Dolby CP50 processor

Dolby CP50, Stereo Optical Sound Processor. The processor takes the sound from the film, separates it into channels, equalizes and levels each channel, and aligns them for power amplification. The processor was put into use in December 1980 and is the first Dolby Analog to arrive in the country. It was originally in Hall A at Laugarásbíó, moved between theaters, and ended up at Bæjarbíó in Hafnarfjörður along with Electro-Voice speakers from the same theater. The unit was taken down to make way for a Dolby CP55 that came from the Sambíóin chain. The Dolby CP50 technology was considered a revolution in sound in Iceland. Previously, films had been shown in mono, but then there was only one amplifier and one speaker behind the screen. When Dolby Stereo arrived in the country, however, three speakers were placed behind the screen along with surround speakers in the auditorium (surround system). Eprat was another type of processor and a competitor to Dolby locally, and their projectors were installed in Tónabíó, Regnboganum, and all auditoriums in Bíóhöllin. Dolby was usually in the other cinemas, such as Austurbæjarbíó, Háskólabíó, Laugarásbíó, and Nýja Bíó. In the 1995 issue of Vikublaðið, it was reported that 22 out of 26 movie theaters that showed more than one film daily used Dolby Stereo, which was far more than in the Nordic countries. Dolby was considered the best at the time. As technology developed and other types of sound emerged, such as SR (Spectral Recording), which offered greater soundstage, devices were created that could be connected to this processor, and it was often possible to add new features to older equipment.