assembly  of  the  Model  9  is  removable 
as  a  unit  from  the  front  side  of  the  head, 
making  for  extremely  simple  servicing. 
The  gear  box  itself  is  of  the  worm  gear 
type,  designed  for  at  least  ten  times 
actual  operating  load.  The  constant  speed 
sprocket  is  driven  by  a  large  bronze 
worm  gear  and  loaded  to  provide  smooth 


Top:  entire  upper  and  lower  sprocket  assembly 

in  gear  box  removed  as  a  unit  from  operating 

side.    Pad    roller   assembly   is   held   in    place   by 

a  new  compression-type  coil  spring  lock. 

Bottom:  simplified  gear  drive  and  perfectly 
balanced,  ball  bearing-mounted,  oil-damped 
filter,  with  flywheel  and  case  machined  from 
solid  steel  bar  stocks.  Note  motor  handwheel 
for  easy  threading  and  adjustable  motor  mount. 
Two  simple  gears  drive  entire  projector.  Gears 
and  pinions  are  key-mounted  on  shafts,  and 
entire  gear  box  is  factory-sealed. 

operation.  All  shafts  are  ball  bearing-sup- 
ported and  have  individual  oil  seals.  The 
sprocket  assembly  has  positive  action 
compression-type  coil-spring  locks  with 
adjustable  stops  for  positioning  pad 
rollers. 

The  scanning  drum  and  shaft  rotate  on 
lifetime  sealed  ball  bearings  and  are 
ground  as  one  unit  to  a  tolerance  of  plus 
or  minus  .0002.  The  filter  flywheel  is  per- 
fectly balanced,  ball  bearing-mounted, 
oil-damped,  with  the  flywheel  and  the  fly- 
wheel case  machined  from  solid  steel  bar 
stock  for  perfect  balance.  The  case  is 
impervious  to  oil. 


West  Coast   RCA   16-mm    Distributor 

Coast  Visual  Education  Co.  has  been 
named  distributor  for  RCA  16-mm  sound- 
film  projection  equipment  serving  the  metro- 
politan Los  Angeles  area.  Formed  in  1944. 
CVE  (A.  Paul  Cox,  Robert  C.  Thomas,  and 
Bill  Utz)  will  sell  and  service  all  RCA  audio- 
visual products,  the  service  department  per- 
sonnel having  been  factory-trained  by  RCA. 

CVE  has  modern  salesrooms  and  service 
and  warehousing  facilities,  including  4500 
square  feet  of  floor  space,  at  5620  Hollywood 
Blvd..  Los  Angeles. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


September  1951 


21 


PHOTOGRAPHIC  OPTICS 

(Continued  from  page  15) 
the  sagittal  plane.  It  is  the  plane  which, 
in  the  normal  optical  drawing,  lies  per- 
pendicular to  the  paper  and  cannot  be 
drawn  except  in  perspective.  This  plane 
gives  sharp  images  of  points  lying  along 
lines  intersecting  the  optical  axis,  and 
because  the  effective  curvature  in  the 
sagittal  section  is  different  from  that  in 
the  meridional  section,  this  focus  is  at 
a  different  position  along  the  axis,  i.e., 
the  sagittal  focal  plane  is  displaced  from 
the  tangential. 

Thus  in  the  presence  of  astigmatism 


an  extra  axial  point  gives  rise  to  two 
approximations  to  an  image:  (1)  a  con- 
striction in  the  bundle  of  rays  which  takes 
the  form  of  a  short  line  in  the  plane  of 
the  axis  and  the  object  point,  and  (2)  a 
short  line  perpendicular  to  and  separated 
from  the  former.  These  are  the  sagittal 
(or  radial)  and  tangential  image  lines, 
respectively. 

Occupy  Different  Planes 

These  images  will  occupy  different 
planes,  the  distance  between  them  con- 
stituting the  astigmatic  difference,  this 
being  one  important  aspect  of  astigmat- 
ism.   The  other  aspect  of  this  aberration 


Theatre  TV 

Demands  Experience  and  Specialists 
- — \^~X     -RCA  SERVICE 

has  both 


Only  from  RCA  Service  do  you 
get  the  experience  that  comes  from 
installing  and  maintaining  more 
theatre  TV  systems  than  any  other 
service  organization — anywhere. 
Only  from  RCA  Service  do  you  get 
specialists  trained  in  the  television 
laboratories  and  factories  of  the 
pioneer  in  theatre  TV. 

4  ways  RCA  SERVICE  can  help  you 


2 
3 


Survey  and  help  solve  the  special 
TV  application  problems  relating 
to  your  theatre. 

Supervise  the  installation,  adjust- 
ment and  testing  of  all  video  equip- 
ment,   coaxial  lines   and   antennas. 

Give  instruction  and  technical  advice 
to  your  projection  personnel  in  the 
efficient  operation  of  the  equipment. 


4 


Make  periodic  inspection  checkups 
.  .  .  furnish  replacement  parts  and 
tubes  .  .  .  supply  emergency  service 
— to  forestall  trouble,  extend  equip- 
ment life,  keep  repair  costs  down. 


ff  costs  so  little  to  protect  so  much 


And  nowhere  else  do 
you  get.  such  specialized 
theatre  TV  service. 
Write  for  complete  in- 
formation. 


RCA  SERVICE  COMPANY,  INC. 

A  RADIO  CORPORATION  of  AMERICA  SUBSIDIARY 
CAMDEN.  NEW  JERSEY 


FIG.   11.    Astigmatism. 

is    the    length    of    the    astigmatic    lines, 
which  we  shall  consider  briefly  later. 

Conventional  Astigmatism  Example 

This  aberration  is  usually  explained 
in  terms  of  the  image  of  a  spoked  wheel 
with  hub  on  the  lens  axis  (Fig.  11).  The 
spokes  constitute  radial  or  sagittal  ob- 
jects and  are  sharply  imaged  in  the  sagit- 
tal image  plane,  where  the  rim,  a  tangen- 
tial object,  is  out  of  focus.  The  rim 
would  be  imaged  sharply  in  the  tangen- 
tial image  plane,  where  the  spokes  are 
out  of  focus.  To  find  an  approximately 
satisfactory  focus  for  both  simultane- 
ously, it  would  be  necessary  to  put  the 
focusing  screen  or  the  emulsion  midway 
between  them  at  the  position  where  the 
two  focal  lines  degenerate  into  a  disc, 
the  circle  of  least  confusion. 

This  disc  represents  the  best  com- 
promise focus,  and  is  easily  seen  to  have 
a  size  determined  by  the  length  of  these 
lines.  The  longer  the  lines,  the  larger 
is  the  circle  of  least  confusion,  and  the 
less  sharp  the  image. 

Astigmatism  is  often  noticed  in  photo- 
graphs as  a  peculiar  streakedness, 
usually  tangential,  in  a  background  com- 
prised of  an  assembly  of  small  areas, 
such  as  leaves  and  their  interstitial 
spaces.  In  this  case  the  tangential  focus 
at  that  point  in  the  field  is  closer  to  the 
emulsion  than  the  sagittal,  and  the  back- 
ground points  are  imaged  as  the  appro- 
priate astigmatic  lines. 

Points  on  the  Axis 

It  will  be  noticed  that  here  we  have 
been  considering  the  astigmatism  of 
points  in  the  field,  i.e.,  points  off  the 
axis  of  the  lens.  For  points  on  the  axis 
there  is  no  astigmatism  of  the  kind  here 
considered,  for  there  no  difference  of 
effective  surface  curvatures  can  exist  in 
a  symmetric  system. 

However,  if  some  of  the  lenses  are 
decentered,  or  more  particularly,  if  there 
is  an  asymmetric  component  to  the  sur- 
face curvature  as  would  be  provided  by 
a  cylindrical  surface,  then,  even  on  the 
axis,  two  mutually  perpendicular  separ- 
ated focal  lines  would  exist,  and  axial 
astigmatism  would  occur. 

This  state  does  not  usually  exist  in 
photographic  lenses  except  for  very 
special  purposes.  This  is  the  type  of 
lens  provided  to  correct  the  astigmatism 
of  the  eye. 

The   lens   designer   finds   that   he   can 


22 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     September  1951 


control  astigmatism  most  effectively  by 
means  of  varying  the  distribution  of 
power  among  the  components  and  uses 
this  means  to  correct  for  astigmatism  in 


wage  Lies  on  this  surface 

IMAGE  PLAfC 


FIG.   12.    Field  curvature. 


connection  with  the  closely  related  Petz- 
val  curvature  to  be  considered  in  the 
next  section. 

In  practice,  it  is  found  that  the  astig- 
matic difference  of  focus  is  independent 
of  the  aperture,  that  is,  that  the  stop  has 
no  influence  on  the  positions  of  the  tan- 
gential and  sagittal  foci.  However,  the 
lengths  of  the  lines  do  vary  directly  with 
the  stop.  Thus  stopping  the  lens  has  the 
advantage  of  shortening  the  lines,  mak- 
ing the  circle  of  least  confusion  smaller, 
and  making  the  image  more  crisp. 

Both  the  focal  difference  and  length 
of  lines  vary  sharply  with  image  height, 
and,  as  in  coma,  become  more  serious 
near  the  margins  of  the  field. 

Petzval  Curvature  of  a  Lens 

Even  in  a  lens  whose  astigmatism  is 
brought  to  zero,  the  image  will  be  found 
not  to  line  on  a  plane  perpendicular  to 
the  axis,  but  on  a  spherical  surface  (Fig. 
12).  Here  the  image  is  sharp. 

It  is  unfortunate  that  the  film  surface 
cannot  be  made  to  conform  to  a  sphere, 
for  the  lensmaker's  problems  would  be 
simplified.  As  it  is,  in  the  presence  of 
field  curvature,  and  with  a  flat  filmplane, 
a  compromise  setting  must  be  used  (Fig. 
13).  The  maker  is  to  be  congratulated 
on  the  high  quality  he  achieves  under 
such  handicaps. 

Petzval  curvature  is  inherent  in  any 
lens,  and  can  be  looked  on  partly  as  a 
natural  consequence  of  the  fact  that  ob- 
jects on  the  axis  of  a  lens  are  closer  to 
it  than  objects  in  the  field,  and  thus  will 
be  imaged  farther  from  the  nodal  points 
than  objects  occurring  a  distance  from 
the  axis. 

Looked  at  in  another  way,  to  achieve 
a  flat  image  of  naturally  occurring  ob- 


Field  curvature. 


jects  it  is  necessary  that  the  lens  or  ob- 
jective have  different  effective  "focal 
lengths"  in  the  margins  and  corners  of 
the  field  than  at  the  center,  for  other- 


® 


when  you  use 
SIII'EK-SNjII'IJTE 


projection  lenses 


Yes  "MOVIES  ARE  BETTER"  and  they're  "BETTER  THAN  EVER"  if  you 
use  Super  Snaplite  f/1.9  Projection  Lenses.  These  superb  lenses 
give  you  maximum  light,  maximum  sharpness,  and  maximum  contrast 
.  .  .  maximum  viewing  satisfaction  for  your  patrons. 

True  speed  of  f/1.9  in  every  focal  length  up  to  7  inches. 
Ask  for  Bulletins  207  and  209. 

"You  Get  More  Light  with  Super  Snaplite" 


© 


KOLIiitlOKJKEN      / 


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Brooklyn  11,  New  York 


OKPOKjITION 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     September  1951 


23 


wise  the  sharp  image  would  be  formed 
on  the  surface  of  a  sphere  whose  radius 
is  the  equivalent  focal  length. 

The  degree  with  which  the  effective 
focal  lengths  become  longer  as  the  mar- 
gins of  the  field  are  approached  is  the 
measure  of  the  success  of  the  lens  de- 
signer in  removing  or  ameliorating  this 
particular  stubborn  aberration.  The  field 


curvature  is  a  function  of  the  type  of 
glass  used  in  the  objective  components, 
and  further  is  influenced  by  the  particu- 
lar distributions  of  power  among 
those  components.  By  suitably  choosing 
and/or  altering  these  variables,  the  de- 
signer can  reduce  the  Petzval  curvature 
to  a  tolerable  amount. 

[TO  BE  CONTINUED] 


ESTABLISHING  THE  BRIGHTNESS  OF  MOVIE  SCREENS 


(Continued  from  page  10) 

screen  brightness  from  center  to  edge  should 
be  established? 

Little  Recent  Progress 

None  at  the  discussion  reported  herein 
could  recall  that  any  work  specifically 
pertinent  to  the  determination  of  a  stand- 
ard of  screen  brightness  or  to  the  con- 
ditions of  theater  viewing  had  been  ac- 
complished in  the  interval  since  1936. 
O'Brien  reported  that  the  visual  work 
since  that  time  has  been  so  fundamen- 
tal in  nature  or  directed  to  such  different 
ends  that  its  interpretation  for  the  set- 
ting of  theater  viewing  conditions  might 
be   extremely  difficult. 

The  conference  thought  that  the  list 
of    questions    proposed    by   the    Commit- 


tee in  1936  was  as  adequate  now  as  it  had 
been  at  that  time,  that  little  progress 
has  been  made  toward  a  direct  answer  to 
any  of  the  questions,  and  that  any  such 
answer  would  result  only  from  studies 
purposely  designed  to  investigate  the  de- 
sirable brightness  of  projected  pictures. 
It  was  the  consensus  that  a  great  deal 
of  work  could  be  done  toward  determin- 
ing optimum  conditions  of  theater  view- 
ing and  that  it  would  be  worth  while  for 
the  Screen  Brightness  Committee  to  spon- 
sor such  a  research  program.  It  was  also 
felt  that  it  should  not  be  too  difficult 
to  outline  experiments  and  to  formulate 
a  program  which  would  take  sufficient 
account  of  the  difficulties  involved  to 
make  a  real  contribution,  and  to  be  free 
of  many  of  the  criticisms  leveled  at  early 
work  on  screen  brightness. 


Conditions  of  Experimentation 

The  conference  agreed  that  any  work 
pertinent  to  the  determination  of  opti- 
mum theater  viewing  conditions  must 
simulate  very  closely  the  actual  theater 
viewing.  O'Brien  and  Evans  warned  par- 
ticularly against  inferring  from  the 
measurement  of  fundamental  visual  func- 
tions the  result  under  theater  viewing 
conditions.  The  knowledge  of  vision  and 
the  contribution  of  the  visual  functions 
to  the  total  task  of  viewing  are  insuf- 
ficiently understood. 

In  suggesting  and  sponsoring  research 
on  theater  viewing  the  Committee  will 
be  asked  to  indicate  what  scope  of  vari- 
ables should  be  included.  In  the  confer- 
ence discussion,  it  seemed  obvious  that 
the  viewing  conditions  must  include  the 
full  range  of  present  indoor  and  outdoor 
theaters  when  projecting  motion  pic- 
tures. It  is  probable  that  it  should  in- 
clude also  the  range  of  projected  theater 
television. 

Committee-Sponsored  Research 

Furthermore,  research  sponsored  by 
the  Committee  should  aim  to  determine 
optimum  viewing  conditions  regardless 
of  their  practicability.  The  research 
moreover  should  determine  what  com- 
promises with  this  optimum  can  be  made 
with  the  least  sacrifice  of  picture  qual- 


Old  Type  Lens 


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Replace  NOW  with  B&L  Super  Cinephor  Lenses  .  . . 

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Keep  your  patrons  coming  back!  Don't  let  dim,  eye- 
straining  screen  images  cut  profits.  Show  today's 
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ance and  contrast  .  .  .  with  B&L  Super  Cinephor 
lenses. 


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616-11  St.  Paul  Street,  Rochester  2,  N.  Y. 


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il 

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24 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     September  1951 


ity.  The  program  should  thus  serve  to 
indicate  the  goal  toward  which  develop- 
ment of  motion  picture  projection  should 
proceed  and  should  also  indicate  what 
temporary  compromises  with  that  objec- 
tive can  be  made  most  justifiably. 

Evans  noted  the  corollary  position  ol 
the  various  Tv  committees  which  have 
been  searching  for  data  in  this  same  field. 
If  their  research  covered  all  Tv  viewing, 
while  the  Screen  Brightness  Committee 
considered  motion  picture  viewing,  the 
data  for  the  two  fields  would  be  com- 
plementary. For  example,  theater  viewing 
probably  covers  the  range  of  viewing 
distances  from  iy2  to  6  screen  widths; 
while  Tv  viewing  begins  at  6-7  screen 
widths  and  continues  to  greater  dis- 
tances. 

Significant  Viewing  Variables 

Most  important  to  the  outlining  of  a 
proper  research  program,  the  discussion 
felt,  was  a  tabulation  of  significant  vari- 
ables in  theater  viewing  so  that  proper 
account  could  be  taken  in  setting  up  ex 
periments.  The  conference  enumerated 
the  following  variables  as  definitely  sig- 
nificant: (1)  screen  brightness;  (2)  sur- 
round brightness;  (3)  conditioning  level 
of  illumination;  (4)  viewing  angle;  (5) 
viewing  distance;  and  (6)  subject  mat- 
ter of  test  pictures. 

A  primary  contribution  of  the  meet- 
ing was  a  discussion  of  these  variables; 
the  discussion  has  been  taken  out  of  its 
temporal  sequence  and  here  organized 
by  subject. 

1.    SCREEN  BRIGHTNESS 

Sensitivity  of  the  observer  to  bright- 
ness changes  was  discussed,  with  Lozier 
and  Chambers  feeling  that  equal  per- 
centage changes  in  illumination  are  more 
visible  at  the  lower  brightness  levels: 
for  example  at  2  ft-L  a  100%  increase 
in  brightness  appears  more  effective  than 
a  100%  increase  at  a  level  of  15  ft-L. 
Newhall  suggested  that  the  magnitude 
of  such  perception  of  brightness  change 
is  influenced  greatly  by  the  condition- 
ing level  of  illumination  preceding  the 
test. 

Color  of  the  illuminant  used  during 
the  test  is  important;  Chambers  reported 
that  the  optimum  level  chosen  under  in- 
candescent illumination  has  been  found 
to  be  different  from  that  chosen  under 
arc  illumination,  and  that  in  particular 
the  apparent  contrast  of  a  picture  ap- 
pears higher  with  arc  quality  illumina- 
tion.   Evans    agreed    that    the    apparenl 


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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     September  1951 


25 


contrast  of  the  image  varies  considerably 
with   the   color    of  the   illuminant. 

Flicker  inherent  in  the  intermittent 
projection  of  motion  pictures  was  dis- 
cussed from  two  viewpoints:  (1)  the 
proper  integration  of  an  intermittently 
illuminated  image,  and  (2)  the  percep- 
tion of  flicker  as  a  distracting  influence. 
The  discussers  felt  that  the  indications 
of  meters  and  measuring  devices  used  to 
correlate  work  on  screen  brightness  must 
be  such  as  to  have  a  response  to  inter- 
mittent illumination  consistent  with  the 
response  of  the  human  eye. 

With  reference  to   the   level  at  which 


Think  of  the 
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i 

The  wasteful  practice  of  throwing  away  carbon 
stubs  can  unnecessarily  cost  you  thousands  of 
dollars. 

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CARBON       SAVER 

uses  stubs  of  all  lengths  without  any  prepara- 
tion. It's  no  longer  necessary  to  guess  whether 
or  not  a  carbon  stub  will  burn  a  full  reel. 
Simply  insert  in  the  holder.  When  it  is  entirely 
consumed,  the  new  carbon  goes  into  use  without 
losing  the  light.  The  Cron-O-Matic  in  no  way 
interferes  with  the  regular  operation  of  the 
lamp. 

Adaptable  to  Ashcraft  "D",  Brenkert-Enarc, 
Peerless  Magnarc  and  Strong  Mogul  lamps.  Only 
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PAYS    FOR    ITSELF    3    TIMES    A    YEAR! 
Burns  positive  ca.bon   stubs,  which   usually  aver- 
age  3 Vi"   in    length,   down   to  a   constant   length 
of   W,   to   result  in   a   net  savings   of  21/2"   per 
carbon    or    22.2%    of    the    cost    of    the    carbon, 
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flicker  becomes  distracting,  Lozier  re- 
ported observations  indicating  that  flicker 
is  objectionable  above  15-20  ft-L.  O'Brien, 
on  the  other  hand,  found  no  objection- 
able flicker  in  his  experiment  at  levels 
up  to  30  ft-L.  Evans  noted  that  while  the 
threshold  for  foveal  flicker  is  not  exceed- 
ed by  48-cycle  illumination  at  30  ft-L,  on 
the  other  hand  the  threshold  for  periph- 
eral flicker  at  that  intensity  is  well  above 
48  cycles. 

Peripheral  flicker  begins  to  be  observed 
at  48  cycles  in  the  range  of  15  ft-L.  Thus, 
the  sensitivity  to  flicker  and  the  effect 
of  flicker  as  a  disturbing  influence  will 
be  a  function  of  viewing  angle,  decreas- 
ing as  the  viewing  angle  is  decreased 
and  as  the  vision  becomes  more  nearly 
limited  to  the  foveal  region. 

2.    SURROUND  BRIGHTNESS 

O'Brien  reported  that  in  his  opinion 
if  his  earlier  research  had  made  any 
single  contribution  it  was  to  indicate  that 
seme  definite  surround  brightness  is  de- 
sirable in  the  viewing  of  motion  pictures, 
and  that  under  normal  theater  conditions 
a  surround  brightness  of  approximately 
0.05  ft-L  is  preferred  by  observers  free 
to  choose. 

Spragg  reported  that  wartime  research 
on    radar-screen   viewing   showed   signifi- 


cantly better  performance  of  the  observer 
with  a  definite  surround  brightness.  There 
was  less  fatigue,  better  perception  of  de- 
tail, and  quicker  response  to  the  image, 
as  the  surround  brightness  was  progres- 
sively increased  up  to  levels  nearly  equal 
to  the  screen  brightness  itself. 

Evans  pointed  out  that — entirely  apart 
from  the  fatigue,  ease,  and  pleasure  of 
viewing — the  surround-brightness  level 
changes  the  appearance  of  the  picture 
as  the  surround  brightness  is  increased 
from  zero  up  to  the  highlight  brightness, 
the  illusion  changes  from  that  of  viewing 
a  projected  picture  to  that  of  viewing 
a  print. 

Consequently,  one  factor  influencing 
surround  brightness  is  the  determina- 
tion of  which  viewing  effect  is  desired 
and  what  criterion  of  desirability  is 
chosen.  Some  of  the  newest  theaters, 
Evans  noted,  are  being  so  built  as  to  use 


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a  graded  surround  illumination.  Newhall 
pointed  out  that  the  "surround  effect"  de- 
pends very  much  upon  the  visual  angle 
subtended  by  the  screen,  and  also  upon 
the  portion  of  the  total  visible  angle 
that  is  covered  by  the  "surround"  under 
consideration. 

3.  CONDITIONING  LIGHT  LEVEL 

Newhall  pointed  out  several  times  dur- 
ing the  discussion  that  the  results  ob- 
tained in  a  study  of  vision  such  as  is  an- 
ticipated in  this  discussion,  depend 
greatly  upon  the  conditioning  level  of 
illumination.  He  stressed  the  importance 
of  conducting  the  test  with  the  observers 
conditioned  in  the  manner  of  a  practical 
theatre  audience. 

4.  VIEWING  ANGLE 

O'Brien  in  summarizing  his  previous 
experiments  felt  the  outstanding  defect 
was  too  restricted  a  viewing  angle  and 
pointed  out  that  this  defect  was  com- 
mon to  most  of  the  early  work  on  theater 
viewing.  Spragg  and  Newhall,  in  discus- 
sing the  interrelationship  between  sur- 
round brightness  and  viewing  angle, 
pointed  out  the  possibility  that  the  opti- 
mum brightness  may  be  a  function  of  the 
viewing  angle  and  that  it  should  be  so 
specified.  Such  a  relationship  might  pro- 
vide a  basis  for  correlating  indoor  and 
outdoor  theater  recommendations. 

Evans  pointed  out  that  committees  of 
the  Tv  industry  have  been  formulating 
questions  similar  to  those  proposed  by 
the  Committee,  and  that  the  scientific 
information  desired  by  each  group  has 
much  in  common.  For  example,  Tv  view- 
ing is  very  similar  to  motion  picture 
screen  viewing  excepting  that  motion 
picture  screen  viewing  angles  are  from 
1%  to  perhaps  6  screen  widths,  while 
Tv  viewing  begins  at  6  screen  diameters 
and   continues  to   smaller   angles. 

O'Brien  suggested  a  cooperative  re- 
search effort  to  determine  the  functions  of 
Tv  and  motion  picture  viewing,  spanning 
this  angular  range. 

5.  VIEWING  DISTANCE 

Evans  suggested  that  the  influence  of 
viewing  distance  cannot  be  neglected 
even  when  viewing  angles  are  duplicated, 
and  he  recommended  that  at  least  some 
of  the  experimental  work  be  done  under 
the  actual  viewing  distances — in  addition 
to  small  screen  studies  that  duplicate 
viewing  angles  only.  One  effect  of  view- 
ing distance,  for  example,  may  be  to 
influence  the  comfort  of  the  visual  task. 

6.  SUBJECT  MATTER  OF  PICTURES 

Evans  pointed  out  that  it  may  be 
much  more  important  to  have  a  large 
number  of  test  scenes  rather  than  to  have 
a  large  number  of  viewers.  He  pointed 
out,  for  example,  that  the  British  choice 
of  7  ft-L  for  Technicolor  and  12  ft-L  for 
black-and-white  viewing  can  easily  re- 
sult from  a  difference  in  the  subject  mat- 


ter of  the.  two  film  sections,  rather  than 
any  fundamental  difference  in  viewing. 
Evans  and  O'Brien  proposed  that  by  all 
means  both  color  and  black-and-white 
films  be  used. 

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viewing  should  duplicate  actual  condi- 
tions, employing  a  sound  track  alons 
with  the  picture  since  that  is  the  nor- 
mal projection  procedure.  Evans  and 
Weaver  objected,  however,  pointing  out 
that  if  sound  affects  vision,  it  will  not  be 
nearly  so  easy  to  judge  how  pleasing  the 
picture  is  if  there  is  a  simultaneous,  pos- 
sibly distracting,  sound   (rack. 

Judging  Image  Quality 

If  other  than  the  viewing  task  itself 
is  examined,  O'Brien  pointed  out  there 
will  be  no  way  of  judging  picture  qual- 
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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     September  1951 


27 


etc.  (Actually  there  seems  to  be  no  such 
thing  as  strictly  visual  fatigue.  O'Brien 
pointed  out,  since  the  factors  formerly 
attributed  to  "visual  fatigue"  are  being 
explained  by  other  factors  entirely.) 

O'Brien  reported  that  the  pictures  for 
his  experiment  were  chosen  purposely 
to  have  neither  interest  nor  boredom, 
because  it  was  necessary  to  project  them 
a  number  of  times  in  testing  a  single 
observer.  The  results  in  such  a  test,  he 
pointed  out,  may  be  different  from  those 
that  would  be  secured  with  an  interest- 
ing picture  viewed  for  the  first  time  only. 
Newhall  emphasized  that  pertinent  re- 
search must  be  based  upon  typical  films. 

In  the  discussion  of  color  versus  black- 


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and-white,  Spragg  asked  whether  the 
permissible  brightness  range  might  be 
more  easily  limited  for  color  pictures. 
Evans  pointed  out  that  color  prints  can- 
not be  projected  with  as  high  screen 
brightnesses  as  black-and-white  prints 
without  a  shift  in  color  balance.  Most 
color  processes  tend  to  depart  from  bal- 
ance in  the  deep  shadows,  and  the 
brightnesses  must  be  kept  low  enough 
so  that  this  departure  is  not  obvious.  The 
lower  screen-brightness  limits  for  accep- 
table image  quality  of  both  black-and- 
white  and  color  appear  to  be  equal. 

Print  Density  Factor 

The  print  density  should  correlate  with 
release  prints:  Chambers  pointed  out 
that  Tuttle's  early  work  on  print  density 
is  no  longer  applicable  because  of  the 
general  change  to  fine-grain  emulsions 
for  black-and-white,  and  that  therefore 
the  measurements  of  current  print  den- 
sities should  be  repeated.  The  question 
was  raised  and  left  unanswered — 'whether 
the  ultimate  result  of  increased  available 
screen  brightness  might  not  be  a  mere 
increase  in  print  density. 

Chambers  pointed  out  the  commercial 
necessity  for  screen  brightness  uniformity 
such  that  the  review-room  brightnesses 
match  the  theater  brightnesses,  in  order 
for  the  exhibitors  to  realize  the  kind  of 
picture  that  is  created  by  the  directors 
and  producers.  Failure  to  keep  this  bal- 
ance is  responsible  for  the  poor  recep- 
tion of  some  otherwise  good  pictures. 

Nature  of  the  Observer's  Report 

Spragg  suggested  that  since  the  pur- 
pose of  these  experiments  is  to  provide 
better  theater  viewing,  the  most  import- 


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ant  criterion  is  to  meet  the  observer's 
preference.  This  type  of  judging  was  the 
basis  of  O'Brien's  early  experiments. 
Spragg  suggested  getting  data  from  large 
scale  experiments  such  as  a  whole  audi- 
torium full  of  observers. 

It  is  desirable,  the  group  agreed,  to 
get  observers  who  are  not  self-conscious 
of  their  task.  This  is  difficult  to  realize, 
however,  and  the  use  of  repeated  matter 
with  fewer  observers  is  an  experimental 
risk  that  sometimes  cannot  be  avoided. 

Spragg  suggested  that  in  his  experience 
it  has  been  preferable  to  have  untrained 
observers  judge  which  of  several  condi- 
tions they  prefer  rather  than  to  have 
them  manipulate  conditions  to  reach  an 
optimum.  Typical  of  this  procedure, 
Spragg  pointed  out,  is  the  CBS  practice 
of  equipping  its  studio  audiences  with 
"yes"  or  "no"  pushbuttons  which  are 
summed  electrically.  The  audience  is 
asked  to  indicate  its  reaction  to  the  show 
as  it  progresses,  and  the  electrical  sum- 
mation gives  a  continuous  record  of  show 
interest. 

Sampling  Audience  Reaction 

Weaver  suggested  audience  sampling, 
giving  cards  to  the  patrons  of  actual 
theaters,  on  which  they  might  indicate 
they  liked  the  performance  and  whether 
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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     September  1951 


or  dimmer  picture.  Such  sampling  can 
be  done  at  successive  shows  at  varying 
screen  brightnesses. 

Chambers  suggested  that  audience 
background-noise  level  might  be  lower 
and  applause-  and  laughter-level  higher 
at  the  best  projection  brightness  levels, 
therefore,  a  better  method  of  audience 
sampling  might  be  to  record  the  audi- 
ence-noise level — "applause  meter  read- 
ing"— in  a  theater  where  the  screen 
brightness  can  be  varied  from  one  day 
to  another.  This  recording  meter  pro- 
gram, he  pointed  out,  is  extensively  used 
in  Hollywood  to  judge  previews,  and 
there  has  been  found  a  presumable  re- 
lationship between  audience  enjoyment 
and  audience-noise  level. 

Spragg  observed  that  the  audience  re- 
action to  the  pictures  as  judged  by  such 
meters  is  consistent,  and  if  an  audience 
laughs  for  a  given  time  at  a  particular 
part  of  the  picture  each  audience  will  re- 
peat with  amazing  reproducibility. 

Audience-Preference  Meters 

Chambers  pointed  out  that  20th  Cen- 
tury-Fox has  used  such  meters  in  their 
West  Coast  preview  theaters  and  that 
equipment-wise  they  are  prepared  to  pro- 
vide a  range  of  screen  brightnesses  up 
to  and  beyond  the  usual  levels.  He  sug- 
gested that  20th  Century-Fox  be  invited 
to  run  such  tests  in  theaters  now  fitted 
with  these  applause  meters,  where  on 
successive  days  of  projecting  the  same 
program,  the  screen  brightness  would  be 
varied  and  the  day-to-day  audience  reac- 
tion compared. 

Such  a  comparison,  he  said,  might  give 
some  very  real  and  important  data  for 
answering  the  question  of  whether  screen 
brightness  is  really  important  in  judging 
the  quality  of  a  projected  picture. 

Proposed  Accomplishments 

In  the  discussion  it  was  pointed  out 
that  the  present  standard,  while  intended 
to  be  temporary,  has  functioned  as  a 
permanent  standard  for  15  years.  During 
this  time  changes  in  equipment,  films, 
theaters,  etc.,  have  been  directed  by  the 
existence  of  this  standard  toward  the 
maintenance  of  a  constant  screen  bright- 
ness with  variations  in  picture  size,  etc. 
It  would  be  desirable,  therefore,  for  fun- 
damental research  to  indicate  more 
clearly  what  optimum  screen  brightnesses 
should  be,  so  that  future  technical  im- 
provements could  be  directed  toward  this 
optimum. 

Even  though  present  limitations  might 
make  it  impossible  for  the  optimum 
brightness  to  be  realized,  and  even  though 
a  working  standard  might  have  to  com- 
promise with  this  optimum,  the  exist- 
ence of  suitable  basic  data  should  make 
possible  the  best  possible  compromise. 
Accordingly,  the  best  attainable  projec- 
tion conditions  would  become  the  work- 


ing standard,  with  future  technical  ad- 
vances directed  closer  and  closer  to  the 
optimum. 

Conference  Consensus  on  Topic 

Consensus  of  opinion  of  this  discussion 
was  that  a  great  deal  of  basic  data  on 
the  factors  influencing  the  viewing  of 
projected  pictures  still  remains  to  be 
determined.  The  conference  agreed  that 
it  should  be  entirely  practical  for  the 
Screen  Brightness  Committee  to  outline 
desirable  research  goals  in  such  a  man- 


ner that  intelligent  work  directed  toward 
their  end  would  provide  a  real  contri- 
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The  conference  felt  that  if  the  prob- 
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be  available,  there  might  be  a  number  of 
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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


September  1951 


29 


THE  MAGIC  OF  COLOR 

(Continued  from  page  6) 

genta  light;  tragedies  and  genre  films 
with  blue;  slapstick  comedies  with  yel- 
low; mysteries  and  "horror"  pictures 
with  green  or  purple;  adventures  with 
red;  westerns  with  amber,  etc.  But  the 
titles  of  natural-color  films  should  not 
be  color-flooded  because  the  titles  are 
already    colored. 

When  colored  light  is  thrown  upon  a 
colored  picture,  the  color-changes  pro- 
duced obey  the  additive  laws  of  color 
formation  discussed  in  the  first  part  of 
this  series.  If  the  dominant  hue  of  a 
Technicolor  title  background  is  red, 
blue  light  will  change  it  to  purple,  and 
green  to  yellow.  The  lettering,  if  it  be 
of  another  color,  will  undergo  changes 
of  hue  which  may  cause  it  to  "clash" 
in  an  unpleasing  way  with  the  back- 
ground. 

Auditorium  lighting  —  especially  il- 
luminated clocks,  exit  signs,  and  side- 
lights in  the  vicinity  of  the  stage — merits 
careful  consideration.  Of  all  colors,  red 
is  the  most  distracting;  green  the  least. 
Sidelights  near  the  front  of  the  audi- 
torium should  be  dispensed  with  entirely, 
if  possible.  Clocks  and  exit  signs 
should  be  lighted  with  green,  not  red, 
bulbs.  Aisle  lights  should  be  left  white, 
the  recommended  blue  not  having  suffi- 
cient visibility  to  assist  patrons  in  lo- 
cating their   seats. 

Technicolor  Changeover  Cues 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  changeover- 
cue  used  on  Technicolor  prints  is  a  ser- 
rated black  disk  outlined  in  green.  The 
green  circle  is  readily  visible  to  the 
projectionist,  who,  of  course,  is  watch- 
ing for  its  appearance ;  but  it  is  less  no- 
ticeable to  the  audience  than  a  white 
or  red  circle  would  be.  This  is  another 
practical  application  of  the  fact  that 
green  is  the  least  obtrusive  of  the  colors. 

The  green  outline  is  produced  by  ink- 
ing the  edges  of  the  holes  punched  in 
the  emeraude-exposed  negative.  This 
leaves  a  white  ring  surrounding  the  cue 
mark  in  the  magenta-inked  matrix. 
Through  this  white  circle  appear  the 
yellow  and  cyan  overprints  in  the  posi- 
tive. The  yellow  and  cyan  superimposed 
give  emeraude,  a  slightly  yellowish 
green. 

Constant  Focus  Check 

And  this  brings  up  the  matter  of 
changeovers  when  color  films  are  being 
shown.  The  arc  of  the  incoming  pro- 
jector should  be  struck  at  least  3  minutes 
in  advance  of  the  changeover  in  order 
that  the  discolorations  inevitably  pro- 
duced by  a  "cold"  carbon  trim  be  avoid- 
ed. The  arc  should  be  given  a  chance  to 
"settle  down"  to  normal  burning  be- 
fore the  changeover  is  made. 

Focus   must   be   checked   at   the   start 


of  each  new  reel  of  color  film,  and  once 
again  when  the  reel  is  about  halfway 
through.  "Film  curl"  causes  focus  drift; 
and  nearly  every  roll  of  film  has  enough 
curl  to  throw  the  focus  out  slightly  as 
projection  progresses.  Focus  drift  is 
likely  to  be  really  troublesome  at  times 
when  lenses  of  short  focal  length  (4% 
inches  E.F.  or  less)    are  employed. 

A  change  from  black-and-white  to 
color  in  the  same  reel  requires  imme- 
diate refocusing  of  the  picture. 

The  painstaking  projectionist  and  the 
astute  exhibitor  are  correct  when  they 
adopt  a  very  critical  attitude  toward 
projection  quality.  Both  know  well  that 
their  livelihood  depends  upon  patron 
satisfaction. 

When  projection  faults  are  discovered, 
they  should  be  diagnosed  and  corrected 
without  delay.  Projector  parts,  new 
lamps,  and  new  lenses  are  much  less  ex- 
pensive than  loss  of  patronage.  Many  a 
theater  business  has  been  saved  by  re- 
placing obsolete  and  cheaply  built  equip- 
ment which  does  not  meet  minimum 
standards  of  performance. 

Old-Style  Equipment  Tabu 

Bad  projection  is  on  a  par  with  poor 
pictures,  uncomfortable  seats,  and  an 
uncongenial  atmosphere  in  the  theater. 
One  or  more  of  these  factors,  if  present, 
can  ruin  any  theater.  There  is  no  pro- 
jector mechanism,  lamp,  or  sound-sys- 
tem in  existence  which  cannot  be  im- 
proved by  the  application  of  advanced 
concepts  of  equipment  design;    but  the 


equipment  now  being  offered  is  so  far 
ahead  of  the  archaic  and  worn-out  "junk" 
with  which  thousands  of  projection  rooms 
are  cluttered  that  comparison  is  super- 
fluous. 

Color  photography  and  sound  record- 
ing have  both  forged  ahead  with  giant 
strides  in  recent  years.  Old-time  pro- 
jectors and  sound  systems  simply  can- 
not do  justice  to  modern  films.  Now  is 
the  time  for  the  wise  exhibitor  to  catch 
up  with  patrons'  demands  for  high-grade 
screen  entertainment.  Now  is  the  time 
for  every  theater-owner  to  make  secure 
his  investment  against  competing  forms 
of  entertainment.  Now  is  the  time  because 
nobody — but  nobody — can  predict  with 
assurance  what  may  happen  in  these 
parlous   times. 

(The  End) 

SMPTE  Hollywood  Convention 

Plans  have  been  completed  for  the 
forthcoming  70th  Semiannual  Conven- 
tion of  the  Society  of  Motion  Picture  and 
Television  Engineers,  to  be  held  at  the 
Hollywood-Roosevelt  Hotel,  Hollywood, 
California,  October  15-19.  Highlights  of 
the  Convention  will  be  sessions  on  High- 
Speed  Photography,  Television,  Magnetic 
Recording  and  Color  Television.  Taking 
time  out  from  the  week-long  technical 
sessions  and  committee  meetings,  the  So- 
ciety, at  its  Semiannual  Banquet  on 
Wednesday,  October  17,  will  present  spe- 
cial awards  for  the  most  recent  outstand- 
ing technical  contributions  to  both  mo- 
tion pictures  and  television,  including 
the  newly  established  David  Sarnoff  Gold 
Medal  Award. 


How  Many? 


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30 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


September  1951 


Sergeant  Charles  Turner,  of  Boston,  Massachusetts  —  Medal  of  Honor,  Korea. 
On  September  1.  1950,  near  Yongsan,  Korea,  Sergeant  Turner  took  over  an  ex- 
posed turret  machine  gun  on  a  tank.  Despite  fifty  direct  hits  on  the  tank,  he  stayed 
by  his  gun  and  destroyed  seven  enemy  machine  gun  nests  before  he  was  killed. 

You  and  your  family  are  more  secure  today  because  of  what  Charles  Turner 
did  for  you. 

Sergeant  Turner  died  to  keep  America  free.  Won't  you  see  that  America  stays 
the  land  of  peace  and  promise  for  which  he  gave  his  life?  Defending  the  things 
he  fought  for  is  your  job,  too. 

One  important  defense  job  you  can  do  right  now  is  to  buy  United  States 
Defense*  Bonds  and  buy  them  regularly.  For  it's  your  Defense  Bonds  that  help 
keep  America  strong  within.  And  out  of  America's  inner  strength  can  come  power 
that  guarantees  security — for  your  country,  for  your  family,  for  you. 


Remember  that  when  you're  buying 
bonds  for  national  defense,  you're 
also  building  a  personal  reserve  of 
cash  savings.  Remember,  too,  that  if 
you  don't  save  regularly,  you  generally 
don't  save  at  all.   Money  you  take 


home  usually  is  money  spent.  So  sign 
up  today  in  the  Payroll  Savings  Plan 
where  you  work,  or  the  Bond-A- 
Month  Plan  where  you  bank.  For 
your  country's  security,  and  your 
own,  buy  U.  S.  Defense  Bonds  now! 


* 


U.S.  Savings  Bonds  are  Defense  Bonds  -Buy them  regularly! 


The  U.  S.  Government  does  not  pay  for  this  advertisement.  It  is  donated  by  this  publication 
in  cooperation  with  the  Advertising  Council  and  the  Magazine  Publishers  of  America  as 

a  public  service. 


°N  COMPIETION  OF 

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OCTOBER 


1951 


VOLUME  26 


NUMBER   10 


30c  A  COPY    •    S2.50  A  YEAR 


ALONGSIDE  THESE  LAMPS  STAND 

THE  WORLD'S  FINEST 
PROJECTIONISTS 


/  ^  MAGNARC 


-KW  TO  70  AMPS 


HY-AX"    ARC    MAGNET 


TRADE   MARK    REG 


HY-LUMEN"     REFLECTOR 


More  light  at  40  to  70  amperes  than  ever  thought  possible.  .  .  .  Equals  and 
excels  any  reflector  lamp  to  85  amperes,  whether  they  be  unapproved  water- 
cooled  or  resurrected  "Hi-Lows".  .  .  .  Highest  ratio  of  honest  screen  lumens 
per  arc  watt.  ...  At  70  amperes,  using  an  accurated  Glass  Hy-Lumen  Re- 
flector*, with  a  projector  having  an  efficient  revolving  shutter,  it  develops 
the  maximum  screen  brilliance  that  can  be  used  without  a  heat  filter  at  no 
risk  of  film  damage.  .  .  .  Operating  costs  under  these  conditions  are  far  below 
that  of  85-ampere  lamps. 

Magnarc  Lamps  assure  80%  side-to-center  (SMPE  Standard)  screen  light 
distribution,  not  a  deceptive  60%  or  "Hot  Center".  .  .  .  They  are  all  Und. 
Lab.,  Inc.  listed.  .  .  .  They  are  not  insurance  hazards.  .  .  .  They  are  and  have 
been  for  years  "The  First  Choice"  of  large  and  small  theatres,  drive-ins,  and 
the  motion  picture  industry. 

*  Similar  results  are  net  guaranteed   if  all-metal  reflectors  are  used. 


FIRST     WITH     THE     FINEST" 


130-180  AMPERES 


TRADE   MARK   REG. 


NEW     MAGNETIC    STABILIZER 

This  modern  lamp  produces  all  the  light  there  is. 
...  It  is  the  standard  equipment  of  the  nation's  largest 
and  finest  theatres.  .  .  .  Used  by  90%  of  the  largest 
Drive-ln  Theatres. 

It  is  the  "Omega"  for  maximum  screen  brilliance. 
.  .  .  Nothing  can  even  approach  it  in  white  light  volume 
when  used  with  projectors  that  have  efficient  revolving 
shutters. 

Assures  satisfying  projection  for  Drive-Ins  regardless 
of  the  size  of  the  picture,  length  of  throw,  and  under 
all  weather  conditions.  .  .  .  They  are  Und.  Lab.,  Inc. 
listed  and,  therefore,  not  insurance  hazards.  .  .  .  Heat 
filter  assures  no  risk  of  film-heat  damage  at  maximum 
arc   amperage   and    maximum   screen    lumens. 


'WHY     EXPERIMENT? 


$ 


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552-554    WEST    ADAMS    STREET 

CHICAGO  6.  ILLINOIS 


INTERNATIONAL 


PROJECTION! 


With  Which  Is  Combined  Projection  Engineering 


HENRY  B.  SELLWOOD,  Editor 


Volume  26 


OCTOBER  1951 


Number  10 


Index  and  Monthly  Chat 3 

Is  Lenticulated  Color-Film 

Practical? 5 

Robert  A.  Mitchell 

Projection  in  Britain's 

Telekinema    11 

A.  BOWEN,  J.  MoiR,  AND 

H.  Turner 

For  the  Record 13 

Latest  Maskless  Screen  Wins 

Audience,  Technician  Favor  .      14 

'Showboat':  Cameraman's 

Dream   14 

George  Sidney 


In  the  Spotlight   

Harry  Sherman 

The  Allied  Arts  &  Sciences   .  .  . 
II.  Photographic  Optics 
Bausch  &  Lomb  Optical  Co. 

Telecasts    


Tv:  Time  for  Reappraisal 
Abel  Green 

News  Notes 
Technical  Hints 
Miscellaneous  Items 


16 
18 

20 
21 


Published  Monthly  by 
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Publishing  Co.,  Inc.  International  Projectionist  is  not  responsible  for  personal  opinions 
appearing  in  signed  articles  in  its  columns. 

420 


MONTHLY   CHAT 

THE  most  important  development  at  the 
recent  convention  of  the  Theater  Own- 
ers of  America,  to  our  mind,  was  not  the 
gaudy  equipment  show  nor  the  protracted 
discussions  anent  theater  Tv  but  rather 
the  report  of  a  special  TOA  committee 
to  the  effect  that  careful  investigation 
showed  that  equipment  standards  in  more 
than  40%  of  motion  picture  theaters  were 
definitely  below  par.  And  we  take  the 
word  "par"  to  mean  something  less  than 
acceptable. 

This  is  a  serious  indictment  of  a  group 
of  showfolk  who  talk  blithely  of  spending 
$15,000  and  more  for  theater  Tv  equip- 
ment but  will  not  invest  a  fraction  of  this 
sum  for  those  units  which  will  serve  up 
a  decent  screen  image.  Incredible  though 
it  may  seem  to  the  majority  of  urban 
'projectionists,  the  fact  is  that  there  still 
y'  are  hundreds  —  maybe  1500  —  theaters 
which  utilize  low-intensity  projection. 

We're  all  for  the  lush  carpeting  and 
swellegant  decor  in  a  movie  theater,  but 
none  of  these  factors  contributes  to  the 
image  on  the  screen.  We're  all  for,  too, 
the  untiring  efforts  of  lamp  manufactur- 
ers to  provide  ever  more  and  better  light; 
but  it  seems  a  little  silly  to  us  to  sound 
off  about  15,000  lumens  when  there  re- 
main so  many  theaters  with  outmoded 
projection  plants. 

It's  natural  that  the  small  exhibitor 
should  seek  to  get  by  on  an  "as  is"  basis, 
particularly  in  view  of  a  sagging  box- 
office  which  only  recently  has  begun  to 
perk  up.  However,  the  extinction  of  hun- 
dreds of  these  small  theaters  will  become 
a  fact  even  sooner  than  is  prophesied  if 
an  effort  is  not  made  to  replace  and 
repair  that  junk  which  today  passes  for 
projection   equipment. 

Some  enterprising  manufacturer  might 
do  himself  a  lot  of  good  by  directing  a 
special  campaign  to  these  smaller  thea- 
ters, not  as  a  one-shot  gesture  but  on  a 
steady,  methodical  basis.  And  the  first 
port  of  call  should  be  the  projectionist 
so  that  he  and  the  supply  man  could  put 
up  a  common  front  to  Mr.  Exhibitor.  We 
have  an  idea  that  such  a  move  would 
pay  off. 


It  now  appears  certain  that  within  six 
months  there  will  be  some  200  theaters 
equipped  for  Tv  showings  via  either  the 
direct-projection  or  intermediate-film  sys- 
tems. Looming  large  among  the  many 
problems  posed  by  this  development  is 
that  of  projectionist  competency.  No 
amount  of  instruction  by  a  field  engineer 
will  serve  to  give  the  projectionist  the 
"feel"  of  an  equipment:  this  can  be  had 
only  by  actual  operating  experience.  If 
there  is  a  theater  Tv  equipment  in  your 
area,  drop  around  and  spend  as  much 
time  with  it  as  you  can.  No  instruction 
book  can  match  such  experience. 

It  would  be  a  nice  gesture  if  Tv  manu- 
facturers were  to  sponsor  a  series  of  Tv 
instruction  clinics  similar  to  those  given 
by  RCA. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST    •    October  1951 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     October  1951 


■Mgnggg! 


INTERNATIONAL    PROJECTION 


VOLUME  XXVI 


OCTOBER    1951 


NUMBER  10 


Is  Lenticulated  Color-Film  Practical? 


THE  proclivity  of  Hollywood  brass  to 
clamp  restrictions  on  all  technologi- 
cal progress  in  the  motion  picture 
field  is  paralleled  only  by  the  eagerness 
with  which  certain  producers  pursue  any 
fata  morgana  flaunting  the  Lorelei  prom- 
ise of  by-passing  a  few  pennies  of  pro- 
duction. 

The  so-called  lenticulated-film  process 
of  photographing  and  projecting  movies 
in  natural  color  is  by  no  means  of  re- 
cent vintage.  Eastman  Kodak  abandoned 
a  variant  of  the  process  (known  as 
"Kodacolor")  in  1932  in  favor  of  the 
totally  different  and  immeasurably  su- 
perior Kodachrome  process  for  16-mm 
filming. 

Said  Thomas  E.  Hargrave,  president 
of  Kodak: 

"At  least  two  American  motion  picture 
producers  and  a  large  European  manu- 
facturer have  done  a  great  deal  of  work 
in  this  [lenticular  film]  field  over  a  con- 
siderable period  of  time.  So  far  as  we 
are  aware,  none  of  these  efforts  has  yet 
met  with  commercial  success."* 

Industry  Interest  Revived 

Readers  of  IP  will  recall  that  the 
lenticulated  color-film  process  was  de- 
scribed briefly  and  summarily  dismissed 
on  page  34,  July  1951  issue  of  IP.  But 
the  recent  settlement  of  the  Keller-Dorian 
patent  suit,  in  which  Eastman  and  Tech- 
nicolor were  co-defendants,  has  refocused 
industry  attention  on  the  dejected  color 
cadaver  which  certain  production  big- 
wigs are  attempting  to  vivify — in  the 
fond  hope  that  the  cost  of  color  footage 
can  be  cut  by  a  penny  or  fractional  part 
thereof. 

Should  success  attend  this  attempted 
vivification,      however,      Mr.      Exhibitor 


IP  for  December  1948,  p.  35. 


By  ROBERT  A.  MITCHELL 

would  soon  find  himself  hanging  shirt- 
less from  a  very  high  limb;  while  Mr. 
Producer  pockets  (he  hopes)  a  trickle 
of  pennies  from  inexpensive  color-film 
processing.  In  our  humble  opinion,  the 
exhibition  industry  would  be  best  served 
by  improving  the  movies,  not  by  under- 
mining the  high  degree  of  quality  they 
already  possess. 

The  theory  of  the  lenticulated-film 
color  process  is  indeed  intriguing  (from 
an  academic  point  of  view),  and  it  works 
just  fine  and  dandy  on  paper — provid- 
ing that  some  mighty  important  factors 
are  left  out  of  account.  So  let's  go  over 
the  whole  thing  once  again  with  utter 
frankness,  meanwhile  offering  a  fervent 
prayer  that  lenticulated  film  will  never 
be  substituted  for  Technicolor. 

Human  Color  Vision 

As  far  as  human  color  vision  is  con- 
cerned, the  entire  visible  spectrum  con- 
sists of  only  three  overlapping  bands  of 
colors.  Three  primary  colors,  no  more, 
no  less.  These  are  Vermilion  (deep 
orange-red)  ;  Emeraude  (slightly  yellow- 
ish green)  ;  and  Indigo  (deep  violet- 
blue).  All  other  colors  are  merely  com- 
binations, in  various  proportions,  of  two 
or  all  three  of  these  primaries. 

The  visual  sensation  called  "white"  is 
nothing  more  than  the  result  of  combin- 
ing the  three  primaries  in  equivalent 
proportions.  This  may  be  demonstrated 
by  a  simple  experiment. 

If  we  cut  strips  from  vermilion,  em- 
eraude, and  indigo  gelatine  (called  sepa- 
ration filters  by  photographers)  and 
place    one    strip    of   each    color    over    a 


camera  lens  so  that  no  light  can  get 
through  the  lens  without  passing  through 
the  three  filters  placed  side  by  side,  it 
will  be  found  that  the  performance  of 
the  lens  is  not  seriously  impaired  as  to 
image  formation  or  its  ability  to  image 
colored  objects.  Only  the  "speed"  of  the 
lens  will  have  been  impaired,  since  com- 
paratively little  light  is  transmitted  by 
the  filters. 

Color-Filter  Action 

A  distant  white  building  focused  upon 
a  white  card  by  the  "color-filtered"  lens 
furnishes  ample  proof  that  equivalent 
amounts  of  V,  E,  and  I  light  form  a 
white  image  when  they  recombine.  A 
red  object  will  give  a  red  image,  a 
yellow  object  a  yellow  image,  etc. 

All  that  happens  is  that  the  filters 
covering  the  lens  split  up  the  light  into 
its  V,  E,  and  I  components.  The  image- 
forming  power  of  the  lens  recombines 
these  three  components  into  the  original 
colored  scene  which  is  focused  upon  the 
card. 

Another  experiment  shows  what  hap- 
pens when  one  primary  color  is  missing. 
Cover  up  the  emeraude  filter-strip,  and 
the  image  of  the  white  building  will  be 
colored  magenta,  which  is  the  result  of 
combining  equivalent  proportions  of  ver- 
milion and  indigo  alone.  With  the  ver- 
milion strip  covered  up,  the  image  will 
be  cyan,  which  is  emeraude  plus  indigo. 
And  with  the  indigo  strip  masked  off, 
the  image  of  the  white  building  will  be 
yellow — vermilion  plus  emeraude. 

Anatomy  of  Lenticular  Film 

Now,  an  ordinary  black-and-white  mo- 
tion picture  can  be  filmed  through  this 
"filtered"  lens,  but  the  lens  diaphragm 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     October  1951 


will  have  to  be  opened  wide  in  order  to 
admit  sufficient  light. 

By  using  a  lenticulated  black-and-white 
film  in  the  movie  camera,  however,  a 
natural-color  motion  picture  can  be  pho- 
tographed through  the  lens  which  has 
one-third  of  its  area  covered  by  a  ver- 
milion filter,  another  third  by  an  emeraude 
filter,  and  the  last  third  by  an  indigo 
filter. 

Lenticulated  film  is  exactly  the  same 
photographically  as  ordinary  black-and- 
white  camera  film.  The  only  difference  is 
the  presence,  on  the  lenticular  film,  of 
innumerable  tiny  semi-cylindrical  ridges 
side  by  side.  These  are  impressed  in  the 
film  base  on  the  side  opposite  the  emul- 
sion by  means  of  embossing  rollers.  In 
the  old  16-mm  Kodacolor  process,  these 
corduroy-like  lenticulations  ran  length- 
wise on  the  film;  and  each  had  a  width 
of  0.045-mm — about  559  ridges  to  the 
inch. 

Each  "ridge"  on  the  lenticulated  film 
functions  as  a  tiny  cylindrical  lens. 

Light  Action  Thru  Lenticulations 

To  use  the  lenticular  film,  it  must  be 
threaded  up  in  the  camera  with  the  lenti- 
culated side  of  the  film  facing  the  lens. 
(In  ordinary  photography,  the  emulsion- 
side  of  the  film  faces  the  lens.)  All  of 
the  light  focused  on  the  emulsion  by  the 
lens  must  accordingly  pass  through  the 
tiny  cylindrical  lenses.  The  second  pre- 
caution is  to  have  the  three  colored  gela- 
tine strips  on  the  lens  parallel  to  the 
embossed  lenticulations.  In  the  case  of 
Kodacolor.  the  filter  strips  were  posi- 
tioned vertically. 

Each  embossed  lenticulation  has  a 
focal  length  of  only  0.0045  mm.  The 
lens-action  of  the  tiny  ridges  causes  the 
image  to  be  split  up  into  three  "color 
bands"  in  the  emulsion  of  the  film,  each 
band  corresponding  to  one,  and  only  one, 


of  the  three  filter  strips  on  the  camera 
lens. 

One  color  band  contains  a  vermilion 
record  of  a  very  thin  strip  of  the  scene 
photographed;  the  second  an  emeraude 
record;  and  the  third  an  indigo  record. 
There  is  thus  a  partial  image  in  each  of 
the  three  primaries  under  each  tiny 
lenticulation.  The  sum  total  of  all  the 
partial  images  on  the  film  is  the  com- 
plete color  record  of  the  scene  photo- 
graphed. 

The  Projection  Process 

After  reversal-development,  the  lenti- 
cular film  looks  like  an  ordinary  black- 
and-white  positive  print.  The  lenticula- 
tions are  too  small  and  close  together  to 
be  visible;  and  no  actual  color  is  present 
in  the  film. 

To  project  the  film  in  natural  color  it 
is  only  necessary  to  place  an  exact  re- 
plica of  the  3-strip  camera-lens  color 
filter  over  the  projector  lens.  As  in  the 
camera,  the  gelatine  filter  strips  must  be 
parallel  to  the  lenticulations  of  the  film. 

When  the  film  is  projected,  light 
from  all  the  vermilion  "color  bands"  is 
refracted  by  the  lenticulations  to  fall 
upon  the  vermilion  filter-strip  on  the 
lens;  and  light  from  the  emeraude  and 
indigo  bands  is  likewise  directed  to  the 
corresponding  strips  of  colored  gelatine. 

By  the  additive  combination  of  vary- 
ing intensities  of  V,  E,  and  I  light  rays, 
all  the  colors  originally  photographed 
are  reproduced  on  the  screen. 

Light  Loss  Thru  Filters 

The  enormous  loss  of  light  occasioned 
by  the  filter  strips  is  one  of  the  most 
serious  defects  of  the  Keller-Dorian 
process,  as  it  is  also  of  all  additive  color- 
projection  processes  without  a  single  ex- 
ception.    When    Kodacolor    16-mm    film 


FIGURE  1.    TWO  SYSTEMS  OF  THE  LENTICULAR-FILM  COLOR   PROCESS. 


Color 
filter 

vermilion 
Emeraude; 
indigo       ^ 


L,enticula.tions 


Lenticulations 

<4 ► 


Color  filter 


VERMILION 
EMERAUDE 


Lens 


Lens    elements 


When  the  embossed  lenticulations  of  the  film  base  run  longitudinally,  the  filter 
must  be  positioned  so  that  the  three  color-strips  are  vertical.  If  the  lenticula- 
tions are  lateral,  the  filter  color-strips  must  likewise  be  horizontal.  Note  that  the 
color  filter  is  placed  between  the  lens  elements,  whether  in  camera  or  projector. 


was  in  use  for  home  service,  an  alumi- 
num-surfaced screen  was  necessary  in 
order  to  obtain  sufficient  picture  bright- 
ness. And  even  with  a  "specular"  screen 
of  this  type,  a  picture  no  larger  than 
I6V2  by  22  inches  could  be  obtained  with 
a  projector  having  a  200-  or  300-watt  in- 
candescent lamp.  Other  serious  deficien- 
cies of  this  color  process  will  be  ex- 
amined in  detail. 

Tests  have  been  conducted  quietly 
with  35-mm  film  stock  embossed  with 
lenticulations  0.03  mm  wide — approxi- 
mately 850  per  inch  on  unshrunken 
stock.  This  is  about  as  small  as  the 
lenticulations  can  be  without  introducing 
a  disastrous  loss  of  color  values  due  to 
overlapping  of  two  or  more  "color  bands" 
(each  slightly  less  than  0.01  mm  in 
width)  by  clumps  of  reduced  silver  in 
the  film  emulsion. 

Emulsion  Silver  Content 

The  so-called  silver  grains  in  photo- 
graphic emulsion  are  really  clumps  made 
up  of  several  grains  stuck  together  in  a 
solid  mass.  When  exposed  film  is  de- 
veloped, an  entire  clump  of  silver  bro- 
mide crystals  is  either  reduced  com- 
pletely to  metallic  silver  or  not  reduced 
at  all.  There  is  no  "half-way"  reduction. 
In  the  highlights  of  a  photographic  im- 
age, the  clumps  of  reduced  silver  are 
comparatively  far  apart;  in  the  shadows 
they  are  near  together,  hence  much  more 
numerous.  The  actual  size  of  the  indi- 
vidual clumps  of  reduced  silver  is  in- 
fluenced by  the  type  of  photographic 
emulsion  and  the  nature  of  the  develop- 
ing chemicals  used. 

This  overlapping,  or  "running  to- 
gether," of  the  color  bands  can  be 
avoided  by  altering  the  form  of  the  lenti- 
culations and  the  thickness  of  the  film 
base  in  order  to  separate  the  color  bands 
by  extremely  thin  blank  bands.  It  is 
estimated  that  this  measure,  while  im- 
proving the  purity  of  the  reproduced 
colors,  would  result  in  an  additional  25% 
loss  of  light. 

Screen  Image  Character 

It  might  be  thought  that  the  lenticula- 
tions would  show  up  on  a  large  theatre 
screen  as  rather  wide  lines,  because  of 
the  tremendous  magnification  of  the  pic- 
ture in  projection.  Such  is  not  the  case. 
When  the  lenticulations  are  0.03  mm  in 
width,  they  are  magnified  to  a  width  of 
9  mm — almost  %-inch — on  a  15  x  20  ft. 
screen.  The  effect  is  a  slight  fuzziness  of 
focus,  but  the  individual  bands  are  in- 
visible to  the  audience. 

The  inevitable  loss  of  sharp  focus  is 
much  more  serious,  however,  when  lenti- 
culated prints,  not  reversal-processed 
negatives,  are  projected.  Lenticulated 
prints  cannot  by  any  manner  or  means 
be  made  in  a  standard  contact  printer. 
They  must  be  made  by  optical  printing 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     October  1951 


LIKE  BIRDS  . .  .  men  must  fly — soar  higher,  ever  higher — on  the  wings  of  their  imaginations. 

This  of  itself  would  be  reason  enough  for  motion  pictures  of  increasing  insight  and  originality.  But 
to  the  constant  spur  of  men's  imagination  must  be  added  the  inspiration  of  new  technics,  new  equip- 
ment and  materials. 

With  this  trend  toward  greater  imagination  in  studio  and  laboratory  has  come  greater  oppor- 
tunity for  the  manufacturer  to  cooperate.  The  Eastman  Kodak  Company,  for  example,  as  a  part  of  its 
service  to  the  industry,  maintains  the  Eastman  Technical  Service  for  Motion  Picture  Film.  Here,  repre- 
sentatives aid  the  industry  in  the  selection  and  exposure  of  film,  black-and-white  or  color  .  . .  help  es- 
tablish higher  standards  of  quality  and  economy  in  processing  .  .  .  work  with  exchanges  and  theatres, 
helping  make  sure  that  each  foot  of  film  gets  best  possible  screening. 

To  maintain  this  service,  the  Eastman  Kodak  Company  has  branches  at  strategic  centers  ...  in- 
vites inquiry  on  all  phases  of  film  use  from  all  members  of  the  industry.  Address: 


Motion  Picture  film  Department 

EASTMAN  KODAK  COMPANY,  ROCHESTER  4,  N.  Y. 


Midwest  Division 

137  North  Wabash  Avenue 

Chicago  2,  Illinois 


West  Coast  Division 
6706  5anta  Monica  Blvd. 
Hollywood  38,  California 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     October  1951 


TO  THE  STUDIOS. 


TO   THE   THEATRE  OWNER... 


BOXOffiCE/ 


it's  the  National 

TRADE-MARK 

CARBON  ARC'S 


The  "National"  carbon  arc  is  an  indispensable  tool- 
both  to  the  studios  which  make  movies  and  to  the  the 
atre  owner  who  exhibits  them.  Why?  The  "National' 
carbon  arc's  BIG  FIVE: 

•  SMALL  SOURCE  SIZE 

•  HIGH   BRIGHTNESS 

•  GREAT   POWER    FROM   ONE    UNIT 

•  WHITE  LIGHT 

•  MINIMUM    HEAT   PER    FOOT   CANDLE 


The  term  "National"  is  a  registered  trade-mark  of 
Union  Carbide  and  Carbon  Corporation 

NATIONAL  CARBON  COMPANY 

A  Division  of  Union  Carbide  and  Carbon  Corporation 
30  Cast  42nd  Street,  New  York  17,  N.Y. 

District  Sales  Offices:  Atlanta,  Chicago,  Dallas, 
Kansas  City,  New  York,  Pittsburgh,  San  Francisco 

la  Canada:  National  Carbon  Limited,  Montreal,  Toronto,  Winnipeg 


When  you  order  studio  or  pro/ecfor 
carbons— order  "National"  ! 


For  the  studio,  small  source  size  insures  sharp,  dra- 
matic shadows,  better  simulates  one-source  lighting, 
creates  a  perfect  "follow-spot".  High  brightness  pene- 
trates deep  sets,  gives  high  light  levels  without 
excessive  heat. 

White  light  matches  outdoor  shooting  conditions, 
lends  itself  perfectly  to  color  movies. 

For  the  theatre  owner,  the  carbon  arc  provides 
the  "brightest  spot  in  the  world"—  gives  him  the 
dazzling  power  he  needs  to  get  diamond-sharp  pic- 
tures, vivid  color  and  keeps  his  box  office  booming. 
The  "National"  carbon  arc  is  tops. 

YOU  CAN'T  SKIMP  ON  STUDIO  LIGHTING 
WITHOUT  RISKING  BOX  OFFICE! 

INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     October  1951 


through  lenses  having  the  three  color 
strips  over  them.  Loss  of  definition  is 
doubled  in  the  print,  hence  the  sharpest 
line  possible  on  a  20-foot  screen  would 
be  a  fuzzy  band  about  %-inch  wide. 
This  figure  assumes  the  use  of  a  perfect 
propection  lens,  "on-the-nose"  focusing 
by  the  projectionist,  and  it  does  not  in- 
clude the  ever-present  factor  of  normal 
emulsion  graininess. 

In  short,  lenticulated  color  is  in  a  fog, 
as  far  as  focus  is  concerned. 

Filter  Quality,  Positioning 

In  order  to  obtain  the  best  possible 
color  from  lenticular  film,  the  color 
filters  in  the  projection  lens  must  be  po- 
sitioned with  great  accuracy  in  regard 
to  azimuth  and  distance  from  lens  ele- 
ments. (Of  these  two  factors,  a  slight 
error  in  rotational,  or  azimuthal,  align- 
ment is  the  less  serious,  since  color-ren- 
dition efficiency  in  this  single  respect  var- 
ies directly  as  the  sine  of  the  angle  sub- 
tended by  the  direction  of  the  film-lenti- 
culations  and  the  direction  of  the  lens 
filter-strips.) 

Moreover,  the  spectral  characteristics 
of  the  three  filter  strips  must  be  well- 
nigh  perfect  if  any  semblance  to  good 
color  is  to  be  reproduced  on  the  screen. 
The  vermilion  filter  must  transmit  only 
the  vermilion  region  of  the  spectrum 
without  a  trace  of  wavelengths  lying  in 
the  emeraude  and  indigo  regions.  The 
other  two  filters  must  have  equally  good 
spectral  characteristics. 

Filter  Dye  Factor 

But  even  though  such  a  vermilion  (or 
emeraude  or  indigo)  filter  can  be  pre- 
pared, it  cannot  transmit  all  of  the  V 
or  E  or  I)  light,  but  only  a  fraction  of 
it.  This  is  because  dyes  which  are  per- 
fect from  the  standpoint  of  spectral  char- 
acteristics are  far  from  efficient  from 
the  standpoint  of  light  transmission. 
This  unfortunate  fact  cannot  be  cor- 
rected until  chemists  discover  new  and 
better  dyes — absolutely  perfect  dyes,  in 
fact. 

The  Keller-Dorian  process  demands 
perfect  filters — but  perfect  filters  have 
not  yet  been  made. 

Summary  of  Deficiencies 

If  it  be  objected  that  even  the  (sub- 
tractive-process)  dyes  used  for  printing 
Technicolor  films  are  not  absolutely  per- 
fect, it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  a 
wide  latitude  of  printing  densities  is 
available  to  Technicolor,  making  the 
process  100%  efficient  as  to  purity  of 
color,  and  very  nearly  100%  efficient  in 
regard  to  light  transmission  relative  to 
standards  set  by  black-and-white  prints. 
Technicolor  is  a  remarkably  faithful  and 
flexible  process.  The  lenticulated-film 
process  is  not. 

Why   is    the   lenticulated-film    process 


inherently  inefficient  in  regard  to  color 
rendition?  Because  of: 

1.  Unavoidable  optical-positioning  errors 
in  camera  and  projector  color  filters. 
These  arise  from  differences  in  the 
diameters,  the  focal  lengths,  and  the 
design  of  camera  and  projector  lenses. 

