Sony Dynamic Digital Sound: Difference between revisions
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[[Image:sdds.png|thumb| |
[[Image:sdds.png|thumb|SDDS logotype]] |
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'''SDDS''' stands for [[Sony]] Dynamic Digital Sound, which is a [[movie theater|cinema]] [[sound]] system developed by Sony. Digital sound information is recorded on both outer edges of the 35mm film release print. |
'''SDDS''' stands for [[Sony]] Dynamic Digital Sound, which is a [[movie theater|cinema]] [[sound]] system developed by Sony. Digital sound information is recorded on both outer edges of the 35mm film release print. 7 main channels (5 screen + 2 surround) plus a sub-bass channel are available, usually only 3 of the available 5 screen channels are used as most cinemas do not have the extra speakers installed. The digital track includes 4 fall-back tracks for occasions when the full signal is unrecoverable due to dirt or damage on the film. |
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SDDS is not currently available on any home formats. |
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==History== |
==History== |
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[[Image:wikisdds8.png|frame|SDDS 8-Channels, this logo is used when all 8 channels are used as opposed to the usual six.]] |
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SDDS was developed at the same time as it's key competitors [[Dolby Digital]] and [[DTS]]. SDDS was the last of the three formats to premier, on [[June 17]], [[1993]] with the [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]] film ''[[Last Action Hero]]'' . |
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SDDS was first launched with the [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]] film ''[[Last Action Hero]]'' on June 17, 1993. |
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Since then over 1,330 movies have been mixed in Sony Dynamic Digital Sound, and as of early [[1999]] over 6,750 movie theaters have been equipped with SDDS. |
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This format made use of 8 channels of discrete digital sound, using 5 screen speakers as opposed to three, including an extra set of left and right speakers. |
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Since then over 1,300 movies have been mixed in Sony Dynamic Digital Sound, and as of early 1999 over 6,750 movie theaters have been equipped with SDDS. |
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==Competitors== |
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SDDS's competitors include the popular [[Dolby Digital]] format which premiered with the 1992 film ''[[Batman Returns]]'', and DTS, ([[Digital Theater Systems]]) which premiered with [[Steven Spielberg]]'s blockbuster hit ''[[Jurassic Park]]'' in 1993, just a few weeks before SDDS premiered with ''[[Last Action Hero]]''. |
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==Technical specifications== |
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SDDS is printed on both edges of the film, just outside the sproket holes and uses four back-up tracks, in case the reader fails or if the film is scratched or has dirt in it. |
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SDDS uses [[ATRAC]] ('''A'''daptive '''TR'''ansform '''A'''coustical '''C'''oding) compression at a ratio of about 5:1 and has a sampling rate of about 44.1kHz. |
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==Rumors== |
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[[Image:5slash2point1.png|frame|Sony's odd 7.1 setup, "5/2.1".]] |
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Rumors have been circulating on the Internet that Sony might be planning on releasing SDDS as an optional soundtrack on their new [[Blu-Ray]] format and quite possibly the competing [[HD-DVD]] format (although that is even less likely). |
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With the larger amount of space that these new formats can carry, having an optional SDDS track is possible. |
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These speculations, however, are mostly unfounded and there is yet no official word from Sony that they are planning to release SDDS into the home theater market. |
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==The Full 8-Channels== |
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[[Image:wikisdds8.png|frame|SDDS 8-Channels]] |
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Movies in SDDS may be mixed to support six channels of sound (5.1), or all 8 channels (actually 7.1, since the sub-bass channel is really counted as ".1"). |
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Out of the 1,300 plus films mixed in SDDS, only 95 of them to date have been mixed to support the full 8 channels. Mostly because most sound mixers prefer mixing in the popular 5.1 format and because SDDS is just far too expensive to install and maintain for most theater owners. |
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Theaters that are installed to support 8 channel movies will still end up with two wasted channels because of the small number of 8 channel SDDS movies (only about 3 to 5 are released a year). |
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===List of SDDS (8-Channel) movies=== |
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*[[2005]] |
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**''[[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)|Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire]]'' |
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**''[[Zathura]]'' |
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**''[[The Legend of Zorro]]'' |
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**''[[Oliver Twist (2005 film)|Oliver Twist]]'' |
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**''[[Stealth (film)|Stealth]]'' |
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*[[2004]] |
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**''[[Ocean's Twelve]]'' |
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**''[[Criminal (film)|Criminal]]'' |
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**''[[Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid]]'' |
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**''[[Spider-Man 2]]'' |
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*[[2003]] |
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**''[[Big Fish]]'' |
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**''[[Underworld (2003 film)|Underworld]]'' |
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*[[2002]] |
