Re: optical sound: Meditations on Revolution V

From: Sam Wells (email suppressed)
Date: Wed Jan 04 2006 - 10:24:09 PST


> Martin Sawyer in London was working on a system in which a pulse track
> in the optical track area controls a stereo digital sound track on a
> hard drive.

What are the pulses ?

If they're not a continuos incrementing code - like SMPTE or DTS (a
kind of 'simplified' 15 bit SMPTE) timecode, once you've lost sync for
any reason you can't easily regain it. That's the problem with using
bi-phase and some kind of sync box that's outputs timecode. It can work
fine until it doesn't.

I don't think systems that are just hit go and chase are viable without
a lot of supervision.

> The pulse track can even fit onto the edge of a super 16 print, so you
> could project a super 16mm image with a separate digital sound track.

A possible drawback to DTS / 16mm as I and a few other did it is that
by having the timecode on the optical track area there's no fallback
optical track. DTS told me they considered doing a dedicated TC track
between the perfs on the other side, but the way they did it eliminated
the need for a dedicated reader, as DTS in 35mm requires. (I must say
that considering a few hoops I had to jump through, I'm glad it was the
way it was.

If it's on the edge, you need a reader. OK.

But you're kind of limited in projecting Super 16....... I mean a
Kinoton E38 can; there's a Prevost that could (you go first with a
Prevost ;-),
or you're modifying something....

> As far as I know he's still trying to get cinemas interested.

They'll probably find WMD's in Iraq first, but I wish him luck.

-Sam

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