2.  Unavoidable  variations  in  film-base 
thickness,  due  to  shrinkage  and  other 
causes,  deforming  the  lenticulations  and 
resulting  in  spill-over  of  light  onto  the 
wrong  color-filter  strips,  and  even  onto 
the  walls  of  the  lens-tube,  "washing 
out"  the  color  and  wasting  light. 

3.  Dirt  and  oil  between  the  embossed 
ridges,  cutting  down  light  and  destroy- 
ing the  extremely  critical  refraction  and 
transmission  balance  of  the  lenticula- 
tions. Scratches  in  the  film  and  other- 
wise worn  and  damaged  lenticulations 
would  cause  spurious  colors,  "fluttery" 
colors,  and  low  saturation  of  the  re- 
produced   hues. 

4.  Loss  of  color  intensity  in  the  printing 
process. 

5.  The  impossibility  of  using  spectrally 
perfect  color  filters  in  the  projection 
lens  (to  minimize  1,  2,  and  4,  above) 
because  of  the  very  low  transmission 
efficiency  of  such  filters. 

6.  The  dissimilar  shapes  of  the  three 
filters — two  of  them  being  segments  of 
circles,  and  the  middle  filter  a  narrow 
oblong — and    the    anaxial    optical    po- 


sitions of  the  two  segment-shaped  fil- 
ters results  in  (a)  objectionable  color 
fringes  when  the  projection  lens  is  but 
very  slightly  out  of  focus  and  (b)  ex- 
treme color  distortion,  altering  the  chro- 
maticity  of  hues  in  a  very  unpleasant 
manner,  whenever  "vignetting"  is  pro- 
duced either  by  the  lens,  the  lamp  optics, 
or  both — which  is  usually  the  case  in 
present-day  equipment. 

7.  The  impossibility  of  avoiding  ex- 
tremely objectionable  color  fringes  on 
either  the  horizontal  or  vertical  edges  of 
out-of-focus  objects  in  the  picture.  This 
spurious  color-fringing  is  quantitatively 
much  more  serious  than  the  chromatic 
aberration  of  simple  uncorrected  lenses, 
and  it  restricts  lenticular  color  photog- 
raphy to  the  use  of  short-focus  camera 
lenses  to  avoid  out-of-focus  backgrounds 
in  closeups  and  out-of-focus  foreground 
objects  in  long  shots. 

Cinematographers  have  always  had 
available  a  wide  range  of  lens  focal- 
lengths  for  both  standard  black-and- 
white  and  color  filming.  The  advantages 
of  such  a  large  assortment  are  obvious. 

For  example,  the  distance  of  the  cam- 
era from  a  scene  is  sometimes  fixed  by 
the  physical  limitations  of  the  set;  yet 
perfect    picture    "composition"    can    be 

(Continued  on  page  29) 


FIGURE  2.    HOW   LENTICULATED   COLOR   FILMS  ARE   PHOTOGRAPHED  AND   PROJECTED. 


Cam  era 


aperture     16^" 


<5cene  photographed 


Record 
of 

INDIGO 

EMERAUDE 

VERMILION 


'Projector  aperture 


Natural-  color 
Image  or>  ^screen 


\ 


Emeraude ---^r^-^*" 

"fndho. 


te  JJjht 


No  actual  color,  but  only  color  values  in  black  and  white  reside  in  the  film. 

Color  is  supplied  in  projection  by  a  3-strip  filter  through  which  light  is  directed 

by  the  tiny  film  lenticulations,  which  act  as  cylindrical  lenses. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     October  1951 


10 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     October  1951 


Projection  in  Britain's  Telekinema' 


A.  BOWEN,  J.  MOIR,  and  H.  TURNER* 

report  in  "British  Kinematography"  on  the  visual  and  aural  projection 
equipment  and  technique  employed  in  the  model  Telekinema  theater 
designed,  equipped  and  operated  specifically  for  the  Festival  of  Britain. 


MOTION  picture  presentations  at 
the  recent  Festival  Of  Britain, 
held  in  London,  were  marked  by 
several  changes  in  equipment  and  tech- 
nique which  should  be  of  interest  to  pro- 
jectionists everywhere.  As  the  British 
expressed  it,  "the  Festival  provided  an 
opportunity  to  obtain  public  reaction  to 
advanced  ideas  that  have  interested  the 
technician  for  some  time  without  finding 
adequate  public  expression." 

Early  discussion  with  Festival  officials, 
followed  by  preliminary  demonstrations 
in  the  laboratories,  resulted  in  a  deci- 
sion to  strive  for  the  following  objectives: 

1.  Projection    of   ordinary   "flat"   black-and- 

white  and  color  sound  films. 

2.  Replacement  of  the  standard  black  screen 

border  by  an  illuminated  surround  pro- 
jected from  the  picture  mechanism,  the 
intensity  and  color  of  the  surround 
being  related  to  the  average  picture  con- 
tent. 

3.  A    stereoscopic    picture    using    polarized 

light. 

4.  A   stereophonic  sound  system  with  addi- 

tional  "front-of-screen"   sound   effects. 

Two  standard  35-mm  film  projectors 
(Supa's)  were  installed  for  the  projec- 
tion of  normal  sound  films,  the  modifica- 
tions for  the  projection  of  the  illumi- 
nated screen  surround,  stereo  picture 
film  and  other  special  features  being 
added  to  the  basic  machine.  The  only 
modification  required  when  projecting 
black-and-white  sound  film  was  the  addi- 
tion of  a  neutral  light-absorbing  filter  in 
front  of  the  projector  to  reduce  the  light 
intensity  on  the  screen. 

A  special  directional  screen  of  high 
gain  for  the  benefit  of  the  Tv  projector 
having  been  installed,  it  became  neces- 
sary to  reduce  the  screen  luminance  to 
tolerable  values  when  showing  film.  This 
filter,  and  the  Polaroid  filter  required 
for  the  stereo  picture,  were  mounted  in 
a  disc  mounted  in  a  special  housing 
bolted  to  the  front  of  the  projector, 
selection  being  made  by  rotating  the 
disc  to  the  required  position. 

Halochrome  Border 

Some  pre-war  investigations  in  the 
B.T.H.*  Research  Laboratories  clearly 
demonstrated  the  disadvantage  of  the 
black  screen  masking  border,  the  present 


*  British-Thomson-Houston   Co.,    Ltd.,    London, 
England. 


standard  practice.  The  war  interfered 
with  the  commercial  application  of  the 
alternative  proposals,  but  the  ideas  were 
pursued  for  the  Festival  installation. 

The  black  border  is  a  relic  of  the 
early  days  of  the  industry  when  screen 
illumination  was  low  and  picture  edges 
rather  ragged,  but  it  has  become  so 
much  a  part  of  a  standard  motion  pic- 
ture presentation  that  its  presence  is 
hardly  questioned.  That  lusty  new- 
comer, Tv,  having  a  similar  problem  in 
masking  off  the  picture  tube,  tried  the 
film  industry's  solution,  but  abandoned 
it  after  a  few  months  in  favor  of  a 
light-colored  surround. 

Visual  acuity  is  at  its  maximum  when 
the  detail  to  be  appreciated  presents  the 
maximum  contrast  to  the  background, 
but  the  presence  of  a  black  border  en- 
sures that  the  maximum  contrasts  occur 
at  the  edges,  thus  reducing  the  sensitivity 
of  the  eye  to  the  detail  in  the  picture. 

In  addition  to  the  loss  of  definition, 
the  darker  tones,  especially  of  color 
films,  in  the  picture  are  degraded  by 
presenting  them  in  comparison  with  the 
real  blackness  of  the  masking. 

The  requirement  for  optimum  presen- 
tation of  the  picture  detail  and  color  is 
clearly  that  it  should  be  presented 
against  a  neutral  background  such  that 
the  highlights  are  always  brighter  and 
the  dark  shadows  blacker  than  the  sur- 
round. These  conditions  are  satisfied  by 
projecting  the  surround  lighting  from 
the  film  projector  in  such  a  manner  that 
the  surround  intensity  and  color  is  the 
average  intensity  and  color  of  the  pic- 
ture at  all  times. 

Screen  Surround  Unit 

In  the  equipment  discussed  herein 
this  is  achieved  fairly  simply  (Fig.  1) 
by  making  use  of  the  light  normally 
wasted  during  the  pulldown  period  when 
the  shutter  is  closed.  The  standard 
shutter  is  replaced  by  a  special  shutter 
with  a  reflecting  rear  surface  to  direct 
the  light  normally  wasted  upwards  to  a 
second  mirror  which  reflects  the  light 
forward  in  a  beam  approximately  parallel 
to  the  picture  beam  and  shghtly  above  it. 

After  passing  through  a  heat  filter, 
the  light  is  directed  by  a  condenser  lens 
onto  a  full  frame-size  aperture  in  a  posi- 
tion normally  occupied  by  the  framing 
aperture,  and  passing  through  the  film 
is   modulated   in  intensity   and   assumes 


the  color  of  the  picture.  The  color  con- 
tent of  the  transmitted  light  is  then  de- 
focused  or  diffused  to  give  a  uniform 
color,  masked  to  present  the  desired 
shape  and  projected  by  a  corrected  lens 
system  which  focuses  the  mask  on  the 
screen. 

All  the  requirements  of  a  perfect  back- 
ground are  thus  met  in  a  simple  manner: 
the  average  intensity  and  color  of  the 
surround  can  be  related  in  any  desired 
ratio  to  the  picture  and  is  automatically 
maintained  without  any  manual  control. 

It  cannot  be  emphasized  too  strongly 
that  the  purpose  of  a  projected  surround 
is  not  to  compete  with  the  picture  for 
the  patrons'  attention,  but  to  present  the 
picture  itself  in  the  most  attractive  light. 
Considerable  experience  has  convinced 
us  that  the  advantage  of  a  projected  pic- 
ture surround  cannot  be  secured  by  any 
manually-operated  device,  however  flex- 
ible in  layout  and  operation. 

Stereoscopic  Pictures 

Present  techniques  have  not  reached 
the  stage  where  it  is  possible  to  present 
a  stereoscopic  picture  to  a  large  audience 
without  making  some  compromise  be- 
tween what  is  desirable  and  what  is 
possible,  and  in  this  instance  that  com- 
promise involved  the  audience  wearing 
spectacles. 

Accepting  this  limitation  as  necessary, 
either  two-color  spectacles  or  polarizing 
spectacles  can  be  chosen,  and  as  the 
latter  enable  color  films  to  be  presented 
they  have  obvious  advantages.  The  right- 
and  left-eye  pictures  can  thus  be  kept 
separated  right  up  to  the  eyes  of  the 
audience,  and  the  basic  remaining  prob- 
lem is  to  decide  on  how  the  two  images 
should  be  stored  on  the  film  and  pro- 
jected. It  was  decided  to  use  two  sepa- 
rate films,  necessitating  the  synchronous 
operation  of  two  projectors,  the  light 
beams  being  polarized  at  right  angles  by 
Polaroid  filters  carried  on  the  projectors. 

Requisites  for  Sterescopy 

The  requirements  for  a  stereoscopic 
picture  are  that  the  picture  should  be 
seen  in  depth  simultaneously  by  every 
member  of  the  audience.  This  effect, 
either  as  in  Nature  or  accentuated  for 
dramatic  emphasis,  must  be  apparent 
even  in  the  marginal  seats.  The  bright- 
ness of  the  screen  should  be  adequate 
from  all  seats  and  the  whole  screen 
should  appear  equally  bright.  This  re- 
quirement provides  conditions  which 
help  to  produce  the  stereoscopic  effect, 
which  is  really  due  to  many  factors. 

The  picture  projected  to  each  eye  must 
contain    the    difference    due   to   its    par- 


1NTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


October  1951 


11 


ticular  angle  of  view,  and  be  so  pre- 
sented that  the  angular  position  of  the 
eyes  of  the  audience  changes  with  the 
near  and  far  objects  in  the  scene. 

As  the  picture  appears  on  a  single 
static  screen,  the  eyes  of  the  audience 
must  be  focused  on  it  whatever  the  ap- 
parent position  of  the  object.  Dut  to  the 
limited  focal  depth  and  power  of  accom- 
modation of  the  eye,  out-of-focus  effects 
are  obtained  in  ordinary  life  which  aid 
the  stereoscopic  view:  near  objects  are 
out-of-focus  when  the  far  ones  are  seen. 

In  static  stereoscopic  pictures  the 
focus  is  usually  sharp  all  over  the  picture 
area,  so  that  time  may  be  spent  in  look- 
ing from  one  object  to  another  in  the 
picture,  the  center  of  interest  changing. 
With  a  motion  picture  this  is  less  needed, 
and  the  principal  object  only  may  be 
taken  in  sharp  focus  to  accentuate  the 
stereoscopic  effect,  while  the  rest  is  out 
of  focus. 

Stereo  Projection  System 

In  the  projection  system  it  is  neces- 
sary therefore  to  provide  an  optical  sys- 
tem capable  of  giving  definition  sharp 
enough  for  the  principal  object  to  ap- 
pear at  any  part  of  the  screen,  leaving 
the  out-of-focus  effects  to  the  camera. 
Apparent  depth  in  the  picture  is  also 
assisted  by  a  large  angle  of  view,  so  that 
no  real  objects  outside  the  picture  come 
into  view  to  spoil  the  illusion,  for  al- 
though many  of  the  necessary  factors 
are  provided  by  the  projection  system, 
it  still  is  the  psychological  effect  in  the 
mind  of  the  observer  which  fuses  the 
images  to  produce  the  three-dimensional 
picture. 

This  effect  may  be  achieved  by  pro- 
jecting each  picture  in  the  usual  way, 
except  that  the  two  films  must  be  in 
register  on  the  screen  and  must  be  held 
in  synchronism. 

The  use  of  two  projectors  requires 
that  the  lenses  of  the  machines  be  sepa- 
rated by  reason  of  the  size  of  the  ma- 
chines, and  to  allow  a  projectionist  to 
have  access  to  both  machines.  This  pro- 
duces a  parallax  different  in  direction 
for  each  machine,  and  the  consequent 
keystone  effects  in  the  horizontal  plane 
are  in  opposition.  The  right-hand  verti- 
cal edge  of  the  left-eye  picture  is  there- 
fore longer  than  that  of  the  right-eye 
picture,  and  vice  versa.    (Fig.  2). 

Inter-Lens  Separation 

This  effect  also  takes  place  right 
through  the  picture,  and  spatial  distor- 
tion would  be  introduced  if  it  were  not 
removed.  It  is  true  that  this  effect  is 
present  in  the  view  of  a  correctly  pro- 
jected picture,  but  in  this  case  it  must 
be  that  due  only  to  the  inter-lens  separa- 
tion in  the  camera,  which  is  decided 
upon  by  the  producer  and  varies  accord- 
ing to  the  desired  dramatic  effect. 

A   rectihnear   picture    free   from  key- 


stone effects  from  each  machine  is  se- 
cured by  offsetting  the  lens  of  each  ma- 
chine—the right-hand  lens  to  the  left, 
the  left-hand  lens  to  the  right. 

As  mentioned  previously,  the  right-eye 
picture  is  kept  to  the  right  eye  by  using 
a  Polaroid  filter  between  the  projector 
and  the  screen,  and  by  spectacles  using 
Polaroid  for  each  member  of  the  audi- 
ence. The  screen  must  be  capable  of 
reflecting  polarized  light  while  retaining 
the  plane  of  polarization.  The  planes  of 
polarization  are  90  degrees  apart,  and 
this  gives  transmission  to  one  eye  and 
a  complete  blackout  for  the  other  eye. 

Each  Picture  Presented  Twice 

Each  picture  is  presented  twice  at  24 
frames  per  second,  with  a  blackout  inter- 
val between  each  exposure.  "We  may 
therefore  present  the  right-  and  the  left- 
eye  pictures  alternately,  so  that  the 
screen  is  always  illuminated  and  a  better 
continuity  of  vision  is  maintained  than 
is  the  case  with  flat  pictures. 

The  synchronous  running  of  the  two 
projectors  is  accomplished  by  the  use  of 
Selsyn  motors  which  provide  an  elec- 
trical interlock  between  the  two  ma- 
chines. The  Selsyn  motors  are  mechanic- 
ally coupled  at  a  one-to-one  ratio  to  the 
normal  driving  motors.  Using  this  ar- 
rangement, the  electrical  coupling  has  to 
take  care  only  of  the  differences  in  speed 
of  the  two  machines,  and  the  torque 
transmitted  from  one  machine  to  the 
other  is  very  low.  A  chain  and  small- 
diameter  bonded  fabric  sprockets  are 
used  to  couple  the  Selsyn  and  driving 
motors  to  keep  noise  to  a  minimum. 

Framing  Adjustments 

The  framing  adjustment  normally 
used  when  the  film  is  incorrectly  thread- 
ed is  now  used  to  bring  the  two  films 


BEAM  FROM 
LANTERN 


FIGURE  1 

Showing  the 
principle  of  the 
projected  picture 

surround.    The 
optical  system  for 
the  surround 
appears  above 
the  standard 
optical  system. 


into  position  to  produce  a  right-  and 
left-eye  picture  in  register  vertically  on 
the  screen.  Horizontal  register  is 
achieved  by  lateral  adjustment  of  the 
film  in  either  gate,  a  pellet  which  steadies 
the  guided  edge  of  the  film  being  pro- 
vided with  screw  adjustment  to  effect 
this  positioning. 

In  order  to  produce  a  rectilinear  pic- 
ture with  the  brightness  curve  centrally 
disposed  about  the  screen  center,  the 
projector  unit  mechanism  was  set  at 
an  angle  to  the  light  source,  so  that  the 
plane  of  the  film  in  the  gate  is  parallel 
to  the  plane  of  the  screen. 

The  light  source  gives  normal  illumi- 
nation, as  its  center  line  passes  through 
the  center  of  the  picture  aperture  to  the 
center  of  the  screen.  The  projection 
lenses  are  mounted  in  the  standard  focus- 
ing holder  with  their  center  lines  normal 
to  the  plane  of  the  screen. 

The  screen  has  a  front  surface  of  fine 
grain  particles  each  of  which  gives  a 
special  reflection  and  maintains  the 
plane  of  polarization.  The  screen  is 
curved  in  the  horizontal  plane,  and  cov- 
erage is  obtained  over  the  whole  of  the 
seating  capacity  with  good  uniformity  of 
brightness  over  the  whole  screen  surface. 
Positioning  of  Projectors 

Normally,  the  projectors  stand  di- 
rectly on  the  floor,  but  here  the  pro- 
jection room  was  located  directly  above 
part  of  the  audience.  It  was  necessary 
therefore  to  mount  the  projectors  on 
anti-vibration  mountings.  These  mount- 
ings are  designed  to  give  a  periodicity 
of  about  16  cycles  per  second  in  the 
vertical  plane  in  order  to  be  effective  in 
reducing  noise  transmission  to  the  floor. 

The  machines,  being  tall  in  propor- 
tion to  their  width,  have  a  slow  torsional 
period  about  the  fore-and-aft  line  of  the 
base,    and   this   would   have    an   adverse 


SHUTTER 


PROJECTED 
SURROUND' 


12 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     October  1951 


effect  on  the  picture  but  for  a  bridge 
piece  which  braces  the  two  machines  and 
holds  them  together. 

With  the  projectors  mounted  non- 
rigidly,  it  would  be  reasonable  to  as- 
sume that  the  picture  as  projected  would 
be  less  steady  than  that  from  a  similar 
projector  rigidly  mounted.  It  is  found, 
however,  first  that  the  steadiness  of  each 
picture  is  still  within  normal  limits,  and 
secondly  that  in  the  stereoscopic  picture 
the  remaining  movement  disappears,  giv- 
ing a  remarkably  steady  picture. 

Sterephonic  Sound 

Present  techniques  of  reproducing 
sound  in  the  major  theaters  have  reached 
a  high  level  of  performance,  and  there 
appears  to  be  little  doubt  that  further 
refinements  of  these  techniques  are  un- 
likely to  arouse  intense  public  interest. 
In  spite  of  this,  it  must  be  agreed  that 
no  audience  could  be  deceived  into  think- 
ing that  the  present  electro-mechanical 
reproduction  is  the  "real"  thing. 

Of  the  various  possibilities,  that  of 
the  three-channel  stereophonic  repro- 
ducer, with  additional  loudspeakers  to 
reproduce  special  sound  effects  in  the 
auditorium,  seemed  to  be  the  most  at- 
tractive, confirmation  of  which  thought 
was  obtained  in  an  experimental  installa- 
tion. The  superiority  of  three  channels 
rather  than  two  is  readily  apparent,  par- 
ticularly where  dramatic  action  is  to  be 
reproduced. 

The  majority  of  acoustic  close-ups  al- 
ways occur  in  center  stage  and  the  third 
(center  channel)  is  invaluable  in  secur- 
ing the  necessary  intimacy.  It  is  note- 
worthy that   Bell   Laboratories   came  to 


FIGURE  2 

Diagram    of   a 

double   projector 

installation    using 

Polaroid  filters  on 

the  projectors,  plus 

viewing   spectacles 

and  projector 

interlock. 


POLAROID 
FILTER 


fvAA^ 


ELECTRICALLY  ■ 
INTERLOCKED 
ORIVE 


•  POLAROID 

SPecTACLti 


the  same  conclusion  after  their  tests  in 
America. 

The  dramatic  appeal  of  sound  effects 
produced  in  the  auditorium,  rather  than 
from  the  loudspeakers  behind  the  screen, 
was  confirmed  in  first  experiments,  and 
at  a  very  early  stage  in  the  discussions  it 
was  agreed  to  install  additional  loud- 
speakers in  the  auditorium  back  walls 
and  in  the  main  and  under-balcony  ceil- 
ings. 

Independent  Sound  Tracks 

Four  independent  sound  tracks  were 
therefore  required,  three  for  the  stereo- 
phonic sound  effects  and  one  for  the 
auditorium  sound  effects.  Although  ex- 
periment has  confirmed  that  a  wide  fre- 
quency range  is  less  necessary  in  a 
stereophonic  system  than  in  a  monaural 
system,  it  was  decided  to  make  the  sys- 
tem of  wide  range.  In  this  and  other 
respects  magnetic  recording  has  consid- 


erable advantages  over  present  photo- 
graphic recording  techniques. 

The  provision  of  four  tracks  each  of 
adequate  volume  range  necessitated  a 
separate  film  for  sound  only;  but  as  this 
could  be  met  by  a  relatively  simple  as- 
sembly of  standard  units,  it  was  of  no 
particular  disadvantage  in  this  installa- 
tion. Synchronous  locking  of  the  pic- 
ture and  sound  projectors  is  essential 
when  separate  machines  are  employed, 
but  a  locking  system  was  necessary  in 
any  case  for  the  projection  of  stereo- 
scopic pictures. 

The  standard  Supa  projectors  re- 
quired only  minor  modification  in  the 
electrical  control  system  to  use  them  in 
conjunction  with  the  separate  magnetic 
sound  reproducers.  Two  standard  rotary 
magnetic  heads  were  installed  for  run- 
ning magnetic  film,  each  mounted  atop 
(Continued  on  page  27) 


Putting  their  best  foot  forward 
For  the  Record  for  the  Festival  of  Britain  exhibi- 
tion, British  film  technicians  de- 
signed and  equipped  a  Telekinema  Theatre  which 
would  acquaint  visitors  from  all  over  the  world  with 
the  trend  of  British  thought  in  terms  of  things  cine- 
matographic. 

Visual  and  aural  attractions  at  the  Telekinema  in- 
cluded large-screen  Tv,  three-dimensional  motion  pic- 
tures, stereophonic  sound  reproduction,  multiple  film 
prints  which  utilized  a  projector  interlock,  and  a 
means  for  eliminating  the  conventional  screen  mask- 
ing by  utilizing  an  accessory  optical  unit  which  lit- 
erally "fed  off"  the  standard  projector  setup. 

One  must  admire  the  British  "drive"  under  difficult 
economic  conditions,  but  it  must  be  said  that  the 
Telekinema  offered  little  if  anything  that  has  not  been 
done  before.  To  recap: 

Recap  of  Equipment  and  Processes 

Large-screen  Tv  is  old-hat  not  only  in  the  U.  S.  but 
also  in  Britain.  The  simultaneous  projection  of  mul- 
tiple film  tracks,  with  projector  interlock,  is  also  of 
comparatively  ancient  vintage,  the  most  notable  ex- 
ample of  which  probably  was  the  roadshow  presenta- 
tion of  Disney's  "Fantasia"    (IP  for  November,  1940, 


p.  20).  Also  in  "Fantasia"  was  the  first  public  demon- 
stration of  true  stereophonic  sound  reproduction, 
using  36  speakers  on  the  stage  alone,  with  22  small 
cabinet-type  speakers  scattered  about  the  auditorium. 

The  Telekinema  utilized  two  projectors  plus  ana- 
lyzers (viewing  spectacles)  to  achieve  the  three-di- 
mensional motion  picture  effect.  This  procedure  has 
been  well  known  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  for 
many  years.  IP  hopes  to  be  able  shortly  to  describe 
a  system  creating  the  same  effect  which  uses  only 
one  projector — plus  analyzers,  of  course. 

As  for  the  means  employed  to  eliminate  the  screen 
masking — an  accessory  optical  unit — it  would  seem 
that  our  British  friends  did  this  job  the  hard  way. 
Much  more  simple  is  the  Schlanger  method  which 
utilizes  no  accessory  units  (described  and  shown  else- 
where in  this  issue). 

The  foregoing  comments  are  intended  solely  for 
the  record  and  are  not  intended  to  detract  from  the 
progressivism  of  British  thinking  in  motion  picture 
technology.  Constant  hammering  away  at  the  tough 
problems  in  filmdom  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic 
might  well  provide  the  means  for  extending  the  life 
expectancy  of  the  motion  picture  theatre  far  beyond 
the  present  horizon. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     October  1951 


13 


From  the  Production  Front 

'Showboat' :  Cameraman's  Dream 

By  GEORGE  SIDNEY 

President,    Screen    Directors'   Guild    of   America 

This  is  the  story  of  one  phase  of  technological  know-how  that  is  poured  into  the  making 
of  a  great  motion  picture,  in  this  case  the  Technicolor  masterpiece,  "Showboat."  The 
original  source  of  the  story,  the  American  Cinemotographer  (Aug.  1951).  We  found  it 
fascinating,  an  evaluation  in  which  we  hope  IP  readers  concur.  Ruminating  upon  the 
meticulous  care  lavished  upon  this  production,  we  wondered  on  the  quality  of  projection  ' 
accorded  "Showboat"  in  thousands  of  theatres. 


THE  degree  to  which  people  become 
absorbed  in  a  motion  picture,  and 
become  subjectively  involved  in  a  kind 
of  emotional  third  dimension,  is  the 
measure  of  a  picture's  success.  Because 
motion  pictures  are  a  visual  medium,  a 
successful  picture  often  depends  on  the 
cameraman's  skill  in  enhancing  the  ac- 
tion pictorially,  leading  the  audience  into 
this  emotional  state. 

"Showboat"  is  an  example  of  this  cine- 


matographic ingenuity.  Throughout  its 
entire  length,  it  is  replete  with  deft  cine- 
matic touches  that  point  up  a  player's 
role  or  enhance  a  situation  with  observ- 
able effect  on  the  audience. 

Many  unusual  photographic  problems 
were  encountered  in  filming  "Showboat." 
Most  of  them  were  anticipated  early  and 
plans  consequently  made  for  overcoming 
them  in  a  series  of  pre-production  hud- 
dles that  took  place  before  we   started 


shooting.  "Showboat"  is  the  third  pic- 
ture in  a  row  that  Charles  Rosher  and  I 
have  made  together;  so  by  now  we  have 
become  pretty  much  of  a  team. 

Results  Were  No  'Accident1 

Those  "old  master"  touches  in  many 
of  the  colorful  scenes  of  "Showboat" 
were  no  accident.  They  were  the  end  re- 
sult of  countless  sessions  when  together 
we  pored  over  endless  volumes  in  my 
library  of  art  and  photographic  books. 
Whenever  I  showed  enthusiasm  for  some 
particularly  colorful  or  artistic  effect  in 
an  illustration.  Rosher  would  make  a 
mental  note  on  how  to  adapt  it  to  some 
particular  scene.  I  think  this  is  best  ex- 
emplified in  the  sequence  of  shots  of 
William  Warfield  singing  "OF  Man 
River,"  which  was  actually  filmed  at 
dawn,  in  real  fog.  The  low  key  result  is 
a  masterpiece  in  color  cinematography. 

There  are  a  number  of  scenes  in  the 
picture,  incidentally,  where  fog  played 
a  dominant  part,  pictorially.  We  took 
advantage  of  the  fact  we  were  producing 
this  picture  in  December  in  Culver  City, 
not  far  from  the  Pacific  ocean,  and  used 


Latest  Maskless  Screen  Wins 
Audience,  Technician  Favor 

Proponents  of  the  maskless  screen  are 
enthusiastic  about  the  recent  installation 
of  such  a  unit  in  the  Plaza  Theatre, 
Scarsdale,  N.  Y.  Designed,  fabricated 
and  installed  by  Ben  Schlanger  who 
has  waged  a  long  and  hard  campaign 
for  this  unconventional  reflecting  sur- 
face, the  Plaza  screen  represents  the 
fruits  of  extensive  tests  under  practical 
operating  conditions  over  the  past  several 
years. 

Both  the  screen  itself  and  its  immedi- 
ate surround — sans  masking,  of  course — 
are  woven  from  the  same  fabric,  thus 
permitting  a  vignette  effect  which  permits 
the  projected  light  to  "spill"  over  on  all 
sides  with  gradually  diminishing  intens- 
ity of  light. 

Patron  Reaction  Excellent 

Patron  reaction  to  this  modern  method 
of  screen  presentation  was  excellent,  as 
indeed  was  that  of  the  many  technicians 
who  witnessed  the  Plaza  showing.  This 
tallys  with  the  reaction  of  patrons  to  the 
screen  image  in  a  Connecticut  theater 
which  has  featured  this  form  of  presen- 
tation for  the  past  three  years. 

Maskless  screens  are  not  new,  of 
course,  but  it  remained  for  Schlanger  to 
give  the  idea  its  greatest  impetus  in 
America.  In  fact,  Schlanger  has  been 
waging  an  arduous  lone-wolf  battle 
against  the  conventional  type  of  masked 
screen,  and  it  would  seem  that  at  last  he 
has  won  approval  for  his  idea  in  impor- 
tant technical  circles. 

An  important  aspect  of  the  Schlanger 


maskless  screen  is  that  it  can  be  "pack- 
aged"— that  is,  the  individual  theater  can 
be  equipped  without  the  necessity  for  an 
on-the-spot,  hand-tailored  job.  This  fea- 
ture is  expected  to  be  an  important  mer- 
chandising factor. 

Schlanger  holds  that  the  original  con- 
ception of  a  non-masked  screen  wherein 
consideration  was  given  only  to  the  physi- 
cal means  of  seeing  has  long  since  been 
supplanted  by  the  psycho-physical  theory 
which  gives  precedence  to  the  psychologi- 
cal effect  of  a  vignetted  screen  image 
upon  the  viewer. 

Screen  Lighting  Level  Controlling 

Only  the  low  screen  light  level  pre- 
vailing many  years  ago  justified  the  use 
of      a      black      screen      masking      says 


Schlanger.  The  comparatively  high 
screen  light  level  of  today,  he  avers,  has 
eliminated  the  need  for  screen  masking, 
quite  apart  from  any  consideration  of  the 
greatly  heightened  dramatic  impact  upon 
the  viewer  which  could  be  realized  by  the 
elimination  of  masking. 

The  original  Schlanger  proposal  was 
that  the  light  passing  through  the  edges 
of  an  unmasked  screen  should  be  so  uti- 
lized that  it  would  vignette  off  on  all 
sides  of  the  picture  area  and  illuminate 
an  appropriate  surround.  This  method 
was  held  to  be  applicable  with  equally 
good  results  to  both  black-and-white  and 
color  films. 

Additional  installations  of  the  Schlan- 
ger maskless  screen  will  be  made 
shortly,  one  in  a  large  Broadway  house. 


THE  SCHLANGER  MASKLESS  SCREEN  SURROUND  IN   PLAZA  THEATRE,  SCARSDALE,  N.  Y. 


Showing  how  the 
screen  surround  ap- 
pears in  relation  to 
the  proscenium  and 
sides,  and  to  the 
front  rows  of  seats. 
The  surround  is  made 
of  the  same  ma- 
terial as  the  screen, 
with  no  accessory 
optical  unit  being 
necessary. 


14 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     October  1951 


the  naturally  foggy  atmosphere  for  these 
scenes.  Frequently  the  natural  fog  in 
scenes  was  amplified  through  skillful  use 
of  filters  or  by  addition  of  artificial  fog. 
Sometimes,  having  started  to  shoot  a 
sequence  of  scenes  under  foggy  weather 
conditions,  we  ran  into  serious  trouble. 
The  fog  would  lift  suddenly  and  the  sun 
would  come  out.  This  called  for  one 
of  three  alternatives:  to  employ  artificial 
fog  and  filters,  go  indoors  on  the  sound 
stage,  or  move  to  another  exterior  loca- 
tion that  called  for  shooting  in  full  sun- 
light. 

Fog — and  Light  Balance 

Fog,  being  an  elusive  thing,  became 
one  of  our  major  bugaboos  when  shoot- 
ing exteriors  on  the  studio's  lot  three. 
It  moved  in  clouds  of  varying  density, 
creating  troublesome  exposure  problems. 
We  frequently  bad  to  depend  on  con- 
stant visual  checks  of  the  light,  so  rapidly 
did  light  quality  fluctuate.  Strict  atten- 
tion to  this  detail  enabled  the  camera- 
man to  retain  remarkable  density  bal- 
ance from  one  shot  to  the  next. 

Still  another  problem  was  maintain- 
ing balance  in  the  lighting  when  shoot- 
ing a  sequence  of  fog  scenes  over  a  period 
of  days.  No  two  days  were  alike  in  light 
quality.  It  thus  was  necessary  to  keep  in 
mind  the  light  conditions  that  prevailed 
each  preceding  day  in  order  to  match  it 
and  insure  the  desired  continuity  of 
light  quality  and  direction. 

As  every  cameraman  knows,  it  is  rela- 
tively simple  to  shoot  in  normal  sunlight ; 
but  battling  the  elements  calls  for  more 
than  ordinary  camera  skill.  The  success- 
ful director  of  photography  must  be  re- 
sourceful enough  to  meet  changing  light 
conditions  without  delay,  no  matter  how 
severe  or  how  frequently  they  occur. 

A  'Mental  Encyclopedia' 

Such  mid-winter  weather  conditions 
demonstrated  how  important  is  the  cam- 
eraman's ability  to  maintain  a  sort  of 
mental  encyclopedia  of  detail  from  scene 
to  scene,  where  such  scenes  are  not 
filmed  consecutively.  He  must  have  an 
infallible  memory  for  the  quality,  color 
temperature  and  direction  of  the  source 
of  light. 

For  instance,  we  were  shooting  the 
picture  in  December;  days  were  short. 
There  were  days  that  dawned  foggy  or 
extremely  cloudy,  forcing  us  to  go  in- 
doors and  shoot  on  the  sound  stage. 
Then  the  sun  would  come  out  suddenly, 
and  because  sunshine  was  such  a  prec- 
ious commodity  for  the  vast  number  of 
exteriors  we  had  to  shoot,  we  would  halt 
indoor  shooting  and  move  out-of-doors 
again,  shooting  until  color  temperature 
of  the  light  went  below  the  point  where 
it  could  be  balanced  satisfactorily.  Then 
we'd  go  back  indoors,  only  to  find,  per- 
haps, that  one  of  the  cast  was  unavail- 


able ;  so  we  would  then  switch  to  another 
set.  Two  weeks  later,  we  would  return 
to  the  first  set  and  resume  shooting  there. 
It  was  Rosherrs  uncanny  ability  to  re- 
member all  the  camera  and  lighting  de- 
tails of  the  original  setup  that  enabled 
the  company  to  resume  shooting  as 
though  there  had  been  no  interruption. 
The  subsequent  takes  matched  exactly 
in  lighting  continuity  and  quality  those 
made  the  day  shooting  first  started  on  the 
set. 

Color  Temperature  Vital 

There  are  two  things  in  which  Rosher 
excels:  his  scrupulous  attention  to  con- 
tinuity of  lighting  direction  from  one 
shot  or  sequence  to  another,  and  his  con- 
stant vigilance  over  the  color  tempera- 
ture of  set  illumination. 

We  both  agree  that  the  whole  future 
of  color  photography  is  bound  up  with 
color  temperature,  that  it  is  a  most  im- 
portant factor  in  color  cinematography, 
affecting  as  it  does  the  purity  and  con- 
sistency of  color  rendition.  It  is  neces- 
sary for  cameramen  to  know  this  when 
shooting  color  if  skies  are  to  match  from 
scene  to  scene,  and  faces  and  com- 
plexions of  players  are  to  remain  con- 
stant from  one  scene  to  the  next.  I  think 
"Showboat"  is  outstanding  for  these  very 
consistencies. 

Consistency  in  facial  renditions  were 
achieved  without  resorting  to  overlight- 
ing  by  reflectors  or  booster  lights.  A 
notable  example  is  the  scene,  early  in 
the  picture,  where  Howard  Keel  and 
Kathryn  Grayson,  singing  together  on 
the  upper  deck  of  the  showboat,  move 
about — sometimes  in  partial  shadow  and 
then  in  full  sunlight.  Also,  later  in  the 
picture,  when  Ava  Gardner  is  singing 
"Can't  Help  Lovin'  That  Man"  on  the 
afterdeck.  She  moves  from  one  side  of 
the  boat  to  the  other — in  and  out  of 
sunlight — and  there  is  no  appreciable 
change    in    her    facial    rendition,    photo- 


Red  Feather  Volunteers 

The  United  Red  Feather  Cam- 
paign in  your  town  needs  you  as 
a  volunteer  solicitor  in  this  fall's 
big  drive  for  funds. 

Your  United  Red  Feather  drive 
is  a  part  of  one  great  national  effort 
to  support  more  than  15,000  local 
health,  recreation  and  welfare  serv- 
ices. New  inclusions  this  year  are 
the  reactivated  USO  and  other  vol- 
untary health  and  welfare  agencies 
which  are  now  needed  because  of 
the  defense  effort. 

More  than  a  million  and  a  half 
volunteers  are  needed  to  do  the 
job.  Volunteer  your  time  now  to 
your  UNITED  RED  FEATHER 
CAMPAIGN. 


graphically,  due  to  skillful  maneuvering 
of  the  lighting. 

These  scenes  particularly  demonstrate 
what  is  becoming  more  and  more  self- 
evident:  that  candid-type  photography 
has  at  last  come  into  its  own  in  cinema- 
tography— candid  in  that  there  is  more 
realism  in  the  result,  less  of  the  "forced" 
photographic  effect. 

Developing  Pictorial  Emphasis 

Many  of  the  memorable  camera  treat- 
ments in  the  picture  were  conceived  right 
on  the  set  or  location.  From  a  composi- 
tional viewpoint,  one  of  the  most  impres- 
sive is  the  shot  of  Howard  Keel  walking 
along  the  river's  edge.  The  camera, 
slightly  elevated,  looks  down  on  Keel 
and  shows  reflections  of  the  gaily  deco- 
rated showboat  in  the  water  behind  him 
■ — an  impressive  and  colorful  backdrop. 
It  was  one  of  those  opportunities  for 
pictorial  emphasis  which  was  developed 
to  the  fullest. 

Another  example  occurs  early  in  the 
picture.  One  of  the  crew,  after  being 
severely  beaten  by  Robert  Sterling  for 
forcing  his  attentions  on  Ava  Gardner, 
leaves  the  showboat  in  a  rage  and  goes 
up  the  river  bank  in  search  of  the  sheriff. 
This  could  have  been  an  ordinary  shot 
made  from  a  simple  camera  setup  on 
the  crest  of  the  river  bank,  picking  up 
the  man  as  he  trudged  up  the  hill.  But 
we  saw  opportunity  to  gradually  heighten 
the  effect  of  the  man's  anger  through  pic- 
torial emphasis  that  would  make  him 
loom  larger  as  he  approached  the 
camera. 

Dolly  tracks  were  laid  from  the  crest 
of  the  hill,  extending  out  toward  the  boat 
on  a  scaffolding,  and  paralleling  the  up- 
hill path.  The  Technicolor  camera, 
mounted  on  a  movable  crane,  was  set  to 
start  the  shot  from  the  far  end  of  the 
track — nearest  the  boat.  As  the  man  left 
the  boat  below,  the  camera  was  started 
and  the  crane  pulled  back;  meanwhile, 
the  boom  was  gradually  lowered  until 
the  camera  now  was  below  the  level  of 
the  dolly  tracks,  almost  at  ground  level. 
Here  it  looked  up  at  the  raging  boatman 
looming  ever  larger,  and  at  the  same  time 
showed  the  boat  in  the  distance  for  a 
unique  compositional  effect. 

Difficult  Location  Problems 

One  of  the  classic  shots  in  the  entire 
picture  is  one  we  filmed  on  location  on 
the  Mississippi  river.  Prior  to  starting 
the  picture  at  the  studio,  Rosher  and  I 
went  to  Vicksburg,  Miss.,  to  shoot  scenes 
of  the  river  packet  on  which  Howard 
Keel  and  Ava  Gardner  meet  again,  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  story.  On  an  earlier 
location-scouting  trip  I  had  located  the 
"Sprague,"  an  ancient  river  boat  tied  up 
at  a  wharf,  where  it  now  served  as  a 
(Continued  on  page  26) 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •    October  1951 


15 


TN  THE 

SPOTLIGHT 


By 

HARRY 

SHERMAN 


MOST  welcome  is  the  news  that  RCA 
has  reprinted  in  compact  form 
under  one  cover  the  six  articles  on  the 
RCA  PT-100  Theater  Tv  system  which 
were  written  expressly  for  and  ran  in 
serial  form  exclusively  in  IP.  We  say  this 
news  is  most  welcome  not  to  win  any 
"puff"  for  IP  but  because  for  several 
weeks  past  now  we  have  been  deluged 
with  requests  for  copies  of  these  articles 
not  only  by  those  who  had  missed  the 
series  but  also  by  those  who  having  read 
the  articles  wished  to  obtain  them  in  com- 
pact form. 

RCA  has  reprinted  many  thousands  of 
these  booklets,  the  content  of  which  was 
slanted  directly  at  projectionists,  and  na- 
tion-wide distribution  is  now  being 
effected  through  the  RCA  district  offices. 
It  is  not  unlikely  that  the  current  supply 
will  soon  be  exhausted  and  that  a  further 
reprint  order  will  be  placed. 

IP  regrets  that  it  cannot  service  the 
many  requests  for  this  booklet,  since  the 
physical  distribution  is  being  handled  by 
RCA.  Inquiries  concerning  the  booklet 
should  be  addressed  to  the  Theater 
Equipment  Section,  Engineering  Prod- 
ucts Dept.,  Radio  Corp.  of  America. 
Camden,  N.  J. 

The  aforementioned  circumstances 
demonstrate  once  more  the  wisdom  of 
those  regular  subscribers  to  IP  who  don't 
have  to  stretch  a  shoelace  to  be  kept 
well  informed  on  technical  developments 
each  month. 

•  The  greatly  expanded  activities  of  the 
IA  have  made  it  necessary  to  move  its 
general  offices  to  larger  quarters.  They 
are  now  located  in  the  RKO  Building. 
Suite  1900,  1279  Sixth  Avenue,  New  York 
20,  just  one  block  west  of  its  former  head- 
quarters. 

•  Frank  Kinsora,  president  of  Detroit 
Local  199,  was  in  charge  of  the  CoHseum 
during  the  recent  Michigan  state  fair. 
Roadmen  working  on  the  job  all  spoke 
very  highly  of  Frank. 

•  A  recent  NLRB  ruling  ordered  the  im- 
mediate reinstatement  plus  back  pay  of 
Kenneth  Caraway,  who  .was  discharged 
from  his  job  as  projectionist  at  the  Fox 


Theater  in  Coffeyville,  Kans.  The  Board 
examiner  found  that  "certain  interests 
brought  pressure  on  the  Fox  Midwest 
Amusement  Corp.  to  fire  Caraway,  there- 
by violating  the  Taft-Hartley  Law." 

*  Matt  Kennedy,  former  business  repre- 
sentative for  Local  273,  New  Haven, 
Conn.,  figured  in  a  car  smashup  that  al- 
most cost  him  his  life.  Matt  and  Mrs. 
Kennedy  were  driving  through  the  out- 
skirts of  Utica,  N.  Y.,  en  route  to  Canada 
where  they  planned  to  spend  their  vaca- 
tion, when  a  large  truck  rammed  into  the 
back  of  their  car,  completely  demolishing 
the  trunk  compartment  and  the  rear  seats. 
Miraculously,  the  Kennedys  escaped  seri- 
ous injuries,  and  outside  a  few  minor 
bruises  and  a  pretty  bad  scare  they  were 
none  the  worse  for  their  experience. 
Their  baggage,  of  course,  was  destroyed, 
and  the  Canadian  vacation  was  indefi- 
nitely postponed. 

•  A  banquet  at  the  Bel  Sito  Restaurant 
on  September  19  marked  the  40th  anni- 
versary celebration  for  Local  221,  Au- 
rora, 111.  Clinton  R.  Graeff,  president  of 
the  Local,  presented  charter  member  but- 
tons to  Henry  H.  Anderson,  Charles  O. 
Doane,  Ralph  I.  Pulver,  Raymond  L.  Fox 
(vice-president  of  the  Local),  and  Wal- 
ter B.  Kline.  Serving  on  the  arrangements 

UNION    LABOR   BACKS  MOVIETIME    USA 

UNION  LABOR  endorses 


Motion  Picture  Theatres,  indoors  os 
well  as  outdoor,  join  the  1,500  other 
Movie  Theatres  of  Texas  in  the  cele- 
bration of  MOVIE  TIME  IN  TEXAS 
Attend  a  movie  at  any  theatre.  En- 
joy yourself  in  any  one  of  the  eight 
Movie  Theatres  in  the  Paris  area  — 
always  fine  entertainment  at  a  modesr 
price. 

Moving  Picture  Machine  Operators 

Local  No.  548  Parii,  Texas 

Here  is  an  example  of  the  cooperation  ex- 
tended by  IA  Locals  throughout  the  country 
to  the  Movietime  USA  campaign  to  spur  the- 
atre attendance.  In  every  instance  the  ad 
space  was  paid  for  by  the  unions. 


committee  were  Ralph  Johnson  (secre- 
tary-treasurer), Phil  Duggan  and  Ray- 
mond Fox. 

•  Roy  M.  Brewer,  IA  Hollywood  repre- 
sentative, was  appointed  as  one  of  the 
two  AF  of  L  members  on  the  Wage  Sta- 
bilization Board  for  California,  Arizona, 
and  Nevada. 

•  We  are  glad  to  learn  that  Bill  Maxon 
of  Syracuse  Local  376  has  recovered  from 
his  protracted  ailment  and  is  once  again 
back  on  the  job.  As  vice-president  of  the 
AF  of  L  Union  Label  Council,  Bill  was 
instrumental  in  having  each  theater  in 
Syracuse  display  a  special  poster  in  con- 
nection with  the  recent  Union  Label 
week. 

•  Movietime  in  Texas  was  celebrated 
several  weeks  ago  in  conjunction  with  the 
nation-wide  Movietime  USA  campaign. 
Typical  of  the  cooperation  of  IA  Local 
Unions  in  this  campaign  was  the  adver- 
tisement placed  in  a  local  newspaper  by 
Local  548,  Paris,  Texas,  a  reproduction 
of  which  appears  herein. 

•  It  has  been  suggested  to  this  depart- 
ment by  a  number  of  our  readers,  many 
of  whom  are  IA  members  of  long  stand- 
ing, that  it  would  be  a  nice  gesture  on  the 
part  of  IA  Local  Unions  to  present  each 
retiring  member  with  a  card  upon  which 
appears  his  union  affiliation,  date  of  re- 
tirement, and  such  other  data  as  may  be 
deemed  pertinent.  The  card  need  not  be 
expensive — just  small  enough  to  carry  in 
a  regular  card  case,  and  will  serve  as  a 
memento  of  many  years'  membership  in 
the  union. 

•  Bert  Ryde,  popular  business  repre- 
sentative for  Buffalo  Local  233,  was  a  re- 
cent one-day  visitor  to  New  York.  He  ac- 
complished his  mission  shortly  after  his 
arrival,  turned  around  and  headed  back 
for  Buffalo  the  very  same  day. 

•  Film  Post  No.  1292  of  the  American 
Legion,  formed  by  members  of  New  York 
Local  306,  held  its  annual  election  of 
officers.  The  newly  elected  officers  are  Al 
Sprung,  comander;  Moe  Singer,  1st  vice- 
commander;    Harold    Salkey,    2nd   vice- 


16 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     October  1951 


commander;  Harry  Klein,  3rd  vice-com- 
mander; Archie  Hollander,  hospitaler; 
Frank  Miller,  adjutant;  Edgar  Heidel- 
berg, financial  officer;  Francis  Costa,  ser- 
geant-at-arms,  and  Harry  Waks,  chap- 
lain. A.  S.  (Steve)  D'Inzillo  and  Al 
Sprung  were  named  to  the  entertainment 
committee. 

•  George  Ernst,  projectionist  at  the 
Grand  Theater,  Grantsburg,  Wis.,  was 
severely  burned  about  the  face  while  he 
was  adjusting  his  projection  equipment 
during  an  electrical  storm.  It  is  believed 
that  a  flash  of  lightning  entered  a  vent 
pipe  running  from  the  projection  room 
to  the  outside  of  the  building,  causing  a 
fire  that  destroyed  the  equipment  in  the 
projection  room  and  injured  Ernst. 

•  Hugh  J.  Sedgwick,  secretary  and  busi- 
ness representative  for  Local  303,  Ham- 
ilton, Ont.,  Canada,  was  the  first  film  man 
chosen  to  represent  Canada  at  Britain's 
recent  Trade  Union  Congress.  Sedgwick 
was  the  first  fraternal  delegate  of  the 
Canadian  Trades  and  Labor  Council.  He 
is  active  in  Canadian  Labor  circles,  and 
his  public  service  activities  include  serv- 
ice on  the  Board  of  the  Hamilton  General 
Hospital  and  the  chairmanship  of  the 
Hamilton  Planning  Board. 

•  We  sympathize  deeply  with  Leo  Bar- 
ber, business  representative  for  Local 
245,  Lynn,  Mass.,  on  the  recent  death  of 
his  wife,  Constance.  Leo  has  held  office 
in  the  Local  for  many  years  and  is  popu- 
lar in  Labor  circles. 

•  Morris  J.  Rotker,  member  of  New 
York  Local  306  and  chairman  of  the  Ce- 
rebral Palsy  Committee  in  this  city,  ad- 
vised us  that  he  was  overwhelmed  with 
the  response  from  IP  readers  to  his  re- 
cent request  for  old  and  discarded  greet- . 
ing  cards  for  the  victims  of  cerebral 
palsy.  He  was  so  deluged  with  cards  from 

TWO  ARCLIGHT  CHAMPS  IN  HOLLYWOOD 


Fred  C.  Stovenour,  representative  for  National 
Carbon  Co.  in  Memphis,  pictured  with  his 
daughter,  movie  actress  June  Haver,  who  has 
helped  to  consume  much  of  her  dad's  product. 


all  parts  of  the  country  that  he  has  re- 
quested us  to  thank  the  senders  and  to 
ask  that  no  more  cards  be  sent  to  him. 
His  supply  on  hand  is  more  than  suffi- 
cient for  his  needs. 

•  We  had  occasion  recently  to  spend 
several  weeks  on  the  road  with  a  legiti- 
mate play  utilizing  projection.  One  func- 
tion, of  course,  was  to  run  the  projection 
machines.  New  Haven,  Conn.,  was  our 
first  stop,  and  there  we  met  for  the  first 
time  Frank  Perry,  the  newly-elected  busi- 
ness representative  for  Local  273.  Perry 
was  very  gracious  and  we  think  the 
members  of  the  New  Haven  Local  are 
fortunate  in  their  choice  of  business  rep- 
resentative. 

Boston  was  our  second  stand,  for  a 
three  weeks'  run,  and  there  we  were 
greeted  by  Walter  Diehl,  business  repre- 
sentative for  Local  182.  The  Boston  boys 
were  most  cooperative,  particularly  Joe 
Cifre,  former  president  of  Local  182  and 
now  head  of  the  supply  company  bearing 
his  name.  We  had  a  little  difficulty  in  set- 
ting up  our  equipment  and  Joe  dele- 
gated two  of  his  installation  men,  Dave 
Fox  and  Alfred  Otika,  to  correct  the  trou- 
ble. Fox  and  Otika,  members  of  Local 
182,  proved  their  efficiency  by  keeping 
the  machines  running  in  tip-top  shape 
during  the  Boston  run  of  the  show. 

Our  thanks,  too,  to  RCA  serviceman 
Holmquist,  who  did  a  swell  job  on  the 
projectors,  and  to  all  those  who  assisted 
us  in  the  very  successful  operation  of  the 
equipment. 

•  For  the  first  time  in  its  32  years  of  ex- 
istence, Local  565,  Centralia,  111.,  has 
been  forced  to  resort  to  picketing  in  try- 
ing to  reach  an  agreement  with  an  exhibi- 
tor in  its  jurisdiction.  The  owners  of  the 
Centralia  Drive-In  Theater,  Homer  and 
Elbert  Butler,  refused  to  renew  their  con- 
tract with  the  Local  at  the  opening  of  the 
1951  season  and  locked  out  the  union 
projectionists,  running  the  projection 
machines  themselves.  The  union  officials 
did  not  ask  for  an  increase  in  wages 
for  their  members — they  were  willing  to 
renew  the  contract  on  the  same  terms 
provided  for  in  the  1950  contract,  cover- 
ing regular  and  relief  projectionists,  but 
the  Butlers  balked.  Organized  labor  in 
Centralia  rallied  to  the  support  of  Local 
565  and  is  helping  the  union  both  finan- 
cially and  morally. 

•  The  newly  formed  El  Bekal  Shrine  of 
Long  Beach,  Calif.,  elected  two  IA  men 
to  head  its  stagecraft  unit.  Mace  Taylor, 
member  of  Los  Angeles  Local  33,  was 
elected  president,  and  Alonzo  B.  Bennett, 
secretary  of  Long  Beach  Local  521,  was 
named  secretary  of  the  unit,  in  addition 
to  being  appointed  chairman  of  the  pro- 
jection and  spotlight  departments.  Max 
G.  Miller,  former  president  of  Local  523, 
was  named  chairman  of  the  sound  de- 
partment. 


HUGH 
SEDGWICK 

IA  man 

Canada's 

delegate   to 

British  Trade 

Union  Congress. 


The  new  temple  was  granted  dispensa- 
tion by  the  Imperial  Shrine  Council  at 
the  last  national  convention,  and  in  El 
Bekal's  ranks  will  be  found  many  "No- 
bles" carrying  union  cards. 

•  Negotiations  between  Vancouver  Local 
348  and  the  Famous  Players  circuit  of 
Canada  have  reached  an  impasse  with  the 
Local's  refusal  to  accept  a  28c  per  hour 
increase  recommended  by  a  conciliation 
board.  The  Local  is  asking  for  an  in- 
crease of  50c  per  hour,  basing  its  demand 
upon  the  increased  cost  of  living  index, 
which,  it  is  claimed,  has  reached  an  all- 
time  high.  We  understand  that  the  offi- 
cials of  the  Local  have  appealed  to  the 
British  Columbia  labor  relations  board 
for  a  government-supervised  strike  vote. 

25  Years  Ago— October  1926 

•  The  new  edition  of  the  International 
By-Laws  carried  a  change  in  Article  2, 
Section  21,  (page  44),  passed  at  the 
Cleveland  Convention  in  June  of  that 
year,  applicable  to  new  members.  Here- 
tofore it  was  necessary  that  an  applicant 
reside  in  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Local 
Union  to  which  he  made  application  for 
membership  for  a  period  of  only  six  (6) 
months.  The  law  now  reads  that  the  term 
of  residence  be  eighteen  (18)  months, 
and  all  Local  Unions  were  instructed  to 
see  that  this  new  provision  was  properly 
enforced.  .  .  .  The  General  Executive 
Board  met  at  the  Hotel  Ft.  Wayne  in  De- 
troit, Mich.,  hearing  charges  and  appeals. 
.  .  .  Producers  on  the  West  Coast  were 
notified  by  the  International  Alliance,  the 
United  Brotherhood  of  Carpenters  and 
Joiners.  International  Brotherhood  of 
Electrical  Workers,  and  the  United 
Scenic  Artists  of  America  that  in  the 
event  complete  unionization  of  the  West 
Coast  studios  was  not  completed  by  De- 
cember 1926.  a  general  strike  would  be 
called.  .  .  .  Per  capita  tax  to  be  paid  to 
the  General  Office  was  increased  to  85c; 
this  included  convention  transportation 
and  per  diem  taxes.  .  .  .  The  General 
Executive  Board  approved  the  action  of 
IA  President  Canavan  in  donating  $1000 
to  Local  545.  Miami,  Fla.,  in  response  to 
an  appeal  for  assistance  after  the  recent 
hurricane. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     October  1951 


17 


"he  Allied  Arts  and  Sciences 


A  vast  field  of  artistic  and  scientific  endeavor  is  directly  contributory  to  the  motion 
picture  process  and,  therefore,  to  the  practice  of  projection.  The  true  craftsman  should 
have  a  well-rounded  understanding  of  these  contributory  factors,  particularly  in  view  of 
the  imminent  widespread  utilization  of  television  and,  possibly,  stereoscopic  pictures  and 
stereophonic  sound.  To  this  end,  IP  here  inaugurates  a  special  department  which  will 
provide  basic  information  on  the  aforementioned  arts  and  sciences. 

II.    Photographic  Optics  (Distortion) 

Bciusch  &  Lomb  Optical  Company,  Rochester,  New  York 


THIS  is  the  latest  of  the  five  mono- 
chromatic aberrations,  and  the  one 
in  no  way  affecting  the  sharpness  of  the 
image.  This  aberration  changes  the 
point-for-point  mapping  by  the  lens,  so 
that  the  sharp  image  points  do  not  cor- 
respond in  all  respects  with  the  positions 
occupied  by  the  original  object  points. 
The  mapping  becomes  inaccurate  in  a 
regular  manner,  or,  expressed  more  sci- 
entifically, the  magnification  is  not  uni- 
form over  the  field  of  the  lens. 

This  latter  is  perhaps  the  best  way  of 
visualizing  the  optical  designer's  dis- 
tortion, which  should  be  carefully  dis- 
tinguished from  the  distortion  intro- 
duced by  a  wide-angle  lens.  The  latter 
is  strictly  a  perspective  distortion,  while 
the  former  can  be  called  a  mapping  dis- 
tortion. 

If  the  magnification  of  a  lens  is  a  func- 
tion of  the  field  angle,  one  cannot  expect 
to  image  a  square  centered  about  the  axis 
of  the  lens  as  a  square,  but  as  some 
queerly-warped  figure. 

'Pincushion'  Distortion 

More  characteristically,  since  a 
straight  line  near  the  edge  of  the  field 
is  an  object  lying  at  varying  angular  dis- 
tances from  the  axis  of  the  lens,  one 
cannot  expect  to  image  that  line — be 
it  posted,  door  lintel,  etc. — as  straight, 
but  must  expect  to  find  it  curved.  In  a 
lens  afflicted  with  distortion,  the  post 
will   be   curved   either   toward   or    away 


from  the  center  of  the  field,  depending 
upon  the  type  of  distortion  present. 

If  the  magnification  in  the  field  is 
greater  than  that  along  the  axis,  a  cen- 
tered square  will  present  the  appear- 
ance of  a  pincushion,  with  corners  sharp 
and  less  than  90°,  and  straight  lines 
will    be    imaged    as    portions    of   curves 


FIG.   14.  'Pin-cushion'  distortion. 


FIG.   15.  'Barrel'  distortion. 

convex  to  the  center  of  the  field.  It  is 
for  obvious  reasons  that  this  aberration 
is  called  pincushion  distortion  (Fig.  14). 

'Barrel'  Distortion 

On  the  other  hand,  if  the  magnifica- 
tion is  less  in  the  field,  a  square  will  re- 
semble a  perspective  drawing  of  a  barrel, 
and  lines  in  the  margins  will  be  curved 
toward  the  axis.  The  appellation  barrel 
for  this  type  of  distortion  is  readily  jus- 
tified   (Fig.  15). 

Distortion  is  controlled  by  the  lens 
designer  through  the  choice  of  stop  po- 
sition and  the  distribution  of  powers 
throughout  the  system. 

No  matter  how  far  we  stop  the  lens, 
the  distortion  will  remain  unaffected. 
This  aberration  cannot  influence  the 
sharpness  of  imagery.  Distortion,  how- 
ever, is  more  sensitive  to  image  height 
than  any  other  aberration  we  shall  con- 
sider, varying  as  the  cube  of  the  height; 
whereas  coma  and  lateral  chromatic 
aberration    vary    directly,    and    astigma- 


tism and  field  curvature,  as  the  square 
of  the  image  height  (Fig.  16). 

Distortion  is  a  very  important  aber- 
ration where  the  metric  properties  of 
the  negative  or  print  must  be  considered, 
as  in  copying,  template  work,  or  aerial 
mapping.  In  these  cases,  symmetrical 
lenses  are  usually  used,  which  have  the 
advantageous  property  of  having  theoreti- 
cally zero  distortion  when  working  at 
unit  magnification,  and  very  little  while 
working  at  any  other  magnification.  When 
measurements  must  be  made  on  photo- 
graphs, the  distortion  of  the  lenses  used 
is  determined  and  allowed  for. 

In  most  photography,  distortion  is  of 
small  consequence,  having  been  brought 
to  such  a  level  in  modern  lenses  that 
highly-refined  tests  must  be  employed 
to  detect  it.  For  that  reason,  it  is  seldom 
seen  in  our  negatives  and  prints. 

The  Two  Pure  Color  Aberrations 

Each  of  the  preceding  aberrations  will 
differ  in  different  colors,  but  there  are 
two  distinct  aberrations  arising  because 
of  color  itself,  two  aberrations  inde- 
pendent of  any  consideration  except  color. 
Before  we  discuss  these  chromatic  de- 
fects of  lenses,  we  shall  have  to  consider 
in  more  detail  exactly  what  happens  when 
a  ray  of  light  strikes  our  lenses. 

In  empty  space,  light  travels  at  the 
rate  of  186,000  miles  per  second.  When 
traveling  in  matter  (transparent,  of 
course)  the  speed  is  necessarily  some- 
what less.  In  fact,  the  velocity  of  a  hght- 
wave  is  one  of  the  most  important  char- 
acteristics of  a  transparent  medium 
(vacuum  having  the  maximum  and  op- 
tically more  dense  media  having  pro- 
gressively lower  velocities).  This  ve- 
locity is  a  measure  of  the  bending  or 
refractive  power  of  a  medium:  the  lower 
the  speed  of  light  inside  the  medium, 
the  greater  is  its  ability  to  bend  light, 
and  vice  versa. 

The  reason  for  this  is  seen  in  the  con- 
sideration of  the  diagram  illustrating  re- 
fraction for  a  beam  of  light.  Upon  the 
basic  fact  of  refraction  at  a  glass-air 
boundary,  or  the  boundary  of  two  dis- 
similar media,  is  raised  the  whole  science 
of  optics  as  it  interests  us  here  (Fig.  17) . 

Refractive  Index  of  Media 

Nature,  doing  things  with  a  lavish 
hand,  not  only  permits  slowing  light  upon 
entering  a  dense  medium,  but  permits  dif- 
ferent colors  travelling  with  different 
velocities.   In   fact,   in   common    glasses, 


ACTUAL  RAY  IN 

r— "  pincushion  distortion 

*^*- 

—IDEAL  BAY 

(V-;:  - 

"•^ACTUAL  RAY  IN 

BARREL  DISTORTION  . 

^^-»- 

1 

\l 

FIG.    16.    Distortion. 


18 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     October  1951 


FIG.    17.    Refraction. 

red  light  travels  as  much  as  4000  miles 
per  second  faster  than  violet  or  blue 
light.  This  has  the  natural  effect  of  tie- 
ing  the  bending  power  or  refractive  in- 
dex to  the  color  of  the  light  considered, 
which  means  a  different  index  for  red 
than  for  violet  light   (Fig.  18). 

The  index  for  blue  light  is  always 
higher  than  for  red  light,  the  difference 
between  the  two  expressing  the  disper- 
sive power  of  the  medium,  since  it 
measures  in  effect  the  spread  of  a  spec- 
trum, or  rainbow,  produced  by  a  prism 
of  the  material. 

Now  consider  a  lens  receiving  a  bundle 
of  parallel  light.  Each  element  of  the 
lens  acts  as  a  prism,  refracting  the  light 
toward  a  general  region  on  the  axis 
(Fig.  19) .  For  the  moment,  neglect 
spherical  aberration  and  consider  the 
effect  of  the  colors  constituting  white 
light. 

As  noted  previously,  blue  or  violet 
light  will  be  refracted  more  than  red 
light,  and  would  thus  be  brought  to  a 
focus  closer  to  the  lens  than  would  the 
red.  The  distance  between  the  lens  ver- 
tex and  the  mean  focus  is  dependent 
on  the  glass  index,  being  smaller  the 
higher  that  index.  The  distance  between 
the  blue  and  red  foci  is  a  function  of 
the  dispersion  of  the  glass,  being  greater 
the   larger   that    dispersion. 

This  difference  of  focal  points  in  dif- 
ferent colors  constitutes  the  first  of  our 


ANGLE  OF  DISPERSION 


LOW  REFRACTIVITY  MATERIAL 
ANGLE  OF  DEVIATION 


ANGLE  OF  DISPERSION 


chromatic  aberrations:  longitudinal  chro- 
matic aberration,  or  separation  of  focal 
point.  It  is  easily  seen  that  this  defect 
is  of  major  importance  in  photography, 
for,  as  is  seen  from  the  diagram,  in  the 
presence  of  this  aberration  there  is  no 
single  focal  point:  the  image  is  soft, 
consisting  of  vari-colored  discs. 

The  situation  would  not  be  too  bad 
with  blue-sensitive  film,  for  then,  after 
a  shift  to  compensate  for  the  "chemical 
focus,"  a  fairly  sharp  image  could  be 
obtained  in  blue  light  (Fig.  20).  If 
either  orthochromatic  or  panchromatic 
film  were  to  be  employed,  the  situation 
would  be  hopeless,  the  film  registering 
little  but  the  large  circles  of  confusion. 

Chemical  focus  is  seen  in  infra-red 
work,  where  the  manufacturer  recom- 
mends focusing  the  lens  out  a  trifle  for 


FIG.   18.  Refraction  and  dispersion. 


FIG.   19.   Lens   as   prisms. 

best  results.  The  infra-red  focal  plane 
is  farther  from  the  lens  than  the  visible. 
i.e.,  the  lens  is  afflicted  with  longitudinal 
chromatic  aberration  in  the  infra-red, 
and  the  outward  shift  is  to  compensate 
for  this. 

This  aberration  justly  receives  prompt 
attention  from  the  designer,  being  one 
of  the  very  first  to  be  corrected.  All 
photographic  objectives  except  the  very 
crudest  have  been  corrected  for  longi- 
tudinal color. 

We  saw  previously  that,  because  of 
the  twin  factors  of  refraction  and  dis- 
persion, a  parallel  beam  of  white  light 
is  broken  up  by  a  positive  lens  into  a 
series  of  focal  points,  the  blue  coming 
to  a  focus  sooner  than  the  red.  Further, 
we  saw  that  the  distance  between  these 
two  foci  varies  with  the  dispersion  of 
the  glass,  being  greater  the  greater  the 
dispersion.  The  only  way  to  achieve 
achromatism  of  the  focal  points  is  by 
some  dodge  to  annul  the  dispersion  of  the 
glass,  while  at  the  same  time  not  com- 
pletely canceling  its  refractive  power. 

In  practice,  this  is   achieved  through 


ȣ0  CEftTCM 

BLUt  CCNTER 

RCO  rftitoGC 

s~\ 

-*,         © 

yy 

/  P"=:::::^r~p^r 

\      l^s^^^          *"           B>--E 

FIG.   20.    Longitudinal   chromatic   aberration. 


FIG.   21.   Longitudinal    achromatization. 

the  expedient  of  using  a  negative  lens 
of  a  glass  of  higher  index  and  disper- 
sion with  the  positive  lens  (Fig.  21). 
The  negative  element  has  its  power  and 
dispersion  so  chosen  that  the  dispersion 
between  two  chosen  colors  of  the  posi- 
tive element  is  effectively  cancelled, 
while  its  power  is  not  quite  annulled: 
thus,  a  real  focal  point  does  exist  for 
the  two  colors  achromatised.  In  doing 
this,  the  spherical  aberration  of  the  com- 
bination is  usually  corrected  through  the 
expedient  of  "bending"  the  lens — that  is, 
changing  all  the  curves  by  the  same 
amount. 

It  is  to  be  noticed  that  we  have  spoken 
of  achromatising  the  focal  points  for 
two  colors  only.  Unfortunately,  it  is  pos- 
sible to  correct  with  two  lenses  but 
for  only  two  colors.  The  slight  amount  of 
secondary  color  inevitably  left  in  even 
the  best  objectives  is  too  small  to  be  of 
much  concern.  The  focal  points  of  the 
colors  not  specifically  achromatised 
usually  lie  fairly  close  to  the  common 
focus  of  the  colors  for  which  the  lens 
was  corrected. 

But  it  is  not  sufficient  to  provide  a 
common  focal  point  for  light  of  various 
colors.  True,  with  this  axial  achroma- 
tism effected,  a  sharp  image  will  be 
found  in  all  colors  on  the  axis;  but  off 
axis  there  might  be  a  color  fringe  about 
objects.  Let  us  see  how  this  might  occur 
in  a  lens  having  a  common  focus  for 
blue  and  red  light  (Fig.  22). 

