8mm Forum: Variable Speed on Super 8 Sound Projectors

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Posted by Maurice Leakey (Member # 916) on May 24, 2008, 06:20 AM:

Why do some Super 8 sound projectors have a variable speed control?

Posted by Jan Bister (Member # 332) on May 24, 2008, 08:57 AM:

Because

1. It makes them useful for telecine (to avoid flickering) and

2. Any sound-capable projector runs silent film, too. [Wink]

Posted by Maurice Leakey (Member # 916) on May 24, 2008, 09:37 AM:

When most of these projectors were made there were probably no video transfers made, if so, it would have been in the instruction book.

Silent Super 8 runs at 18 fps and all the projectors have this speed.

Posted by Jose Artiles (Member # 471) on May 24, 2008, 12:54 PM:

i think it probably were made to compensate the diferents recordings that you can found in the early days of comercial films on super 8,here in spain i found that some companys re-recorded the sound of his comercial films at differents speeds so you can hear diferences in the pitch of the sound from one reel to another so thanks to that speed control board you can hear the sound without pitch changes by adjusting it to the correct position.

Posted by Graham Sinden (Member # 431) on May 25, 2008, 05:18 AM:

It could well be that its just another simple function to add on that makes any projector more appealing even if you hardly ever use it. A bit like the 4 digit counter on elmo projectors which only counts every 18 frames.

We all like extra features when we buy our gadgets. [Wink]

Graham S

Posted by Jan Bister (Member # 332) on May 25, 2008, 12:03 PM:

Graham makes an excellent point there [Cool]

and Maurice, you got me on that one, of course video transfers weren't an issue back then [Eek!]

didn't even think of that. Doh!

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