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February 2005, Week 4

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Subject:
From:
James Monaco <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 25 Feb 2005 14:18:24 -0500
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Leo Enticknap's eloquent essay on flicker reminded me of the  problem 
of 50 Hertz v. 60 Hertz and some unanswered questions.

I first became aware of the significance of the incompatibility thirty
years ago when I was showing a Ken Loach film at the New School in New
York. The film really dragged during the first screening. Then we
realized it was a made-for-TV film shot at 25 fps instead of 24 fps.
The 4 percent difference was not noticeable in terms of the action or
dialogue but it really destroyed the rhythms. When we projected at 25
fps the film came alive again. The difference was striking, most
significantly because you couldn't perceive that the film was being
projected at the wrong speed at 24 fps. (It wasn't like the rushed
motions we are all familiar with when silent 16 fps is projected at 24
fps.) Musicians would understand this phenomenon.

In that pre-digital age, as I understood it, the practice in the UK (at
least) was to do a frame-for-frame transfer of 24 fps cinema to 25 fps
PAL for TV. To my mind, based on the Loach experiment, this would have
seriously altered the experience.

I have very little personal experience with non-NTSC TV. First, because
when I'm outside the US about the last thing I want to do is watch TV.
But also because for me PAL was painful to watch: it flickered! And the
increased resolution only seemed to emphasize the flicker. Curiously, I
don't have the same reaction to SECAM in France even though that also
runs at 50 Hertz.

So here are my questions:
1. Is it really possible that frame-for-frame transfers of 24 fps were
the norm in 50 Hertz countries at one time?
2. Has anyone written about the psychological or social effects of
this practice? How does it relate to ADHD, for example?
3. When did the practice stop?
4. Do PAL cathode ray tubes still flicker? Or has the refresh rate
been increased?
5. Is there a technical difference between PAL and SECAM that reduces
the perception of flicker at 50 Hz?

There's an old anecdote about Ingmar Bergman suffering pangs of guilt
because his audiences were watching a blank screen most of the time. He
should have concentrated on video.

I'll buy your book, Leo!

One more thought: As Leo points out, 24 fps (doubled by the shutter to
48 fps) is the least you can get away with--and we've been stuck with
it for 75 years. (Showscan never took off, although IMAX HD might
still.) I think this is the mosty salient example of what we might call
the Lincoln Rule of Perception: you only have to fool most of the
people most of the time. A more recent example is CD audio standards
(significantly inferior to the vinyl it replaced). There has been a lot
of interesting work done in perceptual psychology in the last 20 years,
but it seems most of it has been devoted to extending the Lincoln Rule.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

James Monaco
Harbor Electronic Publishing
80 East 11th St New York NY 10003
212 777 5463 sales: 800 269 6422

http://HEPDigital.com

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