We  saw  earlier  that  the  equivalent 
(Continued  on  page  24) 


r 


FIG.   22.   Lateral   chromatism.   I. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     October  1951 


19 


Feverish   Tv  Activity  on  all  Fronts;  Theater  Stake 


BRASH  indeed  is  anybody  who  would 
hazard  a  prediction  as  to  the  ultimate 
significance  of  Tv  developments  on  both 
the  home  and  theater  fronts  within  the 
past  month.  But  even  a  straightaway  re- 
counting of  such  happenings  is  enough 
to  excite  the  imagination. 

First,  the  word  about  that  old  theater 
Tv  standby — prize  fights.  The  Robinson- 
Turpin  exclusive  fight  broadcast  was  a 
tremendous  success  in  every  theater 
where  it  was  shown.  In  fact,  in  a  couple 
of  spots  the  crowd  got  a  bit  unruly- — 
notably  at  the  State-Lake  in  Chicago, 
where  a  surging  mob  crashed  through  the 
lobby  doors  and  grabbed  whatever  seats 
were  available.  This  gave  industryites  no 
little  concern  in  terms  of  its  effect  upon 
their  regular  patronage  for  movies. 

Sports  Promoters'  Bonanza? 

The  film  industry  then  delivered  an- 
other sock  at  home  Tv  when  RKO  had 
300  film  prints  of  the  fight  in  theater  cir- 
culation within  24  hours.  Theater  Tv 
plus  theater  film,  with  its  lush  take  prac- 
tically convinced  sports  promoters  of  the 
desirability  of  nixing  home  Tv-radio 
broadcasts. 

Two  weeks  later  the  Pep-Saddler  brawl 
did  not  do  so  well  on  the  theater  Tv  cir- 
cuit; but  the  optimistic  view  in  film 
circles  was  that  the  seating  capacity  of 
Tv  theaters  now  operating  is  2%  times 
the  seating  capacity  of  the  Polo  Grounds, 
N.  Y.,  where  the  fight  was  staged.  Tend- 
ing to  prove  that  it  still  is  a  basic  ques- 
tion of  a  quality  attraction — -"the  show's 
the  thing." 

Scores  of  Tv  Color  Tubes 

Theater  Tv  equipment  manufacturers 
were  feverishly  active.  Paramount  (inter- 
mediate-film system)  appointed  Century 
Projector  Corp.  exclusive  distributor  of 
its  theater  units.  Paramount  also  pulled 
a  fast  one  when  it  produced  in  New  York 
a  world-famous  atomic  scientist,  Nobel- 
prize-winner  Dr.  E.  0.  Lawrence,  of  the 
Univ.  of  California,  and  demonstrated  a 
"revolutionary"  new  color  tube.  Oddly 
enough  the  first  demonstration  was  given 
exclusively  to  science  writer  Wiliam  Lau- 
rence, of  the  New  York  Times,  who 
wrapped  up  the  first  atom  bomb  story  for 
all  newspapers  on  behalf  of  the  U.  S. 
Government.  Nice  going  anent  personnel 
and  timing,  with  Par  stock  rising  six 
points  the  day  following. 


Strangely  enough,  writer  Laurence  was 
present  the  following  day  at  a  demon- 
stration of  the  RCA  color  tube,  and  he 
rather  surprised  the  assemblage  by  de- 
claring that  the  RCA  tube  was  the  better 
of  the  two!  Paul  Raibourn,  Paramount 
v.p.,  "admitted"  that  the  RCA  tube  was 
"just  as  good  as  ours,"  but  that  the  Par 
tube  was  "cheaper  to  make." 

In  passing,  it  may  be  said  that  the  Law- 
rence tube  is  not  "revolutionary."  In 
fact,  there  are  more  than  50  different 
ways  to  make  such  a  color  tube;  and 
back  in  1940  Dr.  A.  N.  Goldsmith  in- 
vented 20  different  ways,  while  disclosing 
up  until  recently  only  three  of  them. 

Meanwhile,  Spyros  Skouras,  20th  Cen- 
tury-Fox prexy,  hied  himself  to  Switzer- 
land for  a  further  look-see  at  the  Eido- 
phor  Tv  system,  which  utilizes  the 
Ventarc  H-I  "blown  arc"  of  Dr.  Gretener 
(IP  for  July,  1950) .  Skouras,  enthusias- 
tic anent  Eidophor,  says  that  Fox  will 
soon  be  merchandising  this  system. 

Tv  Scores  at  TOA  Meeting 

Theater  Tv  stole  the  show  at  the  recent 
Theater  Owners  of  America  convention 
in  N.  Y.  RCA,  Paramount,  General  Pre- 
cision Labs.,  and  Trad-Tv  Corp.,  the 
latter  pushing  a  set  for  the  smaller  thea- 
ters, went  all-out  to  impress  Mr.  Exhibi- 
tor. RCA  (direct-projection)  said  that  it 
had  a  backlog  of  100  orders  which,  at  the 
present  rate  of  production,  it  expects  to 
deliver  by  Jan.  1  next.  This  system  costs 
$16,500,  plus  about  $2000  installation  ex- 
pense. Paramount  has  10  of  its  interme- 
diate-film equipments  in  work,  with  de- 
livery date  uncertain.  This  equipment 
costs  $25,000,  plus  $2000  for  installation. 

GPL  reports  43  orders  on  hand  for  its 
two  systems,  this  company  being  the  only 
one  to  date  to  offer  both  intermediate-film 

Tv  Stations  vs.  Saturation 

Confirming  general  observation,  re- 
cent statistical  studies  have  shown  that 
in  markets  where  there  was  only  one 
television  station,  the  average  Tv  re- 
ceiver saturation  was  28.7%.  The  satura- 
tion figure  goes  up  to  33%  in  markets 
with  two  stations;  to  46.3%  in  markets 
with  three  stations,  and  climbs  even  to 
59.1%  in  markets  with  four  or  more. 


and  direct-projection  equipments.  The 
film  equipment,  similar  to  the  Paramount 
unit,  is  priced  at  $35,000,  but  since  16- 
mm  film  is  used  via  a  special  projector, 
GPL  claims  radically  decreased  operat- 
ing costs.  The  GPL  direct  system  costs 
about  the  same  as  the  RCA  job,  with  pro- 
duction now  underway. 

The  newcomer  to  the  field,  Trad,  is 
offering  a  simplified  system  which  is  ob- 
viously pointed  at  the  small-theater  field. 
Two  Trad  units  are  available — one  at 
$3500  and  the  other  at  $7650,  with  in- 
stallation costs  estimated  at  under  $1000. 

Significantly,  practically  all  sponsors 
of  theater  Tv  systems  predict  that  the 
movie  theaters  will  have  color  Tv  via  a 
closed  circuit  long  before  it  ever  reaches 
homes  on  a  large  scale.  Paramount, 
through  its  Chromatic  subsidiary,  avers 
that  color  Tv  is  a  cinch  right  now ;  while 
Fox  asserts  that  not  only  will  its  Eido- 
phor system  run  first  in  the  color  derby 
but  will  also  give  the  best  color  rendition. 

RCA  Theater  Tv  Color  Show 

RCA  made  a  quick  decision  in  favor  of 
action,  not  words.  It  hastily  organized  a 
full  week's  showings  of  large-screen, 
color  theater  Tv  at  the  1200-seat  Colonial 
Theater  (N.  Y.).  Viewed  on  a  9  x  12-ft. 
screen,  a  20-minute  show  built  around 
musical  comedy  actress  Nanette  Fabray 
was  shown  to  very  good  advantage  via 
the  three-color  compatible,  all-electronic 
system.  Morning  show,  in  fact,  was  seen 
locally  in  black-and-white  on  home  sets 
over  Channel  4,  as  well  as  in  Washington, 
D.  C,  on  the  same  channel  number  there, 
via  coaxial  cable  and  radio  relay.  Fur- 
ther, color  Tv  receivers  were  set  up  in 
the  lounge  of  the  Center  Theater  in  Radio 
City  where  the  public  was  invited. 

Color  Tv  Projection  Unit 

The  experimental  receiver-projector 
was  set  up  in  the  orchestra,  about  a  dozen 
rows  back,  while  the  audience  sat  in  the 
balcony.  It  wa  explained  that  it  would 
now  be  possible  to  obtain  a  greater  thrust 
on  a  larger  screen  with  more  recent  de- 
velopments which  could  be  incorporated 
into  new  models,  and  that  widening  the 
6-megacycle  band  would  result  in  greater 
definition.  Moreover,  the  brightness  could 
be  doubled,  RCA  engineers  present 
stated. 

Projector  housing  contained  three  sep- 
arate    projection    kinescopes — for     red, 


20 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     October  1951 


blue  and  green — with  three  images  pass- 
ing through  correction  lenses  and  then 
synchronized  on  the  screen.  In  general, 
reception  was  comparable  to  home  Tv 
reception:  closeups  showed  well,  while 
backgrounds  blurred  too  easily.  Audi- 
ence reaction  was  obviously  quite  sym- 
pathetic with  the  few  mechanical  short- 
comings, however,  and  was  generally 
enthusiastic  about  the  color  values. 

At  the  TOA  convention  it  was  disclosed 
that  the  film  industry  is  seeking  assign- 
ment of  six  channels  in  the  6000-megacy- 
cle  range,  far  above  the  radio  and  Tv 
bands,  which  will  enable  color  transmis- 
sion. The  request  will  be  on  a  strictly 
commercial  basis  in  that  admissions  can 
be  charged. 

Described  by  Sam  Pinanski,  retiring 
TOA  prexy,  as  a  "showmanship  ap- 
proach" was  the  suggestion  that  regional 
theaters  finance  their  own  productions 
of  whatever  character — musicals,  fights, 
operas,  football  games,  etc.  He  added 
that  it  is  costing  him  $400  a  month  to 
keep  the  Tv  wire  in  the  Pilgrim  Theater, 
Boston,  whether  it  is  used  or  not. 

National  Theaters    (West   Coast)    has 


explored  this  idea  and  estimates  that  it 
would  cost  $3,750,000  to  connect  52  of  its 
theaters,  with  all  necessary  broadcasting 
and  production  layouts. 

Requisite  Transmission  Facilities 

Transmission  facilities  are  a  major 
problem.  A.  T.  &  T.  is  not  equipped  at 
present  to  extend  its  service  for  the  prs- 
ent  type  of  theater  Tv,  but  it  is  expanding 
its  facilities  rapidly.  Microwave  relay  is 
favored  over  coaxial  cable  to  handle  sev- 
eral groups  of  wavelengths  more  readily. 
The  addition  of  new  cities  to  Tv  theater 
connections  will  require  local  terminal 
exchange  facilities,  and  for  these 
A.  T.  &  T.  wants  $28,000  for  each  of 
these,  provided  there  is  definite  assurance 
of  future  business. 

Film  exhibitors  continued  to  view  with 
great  concern  the  dogged  fight  being 
waged  by  proponents  of  the  pay-as-you- 
watch  system  of  home  Tv.  Nor  are  Phone- 
vision  and  Skiatron  the  only  entries  in 
this  contest:  Paramount  is  one  of  the 
most  avid  supporters  of  coin-in-the-box 
Tv,  while  RCA  announced  two  months 
ago  that  it  had  perfected  such  a  system 


Tv:  Time  for  Reappraisal 

The  appended  penetrating  commentary 
on  Tv  was  penned  by  one  of  the  best- 
informed  men  in  show  business — Abel 
Green,  editor  of  Variety — and  is  repro- 
duced here  by  permission  of  that  pub- 
lication,  the   "bible"   of  show   business. 

IN  A  relatively  short  period  TV  has  started 
to  pall.  Video  fans  air  the  same  gripes 
about  the  mediocre  programs  after  two 
years  as  they  did  about  pictures  after  over 
a  quarter-of-a-century.  Films  are  marking 
a  box-office  comeback;  Tv  is  standing  still, 
if  not  retrogressing. 

Video  is  in  for  some  serious  soul-searching 
and  self-examination.  The  sooner  the  better. 
Too  many  programs  are  NSG.  Audience  re- 
action is  lethargic  or  negative — certainly  riot 
as  enthusiastic   as  in  the  first   flush  of  Tv. 

The  Show's  the  Thing 

Since  the  show's  the  thing,  neither  a 
microwave-coaxial  nor  color  will  gild  a 
wilting  lily.  If  you've  got  the  attraction,  you 
can  put  it  in  Siberia  and  they'll  seek  it  out; 
if  it's  a  medley  of  mediocrity,  it  can  stand 
smack  on  Times  Square  and  catch  only  the 
breeze  of  customers  passing  by. 

Showmen  don't  need  any  expositions  on 
what's  happening  with  Tv  as  of  the  mo- 
ment— or,  rather,  what  is  not  happening. 
Formulas  are  the  same,  be  they  the  high- 
powered  comedic  programs  or  the  relatively 
penurious  panels. 

Unfortunately  for  the  medium,  the  im- 
pact is  so  socko  that  the  audiences  soon 
tire  after  absorbing  so  much.  In  some  in- 
stances the  viewers  have  literally  become 
contemptuous  through  familiarity  with  the 
program  content  unreeled  week  after  week. 
The  eye  absorbs  so  much  and  so  fast  that  the 
reservoir  of  fresh  material  becomes  an  almost 
physical  and  creative  impossibility. 


Radio  was  different — the  imagination 
through  the  appeal  of  only  one  faculty,  the 
aural,  maintained  greater  interest  over  a 
longer  period  of  time.  Tv  is  a  combination  of 
the  aural  and  the  visual,  and  both  faculties 
reject  after  a  short  spell  what  they  first 
eagerly   accepted. 

Ratings  No  Longer  Valid 

Ratings  are  no  longer  a  criterion.  They 
only  indicate  that  the  number  of  viewers  is 
the  same  because  of  the  constantly  replen- 
ishing new  set-owners.  It  also  means  that 
sets  in  use  are  not  the  same,  because  the 
vet  video  fan  has  gone  back  to  pix  or  gone 
out  of  the  house  for  other  entertainment. 
Ratings  certainly  don't  tell  of  the  many 
tune-outs  on  programs  of  late — and  this  goes 
for  the  biggest  shows. 

It's  a  challenge  therefore,  to  the  new  med- 
ium's showmanship  if  Tv  is  to  maintain  its 
potency.  It  certainly  indicates  a  necessity 
to  dare  to  do  the  different;  to  explore  new 
avenues  and  channel  new  talents  for  that 
iconoscope.  There's  a  limit  to  comedians, 
variety  shows,  ballets,  whodunits,  panels, 
quizzes,  parades.  That  limit  is  being  reached. 
In  some  instances  it's  near  the  deadline. 

Sponsors  happy  over  trademark  identi- 
fication won't  be  so  happy  if  it  gets  around 
that  the  lookers  ain't  looking.  Tv,  like  radio, 
is  still  a  medicine  show  with  electronics.  If 
they're  not  selling  nostrums,  the  pitch  is 
for  something  else,  but  whatever  the  sugar- 
coating  it  is  pertinent  that  the  lure  had 
better  be  potent  or  they  won't  stick  around 
for   the   commercial. 

At  least  the  picture  business  sells  nothing 
but  entertainment.  If  the  film's  value  isn't 
there,  they  don't  lay  it  on  the  line — as  has 
happened  until  Hollywood  buckled-down- 
Winsocki  and  started  turning  out  the  re- 
cent crop  of  quality  celluloid.  Tv  is  in  the 
same  hazardous  position,  which  is  the  more 
dire  in  portent  considering  the  relative  in- 
fancy of  the   medium. 


and  was  set  to  go  whenever  t lie  others 
were — FCC  approval  being  requisite,  of 
course. 

Manufacturers  of  home  Tv  sets 
scanned  all  this  theater  Tv  activity  with 
a  jaundiced  eye,  moving  quickly  to  re- 
capture major  sports  events  and  other 
attractions  through  the  appointment  of  a 
committee  to  study  methods  for  attaining 
this  objective.  Report  has  it  that  a  vol- 
untary payment  based  on  set  sales  will  be 
made  by  all  manufacturers  to  finance  a 
huge  war  chest  to  fight  the  theater  Tv'ers. 
(The  RTMA  denies  this.) 

The  Legislative-Legal  Front 

The  most  explosive  development  of  the 
month  was  on  the  legislative-legal  front. 
Many  thousands  who  believe  that  they 
have  a  "vested  right"  to  see  for  free  in 
the  home  all  major  sports  and  other  at- 
tractions (the  claim  being  that  this  was 
implicit  in  the  Tv  set  sale)  deluged  local, 
state  and  national  authorities  with  com- 
plaints that  theater  Tv,  pro  and  college 
football  management,  baseball  clubs,  etc., 
were  depriving  them  of  their  "rights" 
when  they  restricted  broadcasts. 

Legislators  on  all  three  levels,  their 
ears  acutely  attuned  to  the  great  public- 
ity possibilities  inherent  in  the  situation 
no  less  than  in  the  imminence  of  the 
1952  elections,  promptly  got  busy.  All 
sorts  of  "corrective"  actions  were  sug- 
gested, ranging  from  the  imposition  of  a 
special  tax  on  such  showings  to  prodding 
the  Dept.  of  Justice  to  bring  an  anti-trust 
suit  on  a  monopoly  charge. 

Evidently  Justice  was  impressed,  or 
the  politico's  wishes  prevailed,  because 
an  anti-trust  suit  was  filed  against  the 
National  Football  League  in  an  attempt 
to  break  up  restrictions  on  the  broad- 
casting, radio  and  Tv,  of  the  games.  The 
Dept.  of  Justice  said  that  the  action  was 
not  aimed  at  theater  Tv,  but  added  "If 
we  win  here  in  our  strongest  suit,  and  if 
the  shoe  fits  anywhere  else,  they  will  have 
to  wear  it." 

Newspapers  Cold  to  Theater  Tv 

Meanwhile,  it  appeared  that  a  large 
group  of  newspapers,  and  particularly 
those  who  have  radio  and  Tv  station 
holdings,  were  giving  theater-Tv  show- 
ings the  brushoff  publicity-wise  .In  sev- 
eral cities  where  the  Robinson-Turpin 
fight  was  piped  nito  theaters,  the  sports 
pages  of  the  newspapers  gave  not  an  ad- 
vance line  to  the  fight  itself,  much  less 
to  the  fact  that  it  could  be  seen  at  a  local 
theater. 

Thus,  the  muddled  Tv  picture  at  this 
writing.  One  thing  is  certain,  however: 
all  these  happenings  will  breed  such 
confusion  of  thought  in  the  mind  of  Mr. 
Exhibitor  that  he  will  be  very  reluctant 
to  lay  S25.000  and  more  on  the  bne  for 
something  that  might  not  pay  off. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


October  1951 


21 


The  Movies'  'Lost  Generation' 

Statistics  per  se  have  become  the  bane 
of  our  age,  particularly  in  merchandising, 
mainly  because  they  involve  the  use  of 
figures  in  the  mass  which,  broken  down 
anyway  the  statistician  wishes  (always 
with  the  client  in  mind)  never  benefit  by 
a  look-see  into  the  motivating  factors  in 
the  individual  mind.  The  motion  picture 
industry  has  suffered  acutely  from  this 
statistical  t-error. 

For  what  it  may  be  worth,  we  append 
here  the  latest  statistical  roundup  rela- 
tive to  box-office  anemia  as  supplied  by 
Business  Week,  organ  of  and  for  big 
business. 

Age  Group  as  Moviegoers 

The  ages  between  which  people  attend 
movies  most  frequently  are  19  and  25.  The 
war  drew  off  a  hefty  part  of  this  group.  To- 
ward the  end  of  the  war,  vast  numbers  of 
people  in  this  group  got  married  immedi- 
ately. Soon  most  had  children.  For  the  price 
of  admission  plus  the  price  of  a  baby-sitter, 
you  could  make  a  week's  payment  on  a 
refrigerator — or,  later,  a  Tv  set. 

In  1945  there  were  1.6  million  marriages. 
In  1946  there  were  almost  half  again  as 
many — 2.2  million.  And  within  the  two  years 
between  1945  and  1947,  the  birth  rate  had 
sky-rocketed  from  2.8  million  to  3.8  million. 

Also,  about  70  of  all  marriages  take  place 
between  the  ages  of  18  and  24.  And  the 
average  marriage  age  in  the  U.  S.  is  23  for 
men  and  20  for  women.  In  other  words,  the 
sociological  phenomenon  of  widespread  mar- 
riage right  after  the  war  left  a  real  boxomce 
vacuum.  (One  significant  exception:  the 
drive-in  theater,  where  parents  could  skip 
paying  a  baby-sitter  by  throwing  the  kids 
in  the  back  of  the  car.) 

New  Crop  of  Movie  Fans 

Both  the  birth  rate  and  marriages  are  still 
running  at  a  good  clip — though  not  as  high 
as  immediately  after  the  war.  But  now  every 
day  more  and  more  kids  are  getting  to  the 
moviegoing  age.  These  are  children  born  in 
the  30's. 

Indirectly,  Tv  may  actually  be  contribut- 
ing to  moviegoing  now.  The  new  generation 
has  grown  up  enough  by  now  to  be  interested 
in  courting.  Tv  keeps  the  family  in  the  living 
room,  which  rules  that  out  for  courting.  So 
the  movies  get  the  youngsters'  trade. 


Brokers  See  Steady  B.  0.  Upbeat 

The  motion  picture  box-office  upturn 
is  more  likely  to  gain  momentum  than 
not,  according  to  a  research  department 
bulletin  of  Paine,  Webber,  Jackson  & 
Curtis,  N.  Y.  stock  brokers.  Survey 
points  out  that  a  more  normal  share  of 
the  consumer  dollar  should  be  available 
from  now  on,  with  hard  goods  compe- 
tition beyond  its  peak,  and  installment 
purchases  resulting  from  the  post-Korean 
scramble  for  goods  due  to  be  liquidated 
by  next  Spring. 

As  to  Tv  competition,  the  bulletin 
points  out:    "The   novelty   seems   to    be 


wearing  off — and  the  talent  voracious- 
ness of  Tv  probably  means  an  average 
level  of  program  quality  which  can't 
compete  with  a  really  top-notch  motion 
picture.  When  the  public  gets  bored, 
America's  gregarious  urge  manifests  it- 
self— and  more  often  than  not  this  means 
'going  to  the  movies.' " 

Bulletin  remainds  that  notwithstand- 
ing the  over  six  million  more  Tv  sets 
in  use  today  than  a  year  ago,  the  trend 
of  motion  picture  attendance  turned  up- 
ward in  the  Summer  months,  with  the 
upturn  continued  through  September, 
despite  the  return  of  top  Tv  shows  to 
the  air. 


for  the  similar  period,  according  to  a 
spot  survey  of  domestic  revenue  figures 
of  the  major  film  companies. 

Ozoners,  therefore,  would  appear  to 
be  relatively  safe  from  the  Tv  "bogey- 
man" at  this  time.  More  important,  how- 
ever, according  to  one  distribution  chief, 
the  35%  figure  indicates  that  drive-in 
theaters  are  either  bringing  back  the 
"lost  audience"  to  the  movie-going  habit, 
or  are  possibly  serving  as  the  lure  for 
patrons  who  have  never  attended  a  movie 
before. 


Hoff  New  Prexy  of  TESMA 

The  Theatre  Equipment  &  Supply 
Manufacturers  Assoc,  at  its  recent  an- 
nual convention  in  Hollywood,  elected 
J.  R.  Hoff  (Ballantyne)  to  succeed  Oscar 
Neu  (Neumade  Products)  as  presi- 
dent. Also  elected  were  Roy  Boomer, 
sec.-treas.,  and  as  directors  Harry  Strong 
(Strong  arclamps)  ;  W.  C.  DeVry  (DeVry 
Corp.)  ;  W.  B.  Gedris  (seating)  ;  Larry 
Davee  (Century  Projectors)  ;  Jack 
O'Brien  (RCA)  ;  V.  J.  Nolan  (National 
Carbon)  ;  E.  W.  Wagner  (signs)  ;  Fred 
Matthews  (Motiograph.  Inc.)  ;  Clarence 
Ashcraft  (Ashcraft  arclamps)  ;  and  Ben 
Adler    (signs) . 


Sub-Standard  Equipment — 40% 

Upwards  of  40%  of  film  theaters  to- 
day are  not  maintaining  proper  equip- 
ment standards,  according  to  the  report 
of  a  special  committee  at  the  recent 
TOA  convention.  Time  for  correcting 
this  situation  is  now,  the  report  stated, 
because  it  appears  that  material  short- 
ages will  get  worse  before  they  get 
better. 

All  essential  equipment  units  are  now 
available,  but  the  situation  may  change 
radically  within  the  next  several  months. 
Stress  was  laid  on  the  necessity  for  push- 
ing the  carbon  arc  copper  drippings 
program  to  the  limit,  so  that  not  a  single 
pound  of  the  metal  is  overlooked. 


Ozone  Biz  Up  35%  Since  Jan.  1 

Drive-in  business  is  up' 35%  since  the 
first  of  the  year,  running  well  ahead  of 
regular  four-wall  houses  which  gen- 
erally have  shown  an  increase  up  to  10% 


Tax  Take  Shows  B.  O.  Advance 

Official  statistical  backing  of  claims 
for  increased  box-office  returns  in  the 
second  half  of  the  year  was  supplied 
in  the  Internal  Revenue  Bureau  report 


Technology  on   the  March 

•  New  cooling  technique  for  electric  trans- 
formers may  reduce  weight  by  one-third,  step 
u  ppower  handling  ability,  reports  Westing- 
house.  Nozzle  sprays  liquid  fluorocarbon  on 
hot  core  and  coils,  liquid  is  vaporized  and 
vapors  condense  on  cooling  surfaces  of  trans- 
former tank. 

•  Lightweight  storage  battery  that  will  start 
a  car  at  65  degrees  below  zero,  developed  at 
the  Univ.  of  Michigan  Research  Institute,  is 
expected  to  have  wide  application.  Lead 
plating  of  materials  ordinarily  corroded  by 
sulphuric  acid  makes  replacement  of  much 
lead  now  used  in  batteries  possible. 

•  High-voltage  electron-beam  sterilization 
on  a  production-line  basis  is  economically 
practical,  states  High-Voltage  Engineering 
Corp.,  Cambridge  38,  Mass.  Process  uses 
Van  de  Graaff  accelerator,  is  said  to  be  safe, 
dependable,  non-injurious  to  food  and  other 
products. 

•  New  aviation  gasoline  additive  reduces 
spark  plug  fouling,  reports  Shell  Oil  Co. 
Failure  of  spark  plugs  comes  from  electric- 
ally-conductive   deposits   which    short-circuit 


it;  new  ingredient  reduces  fouling  by  chang- 
ing nature  of  deposit  so  that  it  does  not  be- 
come conductive. 

•  Ball  bearing-type  microscope,  developed 
by  Bausch  and  Lomb,  is  said  to  offer  easier, 
more  critical  focusing  and  longer  instrument 
life.  It  features  ball  bearings  and  rollers 
within  focusing  mechanism  and  pressure- 
loaded  ball  bearings  around  rim  of  nosepiece. 

•  Improved  transistor,  tiny  amplifier  that 
occupies  1/400  as  much  space  as  a  vacuum 
tube  and  can  do  the  same  job,  announced  by 
Bell  Telephone  Laboratories,  New  type  has 
uniform  performance,  will  get  trial  use  next 
year. 

•  "Does  all  research  pay  off?  I  wish  it  did," 
said  C.  H.  Greenwalt,  DuPont  president.  He 
estimates  that  one  of  20  projects  yield  a 
profit. 

•  About  150,000  technical  reports  have  been 
collected  by  the  Office  of  Technical  Services, 
U.  S.  Dept.  of  Commerce,  Washington  25. 
Prepared  lists  of  reports  on  some  50  major 
fields  of  interests  are  available,  most  of  them 
free  of  charge.  OTS  describes  collection  as 
so  great  in  scope  that  it  remains  largely 
unexploited,  invites  written  inquiries-. 

Armour  Research  Foundation. 


22 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     October  1951 


of  admissions  tax  collections  for  August, 
reflecting  business  done  in  July. 

IBR  reported  that  general  admissions 
tax  collections  in  the  month  were  $34,- 
142,531,  compared  with  $31,606,356  for 
the  same  1950  period.  Achievement 
marked  the  first  month  since  February — 
January  business  that  tax  collections 
were  ahead  of  the  comparable  month  of 
last  year.  It  is  estimated  that  75%  of 
admissions  tax  collections  are  from  mo- 
tion picture  theaters. 


Printing  Color  Tv  Plates? 

In  a  New  York  print  shop  experiments 
have  been  conducted  for  RCA,  looking  to 
mass  production  of  color-tube  plates.  Pat- 
terns of  small  dots  were  printed  on  glass 
sheets,  using  rubber  plates,  employing  three 
types  of  phosphor  pigments,  similar  to  print- 
ing three-color  pictures.  Each  set  of  dots 
was  not  to  coincide  with  any  of  the  other 
sets  of  dots. 

These  experiments  were  successful,  from 
the  printing  standpoint,  and  a  number  of 
such  printed-phosphor  glass  plates  were 
made.  Other  experiments  were  then  carried 
on  to  do  similar  printing  via  the  silk-screen 
process.  The  phosphor  pigments  used  in 
printing  were  supplied  by  RCA.  In  day- 
light, all  the  material  was  white  to  the 
naked  eye,  but  was  said  to  glow  blue,  red 
and  green,  according  to  its  type. 


Are  There  Four  Retinal  Colors? 

The  textbooks  have  long  agreed  that 
the  human  eye  can  detect  only  three  col- 
ors— red,  green,  and  violet;  that  we  have 
no  retinal  receptors  sensitive  to  yellow. 
But  now,  before  the  American  Associa- 
tion for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  Dr. 
L.  M.  Hurvich  of  the  Eastman  Kodak 
color-control  department,  Rochester, 
N.  Y.,  reports  experiments  indicating 
that  impinging  "pure  red"  on  one  retina 
and  "pure  green"  on  the  other,  combine 
to  produce  white,  while  "pure  yellow" 
radiation  gave  a  yellow  sensation. 

He  testifies  that  there  is  no  binocular 
fusion  which  creates  yellow  out  of  pure 
green  and  pure  red,  but  that  the  eye  can 
see  yellow  alone,  indicating  the  pres- 
ence   of  yellow   receptors. 


A.S.A.  Acoustical   Dictionary 

The  recording  and  reproducing  industry 
now  has  an  authoritative  dictionary  of  terms 
compiled  by  experts  in  the  acoustical  field. 
This  document — the  latest  edition  of  the 
A.S.A.  Terminology  (Z24.1— 1951)— has  just 
been  published  by  American  Standards 
Assoc,  70  East  45th  Street,  New  York  17, 
N.  Y.  (Price:  $1.50). 

For  the  first  time,  more  than  150  terms 
used  in  connection  with  mechanical,  photo- 
graphic, and  magnetic  recording  are  printed 
and  defined  in  one  document.  Various  types 
of  instruments  used  and  the  various  kinds 
of  noises  produced  are  defined.  Until  re- 
cently most   of  the   language  used   in   con- 


B.A. 

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phj&jutfij&Yi,  imMA. 


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Lenses.  Give  your  patrons  the  benefit  of  pictures  at  their  best. 
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putting  a  clear,  sharp  picture  on  your  screen. 

Super  Snaplites  give  you  a  true  speed  of  f/1.9  in  every  focal 
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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     October  1951 


23 


nection  with  magnetic  recording  was  slang. 
Now  most  of  the  terms  are  correlated  and 
presented  with  standard  definitions  agreed 
upon  by  experts. 

Inclusive  Range  of  Topics 

Definitions  for  sound  recording  and  re- 
producing systems;  instantaneous  recording; 
frequency  response  equalization;  mixer; 
magnetic  recording;  magnetic  powder-im- 
pregnated tape;  magnetic  wire;  magnetic 
recording  reproducer;  erasing  head;  double 
pole-piece  magnetic  head;  magnetic  bias- 
ing; light  modulator;  galvanometer  recorder; 
multiple  sound  track;  variable-density  track; 
opacity;  photographic  transmission  density; 
H  and  D  curve;  noise  reproduction;  me- 
chanical phonograph  recorder  and  many 
others  are  included  in  the  standard. 

This  edition  also  contains  a  table  giving 
the  conversion  rate  of  present  acoustical 
units  into  the  meter-kilogram-second  system 
(mks  units)  now  being  used  more  and  more 
by  physicists  and  electrical  engineers.  Also, 


there  are  sections  on  hearing  and  speech, 
sound  transmission  and  propagation,  trans- 
mission systems  and  components;  ultra- 
sonics, music,  shock  and  vibration,  under- 
water sound,  general  acoustical  apparatus, 
and  architectural  and  general  acoustical 
terms. 


Extreme  Temperature  Range  Film 

How  to  make  photographic  film  that  will 
not  get  brittle  and  crack  in  Arctic  cold  and 
will  also  be  good  in  tropic  heat  is  indicated 
in  a  signal  Corps  research  report,  now  avail- 
able, the  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Commerce  has  an- 
nounced. To  get  film  which  would  stand  up 
in  the  hottest  Tropic  and  coldest  Arctic  re- 
gions, the  Signal  Corps  directed  Armour 
Research  Foundation  to  develop  photographic 
film  bases  which  would  have  "good  dimen- 
sional stability,  optical  clarity,  low  moisture 
absorption,  constancy  of  composition,  good 
aging  qualities  and  ease  of  fabrication"  over 
the  entire  temperature  range  from  — 65  °F. 
to  140  °F. 


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CENTURY'S  water-cooled  aperture  gives 
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other  projectors  using  a  180  ampere  arcj 
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carbon  arc  spotlight  comes  in 
two  models: — 

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1 00  ft.  to  400  ft.  throw. 

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60  to  85  Amps  D.C. 
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METRO-LITE 


Literature  available  on  both  units  upon  request  to 

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PHOTOGRAPHIC  OPTICS 

(Continued  from  page  19) 
focal  length  of  a  lens  is  defined  as  the 
distance  from  the  second  nodal  point  to 
the  focal  point  in  parallel  light,  and 
that  this  length  is  seldom  equal  to  the 
distance  from  the  rear  lens  vertex  to 
the   focal  point.  The  back   focus  is,  in 


FIG.    23.    Lateral    chromatism,    II. 

fact,  what  we  have  achromatised  as  the 
first  step  in  color-correcting  our  lens. 

We  have  not  assured  the  same  focal 
length  in  the  two  colors,  blue  and  red; 
in  point  of  fact,  it  will  usually  differ 
with  color.  Just  what  effect  does  this 
have  on  the  imagery  from  our  lens? 

Size  of  the  Image 

We  saw  previously  that  the  size  of  an 
image  is  dependent  on  two  factors:  the 
object  distance,  and  the  focal  length  of 
the  lens.  It  is  clear,  then,  that  if  our 
lens  possesses  focal  lengths  different  in 
different  colors,  it  will  produce  images 
of  varying  sizes  in  those  colors.  It  is  for 
this  reason  that  the  second  chromatic 
aberration  is  called  chromatic  difference 
of  magnification,  or  lateral  color,  since 
a  lens  afflicted  with  this  aberration  will 
produce  a  larger  red  (blue)  image  than 
blue  (red)  ;  or  in  white  light,  points 
in  the  field  will  be  pulled  into  rainbows 
(Fig.  23). 

Obviously,  this  aberration  is  inde- 
pendent of  longitudinal  color,  since  the 


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24 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


October  1951 


latter  is  concerned  only  with  color  cor- 
rection of  the  back  focus,  whereas  this 
is  concerned  with  a  different  quantity, 
the  equivalent  focal  length.  It  is  further 
readily  appreciated  that  for  the  best 
imagery  a  lens  system  must  be  corrected 
for  both  aberrations  which  involves  two 
different  methods. 

Common  Color  Images 

In  the  case  of  chromatic  difference  of 
focal  points,  we  were  able  to  effect  cor- 
rection very  simply — by  employing  a 
negative  lens  whose  characteristics  cancel 
the  dispersion  of  the  positive  lens,  thus 
reuniting  the  dispersed  colors.  With  the 
more  troublesome  lateral  color,  we  are 
forced  to  use  a  trick  illustrated  in  sym- 
metrical lenses:  using  systems  of  op- 
posing tendencies.  Some  system  will 
yield  a  spectrum  with  the  red  higher 
than  the  blue;  while  others  will  reverse 
the  order.  The  proper  combination  of 
these  two  types  will  yield  a  system  giv- 
ing a  common  size  to  the  red  and  blue 
images. 

Of  course,  each  of  the  five  aberrations 
considered  herein  has  its  own  chromatic 
variant  in  the  sense  that  its  value  in  the 
different  colors  will  vary.  However,  that 
variation  is  of  a  smaller  magnitude  com- 
pared with  the  two  pure  color  aberra- 
tions we  have  been  considering,  and  is  of 
little  interest  to  us  here. 

Summary  of  Aberrations 

We  have  now  seen  that  there  are  seven 
different  types  of  defects  which  plague 
the  lens  designer,  and  which  he  has 
either  to  remove  or  to  balance  one  against 
another  in  the  design  of  a  satisfactory 
photographic  lens.  They  fall  naturally 
into  three  different  classes: 

Those  affecting  the  sharpness  of  images 
in  monochromatic  light:  spherical  aber- 
ration on  the  axis,  and  coma  and  astig- 
matism off  axis;  those  affecting  the  posi- 
tion of  the  sharp  image  points,  and  dis- 
tortion, effecting  lateral  position  on  field 
magnification;  and  third,  the  two  chro- 
matic aberrations:  axial,  affecting  the 
focal  positions  in  different  colors,  and 
lateral,  influencing  the  magnifications  in 
different  colors. 

It  is  often  said  that  because  of  the  in- 
creasing use  of  color  photography  lenses 
will  have  to  better  corrected  in  the  fu- 
ture. There  is  but  a  shell  of  truth  in  this 
statement,  for  it  cannot  be  denied  that 
a  simple  positive  lens  designed  for  use  in 
conjunction  with  unsensitized,  or  ortho- 
chromatic,  film  cannot  yield  satisfactory 
images  in  color  where  automatically  one 
is  critical.  The  assertion  is  true  to  just 
that  extent. 

It  should  be  clear  from  the  preceding 
discussion  that  color  photography  intro- 
duces nothing  new  in  the  way  of  per- 
formance demands  on  lenses,  the  only 
difference  being  that  with  color  film  the 
aberrations  can  be  seen  as  color,  and  not 


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Oound  and  projection  equipment  (the 
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continuous  performance,  unless  the  equip- 
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Guard  your  equipment  .  .  .  protect 
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The  possible  scarcity  of  new  sound  and 
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Prepare  now  for  the  future  while  replace- 
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RCA  Parts  Plans  cover  all  makes  and 
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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     October  1951 


25 


as  a  blob  or  blur  casually  ascribable  to 
some  other  cause.  The  best  lenses  have 
always  been  "fully  color  corrected." 
However,  a  continual  improvement  is 
being  effected  in  lenses  for  all  the  aber- 
rations, and  our  children's  lenses  inevi- 
tably will  be  better  than  ours. 

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'SHOWBOAT  CAMERAWORK 

(Continued  from  page  15) 
museum.    More  than  300  feet  in  length, 
it  was  just  the  prop  we  needed;  so  ar- 
rangements were  made  with  the  owners 
to  use  it  for  the  picture. 

The  most  important  shot  for  which  it 
was  required  was  a  scene — a  long  shot — 
showing  it  moving  up  the  river  at  dusk, 
its  cabin  lights  ablaze  and  passengers 
promenading  its  decks.  Now  this  shot 
easily  could  have  been  done  in  miniature, 
but  needless  to  say  not  with  the  same 
authenticity.  Inasmuch  as  the  cost  would 
have  been  about  the  same,  we  decided 
to  make  the  shot  the  way  we  did — using 
the  real  boat  on  the  Mississippi. 

Ingenious  Lighting  Set-up 

A  300-amp  generator  was  installed 
temporarily  on  the  craft  to  supply  power 
for  the  lamps  that  were  to  furnish 
illumination  behind  the  windows.  The 
boat's  steam  plant  long  ago  having  been 
sold  for  junk,  it  was  necessary  to  pro- 
vide temporary  motive  power.  Two  tug- 
boats were  made  fast  to  the  packet  on 
the  side  opposite  that  which  was  to  face 
the  camera,  to  move  it  upstream  while 
we  made  the  shot. 

Hundreds    of    photoflood    lamps    were 


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iTRE-  FIRST    PLACE 

IN    ENTERTAINMENT 

used  to  supply  light  back  of  the  win- 
dows. Because  it  was  necessary  to  secure 
every  available  foot-candle  of  light  the 
lamps  would  give,  in  order  to  make  the 
boat's  interior  appear  brilliantly  lighted, 
the  lamps  were  mounted  directly  behind 
tracing  cloth  panels  tacked  over  the 
boat's  open  windows.  The  lamps  were 
placed  so  that  the  filament  of  each  was 
directed  as  near  as  possible  at  the  lens 
on  the  camera  (which  was  set  up  on 
another  boat  some  distance  away),  and 
with  the  filament  at  the  same  height  as 
the  camera  lens.  Only  by  doing  this 
was  it  possible  to  secure  the  maximum 
volume  of  illumination  from  each  lamp. 
To  obtain  the  desired  pictorial  result, 
Rosher  calculated  that  the  scene  would 
have  to  be  shot  at  precisely  a  certain 
time  after  sundown.  It  couldn't  be  ten 
minutes  too  soon  or  too  late.  On  the 
previous  evening  he  had  made  an  ex- 
posure test  at  twilight  to  determine  the 
correct  balance  between  the  artificial 
light,  coming  from  the  boat,  and  the 
waning  daylight. 

Ten  Minutes — a  Lighting  Masterpiece 

On  the  following  evening,  when  the 
scene  was  to  be  filmed,  there  was  no 
time  for  rehearsals.  The  reason  for  this 
was  that  the  artificial  light  coming  from 
the  windows  of  the  boat  had  to  be  the 
dominant  light  in  the  scene,  yet  exposure 
had  to  be  ample  to  give  a  clear  outline 
of  the  boat  in  the  dusk,  and  consequently 
a  rich  print.  The  whole  operation,  once 
ready  to  shoot,  required  about  ten  min- 
utes time — ten  tense,  anxious  moments 
for  all  of  us.  No  process  shot  could  have 
equalled  the  result.  It  is  truly  a  master- 
piece of  color  photography. 

In  the  beginning,  we  had  considered 
shooting  the  showboat  exteriors  on  loca- 
tion on  the  Mississippi.  However,  after 
long  and  careful  search,  which  took  us 
from  New  Orleans  to  Cincinnati,  two 
things  became  apparent:  there  was  not 
a  boat  on  the  entire  river  which  met  all 
our  requirements  and,  most  important, 
the  Mississippi  river  currents  were  such 
that  operating  camera  and  lights  from 
other  craft  on  the  river  would  have  been 
almost  impossible.  So  we  decided  to  have 
the  showboat  built  on  the  studio's  back 
lot. 

The  finished  craft,  named  the  "Cotton 
Blossom,"  is  the  largest  movable  prop 
ever  built  on  a  Hollywood  motion  picture 
lot.  It  floats  lazily  on  the  lake  in  MGM's 
lot  number  three,  awaiting  future  as- 
signments. 

Whereas  shooting  scenes  on  a  boat 
on  the  Mississippi  would  have  entailed 
lighting  problems — and  the  inability  in 


Your  Very  Best  Buy 
BUY  U.  S.  SAVINGS  BONDS 


26 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


October  1951 


many  cases  to  maintain  directional  light- 
ing continuity — with  the  studio  built 
boat  we  were  able  to  keep  this  factor 
under  absolute  control,  simply  by  mov- 
ing the  boat  and  following  the  sun 
around  as  necessary. 

'Weathering'  the  Showboat 

When  construction  of  the  boat  was 
completed  and  the  painters  had  finished 
recorating  it,  the  result  was  a  sparkling 
new  boat  just  off  the  boatmaker's  ways, 
instead  of  a  weatherbeaten  Mississippi 
river  boat.  Studio  painters  then  applied 
"weathering"  to  its  entire  exterior  and 
the  photographic  result  is  everything 
that  could  be  desired. 

This  is  but  one  example  of  the  myriad 
of  details  which  Rosher  constantly  sur- 
veyed from  the  photographic  viewpoint, 
directing  such  changes  or  improvements 
as  were  necessary  to  achieve  the  photo- 
graphic excellence  for  the  production 
that  was  our  constant  aim. 

While  the  photography  of  the  vast 
number  of  exteriors  involved  the  most 
interesting  experiences,  the  interiors  de- 
manded no  less  attention  from  the  cam- 
era viewpoint  in  planning  and  lighting. 
Perhaps  it  was  because  we  had  held 
many  pre-production  huddles  with  the 
art  director  on  wardrobes  and  set  deco- 
rations that  camera  problems  on  the  in- 
terior sets  were  greatly  minimized. 

Subject-Background  Separation 

Care  had  to  be  taken  against  having 
costumes  too  somber  in  tone,  yet  not 
garish,  either — so  they  did  not  merge 
and  become  lost  in  the  background. 
There  must  be  good  color  separation 
always  between  subjects  and  background 
to  get  the  most  pleasing  effect  in  color 
cinematography.  In  this  respect,  we  util- 
ized a  lighting  trick  worth  noting.  After 
the  key  light  had  been  established,  an 
additional  light  source  was  directed  on 
other  objects  or  on  the  background  itself 
in  order  to  gain  the  desired  compositional 
effect.  This  is  something  that  rarely  can 
be  determined  by  meters — one  has  to 
have  it  in  him,  intuitively. 

Photography,  I  believe,  has  now  be- 
come so  popular,  audiences  have  come  to 
expect  better  camera  work  on  the  screen. 
That  is  why  we  made  it  a  point  to  be 
so  meticulous  with  the  photography  of 
"Showboat."  Having  educated  the  pub- 
lic to  expect  the  best  in  photography,  we 
now  have  to  keep  ahead  of  them.   I  think 


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we  can  say  in  all  honesty  that,  because 
of  all  this,  we  are  constantly  improving 
the  tastes  of  the  people  of  the  world,  in- 
fluencing their  dress,  makeup,  their  man- 
ners and  also  the  graphic  arts. 

Being  ardently  interested  in  photog- 
raphy has  brought  me  in  closer  under- 
standing with  the  director  of  photog- 
raphy's problems,  and  from  this  has 
stemmed  an  invariable  practice  of  con- 
sulting at  great  length  with  him  during 
the  course  of  preparing  a  picture  for 
production. 

A  'Director's  Cameraman' 

I  like  to  think  of  "Showboat"  as  an 
example  of  the  point  I  have  often  made 
that  when  a  director  and  his  camera- 
man both  speak  and  understand  the  same 
language — the  language  of  photography 
— superior  motion  pictures  invariably 
result. 

We  often  hear  applied  the  appellation 
"cameraman's  director" — meaning  a  di- 
rector who  works  harmoniously  with  a 
cinematographer.  Conversely,  I  think 
Charles  Rosher  is  the  epitome  of  the 
director's  cameraman.  His  tremendous 
experience  and  wealth  of  photographic 
knowledge,  his  personal  "bag-of-tricks," 
and  his  ceaseless  enthusiasm  and  dogged 
perfectionism  are  qualities  which  con- 
tributed to  the  standout  photographic 
job  of  "Showboat." 


BRITAIN'S  TELEKINEMA 

(Continued  from  page  13) 

its  associated  amplifier  cubicle,  the  unit 
standing  a  few  feet  behind  the  associated 
projector. 

Electro-Acoustic  System 

The  electro-acoustic  system  is  fairly 
conventional,  with  emphasis  on  wide  fre- 
quency range  and  low  amplitude  distor- 
tion throughout  the  whole  system.  Any 
magnetic  reproducer  pick-up  head  has 
an  output  which  over  the  major  part  of 
the  useful  frequency  range  is  propor- 
tional to  frequency,  thus  a  large  amount 
of  frequency  compensation  is  required 
to  obtain  a  flat  overall  frequency  char- 


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27 


acteristic.  The  main  amplifiers  have 
a  power  output  of  20  watts  per  channel. 
The  five  amplifiers  (four  channels  plus 
one  spare),  the  gain  controls  and  control 
push  buttons  are  mounted  in  the  main 
amplifier  cabinet,  provision  being  made 
for  a  "switch  interchange"  between  the 
center  channel  amplifier  and  the  spare 
unit.  Failure  of  any  of  the  other  three 
amplifiers  requires  the  interchange  of 
wiring  plugs,  a  process  that  is  greatly 
simplified  by  the  method  of  mounting 
and  the  use   of   only   two   plugs   for   all 


connections  on  each  of  the  amplifiers. 

The  screen  loudspeaker  system  is 
fairly  conventional,  each  of  the  three 
channels  using  a  standard  combination 
of  two-unit  e-f  horns  and  two-unit  h-f 
horns  with  a  changeover  frequency  of 
500  c.p.s. 

The  screen  speakers  are  used  for  all 
sound  film,  monaural  or  stereophonic, 
the  Tv  sound,  the  interval  music,  and  if 
the  original  ideas  had  matured,  for  16- 
mm  sound  also.  To  reduce  the  load  on 
the    projection    room    staff,    selection    of 


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particular  requirements. 
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the  speaker  system  appropriate  to  the 
picture  is  made  by  a  switching  system 
incorporating  non-linear  resistors.  Thus, 
on  a  changeover  the  projectionist  on  the 
outgoing  machine  turns  his  gain  control 
to  zero,  gives  an  aural  or  visual  signal 
to  the  man  of  the  incoming  machine, 
who  has  only  to  depress  his  "sound" 
push  button  to  select  the  appropriate 
speakers. 

These  "sound"  buttons  are  located  on 
each  machine  in  close  proximity  to  the 
gain  controls.  A  loudspeaker  selector 
unit  containing  the  changeover  control 
circuits  and  the  deaf-aid  amplifiers  is 
located  adjacent  to  the  right-hand  ma- 
chine. It  carries  indicator  lights  of  dif- 
ferent colors  which  show  which  speaker 
system  is  in  operation. 

Four  monitor  speakers  of  conventional 
design  reproduce  sound  from  the  four 
output  channels;  those  corresponding  to 
the  three  sets  of  screen  speakers  being 
mounted  on  the  front  wall  of  the  box, 
while  the  fourth,  monitoring  the  audito- 
rium sound  effects,  is  mounted  on  the 
rear  wall  of  the  box. 

Control  System 

When  projecting  stereoscopic  films  or 
using  the  magnetic  sound  heads  it  is  es- 
sential to  operate  two  or  more  machines 
in  exact  synchronism  from  standstill. 
Normal  synchronous  drives  are  insuffi- 
ciently accurate  to  maintain  such  exact 
correspondence  even  though  the  films 
are  correctly  framed  when  threaded,  but 
the  application  of  a  Selsyn  interlock  sys- 
tem makes  it  possible  to  obtain  the  syn- 
chronization necessary  in  a  relatively 
simple  manner. 

Selsyns  are  similar  to  A.C.  induction 
motors,  with  wound  rotors  and  stators, 
the  stator  winding  being  energized  from 
the  mains,  while  the  rotors  of  the  two 
Selsyns  to  be  interlocked  are  connected 
in  parallel.  The  stator  windings  induce 
mains-frequency  voltages  into  the  rotor 
windings,  and  the  two  rotors  move  rela- 
tively until  the  voltages  induced  in  the 
two  rotors  balance  each  other  with  no 
current  flowing  in  the  rotor  circuit.  If 
one  rotor  is  turned  mechanically,  the 
rotor  of  the  second  machine  will  move 
to  keep  the  same  relative  position,  and 
this  occurs  even  with  the  rotor  turning 
at  1440  r.p.m. 

The  Festival  requirements  are  met  by 
mounting  a  Selsyn  motor  adjacent  to 
each  driving  motor,  the  two  motors  be- 
ing coupled  by  a  roller  chain  drive.  Cor- 
rect phasing  at  standstill  is  achieved  by 
supplying  single-phase  excitation  to  the 
stators  before  film  threading  commences, 
and  on  depressing  the  "start"  push-but- 
ton all  interlocked  units  will  run  up  in 
exact  synchronism. 

As  the  number  of  machines  in  opera- 
tion depends  on  the  program  being  pre- 


28 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     October  1951 


sented,  all  the  control  switches  are 
grouped  together  in  a  Selsyn  selector 
panel,  thus  permitting  the  projectionist 
to  verify  at  a  glance  the  combination 
selected   for  operation. 

Changeover  Devices 

The  light  and  sound  changeover  de- 
vices on  the  standard  equipment  are 
electrically  operated,  depression  of  the 
"changeover"  button  on  the  incoming 
machine  opening  the  "incoming"  shutter 
and  closing  the  "outgoing"  shutter.  This 
facility  is  retained  in  the  Festival  equip- 


PROJECTIONISTS  FIND  CORE 
FOR  "CURTAIN  IRRITATION" 

No  patent  medicine  will  cure  the 
sinking  feeling  projectionists  get 
when  they  push  the  curtain  button 
to  start  a  show — and  nothing  hap- 
pens. 

That  kind  of  "all-gone"  feeling 
(which  makes  projectionists  grow  old 
before  their  time)  requires  a  strong 
remedy — a  remedy  that  consists  of 
curtain  controls,  tracks  and  special 
operating  devices  that  work  properly 
all  the  time. 

Specifically,  it  calls  for  Vallen 
equipment.  For  35  years  the  products 
of  Vallen  precision  engineering  have 
served  projectionists  all  over  the 
world  faithfully  and  well.  The  supe- 
rior design  and  construction  of  Vallen 
curtain  controls,  tracks  and  special 
operating  devices  makes  them  all-time 
favorites  of  the  men  behind  the  show. 

To  make  certain  the  front  office 
sees  eye-to-eye  with  them  on  this 
important  subject,  wise  projectionists 
are  putting  copies  of  the  latest  Vallen 
catalog  on  their  bosses'  desks.  You 
can    do   the   same.    Write   today   to 

VALLEN,  INC.,  Akron  4,  Ohio. 


ment,  but  the  arrangement  has  to  be 
modified  when  projecting  stereoscopic 
films,  as  both  machine  changeover  shut- 
ters must  open  or  close  together.  Ap- 
propriate arrangements  ensure  that 
switching  of  the  equipment  to  the  "stere- 
oscopic" position  automatically  closes 
both  machine  shutters.  During  stereo- 
scopic operation  the  normal  changeover 
push-button  operates  both  shutters  in 
phase,  i.e.  they  open  together. 

This  completes  a  rather  brief  descrip- 
tion of  the  Festival  equipment,  but  it  is 
probably  true  to  say  that  it  represents 
an  advanced  view  of  the  projection  room 
of  the  future,  embodying  some  of  the 
equipment  that  will  undoubtedly  prove 
essential  if  the  kinema  is  to  retain  its 
present  pre-eminent  position. 

LENTICULAR  COLOR  FILM 

(Continued  from  page  9) 
achieved  by  use  of  a  lens  of  the  correct 
E.F. 

Also,  the  common  practice  of  simul- 
taneously shooting  long  shots,  medium 
shots,  and  closeups  by  a  battery  of  cam- 
eras operating  in  a  restricted  area  is 
made  possible  only  by  the  use  of  camera 
lenses  having  different  focal  lengths. 
This  technique  minimizes  the  number  of 
necessary  retakes,  thus  saving  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  dollars  a  year. 

Process  Projection  Impractical 

Then,  too,  out-of-focus  backgrounds 
and  foreground  objects  are  frequently 
desirable  from  an  artistic  standpoint. 
Lenticular  color  therefore  denies  the 
cinematographer  much  of  the  flexibility 
of  his  art. 
8.  Great  economy  is  also  effected  by  the 
use  of  background  projection  in  studio 
sets.  Lenticular  color,  because  of  poor 
illumination  efficiency,  slightly  fuzzy 
image  definition,  and  unsatisfactory 
color-distribution  characteristics  when 
projected  through  translucent  back- 
ground screens,  would  render  the  valu- 
able tool  of  process  projection  imprac- 
tical. All  of  these  are  matters  of  tremen- 


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dous   importance,   not  a  single   one  of 
which  may  safely  be  overlooked. 

Filter  Transmission  Data 

Tremendous  loss  of  screen  illumina- 
tion is  a  fatal  defect  of  all  additive  color- 
projection  processes. 

Three  primary-hued  filter  strips  must 
be  placed  side  by  side  over  the  projec- 
tion lens  in  the  proper  optical  plane,  as 
previously  mentioned.  (This  plane  would 
probably  intersect  the  lens  barrel  some- 
where near  the  middle  of  its  length,  the 
filters  thus  being  inside  of  the  lens  bar- 
rel.) 

Each    of    these    filters,    if    possessing 


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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     October  1951 


29 


perfect  transmission  characteristics 
(which  existing  filters  most  assuredly 
do  not) ,  would  transmit  1/3  of  the  light 
falling  upon  it,  as  reckoned  on  the  basis 
not  of  actual  "luminosity"  but  of  color 
balance.  Thus  2/3  of  the  total  projection 
light  is  absorbed  by  the  filters  and  con- 
verted into  heat,  reducing  screen  illumin- 
ation to  33  1/3  %  of  the  illumination  ob- 
tained without  color  filters.  But  as  things 
actually  are,  the  most  efficient  existing 
filters  have  approximately  the  following 
transmission    efficiencies : 

Vermilion  80% 

Emeraude  40 

Indigo  60 

Because    each    filter  represents    one- 


STATEMENT     OF    THE     OWNERSHIP, 

MANAGEMENT,  CIRCULATION,  RE- 
QUIRED BY  THE  ACT  OF  CONGRESS 
OF  AUGUST  24,  1912,  AS  AMENDED 
BY  THE  ACTS  OF  MARCH  3,  1933,  AND 
JULY  2,  1946  (Title  39,  United  States 
Code,  Section  233). 

Of  International  Projectionist,  pub- 
lished monthly  at  New  York,  N.  Y.,  for 
October  1,  1951. 

1.  The  names  and  addresses  of  the  pub- 
lisher, editor,  managing  editor,  and  busi- 
ness managers  are: 

Publisher:  International  Projection- 
ist Publishing  Co.,  Inc.,  19  West  44  St., 
New  York  18,  N.  Y. 

Editor:  Henry  B.  Sellwood,  19  West 
44  St.,  New  York  18,  N.  Y. 

Managing  Editor:  R.  A.  Entracht,  19 
West  44  St.,  New  York  18,  N.  Y. 

Business  Manager:  R.  A.  Entracht,  19 
West  44  St.,  New  York  18,  N.  Y. 

International  Projectionist  Publish- 
ing Co.,  Inc.,  19  West  44  St.,  New  York 
18.  N.  Y. 

R.  A.  Entracht,  19  West  44  St.,  New 
York  18,  N.  Y. 

3.  The  known  bondholders  mortgagees, 
and  other  security  holders  owning  or  hold- 
ing 1  percent  or  more  of  total  amount  of 
bonds,  mortgages,  or  other  securities  are: 

None. 

4.  Paragraphs  2  and  3  include,  in  cases 
where  the  stockholder  or  security  holder 
appears  on  the  hooks  of  the  company  as 
trustee  or  in  any  other  fiduciary  relation, 
the  name  of  the  person  or  corporation  for 
whom  such  trustee  is  acting;  also  the  state- 
ments in  the  two  paragraphs  show  the  affi- 
ant's full  knowledge  and  belief  as  the 
circumstances  and  conditions  under  which 
stockholders  and  security  holders  who  do 
not  appear  upon  the  books  of  the  com- 
pany as  trustees,  hold  stock  and  securities 
in  a  capacity  other  than  that  of  a  bona  fide 
owner. 

R.  A.  Entracht,  Business  Manager 
Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me  this 
20th  day  of  September  1951. 

(Seal)        Anne  Corragan 

Notary  Public,  State  of  New  York,  No.  31- 
5824300,  Qualified  in  New  York. 

Commission  expires  March  30,  1952. 


third,  or  331/3%,  of  the  total  light 
(total  color  balance),  use  of  these  filters 
would  result  in  20%  of  standard  screen 
illumination.  (The  V  filter  transmits  80 
x  33  1/3%,  or  26.66%,  of  1/3  of  the  total 
light;  the  E  filter  13.33%,  and  the  I  filter 
20%,  giving  an  over-all  average  of  20%.) 

Filter  Balance  Requisite 

However,  this  filter  combination  will 
not  work! 

It  is  mandatory  that  the  three  filters 
be  balanced  so  that  equivalent  propor- 
tions of  V,  E  and  I  light  reach  the  screen 
(to  give  pure  white  light)  when  the 
projector  is  run  without  film.  The  trans- 
mission efficiency  of  each  filter  must  be 
the  same  as  the  transmission  efficiency 
of  the  least  efficient  filter!  (In  actual 
practice  the  emeraude  filter  happens  to 
be  the  least  efficient.)  So,  instead  of  the 
figures  given  in  the  foregoing  tabulation, 
we  must  use  the  following: 

Vermilion  40% 

Emeraude  40 

Indigo  40 

This  reduction  in  the  light  transmis- 
sions of  the  V  and  I  filters  will  enable 
more  satisfactory  color  reproduction  to 
be  obtained,  because  better  V  and  I 
dyes  can  be  used,  but  the  screen  illumin- 
ation will  be  only  about  14%  of  that 
obtainable  with  Technicolor  and  other 
non-lenticulated  standard  prints! 

Enormous  Light  Increase 

The  lenticulated  color-film  process, 
therefore,  demands  projection  lamps 
about  7%  times  more  powerful  than 
present-day  lamps. 

Can  projector  arclamps  nearly  8  times 


more  powerful  than  those  now  in  use  be 
manufactured  on  a  practical  commercial 
basis?  Probably  not. 

If  such  powerful  lamps  could  be  made, 
would  exhibitors  be  willing  to  pay  in- 
creased carbon  and  power  costs  merely 
to  maintain  levels  of  screen  illumina- 
tion which  obtain  now  in  theatres? 

Is  any  present  film  capable  of  with- 
standing the  terrific  blast  from  lamps 
so  powerful? 

Would  the  theatre-going  public  ac- 
cept a  color  process  which  is  decidedly 
inferior  to  the  least  desirable  color  proc- 
ess in  use  today? 

The  answer  to  the  three  foregoing 
questions  must  be  an  emphatic  "No". 

This,  then,  is  the  sad,  sad  story  of 
lenticulated  color-film  processes.  The 
disadvantages  of  this  process  are  obvious 
to  everyone  except  a  coterie  of  short- 
sighted producers  who  have  the  strange 
notion  that  color  footage  should  cost 
not  a  penny  more  than  black-and-white. 

Existing  Processes  Superior 

We  already  have  natural  color  on  our 
screens.  Not  enough  of  it,  to  be  sure, 
but  more  and  more  of  it  all  the  time. 
Technicolor  is  regarded  as  the  ideal 
color  by  all  movie-goers.  It  is  brilliant, 
clear,  and  faithful  to  the  colors  seeen  by 
the  camera's  eye.  Agfacolor,  Ansco- 
Color,  Super-Cinecolor,  among  others,  are 
close  runners-up  for  top  honors. 

These  processes  are  available  to  all 
producers  who  wish  to  employ  them. 
There  are  no  color  processes,  not  even 
in  the  blueprint  stage,  which  are  in  any 
way  the  equals  of  processes  we  already 
have. 


How  Many? 


Was  this  copy  dog-eared  when  it  came  to  you?  How 
many  men  read  it  ahead  of  you? 

You  would  receive  a  clean,  fresh  copy  if  you  had  a 
personal  subscription — and  you  wouldn  t  have  to 
wait — you  would  be  first  to  read  it. 

Use  coupon  below. 


INTERNATIONAL    PROJECTIONIST. 

19  West  44  St..  New  York  18.  N.  Y. 

D  I    year— 12    issues— $2.50 
G  2  years — 24   issues — $4.00 
Foreign  and  Canada:   Add  SOe  per  year. 


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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


October  1951 


! 


\ 


Lieutenant  Frederick  Henry  of  Clinton,  Oklahoma — Medal  of  Honor  for  sacri- 
ficing himself  to  save  his  platoon  in  combat  near  Am-Dong,  Korea,  September  1, 
1950.  When  the  platoon  could  no  longer  hold  its  position,  Lieutenant  Henry 
ordered  the  men  to  pull  back.  But  someone  had  to  stay  behind  to  provide  cover- 
ing fire.  He  chose  to  be  that  man,  and  was  lost. 

Always  remember  this — Lieutenant  Henry  offered  his  life  for  more  than  just 
a  small  platoon  in  far-away  Korea.  It  was  also  for  America.  For  you. 

Isn't  there  something  you  can  do  when  this  man  did  so  much?  Yes,  there  is. 
You  can  help  keep  the  land  he  loved  solid  and  strong  and  secure.  You  can  do  a 
job  for  defense  ...  by  buying  United  States  Defense*  Bonds,  now!  For  your 
bonds  give  your  country  greater  strength.  And  a  strong  America  is  your  best 
hope  for  peace  and  freedom — just  as  it  was  his. 

Defense  is  your  job,  too.  For  the  sake  of  every  man  in  service,  and  for  yours, 
start  buying  more  United  States  Defense  Bonds  now. 


Remember  that  when  you're  buying 
bonds  for  national  defense,  you're 
also  building  a  personal  reserve  of 
cash  savings.  Remember,  too,  that  if 
you  don't  save  regularly,  you  generally 
don't  save  at  all.   Money  you  take 


home  usually  is  money  spent.  So  sign 
up  today  in  the  Payroll  Savings  Plan 
where  you  work,  or  the  Bond-A- 
Month  Plan  where  you  bank.  For 
your  country's  security,  and  your 
own,  buy  U.  S.  Defense  Bonds  now! 


*&S.  Savings  .Bonds  are  Defense  Bonds  -  Bui/  them  regularly: 


The  U.  S.  Government  does  not  pay  for  this  advertisement.  It  is  donated  by  this  publica- 
tion in  cooperation  with  the  Advertising  Council  and  the  Magazine  Publishers  of 
America  as  a  public  service. 


d£^-'x&~ 


-£*? 


T>-"° 


CHOSEH 
AGMN 

NUCUTCHIN 

and 

RODGERS 

SELECT  SIMPLEX  X-l 
FOR  THEIR 
NllDWST  CIRCUIT1- 


m? 


W-  ->r*-v 


j/     *M„ 


circuits  must  guarantor  their  patrons 
fy  fine  motion  picture  entertainment  in 

satisf 

jre  equipment 
&  Rodgers  Circui 
the  ftnegt  in 


\m 


ROJECTION  and 
OUND  SYSTEMS 


UttJfACTUMD  BY  !Nl!Rh 

imTBHUTID  IV  NA 


I 


NOVEMBER 


1951 


VOLUME  26       •       NUMBER   11 


30c  A   COPY    •    S2.50  A  YEAR 


ALONGSIDE  THESE  LAMPS  STAND 

THE  WORLDS  FINEST 
PROJECTIONISTS 


-KW  TO  70  AMPS 


HY-AX"    ARC    MAGNET 


TRADE   MARK    REG 


'HY-LUMEN"     REFLECTOR 


More  light  at  40  to  70  amperes  than  ever  thought  possible.  .  .  .  Equals  and 
excels  any  reflector  lamp  to  85  amperes,  whether  they  be  unappioved  water- 
cooled  or  resurrected  "Hi-Lows".  .  .  .  Highest  ratio  of  honest  screen  lumens 
per  arc  watt.  ...  At  70  amperes,  using  an  accurated  Glass  Hy-Lumen  Re- 
flector*, with  a  projector  having  an  efficient  revolving  shutter,  it  develops 
the  maximum  screen  brilliance  that  can  be  used  without  a  heat  filter  at  no 
risk  of  film  damage.  .  .  .  Operating  costs  under  these  conditions  are  far  below 
that  of  85-ampere  lamps. 

Magnarc  Lamps  assure  80%  side-to-center  (SMPE  Standard)  screen  light 
distribution,  not  a  deceptive  60%  or  "Hot  Center".  .  .  .  They  are  all  Und. 
Lab.,  Inc.  listed.  .  .  .  They  are  not  insurance  hazards.  .  .  .  They  are  and  have 
been  for  years  "The  First  Choice"  of  large  and  small  theatres,  drive-ins,  and 
the  motion  picture  industry. 

*  Similar  results  are  not  guaranteed   if  all-metal  reflectors  are  used. 


"FIRST     WITH     THE     FINEST" 


130-180  AMPERES 


TRADE   MARK   REG. 


NEW     MAGNETIC    STABILIZER 

This   modern    lamp  produces   all    the   light   there   is. 

...  It  is  the  standard  equipment  of  the  nation's  largest 

and  finest  theatres.  .  .  .   Used  by  90%   of  the  largest 
Drive-In  Theatres. 

It  is  the  "Omega"  for  maximum  screen  brilliance. 
.  .  .  Nothing  can  even  approach  it  in  white  light  volume 
when  used  with  projectors  that  have  efficient  revolving 
shutters. 

Assures  satisfying  projection  for  Drive-Ins  regardless 
of  the  size  of  the  picture,  length  of  throw,  and  under 
all  weather  conditions.  .  .  .  They  are  Und.  Lab.,  Inc. 
listed  and,  therefore,  not  insurance  hazards.  .  .  .  Heat 
filter  assures  no  risk  of  film-heat  damage  at  maximum 
arc   amperage   and   maximum   screen    lumens. 


"WHY     EXPERIMENT?" 

J.E.Mr.  AULEY  MFG. CD. 

552-554    WEST   ADAMS    STREET 

CHICAGO   6.  ILLINOIS 


I 


NOV  ;*H 


INTERNATIONAL 

PROJECTIONIST 


With  Which  Is  Combined  Projection  Engineering 


HENRY  B.  SELLWOOD,  Editor 


Volume  26 


NOVEMBER  1951 


Number  11 


Index  and  Monthly  Chat 3 

The  Trail  of  the  Elusive  Screen 

Lumen   5 

Charles  Hahn 

Technical  Activities  of  the  Mo- 
tion Picture  Research  Council     10 
W.  F.  Kelley  and  W.  V.  Wolfe 

Projectionist's  Role  as  a  Show- 
man          13 

Robert  A.  Mitchell 

'Business    Week'    Magazine    As- 
says Movies'  Economic  Status     14 


The  Allied  Arts  &  Sciences  .  .  .  . 
III.  Photographic  Optics 
Bausch  &  Lomb  Optical  Co. 


