RCA Photophone
Encyclopedia
RCA Photophone was the trade name given to one of four major competing technologies that emerged in the American film industry in the late 1920s for synchronizing electrically recorded audio to a motion picture image. RCA Photophone was a sound-on-film
, "variable-area" film
exposure
system, in which the modulated
area (width) corresponded to the waveform
of the audio
signal. The three other major technologies were the Warner Brothers Vitaphone
sound-on-disc
system, as well as two "variable-density" sound-on-film
systems, Lee De Forest
's Phonofilm
, and Fox-Case
's Movietone
.
had been first used for the telephony
by light-beam
invention patented by Alexander Graham Bell
's Volta Laboratory in 1880.
A new, completely separate patent for sound-on-film technology was awarded to General Electric
(GE) in 1925, which dubbed the process Photophone, a name that had been used in previous decades for other sound film
processes. RCA
, a GE subsidiary, took over the GE patent as part of a corporate competition with AT&T
and their affiliate Western Electric
, the primary sponsors of both the Vitaphone
and Movietone
systems.
Secondary RCA licensees include:
Primary Western Electric (Westrex) licensees include:
Secondary Western Electric licensees include:
Neither system or supplier was clearly superior to the others, except where individual laboratory processes made one system more consistently superior to the others.
Some laboratories could maintain the correct "gamma
" required for variable-density, but couldn't maintain the correct gamma required for variable-area. Conversely, some laboratories could maintain the correct gamma required for variable-area, but couldn't maintain the correct gamma required for variable-density.
Variable-density was preferred for Technicolor prints as this process utilized a silver "key" record, thereby creating a CMYK color image, and the sound track was also a silver record. The "key" record was deleted from most Technicolor
prints after 1944, thereby creating a CMY color image, but Technicolor's strong preference for variable-density continued long thereafter. Technicolor could consistently produce good variable-density tracks.
Variable-density was finally abandoned as customer preferences for "dual-bilateral variable-area" sound tracks emerged in the late-1950s. This required changes to laboratory processing and quality controls, but the real reason for variable-density's demise was yet to come.
In the mid-1970s, Westrex Corp. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Litton Industries
since 1956, and the successor to Western Electric's cinema sound business unit) re-introduced the ca. 1938 "four ribbon" light valve, and the ca. 1947 RA-1231 sound recorder.
As the RA-1231 was actually a stereo variable-area recorder—although when it was originally introduced in 1947 it was a mono 35mm variable-density or variable-area recorder, or a 16mm variable-density or variable-area recorder, at the customer's option—variable-density's fate was sealed as stereo optical prints became a marketing imperative.
When combined with Dolby Laboratories
's encoding technology, the discrete L and R channels of Westrex's stereo variable-area system was renamed "Left Total" and "Right Total", and when decoded these produced the L, C, R and S sound image first popularized by Fox's Cinemascope
system in 1953.
"Open" versions of Westrex's stereo variable-area exist as well.
Nearly all original track negatives (OTNs) are now produced as stereo variable-area, and the former Western Electric (Westrex) system has been renamed Photophone and has become the defacto standard, world-wide.
The RCA system was abandoned as it was incapable of producing time-aligned stereo OTNs, whereas time-aligned stereo OTNs were inherently a part of the Western Electric (Westrex) system since 1938.
The Westrex system was renamed Photophone after the Western Electric and Westrex registered trademarks were sold by AT&T and Litton, respectively, to others, for uses other than cinema sound systems.
Renaming the Westrex system to Photophone was facilitated by the demise of RCA's cinema sound business unit, by the hand of GE, RCA's acquirer, and by its failure to protect the Photophone trademark.
The Westrex system, renamed Photophone, is still in new production, with more than 100 systems currently in active service, world-wide. Some users, including Disney and Warner, have multiple systems. The RCA system is essentially defunct.
The Westrex Photophone system also has the capability of producing a DTS time-code track along with its native stereo variable-area tracks, or DTS time-code alone for use with 70mm and "special venue" prints.
Sound-on-film
Sound-on-film refers to a class of sound film processes where the sound accompanying picture is physically recorded onto photographic film, usually, but not always, the same strip of film carrying the picture. Sound-on-film processes can either record an analog sound track or digital sound track,...
