Projector

“ The projector (Fig. 8) is composed of a lamp house, a condensing lens to make the beam of light converge upon the film for illuminating it evenly, a film-stepping device, and a projecting lens for throwing the enlarged picture of the illuminated film upon a screen.
Fig. 8—Projector Complete
The lamp house is made of ordinary stovepipe metal and the dimensions given in the sketch are for a size suitable to use an acetylene or gas burner. ”

“ To speak of crossing the ocean, against wind and tide, in a vessel, by the simple aid of a kettle filled with boiling water, was, not many years ago, laughed at as the ravings of a crack-brained fool. A shaved head and a strait waistcoat were the promised rewards of the original projector of that most noble enterprise. ”

“ The screen must be set perpendicular to the horizontal axis of the projector objective and condenser, and if the machine is inclined slightly the sheet must be tilted in a corresponding degree, or it will be impossible to secure a picture which is clear and sharp all over, for the simple reason that some of the rays of light from the projector will be shorter than others. ”

“ Another noteworthy point is the way in which a still-life lantern slide is thrown upon the screen when desired. The projector carries two lenses, one for animation, and the other for still-life lantern slide work. The ordinary way of bringing the latter into use is to push the front part of the projector bodily sideways so as to bring the second lens before the condenser and the light. The objection to this method is that the rigidity of the projector is likely to be disturbed, especially after a little wear, with the result that the projection of the moving pictures is apt to become unsteady. ”

“ This range mechanism of the projector was reasonably familiar, and I felt that I could operate it. The range-finder and switch were on a ledge at one of the windows. I rushed to it. As I swung the little telescope, training it down on Miko's lights, I could see the huge projector on the deck swinging similarly. Its movement surprised the men who were attending it. One of them called up to me, but I ignored him.
hen Potan looked up and saw me. He shouted in Martian at the duty-man, whom he doubtless thought was behind me: "Be ready! We may fire on them, whoever they are. ”

“ The projector barrel was moving, to center its lens on target. As Pete watched, the lens barrel swung till he could see the glint of light on the outer focusing circles. As the rack with its charges started to face him, he moved back, preparing to roll into the narrow slit beneath the wall. ”

“ They were communicable—as are all vibrations.
Harmless of aspect, this bronzed projector! I would have said, with a casual glance, that it was a searchlight of my own time. I have seen many like it. But it had a focussing grid of wires across its face instead of a lens. Wires of a metal no one could name. A focussing and firing mechanism; and insulated wires leading to a cylindrical tank, long as a man—the battery, in which was stored some unnamable electronic force.
Alan and I examined the apparatus as Lea showed how it should be assembled. ”

“ The modern motion projector is light in weight, small in size, and can be [100] easily operated. Films can be shown at any place, at any time, and are the ideal method of demonstrating the salesman’s wares. Some manufacturers are making a speciality of these portable projectors, which may be tapped to the lighting circuit and used in the office of the prospective customer, with a blank wall as a screen.
This method of exhibition has been hailed with delight, and the number of manufacturers availing themselves of this medium of salesmanship grows in number day by day. ”

“ The effect of these somber draperies, and the weird accompanying monotone of the electric motor attached to the projector, are horribly impressive, and one's sense of the supernatural is heightened when a figure suddenly springs into his patb, acting and talking with a vigor which leaves him totally unprepared for its mysterious vanishing. ”

“ The ingenious means adopted for stopping and restarting the projector will be appreciated as a great feature of the invention, and though the action may appear to be abrupt, no damage whatever is inflicted upon the film. ”

“ This is known as the Edison Standard Gauge, and it is observed by practically all the motion-picture firms in the world.
175 The perforations along the edges of the films furnish the means for drawing them through the camera, printing machine, and projector; and as the correct movement of the films is one of the important factors in making good pictures, they must be absolutely mathematically exact. A fault in perforation of even as much as one thousandth part of an inch is apt to cause the film to buckle in the camera or projector and ruin the whole thing. ”

“ The powerful electric light, usually an arc light, which is placed in a metal box a few inches behind the rest of the projector, directs its rays through the glass condensers, thence through the film, and thence through the lens, which throws the image upon the white screen or curtain. ”

“ The scene at the proving grounds was a bustle of activity. In the center of the area stood a huge machine with a paraboloid reflector, pointing skyward on gimbals. Supporting the projector was a girdered and trussed platform, with tractor beams on each corner, pointing down to the center of Terra. Vast was the machine; no telescope in the Solar Combine was half as solid as the trunnions and bars that rigidized the setting of the relatively small, ten-foot bowl of the projector.
A line of portable telephone poles, strung with portable wiring, led from the housing below the projector. ”

“ The picture will jump and flutter in the most distressing manner, and no matter how dexterous the operator may be, and despite the excellence of his projector, he cannot by any means rectify or mitigate very appreciably defects arising from indifferent perforation. ”

“ Follow a projector in his description, and if it be not perfectly unintelligible, which it often is, it always proves that he expects to find certain of his movements alternately strong and weak—not according to the laws of nature—but according to the wants of his mechanism. ”

“ The puller-sphere we were using is propagated on a tractor beam. The characteristics of a tractor beam are that once established, the number of wave lengths between projector and object remain the same. Then the projector presents a leading signal phase, and the phase of the tractor beam moves toward the projector to bring the two waves into zero phase difference. The projector maintains the leading phase all the time, and thus draws the object. It is just like turning a nut on a threaded rod, sort of. ”

