RCA Photophone

RCA Photophone was the trade name used for a motion-picture sound system developed from General Electric research and commercialized by RCA during the transition from silent cinema to talking pictures in the late 1920s. It recorded sound photographically on the film itself rather than on a separate disc. The system used a fast-acting mirror galvanometer to vary the width of the exposed soundtrack in response to the audio waveform, producing what became known as a variable-area optical soundtrack. The technology grew out of work by Charles A. Hoxie at General Electric. Hoxie initially developed a photographic recorder for wireless telegraphy, but the apparatus was adapted to speech recording. In 1921, it was used to record speeches by President Calvin Coolidge and others for broadcast by General Electric's station WGY in Schenectady, New York. Beginning in 1925, GE pursued the commercial application of this work to sound motion pictures. Demonstrations of the system, then generally called Photophone, took place in 1926 and 1927. A sound version of the silent film Wings, containing music and sound effects, was shown during 1927 in a limited number of specially equipped theaters. RCA Photophone Inc. was established in April 1928 as an RCA subsidiary responsible for exploiting the technology commercially. David Sarnoff, RCA's president, served as its president and a member of its board. The system entered a market containing several competing approaches. Warner Bros. promoted Vitaphone, which synchronized film with sound discs, while Lee de Forest's Phonofilm, Fox-Case Movietone, and the German Tri-Ergon system represented other sound-on-film approaches. RCA's principal North American rival in theater sound equipment and recording services was Western Electric. RCA Photophone became especially important through its relationship with RKO Radio Pictures. Joseph P. Kennedy and other investors combined Film Booking Offices of America with the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theater chain and RCA, creating the RKO studio structure. RKO selected RCA Photophone as its primary sound system. In March 1929, RKO released Syncopation, identified as the first live-recorded film made with RCA Photophone. Film producers and laboratories subsequently licensed sound systems from RCA or Western Electric, and release prints were often identified by sound-recording branding such as RCA Sound Recording. For decades, RCA's galvanometer-based approach was a major form of optical motion-picture sound recording. The underlying RCA arrangement continued to be used into the 1970s, but changing technical and commercial requirements eventually displaced it. In particular, the industry's move toward stereo optical sound required time-aligned multichannel recording. The RCA system was not suited to producing the stereo sound negatives that became commercially important, whereas Western Electric's successor system, Westrex, could use a four-ribbon light valve and related recording equipment to make stereo variable-area tracks. The later history of the name is therefore distinct from the history of the original RCA technology. After RCA's cinema-sound business declined and the Photophone trademark was no longer effectively protected, the name was reused for a successor Westrex stereo variable-area system. That later system should not be confused with the original RCA Photophone apparatus. The original RCA system is essentially defunct, while the later Westrex-derived technology continued to be serviced in some facilities for optical film sound. The RCA Photophone brand belongs historically to the formative period of commercial sound cinema and to the standardization of optical sound-on-film practices.

RCA Photophone originated in General Electric's research into photographic recording. Charles A. Hoxie developed a recorder intended to capture transoceanic wireless telegraphy signals. The apparatus was later adapted for speech and used in 1921 to record speeches by President Calvin Coolidge and other speakers for transmission over WGY, General Electric's radio station in Schenectady. GE began a dedicated commercial sound-on-film program in 1925. Its approach differed from variable-density systems such as Phonofilm and Movietone, in which the intensity of the recording light changed to create a soundtrack of varying density. The GE design used a fast mirror galvanometer to alter the exposed width of the soundtrack, creating a variable-area recording. Public demonstrations followed in 1926 and 1927. During 1927, a sound version of Wings, featuring music and sound effects, was shown in approximately a dozen specially equipped theaters. To commercialize the technology, RCA Photophone Inc. was formed in April 1928 as an RCA subsidiary. David Sarnoff was its president and a member of its board. The Photophone system entered the rapidly developing talking-picture market alongside Warner Bros.' Vitaphone sound-on-disc process and competing sound-on-film systems associated with Lee de Forest, Fox-Case, and Tri-Ergon. RKO Radio Pictures became the most prominent early studio user of RCA Photophone. RKO emerged after Joseph P. Kennedy and other investors combined Film Booking Offices of America with the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theater chain and RCA. The studio selected RCA's system as its principal sound format. In March 1929, RKO released Syncopation, identified as the first live-recorded film made using RCA Photophone. During the following decades, motion-picture producers, laboratories, and theaters commonly licensed sound systems from either RCA or Western Electric. Film prints were often marked with the licensor's sound-recording identity, including RCA's familiar corporate branding. The RCA system's principal technical element was its galvanometer-based optical recorder. Although variable-area and variable-density processes were often associated respectively with RCA and Western Electric, both companies could offer versions of both approaches, and practical quality depended on the complete customer workflow. Technicolor processes, for example, often favored variable-density recording because of their use of silver-gray-scale elements in color printing. The industry later moved toward stereo optical sound. During the 1970s, Dolby Laboratories, Kodak, and other organizations investigated improvements to optical soundtrack quality. Westrex, the successor to Western Electric's cinema-sound business under Litton Industries, reintroduced equipment based on the four-ribbon light valve and related recording electronics. This configuration could produce time-aligned stereo variable-area tracks and became increasingly important as stereo release prints became a commercial expectation. RCA Photophone's original system could not meet that stereo requirement in the same way. As a result, the RCA cinema-sound system was abandoned and became essentially defunct. After the RCA sound business declined and the original Photophone trademark became available, the name was reused for a Westrex-derived stereo variable-area system. This later use of Photophone represents a successor technology rather than a continuation of the original RCA apparatus. The distinction is important: RCA Photophone belongs to the early optical sound era, while the later Photophone name referred to a different Westrex lineage that continued in limited service after RCA's system had disappeared.

