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This topic comprises 4 pages: 1 2 3 4
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Topic: Obsolete Dolby sound formats.
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Michael Coate
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1904
From: Los Angeles, California
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 07-03-2007 03:15 AM
quote: Gordon McLeod
Best little whore house in texas had a dolby a mag release in canada
Is your claim based on documentation or memory? I ask because my research suggests that the mag prints of "Best Little Whorehouse..." were non-Dolby.
quote: Stephen Furley
["A Clockwork Orange"] was recorded with Dolby, and is often claimed to be the first film to use the process (I don't know whether it actually was), but wasn't the track on the release prints standard Academy mono?
Yes, according to Dolby's company chronology.
quote: A Chronology of Dolby Laboratories, May 1965-May 1996
December 1971
A Clockwork Orange, first film to use Dolby noise reduction on all pre-mixes and masters, released with conventional optical soundtrack.
quote: A Chronology of Dolby Laboratories, May 1965-May 1996
May 1974
Callan, first film with optical soundtrack (mono) encoded with A-type noise reduction, shown at Cannes Film Festival
I'm not sure how many films got released with Dolby mono prints, but as of the 1977-78 timeframe, the company's records indicate there were several theatres equipped (only) for mono Dolby playback, suggesting that at least during the 1974-78 time period Dolby mono releases were common.
Canada: 80
United Kingdom: 150
United States: 4
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Stephen Furley
Film God
Posts: 3059
From: Coulsdon, Croydon, England
Registered: May 2002
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posted 07-03-2007 05:51 AM
Dolby mono installations were pretty common here. Two that I can think of were the main auditorium of the now demolished Odeon Watford; the two smaller auditoria built downstairs were non-Dolby as far as I can remember, and the Phoenix, East Finchley, which had Dolby mono installed long ago, and still had it when I first visited the place, but maybe something like ten years ago the equipment was removed when a very small Cinemeccanica amplifier was fitted, and the place reverted to non-Dolby mono. A few years later they upgraded to stereo with a Dolby CP65.
I'm pretty sure that the Odeon Watford wouldn't have been a one-off, so I sustect that a number of other three-screen Odeon conversions would have been similarly equipped, though I didn't personally see any.
Whether this equipment was installed to play Dolby mono films, or to play Dolby stereo films in mono, without the cost of converting the cinema to stereo I don't know, but I think the latter is quite likely. At this time quite a number of the old '30s cinemas which had been tripled were closing, as the Watford one did not long after I saw it, so maybe Odeon didn't want to spend more money on stereo coversions for cinemas which they might soon be closing.
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Michael Coate
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1904
From: Los Angeles, California
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 07-04-2007 05:01 AM
quote: Stephen Furley
When Dolby SR was introduced did it immediately replace Dolby 'A' on film prints, or was there a considerable period of overlap when both systems were in use?
Coincidentally, the 35mm Dolby Stereo SR format was officially introduced twenty years ago this week with the release of "Innerspace." "RoboCop" followed a week later.
The first wave of SR installs included:
For Innerspace…
Chicago, IL: Biograph
And for RoboCop…
Calumet City, IL: River Oaks
Dearborn, MI: Movies at Fairlane
Hillside, IL: Hillside Square
Los Angeles, CA: Chinese
Los Angeles, CA: Village
New York, NY: 34th Street Showplace
New York, NY: National
New York, NY: Orpheum
San Francisco, CA: Galaxy
Universal City, CA: Universal City 18
Washington, DC: Embassy Circle
What kind of impact did SR make? Well, consider the following breakdown of Dolby A and SR releases in the United States for the five-year period from the official introduction of SR (July 1987) to the official introduction of Dolby Digital (June 1992).
Year 1 (07/87-06/88):
Dolby A: 205
Dolby SR: 14*
Year 2 (07/88-06/89):
A: 210
SR: 27
Year 3 (07/89-06/90):
A: 208
SR: 28
Year 4 (07/90-06/91):
A: 218
SR: 47
Year 5 (07/91-06/92):
A: 229
SR: 42
[The SR figures are factored into the A figures due to multiple inventory (i.e. the SR titles were simultaneously released in Dolby A). The A figures also include Ultra Stereo releases. The number of SR releases rose considerably after the introduction of Dolby Digital.]
*The first-year SR releases were:
INNERSPACE
ROBOCOP
FATAL BEAUTY
WALL STREET
THROW MOMMA FROM THE TRAIN
THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING
ACTION JACKSON
COLORS
POWAQQATSI
WILLOW
RAMBO III
THE PRESIDIO
BULL DURHAM
RED HEAT
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