Silent Era Information*Progressive Silent Film List*Lost Films*People*Theaters
Taylorology*Articles*Home Video*Books*Search
 
Pandora's Box BD
 
Silent Era Home Page  >  Information  >  Technology  >  Synchronized Sound Systems  >  Eugène Lauste
 
Info & News
A collection of news and information pertaining to silent era films.
Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett and the Silent Era Company.
All Rights Reserved.
 
 
Silent Era Technology
 
Synchronized Sound Systems
Eugène Lauste sound-on-film
Former Edison machinist Eugène Lauste, then living in England, applied for a British patent on an early sound-on-film process in 1906. A working experimental system was operating as early as sometime circa 1911. The 35mm system captured a one-third size image on the right side of the camera negative while a primitive optical soundtrack was recorded on the left. One experimental Lauste camera was modified from a Pathé Frères camera. The playback projector recreated the soundtrack by projecting light through the optical soundtrack onto a selenium cell which coverted light into electrical pulses which were converted to sound and heard through earphones. Lauste never received the necessary funding to develop a sound amplification system.

Four brief 35mm nitrate print clippings survive in America, with two held by the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History (Earl Theisen collection), one held by the Smithsonian, and one by private collector Rocco Accetturo who also holds Lauste papers previously part of the Jean LeRoy collection.

It is our conjecture that the Accetturo clipping (24 frame long) is an earlier example of the Lauste system as the cinematic image is smaller than the Smithsonian clipping (taken in 1912 and only 15 frames long), which captured a larger image perhaps addressing a need for a clearer image to accompany the recorded sound.

References: Website-MIAN.

 

Webpage: Detecting the History of Sound-on-Film

Video: Examples of early Lauste sound-on-film experiments survive in America

 
Silent Era Home Page  >  Information  >  Technology  >  Synchronized Sound Systems  >  Eugène Lauste
 
Lodger BD
Become a Patron of Silent Era

LINKS IN THIS COLUMN
WILL TAKE YOU TO
EXTERNAL WEBSITES

SUPPORT SILENT ERA
USING THESE LINKS
WHEN SHOPPING AT
AMAZON

AmazonUS
AmazonCA
AmazonUK

Cat and the Canary Standard BD

Capra at Columbia UHD/BD

Little Rascals Vol 1 BD

Charley Chase 1927 BD

L&H Year 2 BD

Seven Chances/Sherlock Jr BD

Caligari UHD

Pandora's Box BD