, "variable-area" film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
exposure
Exposure (photography)
In photography, exposure is the total amount of light allowed to fall on the photographic medium during the process of taking a photograph. Exposure is measured in lux seconds, and can be computed from exposure value and scene luminance over a specified area.In photographic jargon, an exposure...
system, in which the modulated
Modulation
In electronics and telecommunications, modulation is the process of varying one or more properties of a high-frequency periodic waveform, called the carrier signal, with a modulating signal which typically contains information to be transmitted...
area (width) corresponded to the waveform
Waveform
Waveform means the shape and form of a signal such as a wave moving in a physical medium or an abstract representation.In many cases the medium in which the wave is being propagated does not permit a direct visual image of the form. In these cases, the term 'waveform' refers to the shape of a graph...
of the audio
Sound
Sound is a mechanical wave that is an oscillation of pressure transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas, composed of frequencies within the range of hearing and of a level sufficiently strong to be heard, or the sensation stimulated in organs of hearing by such vibrations.-Propagation of...
signal. The three other major technologies were the Warner Brothers Vitaphone
Vitaphone
Vitaphone was a sound film process used on feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects produced by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1930. Vitaphone was the last, but most successful, of the sound-on-disc processes...
sound-on-disc
Sound-on-disc
The term Sound-on-disc refers to a class of sound film processes using a phonograph or other disc to record or playback sound in sync with a motion picture...
system, as well as two "variable-density" sound-on-film
Sound-on-film
Sound-on-film refers to a class of sound film processes where the sound accompanying picture is physically recorded onto photographic film, usually, but not always, the same strip of film carrying the picture. Sound-on-film processes can either record an analog sound track or digital sound track,...
systems, Lee De Forest
Lee De Forest
Lee De Forest was an American inventor with over 180 patents to his credit. De Forest invented the Audion, a vacuum tube that takes relatively weak electrical signals and amplifies them. De Forest is one of the fathers of the "electronic age", as the Audion helped to usher in the widespread use...
's Phonofilm
Phonofilm
In 1919, Lee De Forest, inventor of the audion tube, filed his first patent on a sound-on-film process, DeForest Phonofilm, which recorded sound directly onto film as parallel lines. These parallel lines photographically recorded electrical waveforms from a microphone, which were translated back...
, and Fox-Case
Theodore Case
Theodore Willard Case known for the invention of the Movietone sound-on-film sound film system, was born into a prominent family in Auburn, New York.-Family history:...
's Movietone
Movietone sound system
The Movietone sound system is a sound-on-film method of recording sound for motion pictures that guarantees synchronization between sound and picture. It achieves this by recording the sound as a variable-density optical track on the same strip of film that records the pictures...
.
History
Historically, the name PhotophonePhotophone
The photophone, also known as a radiophone, was invented jointly by Alexander Graham Bell and his then-assistant Charles Sumner Tainter on February 19, 1880, at Bell's 1325 'L' Street laboratory in Washington, D.C...
had been first used for the telephony
Telephony
In telecommunications, telephony encompasses the general use of equipment to provide communication over distances, specifically by connecting telephones to each other....
by light-beam
Free-space optical communication
Free-space optical communication is an optical communication technology that uses light propagating in free space to transmit data for telecommunications or computer networking."Free space" means air, outer space, vacuum, or something similar...
invention patented by Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell was an eminent scientist, inventor, engineer and innovator who is credited with inventing the first practical telephone....
's Volta Laboratory in 1880.
A new, completely separate patent for sound-on-film technology was awarded to General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
(GE) in 1925, which dubbed the process Photophone, a name that had been used in previous decades for other sound film
Sound film
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...
processes. RCA
RCA
RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
, a GE subsidiary, took over the GE patent as part of a corporate competition with AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
and their affiliate Western Electric
Western Electric
Western Electric Company was an American electrical engineering company, the manufacturing arm of AT&T from 1881 to 1995. It was the scene of a number of technological innovations and also some seminal developments in industrial management...
, the primary sponsors of both the Vitaphone
Vitaphone
Vitaphone was a sound film process used on feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects produced by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1930. Vitaphone was the last, but most successful, of the sound-on-disc processes...
and Movietone
Movietone sound system
The Movietone sound system is a sound-on-film method of recording sound for motion pictures that guarantees synchronization between sound and picture. It achieves this by recording the sound as a variable-density optical track on the same strip of film that records the pictures...
systems.
