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Perspecta

Perspecta was a directional motion picture sound system developed by Fine Sound Inc. in 1954, offering a cost-effective alternative to magnetic stereophonic soundtracks without requiring new projector sound heads. It utilized three sub-audible tones embedded in a monaural optical soundtrack to create a pseudo-stereo effect, primarily used by major studios like MGM and Paramount until it fell out of favor around 1958. The system allowed for directional sound effects but was limited in mixing capabilities for dialogue and music.

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54 views4 pages

Perspecta

Perspecta was a directional motion picture sound system developed by Fine Sound Inc. in 1954, offering a cost-effective alternative to magnetic stereophonic soundtracks without requiring new projector sound heads. It utilized three sub-audible tones embedded in a monaural optical soundtrack to create a pseudo-stereo effect, primarily used by major studios like MGM and Paramount until it fell out of favor around 1958. The system allowed for directional sound effects but was limited in mixing capabilities for dialogue and music.

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Perspecta

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 Perspecta sound channel layout
monaural optical soundtrack, in addition to the audible sound.[2] (Left, Center, Right)
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]

MGM Studios 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. 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

Allied Artists Pictures Corporation


Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
World Without End (1956)

MGM
Athena (1954)
Bad Day at Black Rock (1955, also magnetic)
Beau Brummell (1954)
Bedevilled (1955, also magnetic)
The Brothers Karamazov (1958)
Forbidden Planet (1956, also magnetic)
Gigi (1958, also magnetic)
The Glass Slipper (1955)
Gone with the Wind (1954 reissue)
High Society (1956)
Jailhouse Rock (1957)
Jupiter's Darling (1955)
Kismet (1955)
Knights of the Round Table (1953)
The Last Hunt (1955)
Lust for Life (1956)
Tom and Jerry (1940)
The Seventh Sin (1957)
The Sheepman (1958)
The Tender Trap (1955)

Paramount
3 Ring Circus (1955)
Anything Goes (1956)
Artists and Models (1955)
The Birds and the Bees (1956)
The Court Jester (1955)
The Desperate Hours (1955)
The Far Horizons (1955)
The Girl Rush (1955)
Hell's Island (1955)
The Leather Saint (1956)
Lucy Gallant (1955)
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
Pardners (1956)
The Proud and Profane (1956)
Run for Cover (1955)
The Rose Tattoo (1955)
The Scarlet Hour (1956)
The Seven Little Foys (1955)
Strategic Air Command (1955)
That Certain Feeling (1956)
To Catch a Thief (1955)
The Trouble with Harry (1955)
War and Peace (1956) as "Perspecta Stereophonic Sound ® By Suonitalia Studio - Rome"
We're No Angels (1955)
White Christmas (1954)
You're Never Too Young (1955)

Toho
Battle in Outer Space (1959)
Gorath (1962, also magnetic)
The Hidden Fortress (1958)
High and Low (1963, also magnetic)
The H-Man (1958)
King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962, also magnetic)
The Last War (1961, also magnetic)
Mothra (1961, also magnetic)
The Mysterians (1957)
Red Beard (1965, also magnetic)
Sanjuro (1962)[4]
The Secret of the Telegian (1960)
Varan the Unbelievable (1958)
Yojimbo (1961)[5]

United Artists
The Barefoot Contessa (1954)

Universal-International
Away All Boats (1956)
The Benny Goodman Story (1956)
The Black Shield of Falworth (1954)
One Desire (1955)
This Island Earth (1955)
The Spoilers (1955)

Warner Bros.
East of Eden (1955, also magnetic)
King Richard and the Crusaders (1954, also magnetic)
Lucky Me (1954, also magnetic)
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
1. "A Lecture on Sound pathetic Perspecta" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48WWtzSvBB
A). YouTube. Archived (https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/48WWtzSvBB
A) from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
2. "Altec Perspecta Sound Service Booklet" (https://www.widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/
perspecta-altec.htm). www.widescreenmuseum.com. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
3. Fine, Robert (July 1954). "PERSPECTA - the All-Purpose Recording and Reproducing
Sound System" (http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/perspec1.htm). The
American Widescreen Museum. Retrieved 23 June 2015. Article originally from International
Projectionist.
4. "Sanjuro (1962) - The Criterion Collection" (http://www.criterion.com/films/598-sanjuro). 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)"
5. "Yojimbo (1961) - The Criterion Collection" (http://www.criterion.com/films/597-yojimbo). 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. (http://www.preservationsound.com/tag/fine-recording/)
The American Widescreen Museum (http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/persp
ectaref.htm) (Perspecta wing)
1998 interview with Bob Eberenz, chief engineer at Fine Sound Inc. (https://www.opusklassi
ek.nl/audiotechniek/mercury.htm)
2017 interview with Tom Fine, Part 1 (https://www.psaudio.com/article/tom-fine-part-1-2/),
Part 2 (https://www.psaudio.com/article/tom-fine-part-2/), Part 3 (https://www.psaudio.com/ar
ticle/tom-fine-part-3/) – son of Robert Fine and Wilma Cozart Fine

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Perspecta&oldid=1264182858"

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