Nostalgia winter 1978

a super8 mm film
The super 8mm system was one of the few film formats where the requirements of sound were designed in from the start. The sound track was added on the edge of the film opposite to the perforations (see the illustration at head of the article). Standard 8mm had the stripe between the perforations and the edge of the film which made good contact with a magnetic head problematic. A balance stripe was sometimes added on the opposite edge to facilitate spooling of the film. Projectors that could record and play sound appeared before sound cameras. The sound was recorded 18 frames in advance of the picture (as opposed to 56 frames for standard 8mm). This short distance of just 3 inches facilitated the relatively compact size of the later sound cartridges. Some projectors used the balance stripe to provide a second channel and hence stereo sound.