List of film sound systems

The following is a list of film sound systems.

Contents

Sound systems

year name # of films
2002 12-Track Digital Sound 40
1953 3 Channel Stereo 51
1953 4-Track Stereo (CinemaScope) 586
1955 6-Track Stereo (Todd-AO and compatibles) 89
1955 70 mm 6-Track 527
1934 Afifa Ton-Kopie 1
1950 AGA Sound System 7
1909 Animatophone 3
1928 Aurofone 1
1943 B.A.F. Sound System 2
1907 Biophone 2
1938 Blue Seal Noiseless Recording 1
1929 Bristolphone 2
2001 Broadway Surround 1
1909 Cameraphone 1
1921 Case 1
1990 CDS 11
1974 Chace Surround 8
1905 Chronophone (Gaumont) 106
1910 Chronomegaphone 1
1990 Cinema Digital Sound 5
1907 Cinematophone 53
1904 Cineophone 2
1909 Cinephone Lubin 57
1952 Cinerama 7-Track 13
1911 Cinephonograph 1
1949 Cinesound 10
1908 Cinophone 2
1923 De Forest Phonofilm 213
2002 Digitrac Digital Audio System 12
1980 Dolby 12497
1972 Dolby Digital 19652
1999 Dolby Digital EX 288
1992 Dolby SR (Surround) 5865
2010 Dolby Surround 7.1 50
1993 DTS 3735
1996 DTS 70 mm 28
2001 DTS-8 2
1999 DTS-ES 93
1994 DTS-Stereo 137
1996 DX Stereo 3
1940 Fantasound 1
1929 Filmtone 2
1998 Full Range Recording System 5
1920 Gaumontphone 1
1898 Hollmann–Eaves 1
1973 IMAX 6-Track 25
1933 International Recording Engineers System 2
1992 Iwerks Digital Audio 5
1894 Kinetophone (Dickson) 7
1889 Kinetophone (Edison) 1
1958 Kinopanorama 9-Track 6
1913 Kinoplasticon 12
1956 Klangfilm Magnetocord 3
1954 Klangfilm-Stereocord 3
1990 LC-Concept Digital Sound 22
1969 Li-Westrex System 1
1938 Magnaphone Western Electric 3
1962 Magnetocord 1
1988 Matrix Surround 24
1929 Mono 137936
1925 Movietone 20
1938 Optiphone 5
1964 Ortiphone 1
1907 Oskar Messter 1
1949 Perspecta Stereo 58
1933 Phillips Sound 3
1900 Phono-Bio-Taleaux 1
1900 Phono-Cinema-Theatre 7
1921 Phono-Kinema 11
1922 Phonofilm 2
1921 Photokinema 2
1925 Photophone (RCA) 3
1914 Polyscope 2
1936 Pulvári System 5
1970 Quadrophonic 3
1975 Quintaphonic 1
1987 Sony Digital Dynamic Sound 2005
1977 Sensurround 13
1992 Servotron Stereo 5
1896 Silent 95017
1985 Sonics 4
1996 Sonics-DDP 47
1994 Sonix 13
1928 Sonora-Bristolphone 1
1997 Sound 360° 2
1992 Sound Trax Surround Stereo 4
1995 Soundelux 1
1965 Spectra-Stereo 2
1972 Stereo 45374
1978 Super Space Sound 1
1929 Synchrotone 2
1939 Synthetic 4
1932 Systemi A. Shorin 2
1940 Système Cottet 3
1933 Tagephone 1
2005 TMH Labs 10.2 Channel Sound 1
1928 Tobis (TOnBIld Syndicat) 80
1922 Tri-Ergon Sound System 68 mm 2
1982 Ultra Stereo 1007
1938 Variray Blue Seal Recording 3
1935 Visatone 3
1980 Vistasonic 2
1925 Vitagraph 3
1927 Vitaphone 356
1911 Vivaphone 1
1921 Western Electric 20
1925 Westrex (Fox & Western Electric) 5
Wicmar and Blue Seal Noiseless Recording 1

Explanation

The year of developing the new technique is not the same as its first performance.
The approximate number of films created using each technique is taken from the Internet Movie Database.
More of talking films have been lost, but referred in newspapers or photographs

Technical questions

Because of different meaning of the words used in English you have to know:

sound-on-cylinder (using Edison technology, see Synchronized sound)
sound-on-disc (using Berliner technology)
sound-on-film (Eric Tigerstedt's optical, later magnetic sound)

The fist successful technology, the Vitaphone, used 12 inch (300 mm) disc diameter. It was enough only eleven minutes playing time, however the silent film stock (the reel) could run the average of 15 minutes

Notes

Optical sound was applied from 1910 but the first success was The Jazz Singer, with sound-on-disk technique.

The picture is narrower at sound film to leave place enough for the soundtrack, related to the silent film (see Academy ratio).

The first film, consisting an opera performance, was 46 seconds in length

Fantasound was an experimental surround system system created for Disney's film Fantasia. No Fantasound version of the film survives.

Dolby Surround 7.1 refers to theatrical 7.1 surround sound although 7.1 is remixed on some Blu-ray releases. It was introduced with Toy Story 3

See also

Resources