A system for frame-by-frame synchronization of film and magnetic tape comprising a tape transport means, a film transport means, and control means, said control means interconnecting the tape and film means, and said control means adapted to provide system control to the film means at non-performance speeds, and to transition system control to the tape means at performance speeds and method for achieving same.

Method of synchronized shooting and projection of a movie and recording and playback of sound on a tape. Said method comprises steps of producing a pulse signal as a speed of reference with respect to a rate of movement of a movie film, recording said pulse signal on a tape together with sound by means of a tape recorder, reproducing the pulse signal and the sound from the tape by means of the tape recorder, detecting a phase difference between the pulse frequency of the reproduced pulse signal and the rate of film movement in a movie projector, and controlling the operation speed of the projector based on the detected phase difference. The rate of film movement in the projector can be synchronized with sound.

The present invention refers to equipment to synchronize the pictures with the sounds, with which equipment the difference between the pictures of a slide projector or the like and the sounds of the corresponding tape recorder is corrected. The invention is characterized in that at the position of the sound recording tape corresponding to N pictures, a signal corresponding to the picture and on the Nth picture a signal corresponding to the sound recording tape is provided, whereby by means of the output of an electrical circuit to detect the coincidence of both signals, the switching over to the next picture or the sound recording tape is carried out. At the position of the sound recording tape corresponding to the first or the last picture, a signal corresponding to a picture and on the first or the last picture a signal corresponding to the sound recording tape is provided and that by means of an electric circuit to detect the coincidence of both signals, the switching over to the next picture of the sound recording tape is carried out.

If a cine film is to be projected to the accompaniment of a sound track on a separate tape it is necessary to cheek that the film and the sound track are correctly coordinated. This is ensured by reading a code mark from the sound track and using it to slow or stop the motion of the film. The point at which the film motion is slowed or stopped is used to evaluate the relative position of the film with respect to the sound track and thus check that correct coordination is present. This evaluation may take place visually or automatically. In the latter case the prolonged presence of a correlation marking on the film in a sensing position can be used to signal the existence of correlation whereas the absence of such marking may energize a warning lamp or deactivate the film drive.

Audio-visual systems including a motion picture film projector and a tape player, the film having optical cues and program reference notches for stopping film advancement, and the tape having start cues for starting film advancement. The optical stop cues are detected dynamically and with cue length discrimination. A program select control causes the system to search for a program reference notch and to ignore optical stop cue until the notch is detected. Other features include a pause-run control, a variable frame rate control with a single-frame advance option, and remote controls. Optical stop cue detection systems include a light transmissive system, a light reflective system, a polarized light system, and a colored light system.