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Platter Systems

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Revision as of 17:42, 13 September 2016 by Rlyon (talk | contribs)
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Platters were commonly used for 35mm projection in late 20th century multi-screen booths. However, their use is no longer recommended, and is not permitted by most lending film archives nor by the repertory divisions of many studios and distributors. This is for several reasons, among them the removal of heads and tails, the process of cutting or removing "match frames" at the ends of each reel, the use of marking tapes or shoe polish between reels, and the exposure of the film surface to dust and debris as it moves from platter to projector and back again.


Building prints on 6000 ft. reels is also sometimes referred to as "plattering" in reel-to-reel changeover booths. Because it requires the removal of the head and tail leader and excessive handling of the first and last few frames of each reel as they're spliced and unspliced, this kind of "plattering" is also no longer considered good film handling practice.