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**''[[Solaris (film)|Solaris]]'' |
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**''[[Stuart Little 2]]'' |
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**''[[Scooby-Doo (film)|Scooby-Doo]]'' |
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**''[[Spider-Man (film)|Spider-Man]]'' |
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**''[[The Time Machine]]'' |
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**''[[Black Hawk Down]]'' |
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*[[2001]] |
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**''[[Ocean's Eleven (2001 film)|Ocean's Eleven]]'' |
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**''[[Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (film)|Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone]]'' |
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**''[[Glitter (film)|Glitter]]'' |
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**''[[Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within]]'' |
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**''[[Pearl Harbor (film)|Pearl Harbor]]'' |
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**''[[A Knight's Tale (film)|A Knight's Tale]]'' |
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*[[2000]] |
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**''[[All the Pretty Horses]]'' |
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**''[[Finding Forrester]]'' |
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**''[[Vertical Limit]]'' |
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**''[[The 6th Day]]'' |
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**''[[Charlie's Angels (film)|Charlie's Angels]]'' |
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**''[[Godzilla 2000: Millennium]]'' |
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**''[[Hollow Man]]'' |
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**''[[The Perfect Storm]]'' |
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**''[[U-571 (film)|U-571]]'' |
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**''[[High Fidelity]]'' |
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**''[[Erin Brockovich (film)|Erin Brockovich]]'' |
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**''[[Girl, Interrupted]]'' |
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*[[1999]] |
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Out of the 1,330 plus films mixed in SDDS, only 95 of them to date have been mixed to support the full 8 channels. Mostly because most mixing studios are geared towards producing 5.1 mixes rather than 7.1 mixes. Also the additional sound equipment required for 8 channel SDDS makes it more expensive to install meaning that it only tends to be installed in larger venues. |
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**''[[Crazy in Alabama]]'' |
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**''[[Blue Streak (film)|Blue Streak]]'' |
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**''[[Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace]]'' |
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*[[1998]] |
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:''See also [[List of 8 channel SDDS films]].'' |
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**''[[Apt Pupil]]'' |
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**''[[Out of Sight]]'' |
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**''[[Godzilla (1998 film)|Godzilla]]'' |
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**''[[Les Misérables (1998 film)|Les Misérables]]'' |
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**''[[The Replacement Killers]]'' |
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*[[1997]] |
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==Technical== |
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**''[[Seven Years in Tibet]]'' |
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[[Image:5slash2point1.png|frame|SDDS channel arrangement with 5 front channels, 2 surround channels and a subwoofer channel or "5/2.1".]] |
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**''[[Masterminds (film)|Masterminds]]'' |
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The SDDS soundtrack is actually printed on with the cyan color layer on the outside edges of the projected film just outside the sprocket holes. |
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**''[[Excess Baggage]]'' |
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**''[[Men in Black (film)|Men In Black]]'' |
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**''[[Air Force One (film)|Air Force One]]'' |
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**''[[My Best Friend's Wedding]]'' |
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**''[[Con Air]]'' |
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**''[[The Second Jungle Book: Mowgli & Baloo]]'' |
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**''[[Addicted to Love]]'' |
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**''[[The Fifth Element]]'' |
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**''[[Anaconda (film)|Anaconda]]'' |
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**''[[Das Boot: The Director's Cut]]'' |
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**''[[Ghosts of Mississippi]]'' |
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*[[1996]] |
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The format carries up to 8 channels of discrete digital sound encoded using Sonys [[ATRAC]] codec with a compression ratio of about 5:1 and a sampling rate of 44.1 kHz. The channels are: |
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**''[[Fly Away Home]]'' |
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* 5 screen channels. |
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**''[[Matilda (film)|Matilda]]'' |
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** Left. |
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**''[[The Fan (1996 film)|The Fan]]'' |
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** Left center. |
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**''[[Alaska (1996 film)|Alaska]]'' |
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** Center. |
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**''[[Multiplicity (film)|Multiplicity]]'' |
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** Right center. |
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**''[[Mrs. Winterbourne]]'' |
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** Right. |
