Perspecta was a directional motion picture sound system invented by the laboratories at Fine Sound Inc. in 1954. The company was founded by Mercury Records engineer C. Robert (Bob) Fine, husband of producer Wilma Cozart Fine. As opposed to magnetic stereophonic soundtracks available at the time, Perspecta’s benefits were that it did not require a new sound head for the projector and thus was a cheaper alternative.[1]
Introduced as a “directional sound system” rather than a true stereophonic sound system, Perspecta did not use discretely recorded sound signals. Instead, three sub-audible tones at 30 Hz, 35 Hz, and 40 Hz are mixed appropriately and embedded in a monaural optical soundtrack, in addition to the audible sound.[2] When run through a Perspecta integrator, depending on whenever each tone is present, the audio is fed into a left (30 Hz), center (35 Hz) and right (40 Hz) speaker.[2] Unlike true stereophonic sound, which would be described as discrete tracks running in synchronization in time and phase, Perspecta merely panned a mono mix across various channels. Because of this, only isolated dialogue or sound effects could be mixed to be directional. Mixed sound effects, dialogue and music could not be suitably mixed. Aside from panning, Perspecta controlled gain levels for each channel through the amplitude of each control signal.[1]
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Paramount Pictures were major supporters and developers of Perspecta. MGM used it on nearly everything that they released between mid-1954 to approximately 1958, including shorts, cartoons and trailers. Paramount used it, uncredited, on all their VistaVision pictures until it fell out of favor around 1958. In theory, the “High Fidelity” in VistaVision’s trademark strongly implied high-fidelity sound, but, in reality, the system provided only higher-fidelity visual image, not higher-fidelity sound.[citation needed] Universal-International, Warner Bros., Columbia Pictures, United Artists, and Toho were among some of the other major studios to utilize Perspecta regularly.[3]
List of Perspecta features
Some other films, such as Around the World in 80 Days (1956, United Artists), also used Perspecta to convert their non-encoded mono optical soundtracks to three channel surround.
See also
- Duophonic, another form of “fake stereo”
References
- ^ a b “A Lecture on Sound pathetic Perspecta”. YouTube. 8 April 2011. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
- ^ a b “Altec Perspecta Sound Service Booklet”. www.widescreenmuseum.com. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
- ^ Fine, Robert (July 1954). “PERSPECTA – the All-Purpose Recording and Reproducing Sound System”. The American Widescreen Museum. Retrieved 23 June 2015. Article originally from International Projectionist.
- ^ High Society (1956). 2019-06-16. Retrieved 2026-04-11 – via shotonwhat.com.
- ^ Gigi (1958). 2019-06-16. Retrieved 2026-04-11 – via shotonwhat.com.
- ^ Funny Face (1957). 2019-06-16. Retrieved 2026-04-11 – via shotonwhat.com.
- ^ “Sanjuro (1962) – The Criterion Collection”. The Criterion Collection. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
Disc Features […] Optional Dolby Digital 3.0 soundtrack, preserving the original Perspecta simulated-stereo effects (DTS-HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray edition)
- ^ “Yojimbo (1961) – The Criterion Collection”. The Criterion Collection. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
Disc Features […] Optional Dolby Digital 3.0 soundtrack, preserving the original Perspecta simulated-stereo effects (DTS-HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray edition)
External links
- Extensive history of Fine Sound Inc.
- The American Widescreen Museum (Perspecta wing)
- 1998 interview with Bob Eberenz, chief engineer at Fine Sound Inc.
- 2017 interview with Tom Fine, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 – son of Robert Fine and Wilma Cozart Fine