15 


In  the  Spotlight   16 

Harry  Sherman 

Theater   Screen   Brightness   Sur- 
vey        18 

A  Report  by  the  SMPTE  Screen 
Brightness  Committee 


GPL-NTS    Theater   Tv    Attracts 
400  to  25-30  Club  Meeting     . 

News  Notes 

Technical  Hints 

Miscellaneous  Items 


22 


Published  Monthly  by 
INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST  PUBLISHING  CO.,  INC. 

19  West  44  Street,  New  York  18,  N.  Y. 
Telephone:  MUrray  Hill  2-2948 

R.  A.  ENTRACHT,  Publisher 
SUBSCRIPTION  REPRESENTATIVES 

AUSTRALIA:  McGills,  183  Elizabeth  St.,  Melbourne 

NEW  ZEALAND:  Te  Aro  Book  Depot,  Ltd.,  64  Courtenay  Place,  Wellington 

ENGLAND  and  DOMINIONS:  Wm.  Dawson  &  Sons,  Ltd.,  Macklin  St.,  London,  W.  C.  2 

Yearly  Subscription:  United  States  and  possessions,  $2.50  (two  years,  $4) ;  Canada  and 
foreign  countries,  $3;  single  copies,  30  cents.  Changes  of  address  should  be  submitted 
two  weeks  in  advance  of  publication  date  to  insure  receipt  of  current  issue.  Entered  as 
second  class  matter  February  8,  1932,  at  the  Post  Office  at  New  York,  N.  Y.,  under  the 
act  of  March  3,  1879.  Entire  contents  Copyrighted  1951  by  International  Projectionist 
Publishing  Co.,  Inc.  International  Projectionist  is  not  responsible  for  personal  opinions 
appearing  in  signed  articles  in  its  columns. 

430 


MONTHLY  CHAT 


THE  constant  striving  on  the  part  of 
arclamp  manufacturers  and  projec- 
tionists for  a  higher  level  of  screen 
brightness  is  pointed  up,  although  from 
different  avenues  of  approach,  by  two 
articles  appearing  in  this  issue:  "The 
Trail  of  the  Elusive  Screen  Lumen,"  by 
Charles  Hahn  of  J.  E.  McAuley  Co.,  and 
the  report  of  the  SMPTE  Screen  Bright- 
ness Committee. 

Mr.  Hahn  is  most  emphatic  but  not 
dogmatic  in  his  treatise  on  light,  and 
therefore  heat,  levels  in  motion  picture 
projection.  Asserting  that  careful  and 
extensive  tests  revealed  that  16,000  lu- 
mens is  the  most  that  the  film  will  take 
without  serious  damage,  Mr.  Hahn  de- 
cries the  so-what  attitude  of  those  who 
keep  upping  the  light  level  without  utiliz- 
ing some  means  for  taking  the  heat-sting 
out  of  the  light.  His  preference  is  for  the 
heat-absorbing  glass  filter  system,  which 
he  holds  to  be  the  most  efficient  means 
for  doing  the  job  with  a  minimum  light 
loss. 

High-velocity  air  streams,  interference 
coating  filters,  and  water-cooled  mecha- 
nism setups  don't  catch  the  Hahn  fancy, 
and  he's  quite  positive  in  saying  so — 
and  why.  Other  manufacturers  and  pro- 
jectionists hold  to  different  views,  and  it 
would  be  a  pity  if  the  Hahn  effort  did 
not  provoke  a  forthright  expression  of 
those  views. 

The  SMPTE  report  reveals  that  a  sur- 
vey of  125  indoor  theaters  and  18  West 
Coast  studio  review  rooms  showed  that 
about  one-half  of  the  indoor  theater  and 
two-thirds  of  the  review  room  projectors 
produced  screen  brightness  within  the 
American  Standard  range.  The  re- 
mainder ranged  from  extremely  low  to 
excessively  high.  Distribution  of  light 
over  theater  screens  bkewise  ranged 
from  very  uniform  to  extremely  non-uni- 
form. Screen  reflectivity  varied  from  val- 
ues typical  of  screens  in  good  condition 
all  the  way  down  to  a  level  of  50%  dete- 
rioration. 

Now,  it  seems  to  us  that  there  is  some- 
thing radically  wrong  with  an  industry 
which,  recently  observing  its  50th  anni- 
versary, permits  the  existence  of  such 
conditions.  It  would  be  bad  enough  in 
any  industry,  but  in  show  business  where 
entertainment  is  merchandised  it  is  un- 
thinkable. Sure,  there  are  many  links  in 
the  projection  chain,  and  only  a  single 
defect  along  the  way  can  ruin  the  over- 
all effect  produced.  Yet  uniform  distribu- 
tion of  screen  light  is  not  too  tough  a 
problem  to  lick;  and  a  screen  deteriora- 
tion of  50%  is  disgraceful. 

The  great  majority  of  exhibitors  either 
don't  know  or  don't  care  about  such 
problems:  they're  strictly  lobby  boys. 
But  the  great  majority  of  projectionists 
do  know  and  should  care  about  such  mat- 
ters. Much  could  be  done  by  way  of  cor- 
rective action  right  in  the  projection 
room,  and  we  suggest  that  projectionists 
start  doing  those  few  simple  chores 
right  now. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     November  1951 


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THE  STRONG  ELECTRIC  CORPORATION 

'The  World's  largest  Manufacturer  of  Projection  Arc  tamps' 
14  City  Park  Avenue  Toledo  2,  Ohio 

Please  send  free  literature  on  the  □  Strong  Trouperette  Incan- 
descent Spotlight;  □  Strong  Trouper  Arc  Spotlight. 

Name 

Company ; , 

Street 


City  &  State. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     November  1951 


B        329862 


VOLUME  XXVI 


NOVEMBER  1951 


NUMBER  11 


The  Trail  of  the  Elusive  Screen  Lumen 


By  CHARLES  HAHN 

J.  E.  McAuley  Manufacturing  Co.* 

Were  is  a  forthright  presentation  of  the  views  of  a  leading  arclamp  manu- 
facturer on  the  highly  controversial  topic  of  the  relationship  of  total 
screen  illumination  to  aperture  light-heat,  plus  an  evaluation  of  heat 
radiation  and  heat  absorption  methods  to  prevent  film  damage.  Provoca- 
tive this  article  surely  is  in  the  light  of  the  views  held  and  often  expressed 
in  other  responsible  quarters  of  the  projection  field. 


HIGH  aperture  heat  first  became  a 
serious  problem  back  in  1929-30  as 
the  first  reflector  arc  lamps  using 
the  9-mm  high-intensity  type,  rotating 
positive  carbons,  inadvertently  named 
"Hi-Lo,"  became  more  generally  used  for 
theater  projection.  At  that  time  projector 
manufacturers  made  their  first  contribu- 
tion toward  solving  the  problem  by 
changing  the  location  of  the  outside  re- 
volving shutter  from  its  usual,  in  front 
of  the  projection  lens  position  (front 
shutter),  to  its  present  position  between 
the  projector  aperture  and  the  light 
source  (rear  shutter) . 

The  term  "light  heat"  used  herein  re- 
fers to  the  thermal  rise  which  follows  the 
stoppage  of  all,  or  a  portion  of,  the  radi- 
ant energy  produced  by  any  type  of  35- 
mm  projection  arc  lamp.  This  thermal 
rise  (heat)  increases  proportionately 
with  the  amount  of  light  extracted  from 
the  total  light  beam  as  it  traverses  the 
axis  of  the  projector  optical  system. 

Three  Methods  in  Use 

Today,  when  more  than  16,000  total 
lumens  are  to  be  used  on  a  screen,  there 
are  three  methods  offered  as  means  to 


*  Chicago,    111.     Makers   of   Peerless   projection 
arclamps. 


afford  light-heat  protection  to  the  film; 
yet  only  one  method  basically  assures 
positive  and  consistent  results:  heat-ab- 
sorbing glass  filters  which  are  inserted 
in  the  light  beam  between  the  rear  shut- 
ter of  the  projector  and  the  fight  source. 

The  absorption  system  is  completely 
protective  because  its  degree  of  heat  fil- 
tering is  selective  and  it  actually  extracts 
that  part  of  the  total  heat  from  the  light 
beam,  the  cause  of  film  damage,  and  this 
before  it  reaches  the  projector  and  film. 
In  consequence,  it  results  in  a  lower  oper- 
ating temperature  of  the  projector  mecha- 
nism, and  also  a  lower  degree  of  heat 
absorption  by  the  projection  lens. 

The  second  method  is  by  heat-ray  (in- 
frared) deflection,  through  the  use  of 
interference  coatings  applied  to  one  side 
of  a  single  piece  of  heat-resisting  glass 
or  fused  quartz  that  is  inserted  in  the 
light  beam,  similar  to  our  heat-absorbing 
glass  filters. 

Interference  Coating  Characteristics 

Our  experience  with  this  type  filter  has 
been  fairly  successful,  even  in  its  present 
state  of  development,  but  the  deflective 
coatings  have  not  been  too  stable  and 
they  will  deteriorate,  gradually  disinte- 
grating   and    breaking    down,    probably 


from  the  higher  heat  in  the  center  area 
of  the  glass,  or  fused  quartz  disc,  to 
which  they  are  applied. 

Such  deterioration  of  the  reflective 
coatings  was  found  to  be  greatly  accel- 
erated when  used  with  light  beams  of 
intensities  that  produced  more  than 
20,00  total  screen  lumens,  and  that  such 
charring  or  disintegration  of  the  coatings 
as  it  progresses  become  responsible  for 
visible  screen  light  losses  of  upward  to 
35%. 

Also  of  importance  is  the  fact  that 
they  have  not  proven  to  be  as  efficient  as 
our  heat-absorbing  glass  system  because, 
being  of  one  piece,  the  total  visible  light 
beam  from  the  arc  must  pass  through 
them  when  they  are  in  their  operating 
position.  Hence,  their  percentage-wise 
loss  of  visible  light  is  a  constant,  because 
they  do  not  provide  the  selective  degree 
feature  of  heat  transmission  found  in  the 
heat-absorbing  glass  system. 

Because  our  tests  have  convinced  us 
this  type  of  filter  is  not  a  consistent  pro- 
tective medium,  and  because  the  effective- 
ness of  its  reflective  coatings,  due  to  their 
inherent  fragility,  can  be  seriously  im- 
paired by  the  ever-present  hazards  of 
operation,  we  feel  we  should  eliminate  it 
from  immediate  consideration,  pending 
further  development. 

High-Velocity  Air  Streams 

The  third  method  is  by  heat  radiation 
through  the  use  of  high-velocity  air 
streams  from  jets  which  are  directed 
against  the  front  and  back,  or  edgewise 
across,  or  directly  on  one  or  both  sides 
of  the  film  at  the  aperture  opening  in 
the  projector  mechanism. 

First,  such  high  velocity  air-cooling  sys- 
tems have  an  exceedingly  high  initial 
cost.  They  also  entail  the  complication 
and  high  cost  of  installing  suitable  pip- 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     November  1951 


ing  systems,  and  possibly  equalizing 
valves,  to  control  the  jets  of  air  to  prevent 
bending  or  the  bellying  of  the  film  at  the 
aperture,  which  will  follow  if  an  unequal 
air  pressure  develops  on  one  or  the  other 
side  of  the  film. 

Power,  Filtering  Requirements 

Another  requirement  of  this  system  is 
that  to  maintain  an  adequate  air  supply 
and  pressure,  the  air  source  would  have 
to  be  powered  by  at  least  a  2-hp.  motor 
(approximately  1600  watts).  It  would 
also  have  to  operate  continuously,  hence 
there  is  a  sizeable  current  cost  to  be  con- 
sidered. Such  a  system  should  also  in- 
clude a  fairly  large  expansion  tank,  so 
that  the  air  may  cool  before  it  is  blown 
on  the  film.  The  air  tank  should  also  be 
provided  with  a  safety  valve,  should  an 
air  compressor  be  used,  and  to  reduce 
an  excessive  accumulation  of  airborne 
dirt  and  airborne  moisture  in  and  around 
the  projector  mechanism  and  on  the  pro- 
jection lens  (which  would  affect  focus), 
a  better  than  ordinary  air  filter  and  air 
drier  must  be  used. 

In  the  event  that  a  motor-driven  rotary 
air  pump  is  used  for  the  air  supply,  in- 
stead of  an  air  compressor,  adequate  fil- 
tration of  airborne  dust  and  moisture  be- 
comes a  more  difficult  problem,  because 
such  air  sources  cannot  build  up  the 
necessary  pressure  to  force  the  air 
through  really  efficient  air-filtering  me- 
diums. 

Small-Area  Metal  Contact 

The  ever-present  collection  of  dirt  and 
oily  smudge  that  is  seen  around  any  air 
vent  or  exhaust  fan,  ventilating  and  air 
conditioning-system  outlet  is  evidence 
that   similar    accumulations    of    dirt    and 


damaging  grit  is  bound  to  occur  in  the 
projector  mechanism. 

We  all  know  that  as  film  passes 
through  the  projector — sprockets,  guide 
rollers,  film  tracks,  tension  shoes,  etc. — it 
only  comes  in  contact  with  the  metal 
parts  for  a  width  approximately  equal  to 
the  width  of  the  sprocket  hole  area  on 
each  edge.  Also,  that  this  center  clear- 
ance is  provided  for  each  face  of  the  film 
to  prevent  scratches  and  damage  to  the 
emulsion  and  plain  side  of  the  photo 
frame  area. 

In  our  original  work  with  air-cooling 
systems,  we  found  that  due  to  this  center 
clearance  area  for  the  film,  when  only 
slightly  warped  film  was  used,  a  high- 
velocity  air  stream  of  sufficient  volume 
to  be  only  slightly  effective  in  radiating 
the  light  heat  resulted  in  an  accelerated 
rate  of  in-and-out-of  focus  fluttering  of 
the  film  at  the  aperture — much  more  than 
is  normally  experienced  when  no  air 
stream  was  used;  and  that  such  fluttering 
tendency  was  again  markedly  increased 
when  the  high-velocity  air  stream  was  di- 
rected across  both  faces  of  the  film  from 
an  edgewise  position. 

Studio  Work  No  Criterion 

From  these  facts,  therefore,  we  believe 
it  is  erroneous  to  jump  at  the  conclusion 
that  just  because  aperture  "high-velocity 
air  cooling"  contributed  to.  and  in  a  great 
measure  made  practical,  the  present 
method  of  background  projection  in  mo- 
tion picture  studios,  it  will  likewise  solve 
the  aperture  heat  problem  for  theater 
projection.  The  projection  principles  and 
problems  involved  are  totally  different 
and  unrelated. 

From  the  foregoing  it  can  be  seen  that 
this   system's  high  initial  cost,   high  in- 


stallation cost,  and  the  expense  of  pos- 
sible mechanical  failure  of  motors,  com- 
pressors, blowers,  air  pump,  replacement 
of  filters,  and  maintenance,  all  contribute 
to  an  exceedingly  high  operational  cost. 
Even  if  it  were  possible  to  substantiate 
its  sponsors'  claim  of  film  protection  and 
screen  illumination  gain  (which  to  date 
have  not  been  proven  to  be  anything  else 
than  theoretical)  the  cost  of  obtaining 
each  such  additional  theoretical  screen 
lumen  would  reach  an  astronomical 
figure. 

Water-Cooling  System 

Relative  to  water-cooled,  35-mm  pro- 
jector film  traps,  gates,  and  aperture  spot 
heat  shields:  sales  conversation  and,  we 
regretfully  add,  manufacturers'  fallacious 
advertising  have  created  an  erroneous  im- 
pression that  no  system  of  light-heat  fil- 
tering is  required  to  protect  the  film 
against  heat  damage  on  such  projectors. 
Our  work  with  projectors  so  equipped 
has  proven  that  nothing  could  be  farther 
from  the  truth. 

The  use  of  water-cooled  projector  film 
traps  and  gates  does  not  in  any  way  re- 
duce the  initial  temperature  impact  of 
the  light-heat  striking  the  projector  or 
film.  This  system  can  only  carry  off  the 
higher  temperatures  that  are  absorbed 
by  projector  mechanism  parts.  Hence,  it 
can  be  understood  that  its  effectiveness 
to  even  slightly  affect  the  temperature 
impact  of  the  light  on  the  film  itself  ex- 
posure is  completely  nil. 

Installation,  Operating  Data 

Mechanism  water-cooling  systems,  like 
air-cooling,  also  present  quite  sizeable 
installation  complications,  because  a 
water-circulating    means    must    be    pro- 


K  IF 
TOTAL   SCREEN 
LUMENS       ARE 

THEN    THE    TOTAL 
NET    SCREEN   LU- 
MENS    WITH     ONE 
PIECE       DICHROIC 
TYPE      OF      HEAT 
FILTER     WILL    BE 
1 

1 

NO  HEAT   FILTER   REQUIRED    UP  TO          \  /                     HEAT    FILTER   REQUIRED 

10000    TOTAL   SCREEN   LUMENS.              V         IN    THIS    LIGHT    RANGE    TO    PREVENT 
▼                                   FILM    DAMAGE. 

OOO           OOOOOOOOO           < 
-if   TflTAI                       OOO          OOOOOOOOO 
3                         ■  ■                  *~ »   OOOOOOOOOOOOt 

SCREEN    LUMENS         *■       m       o        r-       a       o»       o       -       nj       m      *<*       m        » 

1 

3 
3 
3 
9 
II 

J 

1  7000  - 

\ 

\ 

\ 

LOSS      II V 

* 

"^t 

Is 

\ 

LOSS     1 

% 

1  \ 

\ 

\ 

\ 

\ 

AVERAGE   LIGHT     LOSS  WITH 
PEERLESSVVHY-LUMEN"HEAT 
FILTER    DUE  TO     IT'S   ADJUST 
-ABILITY  (AFTER  60   HOURS 
USE.)             ' 

\ 

\ 

\, 

GA 

IN 

i  % 

\ 

< 

"\ 

, 

\ 

\ 

\ 

\ 

\ 

,            ! 

GA 

IN    1 

3% 

,\ 

I6V.AVERAGE      LIGHT 
LOSS  WITH  ONE  PIECE 
DICHROIC   TYPE  HEAT 
FILTER      (AFTER       60 
HOURS    USE.) 

\ 

X 

\ 

\ 

V 

s 

\ 

\ 

\ 

\ 

201 60  *■ 

v 

v 

~^ 

\\ 

j.t.H.Mrc.eo.   7-IO-5I 

"T 

^ 

7i8"/u70  AMP.SSMAGNA 

RC" 

WITHvvHY-LUMEN"REFLECTOR 
AND^HY -AX "MAGNET 

HEAT  FILTER 
LIGHT  LOSSES 

*(See  Cols.  1  &  2) 

Obtained  using  an  F:2.0 
coated  projection  lens — 
without  projector  shutter, 
or  porthole  glass,  or 
#G-292— E  Pyrex  air  de- 
flector, and  with  no  allow- 
ance for  metal  reflector 
losses  or  for  water-contact 
cooling  devices  when  used 
with  carbons  not  designed 
for  such   operation. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     November  1951 


TO   THE   STUDIOS... 

IT   MEANS 


MOI//ES/ 


TO   THE   THEATRE   OWNER... 

n   MEANS 


BOX  OFFICE! 


it's  the  National 

TRADE-MARK 

CARBON  ARC'S 


The  "National"  carbon  arc  is  an  indispensable  tool- 
both  to  the  studios  which  make  movies  and  to  the  the 
atre  owner  who  exhibits  them.  Why?  The  "National' 
carbon  arc's  BIG  FIVE: 

•  SMALL  SOURCE   SIZE 

•  HIGH   BRIGHTNESS 

•  GREAT   POWER    FROM    ONE    UNIT 

•  WHITE  LIGHT 

•  MINIMUM    HEAT   PER    FOOT    CANDLE 


The  term  "National"  is  a  registered  trade-mark  of 
Union  Carbide  and  Carbon  Corporation 

NATIONAL  CARBON   COMPANY 

A  Division  of  Union  Carbide  and  Carbon  Corporation 
30  East  42nd  Street,  New  York  1 7,  N.Y. 

District  Sales  Offices:  Atlanta,  Chicago,  Dallas, 
Kansas  City,  New  York,  Pittsburgh,  San  Francisco 

In  Canada:  National  Carbon  Limited,  Montreal,  Toronto,  Winnipeg 


When  you  order  studio  or  projector 
carbons— order  " National"  ! 


For  the  studio,  small  source  size  insures  sharp,  dra- 
matic shadows,  better  simulates  one-source  lighting, 
creates  a  perfect  "follow-spot".  High  brightness  pene- 
trates deep  sets,  gives  high  light  levels  without 
excessive  heat. 

White  light  matches  outdoor  shooting  conditions, 
lends  itself  perfectly  to  color  movies. 

For  the  theatre  owner,  the  carbon  arc  provides 
the  "brightest  spot  in  the  world"—  gives  him  the 
dazzling  power  he  needs  to  get  diamond-sharp  pic- 
tures, vivid  color  and  keeps  his  box  office  booming. 
The  "National"  carbon  arc  is  tops. 

TOU  CAN'T  SKIMP  ON  STUDIO  LIGHTING 
WITHOUT  RISKING  BOX  OFFICE! 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     November  1951 


vided.  In  cold  weather,  or  in  cases  where 
the  normal  temperature  of  a  water  sup- 
ply is  rather  low,  a  moist  condensation 
can  accumulate  on  the  cooled  projector 
parts.  Humid  weather  will  also  promote 
the  formation  of  a  condensation  on  the 
cooled  parts. 

Finally,  while  the  water-cooling  of  pro- 
jector parts  may  have  a  beneficial  me- 
chanical effect  on  the  projector  mecha- 
nism, the  actual  or  dollar  value  of  such 
mechanical  benefits  would  be  so  infinitesi- 
mal and  hard  to  recognize  as  to  not  jus- 
tify its  first  cost,  installation  expense  and 
maintenance. 

Heat-Absorbing  Glass 

Comparing  now  the  use  of  heat-absorb- 
ing glass  to  protect  the  film  from  light- 
heat  damage.  First,  it  is  extremely  simple 
and  definitely  effective  because  it  actually 
extracts  the  damaging  light  heat  from  the 
total  light  beam  before  it  reaches  the 
projector  mechanism  and  film. 

A  filter  glass  unit  consists  of  a  metal 
frame  with  provision  to  hold  a  total  of 
six  strips  of  filter  glass,  each  %  x  4 
inches  and  only  1%  mm  in  thickness. 
The  strips  are  removable  so  that  only  as 
many  need  be  interposed  in  the  light 
beam  as  is  required  to  prevent  film  dam- 
age at  the  particular  current  drawn  at 
the  arc. 

Over-all  Light  Loss 

With  the  entire  six  strips  in  use,  the 
average  total  visible  screen  illumination 
loss  is  14%  or  less.  This  can  be  reduced 
to  approximately  7%  or  8%  when  only 
three  or  four  strips  are  needed  to  prevent 
film  damage.  Many  installations  using 
180  amperes  at  the  arc  are  so  operating. 
In  most  cases,  the  gain  in  illumination 
that  will  follow  the  removal  of  porthole 
glass  will  more  than  make  up  for  the 
visible  bght  loss  of  the  filter  glasses. 

By  comparison,  it  is  perfectly  obvious 
that  for  theater  projection  the  absorption 
system  is  extremely  simple  and  definitely 
effective.  It  entails  no  high  installation 
cost,  complications,  or  high  operating 
cost.  An  absorption  heat-filter  requires 
only  a  1/50-h.p.  motor  to  operate  the 
blower  which  cools  the  filter  glasses,  and 
the  motor  need  run,  if  desired,  only  when 
the  projector  is  in  operation. 

20%  Loss  Figure  Arbitrary 

Right  at  this  point  we  believe  a  correc 
tion  is  in  order  of  the  erroneous  general 
impression  that  the  use  of  glass  heat- 
absorbing  filters  will  arbitrarily  result  in 
a  visible  light  loss  of  20%.  This  round 
percentage  figure  undoubtedly  originated, 
and  would  more  or  less  correctly  apply, 
to  the  first  internally-colored  heat  filter 
glass  that  became  commercially  available. 
We  refer  to  Nos.  395  and  3966  Aklo  heat- 
absorbing  glass  of  2  mm  thickness. 

Also,  it  must  be  clearly  understood 
that  a  laboratory-developed  transmission 


curve  will  materially  vary  as  a  thinner  or 
thicker  piece  of  filter  glass  is  tested. 
Hence,  a  round  percentagewise  figure 
accepted  as  the  measure  of  visible  light 
loss  that  will  follow  the  use  of  any  or 
all  types  of  heat-filter  glass  can  be  mis- 
leading. 

To  speak  in  round  percentage  ratios: 
with  No.  3966  Aklo,  referred  to  previ- 
ously, a  2-mm  thickness  could  be  con- 
sidered as  having  an  optimum  heat-ab- 
sorption ratio  of  70%  and  an  optimum 
visible-ray  transmission  ratio  of  80%. 
These  percentages,  however,  for  reasons 
stated  previously,  are  subject  to  change 
as  thinner  glass  is  used.  We  always  used 
this  glass  1%  mm  in  thickness,  thus  the 
optimum  visible  transmission  percentage 
was  more  correctly  near  83  or  84%  when 
the  complete  light  beam  transpierced  the 
six  filter  glass  strips. 

New  Glass  Ups  Light  Level 

Still  further  favoring  the  advantages 
afforded  by  the  heat-absorbing  glass  sys- 
tem is  the  newly  developed  Phosphate- 
type  glass  which  we  have  used  exclu- 
sively for  the  last  four  years.  Laboratory- 
developed  transmission  curves  of  2  mm 
thickness  glass  show  that  this  type  of 
glass  passes  an  even  higher  optimum  per- 
centage of  the  visible  light  rays,  about 
84% ;  but  because  we  use  this  new  glass 
in  only  V-fa  mm  thickness  strips,  this 
84%  optimum  transmission  percentage 
is  increased  to  86-87%. 

It  is  pertinent  to  mention  here  that  re- 
gardless of  the  type  of  high-intensity 
lamp  used,  or  how  large  the  reflector 
might  be,  or  the  diameter  of  the  carbon 
combination,  or  the  number  of  amperes 
drawn  at  the  arc,  it  is  authoritatively  con- 
ceded that  with  the  present  range  of 
photographic  density,  if  no  light  heat 
filter  or  film-cooling  means  are  used,  the 
absolute  top  level  of  screen  illumination 


that  it  is  safe  to  use  to  definitely  avert 
film  damage  from  light-heat  is  16,000 
total  screen  lumens. 

This  screen  lumen  figure  is  to  be  meas- 
ured when  using  either  a  silvered  glass 
reflector  or  a  condenser  lens  system,  with- 
out film  in  the  projector,  without  revolv- 
ing shutter  light  losses,  without  port  glass 
light  losses,  but  with  an  accurately 
aligned  optical  system. 

Hence,  the  unalterable  fact  to  remem- 
ber is  that  it  is  primarily  and  only  the 
film  itelf  that  is  the  limiting  factor  which 
determines  the  maximum  screen  light 
when  no  definite  supplementary  means  is 
employed  to  prevent  film  damage  from 
light-heat. 

Metal  Reflector  Data 

Referring  particularly  to  reflector-type 
arclamps,  predicated  on  the  high  level  of 
the  reflectivity  of  silvered  glass  reflectors, 
our.  illumination  limit  of  16,000  total  visi- 
ble screen  lumens  is  well  within  the 
capacity  of  70-ampere  arcs  using  the 
7  x  8-mm  copper-coated  carbon  trim. 
However,  if  a  metal  reflector  having  a 
"rhodium"  reflective  surface  is  used,  this 
16,000  total  visible  screen  lumens  limit 
is  materially  reduced,  because  rhodium- 
surfaced  metal  reflectors  reflect  approxi- 
mately 20%  less  of  the  visible  light  rays, 
in  wave-lengths  of  from  4,000  to  7,500 
Angstrom  units,  and  at  their  lower 
level  of  visible  ray  reflectivity  they  trans- 
mit approximately  20%  more  of  the  visi- 
ble heat  rays  (infrared)  in  wave-lengths 
of  from  7.500  to  40,000  Angstrom  units. 

Keeping  this  inherent  inefficiency  char- 
acteristic in  mind,  let's  assume  we  were 
to  increase  the  current  of  a  70-ampere  arc 
having  a  metal  reflector  (by  changing  to 
larger  diameter  carbons  so  we  could  ac- 
commodate the  current  increase  necessary 

(Continued  on  page  29) 


OFFICERS  AND  DIRECTORS  OF  TESMA  WHO  WILL  SERVE  FOR  THE  COMING  YEAR 


Seated,  left  to  right:  Oscar  Neu  (Neumade  Products),  retiring  president  and  honorary  board 
member;  Roy  Boomer,  sec.-treas.;  J.  Robert  Hoff  (Ballanryne),  president;  Lee  Jones  (Neumade), 
vice-pres.;  and  W.  A.  Gedris  (Ideal  Seating),  board  member.  Board  members  shown  standing, 
left  to  right:  Bill  DeVry  (DeVry  Corp.);  Fred  Matthews  (Motiograph);  Jack  O'Brien  (RCA); 
H.  B.  Engel,  W.  C.  Stober,  Ben  Adler  (Adler  Signs);  Jack  Nolan  (National  Carbon);  Clarence 
Ashcraft  (Ashcraft  Mfg.  Co.);  Ed  Wagner  (Wagner  Signs);  Larry  Davee  (Century  Projector  Corp). 


8 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     November  1951 


The  Eastman 


16mm.  Projector, 


MODEL  25 


HERE  is  a  precision-designed,  craftsman- 
built  projection  instrument  which  delivers  a 
screen  image  and  sound  reproduction  from 
16mm.  film  that  compares  favorably  with  the 
performance  of  the  most  advanced  35mm. 
equipment.  You  can  be  certain  of  theater- 
quality  projection  of  your  16mm.  sound  films 
when  they  are  shown  with  an  Eastman  16mm. 
Proj  ector,  Model  2  5 .  The  standard  model  may 
be  fitted  with  tungsten  or  carbon  arc  lamp. 
For  more  detailed  information,  including 
mechanical  and  installation  specifications,  fill 
out  the  coupon  below  now,  and  mail  it  today. 
Your  free  copy  of  the  booklet,  "Theater  Qual- 
ity 16mm.  Projection,"  will  be  in  the  return 
mail,  postpaid. 


Motion  Picture  Film  Department 
Eastman  Kodak  Company 
Rochester  4,  N.  Y. 

Cast  Coast  Division 
342  Madison  Avenue 
New  York  17,  New  York 

Midwest  Division 

137  North  Wabash  Avenue 

Chicago  2,  Illinois 

West  Coast  Division 

6706  Santa  Monica  Blvd. 

Hollywood  38,  California 


Extra  Assurance  for 
Trouble-Free  Performance 

Every  purchase  of  an  Eastman  16mm.  Projec- 
tor, Model  25,  in  the  U.S.A.  includes  installa- 
tion supervision  and  thirty-day  service  from 
date  of  installation  by  the  Altec  Service  Cor- 
poration. 


Eastman  Kodak  Company 

343  STATE  STREET,  ROCHESTER  4,  N.  Y.,  DEPT.  8 

Please  send  copy  of  "Theater  Quality  16mm. 
Projection"  at  earliest  convenience. 

NAME 


COMPANY  {OR  THEATER). 


STREET. 


C1TY_ 


_ZONE_ 


.STATE. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     November  1951 


Technical  Activities  of  the 
Motion  Picture  Research  Council1 

By  W.  F.  KELLEY  and  W.  V.  WOLFE 

A  resume  of  some  of  the  more  important  activities  of  the  Council  and  its  connection 
with    new    products,    inventions,    television,    stereoscopy,    standards    and    test    films. 


FIG.  1.    Mercury-cadmium   lamp  under  test. 


BY  1947  it  was  freely  recognized  that 
insofar  as  methods,  processes  and 
equipment  are  concerned,  there  was  no 
need  for  competition  among  the  produc- 
ers of  motion  pictures.  Accordingly,  it 
was  practical  to  carry  on  the  develop- 
ment of  such  equipment,  processes  and 
methods  in  a  common  industry-sponsored 
technical  organization. 

With  this  end  in  view,  the  Motion  Pic- 
ture Research  Council  was  separated 
from  the  Academy  of  Motion  Picture 
Arts  and  Sciences  and  incorporated 
under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  California. 
Funds  and  facilities  were  made  available, 
and  the  business  of  organizing  a  staff  of 
qualified  technical  people  and  securing 
for  them  the  necessary  equipment  and 
quarters  was  undertaken. 

The  Research  Council  is  interested  in 
any  and  all  technical  problems  in  the 
production  or  exhibition  of  motion  pic- 
tures. In  general,  the  activities  can  be  di- 
vided into  three  groups:  service  func- 
tions, short-range  development  and  de- 
sign problems,  and  long-range  advanced 
development  problems.  The  staff  includes 
two  physicists,  three  chemists,  two  me- 
chanical engineers,  two  electrical  engi- 
neers and  supporting  personnel. 

Although  the  Research  Council  now 
has  its  own  technical  staff  and  facilities, 
it  needs  the  guidance  of  the  many  expert 
technicians  of  the  industry.  This  is  pro- 
vided through  a  group  of  14  basic  com- 


mittees covering  every  phase  of  the  tech- 
nical activity  of  the  industry. 

The  Research  Council  is  a  small  or- 
ganization covering  a  broad  and  diverse 
field.  Its  only  possible  chance  of  working 
successfully  under  such  conditions  lies 
in  the  cooperation  which  it  seeks  and  re- 
ceives from  other  industries  throughout 
the  country. 

Set  Lighting  Developments 

Since  it  is  the  purpose  of  the  Research 
Council  to  serve  the  motion  picture  indus- 
try, it  is  not  concerned  with  glory  in 
solving  problems,  but  only  with  the  solu- 
tion. If  any  other  organization  has  a 
satisfactory  answer,  then  the  aims  of  the 
Research  Council  have  been  completely 
satisfied  when  that  answer  is  made  avail- 
able to  the  industry. 

Projects  of  many  types  and  varieties 


are  undertaken  by  the  Research  Council, 
either  on  its  own  or  in  cooperation  with 
other  companies.  For  example,  set  light- 
ing is  one  of  our  most  important  projects. 
We  will  be  concerned  with  it  as  long  as 
there  is  a  motion  picture  industry.  Pres- 
ently, we  are  carrying  on  work  on  set 
lighting  in  all  three  branches  of  our  activ- 
ity, that  is  to  say,  service  function,  short- 
range  design  and  development  and  long- 
range  advanced  development. 

Figure  1  shows  a  mercury-cadmium 
lamp  under  test.  The  "Man  from  Mars" 
helmet  is,  of  course,  a  standard  welder's 
helmet,  equipped  with  special  glass  to 
permit  safe  viewing  of  the  intense  light 
produced  by  this  mercury-cadmium  lamp. 
Since  this  lamp  is  contained  in  a  quartz 
bulb,  it  produces  high  intensities  in  the 
ultraviolet,  so  that  artificial  sunburn  is 
difficult  to  avoid.  In  studying  lamps  of 
this  type,  it  is  necessary  to  know  as  much 
as  possible  about  their  color  quality  and 
variation,  if  any,  in  color  quality  as  a 
function  of  age  and  various  operating 
conditions.  Such  studies  are  made  with 
a  spectroradiometer  and  filtered  light 
meters,  and  also  photographically. 

Studies  of  the  zirconium  arc,  both  en- 
closed and  open-air  varieties,  have  been 
carried  on,  although  for  set  lighting  pur- 
poses these  arcs  do  not  appear  to  have 
sufficient  intensity  or  satisfactory  color 
temperature. 

Other  New  Light  Sources 

The  xenon  gas  arc  has  long  been 
known  and  studied  and  is  perhaps  most 
familiar  to  us  in  the  flashtubes  so  suc- 
cessfully used  for  stroboscopic  high- 
speed photography.  Not  so  well  known  is 
the  fact  that  in  Germany  and  England 
development  work  has  been  in  progress 
on  a  high-intensity  xenon  arc  of  capaci- 
ties ranging  up  to  1000  w. 

In  Germany  an  air-cooled  lamp  of  this 
type  has  recently  emerged  from  the  re- 
search laboratories.  It  is  being  watched 
with  care  and  samples  will  be  obtained 
by  the  Research  Council  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible. This  lamp  has  better  color  charac- 
teristics,   having    almost    a    continuum 


NO  FILTER 

RED     A 

BLUE  C-5 


FIGURE  2 

Typical    brightness   fall-off   curves — 
goniophotometer  measurements. 


t  J.  Soc.  Mot.  Pict.  &  TV  Eng.,  Feb.  1951. 


100 
90 
80 
70 
60 
50 
40 

B5S3S55: 

v      ^- 

V 
\ 

^^ 

\ 

<=^^. 

--> 

~*~<^^. 

10 

0 

>              10             15            20           25            30            a 
ANGLE  OF  OBSERVATION  IN  DEGREES 

5           41 

3 

10 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     November  1951 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     November  1951 


FRONT  PROJECTION 


FIG.   3.     Schematic    drawing   of   a    set-up   for 
front  projection. 

throughout  the  entire  spectrum  and  a 
color  temperature  of  the  order  of  6000 
K  degrees  (Kelvin),  coupled  with  instant 
starting.  If  it  can  be  made  commercially 
available,  it  can  occupy  a  position  of  real 
importance  in  set  lighting  for  motion 
pictures. 

Composite  photography  is  a  matter  of 
vital  importance  to  the  motion  picture  in- 
dustry. It  permits  making  many  shots 
which  would  otherwise  be  impossible, 
and  making  many  more  shots  which 
would  be  impractical  from  an  economic 
standpoint  if  made  by  any  other  process. 
There  are  two  general  types  of  composite 
photography,  commonly  called  transpar- 
ency process  photography  and  matte  pho- 
tography. Both  of  these  forms  of  compos- 
ite photography  are  under  study. 

A  goniophotometer  built  for  our  spe- 
cial application  has  been  used  to  measure 
the  color  characteristics  of  transparency 
screens.  The  results  of  one  such  test  are 
shown  in  Fig.  2.  These  tests  are  verified, 
wherever  that  is  important,  by  actual 
photographic  measurements,  since  it 
must  be  constantly  borne  in  mind  that 
the  characteristics  of  the  photographic 
emulsion  are  an  inseparable  part  of  the 
problem. 


The  difference  in  fall-off  characteristics 
of  this  particular  screen  sample  at  the 
different  ends  of  the  spectrum  is  of  obvi- 
ous importance  for  color  photography, 
but  is  also  important  for  black-and-white 
photography  since  it  must  effect  the  re- 
sultant definition  in  many  cases. 

The  method  of  making  a  composite 
photograph  which  consists  of  photo- 
graphing foreground  objects  while  simul- 
taneously rephotographing  from  a  screen 
the  desired  background,  can,  of  course, 
be  employed  with  a  reflection  type  of 
screen  and  front  projection  as  well  as 
with  a  translucent  screen  and  rear  pro- 
jection. 

For  example,  in  Fig.  3,  is  a  simplified 


the  mirror  to  the  screen,  S,  and  rephoto- 
graphed  by  the  camera  along  with  the 
foreground  object. 

Figure  4  is  an  example  of  this  type  of 
photography,  for  the  young  lady  is  seated 
in  front  of  what  appears  to  be  an  open 
window  through  which  the  city  may  be 
seen.  Fig.  5  shows  what  happens  if  the 
foreground  lights  are  turned  off  so  that 
the  camera  sees  only  the  silhouette  and 
the  rephotographed  view  of  the  city.  This 
last  slide  is  included  primarily  to  show 
that  the  intensity  of  light  required  from 
the  projector  is  insufficient  to  register  on 
the  foreground  object  even  though  it  is 
sufficient  to  provide  a  brilliant  picture 
of   the   background.   The    differences   in 


FIG.  5.    Front  projection   without  foreground   lighting. 


setup  showing  a  camera,  C,  a  projector, 
P,  and  a  diaphone  mirror,  M.  The  pic- 
ture from  the  projector  is  reflected   by 


FIG.  4.    Front  projection  with  foreground   lighting. 


reflection  characteristics  are,  of  course, 
responsible  for  the  operation  of  such  an 
arrangement. 

There  are  many  problems  in  connec- 
tion with  the  successful  use  of  front  pro- 
jection. The  idea  is  not  new,  but  its  ap- 
plication and  limitations  have  never  be- 
fore been  properly  defined,  which  is  the 
primary  object  of  the  investigation  in 
that  field. 

Efficient  Screen  Types 

The  industry  has  long  been  intrigued 
by  the  considerable  increase  in  efficiency 
which  can  be  obtained  with  a  directional 
translucent  screen  as  contrasted  to  a 
nondirectional  screen,  but  in  most  cases 
the  requirement  for  a  mobile  camera, 
coupled  with  manufacturing  problems, 
has  prevented  the  use  of  such  screens. 
General  awareness  of  the  difficulties  and 
the  problems  involved  in  a  directional 
screen  and  acquaintance  with  much  of 
the  earlier  work  that  has  been  done  on 
this  subject  have  also  stimulated  the  in- 
vestigation in  that  direction. 

There  presently  seems  some  promise 
(Continued  on  page  27) 


12 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


November  1951 


Projectionist's   Role   as   a   Showman 


THE  motion  picture  theater  performs  a 
unique  function.  It  adorns  its  product 
with  a  delicious  icing  of  glamour.  By 
glamour  the  drama-charged  atmosphere 
of  the  theater  is  meant.  It  is  an  emo- 
tional thing.  This  atmosphere  is  cre- 
ated, not  alone  by  the  screen  attractions, 
but  also  by  the  surroundings  and  the 
technique  of  presenting  entertainment. 
In  a  word,  this  atmospheric  effect  is  due 
largely  to  showmanship. 

The  Chief  Showman  of  the  theater  is 
the  projectionist.  It  is  he  who  runs  the 
show  and  thus  delivers  the  entertain- 
ment which  the  patron  pays  to  see.  The 
quality  of  the  picture  and  sound  repro- 
duction is  his  responsibility,  and  the 
manner  of  presentation  determines  in  the 
long  run  whether  the  paying  patron  at- 
tends or  stays  away. 

Stereopticon  Projection 

Stereopticon  slides,  especially  the 
typewritten  "Radio-Mat"  variety,  are 
something  of  an  eyesore  in  a  modern 
motion  picture  presentation.  Sometimes, 
however,  the  management  has  good  rea- 
sons for  making  special  announcements 
on  the  screen.  It  is  up  to  the  projection- 
ist, therefore,  to  make  the  slides  as  pre- 
sentable as  possible.  There  are  three 
aspects    to    be    considered. 

First,  handwritten  or  typewritten 
sbdes  should  be  prepared  as  neatly  as 
possible.  Fingermarks  on  them  should 
be  avoided.  The  printed  matter  should 
be  properly  centered  and  contain  no  un- 
necessary wordage.  A  simple  message 
is  the  most  effective  message. 

Second,  the  efficiency  of  the  stereo 
lantern  must  be  kept  up  at  all  times. 
Condensing  and  objective  lenses  require 
frequent  cleaning:  because  the  slide  is 
positioned  close  to  the  condenser,  any 
dirt  on  the  condensing  lenses  shows  up 
more  or  less  clearly  on  the  screen. 

Stereo  vs.  Movie  Projection 

The  difference  between  a  "motion  pic- 
ture" and  a  stereopticon  optical  system  is 
illustrated  by  Fig.  1,  wherein  the  movie 
optical  system  utilizes  an  incandescent 
lamp  and  condensing  lenses — instead  of 
arc  and  mirror — to  make  comparison 
easier.  It  will  be  noticed  that  in  the 
movie  projector  the  light-source  is 
imaged  in  the  plane  of  the  "object" 
(film),  while  in  the  slide  projector  the 
light-source  is  imaged  not  on  the  "ob- 
ject"   (slide)    but  on  the  objective  lens. 

In  order  to  get  maximum  screen  illu- 
mination from  a  stereopticon,  therefore, 
the  incandescent  lamp-bulb  must  be 
moved  forward  or  back  to  that  position 
which  causes  the  clearest  possible  image 


By  ROBERT  A.  MITCHELL 


of  the  lamp  filament  to  be  forced  on  the 
objective  lens,  thus  giving  uniform  screen 
illumination. 

The  stereo  projector  should  be  set  up 
beforehand  so  that  the  slide  aperture 
image  is  properly  centered  on  the  screen. 
And  the  objective  lens  should  be  focused 
before  the  show  and  locked  in  position, 
if  this  is  possible. 

If  the  image  of  the  clear  stereo  aper- 
ture happens  to  be  slightly  larger  than 
the  screen,  well  and  good.  Experiment- 
ing with  cardboard  aperture  masks  will 
enable  determination  of  the  proper  size 
and  shape  of  slide  aperture  needed  to 
match  exactly  the  size  and  rectangular 
shape  of  the  motion  picture  screen  image. 
A  sheet-iron  aperture  plate  can  then  be 
made  and  permanently  fitted  to  the 
stereo.  Typewritten  slides  may  then  be 
used  without  the  undersize  paper  masks 
which  are  furnished  with  them. 

The  third  aspect  is  the  smooth  transi- 
tion from  movies  to  slide  and  vice  versa 
— a  matter  of  operating  technique  and 
showmanship. 

If  the  stereo  lamp  can  be  turned  on 
and  off  by  means  of  wall  switches,  one 
near  each  projector,  a  smooth  change- 
over can  easily  be  effected.  Otherwise 
the  projectionist  is  forced  to  exert  con- 
siderable prowess  as  an  acrobat  to  avoid 
a  "dark  screen"  or  a  prolonged  period  of 
"double  exposure."  With  the  proper 
control  facilities,  the  projectionist  can 
use  the  title  curtain  and,  when  thought 
desirable,  a  few  bars  of  appropriate 
music  from  the  non-sync. 

Color  on  the  Stereo  Image 

Slides  can  sometimes  be  "pepped  up" 
by  coloring  the  stereo  light  by  means  of 
small  sheets  of  suitably  tinted  cellophane 

Filament  image  I   Film 

/.ight    betun 


Slide  Filament  imai 


FIGURE  1 

Comparison  of  the  optical  systems  of  motion 
picture  (top)  and  stereopticon  (lower)  projec- 
tors. In  the  stereopticon,  the  image  of  the 
light-source  is  formed  on  the  objective  lens 
instead  of  on  the  transparent  picture,  as  in 
the  movie  projector. 


or  spotlight  gelatine  stretched  tightly  in 
a  color  wheel  or  other  holder  placed  be- 
fore the  objective  lens.  Pink,  amber, 
yellow,  green,  blue,  red,  violet,  etc.,  can 
be  interchanged  frequently  when  slides 
are  used  at  every  show. 

The  tinting  of  motion  picture  prevue 
trailers  in  this  manner  has  been  all  but 
abandoned,  now  that  natural  color  trail- 
ers are  common.  The  practice  was  for- 
merly useful  for  "tying  together"  the  two 
trailers  of  a  double-feature  bill.  For  ex- 
ample, prevues  of  a  double-feature  "hor- 
ror show"  could  be  projected  through 
green  or  violet  gelatine.  Amber,  yellow, 
or  pink  might  be  suitable  for  most  other 
double-feature  combinations. 

As  an  alternative  to  "gelatining"  the 
projector  light,  colored  light — footlights, 
striplights,  or  a  spotlight — can  be  used 
to  illuminate  the  screen  during  black- 
and-white  trailers.  This  gives  the  effect 
of  "toned"  film,  rather  than  all-over 
tinting.  BUT — guard  against  overdoing 
a  technique  which  is  pleasing  when  used 
sparingly  and  on  appropriate  occasions. 
Sound  showmanship  involves  restraint 
as  well  as  innovation. 

Closely  allied  to  this  topic  is  the  color- 
flooding  of  titles,  a  matter  to  be  exam- 
ined later. 

Pre-Show   Preparations 

Preparation  for  a  show  is  a  routine 
matter.  The  projectors  are  thoroughly 
cleaned  and  oiled  before  the  show;  and 
adjustments  are  made  in  the  equipment 
when  such  are  necessary.  The  sound 
equipment  is  checked  by  making  "click" 
tests  of  both  the  non-sync  and  the  sound- 
on-film  reproducers.  The  main  line  volt- 
age, the  voltage  output  of  exciting-lamp 
rectifiers,  and  the  plate  current  of  am- 
plifier power  tubes  are  read  from  the 
meters  with  which  certain  makes  of 
sound  equipment  are  fitted.  The  arc- 
lamp  generator  (or  rectifier)  is  checked 
for  faults;  and  the  lamps  themselves  are 
cleaned,  lubricated  and  trimmed  with 
carbons  of  sufficient  length  to  run  at 
least  one  reel  of  film. 

The  importance  of  keeping  the  lamp 
mirrors  clean  at  all  times  cannot  be 
overemphasized.  The  white  dust  which 
settles  upon  them  is  a  metallic,  or  basic, 
oxide  which  reacts,  when  hot,  with  the 
acid  anhydride  of  glass,  thus  etching,  or 
"frosting,"  the  glass  in  time.  Then  too, 
spots  of  soot  (finely  divided  carbon)  on 
the  glass  may  cause  the  mirror  to  crack 
unexpectedly,  a  matter  to  be  discussed 
later. 

Keep  a  small  pad  of  paper  on  your 
desk  or  on  the  rewind  bench  and  use  it 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


November  1951 


13 


FIGURE  2 

Torn-out 

perforations 

on  film 

leader. 


for  jotting  down  all  defects  in  the  equip- 
ment or  its  performance  noticed  during 
actual  projection.  Many  minor  faults 
can  be  corrected  during  a  show  without 
interrupting  the  performance;  but  some, 
such  as  a  bad  optical  line-up  of  the  pro- 
jectors or  a  noisy  intermittent  must  wait 
until  the  show  is  over. 

A  long  and  complicated  list  of  pro- 
cedures could  be  formulated  to  provide 
a  comprehensive  "make-ready"  routine; 
but  most  projectionists  simply  do  not 
have  the  time  to  do  everything  every  day. 
Certain  duties  must  be  doubled  up  on 
alternate  days,  and  certain  others  are 
best  placed   on   a   once-a-week   basis. 

Every  projectionist  knows  from  experi- 
ence the  things  that  must  be  done,  and 
also  how  long  he  can  safely  defer  them. 
No  projectionist  need  "knockdown"  a 
projector  mechanism  once  a  week  or 
even  once  a  month  just  to  establish  good 
working  condition.  Once  the  equipment 
has  been  put  in  the  best  condition  possi- 
ble, a  few  minutes'  inspection  every  day 
— and  there  is  ample  opportunity  during 
the  day  for  looking  at  all  equipment — 
will  provide  sufficient  warning  of  defects 
which  may  be   developing. 

Film  Inspection  Vital 

There  is  one  part  of  the  pre-show  prep- 
aration which,  alas,  is  sometimes  carried 
out  too  hastily.  The  film  exchanges  are 
morally  and  legally  responsible  for  issu- 
ing prints  in  perfect  running  condition, 
but  any  projectionist  who  implicitly  re- 
lies on  exchanges  will  soon  come  to  grief. 
There  are  three  dangers  in  film  breaks, 
namely: 

1.  Fire-risk  of  breaks  in  nitrate  films. 

2.  Danger  of  damaging  the  projectors. 

3.  Danger  of  creating  patron  annoyance 
and  dissatisfaction  with  theater,  result- 
ing in  loss  of  business. 

Not  one  splice,  not  a  dozen  splices, 
but  every  splice  in  every  reel  should  be 
tested  for  strength  and  sprocket-hole 
registration.  Splices  occurring  in  "fades" 
should  be  checked  for  correct  framing. 
It  hurts  the  dramatic  power  of  a  picture 


to  have  the  screen  image  suddenly  jump 
out  of  frame.  Roughened  and  sheared 
edges  of  the  film  should  be  smoothed 
with  scissors.  "Sprocketed"  film  and 
otherwise  mutilated  footage  should  be 
cut  out,  rolled  up,  and  tossed  into  the 
shipping  case  for  return  to  the  exchange. 

Motor  and  changeover  cues  should  be 
checked  for  visibility,  scoring  them  by 
means  of  a  professional  cue-marker  when 
they  seem  to  be  too  faint.  (But  it  is  sur- 
prising how  faint  they  can  be  on  the  film 
and  still  be  easily  seen  on  the  screen! ) 

Any  special  cues,  such  as  cues  for  cur- 
tains that  take  longer  than  7  seconds  to 
close,  should  be  marked  on  the  film,  not 
by  scoring  or  scratching  the  emulsion 
but  with  a  china-marking  pencil,  and 
iviped  off  before  the  print  is  shipped  out. 
The  nuisance  of  having  to  add  cues  for 
the  title  curtain  can  be  eliminated  by 
speeding  up  the  curtain  so  that  it  closes 
in  6  or  7  seconds  from  the  time  that  the 
curtain-control  button  in  the  projection 
room  is  pressed.  Nothing  more  compli- 
cated than  changing  the  old  curtain  drive 
pulley  to  one  of  slightly  greater  diameter 
is  needed  in   most   cases. 

Film  Leader  Deficiencies 

Standard  release  print  film  leaders,  es- 
pecially those  which  contain  several 
splices,  should  be  inspected  inch  by  inch. 
A  film-break  during  a  changeover  is  ex- 
tremely irritating.    Avoid  this  danger  by 


making  sure  that  every  splice  in  every 
leader  is  as  strong  as  the  film  itself,  and 
that  no  torn  perforations  are  present. 
Also,  successive  splices  in  any  film 
should  not  be  closer  together  than  10 
inches,  else  the  perforations  may  be 
weakened  by  the  teeth  of  the  intermit- 
tent sprocket. 

A  clip  from  a  leader  having  torn-out 
perforations  is  shown  in  Fig.  2.  A  simi- 
lar defect  consists  of  an  extended  crack 
running  from  perforation  to  perforation 
on  both  edges  of  the  film.  This  defect 
is  a  hard  one  to  see  and  is  best  detected 
by  "cupping"  the  film  during  inspection 
of  leaders;  it  is  just  as  dangerous  as 
perforations  completely  torn  out. 

'Running  Down'  the  Film 

Film  damage  of  these  types  is  caused 
by  a  sudden  yank  or  pull  on  the  film, 
causing  sprocket  teeth  to  rip  right 
through  the  perforations.  The  projec- 
tionist can  do  much  to  prevent  torn 
sprocket  holes.  Before  switching  on  a 
projector,  be  sure  that  there  is  no  slack 
in  the  film  between  upper  reel  and  the 
upper  feed  sprocket,  or  between  lower 
takeup  sprocket  in  the  soundhead  and 
the  takeup  reel.  Slack  film  at  either  of 
these  points  can  cause  damage  to  film 
perforations.  The  projectionist  who  has 
formed  the  good  habit  of  running  down 
a  few  frames  of  film  after  threading  up 
need  have  no  worries  on  this  score. 
(Continued  on  page  26  ) 


'Business  Week"*  Magazine  Assays  the  Movies'  Economic  Status 

*Copyright  1951  by  "Business  Week" 


MOVIE  MAKERS:    A  COMEBACK   IN  1951? 


ilarnings    for    Fiscal    Years 


1939 

1946 

1947 

1948 

1949 

19  50 

Columbia  Pictures 

$2,000 

$3,450,000 

$3,707,000 

$565,000 

$1,008,000 

$1,981,000 

Loew's,  Inc. 

9,842,000 

13,692,000 

11,626,000 

5,310,000 

6,745,000 

7,854,000 

Paramount  Pictures 

Corp. 



18,701,000* 

10,735,000* 

5,842,000* 

3,261,000* 

6,565,000 

RKO  Pictures  Corp. 



6,271 ,000* 

Dl, 787,000 

05,596,000 

04,219,000 

05,832,000 

RKO  Theatres  Corp. 



6,073,000* 

6,360,000* 

3,974,000* 

4,173,000* 

1,196,000* 

Republic  Pictures 

1,061,000 

1,098,000 

570,000 

0350,000 

487,000 

761,000 

20th  Century 

4,147,000 

22,620,000 

14,004,000 

12,509,000 

12,415,000 

9,553,000 

United  Paramount 

Theaters 



20,498,000* 

17,505,000* 

16,727,000* 

17,575,000* 

12,142,000* 

Universal  Pictures 

2,253,000 

9,196,000 

6,745,000 

D3,l  63,000 

Dl,  126,000 

1,356,000 

Warner  Brothers 

1,741,000 

19,425,000 

22,095,000 

11,837,000 

10,467,000 

10,272,000 

'Pro  forma.  Paramount  split  on 

Doc.  31,  1949,  RKC 

on  Dec.  31,  1950. 

D-  deficit. 

THIS  YEAR'S  SHOWING  SO  FAR 


1950 

1951 

Columbia  Pictures   , 

$1,981,000 

$1,498,000 

Loew's,  Inc. 

6,019,000 

5,568,000 

Paramount  Pictures  Corp. 

2,826,000 

2,832,000 

RKO  Pictures  Corp. 

NA 

0735,000 

RKO  Theatres  Corp. 

NA 

552,000 

Republic  Pictures 

831,000 

728,000 

20th  Century 

3,158,000 

1,071,000 

United  Paramount  Theaters 

6,385,000 

5,125,000 

Universal  Pictures 

979,000 

1,127,000 

Warner  Brothers 

7,316,000 

5,809,000 

Fiscal  year  ending  June  30. 

40  weeks  ended  Jun.  7,  '51,  Jun.  8,  '50. 

Six  months  ended  June  30. 

Six  months  ended  June  30. 

Six  months  ended  June  30. 

39  weeks  ended  July  28,  '51,  July  29,  '50. 

Six  months  ending  June  30. 

Six  months  ending  June  30. 

39  weeks  ended  July  28,  '51,  July  29,  '50. 

Nine  months  to  May  26,  '51,.  May  27,  '50. 


14 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     November  1951' 


The  Allied  Arts  and  Sciences 


A  vast  field  of  artistic  and  scientific  endeavor  is  directly  contributory  to  the  motion 
picture  process  and,  therefore,  to  the  practice  of  projection.  The  true  craftsman  should 
have  a  well-rounded  understanding  of  these  contributory  factors,  particularly  in  view  of 
the -imminent  widespread  utilization  of  television  and,  possibly,  stereoscopic  pictures  and 
stereophonic  sound.  This  department  will  provide  basic  information  on  the  aforementioned 
arts  and  sciences,  a  wide  variety  of  topics  being  a  primary  aim. 

III.    Photographic  Optics 

Bausch   &  Lomb  Optical  Company,   Rochester,   New  York 


OUR  lenses  must  not  only  give  us 
good  images,  they  must  pass  light, 
and  illuminate  the  negative.  Further, 
this  illumination  must  be  known  and 
controllable,  so  the  exposure  will  be 
subject  to  our  will. 

It  is  fairly  clear  that  the  larger  the 
opening  in  a  lens  the  more  light  it  will 
admit.  Further,  we  were  apprised  earlier 
that  the  longer  the  focal  length  of  the 
lens,  the  larger  the  image  at  a  given 
object  distance.  Now,  in  the  larger  image 
the  light  sent  out  by  the  object  points  is 
spread  over  a  larger  area,  yielding  a 
dimmer  image.  There  is,  as  can  be  dem- 
onstrated both  mathematically  and  prac- 
tically, a  reciprocal  relationship  between 
the  image  area  and  the  illumination  at 
constant  aperture,  so  that  as  the  image 
grows  larger  (longer  focal  lengths)  the 
less  the  illumination. 

Illumination  Determinants 

Now  if  at  the  same  time  we  were  in- 
creasing the  image  size  we  were  increas- 
ing the  area  of  the  lens  opening,  we 
would  obviously  be  maintaining  the  illu- 
mination in  the  image,  and  could  make 
our  exposure  at  the  same  shutter  time. 
Thus  at  a  given  object  distance  (and  we 
shall  take  an  object  at  infinity),  the  illu- 
mination in  the  focal  plane  of  an  ob- 
jective is  determined  by  two  factors,  the 
area  of  the  lens  and  its  focal  length. 

Mathematically,  the  most  convenient 
expression  for  the  speed  of  a  lens  is 
given  by  the  ratio  of  the  focal  length  of 
a  lens  to  its  diameter.  This  is  the  rela- 
tive aperture  and  is  the  standard  denom- 
ination of  lens  speed  today.  For  instance, 
if  we  have  a  lens  of  4  inches  focal  length 
and  2  inches  diameter,  its  relative  aper- 
ture will  be  4  divided  by  2,  or  F:2.  If 
the  diameter  were  1  inch,  the  lens  would 
be  F:4. 

A  2-inch  diameter  pipe  will  carry  4 
times  the  water  a  1-inch  pipe  will,  that 
is,  the  area  of  the  pipe  varies  as  the 
square  of  the  diameter.  Just  so  will  the 
speed  or  light  gathering  power  of  a  lens 
vary  as  the  square  of  its  diameter.  It  is 
found  that  the  illumination  in  the  image 


varies  inversely  as  the  square  of  the  rela- 
tive aperture,  and  for  this  reason  the  se- 
quence of  relative  apertures  is  by  com- 
mon agreement  in  steps  of  the  square 
root  of  2.  Each  step  means  doubling  the 
illumination. 

Lens  Field  off  the  Axis 

So  far  we  have  considered  the  illumi- 
nation on  the  axis  of  the  lens.  Every- 
thing we  have  said  holds  good  also  in 
the  field  of  the  lens  off  the  axis,  but  there 
some  further  effects  enter  to  complicate 
the  issue. 

For  one  thing,  the  image-forming  light 
strikes  the  film  at  an  angle,  which  lowers 
the  efficiency  of  the  photographic  effect, 
and  even  more  important,  at  large  angles 
to  the  exis  the  effective  aperture  of  the 
lens  is  reduced  by  reason  of  the  separa- 
tion of  the  front  and  rear  elements,  and 
because  the  round  diaphragm  off  axis 
elongates  like  a  cat's  eye   (Fig.  24) . 

All  these  effects  cooperate  to  produce 
what  can  be  a  marked  diminution  of  illu- 
mination at  the  corners  of  the  picture 
area.  These  effects  are  generally  known 
as  vignetting  and  are  serious  in  the  case 
of  wide-angle  lenses  particularly.  The 
effects  are  seldom  seen  in  photographs 
with  lenses  of  normal  focal  lengths,  for 
the  characteristics  of  sensitive  film  are 
such  as  to  hide  them. 

The  illumination  from  a  point  source 
of  light  varies  inversely  as  the  square  of 
the  distance.  This  is  elementary,  and 
lies  at  the  root  of  illumination  theory. 
But,  we  might  ask,  if  that  is  so  why  is  it 
unnecessary  to  compensate  for  distance 
when   making   an   exposure?    Why  is  it 

FIG.  24.    Vignetting. 


that    the   same   exposure   is   required   for 
a  nearby  tree  as  for  a  distant  one? 

Exposures   Near  and  Far 

This  puzzling  question  has  really  a 
simple  explanation,  one  illustrative  of 
the  fundamental  principles  we  have  been 
considering. 

Consider  two  trees,  situated,  say,  20 
feet  and  40  feet  from  a  camera.  The 
nearer  tree  will  send  l-over-20-squared, 
or  1/400  units  of  light,  to  the  camera; 
while  the  farther  tree  will  be  emitting 
l-over-40-squared,  or  1/600  units.  Thus 
the  nearer  tree  illuminates  the  negative 
plane  with  4  times  the  light  its  farther 
counterpart  does. 

So  far  so  good,  but  consider  a  bit  far- 
ther. The  size  of  the  image  must  also 
vary  with  distance.  In  fact,  the  magnifi- 
cation is  inversely  proportional  to  the 
object  distance.  Then  the  height  and 
breadth  of  the  nearer  tree  will  be  just 
twice  that  of  the  farther  one,  since  it  is 
one-half  the  distance  from  the  camera. 

But  the  areas  of  the  images  of  the  two 
trees  will  be  given  by  the  products  of 
their  linear  dimensions,  and  thus  the 
nearer  tree  will  cover  4  times  the  area 
of  the  farther  tree.  The  nearer  tree  sends 
4  times  the  light  to  the  camera,  distribu- 
ting that  light  over  4  times  the  area,  so 
that  each  element  of  film  receives  the 
same  illumination  from  the  one  tree  that 
it  does  from  the  other.  That  is  to  say, 
the  exposure  is  the  same  for  both  trees. 

This  argument  can  be  generalized  to 
demonstrate  that  the  exposure  is  inde- 
pendent of  distance.  Of  course,  in  this 
argument  we  have  neglected  such  things, 
as  aerial  perspective,  haze,  etc. 

Effective  Relative  Aperture 

There  is  one  important  reservation  to 
remember  in  the  matter  of  relative  aper- 
ture. We  have  seen  that  the  most  con- 
venient measure  of  the  speed  of  a  lens 
is  its  relative  aperture,  or  ratio  of  focal 
length  to  stop  diameter.  This  gives  a 
measure  of  the  light-gathering  power  of 
a  lens  when  focused  on  an  infinitely  dis- 
tant object.  What  happens  when  focus- 
ing on  very  near  objects? 

We  saw  that  the  illumination  is  inde- 
pendent of  distance  because  of  the  mag- 
nification. This  magnification  in  turn  is 
a  function  of  the  lens-to-film  distance, 
such  that  the  distance  can  be  looked  on 
as  the  equivalent  of  the  focal  length  so 
that  instead  of  the  focal  length  being 
the  primary  quantity  in  determining  the 
relative  aperture,  it  is  in  reality  the  lens- 
to-film  distance  which  is  most  important. 
Thus  in  making  close-up  shots,  we  can- 
not use  the  simple  relative  aperture  as 
marked  on  the  lens,  but  must  make  due 
allowance  for  the  bellows  extension. 

For  instance,  if  we  are  using  our  lens 
at  one-to-one  magnification — i.e.,  a  bel- 
(Continued  on  page  24) 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     November  1951 


15 


IN  THE 


SPOTLIGHT 


FTW1 

■f         i                            ■■"  '■"'■• 

By 

H4RRY 

FOR  many  years  the  motion  picture  in- 
dustry has  been  notoriously  lax  in  that 
it  did  not  make  use  of  its  own  medium, 
recognized  world-wide  as  having  a  ter- 
rific impact,  to  promote  its  own  interests. 
We  were  reminded  of  this  recently  when 
the  progressive  Bakery  and  Confection- 
ery Workers'  International  Union  stepped 
out  and  released  "It's  Up  to  You,"  a 
half-hour  motion  picture  film  which  deals 
with  accident  hazards,  safety  methods 
and  sanitary  working  conditions  in  plants 
where  its  members  work. 

Working  from  a  meeting  of  a  Union 
safety  committee,  the  film  "flashes  back" 
as  each  member  reports  on  a  separate 
safety  and  sanitation  subject,  detailing 
the  type  of  injury  sustained  and  outlin- 
ing preventive  methods.  The  film  goes 
beyond  the  individual  worker's  responsi- 
bility for  his  own  welfare  and  deals  with 
management's  responsibility  in  providing 
safe  and  healthful  workplaces,  making 
the  point  that  safety  and  health  provi- 
sions are  not  "extras"  but  an  integral 
part  of  plant  and  equipment. 

If  the  people  who  make  doughnuts  and 
biscuits  can  utilize  our  medium  to  get 
fine  results,  so  can  we.  Such  a  film  would 
be  a  pushover  for  our  craft  on  the  basis 
of  the  various  units  working  in  concert. 
Our  pet  project,  for  example,  of  vastly 
improved  sanitary  conditions  in  projec- 
tion rooms  could  be  stressed  in  such  a 
film,  with  the  sharp  contrast  afforded 
between  a  first-class  room  and  a  mere 
hole-in-the-wall.  And  plenty  of  other 
angles  could  be  covered. 

Such  a  film  could  be  circulated  all 
over  the  country  at  Local  and  District 
meetings.   Any  thoughts  on  this  topic? 

•  Bill  Thompson,  business  representa- 
tive for  Pittsburgh  Local  171,  has  fully 
recovered  from  his  recent  illness  and  is 
back  on  the  job.    Good  Luck! 

•  William  Tenney,  president,  and  Doug- 
las Calladine,  past  president,  Vancouver 
Local  348,  conferred  with  IA  President 
Walsh  in  New  York  recently  on  the  dead- 
lock now  existing  in  the  long-drawn  out 
negotiations  with  Famous  Players  Cana- 
dian Theaters.  Local  348  is  asking  for 
a  wage  increase  of  50c  per  hour,  plus  a 


cost-of-living  bonus  of  1.1c  per  hour  for 
each  point  rise  in  the  cost  of  living.  To 
date,  Famous  Players  has  countered  with 
an  offer  of  35c  per  hour  and  no  cost-of- 
living  bonus. 

The  jurisdiction  of  the  Vancouver 
Local  takes  in  a  vast  territory  covering 
an  area  of  400  miles  wide  by  600  miles 
long.  It  is  not  unusual  for  the  Local  to 
fly  a  man  to  fill  an  emergency  job,  a 
number  of  the  theaters  being  located  in 
sparsely-populated  areas  that  have  poor 
transportation  facilities. 

Although  the  members  voted  over- 
whelmingly to  go  on  strike  unless  the 
Local's  demands  are  met,  our  informa- 
tion is  that  the  matter  will  be  amicably 
settled  very  soon. 

