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Author Topic: Distinguishing Dolby A Prints from SR Matthew Jaro Film Handler Posts: 74 From: Gaithersburg, MD, USA Registered: Jul 2003 posted 10-18-2003 08:17 AM                        Do Dolby SR prints always say SR on the leader? I believe SR was introduced in 1986. Is there a good way to tell if films from that period are SR or A encoded? IMDB seems to say "Dolby" for Sound Mix in their technical specs. This doesn't help.  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 10-18-2003 08:40 AM                        I think it was 1987 with Robocop. You cannot tell by inspecting them visually. But if you play the print and switch back and forth between A and SR it becomes quite obvious to the ear which is the right NR type to play it.  |  IP: Logged Bill Langfield Master Film Handler Posts: 280 From: Prospect, NSW, Australia Registered: Apr 2001 posted 10-18-2003 09:16 AM                        Hey Matt, I think if you look in the area of the edge of the leader (where SDDS now lives) its printed there. Something like 'DOLBY A/SR' or just 'DOLBY A' Why are you asking anyway? Does a Dolby A sound worse when run with SR turned on? And yes the IMDB sucks when it comes to the technical tab. Bill.  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-18-2003 09:23 AM                        Dolby A and mono prints sound terrible when played in SR. SR plays OK in A, however. Mono prints (which can be identified visually) should be played in mono, but don't sound too horrible in Dolby A. I don't think I've ever seen an SR track on anything made prior to the early '90s. Almost all prints with SRD tracks have SR optical tracks (with exceptions for a couple of early Disney titles which had Dolby A optical tracks).  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 10-18-2003 10:41 AM                     "Robocop" was indeed the first 35mm optical Dolby SR release. "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" was the first movie to use the process, in a very limited form with release prints. That film preceded "Robocop" by about six months (released in the holiday season of 1986). Two 70mm Dolby SR mag prints were made and booked in two theaters in Los Angeles (the ads had "Dolby Spectral Sound" under that big 70mm logo). I've put together a pretty nice collection of vector-based computer graphics logos of all that stuff, but have never been able to find any source material good enough to recreate the original Dolby SR logo. gave me a pretty cool Dolby SR bumper sticker though.  |  IP: Logged Jesse Skeen Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1517 From: Sacramento, CA Registered: Aug 2000 posted 10-18-2003 11:45 AM                     My rule's always been don't run it in SR unless it specifically says SR on the leaders (if you don't already know, 99% of the time the sound info will be printed on the leader in the optical soundtrack area.) Prints that just say "Stereo" or don't have any info at all get run in Dolby A. Playing anything in SR decoding that wasn't meant to sounds awful- it usually sounds low and muffled. Same can be said for cassette tapes (does anyone use those anymore?)- I never turn the NR on unless it's labeled on the tape as having NR.  |  IP: Logged Greg Mueller Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1687 From: Port Gamble, WA Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-18-2003 12:59 PM                        I got tricked the other day when I ran "The 5th Element" ('97). It supposed to be in SRD with SR analog and SDDS. When I ran it I was getting straight "F"s and I thought my reader was goofed up. It was fine in SR. I tried looking at the film as it ran with a flash light to reassure myself that it was in SRD and it looked like it had the appropriate fields as there was the slightly gray boxes between the perfs. I was bummed. On rewind I stopped it for a moment and looked closely and sure enough the boxes were there but they were blank. I guess some prints were digital and some weren't. Those pranksters! Why would they double inventory like that?  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 10-18-2003 01:03 PM                     That was a Sony release (Columbia/Tri-Star) if I remember correctly. They were on an SDDS exclusive kick for years. Somewhere in the archives there was an explanation about why the film would have SRD-looking marks like that, sort of like how some films today have SDDS-looking stripes down the edges, but I can't remember why. Regardless, there was a time where double inventory was required due to the labs not being able to print the digital tracks in enough quantity. I don't think that movie was released in SRD anywhere though.  |  IP: Logged Ron Lacheur Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 650 From: British Columbia, Canada Registered: Feb 2002 posted 10-18-2003 01:11 PM                     5th Element was a Sony release. Did it have DTS as well?  |  IP: Logged Greg Mueller Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1687 From: Port Gamble, WA Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-18-2003 01:12 PM                        I wish. Nope  |  IP: Logged Ron Lacheur Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 650 From: British Columbia, Canada Registered: Feb 2002 posted 10-18-2003 01:25 PM                     Sony had DTS on their big releases that year ( Air Force One, Starship Troopers ) I'm surprised that 5th Element didn't have DTS on it.  |  IP: Logged Jeffry L. Johnson Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 809 From: Cleveland, Ohio, USA Registered: Apr 2000 posted 10-18-2003 01:39 PM                        European prints of "The Fifth Element" were Dolby Digital. Sony's USA release prints were SDDS. No Dolby Digital.  |  IP: Logged Greg Mueller Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1687 From: Port Gamble, WA Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-18-2003 02:31 PM                        This one didn't have SDDS either  |  IP: Logged Manny Knowles "What are these things and WHY are they BLUE???" Posts: 4247 From: Bloomington, IN, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 10-18-2003 04:04 PM                     Bill wrote: quote: I think if you look in the area of the edge of the leader (where SDDS now lives) its printed there. I have never seen the sound format info printed in the SDDS area but I *have* seen it printed in the analog area on the leaders. Usually it says "Stereo A" or "Stereo SR" if it's a Dolby NR track. I have personally never seen a "DTS Stereo" track but I believe somebody in an older thread addressed this and said to use A-Type NR for those.  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 10-18-2003 10:24 PM                        You can see these (dts Stereo) regularly on Asian releases.  |  IP: Logged

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