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 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.
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 monaural optical soundtrack, in addition to the audible sound. When run through a Perspecta integrator, depending on whenever each tone is present, the audio is fed into a left, center and right speaker. 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.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 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.

List of Perspecta features

Allied Artists Pictures Corporation

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

MGM

Knights of the Round Table Athena Beau Brummell Gone with the Wind Bad Day at Black Rock Bedevilled Jupiter's Darling Kismet The Glass Slipper The Last Hunt The Tender Trap Forbidden Planet High Society Lust for Life Tom and Jerry Jailhouse Rock The Seventh Sin Gigi The Brothers Karamazov The Law and Jake Wade

Paramount

3 Ring Circus Anything Goes Artists and Models The Birds and the Bees The Court Jester The Desperate Hours The Far Horizons The Girl Rush Hell's Island The Leather Saint Lucy Gallant The Man Who Knew Too Much Pardners The Proud and Profane Run for Cover The Rose Tattoo The Scarlet Hour The Seven Little Foys Strategic Air Command That Certain Feeling To Catch a Thief The Trouble with Harry War and Peace as "Perspecta Stereophonic Sound ® By Suonitalia Studio - Rome"We're No Angels White Christmas

Toho

Battle in Outer Space Gorath The Hidden Fortress High and Low The H-Man King Kong vs. Godzilla The Last War Mothra The Mysterians Red Beard Sanjuro The Secret of the Telegian Varan the Unbelievable

United Artists

Universal-International

Away All Boats The Benny Goodman Story The Black Shield of Falworth One Desire This Island Earth

Warner Bros.

East of Eden King Richard and the Crusaders Lucky Me
Some other films, such as Around the World in 80 Days, also used Perspecta to convert their non-encoded mono optical soundtracks to three channel surround.