List of licensees
Primary RCA (Photophone) licensees include:- Walt Disney Productions
- RKO Radio Pictures (liquidated)
- Republic PicturesRepublic PicturesRepublic Pictures was an independent film production-distribution corporation with studio facilities, operating from 1934 through 1959, and was best known for specializing in westerns, movie serials and B films emphasizing mystery and action....
(liquidated) - Warner Brothers
Secondary RCA licensees include:
- Revue Productions (later integrated into Universal Studios)
- Screen Gems (later integrated into Columbia Pictures)
- TCF-TV (later integrated into Twentieth Century Fox)
Primary Western Electric (Westrex) licensees include:
- Columbia PicturesColumbia PicturesColumbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
- Samuel GoldwynSamuel GoldwynSamuel Goldwyn was an American film producer, and founding contributor executive of several motion picture studios.-Biography:...
(liquidated) - Metro-Goldwyn-MayerMetro-Goldwyn-MayerMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
- Paramount PicturesParamount PicturesParamount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
- Rank OrganisationRank OrganisationThe Rank Organisation was a British entertainment company formed during 1937 and absorbed in 1996 by The Rank Group Plc. It was the largest and most vertically-integrated film company in Britain, owning production, distribution and exhibition facilities....
(liquidated) - Selznick InternationalDavid O. SelznickDavid O. Selznick was an American film producer. He is best known for having produced Gone with the Wind and Rebecca , both of which earned him an Oscar for Best Picture.-Early years:...
(liquidated) - 20th Century Fox20th Century FoxTwentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
- Universal StudiosUniversal StudiosUniversal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
Secondary Western Electric licensees include:
- Glen Glenn SoundGlen Glenn SoundGlen Glenn Sound was an audio post production company.The company was founded by Glen R. Glenn in 1936 and provided creative audio services to the television and film industry for five decades....
(later integrated into Todd-AO) - Robert L. LippertRobert L. LippertRobert L. Lippert was a prolific film producer and cinema owner who eventually owned a chain of 118 theatres -Biography:...
(liquidated) - Monogram PicturesMonogram PicturesMonogram Pictures Corporation is a Hollywood studio that produced and released films, most on low budgets, between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram is considered a leader among the smaller studios sometimes referred to...
(liquidated) - (Fox) Movietone NewsMovietone NewsMovietone News is a newsreel that ran from 1928 to 1963 in the United States, and from 1929 to 1979 in the United Kingdom.-History:It is known in the U.S. as Fox Movietone News, produced cinema, sound newsreels from 1928 to 1963 in the U.S., from 1929 to 1979 in the UK , and from 1929 to 1975 in...
(liquidated) - Ryder Sound Services (liquidated)
- TechnicolorTechnicolorTechnicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
- Todd-AOTodd-AOTodd-AO is a post-production company founded in 1953, providing sound-related services to the motion picture and television industries. The company operates three facilities in the Los Angeles area.-History:...
- Warner Bros.Warner Bros.Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
VitaphoneVitaphoneVitaphone was a sound film process used on feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects produced by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1930. Vitaphone was the last, but most successful, of the sound-on-disc processes...
(uncredited)
Comparison of "variable area" and "variable density"
Both variable-area and variable-density systems were marketed by both RCA and Western Electric, with equal measured and perceived quality from both systems and from both suppliers.Neither system or supplier was clearly superior to the others, except where individual laboratory processes made one system more consistently superior to the others.
Some laboratories could maintain the correct "gamma
Gamma correction
Gamma correction, gamma nonlinearity, gamma encoding, or often simply gamma, is the name of a nonlinear operation used to code and decode luminance or tristimulus values in video or still image systems...
" required for variable-density, but couldn't maintain the correct gamma required for variable-area. Conversely, some laboratories could maintain the correct gamma required for variable-area, but couldn't maintain the correct gamma required for variable-density.