• 1976

  Sound-system branding largely fades

  [1]RCA Photophoneen.wikipedia.org

  Visible branding of optical recording systems on films largely ceased as the industry moved toward standardized stereo variable-area practices.

• 1970

  Stereo transition undermines the original system

  [1]RCA Photophoneen.wikipedia.org

  The requirement for time-aligned stereo optical negatives favored the Westrex variable-area system over RCA's original arrangement.

• 1950

  RCA galvanometer technology remains in cinema use

  [1]RCA Photophoneen.wikipedia.org

  The RCA galvanometer approach continued as part of the established optical sound infrastructure, although later technical developments would displace it.

• 1929

  Syncopation released

  [1]RCA Photophoneen.wikipedia.org

  RKO released Syncopation, described as the first live-recorded film made with RCA Photophone.

• 1928

  RCA Photophone Inc. incorporated

  [1]RCA Photophoneen.wikipedia.org

  RCA established a subsidiary dedicated to commercial exploitation of the Photophone system.

• 1927

  Early public Photophone screenings

  [1]RCA Photophoneen.wikipedia.org

  A sound version of Wings was presented as a road-show in specially equipped theaters, using music and sound effects.

• 1925

  GE begins commercial sound-on-film development

  [1]RCA Photophoneen.wikipedia.org

  General Electric began adapting Hoxie's recording work into a commercial motion-picture sound system.

• 1921

  Hoxie recorder used for speech broadcasts

  [1]RCA Photophoneen.wikipedia.org

  General Electric's photographic recorder, developed by Charles A. Hoxie, was adapted to capture speeches for broadcast by WGY.

A professional cinema-technology system positioned as RCA's integrated sound-on-film alternative to sound-on-disc and competing variable-density recording systems.

• Motion-picture sound technology · 1928

  RCA Photophone variable-area optical sound system

  RCA's principal Photophone system exposed an optical soundtrack whose width changed with the audio signal. A fast-acting mirror galvanometer controlled the exposure pattern, allowing speech, music, and effects to be recorded directly alongside the motion-picture image. It was designed for professional film production, laboratory recording, and theatrical reproduction during the early sound era.

• Film sound licensing and branding · 1928

  RCA Sound Recording

  RCA Sound Recording was the identifying language and branding used on films and related materials to indicate that RCA's sound-recording system or licensed recording process had been used. It functioned as an industry-facing technology mark rather than as a consumer product line.

• 1970

  Industry shifts from RCA optical recording to stereo variable-areaGeneration change

  Background

  Improved optical sound quality and the commercial importance of stereo release prints created demand for time-aligned multichannel sound negatives.

  Action taken

  Sound facilities increasingly adopted Westrex equipment capable of recording stereo variable-area tracks, while the original RCA system was abandoned.

  Aftermath

  RCA Photophone became essentially defunct. The Photophone name was later reused for a Westrex-derived system, creating a distinction between the original RCA technology and its successor.

  • Westrex — Westrex promoted stereo variable-area recording equipment that better matched the industry's move to stereo optical prints.

  Source

• 1928

  RCA creates a dedicated commercialization subsidiaryStrategy

  Background

  GE research had produced a workable sound-on-film process, but commercial adoption required equipment supply, licensing, and integration with studios and theaters.

  Action taken

  RCA established RCA Photophone Inc. to market and commercially develop the Photophone system.

  Aftermath

  The subsidiary helped place RCA's technology in the emerging talking-picture market and supported its adoption by RKO.

  • Western Electric — Western Electric continued competing through its own cinema sound recording and reproduction systems.

  Source

• 1928

  RKO selects RCA PhotophoneStrategy

  Background

  The creation of RKO Radio Pictures connected a major studio and theater organization with RCA interests during the conversion to synchronized sound.

  Action taken

  RKO adopted RCA Photophone as its primary motion-picture sound system.

  Aftermath

  RKO's releases gave RCA Photophone an important early studio customer and increased its visibility in the talkie market.

  Source

1. 1RCA Photophoneen.wikipedia.org