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Topic: Optical "dropout"...yeah, right....

John Anastasio
Master Film Handler

Posts: 325
From: Trenton, NJ, USA
Registered: Sep 2000

posted 11-04-2001 07:30 AM

Went to a showing of "Jack the Ripper" at a UA theater last night and made it a point to grab the manager afterwards in the lobby (and believe me, his lobby was a big one). His print had not one, but TWO big fat lab splices that ran right through the middle of the frame. To top it off, the digital audio dropped out for around two minutes right in the middle of the show. There was a noticeable change to optical with no surround and a noticeable change in volume. It couldn't be more obvious unless you were drastically hearing impaired. When I told him about it, he said that "Oh....we don't have any digital equipment on that screen...the whole thing is optical". Hmmmm....I can't imagine an optical decoder dropping all the surrounds and going to mono-front only. Is this guy a bozo or can a Dolby optical unit do this? If so , how? Sounds like horse hockey to me. He, of course, promised to "have it checked out right away". And they wonder why the local AMC is blowing them away.....

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John Walsh
Film God

Posts: 2490
From: Connecticut, USA, Earth, Milky Way
Registered: Oct 1999

posted 11-04-2001 01:35 PM

Theater sound processors do not usually "drop" out from optical stereo to optical mono (Dolby doesn't anyway.) The manager can't be entirely wrong, because if there were digital equipment there, it would still play in stereo when it dropped.

Probably a loose wire, or (more likely since it got fixed) someone hit the button accidentally.

While it is a good thing to get rid of visible lab splices, I'm sure it's rarely done.

If these were the only bad things that happened at a UA theater, I count myself quite lucky!

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Antonio Marcheselli
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1260
From: Florence, Italy
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 11-04-2001 03:10 PM

John,

A good way to see if the screen has digital or analog (ok, let's ignore for one second the quality of the sound!): did you heard the lab splices? If the sound just "dropped" a second in analog, it is a "digital" presentation, if you heard a "ciok", it is an analog presentation.

However a problem like mine tonight could be happened: I was at the door of my screen and, suddenly, the sound disappeared. It was an analog adversiting so I thought "film brake" but one seconds later the sound come back, but higher.
I tought "What I've done to the automation???" and I went to the monitor that show a part of my CP500 (reflected in a mirror, is a strange solution but it works!!): I saw a light on the volume level, but it was not the "mute": it was the "bypass" led.

I went immediately in the booth, all was normal, but in the event log I have the J14 card that has failed.

Perhaps you heard few minutes of film in bypass... Cp500 will never drop out of SR!!

Bye
Antonio

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Charles Everett
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1470
From: New Jersey
Registered: May 2001

posted 11-04-2001 04:43 PM

I came upon something like this when I saw Cast Away back in January. First 2-3 trailers ran in analog. Digital cut in at the splice to the attached trailer (Dr. Dolittle 2). Dropped back into analog at the splice to R1 (start of the Fox fanfare). Went back into digital at the R1 > R2 splice and stayed in digital for the rest of the feature.

John A: Were you at the UA Marketfair? That's outside Princeton and isn't really affected by the AMC Hamilton. Also, I assume the movie you saw is titled From Hell.

John W: I've been in Regal and Loews theaters that have done far worse on presentation. One of my earlier posts tells how a Loews megaplex f#@&ed up a show and the staff didn't care.

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John Anastasio
Master Film Handler

Posts: 325
From: Trenton, NJ, USA
Registered: Sep 2000

posted 11-04-2001 07:11 PM

You get the prize! It was a showing of "From Hell" at the UA Marketfair, which is actually in West Windsor. Everything around there is labelled "Princeton" in a sort of phony name game, as you know. I think the AMC Hamilton is close enough to have an impact because of its wide draw...they do a much better showing and have nicer houses. I rarely see a packed house at any showing at the UA, although I try to avoid the place. From Hell was in one of the "breadboxes" at the end of the row. The sound was pretty decent, if it was only SR Dolby, until it went totally front, no surrounds, down about 10db and flat as heck. I suppose someone could have hit a switch or something, but those splices were really crummy...right across the center of the image. In my opinion the worst showings in the Princeton area are at the Montgomery, the only "art house" around. They get great foreign stuff, but make it look like merde. Then all the blue-hairs remark about "what a wonderful film" it was on the way out while I just want to throw my candy wrappers at the manager. My favorite place is the County Theater over in Doylestown, Bucks County PA. It's run entirely by volunteers as a sort of museum. There's also a neat little place in Newtown, PA where they still run carbons and changeovers. One thing nice about living here is the wide variety of theaters to choose from. Now if we could just get the post office opened again.....

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Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99

posted 11-04-2001 07:36 PM

What you have described IS possible with an optical only house. What I have seen happen is the fader potentiometer goes bad and the sound will play at it's normal level...but then at a random point, the sound level drops WAAAAAAAY down. Of course, with the level that low, the surrounds will appear to have gone off.

Now I'm not saying that is what was really happening, but to answer the question "is this possible?", yes it is.

My big question for you is, when the lab splices went through, did you hear a "pop" in the audio track a second later? If you did, then it was playing in optical. If you heard no "pop" right after they flashed on screen, then they did have digital sound and that is what dropped out and the manager is a bozo.

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