Variable-density was preferred for Technicolor prints as this process utilized a silver "key" record, thereby creating a CMYK color image, and the sound track was also a silver record. The "key" record was deleted from most Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
prints after 1944, thereby creating a CMY color image, but Technicolor's strong preference for variable-density continued long thereafter. Technicolor could consistently produce good variable-density tracks.
Variable-density was finally abandoned as customer preferences for "dual-bilateral variable-area" sound tracks emerged in the late-1950s. This required changes to laboratory processing and quality controls, but the real reason for variable-density's demise was yet to come.
In the mid-1970s, Westrex Corp. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Litton Industries
Litton Industries
Named after inventor Charles Litton, Sr., Litton Industries was a large defense contractor in the United States, bought by the Northrop Grumman Corporation in 2001.-History:...
since 1956, and the successor to Western Electric's cinema sound business unit) re-introduced the ca. 1938 "four ribbon" light valve, and the ca. 1947 RA-1231 sound recorder.
As the RA-1231 was actually a stereo variable-area recorder—although when it was originally introduced in 1947 it was a mono 35mm variable-density or variable-area recorder, or a 16mm variable-density or variable-area recorder, at the customer's option—variable-density's fate was sealed as stereo optical prints became a marketing imperative.
When combined with Dolby Laboratories
Dolby Laboratories
Dolby Laboratories, Inc. , often shortened to Dolby Labs, is an American company specializing in audio noise reduction and audio encoding/compression.-History:...
's encoding technology, the discrete L and R channels of Westrex's stereo variable-area system was renamed "Left Total" and "Right Total", and when decoded these produced the L, C, R and S sound image first popularized by Fox's Cinemascope
CinemaScope
CinemaScope was an anamorphic lens series used for shooting wide screen movies from 1953 to 1967. Its creation in 1953, by the president of 20th Century-Fox, marked the beginning of the modern anamorphic format in both principal photography and movie projection.The anamorphic lenses theoretically...
system in 1953.
"Open" versions of Westrex's stereo variable-area exist as well.
Nearly all original track negatives (OTNs) are now produced as stereo variable-area, and the former Western Electric (Westrex) system has been renamed Photophone and has become the defacto standard, world-wide.
The RCA system was abandoned as it was incapable of producing time-aligned stereo OTNs, whereas time-aligned stereo OTNs were inherently a part of the Western Electric (Westrex) system since 1938.
The Westrex system was renamed Photophone after the Western Electric and Westrex registered trademarks were sold by AT&T and Litton, respectively, to others, for uses other than cinema sound systems.
Renaming the Westrex system to Photophone was facilitated by the demise of RCA's cinema sound business unit, by the hand of GE, RCA's acquirer, and by its failure to protect the Photophone trademark.
The Westrex system, renamed Photophone, is still in new production, with more than 100 systems currently in active service, world-wide. Some users, including Disney and Warner, have multiple systems. The RCA system is essentially defunct.
The Westrex Photophone system also has the capability of producing a DTS time-code track along with its native stereo variable-area tracks, or DTS time-code alone for use with 70mm and "special venue" prints.
See also
- VitaphoneVitaphoneVitaphone was a sound film process used on feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects produced by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1930. Vitaphone was the last, but most successful, of the sound-on-disc processes...
- MovietoneMovietone sound systemThe Movietone sound system is a sound-on-film method of recording sound for motion pictures that guarantees synchronization between sound and picture. It achieves this by recording the sound as a variable-density optical track on the same strip of film that records the pictures...
- PhonofilmPhonofilmIn 1919, Lee De Forest, inventor of the audion tube, filed his first patent on a sound-on-film process, DeForest Phonofilm, which recorded sound directly onto film as parallel lines. These parallel lines photographically recorded electrical waveforms from a microphone, which were translated back...
- PhotokinemaPhotokinemaPhoto-Kinema was a sound-on-disc system for motion pictures invented by Orlando Kellum.-1921 introduction:The system was first used for a small number of short films, mostly made in 1921...
- PallophotophonePallophotophoneThe pallophotophone was an audio recording device developed by General Electric researcher Charles Hoxie ca. 1922...
- Joseph Tykociński-Tykociner
- Sound filmSound filmA sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...
- Sound-on-discSound-on-discThe term Sound-on-disc refers to a class of sound film processes using a phonograph or other disc to record or playback sound in sync with a motion picture...
- List of film formats