•  The  N.  Y.  State  Ass'n  of  Motion  Pic- 
ture Projectionists  held  its  annual  con- 
ference in  the  meeting  hall  of  Tobis 
Tavern,  Auburn,  N.  Y.,  on  Monday,  No- 
vember 5.  The  first  session  of  the  con- 
ference was  held  in  the  afternoon  and 
was  given  over  to  a  lecture  on  theater 
Tv  by  Dr.  T.  G.  Veal,  research  engineer 

MILWAUKEE'S  FIRST  THEATER  TV  UNIT 


Checking  the  installation  of  the  Tv  projector 
at  the  foot  of  the  balcony  in  the  Warner 
Theatre  (2500  seats)  are,  left  to  right:  Adam 
Schneider,  Local  164,  graduate  of  the  IA-RCA 
Tv  school;  D.  MacMillan,  RCA  service  engi- 
neer; Glenn  C.  Kalkhoff,  president  of  Local 
164,  and  C.  W.  Burns,  Warner  sound  engineer. 
Schneider  and  Kalkhoff  are  projectionists  at 
the  Warner  Theatre. 


for  Eastman  Kodak  Co.  Dr.  Veal's  talk 
was  most  informative  and  gave  the  dele- 
gates a  clear  conception  of  the  video  art. 

At  the  evening  session  it  was  agreed 
that  all  officers,  present  and  future,  will 
automatically  become  honorary  dele- 
gates to  future  meetings,  regardless  of 
whether  they  are  accredited  delegates. 
Also  agreed  was  that  the  Association  will 
hold  two  meetings  each  year — Spring 
and  Fall. 

Not  forgetting  sentiment,  the  delegates 
sent  a  round-robin  letter  to  P.  A.  Mc- 
Guire,  former  advertising  manager  for 
International  Projector  Corp.,  who  re- 
tired from  all  activities  several  years 
ago.  Mac  was  an  honored  guest  at  many 
State  gatherings,  and  the  boys  have  a 
warm  spot  in  their  hearts  for  him. 

Delegates  present  represented  Locals 
108,  Geneva;  119,  Auburn;  121,  Niagara 
Falls;  253,  Rochester;  272,  Cortland; 
311,  Middletown;  324,  Albany;  337, 
Utica;  376,  Syracuse;  396,  Binghamton; 
474,  Rome-Oneida;  480,  Corning;  581, 
Batavia,  and  609,  Little  Falls. 

•  We  regret  to  record  the  death  of 
E.  P.  Lenhoff,  former  secretary  of  Local 
548,  Paris,  Texas.  We  never  met  E.  P. 
personally,  but  we  staked  out  some  com- 
mon ground  via  the  correspondence 
route  through  the  years.  A  wife  and 
daughter  survive — and  to  them  our  heart- 
felt sympathy. 

•  A  note  from  our  friend  Ralph  Root, 
Sr.,  long-time  business  representative  for 
Local  236,  Birmingham,  Ala.,  informed 
us  that  his  son,  Ralph,  Jr.,  an  electronics 
engineer  for  RCA  at  Biggs  Field,  El 
Paso,  Texas,  was  notified  that  he  was 
being  transferred  to  Washington,  D.  C, 
in  charge  of  a  most  important  project. 
A  proud  dad  of  a  mighty  fine  son. 

•  Theater  Tv  was  featured  at  the  Allied 
Theater  Owners  Convention  held  last 
month  at  the  Biltmore  Hotel,  New  York. 
Several  theater  Tv  systems  were  on  dis- 
play, each  one  attracting  considerable 
attention  from  the  visitors.  Only  the 
GPL,  of  all  the  Tv  systems  on  display, 
utilized  the  services  of  a  projectionist. 
We  commend  the  "powers  that  be"  be- 


16 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     November  1951 


hind  this  system  for  their  foresight  in 
recognizing  the  fact  that  the  projection- 
ist is  an  important  factor  in  the  proper 
presentation  of  theater  Tv.  Elsewhere 
in  this  issue  will  be  found  an  article  re- 
lating to  the  lecture  and  demonstration 
of  the  GPL  theater  Tv  system  given  at  a 
recent  meeting  of  the  25-30  Club  of 
Greater  New  York. 

•  The  recent  IA  executive  board  meet- 
ing, held  in  New  York,  brought  in  many 
officials  from  all  parts  of  the  country  and 
afforded  us  an  opportunity  to  get  to- 
gether with  many  of  our  old  friends.  It 
was  particularly  good  to  see  Orin  Jacob- 
son,  IA  representative  for  the  past  21 
years,  who  was  elected  IA  eighth  vice- 


ORIN  JACOBSON 

Tacoma,  Wash.,  L.  175 

man  named  8th 

vice-president  of  IA, 

succeeding  the  late 

Floyd  Billingsley. 


president  to  fill  the  vacancy  created  by 
the  death  of  Floyd  Billingsley,  Local  162, 
San  Francisco.  Orin  is  a  former  official 
of  Local  175,  Tacoma,  Wash.,  and  for 
many  years  served  as  secretary  of  Dis- 
trict No.  1. 

•  While  chatting  with  R.  J.  Fisher, 
member  of  Local  253,  Rochester,  N.  Y., 
we  learned  that  Cal  Bornkessel,  old-time 
member  and  official  of  the  Local,  has  re- 
covered from  a  serious  operation  and  is 
again  working  at  the  RKO  Theater. 
Fisher,  incidentally,  was  president  of  the 
Local  back  in  1914. 

•  A  midnight  banquet  marked  the  14th 
anniversary  celebration  last  month  for 
Local  703,  Du  Bois,  Penna.  Among  the 
honored  guests  were  IA  Representatives 


John  B.  Fitzgerald,  Cleveland,  and  Larry 
Katz,  Harrisburg.  John  Cheri,  who  has 
served  as  the  Local's  attorney  since  it 
was  chartered  in  1937,  was  the  principal 
speaker  of  the  evening. 

Among  those  present  were  F.  P.  "Reel" 
McCoy  and  Phil  Bordonaro,  Local  444, 
New  Kensington-Tarentum;  a  delegation 
from  Pittsburgh  Local  171  headed  by 
Martin  Torreano,  president ;  Bill  Thomp- 
son, business  representative;  James  Sipe, 
secretary,  and  the  entire  Local  171  ex- 
ecutive board. 

•  Local  343,  Omaha,  Neb.,  lost  one  of 
its  oldest  members  by  the  death  last 
month  of  Frank  A.  Lewis  at  the  age  of 
91.  Lewis  worked  in  many  Omaha  thea- 
ters, and  although  he  retired  a  number 
of  years  ago,  he  still  retained  his  card  in 
the  Local. 

•  We  are  amused  to  see  how  some  men, 
important  figures  in  their  particular 
fields,  become  as  helpless  as  children 
when  they  are  indisposed.  Recently, 
while  on  a  visit  to  New  York  with  his 
wife,  Bert  Ryde,  business  representative 
for  Buffalo  Local  233,  fell  ill.  Mrs.  Ryde 
lost  no  time  in  bundling  him  up  and, 
despite  all  his  protestations,  got  him  off 
on  the  train  headed  for  home.  Bert,  the 
self-assured  and  confident  union  official, 
meekly  submitted  and  later  admitted, 
although  somewhat  reluctantly,  that  he 
had  bowed  to  superior  intelligence. 

•  History  sure  do  repeat  itself — in  this 
case  for  Fred  Raoul,  general  secretary- 
treasurer  of  the  IA.  About  27  years  ago 
Fred  broke  a  leg  while  on  a  Florida 
sojourn.  Recently,  after  dropping  off 
Orin  M.  Jacobson,  newly-named  IA  8th 
vice-president  (the  Tacoma  lucky  boy) 
at  his  destination,  the  Raoul  car  was  hit 
by  another  car  manned  by  a  group  of 
teen-agers. 

The  smash-up  resulted  in  a  ditto  break 
of  the  same  leg  for  Fred,  while  Mrs. 
Raoul  sustained  a  broken  thumb.  Fred 
will    be   incapacitated    for    some   weeks. 


WILKES-BARRE,  PA.,  MEN  (IA  LOCAL  325)  ADMIRE  THEIR  NEW  PROJECTION  EQUIPMENT 


Showing  the  first  installation  of  the  new  Ashcraft  Hydro-Arc  lamp  in  the  Penna.  area  at  the 

Paramount  Theatre.    Left  to  right:  Harvey  Eggleston,  president  of  L.  325;  Joseph  Malloy,  Robert 

Piatt,   Jr.,   secretary-treasurer   of   L.   325,   and   William    Piatt. 


Mr.  Jacobson?  Lucky  Boy  arrived  safely 
at  his  destination. 

•  William  P.  Covert,  2nd  IA  vice-presi- 
dent and  business  representative  for  Tor- 
onto Local  173,  recently  concluded  ne- 
gotiations with  the  exhibitors  in  his 
jurisdiction  which  provide  for  substan- 
tial increases  for  the  Local.  The  new 
contracts  with  Famous  Players  and  its 
subsidiaries  allow  a  wage  increase  of 
$5.25  per  week  per  man,  plus  $10  per 


WILLIAM  P.  COVERT 

IA  vice-president  and 

business   rep.  of 

Toronto  L.  173 

gains  wage  tilt  in 

Famous   Players    (Canada) 

theaters. 


week  cost-of-living  bonus.  Since  Septem- 
ber last,  the  cost-of-living  bonus  has  been 
increased  50c  per  week. 

The  independent  houses  agreed  to  a 
straight  increase  of  $10  per  week  per 
man,  plus  paid  vacations  which  in  some 
instances  extend  to  three  weeks  annually. 
Projectionists  employed  in  the  film  ex- 
changes also  received  a  $10  a  week  in- 
crease. The  booth  cost  in  one  of  the 
theaters  in  Oshawa  was  boosted  an  addi- 
tional $34  per  week,  or  $17  per  week 
per  man. 

Negotiations  for  the  Local  were  con- 
ducted by  Covert,  R.  Sturgess,  and  Pat 
Travers,  ably  assisted  by  executive  board 
members  Roy  O'Connor,  Jack  Hills, 
Norman  Tanner,  Lou  Lodge,  Art  Milli- 
gan,  and  Geo.  Jones. 

•  Joe  Cifre,  member  of  Boston  Local 
182  and  head  of  the  theater  equipment 
supply  firm  that  bears  his  name,  is  con- 
ducting a  one-man  drive  to  spur  the 
collection  of  copper  drippings.  Joe  has 
appealed  to  all  IA  Local  Unions,  theater 
owners,  and  theater  managers  through- 
out New  England  to  expand  every  effort 
to  salvage  every  last  bit  of  copper  scrap, 
to  be  sent  to  his  office  at  44  Winchester 
St.,  Boston  16,  Mass.  He  will  see  that 
the  scrap  is  forwarded  to  the  proper  gov- 
ernmental agency. 

•  Completion  of  the  two-year  contract 
negotiated  last  month  between  IA  West 
Coast  Locals  and  the  Association  of  Mo- 
tion Picture  Producers  was  delayed  due 
to  a  misunderstanding  over  the  inter- 
pretation of  the  cost-of-living  wage  in- 
crease provided  for  in  the  agreement. 
However,  we  have  been  reliably  in- 
formed that  the  producers  have  agreed 
to  the  IA's  original  demand  to  reopen 
wage  discussions  when  the  cost-of-living 
is  increased  5%  or  more,  the  calculating 
basis  to  be  the  October  15  Bureau  of 
Labor  Statistics  Index. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     November  1951 


17 


Theatre 

Screen 

Brightness 

Survey 

A  Report  by  the  SMPTE  Screen 
Brightness  Committeet 

W.  W.  LOZIER,  Chairman 


A  PRELIMINARY  survey  of  18  thea- 
ters by  the  Screen  Brightness  Com- 
mittee in  1947  disclosed  interesting  indi- 
cations of  theater  screen  illumination 
practice  in  this  country,  but  was  incon- 
clusive because  the  theaters  covered 
represented  too  limited  a  sampling.  A 
more  extensive  survey  was  not  carried 
out  at  that  time  because  of  the  lack  of 
a  suitable  meter. 

More  recently,  General  Electric  Co. 
placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  Committee 
a  meter  which  is  better  adapted  to  a 
theater  survey.  Consequently,  during  the 
summer  of  1950,  the  Committee  under- 
took a  survey  of  screen  illumination  and 
related  factors  in  100  representative  in- 
door theaters.  It  was  the  purpose  in  this 
larger  survey  to  cover  a  more  represen- 
tative segment  of  the  theaters  in  this 
country  and  to  obtain  dependable  data 
concerning  their  practices,  with  the  un- 
derlying   thought    that    observation    and 

t  Jour,    of   SMPTE,    Sept.    1951,    p.    238 


THEATER 
ADDRESS 


SCREEN  BRIGHTNESS  COMMITTEE 
THEATER   SURVEY 


DATE 

REPORTED  BY 


PROJECTOR   1 


PROJECTOR  2 


READ  INTENSITY  ON  THE  SCREEN  IN    FOOT-CANDLES  AT  THE    FIVE  POSITIONS 
INDICATED.  "C"  AND  "CJ  ARE   LOCATED  ^5  OF  H   FROM  EDGES   AND  ^  OF   W 
FROM   SIDES.  "B"  AND  "5/  ARE  ON  THE    HORIZONTAL  CENTER  AND  jjj-  OF  W 
FROM   SIDES.  "A"  IS   IN  THE  EXACT  CENTER. 


SCREEN    AREA 

AREA  IN  SQUARE  FEET  =    H  %W-  (l) 

SCREEN   LIGHT   INTENSITY   AND  DISTRIBUTION 

B,  +  B,  I 

RATIO  X    = 

a  a 

Ci*  C,  I 

Ratio —  x   — -  =" 

2  A 

SCREEN    LUMEN    CALCULATION 


TOTAL 


TOTAL  = 

WEIGHTED  AVG.=  J 

SCREEN    LUMENS  =  (l)x  (2)  : 


(2) 


SCREEN    AREA 

AREA  IN   SQUARE  FEET  =    H  X  W-  (0 

SCREEN   LIGHT  INTENSITY   AND  DISTRIBUTION 
B,  +  B,,  I 


SCREEN    LUMEN    CALCULATION 


B,*B2 
C,*C£ 


TOTAL 


TOTAL  " 

WEIGHTED  AVG. 

SCREEN    LUMENS=  (l)x(2)  = 


(2) 


SCREEN  BRIGHTNESS  SURVEY 
CENTER  SCREEN  BRIGHTNESS 
AND  REFLECTIVITY 
Incident  Illumination  X  Screen  Reflec- 
tivity =  Screen  Brightness 

METHOD  A 

When  using  a  combination  illumi- 
nation and  brightness  meter,  measure 
center  of  screen  values  of  incident  illu- 
mination and  Screen  Brightness,  and 
calculate  Screen  Reflectivity,  using  the 
above  equation. 

METHOD   B 

When  using  a  reflectivity  meter, 
measure  Screen  Reflectivity  and  com- 
bine with  Incident  Illumination  to  cal- 
culate Screen  Brightness,  using  the 
above  equation. 

PROJ.  1     PROJ.  2 
Incident  Illumination 

Ft. -Candles  ■ 


Screen  Reflectivity,   % 

Screen  Brightness 
Ft. -Lamberts 


FIG.  1.     Sample  data  form  for  incident  screen  illumination. 


FIG.  2.     Sample  data  form  for  screen 
reflectivity  and  screen  brightness. 

discussion  of  any  undesirable  conditions 
would  promote  better  projection. 

At  the  present  time,  results  are  avail- 
able on  125  theaters,  representing  all 
except  the  Southeast  and  Pacific  sections 
of  the  U.  S.   It  is  believed  that  these  re- 


SCREEN  BRIGHTNESS  SURVEY 
Projection    Data 

1.  Projection  Angle 

2.  Arc  Lamp  Type 

3.  Positive   Carbon 

4.  Negative  Carbon 

5.  Arc  Amperes 

6.  Arc  Volts 

7.  Projection  Lens 

(a)  F-Number 

(b)  Focal  Length 

(c)  Surface  Coated 

8.  Type  of  Shutter 

(a)    Degree  Opening 

9.  Draft  Glass  Type 

10.  Heat  Filter  Type 

11.  Projection  Port  Glass 

12.  Type  of  Power  Supply 

(a)  Rating  in  Amperes 

(b)  Rating  in  Volts 

(c)  Operating  Voltage 

Auditorium   Data 

1.    Seating  Capacity 

FIG.  3.    Sample  theater  data  form. 


18 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


November  1951 


60  r 

58.8 

DISTRIBUTION    OF  TOTAL  NUMBER  OF 

U.S.A.   INDOOR  THEATERS 

Data  from  "Motion  Picture  Almanac"    1947-48. 

40 

- 

27.6 

20 

7.7 

n 

3-3                  1.9                  nj 

1                 1         i n         ,      U'        . 

< 

0T 

Q     60 


o 


40  - 


20 


APPROXIMATE  DISTRIBUTION   OF  TOTAL 
NUMBER  OF  U.S.A.  INDOOR  THEATER  SEATS 


33.7 

28.3 

15.7 

9.3 

7.7 


5.3 


bU 

50  4 

DISTRIBUTION   OF  125   INDOOR  THEATERS 

COVERED   IN   SURVEY 

40 

20 

19.2 

19.2 

16             ,     56     ,            4'° 

n 

LG             1               II              1 

Less 
than 
500 


500 
•  to 
1000 


1000  1500 

to  to 

1500  2000 

SEATING   CAPACITY 


2000 

to 
3000 


More 
than 
3000 


FIG.  4.  Capacities  of  survey  theaters  and  total  indoor  theaters. 


suits  would  not  be  greatly  changed  by 
representative  coverage  of  these  addi- 
tional areas. 

During  the  course  of  this  survey,  the 
Motion  Picture  Research  Council  became 
interested  in  carrying  out  a  parallel  sur- 
vey in  the  West  Coast  studio  review  rooms 
used  for  viewing  35-mm  pictures. 
Through  their  cooperation,  we  are  able 
to  include  in  this  report  the  results  on  18 
review  rooms. 

Methods  and  Instruments 

In  contrast  with  the  previous  survey, 
all  of  the  measurements  in  the  present 
survey  were  made  with  an  objective-type 
instrument  requiring  no  visual  photo- 
metric balance.  Nearly  all  of  the  meas- 
urements were  made  with  the  two-cell 
G.  E.  combination  screen  illumination- 
screen  brightness  meter.  A  few  measure- 
ments were  made  employing  a  simple 
foot-candle  meter  in  combination  with 
an  improvised  device  for  measuring  the 
screen  reflectivity. 

Data  forms  were  simplified  somewhat 
from  those  used  in  the  1947  survey  and 
are  illustrated  in  Figs.  1  to  3. 

Classes  of   Theaters  Surveyed 

The  1947  survey  was  heavily  weighted 
by  the  large  downtown  theaters  in  large 


cities.  An  effort  was  made  in  this  survey 
to  cover  a  wider  range  of  types  and  sizes 
of  indoor  theaters.  Fig.  4  shows  the  dis- 
tribution of  seating  capacities  among  the 
125  theaters  surveyed.  It  also  shows  the 
distribution  of  seating  capacities  among 
the  indoor  theaters  of  the  U.  S.  ex- 
pressed both  on  the  basis  of  percentage 


25 


20  - 


15  - 


10 


5  - 


23.6 


18.8 


15.2 


4.4 


of  theaters  in  various  seating  ranges  and 
also  as  the  percentage  of  the  total  theater 
seating  capacity  falling  in  the  different 
seating-capacity  ranges. 

It  is  seen  that  the  distribution  of  thea- 
ters covered  in  our  survey  corresponds 
more  closely  to  the  distribution  of  the 
total  Lf.  S.  theater  seating  capacity  than 
to  the  distribution  of  number  of  theaters 
among  the  various  seating  ranges.  While 
the  less-than-500-seat  theaters  account 
for  over  half  of  the  total  number  of  in- 
door theaters,  they  account  for  only  a 
little  more  than  one-quarter  of  the  total 
number  of  seats. 

Figure  5  gives  the  distribution  of 
screen  widths  measured  thus  far.  All  but 
a  small  fraction  of  the  screens  were  be- 
tween 14  and  24  ft.  in  width,  with  the 
average  at  approximately  18  to  20  ft. 

Screen  Brightness  Distribution 

The  distributions  of  screen  brightness 
encountered  with  36  review-room  pro- 
jectors and  245  indoor-theater  projectors 
are  given  in  Fig.  6.  The  present  ASA 
standard  limits,  also  shown  in  Fig.  6,  call 
for  a  brightness  between  9  and  14  ft.-L. 
The  indoor  theaters  ranged  in  brightness 
from  3.4  to  53  ft.-L,  with  approximately 
one-quarter  below  and  about  one-half 
within  the  ASA  standard  range.  Two 
theaters  which  were  equipped  with  high- 
ly directional  "silver"  screens  had  a  cen- 
tral maximum  screen  brightness  in  the 
range  of  30  to  53  ft.-L.  In  the  case  of 
the  review  rooms,  almost  two-thirds  were 
within  the  standard  limits,  and  most  of 
the  remaining  third  exceeded  the  maxi- 
mum limit. 

Over-All  Screen  Illumination 

Figure  7  shows  the  distribution  of  il- 
lumination over  the  screen  expressed  as 
a  ratio  of  side-to-center  intensity  of  inci- 
dent illumination.  Side  distribution 
ranged  from  40-  to  94%  for  the  indoor 
theaters,  with  approximately  85%  of  the 


125  INDOOR  THEATERS 


22.4 


11.2 


2.0 


1.6 


0.8 


1 


12  14  16  18 

SCREEN 


20  22  24  26  28  30 

WIDTH,    feet 


FIG.  5.     Distribution  of  screen  widths  covered  in  the  survey. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     November  1951 


19 


40.2 


40 


30 


20 


to 


t      0 


I    23.6 


2.8 


REVIEW  ROOMS 
36  PROJECTORS 


27.8 


5.6 


o 

Q. 


40 


30 


20 


10 


0 


ASA 
Standards 


PI 

i 

l 
I 
I   27.3 


19.6 


5.9 


1.0 


22.9 


INDOOR  THEATERS 
245  PROJECTORS 


10.8 


6.1 


2.4 


.0 


2.9 


Below 
4.0 


24.0 


4.0  6.5  9.0  11.5         14.0         16.5        19.0         21.5 

BRIGHTNESS  AT  CENTER  OF  SCREEN,  foot-lamberrs 

FIG.  6.     Distribution  of  screen  brightness  obtained  in  the  survey. 


Above 
24.0 


projectors  falling  between  50  and  80% 
distribution  ratios.  The  most  frequent 
distribution  ratio  was  60-70%. 

The  review  rooms  differ  radically  from 
the  indoor  theaters  by  having  a  much 
more  uniform  distribution  of  illumina- 
tion over  the  screen.  Of  the  review- 
room  projectors,  85%  produced  a  side 
distribution  between  80  and  100%. 


80  and  100%.  Five  "silver"  screens  were 
in  the  range  of  150  to  250%.  A  total  of 
eight  "silver"  screens  are  included  in 
Fig.  9. 

The  review-room  screens,  on  the  aver- 
age, tended  to  have  lower  reflectivities 
than  the  indoor  theaters,  but  not  as 
great   a   range    of   extremes.    This   may 


again  reflect  the  problem  of  excess  illu- 
mination and  the  fact  that  even  a  de- 
teriorated screen  will  produce  adequate 
brightness  with  the  small-size  screens 
employed.  However,  if  the  low  reflec- 
tivity is  the  result  of  deterioration,  then 
such  screens  may  also  have  undergone 
color  change  with  resultant  distortion  of 
color  motion  pictures. 

25%  of  Total  Sub-Standard 

This  survey  of  125  indoor  theaters  has 
shown  that  the  screen  brightness  falls 
within  the  recommended  range  for  a 
little  over  half  of  the  projectors,  but  that 
almost  one-quarter  of  the  theaters  are 
below  the  recommended  standards.  The 
distribution  of  illumination  over  the  in- 
door theater  screens  ranges  from  very 
uniform  to  extremely  nonuniform.  Screen 
reflectivity  for  the  indoor  theaters  ranges 
from  values  typical  of  screens  in  good 
condition  all  the  way  down  to  values 
representing  over  50%  deterioration. 

The  West  Coast  review  rooms  gener- 
ally show  screen  brightness  within  or  a 
little  above  the  recommended  standards 
for  indoor  theaters.  However,  the  review 
rooms  differ  from  indoor  theaters  in  hav- 
ing exceptionally  uniform  distribution  of 
illumination  over  the  screen.  Review- 
room  screen  reflectivities  show  a  lower 
average  value  than,  but  not  nearly  as 
great  a  spread  of  extreme  values  as,  the 
indoor  theater  screens. 

Three-Year  Improvement  Noted 

Compared  with  the  1947  preliminary 
survey,  the  present  one  shows  an  even 
wider  range  of  screen  brightness  values, 
but  only  about  one-half  as  great  a  pro- 


Review-Room   Screen   Problem 

This  more  uniform  screen  distribution 
reflects  the  review-room  problem  of  small 
screen  size  and  excess  illumination;  de- 
focusing  the  light  source  to  produce  a 
uniform  distribution  is  one  way  which 
has  been  used  to  reduce  excess  screen 
brightness.  It  means,  however,  that  mo- 
tion pictures  are  viewed  in  these  review 
rooms  under  conditions  very  different 
from  those  prevailing  in  motion  picture 
theaters. 

Figure  8  gives  similar  information  on 
the  ratio  of  corner-to-center  incident  in- 
tensity. Corner  distributions  are,  in  each 
case,  approximately  10  to  15%  lower 
than  the  side  distribution  and  ranged 
from  26  to  83%.  Fig  8.  shows,  however, 
the  same  basic  pattern  as  Fig.  7. 

Screen   Reflectivity  Range 

Less  than  half  of  the  indoor  theater 
screens  had  reflectivities  in  the  70  to 
80%  range,  typical  of  a  matte  white 
screen  in  good  condition.  Over  40%  of 
the  screens  ranged  from  70  down  to 
32%  reflectivity.  Approximately  10% 
of  the  screens  had  reflectivities  between 


UJ 

o 


REVIEW  ROOMS 
r-    36  PROJECTORS 

62.5 

bU 

40 

- 

23.6 

20 

i       i       i 

8.3 

5.6 

n 

1 

co    40 

cr 

o 

O 


30 


20  - 


10  - 


INDOOR  THEATERS 
251  PROJECTORS 


24.1 


34.5 


3.9 


25.9 


11.2 


0.4 


40 


100 


110- 


,50  60  •  70  80  90 

SIDE-TO-CENTER  DISTRIBUTION  RATf.0,,% 

FIG.  7.     Range  of  side-to-center  distribution  ratios  of  incident  illumination 

obtained  in  the  survey. 


20 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     November  1951 


60 


40 


20 


~  REVIEW  h00M;> 
36  PROJECTORS 

I      1      I 

2.8 

19.4 

55.6 

19.4 

2.8 

'      I 

1 

40  r 


o 

w   30 

o 
ot 
a. 

ft    20h 


LlJ 

CE 

UJ 


10 


r  INDOOR  THEATERS 
251  PROJECTORS 

29.2 

27.9 

16.5 

11.2 

12.4 

2.0 

08 

1 

i      i      i 

20 


100 


110 


FIG.  8. 


30  40  50  60  70  80  90 

CORNER-TO-CENTER  DISTRIBUTION   RATIO,  % 
Range  of  corner-to-center  distribution  ratios  of  incident  illumination 

obtained  in  the  survey. 


portion  of  theaters  below  the  recom- 
mended minimum  brightness.  Other  fac- 
tors studied,  such  as  side  and  corner 
screen  distribution  ratio,  cover  approxi- 
mately the  same  ranges  as  observed  in 
the  earlier  survey.  The  screen  reflectivi- 
ties extend  over  a  much  wider  range, 
including   both   some   exceptionally   low 


values    and    also    a   number   of   "silver" 
screens  of  extremely  high  reflectivity. 

It  is  expected  that  the  results  of  this 
survey  will  assist  in  the  formulation  of 
an  eventual  Committee  recommendation 
for  improvement  of  projection  practice 
in  theaters.  In  the  meantime,  however, 
it    is    believed    that    better    attention    to 


REVIEW  ROOMS 

47.2 

18  SCREENS 

40 

36.1 

30 

UJ 

o 

5  20 

tr 

)ICATED 
o 

11.1 

5.6 

z 

43.8 


40 


20 


10 


INDOOR  THEATERS 
r  120  SCREENS 

12.9 

22.9 

9.1 

0.8 

4.6 

4.2 

1.7 

1 

30 


40 


50 


90 


60      70      80 
SCREEN  REFLECTIVITY.  % 

FIG.  9.     Range  of  screen  reflectivities  obtained  in  the  survey 


100       150 
to  250 


details  of  operation  and  maintenance  can 
reduce  the  wide  range  of  screen  bright- 
ness observed  and  eliminate  many  of  the 
extreme  values.  It  can  also  ebminate 
many  of  the  highly  nonuniform  distribu- 
tions of  illumination  over  the  screen  and 
thereby  remove  some  of  the  objection- 
able conditions  prevalent. 

The  findings  of  this  survey  in  the  West 
Coast  review  rooms  are  being  considered 
by  the  Research  Council  and  West  Coast 
studios  in  relation  to  their  program  of 
improving  review-room  practices. 

Projectionists'  Fine  Cooperation 

The  Screen  Brightness  Committee  are 
indebted  to  many  people  for  assistance 
in  the  conduction  of  this  survey.  Theater 
projectionists  and  their  organization,  the 
IATSE,  have  been  most  cooperative  in 
making  their  facilities  and  assistance 
available  to  us. 

The  Research  Council  took  the  initia- 
tive in  obtaining  the  data  on  the  West 
Coast  review  rooms.  Without  the  fine 
cooperation  of  these  individuals  and 
groups,  this  survey  would  have  been  diffi- 
cult if  not  impossible. 

Par's  New  Sound  Track  Position 

A  change  in  the  present  proposed 
standards  for  placement  of  the  sound 
track  on  35-mm  film  has  been  urged  by 
Loren  L.  Ryder,  sound  director  of  Para- 
mount Pictures.  In  a  report  to  the 
SMPTE,  Ryder  suggested  that  the  mag- 
netic sound  track  be  placed  131  mils 
(131/1000th  of  an  inch)  from  the 
sprocket  hole  of  the  film  instead  of  the 
present  50  mils.  This  suggestion,  he 
said,  is  based  on  extensive  studies  made 
of  both  methods,  with  results  showing 
that  interference  from  sprocket  holes  is 
encountered  in  the  50  to  100  mil  area. 

In  the  ensuing  discussion,  representa- 
tives of  three  companies  presented  data 
tending  to  refute  the  Paramount  studies. 

SMPTE  Proposals  Pending 

The  proposed  standards  of  35-mm 
sound  track  placement  have  been  adopted 
by  the  M.  P.  Research  Council.  The 
SMPTE  sound  committee  has  been  study- 
ing standards  for  three  years  and  last 
July  published  the  proposed  standards 
for  further  study  by  members.  Action  by 
the  sound  committee  is  still  to  be  taken 
prior  to  submitting  final  proposed  stand- 
ards to  the  ASA. 

During  the  discussion,  Ryder  stated 
flatly  that  Paramount  will  continue  to 
record  sound  tracks  at  131  mils. 

Another  Theater  Tv  Circuit 

Latest  Eastern  circuit  to  announce 
plans  for  theater  Tv  purchases  is  Walter 
Reade  Theaters,  operating  throughout 
New  Jersey.  Ten  houses  in  this  group 
will  be  so  equipped  as  soon  as  adequate 
line  facilities  are  made  available,  prob- 
ably by  the  end  of  this  year. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     November  1951 


21 


Blair  Foulds  and  Dr.  F.  N. 
Gillette  (left)  of  GPL,  and 
Ed  Dougherty  (L.  384, 
Hudson  County,  N.  J.),  and 
Harry  Mackler  (L  306, 
N.  Y.  City),  vice-president 
and  president,  respectively 
of  the  25-30  Club. 


GPL-NTS  Theater  Tv  Attracts 
400  to  25-30  Club  Meeting 


MORE  than  400  projectionists  in  the 
Metropolitan  New  York  area  were 
given  a  great  show  at  the  November  meet- 
ing of  the  25-30  Club  in  the  Hotel  Bel- 
vedere ballroom  when  General  Precision 
Laboratory  and  National  Theater  Supply 
Co.  joined  forces  to  stage  a  lecture- 
demonstration  of  the  GPL  theater  Tv 
direct-projection  and  intermediate-film 
systems. 

Top  technical  and  executive  talent 
from  both  companies  combined  to  make 
this  a  memorable  evening  in  the  history 
of  manufacturer-distributor-projectionist 
relations. 

Physical  limitations  of  the  meeting 
place,  no  less  than  safety  factors,  pre- 
vented the  installation  of  the  direct-pro- 
jection equipment,  as  every  projectionist 
will  understand,  but  this  system  was  de- 
scribed in  detail  orally  with  the  aid  of  a 
fine  series  of  slides.  The  intermediate 
system  featured  a  film  that  was  taken  off 
the  air.  developed  and  projected  via  the 
GPL  56-second  transition  method  from 
air-pickup  to  screen  projection. 

Discussion  Session  Spirited 

Following  the  lecture-demonstration 
was  a  lively  question-and-answer  period 
which  covered  many  phases  of  installa- 
tion and  operation.  Happily,  there  was 
no  abrupt  termination  of  the  discussion 
period,  as  so  often  happens  at  such  meet- 
ings: the  session  was  not  ended  until 
there  were  no  more  questions  forthcom- 
ing. 

The  meeting  reflected  great  credit  on 
the  GPL-NTS  companies  and  on  their 
staffs  who  made  arrangements  for  and 
carried  out  the  program.  Our  own  John- 
nie McGinley,  staff  projectionist  for  GPL 
(Local  650,  Westchester,  N.  Y.)  did  a 
fine  all-around  job. 

It  is  expected  that  GPL-NTS  will 
sponsor  similar  meetings  in  various  sec- 


tions throughout  the  U.  S.,  an  intent 
which  prompts  a  few  observations  which 
may  contribute  in  some  small  measure 
to  the  success  of  similar  demonstrations 
in  the  future. 

At  such  gatherings  it  is  a  natural 
tendency  for  projectionists  to  engage  in 
considerable  fraternizing,  particularly 
when  they  hail  from  a  wide  geographical 
area  and  have  few  opportunities  to  get 
together  and  exchange  news  and  views. 
This  is  all  to  the  good,  but  such  socializ- 
ing by  even  a  very  small  minority  de- 
tracts no  little  from  the  value  of  the 
meeting  for  the  large  majority — say. 
95% — of  those  who  come  to  be  informed 
about  that  which  is  of  vital  importance 
to  their  work. 

Instruction,  Not  'Sales/  the  Aim 

Topmost  in  mind  should  be  the  fact 
that  such  lecture-demonstrations  are  not 
"'sales"    meetings    in    even    the    remotest 


From  Local  306:  Ernie 
Lang,  sec;  Herman  Bo- 
ritz,  exec,  board;  Harry 
Storin,  vice-pres.;  Dick 
Cancellare  and  Dave 
Garden,  exec,  board,  and 
Dave  Narcey,  retirement 
board. 


sense;  they  represent  an  effort  on  the 
part  of  manufacturers  to  convey  im- 
portant information  to  the  craft,  those 
who  operate  their  equipments  day  after 
day.  Not  infrequently  the  cost  of  such 
demonstrations  in  man-hours,  effort  and 
expense  is  considerable,  running  some- 
times into  four  figures. 

The  craft  can  show  its  appreciation 
to  the  sponsor  of  such  meetings  by  in- 
viting the  five-percenters  to  do  their  so- 
cializing outside  the  meeting  area. 

Getting  back  on  the  mainline,  it  needs 
to  be  set  down  here  that  the  GPL-NTS 
Tv  show  for  the  25-30  Club  is  merely  an 
extension  of  the  pobcy  of  extremely  close 


TOP  PHOTO:  From  Westchester  County,  N.  Y. 
(I.  to  r.) — Joe  Monaco,  bus.  rep.  of  Local  366; 
and  from  Local  650:  Irving  Weiss,  pres.,  Fred 
Thome,  bus.  rep.,  and  Anthony  Dente,  vice-pres. 

BOTTOM  PHOTO:  From  Hudson  County,  N.Y., 

Local    384    (I.    to    r.) — Frank    Maurus,    Frank 

Mandrake,    pres.;    Albert    De    Titta,    and    Ed 

Dougherty,   vice-pres.   of  25-30  Club. 

projectionist  ties,  marked  by  many  dis- 
tinct contributions  to  craft  welfare,  which 
has  characterized  the  course  of  the  Gen- 


Extreme  left:  Ernie  Lang, 
L.  306;  Ed  Dougherty, 
Allen  G.  Smith,  NTS  New 
York  branch  manager; 
Harry  Mackler,  John  Sims, 
GPL;  Ben  Stern,  treas., 
and  Morris  Klapholtz,  sec. 
of  the  25-30  Club.  Kneel- 
ing: Julius  Wetzler,  sgt.- 
at-arms    of    25-30    Club. 


22 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     November  1951 


era!  Precision  Equipment  group  in  every 
section  of  the  country  down  through  the 
years. 

It  was  a  well-nigh  impossible  task  to 
obtain,  or  to  list  here,  all  those  who  at- 
tended the  GPL-NTS  demonstration  (and 
for  this  IP  asks  the  indulgence  of  those 
not  mentioned  here),  but  among  those 
noted  were: 

From  GPL:    Blair  Foulds,  John  Sims, 

F.  N.  Gillette.  T.  P.  Dewhirst,  Bill  Bor- 
borg,  and  Al  Mayer.   From  NTS:    Allen 

G.  Smith,  N.  Y.  branch  manager;  John 
Krulish,  Bill  Nafash,  Sam  Selden.  From 
International  Projector  Corp.:  Ad- 
miral R.  B.  Tomkins  (Ret.),  president; 
Arthur  E.  Meyer,  vice-president,  and  Bill 
Hecht. 

Also,  Dave  Joy  and  Paul  Reis,  National 
Carbon  Co.;  Bob  Goldblatt.  first  presi- 
dent of  Local  306  and  a  founder  of  the 
25-30  Club;  a  large  delegation  from 
Westchester  County,  N.  Y.,  Local  650, 
including  Irving  Weiss,  president;  An- 
thony Dente,  vice-president,  Fred  Thome, 
business  agent,  and  Larry  Sabatino;  Joe 
Monaco,  business  agent  of  Westchester 
Local  366;  Joe  Engel  and  Al  Sweeney, 
Long  Island,  N.  Y.,  Local  640;  Roy 
Fisher  fEthyloid  cement),  Local  253, 
Rochester,  N.  Y.,  and  among  the  many 
others  those  pictured  in  this  story. 


Show  Filmless  Camera  on  Coast 

Demonstration  on  the  West  Coast  of  a 
pilot  model  of  a  television  camera  cap- 
able of  recording  images  on  magnetic 
tape  rather  than  on  film  is  expected  to 
spur  research  work  on  such  a  project 
now  underway  in  several  major  labora- 
tories. 

Device  demonstrated  in  Hollywood 
utilizes  ordinary  sound-recording  plastic 
tape.  The  images,  recorded  from  a  Tv 
show,  were  reportedly  blurred  and  in- 
distinct, but  sponsors  assert  that  they  are 
far  enough  along  with  their  research  to 
eliminate  this  defect.  Sponsor,  incident- 
ally, is  the  electronic  division  of  Bing 
Crosby  Enterprises. 

The  recorder  does  not  actually  take  a 
picture  but  records  Tv  images  and  sound 
on  tape,  from  which  programs  are  played 
back  on  a  Tv  receiver.  Mass  production 
is  slated  to  begin  within  eight  months. 


Theater  Tv  Hearings  on  Feb.  25 

Hearings  on  theater  Tv,  scheduled  to 
start  Nov.  26  before  the  Federal  Com- 
munications Commission,  have  been 
postponed  until  Feb.  25,  1952.  The  time 
for  filing  in  the  proceeding  also  was 
extended  from  Oct.  26  to  Jan.  25.  Allo- 
cations of  frequencies  for  theatre  Tv 
and  the  adoption  of  rules  and  regula- 
tions for  the  proposed  service  will  be 
the  topics  at  the  hearings. 


SMASH 
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with 

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PROJECTION  LENSES 


Your  patrons  will 
notice  the  difference! 
Super  Snaplites  give 
you  Sharper  Pictures, 
More  Illumination, 
Greater  Contrast  and 
Definition. 

For  the  Best  in 
Projection  use  Super 
Snaplites  ...  the 
only  Projection  Lenses 
to  give  you  a  true 
speed  of  f/1 .9 
in  every  focal  length 
up  to  7  inches. 

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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


November  1951 


23 


PHOTOGRAPHIC  OPTICS 

(Continued  from  page  15) 

lows  extension  double  normal — our  lens 
will  be  working  at  an  effective  relative 
aperture  of  twice  that  marked  on  the 
lens.  We  would  then  have  to  quadruple 
our  exposure  time.  In  fact,  the  effective 
relative  aperture  is  given  by  the  product 
of  the  stop  number  for  infinity  and  the 
magnification  plus  one. 

Fixing  Pictorial  Perspective 

The  nodal  points,  as  defined  previously, 
are  points  associated  with  a  lens  having 
the  interesting  property  that  a  ray  of 
light  directed  at  one  will  emerge  from 
the  other  undeviated.  Expressed  differ- 
ently, a  ray  of  light  striking  the  first 
nodal  point  will  leave  the  second  parallel 


FIG.  25.    Perspective  I. 

to  its  original  direction,  and  a  fan  of  rays 
entering  the  first  nodal  point  will  like- 
wise constitute  a  fan  of  rays  leaving  the 
second.  In  this  manner  all  the  rays  form- 
ing an  image  on  the  film  can  be  con- 
sidered as  having  passed  through  two 
points  of  the  lens.  ' 

The  first  nodal  point  constitutes  the 
single  eye  of  the  lens,  which  sees  the 
scene  in  a  certain  manner.  If  a  frame 
were  to  be  held  before  the  first  nodal 
point,  the  objects  in  the  scene  would  be 
in  certain  relationships  to  each  other,  de- 
termined, among  other  things,  by  the  size 
of  the  frame  and  its  distance  from  the 
nodal  point.  These  relationships  we  sum- 
marize as  perspective. 

If  this  frame  is  the  conjugate  of  the 
borders  of  the  negative,  our  pictorial  per- 
spective is  then  fixed,  and  if  we  wish  to 
see  the  scene  as  the  camera  saw  it,  we 
must  place  our  eye  in  the  position  occu- 
pied by  the  second  nodal  point.  Only 
then  could  we  speak  of  having  the  cor- 
rect perspective   (Fig.  25). 

Human  Eye  Characteristics 

Very  few  people  can  accommodate  at 
distances  less  than  10  inches,  which  is 
taken  as  the   shortest  reading   distance, 


FIG.  26.    Perspective  II. 


or  near  point.  Most  camera  lenses  have 
focal  lengths  less  than  this,  so  contact 
prints  inevitably  yield  a  certain  perspec- 
tive distortion,  unless  the  lens  used  had 
an  equivalent  focal  length  of  10  inches 
or  more.  One  way  of  getting  the  eye  in 
the  proper  position  to  recover  the  true 
perspective  is  by  enlarging  our  negatives. 
In  accordance  with  these  considerations 
the  rule  is  to  enlarge  so  that  the  effective 
focal  length  is  equal  to  the  anticipated 
eye-to-print  distance. 

For  instance,  if  a  2-inch  lens  were 
used  to  make  the  miniature  negative,  and 
hand-held  prints  were  desired,  to  be 
viewed  at  about  14  inches,  we  would  want 
the  perspective  of  a  14-inch  lens.  We 
could  get  this  by  enlarging  our  negative 
7  times.  We  could  achieve  the  same  thing 
by  viewing  our  miniature  transparencies 
at  7  times  magnification.  If  higher  mag- 
nification is  employed  in  enlarging,  the 
position  accordingly  moves  outward 
(Fig.  26). 

[TO  BE  CONTINUED] 

Vallen  Needed — and  Got — a  Pro 

Ingenuity,  no  less  than  the  versatile 
manner  in  which  engineered  component 
units  may  be  employed,  are  reflected  in 
a  recent  installation  of  a  curtain  control 
by  Vallen,  Inc.,  Akron,  Ohio.  The  job 
was  a  challenge  to  the  accumulated  ex- 
perience of  show-business  people,  which 
meant  that  its  execution  was  accom- 
plished strictly  on  the  basis  of  know-how 
supplemented  by  the  doing-it  which  can 
only  stem  from  action  on  the  scene. 

One  of  the  major  requirements  in  the 
new  Children's  Cancer  Research  Foun- 
dation in  Boston — the  first  and  only 
building  of  its  kind  in  the  world — was  a 
surgical  amphitheatre  where  cancer  op- 
erations could  be  conducted  before  doc- 
tors, nurses  and  technicians.  To  be  of 
maximum  use,  the  amphitheatre  had  to 
incorporate  a  revolving  stage,  chalk- 
boards and  projection  screens  for  lecture 
use;  yet,  it  had  also  to  provide  complete 
privacy  on  the  stage  when  desired  or 
necessary.  This  was  no  easy  problem. 

How  the  Job  Was  Done 

A  10-foot  diameter  turntable  installa- 
tion that  permits  revolving  stage  through 
a  full  360°  circle,  insuring  full  unob- 
structed vision   for   all  observers. 

Two  chalkboards,  one  tackboard,  and 
a  projection  screen  provide  ample  facili- 
ties for  lecture  notes  and  diagrams  in 
full  view  of  the  auditors.  Each  board  is 
independently  operated  by  a  Vallen,  Jr., 
curtain  control,  permitting  raising  or 
lowering  the  boards  quickly,  smoothly 
and   dependably  in  any  sequence. 

The  cyclorama  curtain  is  hung  on 
Vallen  curved  curtain  track  (No.  153) 
which  incorporates  the  exclusive  Vallen 
rear-fold  feature,  and  follows  the  contour 
of  the  stage.  The  front  curtain  hangs  on 


Cyclorama  Draw  Curtain  on 
rear-fold  track  behind  turntable 


Disappearing 
projection  screen, 
tackboard  and 
2   chalkboard!. 


Electrically  operated  draw  curtain 
in  frorrt  of  itage. 

Details  of  unique  Vallen  installation. 

Vallen  all-steel,  noiseless  safety  track 
(No.  150)  and  can  be  opened  or  closed 
effortlessly  by  means  of  a  Vallen  Curtain 
control.  Thus  the  entire  stage  area  can 
be  closed  off  when  necessary. 

Naturally,  one  of  our  boys — Joe  Cifre 
of  Boston  Local  182 — handled  the  job. 


Electronic  Vocational  Guide 

Tv  and  Electronics  as  a  Career  is 
the  title  of  a  new  book  just  published 
by  John  F.  Rider,  Inc.,  480  Canal  St., 
New  York  13,  N.  Y.  Engineering,  broad- 
casting, manufacturing,  servicing,  parts 
and  receiver  distributing,  sales  representa- 
tion, retailing,  and  electronics  in  the 
armed  forces  are  discussed  by  top  au- 
thorities, who  wrote  on  their  special  fields. 
Also,  there  are  included  appendices  on  pay 
scales  for  broadcast  personnel  and  Tv  serv- 
ice branch  personnel,  electrical  engineering 
curriculum,  and  educational  institutes  in  the 
U.  S.  teaching  radio,  television,  and  elec- 
tronics. 

All  the  why's  and  wherefore's  of  the  elec- 
tronics industry  are  explained  for  the  new- 
comer embarking  on  a  career,  and  the 
electronics  "oltimer"  desiring  to  switch  to 
another  field  of  specialization  within  the 
industry.  "Written  in  an  easy-to-read  style, 
the  book  contains  325  pages  with  136  illus- 
trations in  a  cloth  binding.  Price:  $4.95. 


Christmas  Seal  Campaign  Opens 

Xmas  Seals  have  helped  many  people  in 
show  business — and  show  business  never 
fails  to  remember  its  friends. 

Support  for  the  research  and  other 
work  of  the  voluntary  tuberculosis  asso- 
ciations is  derived  from  the  people 
through  their  purchase  of  Christmas 
Seals.  Each  year,  at  the  Christmas  Sea- 
son, the  local  tuberculosis  associations 
conduct  the  sale  of  Christmas  Seals  by 
mail.  Sheets  of  Christmas  Seals  are 
mailed  to  residents  of  the  community, 
who  make  their  returns  by  mail.  Personal 
solicitation,  either  at  business  or  at  home, 
is  therefore  avoided. 

Christmas  Seals  have  become  a  holiday 
tradition  in  this  country,  where  they  have 


24 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     November  1951 


been  sold  since  1907.  The  first  sale  was 
in  Wilmington,  Del.,  and  was  sponsored 
by  the  late  Emily  P.  Bissell  to  raise  funds 
to  help  some  doctors  continue  their  treat- 
ment of  a  small  group  of  needy  patients. 
The  doctors  needed  $300.  Through  the 
sale  of  Christmas  Seals,  Miss  Bissell 
raised  $3,000  for  their  work.  The  sale  of 
Christmas  Seals  had  been  inaugurated 
in  Denmark  in  1904,  the  idea  of  a  postal 
employee  named  Einar  Holboell. 

Local  Communities  Retain  94% 

Each  year  94%  of  the  money  raised 
by  the  sale  of  Christmas  Seals  remains 
in  the  state  where  it  was  contributed  to 
support  local  and  state  tuberculosis  con- 
trol programs.  The  remaining  six  per 
cent  is  forwarded  to  the  National  Tu- 
berculosis Association.  At  least  one-sixth 
of  this  percentage  is  used  for  medical 
and  social  research. 

Each  year  a  different  design  is  used 
for  the  Christmas  Seal.  This  year  a  jolly 
Santa  Claus  smiles  from  the  Christmas 
Seal.  Whatever  the  design  of  the  Christ- 
mas Seal,  it  always  bears  the  Double- 
Barred  Cross,  registered  emblem  of  the 
National  Tuberculosis  Association  and 
its  3,000  affiliates.  An  adaptation  of  the 
Cross  of  Lorraine,  the  Double-Barred 
Cross  is  also  the  emblem  of  the  world- 
wide crusade  against  tuberculosis. 


NEWS   PROJECTIONS 

RADIO-TV  manufacturers  deny  crea- 
tion of  a  "war  chest"  to  buck  theater 
Tv.  Assert  that  both  enterprises  can  "live 
together."  Oh,  yeah?  .  .  .  N.  Y.  State 
highest  court  has  confirmed  ban  on  Ital- 
ian import  film  "The  Miracle."  Appeal 
will  be  made  to  U.  S.  Supreme  Court. 
.  .  .  Roy  Rogers  won  court  action  to  bar 
Republic  Pic  from  peddling  his  films  to 
Tv  nets.  Decision  not  universally  appli- 
cable, because  of  special  clauses  in  Rog- 
ers contract.  Gene  Autry  proceeding  like- 
wise. .  .  .  First  nine  months  of  1951  saw 
93  new  enclosed  theaters  and  185  drive- 
ins  opened.  .  .  .  Universal,  Monogram, 
Paramount  and  Republic  now  making 
pics  for  Tv  nets.  Won't  be  long  now.  .  .  . 
Skouras  Theaters  (N.  Y.)  flat  $1  admis- 
sion for  an  entire  family  regardless  of 
size  (plus  individual  tax)  deemed  a  great 
success  and  will  be  a  fixed  Friday  night 
policy.  Largest  family  to  show  up  num- 
bered 11.  .  .  .  Decca  Records  now  con- 
trols Universal  Pictures,  thus  giving  a 
double-barrelled  entree  into  radio-Tv — 
transcriptions  and  pics.  .  .  . 

Before  they  even  get  off  first  base  on 
regular  theater  Tv,  exhibitors  are  mull- 
ing plans  for  educational  and  industrial 


Tv — morning  shows,  etc.  .  .  .Half  of  20th 
Century-Fox  features  for  1952  release 
will  be  in  Technicolor.  .  .  .  Six  weeks  of 
special  children's  Saturday  matinee 
shows  for  $1  has  been  set  by  Balaban  & 
Katz  Norton  Theater  in  Chicago,  Parent 
and  teacher  groups  cooperating.  .  .  . 
Drake  Hotel,  Chicago,  the  scene  for  next 
SMPTE  convention,  April  21-25  next. 
.  .  .  NPA  has  sent  out  20,000  letters  to 
theaters  anent  carbon  copper  salvage. 
.  .  .  NPA  says  that  military  use  of  raw 
film  stock  will  be  held  to  a  point  at  which 
civilian  requirements  will  not  be  strained. 
.  .  .  Fight  at  a  Baltimore,  Md.,  arena  on 
Nov.  2,  a  10-rounder,  with  a  supporting 
card,  took  in  $498  at  the  gate.  Event  was 
televised  by  CBS  coast-to-coast.  Savvy? 
.  .  .  Those  who  yelled  lustily  that  install- 
ment buying  was  a  major  cause  of  the 
box-office  decline  had  red  faces  when 
both  cuffo  buying  and  b.  o.  take  in- 
creased during  Sept.  .  .  .  Bank  night 
drawings  for  cash  prizes  will  not  be  sub- 
ject to  the  new  "gamblers' "  tax,  BIR 
ruled.  .  .  .  Wall  St.  sees  movie  attendance 
up  from  6  to  8%  over  the  past  two 
months. 


Your  Very  Best  Buy 
BUY  U.  S.  SAVINGS  BONDS 


Old  Type  Lens 


For  STEADY  PROFITS  you  need 
TODAY'S  FINEST  SCREEN  IMAGE 


Replace  NOW  with  B&L  Super  Cinephor  Lenses  .  . . 

for  Steady  Patronage 

Keep  your  patrons  coming  back!  Don't  let  dim,  eye- 
straining  screen  images  cut  profits.  Show  today's 
sharpest,  brightest  pictures  .  .  .  edge-to-edge  brilli- 
ance and  contrast  .  .  .  with  B&L  Super  Cinephor 
lenses. 


SCwCC&  for  complete  information  to  Bausch  &  Lomb  Optical  Co., 
616-11  St.  Paul  Street,  Rochester  2,  N.  Y. 


w 

y 

*n 

XI 

V 

Bausch  &  Lomb      C 

WsMw 

T&mZl 

lb    Pr< 

>jectior 

INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     November  1951 


25 


PROJECTIONIST  SHOWMANSHIP 

(Continued  from  page  14) 

Running  down  film  to  check  the  thread- 
ing should  be  done  by  means  of  the  hand- 
wheel.  This  may  be  the  soundhead  fly- 
wheel on  certain  machines,  the  motor  fly- 
wheel on  certain  others,  and  a  motor 
drive  gear  on  still  others.  The  shutter 
and  the  intermittent  flywheel  should 
never  be  used  for  "turning  over"  a  pro- 
jector! Nor  should  the  motor  be  switched 
on  and  off  rapidly.  Why?   Because: 

1.  Any  slack  film  in  upper  and  lower 
magazines  may  suffer  perforation  dam- 
age because  the  motor  starts  the  sprock- 
ets  turning  rather   suddenly. 

2.  Serious  burning  of  the  switch  contacts 


•  The  NEW,  im- 
proved, positive 
method  of  perma- 
nently patching  all 
types  and  makes  of 
film — 8mm.,  16mm., 
35mm.,  Trucolor, 
Technicolor,  Koda- 
chrome.  Nitrate  and  Safety  Film. 
Used  and  endorsed  by  Projec- 
tionists    in     countless     theaters. 

specifically  for  lasting  Patches. 
ESSANNAY  ELECTRIC  MANUFACTURING  CO. 

1438  North  Clark  Street  Chicago  10,  Illinois 


occurs  whenever  the  motor  is  turned  off 
before  it  has  attained  normal  running 
speed.  (The  starting  windings  of  an 
A.C.  motor  consume  much  more  cur- 
rent— many  times  more  amperes — than 
the  running  windings.  This  current  is 
so  great  that  it  exceeds  the  capacity  of 
the   switch  momentarily.) 

3.  Switching  the  motor  on  again  before 
it  has  entirely  stopped  turning  inflicts 
a  terrific  strain  on  the  projector  gears, 
weakening  the  teeth  or  even  stripping 
them.  The  main  drive  gear  and  the  fiber 
spiral  shutter  gear  of  a  popular  make 
of  projector  head  take  the  most  punish- 
ment when  this  practice  is  indulged  in. 
(Why  does  turning  the  motor  on  before 
it  has  completely  stopped  strain  the 
gears?  The  powerful  starting  torque 
of  the  motor  is  added  to  the  momentum 
of  the  already  revolving  gears.) 
These    are   three   very    cogent   reasons 

why  the  motor  should  never  be  used  for 

running  down  film  as  a  threading  check. 

The   handwheel   should   always   be   used. 

So  much  for  that. 

Sprocket  Idler  Adjustment 

Now,  then,  damage  to  film  perforations 
may  also  be  minimized  by  seeing  to  it 
that  all  sprocket  idlers  are  adjusted  so 
that,  when  closed,  the  face  of  each  idler 
is  at  a  distance  from  the  face  of  the 
sprocket  equal  to  2  thicknesses  of  safety 
film.  Also,  each  idler  should  be  properly 
centered  laterally  so  that  it  does  not 
shear  one  edge  of  the  film.  Roughened 
places  on  the  edges  of  leaders  indicate 
that  badly  centered  idlers  have  taken  a 
hunk  out  of  them  in  somebody's  theater. 


, ..._.._ 


^PROJECTORS 

HAVB  £¥£RyTHING 

CENTURY'S  high-efficiency  projector  withl 
the  NEW  4-inch  diam.  lens  provides  pic-;J 
tures  of  increased  brightness  and  appeal— -i 
for  even  the  largest  drive-in  screens. 

CENTURY'S  water-cooled  aperture  gives! 
as  much  light  with  a  90  ampere  arc  a'sj 
other  projectors  using  a  180  ampere  arcf 
and  heat  filters!— Reduce  power  cost— Getl 
sharper  pictures— Save  film. 

CENTURY'S  sealed,  oil-less  bearings  and! 
glass-hard  gears  reduce  maintenance; 
costs.  No  oil  sprays  or  baths  to  mess  upj 
film  or  projection  room. 

1fou  ctut  SEE  eutcC  HEAR  (6e  eU^eftencef 

CENTURY  PROJECTION  AND  SOUND  SYSTEMS 

See  your  dealer  or  write  for  information 

PROJECTOR   CORPORATION 

New  York,  N.  Y. 


With  the  equipment  and  prints  in  ship- 
shape condition,  with  both  projectors 
laced  up  with  the  first  two  reels  of  the 
show,  and  with  both  arclamps  trimmed 
with  carbons  of  adequate  length,  the 
show  is  ready  to  go  on.  In  most  theaters 
the  projectionist's  showmanship  begins 
the  very  moment  patrons  enter  the  audi- 
torium. Footlights  are  switched  on  to 
illuminate  the  "grand  drape"  colorfully 
and  pleasingly;  and  mood  music  begins 
to  issue  from  the  curtained  stage. 

Overture  Intermission   Music 

The  matter  of  overture  and  intermis- 
sion music  warrants  much  more  atten- 
tion than  it  usually  receives  in  small  and 
medium-sized  theaters.  This  writer  has 
heard  a  circuit  district  manager  (not 
now  in  the  business,  as  you  can  well 
imagine)  brush  off  pre-show  music  as 
an  unimportant  superfluity.  And  the 
writer  knows  that  most  circuit  house 
managers  are  unfortunately  too  busied 
with  a  mass  of  trivia  or  too  terrified  by 
"economy"  blasts  to  maintain  a  fresh  and 
copious  supply  of  new  phonograph  rec- 
ords of  suitable  types.  Actually,  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  "theater  atmosphere" 
before  the  show  by  means  of  music  is 
a  mighty  important  aspect  of  the  prob- 
lem of  keeping  theater  business  alive. 

Every  projectionist,  like  anyone  else, 
has  his  personal  preferences  in  music. 
But  the  true  showman  keeps  in  mind  the 
fact  that  a  specific  type  of  patron  is  at- 
tracted, as  a  rule,  to  a  specific  type  of 
feature  film.  Persons  who  attend  the 
theater  to  enjoy  historical  dramas  and 
sophisticated  drawing-room  comedies  are 
usually  not  the  same  people  who  crowd 
the  theater  to  have  a  good  time  watching 
westerns,  exciting  action  melodramas, 
and  war  films.  There  are  children's  pic- 
tures, women's  pictures,  and  men's  pic- 
tures. Slapstick  comedies  are  enjoyed 
principally  by  persons  of  very  low  and 
very  high  intelligence;  while  in-between 
people  derive  the  most  enjoyment  from 
light  drama  and  "family-type"  films. 

Knowing  all  this,  the  projectionist 
finds  it  a  simple  matter  to  choose  the 
right  kind  of  overture  and  intermission 
music  for  each  and  every  type  of  film 
program.  He  will  therefore  not  use  hill- 
billy songs  to  establish  the  atmosphere 
for  a  Bette  Davis  film,  and  he  will  not 


SAVE   CARBONS   &    COPPER! 

"PHILLIPS"  CARBON  SAVERS 

Machined   and   Handmade 


Ask  Your  THEATRE  SUPPLY  DEALER 


26 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     November  1951 


play  Katchaturian's  suites  as  a  prelude 
to  a  Roy  Rogers  opus.  The  latter  re- 
quires Western  music;  the  former  emo- 
tional, or  dramatic,  music. 

Non-Sync  Reproduction 

It  is  always  a  good  idea  to  listen  to 
the  non-sync  reproduction  from  the  audi- 
torium once  in  a  while  as  a  check  on 
sound  quality.  Poor  frequency  response 
— too  "boomy"  or  too  shrill  and 
"scratchy" — may  be  remedied  by  correct 
impedance  matching  of  the  phonograph 
pickup  to  the  first  stage  of  amplification. 

Phonograph  needles  —  even  those 
which  are  guaranteed  to  be  "permanent" 
— must  be  renewed  from  time  to  time. 
And  crystal  pickup  cartridges  require 
replacement  when  they  get  weak  and 
sound  "thin"  or  "mushy."  Excessive 
heat  utterly  ruins  a  crystal  pickup;  but 
even  if  properly  cared  for  they  seldom 
last  longer  than  4  or  5  years.  Only  the 
superior  condenser-type  pickup  lasts 
practically  forever;  but  these  pickups  re- 
quire a  special  hookup  and  a  pre-ampli- 
fier,  like  a  condenser  microphone  or  a 
photoelectric  cell.  Magnetic  pickups  are 
passe  and  rough  on  records  because  they 
are  so  heavy. 

[TO  BE  CONTINUED] 

FILM  RESEARCH  COUNCIL 

{Continued  from  page  12) 

of  obtaining  a  directional  screen  which 
will  permit  of  camera  movement  and  yet 
offer  a  light  gain  of  four  or  five  times 
that  presently  available  with  the  nondi- 
rectional  screens. 

Traveling  matte  composite  photog- 
raphy presents  many  difficult  problems. 
Presently,  it  is  used  in  the  industry  only 
where  there  is  no  other  way  of  making 
the  required  picture.  This  is  true  because 
the  process  is  slow,  expensive  and  it  is 
difficult  for  many  people  to  understand 
and  appreciate  the  results  which  can  be 
obtained. 

The  Research  Council,  in  undertak- 
ing an  investigation  of  this  process,  ex- 
pects, therefore,  to  work  toward  a  system 
which  will  overcome  all  three  of  these 
objections.  It  is  hoped  to  develop  a  sys- 
tem which  will  be  fast  and  inexpensive 
and  will  permit  the  director,  cameraman 
and  others  concerned  to  see  the  compos- 
ite result  at  the  time  the  foreground  is 
being  photographed.  This,  of  course,  can 
be  true  only  if  the  background  material 
is  already  available  on  a  motion  picture 
film.  That's  a  rather  ambitious  under- 
taking because  it  involves  problems  of 
optics,  photographic  materials,  lighting 
and  electronics.  Preliminary  studies, 
however,  lead  to  the  belief  that  these 
highly  desirable  results  can  be  achieved 

The    expected    improvements    in    this 


rather  old  form  of  composite  photog- 
raphy appear  possible  because  of  im- 
provements which  have  been  made  in 
photographic  film  base,  emulsions  and 
electronic  developments. 

Projected  Still  Backgrounds 

The  use  of  projected  still  backgrounds 
has  long  been  quite  a  problem,  particu- 
larly where  color  is  involved,  much  of 
the  difficulty  arising  from  the  instability 
of  the  colors  under  the  high  temperature 
and  ultraviolet  light  conditions  which 
prevail.  A  further  difficulty  has  been  the 
problem  of  matching  the  foreground  and 


background  colors,  since  the  foreground 
is  an  original  and  the  background  is  a 
dupe. 

These  difficulties  were  demonstrated 
with  a  frame  of  a  35-mm  color  print 
|  which  accompanied  this  paper  but  can- 
not be  reproduced  in  color  herein]  in 
which  the  lower  left-hand  quadrant  is  a 
direct  photograph  of  a  color  chart,  and 
the  other  three  quadrants  are  occupied 
by  projected  reproductions  of  the  same 
color  chart.  Two  of  these  are  still  projec- 
tions and  the  third  is  a  motion  picture 
projection. 

While  none  of  these  match  the  original. 


Theatre  TV 


-RCA  SERVICE 
has  both 


Only  from  RCA  Service  do  you 
get  the  experience  that  comes  from 
installing  and  maintaining  more 
theatre  TV  systems  than  any  other 
service  organization — anywhere. 
Only  from  RCA  Service  do  you  get 
specialists  trained  in  the  television 
laboratories  and  factories  of  the 
pioneer  in  theatre  TV. 


Survey  and  help  solve  the  special 
TV  application  problems  relating 
to  your  theatre. 

Supervise  the  installation,  adjust- 
ment and  testing  of  all  video  equip- 
ment,   coaxial  lines   and   antennas. 

Give  instruction  and  technical  advice 
to  your  projection  personnel  in  the 
efficient  operation  of  the  equipment. 


4 


4  ways  RCA  SERVICE  can  help  you 

1 
2 
3 


Make  periodic  inspection  checkups 
.  .  .  furnish  replacement  parts  and 
tubes  .  .  .  supply  emergency  service 
— to  forestall  trouble,  extend  equip- 
ment life,  keep  repair  costs  down. 


It  costs  so  little  to  protect  so  much 


And  nowhere  else  do 
you  get  such  specialized 
theatre  TV  service. 
Write  for  complete  in- 
formation. 


RCA  SERVICE  COMPANY,  INC. 

A  RADIO  CORPORATION  of  AMERICA  SUBSIDIARY 
CAMDEN,  NEW  JERSEY 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     November  1951 


27 


it  is  noted  that  the  difficulty  is  principally 
in  the  red  end  of  the  spectrum.  This  is 
indeed  fortunate  since  still  background 
scenes  rarely  contain  any  significant  red. 
Colors  in  such  scenes  are  predominantly 
blue  and  green,  where  the  comparison 
is  not  so  odious.  Nevertheless,  this  is  not 
a  satisfactory  situation  and  it  is  hoped 
that  new  color  films  which  will  shortly 
be  on  the  market  will  correct  or  at  least 
improve  this  situation. 

Although  a  picture  is  photographed  on 
a  two-dimensional  medium  (the  film  it- 
self) and  projected  on  another  two-di- 
mensional medium   (the  theater  screen), 


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uses  stubs  of  all  lengths  without  any  preparation. 
It's  no  longer  necessary  to  guess  whether  or  not  a 
carbon  stub  will  burn  a  full  reel.  No  matter  how 
short  it  may  be,  simply  insert  in  the  holder.  When 
it  is  entirely  consumed,  the  new  carbon  goes  into 
use  without  losing  the  light.  It  in  no  way  interferes 
with  the  regular  operation  of  the  lamp. 
Adaptable  to  Ashcraft  "D",  Brenkert-Enarc,  Peer- 
less Magnarc  and  Strong  Mogul  lamps.  Only  $52.50. 

PAYS  FOR  ITSELF  3  TIMES  A  YEAR! 
Burns  positive  carbon  stubs,  which  usually  average 
314"  in  length,  down  to  a  constant  length  of  %", 
to  result  in  a  net  saving  of  2V2"  per  carbon  or 
22.2%  of  the  cost  of  the  carbon,  which  for  the 
average  theatre  actually  amounts  to  $150.00  pet 
month  .  .  .  every  month ! 

If  your  dealer  cannot  supply  you,  order  direct. 
Dealer  Inquiries  Invited 


!  PAYNE  PRODUCTS  CO.  (Cron-O-Matic  Division)  J 

J2454   W.    Stadium    Blvd.  Ann   Arbor,   Mich.    J 

j  (  )  Please  send  literature  on  the  Cron-O-Matic  J 
I  (  )  Please  ship  Cron-O-Matic  Carbon  Saver  , 
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the  industry  ha6  always  wanted  a  picture 
in  three  dimensions. 

Three-Dimensional  Films 

There  have  been  a  number  of  papers 
presented  with  demonstrations  of  sys- 
tems which  permit  of  all  three  dimen- 
sions. Some  of  these  have  employed  po- 
larized light  and  others  have  obtained 
their  separation  by  color,  and  similar 
procedures,  but  in  every  case  they  re- 
quire the  use  of  some  kind  of  crutch  by 
each  individual  in  the  audience,  or  they 
restrict  the  viewer's  position  and  motion 
of  his  head  in  a  most  unnatural  way.  So 
far  the  industry  has  been  unwilling  to 
make  any  commercial  use  of  any  of  these 
systems,  except  on  a  novelty  basis. 

The  Research  Council  is  constantly  re- 
ceiving proposals  from  inventors  all  over 
the  world  for  systems  to  permit  three- 
dimensional  motion  pictures.  So  far  none 
of  these  systems  appears  practical.  Nev- 
ertheless, each  one  is  carefully  consid- 
ered and  investigated  if  that  seems  nec- 
essary. 

The  Research  Council  activity  in  con- 
nection with  color  is  largely  confined  to 
reporting  to  our  member  companies  on 
various  color  systems  as  they  are  an- 
nounced and  studying  problems  of  test 
and  control  for  color  systems  which  seem 
likely  to  receive  commercial  usage.  We 
are  consequently  interested  in  color 
densitometers,  color  charts,  printing  ma- 
chines and  similar  devices. 

