FILMS AND TALKING

Taranaki Daily News, 6 September 1929, Page 12

FILMS AND TALKING

ORIGIN OF THE IDEA NEW ZEALANDER’S CLAIM. AN EARLY INVENTION. Sydney. Aug. 29. Most people .look oii talking films as an invention evolved only within the last year or so —the very latest products of research, post-dating wireless and the phonograph. But, as a matter of fact, a New Zealander who has resided for some years in Sydney, Mr. Robert Thorn Haines, took out patents in London for ‘a process of recording talking films akin to that in use today as long ago as 1907. He has proved the authenticity of his claim -by producing the srelevant documents. Mr.” Haines had worked oh the idea for some time before he left Australia on a trip abroad. While in. London, he says, he heard of two other men who were eperimenting along the same lines —Mr. Eugene Lauste. formerly connected with Mr. Thomas Edison’s laboratory, and Mr. John. Pletts, of the Marconi Company. Both of them were interested in what he had done, and all three joined in further research, which resulted in a patent being obtained. The next care was to seek capital, so that the new idea could be exploited. Mr. Haines first approached Lord Fitzjanles, who was highly enthusiastic. Unfortunately for the hope of the inventors Lord .Fitzjames died suddenly only three days after, he had offered his support. Next they applied to Mr. Parr, ' of Parr and Company, a well-known financial concern, and once again they seemed to be on the road to success, but when all preparations had been completed Parr and Company went into liquidation. MACHINE BROKEN ON A SHIP. At this stage Mr. Haines lost heart and returned to Melbourne, where he had been living since 1887. His fellowworker. Lauste, however, went on trying to exploit the invention. He gave' a demonstration of its powers at the Hotel Cecil, and then put it on board a ship for the United States, but on the voy- ' age, somehow or other, the machine became broken, and Lauste apparently did nothing more with it. The’’invention as patented was quite distinct from the method of synchronising sound with visual images by means of” a connection between an ordinary phonograph and the cinematograph. Such a connection has often been attempted, even as early as 1909; but great diffi-i culties surrounded it owing to the fact that both the cinematograph and the phonograph were not then in the state of perfection that they” are x to-day. The method usually adopted was to make the record first, and then take the picture with the record playing, while the Eerson being photographed followed with is lips the sounds that the phonograph emitted. Like the system of recording and reproducing talking films which is used to-day, the invention in which Mr. Haines was Interested used photography itself as a means of recording and reproducing sound and of obtaining syn- . Jhronisation. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROCESS. Dealing with the work of Mr. Haines under the title of talking pictures, the American magazine Photo-Era in December, 1909, said: “The process by which the result is obtained consists in collecting the sound waves at the place where they originate, • and conveying them electrically to the recording instrument, where they are utilised to vary a light source, or the rays eman- * ating from it, so as to produce on the sensitised film, side by side with the pictures or images simultaneously taken, a series of photographic impressions of varyincr opacity and transparency, or otherwise of varying form, which in . turn are caused to vary the rays from , a fixed light source, so as correspondin<dy to vary the resistance of electric current operating a loud-sounding microphone by means of which the sounds are reproduced, simultaneously and with exact synchronisation with the picture or images, at the place they originally emanated from.” According to Mr. Haines very definite results were obtained along these lines before he left London. With the help of primitive apparatus Lauste had succeeded in reproducing the human voice. Mr. Haines had experimented extensively also with the telegraphic transmission of pictures. He took out provisional specifications in 1907 for a contrivance on these lines, and a year or two later the same principle was embodied in apparatus by Professor Korn, of Munich, who transmitted a picture of. King Edward by telegraph from Paris to Berlin. Mr. Haines still claims that the principle of this machine is superior to that of the apparatus now being installed for the transmission of pictures hy telegraph between Sydney and Melbourne.