-From how much damage to the digital soundtrack can SRD decover? (how many meters)
-Same for the timecode strip of DTS
-When there is a reading error: will these systems try to read again after an amount of time from the timecode/digital soundtrack or will they just stay stucked at the analog soundtrack?

Say if you have to cut out one or two meters of film due to some "accident", will there be problems when reading digital sound with DTS and SRD?

DTS has a timecode buffer of about 4-5 seconds before it has to revert to analog due to damaged timecode.

Both systems will continue to try to read digital info after they default to analog and will switch back to digital playback automatically (if the automation controls are set up correctly) as soon as they see adequate digital info.

Let's say that your equipment is well tuned up and your print is ok (regarding digital data and/or timecode).

In this case both systems are IMHO very reliable. In case of problem (a damaged print) DTS manages very well a lot of splices and scratches.

Let's suppose that you have a lot of splices due to an accident: DTS drops to analog after 4/5 seconds of bad timecode, but also one second of good timecode can "reset" the counter. So have a DTS player dropping to analog would rather indicate a problem on the timecode's print or to equipment. I cannot imagine a so damaged print that DTS cannot read properly. I have a piece of "TITANIC" in my booth. At splices image is HORRIBLE, full of scratches. DTS has absolutely no problem reding timecode. Dolby Digital probably will drop in analog at splices but tries continuously to revert in digital. After many drop-out it will stay in analog until it will have a couple of seconds of good datas.

However in normal situation both DD and DTS are very reliable. If your projector is ok and it does not scratch the print DD will never drop. DTS will "resist" also with many injuries to the movie!

I would check another side of the questions: what system sounds better? In this case, my choice will be surely DTS.

I had several arguements about this subject when she wanted me to run a print in SDDS instead of DTS. (The projector had both.) I would usually just acquiesce but switch it to DTS later on when the coast was clear.

I was able to change her mind one day when a print got totally TRASHED because some butt head misthreaded the projector and "spiked" (roped) the hell out of it. The analog soundtrack was useless. I told her that it would play in DTS. My arguement was that a full 80% of the timecode can be obliterated but the sound will still play.

As mentioned above, there's a five second buffer before the machine defaults back to analog but it only takes one second of good code to reset the "timer". As long as the thing can get one second's worth of code out of every five it will be OK. (Hence, the 80% statistic.)

I convinced her to move the print from the analog only house that it was in to one that had DTS. I told her that if we moved it and it didn't work, we didn't have anything to lose but if it did work we were still in business. (A no-lose proposition.)
She helped me move it, all the while saying, "This won't work... You are making me move this heavy print for nothing... If it doesn't work, I'll be pissed off at you!"

At a theatre I was working at recently, both SDDS heads had "Do not use" signs on them. Took the scope and brought the leds up to level. Test looped the heads with a discarded trailer. - worked fine. Placed these into service for the first show that day.

A night or two before the film was dragged along a bar (roller support) and was emulsion scratched terribly. Having no spare print, they decided to use the print anyway scratched or not. At the last moment, that print was changed to the booth in which I had an SDDS head installed. By the end of the first encoded trailer, I shut the thing off as it was defaulting too many times.

I reasoned that SDDS couldnt read a track with that many scratches, (no spare Cat.701's available for SRD), but DTS, using a much simpler code (time-code only, no sound) might have a chance.

Hooked it up this morning - works fine.

Great! However I've noted that if player cannot read clearly at least few seconds at time, probably sound will start become crazy...
I remember when I had my old timecode readers: I had a DTS encoded film but with no disk. I had a (Karen, don't read) copy of "Anna and the king" disks. I put the DTS trailer before the movie and the disk A of Anna and the King in the player. My old readers didn't read timecode properly (were 8 years old) so the green led on the readers was almost off..

The trailer sounded properly in the auditorium but after that the player started to play the 20thFox fanfare... Unfortunately the film was distributed by Columbia...

Patrick, this is just a case, my old readers were in terrible conditions. As I told you if your equipment is in good shape you will never have these kind of problems. I tried again to put a different disk in the player with my new readers and after the trailer the unit dropped in Dolby.

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Its very difficult to tell which system you are listening to unless you have a playback system of extremely high caliber. I have heard the three different systems on in a large mix facility in L.A. and they were hard to tell apart there.........
Mark @ GTS

I know that 80% figure is kind of pushing it. If you don't get one full second of clean code before the buffer runs out, you will have problems. You don't know where that one second will pop up. If the good sections of code are spaced too far apart, the player won't work right.

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Mark,

After 2 years of job, I simply realize if a movie is in DTS or DD... At least in my theater: it has few acoustic problem so DTS's HF sometimes put in trouble my theater...