> > For years I wondered what the brown oval blob that 
> occasionally showed 
> > up on cinema screens during the movie was (usually top 
> right corner).  
> > A couple of years ago I discovered it was an anti-piracy 
> thing.  Not 
> > sure how it was supposed to work, apparently it upset 
> cameras somehow.  
> > It was also supposed to be invisible to people.  Right.  Annoys me 
> > more now that I know what it is.
> 
> I think the top right corner blob is just a signal to the 
> projectionist to start the next reel. It is something like 10 
> seconds before the next reel starts. If you watch the movie, 
> there's typically a scene change 10 seconds (or whatever it 
> is) after the blob. Theatres now splice all the reels 
> together for playback, so the blob is pretty meaningless 
> (unless some still play the show reel by reel).
> 
> Harold


That kind of makes sense.  More sense than anti-piracy anyway.  Still annoys
me.

Tony

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