In  the  field  of  magnetic  recording  and 
in  the  older  art  of  photographic  record- 
ing, the  Research  Council  has  not  been 
particularly  active  because  both  the  stu- 
dios and  their  suppliers  are  actively  at 
work  on  these  problems.  An  analysis  of 
the  economic  problems  which  needed 
consideration    in    connection    with   mag- 


USE  ETHYLOID  DOUBLE 
ACTION  FILM  CEMENT 
AND  YOU  USE  THE  BEST 

Made   in    U.   S.   A.    by 

Fisher    Mfg.    Co.  V  Salter   PI. 

Manufacturing   Chemists 

Rochester   13,    N.    Y. 


netic  recording  was  prepared,  however, 
because  the  differences  in  operating  prac- 
tices and  requirements  throughout  the 
industry  were  creating  false  impressions 
which  needed  correction. 

Television  Developments 

Television  presents  another  situation 
where  the  Research  Council  can  only 
hope  to  keep  abreast  of  that  fast-chang- 
ing art  so  that  its  member  companies 
may  be  advised  when  television  systems, 
equipment  or  techniques  reach  the  place 
where  they  can  be  profitably  applied  to 
the  production  of  motion  pictures.  In 
other  words,  the  Council  is  not  concerned 
with   television   as   a   medium   of  home 


You  Can't  Buy 

I  A  GOOD 


Recti  fie  r 
for    Less! 


.  Strong  Rectifiers  are 

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market  which  are  espe- 
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tured and  tested  in  one  plant  together 
with  and  for  use  with  motion  picture  pro- 
jection arc  lamps.  This  is  highly  important,  as 
efficient  operation  of  each  type  and  rating  of  arc 
necessitates  a  rectifier  specifically  engineered  to  its 
particular  requirements. 
There  is  a  dependable  Strong  Rectifier  for  every  type 
projection  lamp:  2-Tube  •  4-Tube  •  6-Tube  •  Single 
and  Three  Phase  Models  for 

•  Rotating  Feed  Angular  Trim  High  Intensity 

•  Copper  Coated  Coaxial  High  Intensity 
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temperature,  and  flexibility  in  control. 


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SPOTLIGHTS    •    RECTIFIERS    •    REFLECTORS 


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For  all  projectors  and  sound  equipments 

All  take-ups  wind  film  on  2,  4  and  5  inch  hub  reel*. 
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THE  CLAYTON  REWINDER 

For  perfect  rewinding  on  2000-foot  reels. 

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28 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     November  1951 


entertainment.  It  is  concerned  with  it  as 
a  medium  of  theater  entertainment  and 
as  a  means  of  producing  motion  pictures. 

There  is  oftentimes  some  confusion  re- 
garding the  relationship  of  the  Motion 
Picture  Research  Council  to  the  Society 
of  Motion  Picture  and  Television  Engi- 
neers. This  misunderstanding  usually 
arises  from  matters  having  to  do  with 
either  standards  activities  or  test  films. 

The  Research  Council  works  very 
closely  with  the  Society  on  all  problems 
of  standardization  within  the  motion  pic- 
ture industry,  but  as  a  member  body  of 
the  American  Standards  Association  the 
Research  Council  also  acts  directly  on 
such  problems.  The  Society  and  the  Re- 
search Council  work  very  closely  together 
in  the  test-film  field,  each  accepting 
orders  for  test  films  made  by  the  other. 
Test  films  are  looked  upon  as  a  service 
to  the  exhibition  end  of  the  industry 
which  has  been  undertaken  to  insure 
satisfactory  presentation  of  the  studio 
product  in  the  theater. 


THE  ELUSIVE  SCREEN  LUMEN 

(Continued  from  page  8) 

to  raise  the  visible  ray  transmission  to  the 
screen)  to  equal  that  of  a  silvered  glass 
reflector  at  70-amperes  (16,000  total 
screen  lumens) .  By  so  doing  we  will  have 
also  increased  the  heat  ray  (infrared) 
transmission  by  20%  above  that  of  a 
70-ampere  arc  using  a  silvered  glass  re- 
flector, thereby  raising  the  light  heat  far 
above  the  safe  heat  level  that  film  can 
stand. 

Film  Damage,  Higher  Cost 

The  net  result  of  the  foregoing  hypo- 
thetical case  is  that  though  we  have  not 
increased  the  total  amount  of  visible  light 
(16,000  total  screen  lumens)  that  a  glass 
reflector  can  produce  at  70-amperes,  we 
have,  in  addition  to  making  film  heat  dam- 
age inevitable,  increased  the  70-ampere 
current  and  carbon  operating  costs  about 
50%. 

Thus,  it  is  perfectly  clear  that  without 
some  means  of  light-heat  protection  being 
afforded  to  the  film,  the  mere  use  of  a 
certain  type  or  size  of  carbon  combina- 
tion, having  a  claimed  high  maximum 
screen  lumen  output,  at  a  certain  amper- 
age, in  a  lamp  having  a  particular  diam- 
eter reflector  and  certain  high  F  light 
beam  speed,  is  absolutely  no  guarantee 
that    a    higher    level    than    16,000    total 


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visible  screen  lumens  will  be  obtained 
therefrom,  because  were  it  actually  pos- 
sible, film  damage  would  positively  follow. 
We  feel  strongly  that  a  sales  organi- 
zation or  manufacturer  who  claims  or  in- 
tentionally creates  the  impression  that 
levels  of  screen  illumination  of  from 
18,000  to  26,000  total  screen  lumens  are 
possible,  and  at  the  same  time  intention- 
ally avoids  mentioning  any  light  reduc- 
tions because  of  the  absolute  need  of 
light-heat  protection  for  the  film,  or  who 
gives    the   wholly    erroneous    impression 


that  such  supplementary  protective  means 
are  not  necessary,  should  be  forced  to 
prove  his  contention. 

Such  proof  might  take  the  form  of  (1) 
a  guarantee  that  such  high  total  screen 
lumens  could  and  would  be  continuously 
maintained,  and  (2)  guarantee  payment 
to  the  purchaser  for  all  film  damaged  by 
such  an  operation. 

Comparative  Summary  of  Systems 

Heat-Absorption  Glass:  Original  cost 
is  exceedingly  low  as  compared  with  any 
other.  No  high  installation  cost.  Upkeep 


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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     November  1951 


29 


and  operational  cost  is  practically  noth- 
ing by  comparison  with  other  systems. 
It  offers  a  selective  cooling  feature  which 
permits  only  the  required  degree  of  cool- 
ing as  is  needed  to  prevent  heat  damage 
to  the  film.  Positively  and  definitely 
effective. 

Heat-Reflection  (Dichroic)  :  At  the 
present  not  as  efficient  and  not  suffi- 
ciently developed  for  a  fair  comparison 
with  other  systems. 

Mechanism  Water-Cooling:  Completely- 
ineffective  as  a  means  to  reduce  the  ther- 
mal  impact    (light    heat)    of   the    light 
striking  the  film. 
High-Velocity  Aperture  Air  Jet:    As 
presently  applied  to  regulation  projec- 
tion service,  it  can  not  be  expected  to 
function  as  a  definite  method  of  afford- 
ing absolute  light-heat  protection  to  the 
film. 
An  elementary  example  conclusively  il- 
lustrating the  ineffectiveness  of  air-stream 
systems  to  reduce  the  thermal  impact  of 
the  light  upon  the  film  is  the  fact  that, 
though  the  winter  sun's  rays  pass  through 
untold  miles  of  sub-zero  space  and  winds, 
yet  when  they  are  stopped  here  on  earth, 
they    still    contain    their    proportionate 
amount  of  thermal  content    (heat)    and 
radiant  energy   (visible  light). 

This  proves  a  basic  tenet  of  physics, 
that  the  mere  passing  of  a  high-velocity 
air  stream  through  any  beam  of  light  will 
in  no  way  alter  the  originally  generated 
proportions  of  its  thermal  energy  (heat) 
to  its  visible  radiant  energy  (light). 
Hence,  such  systems  can  only  be  expected 
to  dissipate  accumulated  heat  after  it 
has  been  absorbed  and  built  up  in  the 
film. 

It  is  difficult,  therefore,  to  justify  its 
high  initial  cost,  high  installation  cost, 
high  operational  and  maintenance  ex- 
pense as  compared  with  that  of  the  heat- 
absorbing  glass  system. 

Where  Do  We  Go  From  Here? 

As  has  been  clearly  shown,  our  indus- 
try now  has  projector  arclamps — 8-mm 
copper-coated  carbons  at  70  amperes — 
which  produce  all  of  the  light  that  film 
can  stand  (up  to  16,000  total  screen 
lumens)  without  the  use  of  heat-filtering 
devices.  Also,  we  have  lamps — 13-mm 
carbons  at  180  amperes — that  produce  a 
sufficiently  higher  volume  of  light  (to 
26,000  total  screen  lumens)  so  that  a 
major  increase  in  screen  illumination  is 
possible  with  heat-filtering  devices. 

Of  the  utmost  pertinency  at  this  point 
is  the  fact  that  due  to  the  mechanics  of 
present-day  projectors,  their  optics  and 
accepted  projection  practice,  only  from 
20  to  35%  of  the  total  visible  light  pro- 
duced by  any  type  of  35-mm  arclamp  ever 
reaches  the  screen.  The  normal  light 
waste,  therefore,  is  inversely  from  186 
to  400%. 

It's  an  astounding  fact,  but  we  waste 


from  three  to  four  times  more  light  than 
we  actually  use  for  projection  to  the 
screen ! 

Thus,  we  already  have  one  lamp  pro- 
ducing all  the  light  (heat)  that  film  can 
tolerate,  and  another  that  produces  almost 
100%  more  light  (heat)  than  film  can 
tolerate,  and  we  have  the  situation  of  a 
tremendous  light  loss  as  a  result  of  pro- 
jector construction  and  projection  prac- 
tice. In  the  face  of  these  facts,  it  is  per- 
tinent to  ask  just  where  the  so-called 
intermediate  type  of  lamps-  -9-mm  car- 
bons at  85  amperes — fit  into  the  picture. 
What  advantage  do  they  offer  except  high 
first  cost  and  continuing  higher  opera- 
tional and  maintenance  cost? 

New  Carbons,  Lamps  No  Answer 

Just  how  can  new  carbon  combinations, 
requiring  higher  amperage,  voltage  and 
new  lamps,  be  expected  to  provide  higher 
screen  illumination  if  they  do  not  exceed 
by  a  worthwhile  margin  the  high  levels  of 
total  light  that  we  now  can  produce? 

It  seems  to  us  that  the  logical  solution 
to  the  problem  of  obtaining  higher  screen 
illumination  levels  lies  primarily  in  sal- 
vaging some  of  the  vast  amount  of  light 
we  now  waste,  through  the  adoption  of 
more  efficient  optics,  revolving  shutter 
arrangements  and  intermittents.  After  all. 
it  makes  small  difference  if  in  ruining 
film  we  do  it.  by  warping  and  blistering  it 
by  heat  or  by  accelerating  the  rate  of 
sprocket  hole  wear. 

Another  question:  who  should  deter- 
mine just  how  much  more  visible  light 
and  light-heat  can  be  tolerated  by  nitrate, 
acetate  or  any  other  type  of  film  stock? 


Where  do  we  go  from  here  for  higher 
screen  illumination?  Well,  in  the  face  of 
all  the  aforementioned  facts,  we  are  cer- 
tain that  the  answer  will  not  be  found  in 
new  carbon  combinations  requiring  new 
lamps  and  new  power  supply  units.  This 
course  will  only  result  in  higher  initial 
and  operating  costs  for  the  exhibitor,  and 
for  the  manufacturer  the  extra  burden  of 
tooling  for  and  producing  such  equip- 
ment. 

It's  all  right  to  dream,  but  we  have  to 
wake  up  before  we  can  make  our  dreams 
come  true. 

New  Film  Prints  From  Old 

Making  new  prints  from  shrunken, 
older  motion  picture  films  will  be  less 
of  a  problem  through  use  of  a  new  vari- 
able-pitch sprocket  developed  by  Kodak. 
J.  G.  Streiffert,  Kodak  scientist,  reported 
on  the  new  sprocket  at  the  recent  SMPTE 
convention. 

The  device  has  a  unique  sprocket  tooth 
whose  driving  face  is  a  plane  lying  on  a 
radius  of  the  sprocket.  This  is  used  to 
improve  longitudinal  registration  of  the 
film  over  that  obtained  with  convention- 
ally-shaped, curved-profile  teeth.  The 
sprocket,  with  a  supporting  drum,  ac- 
commodates shrinkage  through  varying 
pitch.  Streiffert  reported  that  flutter  in 
sound  prints  and  steadiness  in  picture 
prints  made  on  a  sprocket  of  this  type 
in  a  16-mm  printer  were  found  to  be  sub- 
stantially independent  of  film  shrinkage 
and  markedly  better  than  in  prints  made 
on  conventional  printers. 


How  Many? 


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many  men  read  it  ahead  of  you? 

You  would  receive  a  clean,  fresh  copy  if  you  had  a 
personal  subscription — and  you  wouldn't  have  to 
wait — you  would  be  first  to  read  it. 

Use  coupon  below. 


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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     November  1951 


JW/'")//-/  UL  Sada,  Ohm,  f 


This  particular 

Santa— the  one 
you  see  on  the 

Christmas  Seals— 
is  a  very  healthy  forty-five ! 

Yes,  this  is  the  45th  annual 
Christmas  Seal  Sale— a  holiday 
custom  that  has  made  possible  one 
of  the  great  social,  economic, 
and  medical  achievements  of  the  present  century. 

Your  purchase  of  Christmas  Seals  has  helped  save 
5,000,000  lives.  Yet,  tuberculosis  kills  more  people 
than  all  other  infectious  diseases  combined. 

So,  please  answer  once  again  the  call  that  comes  but 

once  a  year— and  help  make  possible  the  campaign 
against  tuberculosis  every  day  of  the  year. 


Because  of  the  impor- 
tance of  the  above 
message,  this  space  has 
been  contributed  by 


^uw Ciovutmad.  &a& ! 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


MOVIETIME 
U.S.A. 


PROJECTION  and 
SOUND  SYSTEMS 


BETTER  PICTURES 

VESIRVE 

BETTER  PROJECTION 


Your  patrons  deserve  only  the  finest!  And  there  is 
none  finer,  none  more  reliable  than  the  SIMPLEX  X-L! 
For  the  makers  of  SIMPLEX  projection  and  sound 
systems  have  behind  them  the  vital  know-how  needed 
to  produce  the  best! 

£      Forty  years  of  faith  in  the  motion  picture 

industry. 
%     Forty  years   of  advanced   design 

experience. 
9     Forty  years  of  constant  development  and 

improvement. 
0     Forty  years  of  proven  dependability  and 

proven  performance  in  motion  picture 

theatres  all  over  the  world. 

Give  your  patrons  the  finest— give  them  SIMPLEX  X-L 
projection. 


MANUFACTURED  BY  INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTOR  CORPORATION    •     DISTRIBUTED  BY  NATIONAL  THEATRE  SUPPLY 


u 


332930 


fflP 


\&jiA  ^ 


Vf 


1 


% 


• T  "*r*v 


;vv; 


DECEMBER 


1951 


VOLUME   26 


NUMBER   12 


30c  A   COPY    •    S2.50  A  YEAR 


IUY  CHRISTMAS  SEALS 
-FIGHT  TUBERCULOSIS 


r   *"^         MAGNA 


M^GNMC 

"The  finest  Arc  Lamps  ever  made9' 


To  you  CRAFTSMEN 


Merry  Christmas! 


and  for  the  NEW  YEAR 


Continued  Prosperity! 


J.E.McAULEY  MFG. CD 

552-554    WEST   ADAMS    STREET 
CHICAGO   6.  ILLINOIS 


ull  'AH  1951 


7 


* 


(&*& 


titt^ 


International  Alliance  of  Theatrical  Stage 
Employes  and  Moving  Picture  Machine 
Operators  of  the  United  States  and  Canada 


Affiliated  with  the  A.  F.  of  L 


RICHARD   F.   WALSH 

International 
President 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     December  195T 


d>mtttt0H  for  QUjrtfitmas 


and    (/^Jedt     Wishes    for 
j^roSperitu    and    S^ecuritu    tor    1y52 


!■ 


rom 


CHICAGO  LOCAL   UNION   NO.   110 
I.A.T.S.E.     &      M.P.M.O. 

EUGENE   J.    ATKINSON 

Business  Representative 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     December  1951 


INTERNATIONAL 

OECTIONISl 


With  Which  Is  Combined  Projection  Engineering 


HENRY  B.  SELLWOOD,  Editor 


Volume  26 


DECEMBER  1951 


Number  12 


Index  and  Monthly  Chat 5 

Projectionist's  Role  as  a  Show- 
man           7 

Robert  A.  Mitchell 

Movie  Studio  Carbon  Arc  Light- 
big     11 

Henry  B.  Sellwood 

The  Allied  Arts  &  Sciences   ...      17 
IV.  Photographic  Optics 
Bausch  &  Lomb  Optical  Co. 

The  GPL  'Simplex'  Direct-Pro- 
jection Theater  Tv  System    .  .      22 
F.  N.  Gillette 

Who  Invented  the  Movies?    .     .      27 
Gerald  Pratley 


In  the  Spotlight   28 

Harry  Sherman 

Eidophor    Theater    Tv    System: 
Some  Pertinent  Questions   ...      31 

Depth  of  Focus — Again    32 

'Fuzzy  Frames'  in   Color  Prints     33 
Robert  A.  Mitchell 

NPA  Conservation  Appeal   ...        34 

Movies  Out  of  Doghouse 35 

IA  Elections   37 

Friese-Greene  a  Legend    39 

Terry  Ramsaye 

News  Notes 

Technical  Hints 

Miscellaneous  Items 


Published  Monthly  by 
INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST  PUBLISHING  CO.,  INC. 

19  West  44  Street,  New  York  18,  N.  Y. 
Telephone:  MUrray  Hill  2-2948 

R.  A.  ENTRACHT,  Publisher 
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act  of  March  3,  1879.  Entire  contents  copyrighted  1951  by  International  Projectionist 
Publishing  Co.,  Inc.  International  Projectionist  is  not  responsible  for  personal  opinions 
appearing  in  signed  articles  in  its  columns. 

430 


MONTHLY  CHAT 


COMES  now  the  turn  of  a  year  which 
ushers  in  a  period  during  which  the 
motion  picture  industry,  and  particularly 
t lie  exhibition  end,  will  have  to  make 
decisions  which  could  well  determine 
whether  the  industry  will  continue  to 
exist  as  we  have  known  it  for  these  many 
years.  Production  and  distribution  will 
also  be  mightily  affected  by  the  turn  of 
events  within  the  next  twelve  months, 
but  their  problems  are  picayune  by  com- 
parison with  those  which  face  the  exhi- 
bition end. 

Time  was  when  this  industry  we  so 
loosely  termed  "the  picture  business' 
operated  under  one  big  tent,  so  to  speak. 
But,  alas,  no  more:  the  canvas  has  been 
rent  and  well-nigh  ripped  to  tatters  by 
many  forms  of  competition  for  the  leisure 
time  and  amusement  dollar  of  the  popu- 
lace. 

Home  television  is  rated  the  No.  1  com- 
petitor of  the  movie  theater.  But  there 
are  many  others:  straightaway  radio 
shows,  gin  rummy,  bridge,  parlor  tip- 
pling, etc..  which  have  zoomed  the  stay- 
at-home  total.  Collectively  this  is  tough 
competition,  of  course,  but  it  is  remark- 
able how  these  competitive  forces  are 
dispersed  when  a  really  good  movie  hits 
the  theater  screen. 

Admittedly  not  all  movies  released  to 
theaters  rate  an  A-l  classification. 
Neither  do  the  majority  of  radio  shows, 
despite  top  writing,  directorial  and  act- 
ing talent.  As  for  home  Tv  today,  it  is 
no  exaggeration  to  say  that  90%  of  its 
output  is  outright  trash.  Yet  home  Tv 
continues  to  hold  and  to  build  its  audi- 
ence. The  significance  of  this  fact  to  us 
is  that  the  movie  industry  is  standing 
still  technologically  and  is  doing  nothing 
to  resist  Tv's  inroads  on  its  business, 
much  less  to  regain  its  lost  customers. 

This  old  refrain  has  been  sung  in  this 
space  on  many  occasions.  But  unless 
drastic  changes  are  effected  in  the  tak- 
ing and  showing  of  motion  pictures 
within  the  next  12  months,  we  think  that 
some  75%  of  movie  theaters  will  have  so 
few  customers  as  to  make  their  operation 
not  only  unprofitable  but  prohibitive. 

What  to  do?  Why,  just  take  some  of 
these  terrifically  inflated  star  (?)  and 
executive  (?)  salaries,  plus  other  mone- 
tary folerol,  and  plough  it  back  into  the 
erection  of  a  solid  technological  founda- 
tion— as  did  the  smart  radio  and  Tv 
boys.  We  repeat:  vastly  improved  color, 
truly  stereophonic  sound  reproduction, 
and,  yes.  an  approximation  at  least  of 
three-dimensional  movies  are  available 
for  a  tithe  of  the  money  that  is  now  be- 
ing poured  down  the  drain  on  the  super- 
fluous fringe  of  the  industry. 

Failing  to  take  these  positive  steps 
forward.  1952  may  well  prove  not  a  mile- 
stone but  a  tombstone  for  a  majority  of 
movie  theaters. 

Glum  words,  these,  but  we  have  an  idea 
that,  lacking  forthright  and  vigorous  ac- 
tion, they  will  prove  to  be  prophetic — and 
with  a  vengeance. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •      December  1951 


■  ■ 


.•-.".■--. 


..■■■..    ■. .  ■.   .. 


On  movie  sefs . .  • 


BETTER 
MOVIES! 


In  movie  houses . . . 

BIGGER 
BOX  OFFICE! 


National 


T  R  ADC-MARK 


CARBON  AtlCS 


BIS  5  /»go'y 


The  "National"  carbon  arc  offers  advantages  —  in  making 
movies  in  the  studio  ...  in  projecting  movies  in  theatres  — 
that  no  other  light  source  can  match; 

•  SMALL   SOURCE   SIZE 

•  HIGH    BRIGHTNESS 

•  GREAT    POWER   FROM   ONE   UNIT 

•  WHITE    LIGHT 

•  MINIMUM    HEAT    PER   FOOT   CANDLE 

This  "Big  5"  offered  by  the  "National"  carbon  arc  means 
movies  of  highest  technical  lighting  quality.  Shadows  are 
sharp  and  dramatic.  Depth  of  focus  is  excellent.  Heat  on  the 
actors  is  at  a  minimum.  And,  when  you  use  the  "National" 
carbon  arc  in  your  projection  booth,  the  picture  is  at  its  best. 
You  gain  in  quality  all  along  the  line. 

YOU  CAN'T  SKIMP  ON  STUDIO  LIGHTING 
WITHOUT  RISKING  BOX    OFFICE! 


When  you  order  studio  or  projector 
carbons  — order  ^National"! 


The  term  "National"  is  a  registered  trade-mark  of 
Union  Carbide  and  Carbon  Corporation 

NATIONAL  CARBON   COMPANY 

A  Division  of  Union  Carbide  and  Carbon  Corporation 
30  East  42nd  Street,  New  York  1 7,  N.  Y. 

District  Sales  Offices:  Atlanta,  Chicago,  Dallas, 
Kansas  City,  New  York,  Pittsburgh,  San  Francisco 

IN  CANADA:    National  Carbon  Lim'ted 

Montreal,  Toronto,  Winnipeg 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


December  1951 


VOLUME  XXVI 


DECEMBER  1951 


NUMBER  12 


Projectionists  Role  as  a  Showman 


MOST  theaters  have  footlights  and 
two  curtains — grand  drape  and 
title  curtain — which  can  be  con- 
trolled from  the  projection  room.  When 
the  footlights  are  split  up  into  two  or 
more  separate  circuits,  each  circuit  con- 
trolling bulbs  of  one  color,  a  real  oppor- 
tunity is  provided  for  "dressing  up"  the 
openings.  If  the  stage  is  also  equipped 
with  overhead  striplights  operated  from 
dimmers,  the  projectionist  can  "go  to 
town"  with  openings  and  intermissions. 
Facilities  for  controlling  auditorium 
and  stage  lighting  vary.  The  worst  pos- 
sible setup,  from  the  standpoint  of  show- 
manship, is  the  theater  which  lacks  cur- 
tains, footlights,  and  a  dimmer  for  the 
houselights:  the  projectionist  must  start 
the  show  "with  a  bang,"  flashing  the 
picture  on  the  bare  screen  at  the  same 
instant  the  houselights  are  turned  off — 
the  nickelodeon-style  opening.  With  more 
elaborate  arrangements,  the  projection- 
ist must  have  his  routine  worked  out  to 
avoid  a  clumsy  opening. 

For  an  Effective  Opening 

The  projectionist  should  study  the 
situation  carefully  and  "dream  up"  an 
effective  opening.  A  bit  of  experimenting 
will  pay  rich  dividends.  In  general,  the 
routine  is  as  follows  in  a  theater 
equipped  with  non-sync,  two  curtains, 
footlights,  and  houselights  dimmer: 

1.  Non-sync  playing  music  appropriate 
to  the  screen  attraction.  Both  curtains 
closed,  houselights  and  footlights  on. 

2.  Film  in  the  "first"  projector  run 
down  a  few  inches  past  the  "3"  frame 
of  the  leader.  Changeover  shutter  open, 
sound  fader  off,  or  switched  over  to  the 
"second"  projector. 

3.  Sound  amplifier  will  be  operating,  of 


By  ROBERT  A.  MITCHELL 

Second  in  a  series  of  articles  which 
detail  helpful  technical  hints  anent 
the  preparation  for  and  projection  of 
a  good  theater  motion  picture  show. 

course;  but  if  there  is  no  non-sync,  the 
amplifier  will  be  turned  on  a  few 
minutes  before   the  opening. 

4.  Arc  generator  or  rectifier  turned  on 
about  4  minutes  before  the  opening. 
Arc  of  "first"  projector  struck  and 
allowed  to  "burn  in"  for  3  minutes  if 
low-intensity,  1  minute  if  high-intensity, 
before  starting  time. 

5.  Starting  time.  The  grand  drape  is 
now  opened,  and  the  houselights  are 
slowly  dimmed  and  extinguished.  (The 
auditorium  is  not  in  darkness,  for  the 
footlights  gleam  on  the  title  curtain, 
focusing  attention  upon  the  stage.) 

6.  Projector  started,  lamphouse  douser 
opened  to  flash  the  title  on  the  curtain. 

7.  Immediately  the  title  curtain  is 
opened,  sound  faded  from  non-sync  to 
projector,  and  footlights  turned  off. 
The  show  is  now  underway. 

Variations  of  Procedure 

A  number  of  variations  of  this  7-step 
procedure  will  at  once  suggest  them- 
selves. For  example,  in  some  theaters 
the  arrangement  of  sound  faders  may 
make  it  desirable  to  turn  off  the  foot- 
lights before  changing  from  non-sync  to 
sound-on-film.  In  other  theaters,  it  may 
be  best  to  have  the  fader  set  to  the  in- 
coming projector — it  depends  entirely 
upon  local  conditions  and  the  way  the 
sound  wiring  is  hooked  up. 


Clumsy  hookups  outnumber  the  con- 
venient ones,  thus  requiring  quite  a  bit 
of  hopping  around  by  the  projectionist. 
Intolerably  clumsy  hookups  should  be 
corrected,  even  if  local  electricians  and 
the  sound  serviceman  have  to  be  called 
in  to  advise  and  assist  with  the  changes. 

Also,  the  places  in  the  aforementioned 
procedure  where  speed  is  advisable  will 
be  apparent.  Overall,  however,  the  proc- 
ess is  a  leisurely  one,  but  with  no  stand- 
still at  any  time.  Something  must  be 
"happening"  all  the  time — a  curtain 
opening,  or  lights  dimming,  etc.  For 
this  reason,  the  incoming  projector 
should  be  started  up  when  the  grand 
drape  is  about  halfway  open.  By  the 
time  it  has  opened  nearly  all  the  way, 
the  picture  may  be  flashed  onto  the  title 
curtain  by  opening  the  lamphouse  douser.' 

On  the  other  hand,  to  open  both  cur- 
tains, flash  the  picture  on,  and  turn  off 
all  lights  simultaneously  is  too  hurried  a 
technique  to  be  good  showmanship.  If 
you  have  all  the  facilities  for  an  im- 
pressive opening,  get  the  most  good  out 
of  them. 

Although  real  showmanship  avoids 
unnecessary  flourishes,  the  addition  of  a 
colored  spotlight  effect  on  the  curtains 
sometimes  helps  when  there  is  only  one 
footlight  circuit,  or  no  footlights  at  all- 
After  a  definitely  pleasing  opening  rou- 
tine has  been  worked  out,  it  should  be 
rehearsed  until  it  can  be  performed 
perfectly. 

Projection  of  Titles,  Credits 

Much  debated  is  the  running  of  all 
the  "titles"  of  a  film — credit  captions 
included — on  the  title  curtain,  not  open- 
ing this  curtain  until  the  first  scene  of 
the    picture    appears.    Some    projection- 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     December  J951 


ists  believe  that  this  practice  contributes 
additional  "dress"  to  the  performance; 
others  hold  that  audiences  prefer  to  see 
the  titles  on  the  screen  instead  of  word- 
ing more  or  less  garbled  by  the  folds 
and  colored  designs  of  a  curtain.  A  some- 
what similar  matter  of  debate  is  color- 
flooding  the  titles  of  each  new  subject 
by  means  of  colored  footlights,  strip- 
lights,  etc. 

Extreme  points  of  view  are  advocated 
by  the  "fundamentalists"  and  the 
"esthetes"  of  the  projection  brother- 
hood. The  former  would  dispense  with 
all  frills,  once  a  show  is  in  progress,  and 
make  changeovers  from  subject  to  sub- 
ject without  using  the  title  curtain  or 
any  lighting  effects;  they  prefer  to  avoid 
all  "fancy  tricks"  and  run  their  shows 
straight.  The  esthetes,  on  the  other 
hand,  are  the  poets  of  the  craft.  They 
never  miss  an  opportunity  to  "shoot  the 
works,"  even  to  the  extent  of  momen- 
tarily shutting  down  the  projectors  be- 
tween film-subjects  while  curtains  open 
and  close  to  the  accompaniment  of  vari- 
colored lights. 

There  is  something  to  be  said  for  both 
viewpoints.  Each  has  its  advantages  and 
disadvantages.  This  suggests  a  middle 
path  to  be  followed  in  the  average 
theater,  a  path  which  permits  consider- 
able flexibility  of  presentation  technique. 

Middle  Course  Advocated 

For  the  average  theater  the  "straight 
run"  is  too  "commercial"  and  imper- 
sonal; while  overly  complicated  bedaz- 
zlements  inserted  in  the  show  are  likely 
to  exhaust  the  patience  of  suburban  au- 
diences and  cause  steady  patrons  to  poke 
fun  at  the  bombastic  goings-on.  A  happy 
medium  must  be  found;  and  the  safest 
rule  that  the  writer  can  think  of  is  this : 

Any  presentation  technique  which  ir- 
ritates and  annoys  the  "kids"  who  at- 
tend a  particular  theater  is  somewhat  too 
complex  to  be  suitable  for  that  theater. 
A  child's  intuitive  tastes  are  far  superior 
to  an  adult's  acquired  tastes.  And  a  kid 
offers  his  opinions  freely  and  frankly. 

The  middle  path  would  therefore  ap- 
pear to  consist  of  an  impressive  opening 
of  the  show  and  a  minimum  of  interrup- 
tion during  its  progress.  Superfluous  in- 
terposition of  curtains  should  be  elimi- 
nated, and  color-flooding  of  titles  avoided 
for  the  most  part.  (The  titles  of  natural- 
color  films  should  never  be  color- 
flooded!)  Likewise,  decorative  lighting 
on  or  near  the  stage  should  be  reserved 
for  openings  and  intermissions  and  not 
allowed  to  distract  the  attention  of  pa- 
trons while  a  picture  is  being  shown. 

The  title  curtain,  being  made  of  light- 
colored  material,  should  be  closed  and 
immediately  opened  again  between  sub- 
jects; but  the  footlight  and  striplights 
should  not  be  used  except  on  special 
occasions  when  color-flooding  is  deemed 


desirable.  Special  color  effects  are  best 
reserved  for  the  showing  of  trailers, 
most  of  which  can  well  stand  a  little 
dressing  up  these  days  in  the  absence  of 
tinting  and  toning  thereon. 

Deficiencies  of  Trailers 

Some  of  the  trailers  we  receive  these 
days  are  unfit  for  showing  in  a  first-class 
theater.  "Open,"  "close,"  and  date  strips 
are  of  poor  quality,  carelessly  made  and 
evidently  the  product  of  innumerable  re- 
printings.  They  jump  and  rock  on  the 
screen,  are  "fuzzy"  in  image  definition, 
contain  black  or  incomplete  frames,  and 
are  not  long  enough  or  furnished  in  suffi- 
cient quantity  enable  the  projectionist 
to  abandon  splicing  parts  of  two  or  three 
of  them  together.  The  evil  of  mid-frame 
splices  is  also  directly  attributable  to  in- 
sufficient supplies  of  date-strip  films. 

Theater  managements  are  urged  to 
consider  the  use  of  "tailor-made"  film 
strips  which  are  tastefully  and  beauti- 
fully designed  and  which  include  the 
name  of  the  theater  in  the  "open"  and 
"close"  coming-attraction  strips.  A  large 
number  of  companies  specializing  in 
trailer  material  can  make  "titles"  at  low 
cost,  even  when  animated  lettering  is 
desired.  This  is  a  matter  worth  investi- 
gating, as  the  use  of  inferior  title  strips 
is  not  good  showmanship. 

Lighting  the  Stage  Show 

Stage  entertainment,  be  it  a  mere 
"cash  night"  conducted  from  the  stage  or 
an  elaborate  vaudeville  bill,  calls  for  real 
showmanship  on  the  part  of  the  projec- 
tionist if  spotlight  operation  and  manipu- 
lation of  stage  lighting  are  included  in 
his  duties.  He  should  learn  beforehand 
exactly  what  is  expected  of  him,  study 
his  cue-sheet  carefully,  and  give  consid- 
erable thought  to  producing  a  profes- 
sionally smooth  transition  from  movies 
to  stage.  Necessary  adjustments  in  the 
spotlight  should  be  made  before  the 
show,  and,  as  a  rule,  the  spotbght  ought 
to   be   set   up  for  the   first   "effect"   re- 


quired, as  regards  the  size  of  the  spot, 
the  color,  and  position  on  the  stage. 

When  the  "performance"  is  nothing 
more  complicated  than  the  manager  or 
master-of-ceremonies  appearing  on  the 
stage  to  give  an  announcement  or  to  con- 
duct an  audience-participation  program 
of  some  sort,  have  the  spot  directed  at 
the  left-hand  end  of  the  stage  where  the 
master-of-ceremonies  will  first  appear; 
then  "follow"  him  to  the  center  of  the 
stage.  This  seems  much  better  than  forc- 
ing him  to  "walk  into"  a  spot  directed 
first  to  the  center  of  the  stage. 

In  such  cases  the  spot  should  be  just 
a  little  larger  than  is  necessary  to  in- 
clude the  master-of-ceremonies'  whole 
figure.  It  should  be  remembered  that 
when  someone  appears  on  the  stage,  the 
audience  wishes  to  get  a  good  look  at 
him  from  head  to  toes.  If  he  introduces 
another  speaker,  the  spot  should  be  en- 
larged momentarily,  and  not  reduced 
until  the  new  speaker  is  alone  on  the 
stage. 

Spotlight  Colors  Important 

If  a  singer  or  instrumentalist  is  intro- 
duced, white  foot-  and  strip-bghts  should 
be  turned  on,  and  the  widened  spot 
colored  pink  or  amber,  the  latter  color 
being  preferable  when  the  performer  is 
male.  Then  when  the  performer  "goes 
into  his  act,"  the  spot  should  be  turned 
back  to  white,  reduced  in  size,  and  the 
footlights  changed  to  a  suitable  color. 
(Green  and  blue  are  colors  which  should 
be  avoided  when  using  the  spotlight  on 
a  single  person,  as  these  two  hues  dis- 
color the  complexion,  even  when  makeup 
is  used.  Special  "acts"  may  call  for  any 
color  of  spot,  however.) 

When  a  motion  picture  program  is  in 
progress  there  is  always  the  possibility, 
however  slight,  that  something  may  go 
wrong.  With  equipment  properly  main- 
tained and  prints  adequately  repaired, 
this  possibility  need  cause  no  concern; 
but  it  exists  nevertheless.  Perhaps  the 
(Continued  on  page  42) 


INTERNATIONAL    PROJECTIONIST 


txtmbz  tfl  all  \t&  ftlmbz 


ttp> 


8 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


December  1951 


* 


FROM  CENTER  TO  SIDES 


4 


with  this  exclusive 


y  t 


RCA  EVENLITE 


AT 


SCREE 


HERE'S  HOW 

These  graded  perforations  taper  from 
full  size  in  center  area  to  no  perfora- 
tions in  side  areas.  Compensate  for 
"hot-spot"  effect  of   projected  light. 


*Meefs  SMPTE  Specifica- 
tions for  sound  transmission 
for  motion  picture  screens. 


•  An  ordinary  screen  has  uniform 

perforations  across  entire  face.  Screen 

surface  is  uniform  but  projected  light 

isn't.  Result:   "hot-spot"   effect  .   .   . 

reflected  light   is  brighter  at  center  of  screen, 

less  bright  at  sides. 

RCA  Evenlite  screen  has  varying  perforations, 
tapering  from  full  size  in  center  area  to  no  per- 
forations in  side  areas.  Result:  uniform  lighting 
.  .  .  full  brightness  at  center  of  screen,  full 
brightness  at  sides. 

Here  at  last  is  a  practical  solution  to  the  screen 
light  distribution  problem  ...  a  screen  that 
actually  compensates  for  non-uniform  light  pro- 
jected from  an  arc  lamp.  At  center,  where  per- 
forations are  maximum,  hole  size  does  not  exceed 


* eight per  cent.  So  Evenlite  gives  you  as  much  light 
at  center  as  any  standard-perforation  screen.  At 
sides,  where  perforations  are  zero,  Evenlite  gives 
you  at  least  eight  per  cent  more  light,  out  on  the 
dim  edges  where  every  bit  of  light  is  needed. 
And  these  unperforated  side  areas  are  big!  On 
larger  screens,  from  50  to  75%  of  area  has  no 
perforations!  All  this  extra  screen  light,  with  no 
loss  in  sound  quality. 

Look  into  RCA  Evenlite  now.  It  costs  no  more 
than  ordinary  screens,  yet  gives  you  a  uniformity 
of  lighting  never  before  possible.  Made  of  long- 
lasting,  high-reflecting  RCA  Snowhite  Heavy- 
weight Vinyl  Plastic.  Exclusive  with  RCA.  Avail- 
able immediately  ...  so  call  your  RCA  Dealer 
for  full  details  .  .  .  today! 


"A-**************************** 

THEATRE  EQUIPMENT 

RADIO    CORPORATION  of  AMERICA 

ENGINEERING  PRODUCTS  DEPARTMENT,  CAMDEN  N.J. 

In  Canada:  RCA  VICTOR  Company  Limited,  Montreal 


— 


IT'S  REALLY 


UP  THERE 


when  it  comes  to  projecting 
/  BIG,  BRIGHT  pictures! 


PROJECTION    ARC     LAMI 


'THERE'S  A  BRANCH  NEAR  YOU' 


.    TABLE  1.  Cho 

racteristics  of  Carbon  Arc 

and  Incandescent  Tungsten 

Studio  La 

mps 

Fresnel 
Lens 

Beam  Spread 

Apparent 
Candle  Powe 

r 

Beam 

Appro  xA 
Source 

mate 
Size 

Apparent 

For 

10£  of 

For  50$  of              at   Center 

-Inches**' 

k,3B£ 

liarht  Source 
n  Arc   LanroB 

Ptenu.. 

Center 

Intensity 

Center  Intensity         of  Beam 

Lumen  8* 

Visual 

Photometric 

Carbo 

Tyne  450 
"Brute" 

225  amp.    16mm 
Carton 

24" 

Minimum 
Flood 

Spot 

12° 

48 

5°                  10,000,000 
35                      1,000,000 

117,000 
260,000 

23.5 

4.1 

13.3 
3-4 

Type  170 

150  amp.   l6mm 
Carbon 

20" 

Minimum 
Flood 

Spot 

10 
48 

4.4                 5,700,000 
42                          300,000 

47,000 
130,000 

19-5 
1.8 

9-7 
1.2 

Incan 

descent   Tungsten  Lamps 

Minimum 
Flood 

Spot 

13 
45 

8                      1,050,000 
36                          120,000 

18,000 
37.500 

13.3 
3-6 

Type   klk 
"Senior" 

5KW  ouId 

14 

8.3 
3.0 

Type  410 
"Junior" 

2EW  "bull) 

10 

Minimum 
Flood 

Spot 

12 

44 

5                          420,000 
39                            40,000 

6,900 

14,000 

9.0 
2.3 

5-7. 
2.2 

'Boundary   Intensity    10%   of  center   intensity. 

'Horizontal   dimension   as  viewed   visually  and   as  measured   photometrically  from   the   beam   through   the  Fresnel   lens. 


Movie  Studio  Carbon  Arc  Lighting 


Small  Source  Size,  High  Brightness  and  High  Unit  Power  in  Pro- 
ducing Daylight-Quality  Light  Render  it  Superior  in  Penetration 
and  Area  Coverage,  and  in  Shadow  Sharpness. 


CARBON  arcs  have  been  for  many 
years  the  dominant  studio  light 
source  for  motion  picture  photog- 
raphy. They  are  used  extensively  in  black- 
and-white  photography,  and  until  very 
recently,  at  least,  they  were  practically 
the  sole  bght  source  for  Technicolor  and 
other  35-mm  three-color  processes.  The 
widespread  industry  interest  generated 
by  Technicolor's  recent  development  of  a 
more  sensitive  negative  film  combination 
intended  for  use  with  light  of  3350  K. 
color  quality,  suggests  another  look-see 
into  the  technical  aspects  of  carbon  arc 


By  HENRY  B.  SELLWOOD 


as  contrasted  with  incandescent  ("inkie") 
lighting. 

Studio  light  sources  have  a  direct  rela- 
tion to  theater  projection  in  terms  of  the 
old  adage:  "If  picture  quality  isn't  on  the 
film,  one  can't  put  it  on  the  screen." 

Basis  for  this  discussion  are  the  arc 
and  incandescent  spotlamps  shown  in 
Table  1.  The  optical  system  used  with 
carbon  arcs  is  shown  in  Fig.  1.  The  in- 
candescent  lamp   optical    system   differs 


20  INCH  DIAMETER 
FRESNEL  LENS 


POSITIVE 
CARBON  CRATER 


FULL  FLOOD  POSITION 
MINIMUM  SPOT  POSITION 


only  in  the  addition  of  a  spherical  mirror 
positioned  behind  the  light  source  to 
gather  otherwise  lost  radiation  and  direct 
it  back  through  the  source  and  into  the 
useful  beam. 

Carbon  Arc  Optical  System 

The  carbon  arc  optical  system  affords 
a  wide  range  of  beam  spreads  from 
10-13°  at  minimum  spot  to  44-48°  at  full 
flood.  Total  lumens  in  the  beam  at  vari- 
ous beam  spreads  are  shown  in  Table  1. 
At  full  flood  the  closer  spacing  of  the  lens 
from  the  light  source  gives  a  greater 
pickup  of  light  than  at  minimum  spot. 

At  a  single  beam  spread,  the  light  in- 
tensity varies  approximately  as  the  in- 
verse square  of  the  distance  from  the 
lamp.  It  is  thus  possible  to  assign  for 
each  beam  spread  an  apparent  candle- 
power  value  which  can  be  divided  by  the 
square  of  the  distance  to  obtain  the  in- 
tensity at  any  distance.  Data  bearing  on 
this  point,  as  compiled  by  Mole-Richard- 
son Co.,*  are  given  in  Table  1.  The 
greater  concentration  of  the  beam  at  mini- 
mum spot  more  than  offsets  the  smaller 
light  collection,  and  results  in  greater 
beam  candlepower  than  at  wider  beam 
spreads. 

The  color  quality  of  the  light  source  is 
a  paramount  consideration  in  motion  pic- 
ture photography.**  This  quabty  in  a 
high-intensity  carbon  arc  makes  it  suit- 
able directly  or  with  only  minor  filtering 


FIGURE  1.    Optical  system  of  the  Type  170  lamp. 
INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     December  1951 


Arclamp    manufacturer,    Hollywood,   Calif. 

*  See  "Color  Temperature:   Origin  and  Mean- 
,"  by  W.  W.  Lozier;   IP  for  Nov.  1947,  p.  5. 


11 


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when  shooting  with  color  film  balanced 
for  daylight.  With  film  balanced  for  lower 
color  temperatures,  more  red  than  green, 
and  more  green  than  blue,  light  is  re- 
quired, thus  a  white  light  source  when 
used  with  such  film  must  have  a  substan- 
tial portion  of  its  blue  and  green  content 
removed. 

As  an  example,  with  a  black  body  at 
3350°  K.,  the  blue  content  is  exceeded 
by  the  green  content  by  about  twice,  and 
bv  the  red  content  about  three  times. 
Matching  this  radiation  with  a  white 
light  source,  or  one  with  approximately 
equal  energy  at  all  wavelengths,  requires 
filtering  of  an  order  which  will  diminish 
by  at  least  two-thirds  the  blue  content 
and  by  one-third  the  green  radiation  in- 
herent in  the  light  source.  This  filtering 
represents  a  theoretical  light  loss  of  about 
one-third. 

With  color  films  definitely  on  the  up- 
swing, the  following  summary  of  the 
present  state  of  the  art  relative  to  par- 
ticular types  of  color  film  should  prove 
of  interest. 

1.  150  Foot-Candle  Film  Balanced 
for  3350°  K. 

As  a  complementary  to  this  discussion, 
the  assumption  here  is  that  a  deep  amber 
filter  of  about  50%  foot-candle  transmis- 
sion will  serve  to  utilize  carbon  arc  light 
for  this  type  of  film.  The  type  of  gelatin 
filter  combination  now  being  used  with 
Technicolor  film  of  this  type  matches 
these  characteristics;  however,  a  much 
higher  degree  of  light  transmission  is 
quite  possible,  as  aforementioned.  Also 
directly  suitable  for  this  are  inkies  of  the 
proper  color  temperature. 

2.  300  Foot-Candle  Film  Balanced 
for  Daylight 

Present  studio  practice,  based  on  exten- 
sive tests,  indicate  that  a  light  yellow  Y-l 
filter  effecting  90%  light  transmission 
will  enable  the  use  of  carbon  arclamps 
with  this  film.  By  way  of  contrast,  incan- 
descent lamps  of  3350°  K.  color  tempera- 
ture must  utilize  deep  blue  filters  having 
only  about  a  40%  light  transmission  value. 

3.  450  Foot-Candle  Film  Balanced 
for  Daylight 

Penetrating  power,  which  makes  possi- 
ble the  projection  of  useful  light  inten- 
sities from  great  distances  with  a  single 
lamp,  has  long  been  an  outstanding  ad- 
vantage of  the  studio  carbon  arc  studio 
lighting.  Projectionists  well  understand 
that,  with  a  given  lamp  setting,  the  in- 
verse square  law  dictates  that  the  light 
decrease  rapidly  with  increasing  distance. 

Now,  it  follows  that  if  a  lamp  be  placed 
close  to  a  set  having  any  appreciable 
depth,  the  ensuing  light  intensity  will 
vary  en  route  across  the  set.  There  is 
only  one  answer  to  this  problem — a  light 
source  with  enough  penetrating  power  to 


12 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     December  1951 


permit  its  positioning  farther  away  from 
the  set  so  that  set  depth  becomes  a  smaller 
fraction  of  the  projection  throw. 

This  penetrating  power  (projection 
throw)  of  the  different  lamps  for  the 
same  photographic  effect  at  the  center  of 
the  beam  is  indicated  in  Table  2.  These 
data  show  the  distances  at  which  the 
lamps  considered,  with  proper  filtering, 
will  project  150,  300,  and  450  foot-candles 
of  light  intensity  for  the  three  types  of 
film  mentioned  previously. 

Intensities  at  Given  Throw 

Now  we  come  to  the  crux  of  this  pres- 
entation. Table  2  shows  that  with  the 
beam  spread  adjusted  for  minimum  spot, 
the  indicated  intensities  will  be  projected 
about  three  times  as  far  as  when  the  lamp 
is  set  for  full  flood.  We  see  here  that  at 
minimum  spot  the  most  powerful  carbon 
arc  will  project  the  indicated  intensities 
more  than  180  feet  for  the  150  foot-candle 
film,  and  more  than  170  feet  for  the  300 
foot-candle  film. 

By  way  of  contrast,  it  will  be  noted  the 
most  powerful  inkie  tungsten  lamp  (the 
"Senior")  is  much  lower  in  penetrating 
power  than  the  most  commonly  used  arc- 
lamp,  the  Type  170,  when  used  with  the 
3350°  K.  type  film.  Where  the  carbon  arc 
and  the  inkie  emphatically  part  company, 
to  the  distinct  advantage  of  the  former,  is 
with  the  use  of  the  300  and  the  450  foot- 
candle  daylight  film,  by  reason  of  the 
more  favorable  filter  factors.  In  this  cate- 
gory none  of  the  inkie  lamps  even  ap- 
proach the  light  output  of  any  of  the 
carbon  arcs. 

Table  2  also  shows  the  requisites  for 
coverage  of  depth  of  set — that  is,  the 
range  of  projection  distance  which  can 
be  effectively  lighted  within  plus  or 
minus  minus  20%  of  the  specified  light 
intensity  in  a  given  case.  It  is  seen  that 
the  more  powerful  carbon  arc  lamps  and 
the  small  beam  spreads  are  required  to 
achieve  this  degree  of  light  uniformity 
on  sets  deeper  than  25  feet.  It  is  always 
possible,  of  course,  to  use  a  number  of 
lesser-intensity  units  at  the  same  distance 
to  attain  the  equivalent  light  uniformity 
across  the  set;  but  this  procedure  might 
sometimes  result  in  undesirable  multiple 
shadows. 

Area  Covering  Power 

Covering  power  is  another  vitally  im- 
portant factor  in  studio  set  lighting.  This 
term  applies  to  the  area  of  a  ser  which 
can  be  lighted  to  a  given  intensity  with 
a  single  lamp,  and  may  be  defined  in 
terms  of  the  diameter  of  the  spot  over 
which  this  intensity  can  be  obtained.  The 
diameter  of  the  spot,  of  course,  is  de- 
pendent upon  the  projection  throw  and 
the  beam  spread. 

In  this  important  respect  the  carbon 
arc  exhibits  marked  superiority  over  any 
other  light  source,  because  of  the  high 


MR  TYPE  170  ARC  SPOTLAMP 
showing  24-inch  diameter  Fresnel-type  lens 
and  series  resistance  unit.  This  lamp  uses  a 
16-mm  rotating  H.  I.  studio  positive  carbon 
and  a  'i-inch  studio  negative  carbon  at 
140-180  amperes. 

lumen  content  of  the  light  beam  it  pro- 
duces. 

When  the  term  "boundary  light"  is 
used  in  motion  picture  photography,  it 
is  taken  to  mean  the  point  where  the 
projected  light  intensity  is  10%  of  that 
at  the  center  of  the  set.  However,  not  in- 
frequently more  than  10%  of  the  maxi- 
mum center  intensity  may  be  required  in 
certain  cases,  thus  Table  2  shows  cover- 
ing power  values  for  boundary  intensities 
of  50%  of  the  center  set  value. 

The  foregoing  definition  of  covering 
power  is  applicable  for  the  figures  given 
in  Table  2  for  the  lamps  and  film  condi- 
tions considered  previously.  It  is  appar- 


ent from  Table  2  that  the  carbon  arc 
lamps  at  minimum  spot  can  effectively 
cover  set  widths  ranging  from  10  to  40 
feet  on  the  basis  of  a  10%  boundary  in- 
tensity— which  coverage  is  in  sharp  con- 
trast to  that  of  inkies  which  are  limited 
to  about  one-half  of  this.  For  a  50% 
boundary  light  intensity,  the  carbon  arc 
at  minimum  spot  coverage  is  about  one- 
half  to  two-thirds  as  much  as  it  is  for  the 
10%  level. 

Full  Flood  Position  Best 

Much  greater  covering  power  is  ob- 
tainable with  the  carbon  arc  at  full  flood 
than  at  the  minimum  spot  position,  be- 
cause of  the  greater  lumen  output  at  the 
flood  position.  Also,  the  covering  powers 
of  the  50%  and  the  10%  boundary  in- 
tensities are  more  nearly  identical  at  full 
flood,  the  result  of  a  more  uniform  dis- 
tribution of  light  across  the  wider  beams. 

Set  areas  which  can  be  illuminated  to 
a  given  intensity  will  naturally  depend 
upon  the  square  of  the  corresponding 
beam  diameters  shown  in  Table  2.  It  is 
not  possible  to  specify  these  areas  even 
in  a  general  way,  since  the  angle  at 
which  the  light  beam  strikes  a  given  set 
is  dependent  upon  the  particular  effect 
desired. 

Figure  2  is  a  scale  diagram  of  data 
from  Tables  1  and  2  showing  the  pene- 
trating power,  beam  diameter  and  beam 
spread  of  the  various  carbon  arc  and 
inkie  lights.  This  graphically  portrays 
the  outstanding  ability  of  carbon  arc 
lamps  to  project  over  long  distances  and 
to  cover  large  set  areas. 

Shadow  Formation,  Structure 

The  formation  and  structure  of  shad- 
ows formed  by  a  light  source,  as  shown 
in  Fig.  3,  is  a  subject  for  unending  ex- 
ploration  by   lighting   technicians.   That 


FIGURE  2.    Scale  diagram  showing  projection  distance,  beam  spread  and  beam 
diameter  for  equivalent  photographic  effect  at  center  of  beam. 


250 


130 


120 


80 


40 


MINIMUM  SPOT  BEAM 


150 

FOOT  CANDLE 

3350°  K 


TYPE  OF  FILM 

300 

FOOT  CANDLE 

DAYLIGHT 


450 

FOOT  CANDLE 

DAYLIGHT 


150 

FOOT  CANDLE 

3350°  K 


"FLOOD  BEAM" 
TYPE  OF  FILM 

300 

FOOT  CANDLE 

DAYLIGHT 


450 

FOOT  CANDLE 

DAYLIGHT 


D-   CO 


3  1 


0  20  40  60 


0  20  40  60 
FEET 


0  20  40  60  0 


20  40  60  0  20  40 
FEET 


60   0  20  40  60 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


December  1951 


13 


LIGHT  INTENSITY 
ACROSS  SHADOW 


LIGHT 
.SOURCE 


SHADOWED, 
OBJECT 


SHADOW, 
PLANE  / 


FIGURE  3.    Showing  how  the  sharpness  of  shadows  depends  on  angle  subtended 
by  the  light  source  at  the  shadowed  object. 


degree  of  sharpness  which  is  cast  by  the 
various  lamps  is  determined  by  the 
source  size  and  is  measured  by  the  ap- 
parent angle  subtended  by  the  effective 
portion  of  the  light  source  at  the  object 
producing  the  shadow. 

As  is  evident  from  Fig.  3,  the  area 
over  which  the  shadow  varies  from  com- 
plete darkness  to  full-light  intensity  will 
be  smaller  and  the  shadow  sharper  when 
the  angular  extent  of  the  light  source 
{$)  is  as  small  as  possible. 

Characteristically,  only  a  small  por- 
tion of  the  lamp  lens  surface  is  effective 
in  illuminating  a  single  area  in  the  beam 
when  the  lamp  is  adjusted  for  wide  beam 
spreads;  but  when  the  lamp  is  set  for 
narrow  beam  spreads,  a  larger  portion 
of  the  lens  surface  becomes  luminous.  It 
follows,  therefore,  that  when  the  lamp  is 
adjusted  for  full  flood,  the  shadows  of. 
objects  placed  at  the  same  distance  from 
the  lamps  will  be  sharper  than  when  the 
lamp  is  adjusted  for  minimum  spot. 

The  effective  horizontal  dimensions  of 
the  sources  for  the  extremes  of  beam 
spread  for  each  lamp  were  measured  as 
shown  in  Table  1.  These  were  determined 
both  visually  and  by  recording  the  in- 
tensity across  the  shadow  of  an  opaque 
straight  edge.  Photometrically,  effective 
source  sizes  were  based  upon  the  width 
of  shadow  between  the  points  at  which 
the  light  intensity  was  10  and  90%  of 
the  unshadowed  intensity. 

Source  Sizes  Factor 

The  source  sizes  so  determined  were 
found  to  be  smaller  than  those  visually 
observed  (Table  1)  and  are  believed  to 
be  a  better  measure  of  shadow  sharpness. 
The  edges  of  the  luminous  spot  on  the 
lens  surface  are  not  sharply  defined,  the 
light  tapering  downward  over  a  band 
width  which  is  difficult  to  define  with  the 
eye  alone. 

Thus,  although  the  entire  area  of  the 
Fresnel  lens  appears  visually  luminous 
at  minimum  spot,  much  of  the  outer  area 
is  of  relatively  low  brightness  and  is  es- 


sentially ineffective  in  contributing  to 
shadow  formation. 

With  the  150  foot-candle  balanced  film, 
the  arc  lamps  produce  up  to  50%  sharper 
shadows  than  the  inkies  at  minimum 
spot,  and  as  much  as  three-fold  sharper 
shadows  at  45°  flood.  Because  of  heavy 
filtering  and  close  projection  distances 
necessary  to  get  required  intensities,  both 
daylight  films  result  in  pronounced 
poorer  sharpness  of  shadows  with  inkies 
(larger  source  sizes). 

Table  2,  shows  that  nil  the  carbon  arc 
lamps  at  all  conditions  produce  a  shadow 
sharpness  essentially  equivalent  to  or 
sharper  than  the  sun.  As  previously  indi- 
cated, much  sharper  shadows  are  pro- 
duced at  full  flood  than  at  minimum  spot. 
The  small  source  size  and  the  high 
brightness  of  the  carbon  arcs  enable 
them  to  produce  useful  intensities  of 
radiation  with  a  shadow  sharpness  sur- 
passing that  obtained  from  the  sun  and 
from  other  studio  lighting  sources. 


Thermopile  measurements  of  the  total 
radiant  energy  from  the  carbon  arcs  show 
that  the  unfiltered  lamps  have  a  luminous 
efficiency  of  approximately  75  to  100 
lumens  per  watt  in  the  beam.  Similar 
measurements  using  a  gelatin  filter  com- 
bination wtih  one  MT-1  and  two  Y-l  fil- 
ters resulted  in  approximately  50%  loss 
in  visual  candlepower,  but  correspond- 
ingly reduced  the  total  radiant  energy,  so 
that  there  was  only  a  10  to  20%  loss  in 
luminous  efficiency.  This  filter  combina- 
tion is  the  <^ne  presently  used  with  car- 
bon arcs  and  3350°  K.  film. 

Inkie  tungsten  lamps  used  for  studio 
lighting  are  reported  to  have  a  luminous 
efficiency  of  35-40  lumens  per  watt.  With 
or  without  the  gelatin  filter  combination 
on  the  arcs,  the  luminous  efficiency  of 
carbon  arc  lamps  is  thus  at  least  twice 
that  with  tungsten,  to  give  half  the  heat 
for  the  same  light  intensity.  This  explains 
the  much  greater  coolness  conventionally 
associated  w;th  cf>rbon  arc  light,  and  in- 
dicates that  this  advantage  is  maintained 
with  the  gelatin  filter  combinations  and 
the  new  color  films. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  carbon 
arc  lamp  approaches  the  sun  in  luminous 
efficiency  as  well  as  in  color  quality,  the 
solar  efficiency  being  approximately  100 
lumens  per  watt. 

Summarization 

The  small  source  size,  high  brightness 
and  high  unit  power  of  the  carbon  arcs 
make  possible  their  outstanding  superi- 
ority in  penetrating  power,  covering 
power  and  shadow  sharpness,  compared 
to  other  available  light  sources.  The  day- 
light quality  of  the  light  is  responsible 
for  the  coolness  of  the  radiation  and  per- 
mits ready  interchangeability  with  day- 
light in  color  photography. 


SSrWSSreiSrtSSsr^^ 


L^omtoiimentd  of  the  ^t 


eaion 


LOS   ANGELES   LOCAL   NO.   150 
I.  A.  T.  S.  E. 


!i^^^^.aa^^«i»A2J^i»CSi»ft^ 


14 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     December  1951 


Bright  in  the  corner 


wg ,    . 

-            A I 

•  The  finger  of  light  that  suddenly 

shows  the  phantom  figure  in  brief, 

bright  prominence  is  a  tribute 

to  imagination — to  the  inspired  use 

of  techniques,  equipment,  and  materials 

often  a  result  of  close  collaboration 

between  industry  technicians. 

To  help,  the  Eastman  Kodak  Compa,, 
provides  a  highly  specialized  staff 
of  motion  picture  engineers 
and  technicians  to  advise 
in  selecting  film,  help  solve 

rocessing  problems,  make  sure 
prints  and  theater  equipment 
are  right  for  efficient  projection. 


In  order  to  maintain  this  service, 

the  Eastman  Kodak  Company  operates 

branches  at  strategic  centers  . . . 

invites  inquiry  from  all  members 

of  the  industry.  Address 

Motion  Picture  Film  Department, 

Eastman  Kodak  Company, 

Rochester  4,  N,  Y.; 

East  Coast  Division, 

342  Madison  Avenue, 

New  York  17,  N.  Y.; 

Midwest  Division, 

137  North  Wabash  Avenue, 

Chicago  2,  Illinois; 

West  Coast  Division, 

6706  Santa  Monica  Blvd., 

Hollywood  38,  California. 


■ .  ■ 


/ 


Dedicated  to... 


THE  ALL-COLOR  SCREEN 


TECHNICOLOR 

IS      THE      TRADE      MARK      OF 

TECHNICOLOR  MOTION  PICTURE  CORPORATION 

HERBERT   T.    KALMUS,    PRESIDENT   AND    GENERAL    MANAGER 


The  Allied  Arts  and  Sciences 


A  vast  field  of  artistic  and  scientific  endeavor  is  directly  contributory  to  the  motion 
picture  process  and,  therefore,  to  the  practice  of  projection.  The  true  craftsman  should 
have  a  well-rounded  understanding  of  these  contributory  factors,  particularly  in  view  of 
the  imminent  widespread  utilization  of  television  and,  possibly,  stereoscopic  pictures  and 
stereophonic  sound.  This  department  will  provide  basic  information  on  the  aforementioned 
arts  and  sciences,  a  wide  variety  of  topics  being  a  primary  aim. 

IV.    Photographic  Optics  (Conclusion) 

Bausch  &  Lomb  Optical  Company,  Rochester,  New  York 


IN  THE  discussion  of  the  pinhole  cam- 
era we  were  apprised  of  the  disc  which 
takes  the  place  of  our  ideal  image  point, 
and  further  we  found  that  we  cannot  per- 
ceive a  disc  of  about  3/1000th  inch  as  a 
disc,  but  we  see  it  as  a  point.  It  was  said 
there  that  this  disc  image  permitted  pic- 
torial photography,  in  that  it  is  respon- 
sible for  depth  of  field. 

To  see  this,  consider  the  path  of  rays 
near  the  focal  point.  It  is  evident  that  a 
certain  displacement  is  possible  in  the 
focal  plane  without  exceeding  the  disc 
size.  Throughout  this  range  the  subject 
remains  substantially  in  focus,  and,  con- 
versely, objects  on  either  side  of  the  sub- 
ject focused  upon  are  in  apparent  focus. 
This  depth  in  the  object  space  is  called 
depth  of  field,  contrasting  with  the  depth 
of  focus  in  the  image  space. 

(These  two  terms  are  often  confused. 
Strictly,  the  distance  between  the  far- 
thest and  nearest  object  planes  in  accept- 
able focus  on  the  film  is  defined  as  depth 
of  field.  The  separation  between  their 
points  of  focus  near  negative  or  image 
is  the  depth  of  focus.   Fig.  27). 

The  Hyperfocal  Distance 

If  our  lens  is  focused  on  infinity,  obvi- 
ously there  will  be  a  finite  distance  rep- 
resented in  focus  on  the  screen.  This 
distance  bears  the  name  of  the  hyperfocal 
distance,  and  is  of  great  importance  in 
depth  of  field  computations. 

The  hyperfocal  distance  has  a  very 
interesting  property:  if  a  lens  is  focused 
on  the  hyperfocal  distance,  then  every- 
thing from  half  that  distance  to  infinity 
will  be  in  focus.  The  depth  of  field  is  at 
that  point  the  maximum  attainable.  The 
lenses  in  fixed  focus  cameras  are  set  for 
the  hyperfocal  distance,  for  then  the 
maximum  usefulness  will  be  attained. 
Many  movie  camera  lenses  are  also  set 
for  hyperfocal  distance. 

A  few  of  the  depth-of-field  relations 
are  easily  seen  from  a  serious  study  of 
the  diagrams.  Thus:  the  smaller  the 
stop,  the  greater  the  depth  with  a  given 
lens;   the  far  depth  is  greater  than  the 


kcth  or  FOCUS 


CWO£  Of  COWUSCH 

: —  o 


FIG.  27.    Depth  of  field  and  aperture. 

near  depth;  the  depth  decreases  with  de- 
creasing object  distance,  so  that  focusing 
is  more  critical  at  short  distances;  with 


a  given  object  distance,  the  depth  is 
greater  with  a  shorter  focal  length — for 
this  reason  miniature  cameras  show  ad- 
vantages in  depth  of  field  over  their  big- 
ger brothers. 

Supplementary  Optics 

The  use  of  supplementary  lenses  per- 
mits the  attainment  of  effects  impossible 
with  the  camera  lens  provided  by  the 
manufacturer.  A  battery  of  simple  len- 
ses, judiciously  used,  is  equivalent  to  a 
collection  of  objectives.  However,  there 
are  certain  precautions  to  observe  in  or- 
der to  derive  the  utmost  in  satisfaction 
from  these  lenses. 

Either  positive  or  negative  lenses  can 
be  used  as  supplementaries,  if  the  cam- 
era has  considerable  bellows  extension. 
If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  lenses  are  to 
be  used  with  single-extension  bellows 
cameras  or  with  fixed  focus  cameras, 
only  the  positive  lens  type  will  be  suit- 
able. 

Perhaps  the  most  generally  useful  sup- 
plementary lens  is  a  simple  positive  lens, 
for  it  can  serve  both  as  a  wide  angle  lens 
or  as  a  portrait  or  tabletop  attachment. 
These  lenses  come  in  various  powers,  3 
diopters  being  about  the  maximum  use- 
ful. (One  diopter  of  lens  power  is  pos- 
sessed by  a  lens  of  1  meter — 39.37  inches 
— focal  length;  in  general  the  power  in 
diopters  of  a  lens  is  found  by  dividing 


s. 


eudon  6 


&  Ljreetinad 


NATIONAL   CARBON    COMPANY 

A  Division  of  Union  Carbide  and  Carbon  Corporation 


NEW  YORK 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


December  1951 


17 


its  focal  length  in  meters  into  1.  For 
example,  a  2-meter  lens  has  a  power  of 
one  half  diopter,  a  500  millimeter  lens 
a  power  of  two  diopters.) 

Use  of  Two  Positive  Lenses 

When  a  positive  lens  is  used  with  an- 
other positive  lens,  the  power  of  the 
combination  is  equal  closely  to  the  sum 
of  the  individual  powers.  Thus  our  posi- 
tive supplementary  lens  increases  the 
power  of  the  camera  lens;  or,  expressed 
differently,  we  have  converted  our  cam- 
era lens  into  a  shorter  focal  length  lens. 
With  a  fixed  focus  objective  on  our 
camera,  this  means  the  possibility  of 
making  pictures  of  near  objects,  their 
distance  determined  by  the  focal  length 
of  the  combination  and  the  focal  length 
of  the  original  lens. 

If  we  have  a  camera  with  bellows,  we 
have  another  possibility — the  use  of  our 
supplementary  as  a  wide-angle  lens.  We 
have  noted  that  the  angle  of  view  em- 
braced in  a  negative  is  determined  by 
the  focal  length  of  the  objective  with 
respect  to  the  film  size.  Since  our  posi- 
tive supplementary  shortens  the  focal 
length  of  our  camera  lens,  it  becomes 
then  a  wide-angle  lens,  and  can  be  used 
as  such. 

A  negative  supplementary  can  be  used 
only  with  a  camera  having  a  bellows  ex- 
tension greater  than  normal,  for  it  will 
effectively  increase  the  focal  length  of 
the  lens,  serving  as  a  substitute  for  a 
telephoto  lens. 

In  the  use  of  these  lenses,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  correct  for  the  effect  of  the  lens 
on  the  stop  markings.  Since  the  effective 
relative  aperture  is  given  by  the  ratio  of 
the  lens-to-film  distance  to  the  lens  open- 


to  those  craftsmen  whose  preference  for 
fine  equipment  has  contributed  so  much 
to    the    progress    of    the     industry. 


zmscmu 


330  West  42  Street- 


New  York  18,  N.  Y. 


SrtSS&*8**«$r^^ 


^rrolidau     LjreetL 


9* 


^j/rom 


CAMERAMEN'S  LOCAL  NO.  659 
I.  A.  T.  S.  E. 

HOLLYWOOD  CALIFORNIA 


ing,  when  that  distance  is  altered  the 
stop  value  is  accordingly  changed,  so 
that  the  exposure  will  no  longer  be  given 
directly  by  the  diaphragm  markings. 

Heavy  Aberrations  Result 

These  effects,  of  course,  are  the  more 
pronounced  the  stronger  the  supplemen- 
tary, as  are  the  defects  of  these  lenses. 
Indeed,  the  heavy  aberrations  introduced 
by  these  lenses  limit  the  useful  powers 
to  comparatively  modest  limits. 


