Wiped said:
OMG is this true? I've always wondered why in some films, I hear the sound of the next scene (like a phone ringing or footsteps for example) just before the next scene comes on in the picture. Always assumed it was a common editing thing, since I see it all the time. Shit! I swear, though, that I'm the only one who's ever noticed. I think I have really sensitive eyes/ears. Mindblown, although it kind of makes sense now I think about it. |
Nah, starting the sound of the next scene before the video is indeed a common editting technique to create less jarring transitions. I use it in my own videos as well, it's much nicer then a straight cut. If you play a PAL and NTSC DVD next to eachother, the PAL one will keep getting ahead and if you listen really carefully the pitch of sounds is slightly higher. Some PAL DVDs have audio pitch correction (rare) but that's difficult to do right and can easily end up worse then keeping the higher pitch. PAL LOTR DVD special edition for example has some audio glitches because of the pitch correction.
Anyway the sound is still synchronized otherwise. You would immediately notice it when people speak. In early dvds and players it often looked like actors were dubbed because the sound was slightly too early or too late. Thanks to the magic of HDMI (since version 1.2) your tv informs your amp about the correct audio delay to apply to synchronize the sound with the processed picture. Much better then when I got my first HD cable box with component video out and a separate digital audio out to amp. It was like watching dubbed foreign language programming all the time.
What's more mindblowing is the reason behind 50hz and 60hz power. Blame the metric system for this continuing mess.
http://electrical-science.blogspot.ca/2009/12/history-of-power-frequency.html
The German company AEG (descended from a company founded by Edison in Germany) built the first German generating facility to run at 50 Hz, allegedly because 60 was not a preferred number. AEG's choice of 50 Hz is thought by some to relate to a more "metric-friendly" number than 60. At the time, AEG had a virtual monopoly and their standard spread to the rest of Europe.
Meanwhile in NA
Westinghouse Electric decided to standardize on a lower frequency to permit operation of both electric lighting and induction motors on the same generating system. Although 50 Hz was suitable for both, in 1890 Westinghouse considered that existing arc-lighting equipment operated slightly better on 60 Hz, and so that frequency was chosen.
I guess we're lucky to only have 2 frequency standards, it used to be as low as 16 2/3hz all the way up to 133hz. There are still some plants operating at the original 25hz power frequency from the Niagara Falls hydro electric plant.