“ With the motion-picture projector a series of slightly varying pictures of the same subject are projected in quick succession. This succession is at such a rapid rate that the interval of time during which one picture moves out of place to make way for the next is so short that it is nearly imperceptible. In consequence, the slightly varying pictures blend on the screen and we have a phantasmagoria of movement.
The phenomenon of this movement—this semblance [5] to life—takes place, not on the screen, but within the eye. ”

“ From the accumulators, then, the power is fed to the converters, each of which is backed by a projector. The converters simply change the aspect of the rays, from the energy aspect to the material aspect. As soon as this is done, the highly-charged particles—or whatever they are—thus formed are repelled by the terrific stationary force maintained in the projector backing the converter. Each particle departs with a velocity supposed to be that of light, and the recoil upon the projector drives the vessel, or car, or whatever it is attached to. ”

“ Although the evolution of a smooth-working and perfect camera taxed mechanical ingenuity to a high degree, the proportions of the task were not to be compared with those involved in the design of the projector. ”

“ Though the excellence of a moving picture display depends primarily upon the projector and the film, its brilliancy and clear definition can be made or marred by the screen. When the pictures are being thrown from the front of the house and the audience see a reflected projection, the screen must be opaque and prepared from a suitably woven cloth. ”

“ A fairly successful device for giving the phonograph and the projector synchronism, or, in other words, keeping them in step, has been worked out by the Gaumont firm of Paris. The phonograph and the projector are run by two motors of exactly the same size and power, from the same wires. The armatures of the motors are divided into an equal number of sections, and each section of one is connected with the corresponding section in the armature of the other, so that one cannot rotate for the fraction 220 of a second unless the other rotates with it. ”

“ The Americans early conceived the idea that projectors could be fired just as accurately by digging a shallow trench just deep enough to form a support for the base plate, and then supporting the outer ends of the projector on crossed sticks or a light frame work of boards. ”

“ The modern projector likewise has its film pictures on a small wheel or reel.
Kircher explained that in this catoptric machine a man looking at the mirror (equivalent to the screen in a theatre) sees images of a fire, a cow and other animals all blending one into another. It is unlikely that the giant wheel could be revolved swiftly enough to give anything like the proper illusion of motion but certainly there was a transformation which must have appeared wondrous and entertaining. ”

“ A demonstration of the Armat-Edison projector was held on April 3 and on April 23, 1896, the Vitascope, as it was called, made its debut at the Koster & Bial’s Music Hall on Herald Square, 34th Street, New York City. This was a banner day in the history of the screen. The many hesitant and uncertain steps down through the centuries quickened into an assured march of progress. ”

“ Still another method of attack, developed by the British and first used by them in July, 1917, was the projector (invented by Captain Livens) . This was used very successfully up to the close of the War, and though the German attempted to duplicate it, his results were never as effective. The projector consists of a steel tube of uniform cross section, with an internal diameter of about 8 inches. By using nickel steel the weight may be decreased until it is a one man load. ”

“ Although it rested, like a camera, on an iron tripod, it was unlike any other machine I had ever observed; it consisted, in the main, of a series of prisms and lenses, of various shapes and colors, some of them transparent and but a few inches across, but the foremost of them rounded in form, stained a deep opaque blue, and fully a yard in diameter. Behind the lenses, there were numbers of bulbs and wires, and of battery-like tubes; while the whole instrument, when in operation, made a constant whirring sound, a little like a motion picture projector. ”

“ As a matter of fact, this double camera and projector actually records and throws on the screen more than the eye sees. The human organ works upon the same principle broadly as the single camera, because the periodical eclipse of the eye by the lid, which is known as “blinking,” interrupts continuous vision, in just the same manner as the shutter of the lens in its eclipsing action. Although the lid falls and rises very quickly so that the interruption of sight is exceedingly brief, a certain phase of movement is lost. This is apparent when a very swiftly moving object passes before the eyes. ”

“ Projected against a screen, or viewed through a magnifying-glass, the pictures are eminently lifelike, for the reason that the enlargement need not be more than ten times the original size. On exhibition evenings the projecting-room, which is situated in the upper story of the photographic department, is hung with black, in order to prevent any reflection from the circle of light emanating from the screen at the other end, the projector being placed behind a curtain, also of black, and provided with a single peep-hole for the accommodation of the lens. ”

“ He merely keeps his eye on an ingenious, simple “control board,”188 which is set up in a convenient position beside the projector operator. It includes a starting gear, whereby the talking machine is set in motion, and which in turn actuates the cinematograph by the disc electrical contact, an electric switch, a volt meter, which acts as a speed indicator, its readings, in fact, having a constant relation to the revolving speed of the talking machine turn-table; and a two-way commutator, where the differential motor is started up. ”

“ When the axis of the projector points toward the clouds, and in the direction occupied by a corresponding station, the occultations of the luminous source placed in the focus of the apparatus produce upon the clouds, which act as a screen, an alternate series of flashes and extinctions. ”

“ The preliminary operation is carried out with a machine, which stamps the holes by means of specially hardened steel punches. Extreme care has to be taken to carry out the task with mathematical accuracy, in order that the film may be used with any type of camera and projector. Without it steadiness of the picture upon the screen is absolutely impossible. ”

“ The operators at the projectors follow the movements of the performer, and can produce an almost infinitely extended range of effects by varying the colors thrown by each projector.
The theater being pitch dark, the dancer can be brought slowly into view and can be made to slowly disappear by manipulation of the projectors. She can appear in any color or combination of colors. It is needless to say that it is a composite performance in the sense that the dancer fills only a part of the functions; skilled operators are absolutely essential at the projectors. ”