Lorat'af  Reason  5   LjreetL 


9* 


FROM 


GENERAL 

PRECISION 

LABORATORY 


INCORPORATED 

PLEASANTVILLE, 


NEW  YORK 


Makers  of 
VIDEOFILM    and    SIMPLEX 
THEATRE  TELEVISION  SYSTEMS 


Our  camera  objectives  are  carefully 
designed  so  that  they  deliver  the  best  sort 
of  image  most  economically,  and  are  cor- 
rected to  work  alone,  and  theoretically 
at  one  range  of  object  distances,  usually 
including  infinity.  Now,  if  we  were  to 
place  in  front  of  our  lens  another,  we 
would  inevitably  upset  these  corrections. 

Not  too  much  relief  is  possible  in  the 
design  of  the  supplementaries,  since 
they  must  be  reasonably  priced.  For  this 
reason  a  delicate  balance  is  achieved  be- 
tween the  corrections  best  for  a  wide 
variety  of  camera  objectives,  and  the  cost 
of  perfection.  These  lenses  must  be  used 
with  caution,  and  at  a  small  aperture  to 
minimize  the  effects  of  the  aberrations 
causing  unsharpness.  Of  course,  no  relief 
is  possible  in  this  way  for  the  aberrations 
independent  of  aperture:  astigmatism, 
distortion,  and  chromatic  aberrations. 

Filter  and  Diffusion  Discs 

There  are  two  more  types  of  supple- 
mentary attachments  we  might  briefly 
mention — filters  and  diffusion  discs.  The 
color  characteristics  of  the  common  fil- 
ters have  been  discussed  previously  here- 
in, and  complete  data  is  available  else- 
where, so  beyond  mention  of  the  fact 
that  the  filters  of  glass  or  cemented  gela- 
tin can  introduce  aberrations,  if  the  filter 
is  of  poor  quality,  we  shall  go  no  further. 

Diffusion  discs  accomplish  what  the 
older  photographers  did  with  the  soft 
focus  lenses — the  introduction  of  extra- 
neous light  into  the  image,  softening  de- 
tail. This  is  accomplished  in  the  diffu- 
sion discs  by  means  of  lines  and/or  cir- 


18 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     December  1951 


GIVE  YOUR  SHOW  MORE  SPARKLE 

with  these  Modern,  Economical  Spotlights  for  Every  Heed 


Favored  through- 
out the  world  by 
those  who  know 
spotlights  best  be- 
cause they  give  so 
much  more  light 
and  are  so  much 
easier  to  operate. 


STRONG  TROUPER  HIGH 
INTENSITY  ARC  SPOTLIGHT 

For  large  theatres,  arenas, Ice  shows 
and  auditoriums. 

Projects  a  sharp,  snow-white  spot  without  the 
use  of  heavy  rotating  equipment.  Quiet  .  .  .  flick- 
erless  .  .  .  portable.  Draws  only  10  amperes 
from  any  1 10  volt  A.  C.  convenience  outlet. 
Adjustable,  self-regulating  transformer  in  base. 
Silvered  glass  reflector.  Two-element  variable 
focal  length  lens  system.  Automatic  arc  control. 
A  trim  of  carbons  burns  one  hour  and  20  minutes 
at  21  volts  and  45  amperes.  Easily  disassembled 
for  shipping. 


€L 


STRONG  TROUPERETTE 
INCANDESCENT  SPOTLIGHT 

For  small  theatres,  hotels,  night  clubs, 
schools  and  colleges. 

Projects  6Vi  times  brighter  head  spots.  Sharp  edge 
from  head  spot  to  flood.  As  contrasted  to  con- 
ventional incandescent  spotlights,  with  which 
the  spot  size  is  varied  solely  by  irising,  to  result 
in  substantial  light  loss,  the  Trouperette  utilizes 
all  the  light  through  most  of  the  spot  sizes.  Vari- 
able focal  length  objective  lens  system.  Hori- 
zontal masking  control.  Color  boomerang.  S'/t" 
glass  reflector,  Fresnel  lens.  Plugs  into  1 10-volt 
convenience  outlet. 


SEE  ANY  OF  THE  FOLLOWING  DEALERS 

OR  USE  COUPON  FOR  OBTAINING 

LITERATURE 

ALBANY,   N.   Y.— Nat'l  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Albany  Theatre  Supply. 

ATLANTA— Nat'l   Theatre   Supply   Co. 

ATLANTIC    CITY— Boardwalk    Film    Enterprises. 

AUBURN,    N    .Y. — Auburn    Theatre    Equipment. 

BALTIMORE— J.    F.    Dusman   Co.;    Nat'l   Theatre   Supply  Co. 

BIRMINGHAM,    ALA. — The    Queen     Feature    Service,    Inc. 

BOSTON— J.   Cifre,    Inc.;   Nat'l  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

BUFFALO— Dion    Products;    Nat'l    Theatre    Supply    Co. 

CHARLOTTE— Nat'l    Theatre    Supply    Co.;    Standard    Theatre 
Supply   Co. 

CHICAGO — Abbott  Theatre  Equip.  Co.;  Droll  Theatre  Supply  Co.; 
Gardner  Jansen,  Inc.;  Grand  Stage  Lighting  Co.;  Hollywood 
Stage  Lighting  Co.;  Midwest  Stage  Lighting  Co.;  Nat'l  Theatre 
Supply    Co. 

CINCINNATI— Nat'l  Theatre   Supply   Co. 

CLEVELAND— Nat'l    Theatre    Supply    Co. 

DALLAS — Hardin  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Modern  Theatre  Equip.  Co.; 
Nat'l   Theatre   Supply  Co. 

DAYTON,   OHIO— Sheldon   Theatre   Supply 

DENVER— Nat'l   Theatre   Supply   Co.;   Graham    Bros. 

DES    MOINES— Nat'l   Theatre   Supply   Co. 

DETROIT— Nat'l    Theatre    Supply    Co. 

FORTY    FORT,    PA.— V.   M.   Tate   Theatre   Supplies. 

GREENSBORO,    N.    C— Standard    Theatre    Supply    Co. 

HOUSTON— Southwestern   Theatre   Equip.   Co. 

INDIANAPOLIS— Nat'l   Theatre   Supply   Co. 

KANSAS    CITY,    MO. — Shreve    Theatre    Supply;    Nat'l    Theatre 
Supply  Co. 

LOS    ANGELES— J.    M.     Boyd;    C.    J.    Holzmueller;    Nat'l    Theatre 

Supply    Co.;    Pembrex   Theatre    Supply    Corp. 
LOUISVILLE— Falls  City  Theatre  Supply  Co. 
MEMPHIS— Nat'l   Theatre    Supply   Co. 
MILWAUKEE— Nat'l  Theatre  Supply  Co.;   R.   Smith  Co. 

MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis    Theatre    Supply;    Nat'l    Theatre 
Supply   Co. 

NEW    HAVEN— Nafl   Theatre    Supply   Co. 

NEW   ORLEANS— Nat'l   Theatre   Supply  Co. 

NEW   YORK    CITY— Nat'l   Theatre    Supply   Co. 

NORFOLK— Nat'l   Theatre   Supply   Co. 

OKLAHOMA  CITY— Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co.;  Oklahoma  Theatre 
Supply    Co.;    The    Century    Theatre    Supply    Co. 

PHILADELPHIA— Blumberg    Bros.;    Nat'l    Theatre    Supply    Co. 

PITTSBURGH— Atlas    Theatre    Supply;    Nafl   Theatre    Supply   Co. 

SALT    LAKE   CITY— Inter-Mountain   Theatre   Supply  Co. 

SAN  FRANCISCO— C.  J.  Holzmueller;  Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co.; 
W.   G.   Preddey  Theatre  Supplies. 

SEATTLE — B.   F.   Shearer  Co.;   Nafl  Theatre  Supply  Co. 

SIOUX   FALLS — American   Theatre   Supply  Co. 

ST.    LOUIS — City    Electric    Co.;    Nafl    Theatre    Supply   Co. 

TOLEDO — Theatre    Equip.    Co. 

WESTERLY,    R.    I. — G.    H.    Payne   Motion    Picture   Service. 

CANADA — Dominion  Sound  Equipment,  Ltd.,  Montreal,  Quebec; 
General  Theatre  Supply  Co.,  Toronto,  Ontario;  General  Theatre 
Supply  Co.,  St.  John,  N.  B.;  General  Theatre  Supply  Co.,  Van- 
couver, B.  C;  General  Theatre  Supply  Co.,  Montreal,  Quebec; 
General  Theatre  Supply  Co.,  Winnipeg,  Man.;  Sharp's  Theatre 
Supplies,  Ltd.,  Calgary,  Alta;  Perkins  Electric  Co.,  Ltd.,  Montreal, 
Quebec;    Perkins    Electric   Co.,    Ltd.,    Toronto,   Ontario. 


•     •    • 


•    • 


•     •    • 


•    •    • 


•     •    • 


•    •    •    • 

•THE  STRONG  ELECTRlr  , 

•  "  oty  PARK  AVJ2~-i !&%22F°»  <*  I 

•  tehTS'stt?»»re  -  *•  a  .<•-  -T°lEDO  7-  OH'° 

m  NAME 9  Tro°P«ette  I 


f  COMPANY. .  . . 

STREET 

WY  «  STATE.  , 


Strong  Trouper  Arc 
'"""descentSpoT/fch? 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     December  1951 


19 


Reason  5     Ljreeiin 


9* 


^Jo      \Jur    /~> roiectioniit     ^rriends     C^veruwUere 


from 


NATIONAL  THEATRE  SUPPLY 


and 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTOR  CORPORATION 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     December  1951 


cles  in  intaglio  or  relief  ground  and/or 
polished  into  the  surface  of  a  glass  disc. 
These  ridges  or  valleys  act  as  sections 
of  lenses,  and  scatter  the  light  which 
would  normally  reach  the  image,  spread- 
ing it  over  the  whole  of  the  image  plane. 
Naturally,  the  exposure  must  be  in- 
creased when  one  of  these  attachments 
is  used. 

The  Enlarger 

The  enlarger  is  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant and  interesting  pieces  of  photo- 
graphic equipment.  Essentially  it  is  a 
camera  with  an  illuminated  negative. 
The  most  interesting  aspect  of  the  en- 
larger is  its  illumination,  which  may  be 
of  two  fundamental  types,  diffuse  or  con- 
denser. These  two  types  differ  basically 
in  their  action. 

Diffuse  illumination,  achieved  by  in- 
serting a  ground  or  opal  glass  between 
the  negative  and  the  illuminating  lamp, 
of  necessity  provides  the  softest  illumi- 
nation of  the  negative,  and  thus,  directly, 
the  least  harshness  upon  projection. 

To  see  this,  consider  a  typical  nega- 
tive with  a  wide  range  of  tones.  The 
opal  glass  diffuses  the  light  thoroughly, 
that  is,  the  emergent  light  is  scattered  in 
all  possible  directions.  But  the  lens  can 
pick  up  only  that  light  which  is  directed 
toward  it.  Each  element  of  the  negative 
will  be  sending  light  to  fill  the  aperture 
of  the  lens,  and  the  shadows  cast  on  the 
lens  by  the  dark  negative  areas  will  be 
receiving  light  from  the  adjacent  lighter 
areas. 

Expressed  in  different  words,  in  diffuse 
illumination  the  negative  shadow  areas 
are  weakened,  meaning  that  the  contrast 
is  lowered.  This  then  necessitates  either 
using  a  contrastier  grade  of  paper,  or 
making  more  contrasty  negatives. 

Condenser  Illumination  Action 

The  situation  is  quite  otherwise  with 
condenser  illumination,  for  there,  under 
the  best  operating  conditions,  the  dense 
areas  are  not  diluted  by  scattered  light 
and  the  full  contrast  of  the  negative  is 
effective.  However,  the  conditions  to  be 
observed  in  condenser  illumination  ap- 
pear to  be  unfamiliar. 

It  would  be  taken  as  a  cliche  if  we 


Sr<5$r«R$rc«gr^^  4tft«Wt^«^t^'«^«%irtgfrW 


Se 


Qr 


>tii 


*ea$on  5      K_jreetina& 

To    the    thousands    of    craftsmen    who 
have    proven    the    superior    quality     of 


LORRAINE  CARBONS 


ED  LACHMAN,  President 


CARBONS,  INC. 


JWgwsaMStft^^ 


LOCAL  NO.  293,  I.  A.  T.  S.  E. 

NEW  ORLEANS,  LA. 


A.  S. 


JOHNSTONE 

President 


A.  T.  WEISS 

Secretory 


were  to  be  reminded  that  a  lens  is  most 
efficient  in  yielding  bright  images  when 
it  was  filled  with  light,  yet  that  is  the 
condition  too  often  forgotten  in  enlarg- 
ing or  projection.  To  achieve  that  state, 
it  is  necessary  only  to  image  the  light 
source  at  the  diaphragm  of  the  enlarg- 
ing lens,  and  to  use  condensers  whose 
effective  F-number  is  equal  to  that  of 
the  lens.  If  the  condenser  F-number  is 
less  than  that  of  the  enlarging  lens,  the 
latter  has  been  optically  stopped  to  the 
condenser  number. 

When  the  enlarging  lens  has  been  filled 
with  light  at  its  full  opening,  it  will  re- 
main so  at  other  stops.  But  maintaining 
this  condition  of  imaging  the  light  source 
in  the  diaphragm  plane  necessitates  fo- 
cusing the  light  source  for  each  change  of 
magnification,  since  then  the  condenser 
lens  distance  changes.  This,  together 
with  the  accuracy  necessary  in  alignment 
of  condenser  systems,  has  resulted  in 
their  being  less  popular  than  the  diffu- 


PROJECTIONISTS   LOCAL   NO.   407 
I.  A.  T.  S.  E.     &     M.  P.  M.  O. 


SAN  ANTONIO 


TEXAS 


sion  systems,  in  spite  of  the  tremendous 
advantages  enjoyed  by  condensers  in 
illumination.  It  is  easy  to  see  that  the 
illumination  in  a  diffuse  enlarger  is  very 
much  less. 

Enlarging  Lenses 

A  word  about  enlarging  lenses.  It  was 
not  specifically  pointed  out  in  the  discus- 
sion of  the  lens  aberrations  that  the  aber- 
rations can  be  corrected  for  but  one  ob- 
ject position;  (for  many  practical  pur- 
poses however,  they  depart  little  from 
this  ideal  correction  for  relatively  large 
changes  of  object  positions).  This  un- 
fortunate fact  hampers  the  designer  ire 
his  work,  for  he  then  must  make  a  lens 
for  one  specific  job,  and  when  radically 
different  conditions  are  imposed,  he  must 
design  another  lens. 

Enlarger  lenses  have  been  so  corrected 
that  they  will  work  best  at  short  conju- 
gates, and  will  give  inferior  images  in 
general  for  an  infinite  object.  Camera 
lenses,  on  the  other  hand,  have  been  de- 
signed to  give  their  best  images  of  an 
infinite  to  distant  (down  to  perhaps  10 
times  focal  length)  object,  and  cannot 
be  expected  to  do  a  top-notch  job  in  an 
enlarger. 

The  common  impression  that  for  best 
results  enlarge  with  the  taking  lens  is 
mistaken.  Of  course,  if  the  photography 
is  first  rate,  and  if  the  lens  is  stopped 
down,  a  camera  lens  may  give  satisfac- 
tory enlargement,  but  then  better  qual- 
ity would  certainly  have  been  achieved 
with  a  lens  specifically  designed  for  the 
enlarging  job. 

[THE  END] 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     December  1951 


21 


The 

GPL 

Simplex' 


-  CONTROL  PANEL  CABINET 


-SCREEN  15'  x  20 


FIGURE  1 
Showing  the  usual 
locations  of  the  GPL 
theater  Tv  units. 
Modification  of  these 
locations  is  not  only 
possible  but  sometimes 
necessitated  by  struc- 
tural requirements. 


Direct-Projection  Theatre  Tv  System 


SIMPLICITY  in  installation,  conven- 
ience in  maintenance,  and  reliability 
in  operation  were  the  goals  in  the 
development  of  the  Simplex  direct-pro- 
jection Tv  system  (Model  PB-600)  man- 
ufactured by  General  Precision  Labora- 
tory. Included  is  every  facility  required 
for  operation  from  every  standard  source 
<of  Tv  signal  and  for  presenting  on  the 
theatre  screen  a  full-size  Tv  picture  of 
the   highest   quality. 

Three  units  comprise  the  equipment; 
an  optical  barrel,  a  control  panel,  and 
a  high -voltage  supply;  their  installation 
location  is  shown  in  Fig.  1. 

Equipment's  Three  Units 

The  high-voltage  supply  can  be  in- 
stalled in  any  convenient  location.  It 
has  no  controls,  meters,  or  switches 
mounted  on  it  and  should  require  no 
attention   for  months  at  a  time. 

The  control  panel  contains  all  operat- 
ing and  the  great  majority  of  align- 
ment and  service  controls.  This  unit 
would  normally  be  installed  in  the  pro- 
jection room,  many  alternative  locations 
are   possible. 

The  optical  barrel  installation,  how- 
ever, is  governed  by  the  fact  that  the 
projection  optics  have  a  fixed  focal 
length  and  an  extremely  wide  aperture, 
the  location  for  the  barrel  is  restricted 
to  rather  narrow  limits  by  the  size  and 
location  of  the  projection  screen.  The 
screen  should  be  selected  for  the  best 
reflection  incident  light  into  the  au- 
dience area.  Beaded  screens  are  accep- 
table only  in  narrow  theatres;  in  wider 
theatres  they  give  poor  performance  be- 
cause of  the  large  reflection  angles. 

75  x  20-Foot  Screen  Image 

The  optical  system  provides  a  pic- 
ture 15  feet  high  and  20  feet  wide  at  a 
throw   distance   of  62   feet.   The   system 


By  FRANK  N.  GILLETTE 

General  Precision  Laboratory,  Pleasanrville,  N.  Y. 

The  data  given  in  this  article  are  based  on  a  series  of  oral-demonstration 
presentations  given  by  GPL  engineers  in  various  sections  of  the  United 
States,  and  notably  on  that  presented  before  400  projectionists  at  the 
November  meeting  of  the  25-30  Club  of  Greater  New  York. 


does  permit  some  variation  of  picture 
size  and  throw,  but  there  are  also  some 
unyielding  restrictions  on  such  variation. 
Specific  attention  is  directed  to  the  na- 
ture and  source  of  these  limitations. 

Figure  2  shows  the  optical  elements. 
The  picture  is  formed  on.  the  face  of  the 
cathode  ray  tube  at  "T".  Light  from  the 
tube  face  is  collected  by  the  mirror  at 
"M"  and  directed  toward  the  projection 
screen  at  "S".  The  corrector  plate  is 
inserted  at  "P"  so  as  to  correct  for  aber- 
rations, principally  spherical  aberration, 
of  the  mirror. 

The  design  of  the  entire  optical  system 
is  fundamentally  controlled  by  the  cath- 
ode ray  tube,  in  this  case  a  type  7NP4. 
For  good  focus  over  the  entire  picture 
area  it  is  necessary  that  the  curve  of  the 
mirror  be  essentially  concentric  with  the 
curve  of  the  tube  face.  It  is  further 
necessary  that  the  tube  face  be  located 
approximately  at  the  focal  point  of  the 
mirror. 

Since  the  focal  length  of  a  spherical 
mirror  is  equal  to  one  half  its  radius  of 
curvature,  the  foregoing  conditions  re- 
sult in  a  mirror  having  a  radius  of  cur- 
vature twice  that  of  the  cathode  ray 
tube  and  a  system  having  a  focal 
length  equal  to  the  radius  of  curvature 
of  the  tube  face. 

70%  Permissible  Image  Change 

With  the  focal  length  fixed  in  this 
way,   there  is   a   single   value   of   magni- 


fication for  any  chosen  throw  distance. 
Thus  picture  size  at  a  fixed  throw  dis- 
tance can  be  changed  only  by  changing 
the  size  of  the  picture  on  the  cathode 
ray  tube.  If  the  size  be  increased  too 
much,  the  corners  will  be  clipped  by 
the  edge  of  the  tube.  If  the  size  be 
decreased  appreciably,  resolution  will 
suffer.  In  practice,  the  dimensions  of 
the  picture  can  be  varied  some  10% 
either  way  from  the   nominal   size. 

The  magnification  is,  of  course,  a 
linear  function  of  the  throw  distance; 
but  throw  distance  is  not  readily  con- 
trolled, being  strongly  influenced  by 
theatre  design,  and  can  be  manipulated 
only  by  reconstruction  of  a  more  or  less 
extensive  nature.  If  the  preferred  instal- 
lation location  provides  a  throw  that  is 
too  short,  use  of  a  smaller  screen  is 
possible  and  provides  the  attendant  ad- 
vantage of  increased  screen  brightness. 
If  the  preferred  location   gives  a  throw 

FIG.  2.    Optical  elements. 


22 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     December  1951 


that  is  too  long,  the  only  answer  is  the- 
atre modification.  Increasing  the  screen 
size  won't  do,  because  the  brightness 
soon  becomes   unacceptably  low. 

Theatre  people  are  familiar  with  these 
relationships,  but  unfortunately  they  are 
also  accustomed  to  purchasing  projec- 
tion lenses  in  many  different  focal 
lengths  so  as  to  satisfy  almost  any  re- 
quirement. Naturally,  they  expect  simi- 
lar  flexibility   in    theatre   Tv   equipment. 

Factors  Controlling  Flexibility 

The  cost  of  designing  and  stocking 
expensive  optical  systems  of  different 
focal  lengths  is  one  obvious  reason  for 
not  offering  such  flexibility.  Other  and 
more  forceful  reasons  are  indicated  in 
Fig.  3. 

Here  the  central  figure  shows  the  com- 
ponents of  our  present  optical  system. 
The  upper  diagram  shows  a  system  of 
shorter  focal  length,  and  the  lower  a 
system  of  longer  focal  length.  As  drawn, 
the  three  systems  have  equal  geometrical 
apertures  and  so  will  provide  approxi- 
mately the  same  screen  brightness. 

It  will  be  noted  that  the  diameters  of 
the  optical  elements  of  the  system  of 
longer  focal  length  are  considerably 
larger  than  the  elements  of  the  Simplex 
system.  Not  only  are  such  elements  much 
more  expensive  than  those  used  in  the 
present  system,  they  are  also  larger  than 
can  be  manufactured  in  quantity  by  ex- 
isting equipment. 

The  system  of  shorter  focal  length  in- 
volves smaller  components  which  could 
indeed  be  manufactured  at  reasonable 
cost.  However,  the  angular  width  of  the 
picture  becomes  significantly  greater.  As 


NOTE  1.  That  is,  this  would  have  been  true 
had  Fig.  3  been  drawn  correctly.  The  three  tube 
diameters  should  be  equal  rather  than  propor- 
tional to  focal  length  as  shown  in  Fig.  3. 


this  angular  width  becomes  larger,  the 
optical  design  problem  becomes  tremen- 
dously more  complex.  Adequate  correc- 
tion of  optical  aberrations  in  the  corners 
of  the  picture  becomes  virtually  impos- 
sible. 

Variation  of  Schmidt  System 

Although  an  optical  system  of  this 
type  is  generally  called  a  Schmidt  sys- 
tem, it  differs  tremendously  from  the 
system  originally  developed  by  Schmidt 
for  use  as  an  astronomical  telescope. 
Fundamentally  a  Schmidt  system  con- 
sists of  a  spherical  mirror,  a  diaphragm 
located  at  the  center  of  curvature  of 
the  mirror,  and  a  corrector  plate  also 
located  at  the  center  of  curvature.  The 
diaphragm  serves  to  eliminate  third- 
order  aberrations,  and  the  corrector 
plate  provides  compensation  for  spheri- 
cal  aberration. 

The  optical  quality  of  this  system  can 
indeed  be  very  good,  provided  the  de- 
sign is  restricted  to  an  angular  field  of 
something  like  1  degree  and  an  aper- 
ture less  than  F:3.  For  the  Simplex  sys- 
tem we  require  an  angular  field  of  23 
degrees  and  a  geometrical  aperture  of 
F:7.  Clearly,  these  requirements  are 
well  beyond  the  limitations  of  the  basic 
Schmidt  design. 

The  classical  Schmidt  formulae  have 
been  applied  to  the  present  conditions 
with  a  reasonable  degree  of  success. 
However,  much  better  results  have  been 
obtained  by  approaching  the  design 
problem  from  a  somewhat  different  point 
of  view.  Mr.  Louis  Raitiere  of  our  staff 
developed  a  design  approach  which  re- 
sults in  a  system  that  differs  slightly 
but  very  significantly  from  the  Schmidt 
system.  The  performance  thus  obtained 
has  been  gratifying.  We  observe  a  limit- 


(>!■ 


W>       T  H  E  o  I 


/ 


&>'     T  H  R  i 


/ 
\ 


90'       THROW 


FIG.  3.  Showing  the  effect  upon  the  image  through  the  use  of  lenses  of  various 

focal  lengths. 


FIG.  4.    Projector  optical  barrel. 

ing  resolution  in  the  extreme  corner  of 
the  field  of  2000  Tv  lines  per  picture 
height.  This  figure,  of  course,  applies  to 
the  optical  system  alone  and  not  to  the 
overall  system. 

Completely  Enclosed  Optical  Barrel 

The  detail  contrast  ratio  that  is  obtain- 
able in  any  system  which  works  with  a 
cathode  ray  tube  as  the  basic  picture 
source  is  never  as  much  as  one  would 
desire.  The  contrast  ratio  is  still  further 
degraded  by  the  presence  of  any  dirt 
on  the   optical  elements   of  the   system. 

To  reduce  the  rate  at  which  dirt  col- 
lects on  the  optical  elements,  and  con- 
sequently to  minimize  the  necessity  for 
frequent  cleaning,  the  optical  barrel 
shown  in  Fig.  4  is  completely  enclosed 
and  there  is  no  circulation  of  outside 
air  through  the  system.  The  cooling  air 
which  must  be  directed  against  the  face 
of  the  cathode  ray  tube  to  avoid  dam- 
age to  the  tube  is  recirculated  through 
the  barrel  and  serves  only  to  conduct 
heat  from  the  cathode  ray  tube  to  the 
outer  walls  of  the  barrel.  The  outside  of 
the  barrel  provides  such  a  large  radiat- 
ing surface  that  the  resulting  tempera- 
ture rise  is  insignificant. 

The  use  of  a  closed  system  also  per- 
mits quite  simple  solutions  to  any  prob- 
lems arising  from  excessive  humidity. 
We  have  thus  far  had  no  difficulty  with 
arc-over  within  the  barrel;  but  should 
such  difficulty  develop,  we  anticipate  no 
trouble  in  controlling  the  humidity  with- 
in the  unit. 

The  barrel  is  supported  mechanically 
at  three  points.  The  two  pivot  points 
are  located  at  approximately  the  center 
of  gravity  and  carry  the  bulk  of  the 
weight  of  the  unit.  The  third  support 
point  is  at  the  bottom  of  the  front  of 
the  barrel.  Its  function  is  to  tilt  the 
barrel  and  to  hold  the  line  of  sight  once 
it  is  established.  The  maximum  tilt  that 
is  permissible  from  optical  considera- 
tions is  approximately  7  degrees.  If  it  is 
possible  to  tilt  the  screen,  a  greater  tilt 
of  the  barrel  can  be  accommodated  by 
the  mechanical  adjustment  provided. 

The  barrel  opens  at  the  top  for  clean- 


JNTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     December  1951 


23 


FIG.  5.    High-voltage  supply. 


ing  and  service.  The  video  amplifier  and 
the  alignment  controls  are  located  here, 
which  makes  readjustment  or  tube  re- 
placement very  simple.  Of  course,  there 
are  no  more  tubes  in  the  barrel  than 
is  absolutely  necessary.  Only  the  final 
video  amplifier  is  located  here. 

Cathode  Ray  Tube 

The  cathode  ray  tube  is  mounted  in 
the  deflection  yoke  which  is  in  turn  held 
by  a  support  arm  that  hangs  from  the 
top  of  the  barrel.  The  support  arm 
fastens  to  a  mounting  plate  from  which 
it  can  easily  be  removed  and  to  which 
it  returns  without  disturbance  of  pre- 
viously  made   alignment    adjustments. 

All  alignment  adjustments  required  by 
tolerances  of  the  cathode  ray  tube  itself 
are  made  on  the  support  arm  assembly. 
Thus  any  projectionist  can  equip  him- 
self with  a  spare  tube  support  arm  in 
which  he  can  mount  and  align  a  spare 
cathode  ray  tube  to  have  it  in  instant 
readiness  for  replacement.  To  facilitate 
this  operation,  all  electrical  connections 
to  the  cathode  ray  tube  and  the  deflec- 
tion yoke  are  carried  up  the  tube  sup- 
port arm  to  connectors  that  can  be 
quickly  disconnected  in  time  of  need. 
Thus  a  show  need  not  be  lost  for  more 
than  three  minutes  by  failure  of  the 
cathode  ray  tube. 

The  80  Kv  power  supply  is  shown  in 
Fig.  5.  This  unit  provides  the  anode 
voltage  for  the  cathode  ray  tube  and 
also  the  focus  voltage. 

Power  Supply  Circuit 

The  circuit  is  a  60  voltage  doubler 
using  two  type  VR3B  rectifiers.  The 
output  voltage  is  regulated  against  varia- 
tion in  both  line  voltage  and  load  cur- 
rent by  an  electronic  regulator,  which 
controls  a  saturable  reactor  in  series 
with  the  primary  of  the  high-voltage 
transformer.  The  regulation  character- 
istic is  essentially  flat  from  zero  current 
to  2.5  milliamperes.  Beyond  2.5  milli- 
amperes  the  voltage  drops  rapidly  with 
increasing  current  in  the  manner  re- 
quired    for     protection     of     equipment 


against    permanent    damage   in    case    of 
momentary  failure. 

The  focus  voltage,  is  bled  down  from 
the  80  Kv  level  to  take  advantage  of 
the  stability  of  that  level  and  to  pro- 
vide a  focus  voltage  that  will  remain 
proportional  to  the  anode  voltage  should 
any  variation  in  that  level  occur.  Re- 
mote control  of  the  focus  voltage  is  pro- 
vided by  a  high-voltage  triode  used  as 
a  shunt  across  the  low  end  of  the  focus 
bleeder. 

Control  Panel  Cabinet 

The  unit  is  oil-filled  for  maximum 
reliability.  It  also  contains  a  number  of 
electrostatic  shields  and  protective  spark 
gaps  on  the  low-voltage  wiring  to  in- 
sure that  any  breakdown  which  might 
occur  inside  the  unit  will  have  no  harm- 
ful effect  on  external  circuits. 


The  projection  room  equipment  consists 
of  the  Control  Panel  Cabinet  (Fig.  6). 
It  is  a  double-relay  rack,  each  rack 
being  of  the  standard  width  to  accom- 
modate 10-inch  panels. 

The  rack  itself  possesses  a  number  of 
special  features  that  deserve  mention. 
The  component  chassis  are  strictly  con- 
ventional, each  one  consisting  of  a  hori- 
zontal chassis  with  a  vertical  front  panel 
of  standard  19-inch  width.  However,  the 
method  of  mounting  is  such  as  to  pro- 
vide much  greater  serviceability  than  is 
usually  found  in  equipment  constructed 
in  this  fashion.  Each  individual  chassis 
is  held  in  place  with  two  quarter-turn 
locks.  When  these  are  released,  the 
chassis  may  be  drawn  forward  on  rol- 
lers until  it  is  fully  clear  of  the  rack. 
This  provides  quick  access  to  all  of  the 


©   © 


o  o  o 


o  o 


o  o 


o  o 


®      © 


FIG.  6.  CONTROL  PANEL  CABINET 

Dimensions  of  this  cabinet,  in  inches,  are 
633/4  high,  42  M  wide,  and   18'/4  deep. 


24 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


December  1951 


1        2        J     PROJ.       CAL. 

oo  o  o    o 

PICTURE     MONITOR 

1          !          )                             (■ 

o  o  o 

AUDIO     MONITOR 

PROGRAM 

o  o  o 

1         2         3 

AUDIO 
CAIN 

0 

MONITOR 
GAIN 
\              /?S^         PHONES 

j)  o  ° 

FIG.  7.    Program  selector  panel. 


tubes  in  the  rack  without  the  removal 
of  cover  plates  or  other  ornamentation. 

Should  the  wiring  side  of  the  chassis 
require  attention,  it  is  only  necessary  to 
lift  the  front  of  the  chassis  and  swing 
it  upward  through  90°  where  it  will 
rest  in  a  stable  position  with  the  wir- 
ing facing  outward.  In  either  of  these 
positions  the  chasis  are  still  connected 
and  still  operating. 

These  provisions  make  it  possible  to 
perform  all  service  functions  without 
access  to  the  rear  of  the  rack.  This  same 
thought  has  been  carried  further.  When 
all  the  chassis  are  removed  from  the 
rack,  there  remains  but  an  empty  shell. 
As  a  first  step  in  installation,  this  shell 
can  be  bolted  down,  once  and  for  all, 
in  its  final  position,  even  though  this 
places  the  back  of  the  cabinet  solidly 
against  a  wall.  The  conduits  and  cables 
can  then  be  affixed  and  the  chassis  in- 
stalled without  further  movement  of  the 
cabinet. 

Control  Unit  Placement 

The  equipment  in  the  racks  is  so  dis- 
tributed as  to  place  the  monitors  and 
meters  at  eye  level,  and  the  operational 
controls   at    convenient   finger   tip   level. 

The  unit  in  the  upper  left  corner  is 
the  Picture  Monitor  containing  its  own 
power  supply.  The  controls  on  this  unit 
serve  only  to  adjust  the  picture  on  the 
8%-inch  monitor  tube. 

Below  the  monitor  is  a  receiver  of 
rather  superior  characteristics  provided 
for  off-the-air  reception  during  periods 
of  test  and  alignment.  (In  Fig.  6  a  blank 
panel  is  shown  between  monitor  and  re- 
ceiver. In  the  production  equipment  this 
blank  panel  has  been  moved  down  to 
the  bottom  position  to  place  the  re- 
ceiver at  a  better  level  for  observation 
of  the  tuning  meter). 

The  two  units  below  the  receiver  are 
the  vertical  and  horizontal  deflection 
chassis.  These  units  contain  all  of  the 
deflection  controls,  circuits,  and  com- 
ponents except  the  deflection  yoke, 
which  is  necessarily  located  with  the  pro- 
jection tube  in  the  optical  barrel.  The 
deflection  circuits  and  components  are 
especially  designed  to  permit  a  long 
cable  to  the  deflection  yoke.  With  the 
cable  usually  provided,  this  run  can  be 
150  feet.  With  special  low-capacity  cable 


even  longer  runs  are  possible.  This  point 
is  mentioned  particularly  because  this 
cable  run  is  the  only  one  in  the  sys- 
tem that  bars  any  restriction  as  to 
length. 

Below  the  deflection  chassis  are  two 
blank  panels  (although  Fig.  6  shows  but 
one)  behind  which  is  located  a  line- 
voltage  regulator  that  stabilizes  the  in- 
put voltage  to  various  circuits  that  are 
not  sufficiently  critical  to  demand  elec- 
tronic regulation  and  to  the  filament 
transformers  of  more  critical  circuits. 

In  the  right-hand  rack  the  bottom 
panel  is  also  blank.  In  this  space  is 
mounted  the  saturable  reactor  which 
regulates  the  80  Kv  supply. 

The  two  chassis  next  above  contain 
power  supplies  which  provide  the  various 
plate  and  bias  voltages  required  by  all 
of   the   circuits   except  the   monitors. 

Above  the  power  supplies  is  located 
the  Hi-Voltage  Control  Unit,  which  con- 
tains all  of  the  low-voltage  elements  as- 
sociated with  supply  except  the  saturable 
reactor  mentioned  previously.  The  panel 
controls  consist  of  push-buttons  for  con- 
trolling power  to  the  supply  and  a  knob 
for  setting  focus  voltage  level. 

The  remaining  two  panels  in  this  rack 
are  shown  in  more  detail  in  the  follow- 
ing illustrations.  Fig.  7  shows  the  pro- 
gram selector  panel  located  immediately 
above  the  high-voltage  control  unit.  All 
signal  switching  and  audio  control  func- 
tions of  the  equipment  are  performed  on 
this  panel. 

Three  Incoming  Channels 

The  system  provides  for  three  incom- 
ing   program    channels,    each    consisting 


of  an  audio  and  a  video  line.  Normally 
one  of  these  channels  will  be  connected 
to  the  receiver  included  in  the  equip- 
ment. The  second  will  take  the  incom- 
ing program  line.  The  third  might  be 
used  for  a  parallel  safety  channel  for 
the  main  program  line,  for  an  auxiliary 
microwave  receiver,  or  possibly  for  a 
local  signal  generated  by  pick-up  equip- 
ment within  the  theatre. 

The  switching  facilities  permit  inde- 
pendent monitoring  of  any  incoming 
audio  or  video  line.  The  three  push-but- 
tons at  the  upper  right  connect  any  of 
the  three  audio  lines  to  the  monitor 
headphone  jack  in  the  lower  right  corner 
of  the  panel.  The  gain  control  for  the 
monitor  channel  is  adjacent  to  the  phone 
jack.  The  larger  knob  sets  the  gain  in 
the  program  line  to  the  theatre.  This 
control  is  used  only  to  set  the  audio 
level  from  the  television  equipment  to 
the  level  required  by  the  input  of  the 
theatre  sound  system.  It  is  not  con- 
sidered an  operational  control. 

The  push-buttons  at  the  upper  left 
switch  the  input  signal  to  the  Picture 
Monitor  and  also  to  the  Waveform  Moni- 
tor yet  to  be  described.  The  first  three 
buttons  select  any  of  the  three  incoming 
video  lines.  The  fourth  button,  labeled 
"Projector,"  will  be  described  in  con- 
nection with  Fig.  8.  The  fifth  button  is 
non-locking  and  serves  to  connect  a 
calibrating  signal  to  the  Waveform 
Monitor  for  use  in  setting  signal  levels. 

Program  switching  is  done  by  the 
push-buttons  at  the  lower  left  of  the 
panel.  They  feed  any  of  the  three  input 
channels  to  the  theatre  system,  con- 
trolling both  picture  and  sound.  Inter- 
locked switching  has  been  used  here  as 
another  means  of  eliminating  operating 
error. 

Figure  8  shows  the  Projector  Control 
Panel  which  is  located  at  the  top  of  the 
right-hand  rack.  On  this  panel  are  con- 
centrated all  but  one  of  the  operational 
switches  and  controls  normally  used  in 
turning  on  and  adjusting  the  picture  on 
the  theatre  screen.  This  panel  also  con- 
tains the  waveform  monitor  and  a  multi- 
purpose meter,  both  very  useful  as  moni- 


^y-raternai    Ljreetinad 

TREASURERS  AND  TICKET   SELLERS 

LOCAL  UNION  NO.  751 

I.  A.  T.  S.  E. 

NEW  YORK,  N.  Y. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     December  1951 


25 


FIG.  8.    Projector  control  panel. 


tors    during   projection    and    as   test   in- 
struments   during    preliminary    set-up. 

Four-Step  Turn-On  Procedure 

The  equipment  will  normally  be 
turned  on  by  the  four-step  procedure 
now  to  be  outlined.  Enough  interlocks 
and  protective  circuits  insure  that  no 
damage  will  result  in  the  event  of  pos- 
sible occasional  operating  lapses  in 
turn-on   procedure. 

The  progress  of  the  operation  is  in- 
dicated by  the  set  of  four  amber  lights 
at  the  upper  right  of  the  Control  Panel. 
Not  until  all  four  are  illuminated  will 
a  picture  appear  on  the  projection 
screen. 

As  the  first  step,  the  main  power  re- 
lay is  closed  by  means  of  the  motor- 
starting  type  push-button  located  below 
the  meter.  This  lights  the  first  of  the 
amber  lights   at  once. 

As  the  circuits  warm  up  and  reach 
normal  operating  conditions,  the  second 
amber  light  glows  to  indicate  the  pres- 
ence of  deflection  fields  at  the  cathode 
ray  tube. 

In  the  second  step,  power  is  applied 
to  the  Hi-Voltage  Supply  by  means  of 
the  push-buttons  located  on  its  control 
panel.  In  a  short  time  the  anode  po- 
tential rises  to  its  proper  level,  causing 
the  third  amber  light  to  glow. 

At  this  point  the  entire  system  is 
turned  on  and  the  three  lights  inform 
the  projectionist  that  all  interlocks  are 
closed,  all  supply  voltages  are  present, 
and  most  of  the  circuits  are  functioning 
in  essentially  normal  fashion.  However, 
there  is  still  no  picture  on  the  projec- 
tion screen  because  the  projection  tube 
is  biased  well  beyond  cut-off. 

Meter,  Monitor  Checking 

The  third  step  might  be  considered 
optional  but  is  actually  essential  to  good 
showmanship.  It  consists  of  using  meter 
and  monitors  to  preset  various  controls 
to  insure  that  the  picture  first  seen  by 
the  audience  is  a  good  image. 


The  test  meter  is  used  first  to  check 
the  levels  of  the  various  supply  voltages, 
including  the  80  Kv  anode  supply.  It 
is  then  used  to  set  the  operating  bias 
of  the  projection  tube  at  the  proper 
level  by  means  of  the  "Brightness"  Con- 
trol. Finally  it  is  turned  to  the  "Anode 
Current"  position  to  serve  as  a  monitor 
during  the  projection  period. 

The  monitors,  both  picture  and  sound, 
are  used  first  to  check  on  the  quality 
and  the  levels  of  the  incoming  signals. 
Then  the  picture  and  waveform  moni- 
tors are  switched  to  their  "Projector" 
position.  In  this  condition  both  receive 
a  video  signal  brought  back  from  the 
final  video  stage  in  the  optical  barrel, 
which  permits  preliminary  adjustment, 
by  means  of  the  "Contrast"  control,  of 
the  actual  driving  signal  applied  to  the 
cathode  of  the  cathode  ray  tube. 

Furthermore,  when  the  Picture  Moni- 
tor is  switched  to  the  "Projector"  posi- 
tion, its  horizontal  and  vertical  sweeps 
are  synchronized  directly  by  pulses  ob- 
tained from  pick-up  coils  wound  into  the 
deflection  yoke  of  the  projection  cathode 
ray  tube.  Since  these  pulses  are  actually 
a  measure  of  the  magnetic  deflection 
fields  applied  to  the  projection  tube,  a 
normal  picture  on  the  Picture  Monitor  is 
a  positive  indication  that  the  deflection 
signals  applied  to  the  projection  tube 
have  the  correct  frequencies  and  essen- 
tially the  correct  amplitude. 

Fourth  and  Final  Step 

All  is  now  ready  for  the  fourth  step. 
Turning  the  "Picture"  switch  to  "on" 
lights  the  fourth  amber  light,  switches 
the  projection  tube  from  cut-off  to  op- 
erating bias,  and  presents  the  picture  in 
essentially  perfect  adjustment. 

The  cathode  ray  tube  used  in  this 
system  is  rather  expensive,  and  while 
it  is  an  amazingly  tough  device  when 
treated  properly,  it  is  highly  fragile 
when  mistreated.  These  remarks  apply 
equally  well  to  personnel  who  operate 
and    maintain     the     equipment.     Conse- 


quently, the  equipment  includes  an 
elaborate  system  of  interlocks  and 
safety  devices  for  protection  of  both 
tubes  and  personnel. 

The  interlock  system  prevents  the  ap- 
plication of  primary  power  to  the  high- 
voltage  supply  unless  all  doors  giving 
access  to  the  anode  and  focus  voltages 
are  closed.  The  protection  system  allows 
beam  energy  to  reach  the  tube  face  only 
when  the  following  conditions  are  satis- 
fied: 

Requisite  Operating  Conditions 

1.  Proper  voltage  levels  exist 
in  the  +  800,  +  285,  —  105  and 
—  150  volt  power  supplies. 

2.  The  80  Kv  supply  is  up  to 
operating  level,  but  not  in  ex- 
cess of  82  Kv. 

3.  Horizontal  deflection 
fields  have  at  least  75%  of  their 
normal  amplitude. 

4.  Vertical  deflection  fields 
have  at  least  75%  of  their  nor- 
mal amplitude. 

The  protection  system  is  primarily 
designed  to  prevent  damage  to  the  7NP4 
projection  tube,  but  it  also  serves  to 
protect  the  remainder  of  the  system 
against  bias  failure. 

Throughout  the  system  the  protection 
circuits  have  been  designed  to  work  di- 
rectly from  the  critical  quantity  and  not 
from  signals  which  usually,  but  not 
always,  denote  that  quantity.  For  ex- 
ample, the  circuit  which  protects  against 
sweep  failure  might  work  with  almost 
complete  safety  from  various  currents 
or  voltages  that  are  readily  available  in 
the  deflection  circuits.  Actually,  in  this 
case,  the  critical  quantity  is  the  mag- 
netic field  in  the  gap  of  the  deflection 
yoke.  Our  protection  system  includes 
pick-up  coils  in  the  yoke  which  measure 
the  magnetic  fields  and  thus  give  posi- 
tive and  complete  protection  against 
sweep  failure. 

In  designing  the  Simplex  system  we 
have  adopted  the  goal  of  providing 
quality  of  performance  exceeding  the 
requirements  of  present  Tv  standards, 
thus  justifying  the  prediction  that  the 
equipment  will  not  be  found  wanting 
whenever  higher  performance  standards 
may  be  adopted. 

[NOTE:  GPL  solicits  through  IP  any 
questions  relating  to  construction  or 
operation  anent  the  Simplex  system 
stemming  from  the  foregoing  discussion. 
-ED.] 


Your  Very  Best  Buy 
BUY  U.  S.  SAVINGS  BONDS 


26 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     December  1951 


Who  Invented  the  Movies? 

A  stimulating  discussion  of  the  contributions  of  Friese-Greene,  British  technician,  to  the 
cinematographic  art,  as  assayed  by  two  able  protagonists  in  Films  in  Review,  official 
organ  of  the  National  Board  of  Review  of  Motion  Pictures.  Terry  Ramsaye,  author  of  the 
rebuttal,    is    a    noted    film    historian    and    formerly    editor    of    Motion    Picture    Herald. 

By  GERALD  PRATLEY 


IT  WILL  come  as  a  surprise  to  many 
'moviegoers  to  learn  that  William  Friese- 
Greene  was  the  first  man  to  patent  a  com- 
mercially practicable  moving  picture 
camera. 

While  Thomas  A.  Edison  is  generally 
considered  by  America  to  be  the  inventor 
of  motion  pictures,  and  France  claims 
Edouard  Georges  Marey  as  the  fondateur 
de  cinema,  England  considers  Wilham 
Friese-Greene  as  the  inventor  of  kinema- 
tography. 

The  truth  is  that  these  three  men,  and 
several  others  in  Europe  and  America, 
were  all  working  on  the  then  baffling  task 
of  trying  to  photograph  and  project  mov- 
ing pictures.  But  whereas  Edison  and 
Thomas  Armat,  Louis  Lumiere  and 
Georges  Marey,  all  received  wide  recog- 
nition for  their  work,  the  unfortunate 
Friese-Greene  has  been  ignored,  not  only 
abroad  but  also  in  his  native  land. 


'The  Magic  Box'  Film 

A  motion  picture  about  Friese-Greene 
has  just  been  made  in  England:  The 
Magic  Box,  based  on  Ray  Allister's  fas- 
cinating biography,  Friese-Greene — Close 
Up  of  an  Inventor. 

Friese-Greene  was  born  on  September 
7,  1855  and  died  tragically  on  May  5, 
1921.  A  prophetic  and  inventive  genius, 
with  a  gay  and  vital  personality,  his  life 
was  one  of  tense  struggle  against  a  cun- 
ning opposition  which  sought  to  use  his 
brains  for  personal  gain.  He  attained  un- 
believable success,  and  experienced 
heart-breaking  failure.  During  30  years 
of  hard  work  he  patented  over  100  inven- 
tions, and  longed  for  the  recognition 
which  was  denied  him. 

He  died  at  a  trade  meeting  which  had 
been  called  to  discuss  a  system  known  as 
block-booking.  Heated  discussion  and 
wrangling  were  in  progress,  and  Friese- 
Greene,  old  and  tired,  rose  with  a  plea 
for  unity.  His  voice  was  almost  inaudible; 
and  after  he  left  the  speaker's  platform 
he  collapsed  and  died. 

Truth  or  Legend? 

Huge,  glittering  cars  rolled  up  to  carry 
away  the  men  who  had  grown  wealthy  on 
the  genius  of  Friese-Greene.  For  him  the 
police  brought  a  hand-cart,  and  carried 
his  body  to  the  mortuary.  In  his  pockets 
they  found  a  formula  for  a  color  filter  he 


had  ordered  that  morning.  And  in  his 
purse  was  all  the  money  he  possessed: 
one  shilling  and  ten  pence.  At  that  time 
it  was  the  price  of  a  cinema  seat. 

In  1887  Friese-Greene  stopped  the 
traffic  in  Piccadilly  by  projecting  his 
movie  picture  of  a  dancing  skeleton  onto 
a  shop  window.  In  1889  he  made  some  of 
the  first  films  on  celluloid,  and  experi- 
mented with  synchronized  sound.  In  1893 
he  made  a  color  film,  and  in  the  years 
which  followed  he  experimented  with 
chemicals,  X-rays,  lenses,  the  electrical 
transmission  of  images,  stereoscopic 
films,  and  much  else.  The  models  of  his 
inventions  cost  him  a  fortune. 


Brilliant  though  he  was,  he  had  no 
mind  for  business  and  was  continually 
bankrupt  and  poverty-stricken.  He  mar- 
ried twice,  and  brought  up  five  sons.  He 
could  talk  with,  and  feel  at  home  among, 
the  most  brilliant  scientists  of  his  time. 
But  he  didn't  know  how  to  benefit  com- 
mercially from  his  marvelous  inventions. 

British  Film  Industry  All-Out 

Friese-Greene's  life  contains  all  the  in- 
gredients that  are  essential  for  an  en- 
grossing, emotional  film.  And  The  Magic 
Box  is  additionally  interesting  because  of 
the  unique  way  in  which  it  was  produced. 
The  entire  British  film  industry  co-oper- 
ated in  the  most  inspiring  manner  to 
make  this  film  possible. 

A  non-profit  making  company  (Festive 
Film  Productions)  was  formed  to  pro- 
duce and  distribute  this  picture.  The  Brit- 
ish Government  advanced  a  loan  for  a 
script,  and  also  money  for  production, 
with    re-payment     deferred    until    after 

(Continued  on  page  38) 


iSJr«»9re5KSf«Kre«^^ 


to  the  thousands  of  craftsmen  whom 
we  have  been  privileged  to  serve 
with     fine     cinematic     equipment. 


C.  S.  ASHCRAFT   MANUFACTURING  CU. 

36-32  Thirty-eighth   St.  Long    Island   City   1,   N.   Y. 

ARC  LAMP  SPECIALISTS  FOR  MORE  THAN  A  QUARTER  CENTURY 


;s$rte^3re3re$^^  «3?*<3?*e!»*s3ii5^^ 


(Hmttngs  from  lift 

OFFICERS  and  MEMBERS  of 

LOCAL  NO.  678,  I.  A.  T.  S.  E. 

Laredo,  Texas 


Ifoltnaij  (HmtUtgg 

LOCAL  NO.  488 
I.    A.    T.    S.    E. 


HARRISBURG 


PENNA. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     December  1951 


27 


IN  THE 


SPOTLIGHT 


By 

HARRY 

SHERMAN 


EACH  YEAR  at  this  time  we  are  acutely  conscious  of  (and  embarrassed  by) 
the  desire  to  acknowledge  in  mere  words  our  indebtedness  to  those  I A  men 
who  by  their  constancy  have  made  our  otherwise  feeble  efforts  an  asset  to  craft 
progress  and  general  welfare.  True,  sometimes  we  felt  the  urge  to  lash  out  at 
those  and  that  which  we  felt  visited  an  injustice  upon  the  craft — and  we  were 
somewhat  on  the  biting  side;  at  other  times  we  probably  were  more  than  lavish 
in  our  praise  of  those  who,  we  felt,  were  deserving  of  not  only  our  personal  but 
also  of  craft  commendation. 

To  those  whom  we  have  been  privileged  to  serve  in  our  meagre  way  by  the 
few  notes  which  were  spread  upon  these  pages  over  the  past  year,  no  less  than 
to  those  whom  we  may  have  differed  with,  or  maybe  slighted  in  even  the  smallest 
measure,  we  say — 

®Ip  H^rg  lent  at  lEwrutljtng  5faut  mb  in  %  f  twcz  ta  (£am? 


•  Radio  and  television  sound-effect  tech- 
nicians of  the  American  Broadcasting 
Co.  chose,  with  only  one  dissenting  vote, 
the  IA  as  their  bargaining  agent,  replac- 
ing nabet,  which  had  represented  them 
until  the  expiration  of  their  contract 
October  31  last.  The  nlrb,  in  granting 
the  IA's  petition  for  an  election,  rejected 
nabet's  contention  that  the  sound-effect 
technicians  should  be  merged  into  an 
existing  unit  of  engineers. 

"The  primary  function  of  the  sound- 
effect  employes,"  the  Board  declared,  "is 
to  create  sound,  other  than  voice,  speech, 
and  music,  which  is  necessary  to  achieve 
realism  in   the   production   of  radio  and 

TIFFIN   LOCAL  267  HONORS  MEMBERS 


Diciuonu-studded  IA  lapel  pins  were  recently 
awarded  to  three  members  of  Local  267,  Tiffin, 
Ohio,  for  long  and  loyal  service  rendered  the 
Local.  Shown  above  (left  to  right)  are  the 
honored  members:  Henninger,  0  Connell,  Banks, 
and  at  the  extreme  right  is  Robert  E.  Shuff, 
who  made  the  presentations. 


television  programs.  They  perform  from 
prepared  scripts  in  front  of  microphones, 
as  do  actors,  singers  and  musicians.  The 
sound-effects  personnel  constitute  a  di- 
vision of  the  program  department,  which 
is  concerned  with  the  artistic  quality  of 
broadcasts.  The  engineering  department 
...  is  responsible  for  the  transmission  of 
the  artistic  effects  through  the  electronic 
process." 

•  Pierce  Webster,  charter  member  of 
Buffalo  Local  233,  won  two  grand  prizes 
in  the  1951  Newspaper  National  Snap- 
shot contest,  in  addition  to  two  special 
cash  awards  for  the  other  entries.  Web- 
ster has  made  amateur  photography  his 
hobby  for  the  past  few  years,  but  this 
was  the  first  time  he  entered  a  national 
contest. 

•  Three  members  of  Local  505,  Wal- 
tham,  Mass. — Herman  Lavoie,  Norman 
Bliss,  and  Arthur  Courtemanche — have 
been  placed  in  the  projection  room  of 
the  drive-in  theater  opened  recently  in 
"Shoppers  World,"  a  new  shopping 
center  in  Framingham,  Mass. 

•  Hye  Bossin,  managing  editor  of  Cana- 
dian Film  Weekly,  published  recently  the 
first  edition  of  the  Year  Book,  a  compre- 
hensive directory  of  information  on  every 
phase  of  the  industry  in  Canada.  This 
work  reflects  painstaking  research  on  the 
part  of  Hye  and  his  staff.  Congratula- 
tions for  a  fine  job. 


•  Stewart  Seifert,  Local  203,  Easton, 
Penna.,  and  secretary  of  the  Central 
Labor  Union  of  Northampton  and  War- 
ren Counties  (Penna.),  has  been  ap- 
pointed a  member  of  the  14-men  Labor 
group  on  the  Labor  Management  Com- 
mittee now  being  organized  in  Lehigh 
(Penna.)  Valley.  The  committee  will 
study,  among  other  things,  manpower 
problems  arising  from  the  defense  pro- 
gram and  recommendations  for  their  so- 
lution. 

Committeemen  were  recommended  to 
this  second  body  of  its  kind  in  Penna. 
by  the  National  Labor-Management 
Policy  Committee,  with  appointments 
made  by  U.  S.  Secretary  of  Labor  Mau- 
rice J.  Tobin  upon  the  recommendations 
of  D.  M.  Walker,  secretary  of  the  Penna. 
Dept.  of  Labor  and  Industry. 

•  We  were  very  glad  to  see  our  old 
friend  J.  E.  (Frenchy)  Biencourt,  Local 
78,  San  Antonio,  Texas,  on  his  recent 
visit  to  New  York.  Frenchy  and  his  wife 
were  delighted  with  the  mild  N.  Y. 
weather  (68°  at  the  time).  Note  to 
Frenchy:  It's  snowing  at  the  moment 
these  lines  are  written. 

•  At  its  regular  December  meeting, 
Local  366,  Westchester  County,  N.  Y., 
awarded  30-year  membership  pins  to 
Charles  Bantel,  James  Maloney,  Edward 
Mascaro,  Barney  Ostroff,  Frank  Pilegard, 
Max  Siegel  and  Joseph  Schappach.  Un- 
der the  able  leadership  of  Nat  Storch, 
president,  and  Joe  Monaco,  business  rep- 
resentative, Local  366  has  cemented  its 
reputation  as  a  well-organized  IA  unit. 

•  Lou  Walters,  Local  249,  Dallas,  Texas, 
now  heads  the  repair  department  for  the 
Dallas  branch  of  National  Theater  Sup- 
ply Co.  He  has  been  associated  with 
nts  for  20  years,  10  of  which  he  managed 
the  Cleveland  branch.  Lou  is  very  popu- 
lar with  IA  men  everywhere;  he  holds  a 
gold  life  membership  card  in  St.  Louis 
Local  143,  and  is  active  in  the  affairs  of 
the  Dallas  Local. 

•  We  were  always  a  firm  believer  in  the 
principle  that   family  differences  should 


28 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     December  1951 


be  settled  within  the  family,  preferably 
around  the  dinner  table.  Our  belief  in 
this  principle  was  strengthened  during 
the  past  month  when  we  were  able  to 
serve,  in  a  small  way,  a  group  of  swell 
guys  who  through  their  friendship  have 
eased  our  way  through  the  years. 

Our  old  and  good  friend,  Oscar  Neu, 
president  of  Neumade  Products,  was  on 
the  West  Coast  attending  the  tesma-teda 
and  the  SMPTE  conventions,  when  the 
AF  of  L  Machinists'  Union  sought  to  en- 
list the  aid  of  all  IA  Locals  in  support  of 
a  strike  against  the  Neumade  factory  in 
Buffalo.  Naturally,  Oscar  wasn't  avail- 
able to  straighten  out  the  misunderstand- 
ing. 

A  long-distance  phone  call  from  Bert 
Ryde,  business  representative  for  IA 
Local  233,  Buffalo,  set  the  conciliatory 
wheels  in  motion,  with  the  result  that 
Bert  and  two  representatives  of  IA  Stage 
Hands  Local  10,  Buffalo — Danny  Gill 
and  Charles  (Red)  Schaffer — and  Floyd 
Smith,  business  representative  for  the 
Machinists  Union  (and,  of  course,  yours 
truly)  met  with  Oscar  Neu  in  New  York 
City.  In  a  few  hours  a  seemingly  "im- 
possible" situation  was  settled  amicably. 

Our  AF  of  L  fellows,  Machinists  and 
IA  men,  made  a  very  fine  showing  dur- 
ing the  conference — and  we  can  say  no 
less  for  Oscar  Neu  and  Lee  Jones  of  the 
Neumade  Company,  and  for  their  at- 
torney, John  M.  Keating. 

•  George  Schaffer,  business  representa- 
tive for  Los  Angeles  Local  150,  was  suc- 
cessful in  organizing  two  non-union  thea- 
ters in  L.  A.,  and  obtained  contracts  call- 
ing for  substantial  wage  increases  for 
the  projectionists.  Intensive  picketing  by 
the  Local  did  the  trick. 

•  John  H.  Wald,  Sr.,  52,  business  repre- 
sentative for  the  past  22  years  of  Local 
434  Peoria,  111.,  died  recently  after  a 
short  illness.  He  was  prominent  in  Labor 
and  civic  circles  throughout  the  State, 
and  his  sudden  death  saddened  his  many 
friends. 

John  served  as  secretary  of  the  IA  9th 
District,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  was 


The 

late 

John  H. 

Wald 


president  of  the  Peoria  Trades  and  Labor 
Assembly.  He  was  active  in  the  manage- 
ment and  financing  of  the  AF  of  L  Labor 
Temple  in  Peoria,  and  served  as  man- 
ager of  the  Temple  and  as  secretary  of 
the  Temple  Association  for  more  than  15 
years.  In  1938  he  established  the  Labor 
Temple  News,  official  organ  of  the  Peoria 
Trades  and  Labor  Assembly,  and  served 
as  its  publisher  until  his  resignation  last 
January.  He  was  a  member  of  Temple 
Lodge  46,  AF  &  AM,  and  of  the  Elks 
Club. 

John  is  survived  by  his  father,  John 
H.,  of  Calif.;  a  son,  John  H.,  Jr.;  a 
daughter,  Mrs.  Ralph  Powell,  and  five 
grandchildren. 

•  New  York  Lodge  No.  1,  TMA,  held  its 
87th  annual  celebration  at  the  Carnival 
Room,  Hotel  Capitol,  New  York,  Novem- 
ber 17  last.  As  usual,  the  party  was  very 
well  attended  by  many  prominent  figures 
in  Labor  circles,  and,  also  as  usual,  it  was 
a  grand  party — a  tribute  to  Lodge  No.  1. 

•  The  41st  biennial  convention  of  the 
iatse  will  be  held  at  the  Auditorium, 
Minneapolis,  Minn.,  the  week  beginning 
August  4  next,  with  official  headquarters 
at  the  Nicollet  Hotel.  As  usual,  Execu- 
tive Board  meetings  will  be  held  the  week 
prior  to  the  opening  of  the  convention. 

•  Congratulations  to  Local  210,  Edmon- 
ton, Canada,  on  its  40th  anniversary. 
The  Local  celebrated  the  event  several 
weeks  ago  at  a  dinner  party  which  was 
attended  by  the  entire  membership  and 
a  number  of  invited  guests. 

•  This  department  would  somehow  seem 
incomplete  at  this  Holiday  season  if  it 


did  not  include  a  few  words  about  that 
good  and  great  friend  of  all  of  us  who 
live  with  and  by  the  process  of  project- 
ing motion  picture  film — P.  A.  McGuire. 
The  term  "Better  Projection  Pays"  was 
coined  and  broadcast  throughout  the 
world  by  Mac,  but  it  still  was  just  a 
phrase  until  he  followed  through  and 
breathed  life  and  vigor  into  it.  Amity- 
ville,  Long  Island,  N.  Y.,  is  where  Mac 
resides  these  days,  but  this  town  is  far 
too  small  to  contain  his  spirit.  He  be- 
longs to  us  because  he  gave  us  so  much 
of  himself.  Doff  your  hats,  fellows,  to 
our  friend — P.  A.  McGuire. 


P.   A.   McGuire's 

"Better  Projection 

Pays"  Does  Pay 

A  pioneer  projection 

man  merits  a  bow 

— and   more — 

from  the  craft. 


•  During  a  short  stay  in  Boston  several 
months  ago,  we  were  told  by  Joe  Nuzzolo 
and  Walter  Diehl,  president  and  business 
representative,  respectively,  of  Local  182, 
that  they  were  approached  by  several  ex- 
hibitors who  suggested  that  if  the  Union 
would  either  reduce  the  manpower  in 
their  theaters  or  take  a  cut  in  pay,  they 
would  reopen  their  shuttered  houses. 
The  reply  of  Nuzzolo  and  Diehl  was  a 
flat  "No  soap,"  based  on  the  fact  that 


1951 


Ljreetlnad  *J~i 


rotn 


MOTION  PICTURE  PROJECTIONISTS 
LOCAL  UNION  NO.  283 
Buffalo,  N.  Y. 


JOHN  J.  WALSH 

President 


ALBERT  F.  RYDE 

Business  Representative 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     December  1951 


29 


SrS?!^»^$^ffl«:^tt^^^ 


(gmttttjgB  to  %  (Erafi 

CENTURY  PROJECTOR  CORPORATION 

LARRY    DAVEE,   Sales   Manager 
NEW  YORK,  N.  Y. 


since  members  of  Local  182  did  not  bene- 
fit from  the  lush  theater  profits  during 
the  past  years,  they  do  not  feel  obligated 
to  take  a  cut  when  box-office  receipts  take 
a  drop. 

Although  these  exhibitors  protested 
their  inability  to  reopen  their  theaters 
unless  concessions  were  made  by  the 
Local,  their  cry  of  "Wolf"  fell  on  deaf 
ears,  and  when  the  theaters  REOPENED 
shortly  afterwards,  it  was  with  the  same 
manpower  and  pay  as  formerly. 

•  Paul  L.  Ferry,  47,  former  president  of 
Pittsburgh  Local  171,  succumbed  to  a 
heart  attack  last  month.  Paul  took  an 
active  part  in  Local  171  affairs,  serving 
on  various  committees,  and  for  many 
years  was  a  delegate  to  IA  conventions. 

•  Local  163,  Louisville,  Ky.,  lost  three 
games  in  the  recent  AF  of  L  Bowling 
League  contest  with  Carpenters  Local  64. 
C.  Baker,  with  500,  was  high  for  the 
winning  team,  and  J.  Flaherty,  Local  163 
business  representative,  was  high  for  the 
losing  team  with  486.  Better  luck  next 
time. 

•  Edwin  W.  Anthony,  president  for  the 
past  23  years  of  Local  223,  Providence, 
R.  I.,  died  of  a  lingering  illness  at  the 
Rhode  Island  Hospital  on  Friday,  No- 
vember 23.  Edwin  served  Local  223  con- 
tinuously since  1928;  prior  to  that  he 
was  secretary.  He  was  highly  regarded 
by  all  who  knew  him  for  his  many  fine 
qualities. 

•  When  the  Aster  Theater  in  Minne- 
apolis, Minn.,  changed  ownership,  the 
new  management  asked  projectionists' 
Local  219  for  a  cut  in  manpower — from 
a  two-man  to  a  one-man  shift.  A  con- 
tract with  the  former  owner  of  the  thea- 
ter, the  Minnesota  Amusement  Co.,  call- 
ing for  two-men  shifts,  plus  one  relief 
man,  was  still  in  effect  when  the  conces- 
sion by  the  new  management  was  asked. 


Failing  to  receive  the  cut  they  demanded, 
the  new  owners  closed  the  theater.  The 
officials  of  Local  219  are  to  be  congratu- 
lated for  their  determined  stand,  as  it  is 
a  well  established  fact  that  once  such  con- 
cessions are  granted  they  set  a  precedent 
for  further  cuts. 

•  Congratulations  to  the  officials  of 
Local  224,  Washington,  D.  C.  on  their 
victory  over  Washington  exhibitors  who 
sought  to  eliminate  the  two-man  projec- 
tion room  regulation.  The  appeal  of  the 
exhibitors  to  the  D.  C.  Board  of  Commis- 
sioners to  drop  this  regulation  was  based 
on  the  widespread  use  of  acetate  film. 
This  decision  makes  sense  to  anybody 
who  knows  anything  about  the  motion 
picture  business,  because  nitrate  film  will 
be  in  circulation  in  one  way  or  another 
for  many  years  to  come — a  fact  which  is 
readily  admitted  by  the  manufacturers 
of  film  stock. 

True,  the  manufacture  of  nitrate  stock 


has  been  discontinued,  but  there  is  plenty 
of  it  in  the  laboratories  which  will  be  in 
use  for  years  to  come.  Also,  there  are 
thousands  of  reissues  that  are  released 
from  time  to  time,  and  until  such  time  as 
these  are  taken  out  of  circulation  or  are 
replaced  by  prints  on  acetate  stock,  the 
fire  hazard  in  theater  projection  rooms 
will  never  be  eliminated. 

Ruling  of  the  Commissioners  in  favor 
of  Local  224  that  the  two-man  regulation 
be  continued,  sets  an  important  precedent 
and  will,  no  doubt,  affect  the  plans  of 
many  exhibitors  throughout  the  country 
who  were  contemplating  similar  moves. 

•  Walter  F.  Diehl,  business  representa- 
tive for  Boston  Local  182,  was  appointed 
by  John  J.  Delmonte,  Mass.  Commis- 
sioner of  Labor,  to  serve  on  the  minimum 
wage  board  as  employes'  representative. 

•  We  were  very  much  interested  in  a 
trade  press  report  that  United  Para- 
mount Theaters  had  entered  into  negotia- 
tions with  the  Theater  Guild  to  present 
a  large-screen  telecast  of  the  Broadway 
show,  "St.  Joan,"  by  George  Bernard 
Shaw,  not  only  in  Paramount  Theaters 
but  also  in  other  non-competitive  theaters 
that  are  equipped  for  large-screen  Tv. 


Reason's  (Smtittojs 

CLAYTON  PRODUCTS  CO. 

3145  TIBBETT  AVENUE 
NEW  YORK  63,  N.  Y. 


dr^ttttgs  from 

LOCAL  NO.  257 
I.    A.    T.    S.    E. 

Ottawa,  Ont.  Canada 


ifflltoag  (&twtm$B 

PROJECTIONISTS 
LOCAL  NO.  376 

Syracuse,  N.  Y. 


^euAon  5  Ljreetincid 

PROJECTIONISTS  LOCAL  NO.  173 
I.  A.  T.  S.  E. 

* 

TORONTO,  ONT.  CANADA 


30 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     December  1951 


Eidophor  Theater-Tv  System 

In   Which  Some  Pertinent  Questions  Are  Posed 

GLOWING  reports  bearing  on  the  high  degree  of  efficiency  and  operating 
practicability  of  the  Swiss-developed  Eidophor  theater-Tv  system  continue 
to  flow  from  Zurich  in  the  form  of  "rave"  comments  by  officials  of  20th  Century- 
Fox,  which  has  extensive  world  distribution  rights  for  the  system,  and  other 
technical  personnel  who  have  witnessed  Eidophor  demonstrations. 

