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Glite Dictionary
🔦 Light-based transmitter 🎬 Film sound system
photophone

photophone

9.9
A system that puts sound onto movie film by changing light
  • noun
  • /ˈfoʊtəˌfoʊn/
  • Archaic
translation icon : fotófono
  • In the early days of cinema, the photophone became essential for recording sound on film.

Examples

  • Early filmmakers used the photophone to synchronize dialogue with moving images.

  • The invention of the photophone revolutionized the way sound was added to movies.

  • The museum displayed an original photophone system from the early days of cinema.

  • The photophone revolutionized sound recording.

  • Many photophones were used in early films.

  • The invention of the photophone revolutionized the way sound was added to movies.

  • Early filmmakers used the photophone to synchronize dialogue with moving images.

Synonyms

sound camera
vsphotophone
  • Specialized
5.6

A movie camera that records sound together with the picture

encodes sound as variations of light directly onto the film soundtrack

Surface Forms

photophone singular
photophones plural

Morphology

photophone = phone (transparent) = photo + phone

The term is formed from elements meaning light and sound, so its technical sense of encoding sound through light remains compositionally clear.

Etymology

Photophone comes from the Greek parts photo- 'light' and -phone 'sound'. In early cinema a photophone recorded sound as small changes of light on the film, so its name points to the idea of 'sound by light'.