From silent screen to multi-screen

Hanson, S., & Manchester University Press. (2019). From silent screen to multi-screen: A history of cinema exhibition in britain since 1896. Manchester University Press.

By the end of the 1980s many of the features of the cinema were beginning to find their way into the domestic sphere. The traditional television screen format of 4:3 ratio began to be supplemented by the 16:9 widescreen format, which was able to show many feature films without the need for cropping (known as ‘pan and scan’). Many manufacturers are now offering back-projection, plasma and LCD (liquid crystal display) television sets with screen sizes of up to 60 inches, which offer substantially improved picture quality and clarity. Two-channel stereo has given way to five, six and seven-channel surround sound, such as Dolby Digital and Dynamic Theater Sound (DTS). These developments, coupled with the advent of digital broadcast technology, as typified by Sky Digital, cable and Freeview digital services, offer the possibility of High Definition Television (HDTV) in the near future.2 Finally, the VCR, for so long the stalwart of domestic pre-recording and playback, has been supplanted by digital technology in the shape of DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), which offers superior picture and sound quality, as well as the ability to record. Following its launch in 1997 in the USA and in 1998 in Europe, DVD has become the fastest growing new film entertainment format in history, with sales rising over 400 per cent in the year after they were introduced in Western Europe.3 In Britain around 61 per cent of homes had a DVD player in 2004.

“电影作为公共娱乐场所的地位优于电视，以及它在私人娱乐场所中的地位。当第一家多厅影院开业时，至少从技术上讲，很容易区分电视和电影。电视在最佳状态下可以提供大约 29 英寸的方形屏幕，具有 NICAM 立体声（由 BBC 工程师在 20 世纪 80 年代初开发）以及通过录像机播放预先录制的故事片的能力；然而，电影院可以提供投射到 40-50 英尺屏幕上的高清大尺寸图像，并具有多声道环绕声。

到 20 世纪 80 年代末，许多电影作品开始进入家庭领域。传统的 4:3 比例电视屏幕格式开始被 16:9 宽屏格式所取代，这种格式无需裁剪（称为“平移和扫描”）即可播放许多故事片。现在，许多制造商都提供背投、等离子和 LCD（液晶显示器）电视机，屏幕尺寸可达 60 英寸，可显著提高图像质量和清晰度。双声道立体声已让位于五声道、六声道和七声道环绕声，例如杜比数字和动态影院音效 (DTS)。这些发展加上数字广播技术的出现，以 Sky Digital、有线和 Freeview 数字服务为代表，为在不久的将来实现高清电视 (HDTV) 提供了可能性。2最后，长期以来作为家庭预录和播放的中流砥柱的 VCR 已被 DVD（数字多功能光盘）等数字技术所取代，DVD 不仅能提供更优质的图像和声音质量，还能录制能力。DVD 于 1997 年在美国推出，1998 年在欧洲推出，已成为历史上增长最快的新电影娱乐格式，在西欧推出后的一年内，销量增长了 400% 以上。3 2004年，英国约有 61% 的家庭拥有 DVD 播放机。”

Film as a medium, its carrier and the change of production technology determine the innovation of film content and presentation. Since 1896, cinema, as the main body of projection, has undergone technical reform from silent screen to multi-screen, and film has maintained its distinction from television art. However, with the advent of the digital age, the limitation of the screen or projection is gradually broken, and the distinction between film and television is gradually weakened. At the same time, the emergence of vertical video also began to challenge the previous horizontal screen art.

电影作为一种媒介，其载体以及摄制技术的变化决定着电影内容与展示方式的革新。1896年以来，作为放映主体的电影院经历了无声屏幕到多屏幕的技术改革，电影也保持了与电视艺术的区别。然而，随着数字时代的来临，屏幕或者说放映的限制逐渐被打破，可以被家庭设备展示的电影与电视的区别逐渐缩小。同时，竖屏视频的出现也开始挑战之前的横屏艺术。