Technical  personnel  of  both  General  Electric  Co.  and  Columbia  Broadcasting 
System  have  been  extremely  enthusiastic  about  the  Eidophor  system,  which 
attitude  is  understandable  in  view  of  General  Electric's  deal  to  manufacture 
Eidophor  equipments  here  in  the  United  States,  and,  on  the  part  of  CBS, 
because  of  20th  Century-Fox's  plan  to  use  the  CBS  mechanical  color  Tv  unit. 

Technical  data  anent  the  Eidophor  system  has  been  hidden  under  a  blanket 
of  secrecy  to  date;  but  IP  is  privileged  to  present,  as  a  publishing  "first,"  the 
appended  information  which  is  the  result  of  painstaking  investigation. 


How  the  Eidophor  Works 

The  Eidophor  theater  Tv  process  is 
understood  to  work  in  the  following  way : 

1.  An  electron  beam,  much  like  that 
in  an  ordinary  Tv  picture  tube,  falls  on 
a  thin  flat  layer  of  a  tacky  or  viscous 
fluid. 

2.  The  fluid  forms  a  thin  layer  which 
has  been  spread  on  a  flat  circular  glass 
sheet. 

3.  The  glass  sheet  is  rotated  around 
its  center  under  the  electron  beam,  by 
means  of  a  special  motor.  Thus  the  beam 
constantly  strikes  new  parts  of  the  fluid. 

4.  Where  the  electron  beam  hits  the 
fluid  layer,  the  fluid  is  heated,  expands, 
and  forms  slightly  raised  points  or 
ridges.  These  ridges  thus  produce  a  "pic- 
ture" in  the  fluid,  in  low  relief  (that 
is,  with  small  peaks  and  valleys). 

5.  As  the  glass  disc  rotates,  after  each 
"picture"  in  the  fluid  has  been  projected, 
rollers  smooth  the  fluid  layer. 

Refrigerating  Unit;  Illumination 

6.  The  fluid  on  the  glass  plate  may 
also  be  cooled  by  a  refrigerating  system 
connected  to  the  outside  of  the  Eidophor 
tube. 

7.  All  of  the  parts  aforementioned 
(except  the  refrigerating  equipment) 
are  within  a  vacuum  tube,  and  hence  are 
kept  at  very  low  pressure. 

8.  A  powerful  arc  is  provided  as  a 
light  source.  Its  light  passes  through  a 
novel  and  unusual  lens  system,  and  spe- 
cial grids,  producing  what  is  known  as 
the  "schlieren"  effect.  By  means  of  this 
effect  the  light  passing  through  the  fluid 
"picture"  is  modulated  or  controlled,  and 
an  enlarged  picture  is  thrown  on  the  the- 
ater screen. 

CBS-Eidophor  Color  System 

The  CBS-Eidophor  color  process  is 
understood  to  work  as  follows: 

9.  When  thus  used,  with  the  CBS 
field-sequential  method  of  color  Tv,  the 


Eidophor  presumably  employs  moving 
color  filters  which  are  placed  in  the  arc 
light  beam  and  driven  by  means  of  a  syn- 
chronous motor. 

10.  The  CBS-Eidophor  color  system 
accordingly  resembles  in  a  general  way 
the  CBS  color-Tv  system  for  the  home. 

Pertinent  Technical  Questions 

The  following  questions,  in  relation  to 
the  above  numbered  sections,  will  natu- 
rally occur  to  the  projectionist,  the  serv- 
iceman, and  other  technicians : 

1,  2,  3,  4  above.  How  easily  is  an  Eido- 
phor picture  tube  installed,  adjusted,  and 
kept  in  operation?  Can  the  fluid  on  the 
rotating  glass  disc  be  depended  on  to 
stand  up  under  steady  and  heavy  duty? 
Is  adjustment  of  the  "picture"  formed  in 
the  fluid  by  the  electron  beam  thoroughly 


stable,  or  is  it  critical  and  variable? 

5.  above.  Is  the  smoothing  of  the  fluid 
layer  a  simple  and  dependable  matter? 
How  long  is  the  fluid  usable  under  load? 

6,  7  above.  How  much  of  a  job  is  the 
maintenance  of  the  refrigerating  system? 
How  long  must  the  refrigerating  system 
be  running  before  the  Eidophor  tube  can 
be  used?  Must  the  refrigerating  system 
be  adjusted  to  take  care  of  average  pic- 
ture brightness,  total  projection  time,  or 
room  temperature? 

Operating  at  this  low  pressure,  will  the 
oil  vaporize  and  very  quickly  contaminate 
the  electron  gun  by  reason  of  condensa- 
tion? 

Optical  System  Complexities 

8.  above.  Is  the  optical  system  of  the 
Eidophor  projector  more  complex  than 
that  in  a  standard  theater  film  projector? 
Is  it  more  complex  than  that  in  the  usual 
Schmidt  theater-Tv  projector?  Could  a 
projectionist  be  expected  to  have  the  time 
and  skill  to  keep  it  clean  and  in  perfect 
adjustment?  In  the  sooty  air  of  the  aver- 
age city,  and  in  the  usual  projection 
room,  how  often  must  the  optical  system 
be  cleaned  and  adjusted? 

5,  6,  7,  8  above.  If  anything  goes  wrong 
in  the  Eidophor  tube  itself,  or  in  its  ac- 
companying gear  and  optical  system, 
how  long  would  it  take  a  projectionist, 
or  a  serviceman,  to  fix  it?  Must  Eidophor 
equipment  be  available  in  duplicate  for 
dependable  theater  operation? 

Requisites  for  Color  Pictures 

9.  above.  During  the  recent  color-Tv 
arguments  before  the  FCC,  it  was 
claimed  that  the  CBS  color  system  pro- 
duced only  40%  as  much  fine  detail  as 


i^ompiimentd  of  the  Reason 

PROJECTIONISTS  LOCAL  NO.  199 

DETROIT  MICHIGAN 

Beit    WiskeS  for  1952 


LOCAL  NO.  314 
I.    A.    T.     S.    E. 

SCHENECTADY,  N.  Y. 


OFFICERS  and  MEMBERS 

of 

LOCAL   NO.   396 

Binghamton,   N.  Y. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


December  1951 


31 


m^i^m^^^^^s^£&i^i^s^i^^s^t^: 

^^^^^^^^^S^^S^&^i^^S^S^^ 

ivovx 

I^Dltiiag  d£mtt«00 

LOCAL  NO.  273 
1.    A.  T.   S.    E. 

LOCAL  NO.  762 
1.    A.    T.    S.    E. 

New  Haven 

Conn. 

San 

Luis  Obispo                          Calif. 

\ss^^s^m§s^^^^ssimm§si^m^§^ 

^mmm^m^^smm^m^^^s^mm^ 

that  available  from  the  opposing  simul- 
taneous system.  Will  this  also  apply  to 
the  CBS-Eidophor  theater  color-Tv  sys- 
tem? And,  if  so,  will  not  CBS-Eidophor 
color-Tv  networks  have  to  provide  a 
wider  frequency  band  and  therefore 
more  costly  circuits  (which  might  not  be 
obtainable. 

9.  above.  It  also  was  claimed  in  the 
FCC  hearings  that  the  CBS  system 
showed  flicker,  color  break-up,  and  col- 
ored action  fringes.  This  was  stated  to  be 
particularly  so  unless  dim  pictures  were 
accepted.  Will  these  effects  cause  eye- 
strain, disagreeable  color  flashes,  and 
colored  edges  on  rapidly-moving  objects 
in  the  CBS-Eidophor  system? 

1-9  above.  How  will  the  first  cost  of 
the  Eidophor  equipment,  compare  with 
that  of  the  competitive  RCA,  Paramount, 
General  Precision  Labs  and  other  sys- 
tems? And  how  will  the  maintenance 
cost  of  these  systems  compare? 

It  may  be  assumed  that  the  foregoing 
and  other  technical  questions  will  be 
answered  before  the  Eidophor  system  is 
offered  for  general  distribution;  they  are 
posed  here  in  the  interest  of  maintaining 
a  balance  between  unsupported  general 
statements  and  fact. 


Westrex  Disc  Recorders  for  'Voice' 

The  International  Broadcasting  Division  of 
the  U.  S.  State  Department  has  completed 
negotiations  with  Westrex  Corp.  to  acquire 
22  W.  E.  Type  RA-1389  disk  recording  ma- 
chines, for  use  by  the  "Voice  of  America" 
to  cut  master  records  from  which  a  number 
of  transcriptions  will  be  made.  These  trans- 
criptions will  be  broadcast  by  transmitters 
operated  by  the  "Voice"  both  here  and 
abroad.  The  recording  machines  are 
equipped  as  complete  units  with  synchro- 
nous motors  and  33  1/3-78  r.p.m.  recorder- 
holder,  2A  lateral  recorders,  lateral  record- 
ing equalizers,  5-B  amplifiers,  and  the  Davis 
drive  flutter-suppressor. 


'Depth  of  Focus-Again 

Recent  reports  from  Hollywood  anent 
"new"  processes  and  procedures  which 
are  warranted  to  achieve  startling  pho- 
tographic effects  at  no  extra  cost  in- 
clude, among  other  aberrations  relating 
to  three-dimensional  movies  and  such, 
that  old  chestnut  anent  so-called  depth 
of  focus.    Such  effusions  relating   to 
getting  something  from  that  which  isn't 
and  never  was  prompt  the  publication 
here  of  a  truism  which  is  not  subject 
to  change  on  the  basis  of  mere  whim. 
Changing  the  focus  of  a  lens  during  the 
exposure  is  an  old  procedure.  It  is  worth 
considering  just  what  happens  when  the 
lens  focus  is  shifted,  during  the  exposure, 
from  foreground  to  background. 

When  the  lens  is  focused  on  the  fore- 
ground, it  is  self-evident  that  the  fore- 
ground is  in  sharp  focus.  If  the  back- 
ground lies  outside  of  the  usual  depth  of 
the  lens  at  the  stop  which  is  used,  it  is 
equally  evident  that  it  will  be  out  of  focus. 
The  film,  which  has  no  particular  dis- 
crimination or  selection  ability  in  itself, 
will  accordingly  photograph — or  start  to 
photograph — a  sharp  foreground  and  a 
blurred  background. 

If  the  lens  is  now  shifted  so  that  the 
focused  zone  moves  toward  the  back- 
ground, the  image  of  the  foreground  will 
get  progressively  softer  and  more  fuzzy, 
and  the  image  of  the  background  will  be- 
come increasingly  sharper.  When  the  lens 
is  finally  focused  on  the  background  at 
the  end  of  the  exposure,  in  this  simple 
case,  the  background  will  be  in  sharp 
focus  but  the  foreground  will  be  badly 
blurred. 

Picture  is  Nowhere  Sharp 

The  photographed  picture  at  each  dis- 
tance from  the  lens  will  therefore  include, 
first,  one  sharp  but  brief  component  and 


an  infinite  number  of  increasingly  soft 
and,  finally,  very  fuzzy  components.  This 
will  hold  for  all  distances  from  the  lens. 
So  that  the  picture  will  be  nowhere  sharp. 

It  is  easy  enough  to  increase  depth  of  a 
lens  by  spoiling  picture  quality.  But  the 
projected  pictures  are  enlarged  hundreds 
of  times  on  the  screen  in  the  theater,  and 
the  best  lens  quality  is  just  good  enough 
for  clear  and  sharp  reproduction.  Except 
where  soft  and  foggy  effects  are  deliber- 
ately desired  in  special  cases,  enlarging 
very  soft  film  is  the  wrong  way  to  produce 
good  pictures  in  the  theater. 

There  is  no  question  that  increased 
depth  is  highly  desirable  in  motion  pic- 
tures. But  the  way  to  get  it  is  not  to  9tart 
by  throwing  out  the  most  important  char- 
acteristic of  good  pictures,  namely,  their 
sharp  and  clear  quality. 


Supersonics  to  the   Nth   Degree 

Supersonic  free-air  telemetered  tests  are 
now  carried  on  at  Edwards  Air  Force  Base 
in  Muroc  Dry  Lake,  Calif.,  where  a  rocket- 
propelled  sled  carries  an  entire  airplane 
model  or  component  parts  faster  than  sound 
along  a  precision  track.  Radio  instruments 
feed  all  sorts  of  data  to  computers  and  re- 
corders. Later  these  data  are  analyzed  for 
clues  to  better  and  faster  aircraft. 

The  free-air  track  is  superior  to  a  wind- 
tunnel  for  supersonic  research  because  in 
free-air  there  are  no  confining  walls  to  reflect 
the  shock-wave  back  to  the  airplane  and  so 
confuse  results.  Stopping  the  rocket  at  the 
end  of  the  track  becomes  quite  a  problem 
when  the  rocket  travels  at  speeds  equal  to  a 
rifle  bullet.  Engineers  constructed  a  water 
trough  2000  feet  long.  A  scoop  built  into 
the  bottom  of  the  test  sled  dips  up  water 
from  the  trough  and  gradually  slows  it  to 
a    stop. 


What  do  Researchers  Do? 

Research  labs  in  the  general  field  devote 
10  to  20%  of  their  work  to  fundamental 
studies,  40  to  60%  to  development  of  new 
products  and  processes,  30  to  40%  to  im- 
provement of  existing  products  and  processes, 
reports  J.  A.  Leermakers,  Eastman  Kodak 
Co.  Keeping  laboratory  and  company  peo- 
ple informed  of  progress  requires  continuous 
informal  discussion,  making  written  reports 
available,  and  holding  two  kinds  of  confer- 
ences: (1)  Discussions  of  development  work, 
attended  by  research,  manufacturing,  and 
sometimes  sales  departments.  (2)  Meetings 
of  laboratory  members  to  report  progress  to 
their  fellows. 


d5est    Wishes  from. 

MOVING  PICTURE  PROJECTIONISTS 
LOCAL     UNION      NO.      181 

BALTIMORE,  MD. 


ifolftag  (grating* 

LOCAL  NO.  10 
I.    A.    T.    S.    E. 

Buffalo,  N.  Y. 


MOVING   PICTURE   MACHINE 

OPERATORS'  LOCAL  NO.  182 

Boston,  Mass. 


32 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     December  1951 


Fuzzy  Frames'  in  Color  Prints 


In  a  letter  to  Editor  R.  H.  Cricks  of 
the  Ideal  Kinema  (London,  England), 
a  British  projectionist  poses  a  very 
interesting  question  anent  Technicolor 
prints.  The  letter  follows: 

"A  few  words  as  to  how  Technicolor 
prints  acquire  their  "fuzzy  frames." 
The  enclosed  cutting  was  taken  from 
a  .  .  .  trailer  which  had  been  stored 
in  a  damp  box  outside.  It  was  dam- 
aged by  actual  drips  of  water,  and  the 
effect  in  running  was  that  the  .  .  . 
picture  appeared  to  go  out  of  focus  for 
a  brief  period  every  2  feet  or  so. 


By  ROBERT  A.  MITCHELL 

NOT  mentioned  in  my  articles  on  color 
was  the  mythical  phenomenon  of 
moisture  causing  the  "three  layers"  of 
emulsion  in  Technicolor  prints  expanding 
in  various  degrees,  thus  presumably  re- 
sulting in  mismatch  of  the  Yellow,  Cyan, 
and  Magenta  images. 

This  British  fellow's  trouble  is  not  what 
he  thinks  it  is.  He  either  has  a  print 
which  came  from  the  Technicolor  plant 
in  defective  condition,  or  else  the  print 
he  was  using  suffered  a  bad  case  of  curl, 
and  hence  of  focus-drift.  The  fact  that 
the  Technicolor  print  referred  to  was  a 
short  trailer  inclines  me  to  the  latter  view. 

Trailers  as  a  general  rule  are  wound 
very  tightly  and  with  the  inner  convolu- 
tion only  about  an  inch  in  diameter.  This 
makes  for  severe  buckling,  particularly 
when  the  print  is  wound  up  in  this  man- 
ner when  brand  new,  when  it  is  made  on 
acetate  stock,  and  when  it  has  been  ex- 
posed to  moisture,  causing  the  gelatine  to 
expand  slightly,  thus  "setting"  the  curl 
in  the  film. 

"Actual  drips  of  water"  soaking  into 
the  roll  of  film  can  conceivably  produce 
very  annoying  film-buckling — but  this  has 
nothing  to  do  with  mismatching  of  the 
three  superimposed  images  of  Techni- 
color. 

Emulsion  Same  as  in  B-&-W 

The  emulsion  of  Technicolor  prints  is 
a  single  layer  of  thin  bonding  gelatine 
overlaid  with  the  regular  silver-contain- 
ing gelatine  emulsion  for  printing  the 
sound  track  and  frame  lines.  In  short, 
Technicolor  emulsion  is  exactly  the  same 
as  regular  black-and-white  emulsion.  In 
printing  Technicolor  it  was  formerly  the 
practice  to  print  the  colors  in  this  order: 
Yellow,  Magenta,  and  Cyan.  The  dyes 
have  a  tendency  to  penetrate  to  a  certain 
extent  the  dyes  printed  first — due  to  the 


*  "The   Magic    of   Color,"   in   five  installments: 
IP  for  May-Sept.,  1951,  inclusive. 


"I  suggest  that  the  three  layers  ex- 
pand in  dampness  and  shrink  in  vary- 
ing degrees  on  drying  out,  causing  the 
three  images  to  become  mismatched. 
If  the  cuttings  which  you  receive  from 
time  to  time  compare  with  the  en- 
closed, then  there  can  be  no  doubt  as 
to  the  cause." 

Bearing  on  this  question  is  the  ap- 
pended commentary  by  the  author  of 
the  recently  concluded  series  of  arti- 
cles on  color  motion  pictures  which 
appeared  in  these  columns.* 

fact  that  the  dyes  are  formulated  with 
chemicals  having  a  strong  affinity  for 
hardened  gelatine — and  hence  some  of 
the  Magenta  penetrates  the  Yellow  to  give 
Vermilion-Red,  which  can  be  seen  by 
scraping  off  the  outer  layer  of  Cyan. 

A  few  years  ago  the  Magenta  and  Cyan 
were  transposed  in  the  order  of  printing, 
resulting  in  a  bottom  layer  of  Emeraude- 
Green  which  becomes  visible  when  the 
outer  layer  of  Magenta  is  scraped  off. 

The  Cause  of  'Fuzziness' 

It  is  true,  therefore,  that  the  three  sepa- 
rate colors  exist  in  ill-defined  layers  in 
Technicolor  film;  but  the  total  thickness 
of  these  layers  is  probably  only  slightly 
greater  than  the  thickness  of  reduced 
silver  in  black-and-white  film.  The  defi- 
nition of  black-and  white  would  therefore 
suffer  almost  as  much  as  that  of  Techni- 
color if  any  slippage  between  top  and 
bottom  strata  of  film  emulsion  should 
occur.  This,  however,  is  a  phenomenon  I 
have  yet  to  find  even  with  water-soaked 
film.  (Remember  that  all  prints  are  con- 
siderably water-soaked  between  printer 
and  projector.) 


Now  for  the  matter  of  "fuzzy"  Techni- 
color, a  condition  which  bedevils  every 
projectionist  at  times.  It  might  be  thought 
that  the  Technicolor  printing  dyes  "run" 
or  spread  a  trifle  in  the  gelatine  of  the 
positive  film.  They  do.  When  images  are 
printed  from  brand-new  matrices,  or 
printing  films  having  the  very  sharpest 
photographic  definition,  microscopic  ex- 
aminations reveals  that  the  Magenta  dye 
"spreads"  only  slightly  more  than  the 
natural  graininess  of  panchromatic  nega- 
tive, the  Cyan  spreads  about  two  times 
more  than  the  Magenta,  and  the  Yellow 
about  three  or  four  times  more  than  the 
Magenta. 

In  other  words,  Magenta  spreads  the 
least  and  Yellow  the  most.  But  this 
spreading  of  the  dyes  in  the  gelatine  of 
the  positive  film  is  not  enough  to  be  vis- 
ible in  the  projected  picture  from  even 
the  front  seats  of  the  theater.  Much  more 
serious  are  two  other  causes  of  fuzzy 
Technicolor. 

First  is  the  matter  of  actual  misalign- 
ment of  the  three  color  images  during 
printing  of  a  positive  in  natural  color 
from  three  separate  matrix  films.  Very 
rarely  does  a  Technicolor  print  having 
poor  registration  come  our  way.  In  fact, 
most  of  those  we  have  suffered  through 
were  printed  in  England — especially 
those  carrying  in  addition  to  the  three 
color  images  a  fourth  superimposed 
image  in  silver.  The  silver  image  was 
presumably  added  to  maintain  correct 
spectral  balance  in  low-key  scenes.  How- 
ever successful  it  may  have  been  in  this 
regard,  it  sure  ruined  the  focus.  G.  B. 
Shaw's  "Cleopatra"  is  a  horrible  example. 

Printing  From  Worn  Matrices 

Next  comes  the  most  serious  defect  of 
all — printing    from    matrix    films    which 


MOVING  PICTURE  PROJECTIONISTS 

LOCAL   NO.   486   I.  A.  T.  S.  E. 

Hartford,  Conn. 


from 
PROJECTIONISTS 
LOCAL  NO.  521 

Long  Beach,  Calif. 


^hrolidau    \_jreetinas 

PROJECTIONISTS  LOCAL  NO.  650 

Westchester  County 
New  York 


^mzania  (testings 

from 

LOCAL  NO.  414 
Wichita,  Kans. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     December  1951 


33 


have  exceeded  their  useful  printing  life. 
In  the  old  days  it  was  possible  to  get 
about  50  prints  from  each  set  of  matrices. 
For  more  prints  new  sets  of  matrices  had 
to  be  prepared  from  the  original  nega- 
tives. The  dye-soaked  relief  images  of 
matrix  films  seem  to  get  fuzzier  and 
fuzzier  as  more  and  more  prints  are  made 
from  them.  Naturally,  a  worn-out  set  of 
matrices  produces  a  print  so  blurry  as 
to  annoy  even  patrons  in  the  back  rows. 
It  is  no  secret  that  Technicolor  does 
not  have  such  sharp  images  as  the  best 
black-and-white  prints;  but  the  process 
is  being  improved  constantly.  In  its  pres- 
ent state  of  perfection  (in  the  United 
States  at  least)  it  often  outstrips  black- 
and-white  in  the  matter  of  sharp  images. 
On  the  whole,  Technicolor  is  eminently 
satisfactory  and  well-managed  here.  Pa- 
trons never  complain  about  Technicolor 
quality,  whereas  squawks  sometimes  arise 
as  to  the  graininess,  fuzziness,  lack  of 
good  contrast,  etc.,  of  black-and-white 
prints. 


Trad  Theater  Tv — Motiograph 

Motiograph,  Inc.,  manufacturers  of 
quality  35-  and  16-mm  sound  projection 
equipment,  is  sponsoring  an  all-out  pro- 
motional campaign  to  acquaint  the 
theater  field  with  the  merits  of  the 
Trad  direct-projection  theater  Tv  system. 
An  elaborate  booklet  in  color  which 
gives  not  only  the  technical  low-down 
but  also  the  transcontinental  relay  facili- 
ties available  to  potential  users  has  been 
sent  to  every  theater  in  the  U.  S.  and 
Canada. 

The  Trad  system  is  the  lowest-priced 
in  the  theater  Tv  sweepstakes,  its  price 
of  $8,950  including  a  one-year  guarantee 
against  failure  of  any  component  subject 
to  normal  usage.  Motiograph  states  that 
full  details  of  the  Trad  system  will  be 
made  available  shortly,  with  particular 
emphasis  being  placed  on  the  design  and 
operational  features  which  apply  directly 
to  the  projectionist. 


Projection  Men  Named  SMPTE  Fellows 

Projection  field  notables  who  have  been 
named  Fellows  of  the  SMPTE  are  Clarence 
S.  Ashcraft,  of  the  lamp  manufacturing  firm 
of  the  same  name ;  Bill  DeVry,  president  and 
E.  W.  D'Arcy,  chief  engineer,  of  the  DeVry 
Corp.,  and  Ed  Stifle,  of  Eastman  Kodak  film 
department. 


NPA  Conservation  Appeal 

Under  the  general  heading  "Conserva- 
tion of  Film  and  Equipment  is  Urgent!" 
the  National  Production  Authority  has 
mailed  to  thousands  of  projection  rooms 
an  attractive  colored  folder  urging  con- 
servation on  all  fronts.  Excerpts  from 
the  folder  are  appended  hereto. 

The  disregard  of  proper  maintenance 
has  been  resulting  in  excessive  dam- 
age to  film  and  excessive  demands  for 
replacement  parts. 

REMEMBER — Projectors  are  made  of 
critically  needed  materials.  They 
MUST  be  properly  maintained  and 
serviced  FREQUENTLY.  Neglect  re- 
sults in  needless  waste,  poor  projec- 
tion, audience  hazard,  and  expensive 
film  damage. 

YOU  CAN  HELP 
REDUCE  THIS  WASTE! 

Use  the  following  checklist.  It's  for 
your  own  protection ! 

CHECK— 

Sprockets  frequently.   Hooked  sprock- 
ets, undercutting  of  teeth,  and  tooth 
breakage  destroy  film. 
Tension  springs,  film  guides  and  strip- 
pers for  wear. 

Take-up  and  feed  tensions  for  proper 
adjustment. 


Magazine  rollers  for  wear.    Jamming 
is  common  when  they  are  neglected. 
Bearings,  gear  trains,  and  other  pre- 
cision-made parts. 

Keep  all  moving  parts  lubricated 
properly. 

CLEAN- 
UPPER   MAGAZINE,   fire   trap,  and 
rollers.    Remove  all  dust,  film   frag- 
ments, excess  oil. 

PROJECTOR  HEAD.  Remove  dust, 
film  residue,  oil  drippings.  Make  sure 
that  rollers  and  gate  and  tension 
shoes  are  thoroughly  clean. 
OPTICAL  SYSTEM.  Get  the  lenses 
clean  and  in  proper  alignment. 
SOUND  HEAD.  Be  sure  it  is  immacu- 
late throughout. 

LOWER  MAGAZINE,  fire  trap,  and 
rollers.  Remove  all  dust,  film  frag- 
ments, excess  oil. 

LAMP  HOUSES.  Their  neglect  is  an 
inexcusable  source  of  trouble  and 
waste.  Clean  reflectors,  condensers, 
rails,  worms,  gear  tracks,  lugs,  and 
carbon  holders.  Take  out  drippings 
ancf  put  them  in  your  special  con- 
tainer for  salvage. 

START  USING  THIS  CHECKLIST 
TODAY!  THEN  KEEP  ON  USING  IT! 


Pulse  Rates  and  Death  Rates 
By  DR.  M.  H.  MANSON 

Medical  Director,  Amer.  Tel  &  Tel. 

When  a  pretty  nurse  takes  a  man's 
pulse,  chances  are  the  patient  is  more 
interested  in  her  big  blue  eyes  than  in 
his  pulse  rate.  Few  people  think  that 
a  "fast"  or  "slow"  pulse  is  of  any  great 
importance.  Actually,  as  the  speedom- 
eter which  indicates  how  fast  your  heart 
is  working,  your  pulse  beat  is  some- 
thing to  watch  pretty  carefully. 

At  Johns  Hopkins  University  in  Bal- 
timore. Dr.  Raymond  Pearl  has  dis- 
covered through  study  of  thousands  of 
pulse  records  that  there  is  a  definite  re- 


LOCAL   NO.   337 
I.    A.    T.    S.    E; 

UTICA  NEW  YORK 


—  Glr?rttti00  — 

LOCAL  NO.  224 
I.  A.  T.  S.  E. 

WASHINGTON  D.  C. 


lationship  between  pulse  rate  and 
length  of  life.  Long-lived  persons  aver- 
aged two  fewer  heart  beats  a  minute 
than  shortlived  persons.  The  healthy 
heart  in  an  adult  pumps  about  70  times 
a  minute,  producing  a  pulse  rate  of 
70  beats  a  minute.  This  adds  up  to  4,200 
beats  an  hour,  100,800  a  day,  36,792,000 
a  year.  Nine  to  ten  tons  of  blood  go 
through  the  blood  vessels,  day  in  and 
day  out. 

Although  you  can't  give  the  heart  a 
full-time  vacation,  you  can  do  much  to 
ease  its  load.  Suppose,  for  example,  you 
cut  down  on  your  daily  pace  enough  to 
save  the  heart  two  beats  a  minute  over 
a  year's  time.  This  would  actually  give 
your  heart  the  equivalent  of  a  ten-day 
vacation.  And  a  good  night's  sleep  — 
eight  hours — will  save  about  7.000  beats 
a  day. 


•  Out-of-town  visitors  to  IP  officers: 
H.  Paul  Shay,  Local  289,  Elmira,  N.  Y., 
and  secretary  of  the  10th  District;  Stew- 
art Seifert,  Local  203,  Easton,  Penna., 
and  J.  E.  (Frenchy)  Biencourt,  business 
representative  for  San  Antonio  Local  78. 


34 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     December  1951 


Movies  Out  of  Doghouse, 
Says  Big  Biz  Organ 

FROM  Business  Week,  that  most  com- 
petent observer  of  and  reporter  on  the 
travails  of  big  business,  is  culled  the 
appended  commentary  on  the  economic 
health  of  the  movie  industry  (circa  Nov. 
15  this  year) .  One  should  bear  in  mind 
that  the  editors  of  this  continuing  com- 
pendium of  men,  money  and  affairs  are 
people  of  sharp  perception  whose  ears 
are  attuned  to  the  emanations  from  lower 
Manhattan — Wall  Street,  to  be  specific. 
Here's  how  they  see  it: 

The  jingling  at  Hollywood's  box-office  has 
caught  Wall  Street's  ear.  Movie  attendance, 
which  started  picking  up  this  summer,  has 
leveled  off  at  an  encouraging  figure,  despite 
the  return  of  the  top  Tv  shows  to  provide 
competition.  In  recent  weeks,  quite  a  few 
brokerage  houses  have  put  out  special  mar- 
ket letters,  suggesting  that  their  customers 
should  think  seriously  about  buying  the 
movie  shares  as  a  good  speculation. 

The  argument  runs  like  this:  movie  shares 
appear  undervalued,  compared  with  the  mar- 
ket as  a  whole.  Many  of  them  yield  from  8 
to  10%.  Dividends  will  be  maintained,  be- 
cause higher  box-office  receipts  and  strict  at- 
tention to  cost-cutting  make  it  almost  certain 
that  second-half  earnings  will  be  better  than 
the  mediocre  figures  reported  earlier  this 
year. 

Hollywood  Turns  the  Corner? 

This  means — so  the  argument  goes — that 
Hollywood  has  turned  the  corner.  It  has  ad- 
justed itself  to  Tv.  According  to  the  opti- 
mists, the  two  industries  eventually  will 
enter  into  a  profitable  marriage.  Some  movie 
men  think  they  may  be  able  to  use  their  lots 
to  make  Tv  films,  and  old  films  carried  on 
the  books  at  little  or  nothing  will  bring  in 
new  revenue  from  Tv. 

Analysts  who  are  bullish  on  the  movies  go 
on  to  argue  that  people  are  now  pretty  well 
supplied  with  the  durable  goods  they  needed 
after  World  War  II.  From  here  on,  they'll  be 
able  to  spend  more  on  nondurables,  includ- 
ing movie  tickets.  They'll  be  tempted  to 
spend  more  on  movies,  because  Hollywood 
is  making  better  pictures. 

A  lot  of  people  who  know  Hollywood  well 
refuse  to  believe  that  the  major  studios  can 
make  a  cost-cutting  program  stick.  Reports 
are  that  costs  have  been  reduced  from  25% 
to  33%  below  1947.  But  there's  an  old  say- 
ing that  when  the  devil  is  sick  he  gets  re- 
ligion. If  Hollywood  has  a  string  of  success- 
ful pictures,  will  it  continue  to  hold  the  line 
on  costs? 

Hollywood's  'Normal'  Audience 

Even  if  Hollywood  does  keep  costs  down 
that  might  not  be  enough.  After  all,  nobody 
can  be  sure  yet  what  Hollywood's  "normal" 
weekly  U.  S.  audience  is  going  to  be.  Accord- 
ing to  the  best  available  count,  it  rose  to  a 
peak  of  80-million  weekly  in  1946,  gradu- 
ally dropped  to  as  low  as  53-million  last 
spring,  and  has  now  leveled  off  at  around 
57-million  or  58-million.  Perhaps  Hollywood 
may  not  be  able  to  hang  on  to  this  58-million. 

Finally,  suppose  the  movie  makers  do  in- 
crease their  profits?   You  can  be  sure  that 


when  you  use 

siii»i;i;-sxiu»ijti; 


projection  lenses 


Yes  "MOVIES  ARE  BETTER"  and  they're  "BETTER  THAN  EVER"  if  you 
use  Super  Snaplite  f/1.9  Projection  Lenses.  These  superb  lenses 
give  you  maximum  light,  maximum  sharpness,  and  maximum  contrast 
.  .  .  maximum  viewing  satisfaction  for  your  patrons. 

True  speed  of  f/1.9  in  every  focal  length  up  to  7  inches. 
Ask  for  Bulletins  207  and  209. 

"You  Get  More  Light  with  Super  Snaplite" 


2  Franklin  Avenue 
Brooklyn  11,  New  York 


OKI'OKjITION 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     December  1951 


35 


^ 


the  movie  unions,  as  well-organized  as  any 
in  the  U.  S.,  are  going  to  demand  a  share 
of  the  take  for  their  members. 

Nearly  as  important  as  the  cost-cutting 
program  are  the  prospects  of  increased  re- 
mittances from  overseas.  In  prewar  days,  the 
movie  makers  used  to  say  that  the  U.  S.  box- 
office  paid  for  their  costs,  and  the  foreign 
box-office  provided  the  profits.  Lately,  the 
companies  have  been  getting  larger  remit- 
tances from  overseas  than  previously. 

The  catch  is:  What  will  happen  if  the 
British,  French,  and  other  currencies  go  on 
weakening,   as   they   have    lately?    You   can 


expect  that  authorities  abroad  will  slap  on 
new  restrictions  to  prevent  loss  of  dollars. 

Movie-Tv  Nuptials 

Furthermore,  the  coming  marriage  be- 
tween Hollywood  and  Tv,  though  probably 
written  in  the  stars,  is  still  in  the  courting 
stage.  The  FCC  might  call  it  off,  though 
chances  are  that  it  will  be  indulgent.  FCC 
is  scheduled  to  start  hearings  Jan.  15  on  the 
proposed  merger  of  American  Broadcasting 
Co.  with  United  Paramount. 

There  are  a  lot  of  other  problems  to  be 
cleared  up.  When  they  have  been  solved,  the 


Picture/ 

picture! 
Wmm  Picture.' 


m:&&*~~'^-:-' 


WALKER 

PM* 

HIGH  INTENSITY" 

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ATIONAL 


THEATRE        SUPPLY 


Division  of  National  •  Simplex  •  Bludworth.lnc 


Ask  Your 
National  Man  f 


.TIC  MOLDED 


look  to    WENZEL 

for  the  Finest-  in  Projector  Equipment 

lil- 


Closed  Sound  Head— WSH-3 

WENZEL  PROJECTOR  CO.    Prp£c5t0or 

2505-19  S.  State  St.  Chicago  16,  III.        Head 


movie  business  may  be  quite  different  from 
what  it  is  now.  The  marriage  with  Tv  may 
be  profitable  to  some  segments  of  the  movie 
business.  But  it  won't  be  profitable  for  all. 
For  one  thing,  many  of  the  smaller  movie 
houses  may  disappear,  forced  out  by  big 
theaters  with  expensive  large-screen  and 
other  features  and  by  drive-ins. 

Subscription-Tv  Factor 

For  another,  the  $l-million-plus  features 
made  by  Hollywood  are  scarcely  suitable  for 
home  Tv  as  we  know  it  today,  unless  spon- 
sors can  be  found  who  will  pay  huge  fees 
for  a  few  minutes  of  commercial.  That's  not 
likely;  so  some  kind  of  subscription  Tv  must 
be  developed.  Assuming  that,  later  on,  the 
"normal"  Tv  count  will  be  20  or  25  million 
sets,  bow  many  set  owners  can  be  relied  on 
to  pay  50c  or  $1  to  see  a  new  picture — once 
the  novelty  has  worn  off — when  they  can  see 
older  ones  for  nothing?  If  subscription  Tv 
is  financially  successful,  what  will  that  do 
to  the  exhibitors? 

Suppose  the  movie  makers — or  some  of 
them — release  their  films  to  Tv  not  just  the 
ancient  ones,  but  films  only  a  few  years  old? 
Won't  that  hurt  their  attempts  to  push  sub- 
scription Tv?  Can  both  approaches  be  prof- 
itable? 

Legal  obstacles  have  already  popped  up 
on  the  use  of  old  films  on  Tv.  Roy  Rogers  has 
secured  an  injunction  forbidding  Republic 
to  lease  his  old  films  to  Tv,  though  the  case 
has  been  appealed.  Gene  Autry  is  filing  a 
similar  suit. 

'Independents'  on  Their  Own 

All  these  problems  could  lead  to  some- 
thing like  this:  The  major  studios,  made 
top-heavy  by  their  overhead,  might  be  sup- 
planted by  independent  producers  who  rent 
the  big  studios  to  make  Class  A  films  for, 
say,  $100,000  to  $150,000.  They  would  have 
a  lot  more  elbow-room  in  regard  to  subscrip- 
tion Tv  and  movie  theaters.  That  is,  they 
could  make  a  profit  on  much  smaller  box- 
offfce'receipts.  The  small  studios  might  also 
develop  along  this  line. 

Or  if  subscription  Tv  doesn't  succeed, 
some  of  the  smaller  movie-makers — and  per- 
haps big  ones,  too — could  perhaps  eke  out 
by  making  a  big  volume  of  half-hour  or 
other  short  Tv  films  on  low  budgets,  say 
$25,000.  They  might  not  make  money  on 
this,  except  in  the  sense  that  it  cut  their 
overhead  on  wasted  studio  space  and  un- 
used time  of  salaried  personnel.  Perhaps 
they  could  help  build  up  their  own  stars 
this  way. 

In  this  direction,  Decca  Records  and  Uni- 
versal Pictures  have  merged.  The  main  rea- 
son must  be  Tv.  Universal  has  a  subsidiary 
that  has  been  making  16-mm  home  movies. 
Decca  has  48  franchised  agencies  around  the 
country  that  distribute  Decca  records.  The 
subsidiary  could  make  short  films  for  Tv, 
and  the  agencies  could  sell  them  to  local 
stations. 


GPL  'Videofilm'  for  Gary,  Indiana 

Palace  Theater,  Gary,  Ind.,  (2200  seats) 
will  be  the  first  Y.  &  W.  Management  Corp. 
house  to  theater  Tv.  General  Precision  Labs, 
through  National  Theater  Supply,  will  in- 
stall a  "Videofilm"  system  which  is  expected 
to  be  in  operation  before  year's  end.  Gary 


36 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


December 


lias  no  Tv  station,  but  being  in  the  Chicago 
home  set  area,  the  Palace  will  hook  into  the 
main  coaxial  feeding  Chicago. 

Projection  throw  will  be  125  feet,  with 
a  46-amp  arc  projector  pouring  4200  lumens 
through  the   16-mm  film. 


IA     ELECTIONS 


LOCAL  150,  LOS  ANGELES,  CALIF. 

John  Maynard,  pres.;  Geo.  J.  Schaffer, 
bus.  rep. ;  Chas.  A.  Vencill,  sec.-treas ;  Harold 

Vngel,  H.  Clay  Blanchett,  Frank  C.  Cham- 
plin,  Claire  C.  Piper,  Hugh  C.  Smith,  exec, 
board;  Manuel  Portillo,  guide;  Virgil  Cro- 
well,  Hans  (Deak)  Freyman,  E.  J.  (Red) 
Schmidt,  exam,  board;  Duane  E.  Adams, 
Henry  J.  Kearney,  Ray  Richards,  trustees; 
Magnus  Nielsen,  Clyde  W.  Shuey,  Ralph  L. 
MacDonald,  J.  Maynard,  Wallace  G.  Crow- 
ley, Paul  J.  Mahoney,  G.  J.  Schaffer,  and  C. 

V.  Vencill,  del.  to  I A  convention.  Elected  to 
I  he  board  of  directors,  Local  150  Club,  Inc.: 
Frank  McBryde,  G.  J.  Schaffer,  C.  W.  Shuey, 
Eeo  F.  Stockwell,  C.  A.  Vencill,  H.  Angel, 
J.  Maynard,  Hugh  C.  Smith,  H.  C.  Blanchett, 
R.  L.  MacDonald,  P.  J.  Mahoney,  and  M. 
Nielsen. 

LOCAL  173,  TORONTO,  ONT.,  CANADA 

Jimmy  StUrgess,  pres.;  Lou  Lodge,  vice- 
pies.;  George  Jones,  sec.-treas.;  Pat  Travers, 
rec.-sec;  Wm.  Covert,  bus.  rep.;  Roy  O-Con- 
nor,  Arthur  Milligan,  Jack  Hills,  Norman 
Tanner,  exec,  board;  Douglas  Cameron,  Bill 
Reeves,  Jackie  Harris,  trustees;  George 
Robinson,  tyler;  Solly  Cohen,  sgt.-at-arms; 
J.  Sturgess,  P.  Travers,  A.  Milligan,  N. 
Tanner,  del.  to  I A   Convention. 

LOCAL  181,  BALTIMORE,  MD. 

Sam  Isaacson,  pres.;  Louis  Sieber,  George 
Matthews,  Wilbur  George,  vice-pres.;  Ches- 
ler  Towers,  rec.-sec;  Tom  Finn,  fin.-sec; 
Carrol]  Bayne,  bus.  rep.;  William  Lang,  Jr., 
F.  W.  Fadum,  Charles  Grauling,  trustees. 

LOCAL  440,  ST.  JOHN,  N.  B.,  CANADA 

Edmund  A.  Chase,  pres.;  Roy  F.  Burnett, 
vice-pres.;  James  A.  Whitebone,  general  sec. 
and  bus.  rep.;  Cecil  D.  Beesley,  rec.-sec; 
Alyere  T-  Wedge,  treas.;  Leslie  A.  Sprague, 
Rennie  J.VFoulds,  Norman  A.  Peters,  trustees 
and  auditors;  J.  Whitebone,  A.  Wedge,  J, 
Vincent  Mudge  and  Louis  E.  Comeau,  del.  to 
Trades  and  Labor  Council. 

LOCAL  623,  WEST  PALM  BEACH,  FLA. 

C.  W.  Crow,  pres.;  J.  M.  Bursey,  vice- 
pres.;  C.  C.  Dodds,  rec.-sec;  E.  H.  Hite, 
bus.  rep.;  S.  E.  Bursey,  fin.  sec.  and  treas.; 
P.  I.  Truax,  sgt.-at-arms;  L.  T.  Crick,  J.  W. 
Cummings  and  E.  H.  Hite,  trustees;  R.  J. 
Allison,  J.  C.  Crawford,  del.  Central  Labor 
Union. 


Ansco  Monthly  'Abstract'  Bulletin 

Originally  intended  solely  for  use  by  the 
company's  research  department,  up-to-date 
information  on  photographic  technical  de- 
velopments, literature  references,  new  litera- 
ture and  new  patents,  is  being  published  by 
Ansco,  Bingh,amton,  N.  Y.  "Ansco  Ab- 
stracts," a  monthly  review  of  technical  lit- 
erature, is  produced  in  mimeographed  form 


RCA  Service  protects  your  Box-Office 

—By  guarding 
the  HEART 
of  your  Theatre 


PROJECTION...  SOUND  1 

D' 


It  costs  so  little  to  protect  so  much 

The  advantages  of  RCA 
Service  are  yours  at  a 
cost  so  low,  a  few  ad- 
missions daily  pay  for 
it.  Write  for  complete 
information. 


ound  and  projection  equipment  (the 
heart  of  your  theatre)  will  wear  out  through 
continuous  performance,  unless  the  equip- 
ment is  protected  by  periodic  checkups 
and  preventive  maintenance. 

Guard  your  equipment  .  .  .  protect 
your  box-office  with  complete  RCA  Service 
Coverage.  RCA  Service  is  more  impor- 
tant today  than  ever  before. 

The  possible  scarcity  of  new  sound  and 
projection  equipment  .  .  .  even  replace- 
ment parts  .  .  .  makes  it  important  that 
you  protect  the  life  of  the  equipment  you 
now  have.  Coming  events  may  require 
you  to  keep  your  equipment  in  operation 
for  a  much  longer  period  than  you  plan. 
Prepare  now  for  the  future  while  replace- 
ment units  are  stiU  available. 

RCA  Parts  Plans  cover  all  makes  and 
types  of  theatre  sound  equipment,  as 
weU  as  projectors  and  accessory  units. 
RCA  Service  protection  is  more  vital 
today  than  ever  before. 


RCA  SERVICE  COMPANY,  INC. 

A  RADIO  CORPORATION  of  AMERICA  SUBSIDIARY 
CAMDEN,  NEW  JERSEY 


CLAYTON  BALL-BEARING 

EVEN  TENSION  TAKE-UPS 

For  all  projectors  and  sound  equipments 

AH  take-ups  wind  film  on  2,  4  and  S  inch  hub  reels. 
Silent   Chain   Drives 

THE  CLAYTON  REWINDER 

For  perfect  rewinding  on  2000-foot  reels. 

CLAYTON    PRODUCTS    CO. 

31-45  Tibbert  Avenue  New  York  63,  N.  Y. 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     December  1951 


37 


to  permit  inclusion  of  the  latest  information 
— often  as  close  as  a  few  days  after  it  be- 
comes available. 

Obtainable  for  $5  per  year  (outside  the 
U.  S.  and  Canada  for  $8)  Ansco  Abstracts, 
now  in  its  11th  year,  covers  the  various  as- 
pects of  photography,  including  physics, 
chemistry,  graphic  arts,  purely  photographic 
items,  applications  of  photographic  princi- 
ples in  Tv  radiography,  medicine,  etc.  Pat- 


ents are  listed  and  reviewed  in  a   separate 
section. 

For  additional  information  or  subscrip- 
tions, address  Library,  Research  Dept., 
Ansco,  Binghamton,  N.  Y. 


139,500  MPS— Believe  it  or  Not 

New  technique  developed  by  J.  H.  Park 
of  the  National  Bureau  of  Standards  in- 
creases   "writing    speed"    of    a    high-voltage 


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oscillograph  to  three-fourths  the  velocity  of 
light.  High  intensification  of  the  electron 
beam  is  obtained  momentarily  by  superpos- 
ing a  steeply  rising  voltage  pulse  on  the 
steady  voltage  applied  to  the  discharge  tube 
of  the  oscillograph. 

The  resultant  increase  in  the  intensity  of 
the  trace  makes  writing  speeds  rip  to  9100 
inches  per  microsecond  easily  visible!  These 
high  writing  speeds  can  be  used  to  study 
rapidly  varying  electrical  surges,  such  as 
are  caused  by  lightning  discharges,  and  to 
learn  more  about  the  insulation  breakdown 
the  surges  produce. 


Sic  Semper  Electronics! 

Transitor  development  will  be  worth  watch- 
ing, as  pregnant  of  big  things  for  the  future. 
There  have  been  recent  secret  showings  of 
this  improved  device  to  the  Military.  AU 
laboratories  are  eager  for  inside  info  from 
the  Bell  Laboratories  group  doing  transitor 
pioneering.  Why?  Because  this  little  device 
could,  in  the  years  to  come,  spell  the  demise 
of  the  vacuum  tube  and  transformation  of 
the  milti-billion  dollar  industry  which  has 
been  built  up  around  electrons  in  vacuo. 
Sic  semper  electronics! 


WHO  INVENTED  MOVIES? 

(Continued  from  page  27) 

other  investors  have  been  repaid.  Every- 
one working  on  the  film — from  artists  to 
technicians — has  deferred  part  of  his  sal- 
ary or  given  his  services  free.  The  cast 
reads  like  a  theatrical  Who's  Who. 

The  Film's  'Objective  Outlook' 

Although  the  cost  of  this  Technicolor 
picture  will  nevertheless  be  about  $900,- 
000,  all  the  cash  that  was  required  was 
less  than  $500,000.  The  Associated  British 
Film  Co.  made  studio  space  available  on 
deferred  operating  costs.  Technicolor  and 
Kodak  deferred  50%  of  their  charges. 
British  Lion  will  distribute  at  extremely 
low  cost.  All  the  major  circuits  will  share 
the  film. 

In  The  Magic  Box  Britain  seeks  only  to 
record  the  achievements  of  a  sadly  neg- 
lected scientist  whose  contributions  fur- 
thered the  phenomenal  progress  of  motion 
pictures  throughout  the  world.  There  is 
no  desire  to  minimize  the  accomplish- 
ments of  other  cinema  pioneers  who 
worked  in  other  countries.    In  order  to 


REEL-END  ALARMS 

Jackson's  Patd.  Automatic! 

Can't    Scratch    Film  !     Foolproof  ! 

Lasts  a  Lifetime !    $18.50  per  pair 

On  Money  Back  Guarantee 

Order  one  from  your  dealer  or  write  to 

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2300  First  Ave.,  Seattle  1,  Wash. 


38 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     December  1951 


maintain  an  objective  outlook,  the  open- 
ing titles  of  The  Magic  Box  are  filmed 
against  the.  statues  of  Edison  and  Marey. 

FRIESE-GREENE  A  LEGEND 

In  Which  Informed  Britons 

Do  Not  Believe 

By  TERRY  RAMSAYE 

SINCE  I  seem  unintentionally  to  have 
created  some  international  tension  by 
my  remarks  about  The  Magic  Box  and  its 
hero,  William  Friese-Greene,  I  avail  my- 
self of  the  opportunity  to  explain  my  real 
intention. 

The  publicity  for  The  Magic  Box  clear- 
ly represented  it  as  a  film  biography  of 
William  Friese-Greene  and  purported  to 
establish  him  as  the  father  of  the  cinema, 
and  Britain  as  its  homeland.  Obviously, 
it  was  all  a  part  of  the  brave,  proud  Brit- 
ish Festival  now  being  held  in  London. 


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LaVezzi  Machine  Works 


I  merely  said  in  print  that  neither  con- 
tention was  supported  by  the  facts — a 
conclusion  I  reached,  and  published, 
about  25  years  ago. 

Claims  Unsupported  by  Facts 

Some  of  the  facts:  William  Green,  a 
portrait  photographer,  was  a  smiling, 
friendly  and  amiable  fellow,  untutored  in 
the  sciences,  given  to  fancies,  beset  by 
ambitions.  When  he  married  a  Swiss  lady, 
he  sought  escape  from  the  commonplace 
by  hyphenating  her  name  to  his  and  add- 
ing a  decorative  "e"  to  his  Green.  He  had 
a  genial  picture  gallery  manner  and  spoke 
with  warm  plausibility.  He  probably  be- 
lieved in  his  claims. 

Friese-Greene  'Unimportant' 

At  the  request  of  the  Society  of  Motion 
Picture  and  Television  Engineers,  I  re- 
viewed Friese-Greene :  Closeup  of  an  In- 
ventor, by  Ray  Allister,  which  is  the 
source  document  for  The  Magic  Box,  in 
its  Journal  for  April  1949.  In  the  course 
of  the  review  I  observed : 

".  .  .  Mr.  Friese-Greene  is  credited  [in 
this  volume]  with  the  original  concept  of 
principles  recorded  and  demonstrated 
long  antecedent  to  his  advent,  including 
the  work  of  Baron  Franz  von  Uchatius, 
Louis  Ducos  du  Haroun,  Coleman  Sellers 
and  Henry  R.  Heyl  of  Philadelphia,  and 
many  another.  His  alleged  and  so-called 
prior  presentations  were  not  reductions  to 
practise  or  demonstration  of  anything 
beyond  the  devices  and  methods  of  years 
before.  .  .  ." 

His  American  Foray 

I  might  have  gone  into  the  intricate  his- 
tory of  the  optics  and  mechanics  of  the 
early  art,  but  so  unimportant  a  figure  as 


Friese-Greene  didn't  seem  to  warrant 
doing  so. 

No  British  reader  rose  to  complain  at 
that  time. 

During  the  war  conducted  many  years 


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The  Proof  is  in  the   Test 

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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     December  1951 


39 


ago  against  the  Motion  Picture  Patents 
Co.  by  the  "Independents,"  Friese-Greene 
was  brought  to  this  country  to  testify  as 


PROJECTIONISTS  ALREADY 
HAVE  TROUBLE  ENOUGH 

When  a  projectionist  presses  the 
button  to  open  the  curtain  and  get 
the  show  underway,  he  expects 
the  curtain  to  open — and  so  does 
the  boss. 

Failure  of  the  curtain  control 
equipment  at  that  critical  point 
sends  blood  pressure  zooming, 
clips  many  a  useful  year  from  the 
projectionist's  life.  It  also  sends 
spectators'  blood  pressure  skyward, 
clips  many  a  dollar  from  the  box 
office  take. 

Wise  projectionists  avoid  all 
these  difficulties  by  recommending 
to  the  boss  that  he  install  Vallen 
curtain  controls,  tracks  and  special 
operating  devices.  They've  been 
answering  projectionists'  demands 
"on  the  button"  for  35  years,  be- 
cause they're  precision-engineered 
to  do  their  job. 

Put  a  Vallen  catalog  in  the  front 
office  now.  Just  drop  a  note,  ask- 
ing for  a  new  catalog,  to  VALLEN, 
INC.,  Akron  4,  Ohio. 


to  his  claims  of  priority.  One  of  these 
"Independents"  was  Universal,  and  a  man 
personally  concerned  in  that  company — 
P.  A.  Powers — told  me  that  Friese-Greene 
arrived  with  nothing  to  support  his  claims, 
and  that  the  "Independents"  did  not  dare 
to  offer  him  in  court. 

He  sailed  for  home,  to  tell  there  tales 
of  intimidation,  including  the  assertion 
that  he  had  heard  threats  to  toss  him  off 
Brooklyn  Bridge.  He  was,  indeed,  an 
uninhibited  inventor. 

Since  then  the  curious  assertion  has 
circulated  in  Britain,  and  occasionally 
even  in  this  country,  that  the  United 
States  courts  broke  up  the  Patents  Co. 
by  declaring  for  Friese-Greene's  priority. 
There  is  no  substantiation  whatever  for 
this.  I  have  repeatedly  demanded  that  the 
case  and  decision  be  cited.  Expert  patent 
lawyers  know  of  nothing  even  approxi- 
mating such  a  decision. 

Cites  a  British  Opinion 

My  London  challengers  hurl  at  me  the 
statement  that  the  technical  consultant 
for  The  Magic  Box  is  the  able  British 
authority  R.  Howard  Cricks,  the  expert 
on  technical  matters  for  the  competent 
Kinematograph  Weekly,  of  London.  My 
critics,  however,  do  not  reveal,  as  I  have 
done  elsewhere,  that  the  Kinematograph 
Weekly  for  June  1,  1950,  in  answering 
some  Russian  claims  of  film  priority,  pub- 
lished a  report  from  Mr.  Cricks  in  the 
course  of  which  Cricks  said  incidentally, 
but  flatly,  that  Friese-Greene  was  not  an 
important  figure  in  the  history  of  the 
cinema.  The  Kinematograph  Weekly  said 
in  its  report: 


■ .    ....  i.ii;ii  .  ..  i 


\?ROJtCTOIl$ 

turn  ivtRnnink 

CENTURY'S  high-efficiency  projector  with* 
the  NEW  4-inch  diam.  lens  provides  pic-^ 
tures  of  increased  brightness  and  appea1 
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CENTURY'S  water-cooled  aperture  giye| 
as  much  light  with  a  90  ampere  arc  as 
other  projectors  using  a  180  ampere  arc> 
and  heat  filters! — Reduce  power  cost— Get] 
sharper  pictures— Save  film. 

CENTURY'S  sealed,  oil-less  bearings  and 
glass-hard  gears  reduce  maintenance 
costs.  No  oil  sprays  or  baths  to  mess  up] 
film  or  projection  room. 

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See  your  dealer  or  write  for  information 

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New  York,  N.  Y. 


ir   ■    "in^ri 


"In  summarizing  his  evidence,  Cricks 
admits  that  William  Friese-Greene's  con- 
tributions .  .  .  are  not  very  important.  He 
considers  that  Edison,  Paul  and  Lumiere 
played  a  far  more  important  part." 

Long  ago  I  obtained  from  Robert  W. 
Paul,  of  London,  and  Louis  Lumiere,  of 
Lyon,  France,  their  personal  stories.  Both 
declared  that  their  efforts  had  been  based 
on  the  Edison  Kinetoscope. 

Patents  Merely  Claims  on  Paper 

Much  is  made  in  the  British  claims 
about  the  many  patents  that  Mr.  Friese- 
Greene  "took  out."  That  means  claims  on 


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40 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST 


December  1951 


~?&  -<&  .'"&  -  -  i  -rtfe  -*ii  -*3^  ^£>  -*^  ^ii  -*a  -  -Si  »*5*  .»3s  ^£  _*a£  >)CSl 

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of 

MOTION  PICTURE  PROJECTIONISTS 

Charles  F.  Wheeler,  Sec.-Treas. 


JJrarr  nit  lEartlj  — 

<§nn&  Mill  to  iHru" 

LOCAL  NO.  253 

Rochester,  N.  Y. 


paper,  not  working,  or  even  workable, 
macliines.  For  instance:  Friese-Greene 
"look  out"  a  patent  on  the  making  and 
projection  of  stereoscopic  pictures  with- 
out a  viewing  device.  He  never  did  know 
the  nature  of  stereoscopic  vision,  and  he 
never  demonstrated  any  such  device. 

Since  the  assault  on  me  first  began  in 
Britain,  the  broad  claims  of  Friese- 
Greene's  fatherhood  of  the  art  have 
been  importantly  modified.  The  publicity 
agents  now  say  they  want  merely  to  estab- 
lish that  Friese-Greene  was  an  important 
worker  in  the  field.  That's  a  concession. 
but  it  is  not  enough. 

Sentimental  tinkering  with  the  history 
of  the  motion  picture  in  a  motion  picture 
is  inexcusable.  It  has  been  my  fate  to 
spend  a  considerable  part  of  an  indus- 
trious life  trying  to  clear  the  annals  of 
the  motion  picture  of  their  myths,  misrep- 
resentations and  confusions.  Those  who 
have  had  a  hand  in  The  Magic  Box  have 
been  motivated  by  laudable  patriotic  pur- 
poses, but  these,  alas,  the  serious  his- 
torian cannot  approve. 

Dramatic  Ending  Spurs  Legend 

The  career  of  Friese-Greene  came  to  a 
dramatic  end.  which  gave  impetus  to  the 
legend  of  a  great  inventor  dying  unre- 
warded. Every  industry  has  such  a  legend 

Friese-Greene  was  living  in  penury  in 
an  attic  room  in  London,  still  pathetically 
striving  to  invent.  He  decided  to  attend 
a  general  meeting  of  the  cinema  trade  to 
discuss  block-booking,  about  which  Lord 
Beaverbrook  was  then  campaigning.  It  is 
doubtful  that  he  was  invited  to  attend. 

The  meeting  was  stormy.  When  Friese- 
Greene    rose   to    speak   he    faltered   and 


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mumbled.  He  was  invited  to  the  front  of 
I  he  hall,  and  there  stood  swaying,  speak- 
ing in  broken  sentences  and  incoherence. 
He  was  helped  down  the  aisle  to  his  chair. 
He  sat  down,  buried  bis  face  in  his  hands, 
and  died. 

The  daily  papers  played  it  tremolo, 
using  all  the  stops,  and  the  legend  was 
on  its  way. 

Merely  an  'Ingenious  Mechanic' 

Meanwhile,  according  to  Mr.  Allister's 
biography:  ".  .  .  the  British  Journal  of 
Photography  spoke  of  Friese-Greene  as 
merely  an  'ingenious  mechanic'  with  'a 
very  hazy  notion  of  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciples of  chemistry  and  physics.'  But  then 
photographers  had  never  loved  Friese- 
Greene." 

The  fact  that  the  British  government  is 
scheduled  to  pay  £100,000  of  the  esti- 
mated total  cost  of  £220.000  of  The  Magic 
Box,  has  political  significance.  The  Magic 
Box  certainly  doesn't  contribute  to  the 
glory  of  the  Empire,  nor  to  the  art  of  the 


/notion  picture.  Britain's  history  is  too 
full  of  real  achievements  for  the  fanciful 
story  of  Friese-Greene  to  be  exploited 
at  Government  expense  at  the  British 
Festival. 

Lest  it  be  held  that  I  am  burdened  with 
certain  prejudices,  as  has  been  hinted,  let 
me  set  down  that  I  am  of  Norman-Scot 
extraction  and  have  ever  been  aware  of 
Britain's  greatness  and  conscious  of  its 
role  in  the  nurture  of  our  civilization. 
Hence  I  would  not  deflate  the  sentimental 
claims  made  for  Friese-Greene  because  of 
anti-British  prejudices,  but  for  the  sake 
of  the  record. 


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i^^^«^S^«^«^S^^^fiS^^^f^«««^^^^^^^^^^i^««^«^^ 


Section  6  {jreetinas  ^srt 


rom 

MOVING  PICTURE  MACHINE  OPERATORS   UNION 
LOCAL  NO.  162,  I.A.T.S.E. 

SAN    FRANCISCO,  CALIF. 


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from  the 


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INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     December  1951 


41 


PROJECTIONIST   SHOWMANSHIP    '  K«-*fiS£*£i^s^HS^^ 


(Continued  from  page  8) 

most  common  trouble  is  faulty  burning 
of  the  arc.  Close  attention  to  the  opera- 
tion of  the  lamp,  even  if  it  be  a  modern 
automatic-control  model,  is  mandatory. 
A  positive  crater  burned  slantwise  causes 
uneven  and  discolored  screen  illumina- 
tion; too  long  an  arc-gap  causes  the 
light  to  nicker  and  risks  loss  of  illu- 
mination; too  short  a  gap  causes  poor 
illumination,  spindling  of  the  carbons, 
and  even  risks  cracking  the  mirror,  as 
will  now  be  explained. 

But  first  a  word  about  carbons.  Don't 
store  carbons  in  damp  places.  Carbons 
are  porous  and  absorb  moisture  readily. 
A  damp  trim  gives  an  extremely  poor 
performance.  Many  times  an  unsteady 
and  sputtering  arc  has  been  blamed  on 
"a  poor  lot  of  carbons,"  when,  actually, 
the  carbons  would  burn  excellently  if 
only  they  were  dried  out  before  use.  It 
is  always  a  good  idea  to  place  a  trim  of 
carbons  in  or  under  the  lamphouse,  if 
there  is  room,  and  thus  be  sure  of  hav- 
ing a  dry  trim  on  hand.  On  the  so-called 
"victory"  carbons  the  copper  coating  is 
not  thick  enough  to  stand  full  current 
capacity.  A  few  more  wars,  and  we  shall 
have  no  copper  at  all. 

At  first  thought,  there  seems  to  be 
little  connection  between  a  short  arc  gap 
in  a  high-intensity  lamp  and  a  damaged 
mirror,  but  it  is  a  fact  that  cracks  in 
glass  reflectors  are  usually  caused  not  by 
unintentionally  whacking  them  with 
pliers,  but  by  accidental  jamming  to- 
gether of  the  negative  and  positive  car- 
bons of  H-I  arcs. 

Causes  of  Mirror  Cracking 

When  the  two  carbons  are  jammed 
tightly  together,  a  "trap"  is  created  in 
which  white-hot  carbon  gas — vaporized 
carbon — collects  under  pressure.  The 
volatilized  carbon  cannot  escape  until 
the  gas  pressure  is  high  enough  to  blow 
off  the  tip  of  the  spindled,  or  pencilled, 
negative  carbon.  When  this  tiny  explo- 
sion occurs,  a  stream  of  carbon  gas  is 
forcibly  ejected  toward  the  mirror  and 
condenses  upon  the  comparatively  cool 
glass  surface  as  a  large  spot  of  black 
soot.  The  mirror  does  not  usually  crack 
at  once,  but  as  soon  as  the  reel  has  been 
run  and  the  lamp  turned  off,  conditions 
begin  to  develop  which  may  result  in  a 
serious  cracking  of  the  glass. 

Anything  black,  like  soot,  absorbs  heat' 
from  the  radiant  energy,  such  as  light 
and  infrared  rays,  which  falls  upon  it. 
A  transparent  medium,  like  glass,  trans- 
mits heat;  while  a  silvered  surface,  like 
the  shiny  surface  of  a  mirror,  reflects 
heat,  not  retaining  much  of  it. 

What  happens  when  a  soot-spotted 
mirror  cools?, .The   glass  and   silver   be- 


Lureeetinad  and  (J3e5l    UUldhed 

PROJECTIONISTS  LOCAL  NO.  160 

CLEVELAND,  OHIO 


come  reasonably  cool  right  away,  and 
the  glass  contracts  slightly  as  it  cools. 
The  heat-absorbing  soot-spot,  however, 
retains  heat,  radiating  it  away  very 
slowly,  thus  preventing  contraction  of 
the  glass  on  which  it  lies. 

Emergency  Mirror  Service 

Now,  when  one  part  of  a  glass  mirror 
contracts,  and  another  part  is  prevented 
from  contracting^ — the  part  under  the 
hot  soot — a  mechanical  strain  develops 
which  ordinary  glass  cannot  withstand. 
Result :  a  crack  develops  from  center 
hole  to  outer  adge. 

A  mirror,  when  it  cracks,  makes  a 
noise  like  two  hammers  struck  sharply 
together.  It  does  not  sound  at  all  like 
glass  breaking.  So  when  the  projection- 
ist hears   this   unmistakable   sound  com- 


ing from  the  idle  projector,  he  should  at 
once  examine  the  mirror  and  wipe  off 
the  soot.  With  only  one  crack  in  it,  the 
mirror  can  be  used  for  the  remainder  of 
the  show.  The  light  will  be  just  as  good 
as  ever.  But — and  this  is  mighty  im- 
portant— the  mirror  should  be  replaced 
at  the  earliest  opportunity,  since  the  de- 
velopment of  a  second  crack  will  cause 
the  mirror  to  shatter  completely. 

When  replacing  the  mirror  in  one  ma- 
chine, it  is  good  practice  to  install  a 
new  mirror  in  the  other  machine,  too,  in 
order  that  the  performance  of  the  two 
projectors  be  exactly  equal  in  quality. 
Money  is  saved  by  using  only  mirrors 
made  of  heat-resistant  borosilicate  glass, 
such  as  Pyrex.  The  initial  cost  is  slightly 
greater,  but  they  don't  crack  so  readily. 
[TO  BE  CONTINUED] 


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42 


INTERNATIONAL  PROJECTIONIST     •     December  1951 


MAY  2  0  1952 


Major  General  William  F.  Dean,  of  Berkeley,  California — Medal  of  Honor.  In  the 
hard  early  days  of  the  Korean  War,  when  it  was  Red  armor  against  American 
rifles,  General  Dean  chose  to  fight  in  the  most  seriously  threatened  parts  of  the 
line  with  his  men.  At  Taejon,  just  before  his  position  was  overrun,  he  was  last 
seen  hurling  hand  grenades  defiantly  at  tanks. 

General  William  Dean  knew  in  his  heart  that  it's  every  man's  duty  to  defend 
America.  You  know  it,  too.  The  General's  job  was  in  Korea  and  he  did  it  superbly 
well.  Your  defense  job  is  here  at  home.  And  one  of  the  best  ways  to  do  that  job  is 
to  start  right  now  buying  your  full  share  of  United  States  Defense*  Bonds.  For 
remember,  your  Defense  Bonds  help  keep  America  strong,  just  as  soldiers  like 
General  Dean  keep  America  safe.  And  only  through  America's  strength  can  your 
nation  .  .  .  and  your  family  .  .  .  and  you  .  .  .  have  a  life  of  security. 

Defense  is  your  job,  too.  For  the  sake  of  all  our  servicemen,  for  your  own  sake, 
help  make  this  land  so  powerful  that  no  American  again  may  have  to  die  in  war. 
Buy  United  States  Defense*  Bonds  now — for  peace! 


Remember  that  when  you're  buying 
bonds  for  national  defense,  you're 
also  building  a  personal  reserve  of 
cash  savings.  Remember,  too,  that  if 
you  don't  save  regularly,  you  generally 
don't  save  at  all.    Money  you  take 


home  usually  is  money  spent.  So  sign 
up  today  in  the  Payroll  Savings  Plan 
where  you  work,  or  the  Bond-A- 
Month  Plan  where  you  bank.  For 
your  country's  security,  and  your 
own,  buy  U.  S.  Defense  Bonds  now! 


* 


U.S.  Savings  Bonds  are  Defense  Bonds  -  Buy  them  regularly! 


The   11.  S.   Government  does   not  pay  for  this  advertisement.   It   is   donated    b)    this 

publication  in  cooperation  with  the  Advertising  Council  and  the  Magazine  Publishers 

of  America  as  a  public  service. 


Oft 


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To  guarantee  projectionists  an  even, 
flutterless  screen  image,  SIMPLEX  X'L  Projectors  have 
been  equipped  with  a  revolutionary  24  tooth  sprocket! 

..24 teeth— 8  more  than  in  ordinary  sprockets! 

..24 teeth  that  draw  film  more  smoothly,  more 
gently  along! 

. .  24 teeth  that  reduce  sprocket  r.p.m.  by  one-third! 

..24 teeth  that  save   sprocket,   stud   and   bearing 
wear! 

. .  24  teeth  that  assure  better  performance,   easier 
maintenance! 

And  this  24  tooth  sprocket  is  found  only  in  the 
SIMPLEX  X-L!  A  perfect  example  of  the  many  exc/u- 
sives  found  in  this,  the  world's  finest,  most  dependable 
motion  picture  projector! 


:x>l 


PROJECTION  and 
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■ORPORATION    •    DISTRIBUTED  BY  NATIONAL  THEATRE  SUPPLY 


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