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**''[[Race the Sun]]'' |
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* 2 surround channels |
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**''[[Mary Reilly]]'' |
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** Left surround. |
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**''[[From Dusk Till Dawn]]'' |
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** Right surround. |
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**''[[Screamers (film)|Screamers]]'' |
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* Subwoofer channel |
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*[[1995]] |
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Additionally there are 4 backup channels encoded - in case of damage to one side of the film or the other. These are: |
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**''[[Sense and Sensibility (film)|Sense and Sensibility]]'' |
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* Center. |
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**''[[Dracula: Dead and Loving It]]'' |
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* Subwoofer. |
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**''[[Never Talk to Strangers]]'' |
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* Left + left center. |
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**''[[Devil in a Blue Dress]]'' |
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* Right + right center. |
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**''[[Desperado (film)|Desperado]]'' |
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**''[[Mortal Kombat (film)|Mortal Kombat]]'' |
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**''[[The Net (film)|The Net]]'' |
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**''[[First Knight]]'' |
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**''[[Judge Dredd (film)|Judge Dredd]]'' |
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**''[[Johnny Mnemonic (film)|Johnny Mnemonic]]'' |
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**''[[Bad Boys (1995 film)|Bad Boys]]'' |
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**''[[Hideaway]]'' |
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**''[[Legends of the Fall]]'' |
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*[[1994]] |
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This gives a total of 12 channels, for which the total datarate is 2.2 megabits per second. This is comparable to the DTS formats bitrate, and far greater than the cinema Dolby Digital bitrate of 0.37 megabits per second. |
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**''[[Immortal Beloved]]'' |
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**''[[Mary Shelley's Frankenstein]]'' |
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**''[[The Next Karate Kid]]'' |
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**''[[Blankman]]'' |
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**''[[City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold]]'' |
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**''[[Little Big League]]'' |
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*[[1993]] |
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For additional data security the two sides of the film are seperated by 17 frames - so a single splice or series of missing frames will not result in a total loss of data. |
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**''[[Geronimo: An American Legend]]'' |
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**''[[Rudy (film)|Rudy]]'' |
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**''[[In the Line of Fire]]'' |
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**''[[Last Action Hero]]'' |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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Revision as of 15:26, 4 December 2005
SDDS stands for Sony Dynamic Digital Sound, which is a cinema sound system developed by Sony. Digital sound information is recorded on both outer edges of the 35mm film release print. 7 main channels (5 screen + 2 surround) plus a sub-bass channel are available, usually only 3 of the available 5 screen channels are used as most cinemas do not have the extra speakers installed. The digital track includes 4 fall-back tracks for occasions when the full signal is unrecoverable due to dirt or damage on the film.
History
SDDS was first launched with the Arnold Schwarzenegger film Last Action Hero on June 17, 1993.
This format made use of 8 channels of discrete digital sound, using 5 screen speakers as opposed to three, including an extra set of left and right speakers.
Since then over 1,300 movies have been mixed in Sony Dynamic Digital Sound, and as of early 1999 over 6,750 movie theaters have been equipped with SDDS.
Competitors
SDDS's competitors include the popular Dolby Digital format which premiered with the 1992 film Batman Returns, and DTS, (Digital Theater Systems) which premiered with Steven Spielberg's blockbuster hit Jurassic Park in 1993, just a few weeks before SDDS premiered with Last Action Hero.
Technical specifications
SDDS is printed on both edges of the film, just outside the sproket holes and uses four back-up tracks, in case the reader fails or if the film is scratched or has dirt in it.
SDDS uses ATRAC (Adaptive TRansform Acoustical Coding) compression at a ratio of about 5:1 and has a sampling rate of about 44.1kHz.
Rumors
Rumors have been circulating on the Internet that Sony might be planning on releasing SDDS as an optional soundtrack on their new Blu-Ray format and quite possibly the competing HD-DVD format (although that is even less likely).
With the larger amount of space that these new formats can carry, having an optional SDDS track is possible.
These speculations, however, are mostly unfounded and there is yet no official word from Sony that they are planning to release SDDS into the home theater market.
The Full 8-Channels
Movies in SDDS may be mixed to support six channels of sound (5.1), or all 8 channels (actually 7.1, since the sub-bass channel is really counted as ".1").
Out of the 1,300 plus films mixed in SDDS, only 95 of them to date have been mixed to support the full 8 channels. Mostly because most sound mixers prefer mixing in the popular 5.1 format and because SDDS is just far too expensive to install and maintain for most theater owners.
Theaters that are installed to support 8 channel movies will still end up with two wasted channels because of the small number of 8 channel SDDS movies (only about 3 to 5 are released a year).