Vitaphone
E1974
Vitaphone was an early sound-on-disc motion picture system developed by Warner Bros. that played a key role in the transition from silent films to “talkies” in the late 1920s.
All labels observed (5)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Vitaphone canonical | 6 |
| Vitaphone sound films | 1 |
| Vitaphone sound system | 1 |
| Vitaphone sound-on-disc | 1 |
| Vitaphone sound-on-disc system | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T24847 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
Target entity: Vitaphone Context triple: [De Forest Phonofilm Corporation, competedWith, Vitaphone]
-
A.
De Forest Phonofilm Corporation
De Forest Phonofilm Corporation was an early 20th-century film company that pioneered synchronized sound-on-film technology for motion pictures.
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B.
De Forest Radio Telephone Company
De Forest Radio Telephone Company was an early 20th-century American firm that developed and commercialized pioneering radio and wireless telephony technologies.
-
C.
Douglas Fairbanks
Douglas Fairbanks was a pioneering American silent film actor, producer, and screenwriter, famed for his swashbuckling roles in early Hollywood classics like "The Mark of Zorro" and "The Thief of Bagdad."
-
D.
Lick
Lick is the nickname of Joseph Carl Robnett Licklider, a pioneering American computer scientist whose ideas helped lay the foundations for interactive computing and the internet.
-
E.
Moore
Moore is the middle name of Edward M. Kennedy, the long-serving U.S. senator from Massachusetts and prominent member of the Kennedy political family.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
Target entity: Vitaphone Target entity description: Vitaphone was an early sound-on-disc motion picture system developed by Warner Bros. that played a key role in the transition from silent films to “talkies” in the late 1920s.
-
A.
De Forest Phonofilm Corporation
De Forest Phonofilm Corporation was an early 20th-century film company that pioneered synchronized sound-on-film technology for motion pictures.
-
B.
Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard is a famous Los Angeles thoroughfare known for its historic connection to the film industry, nightlife, and iconic cultural landmarks.
-
C.
De Forest Radio Telephone Company
De Forest Radio Telephone Company was an early 20th-century American firm that developed and commercialized pioneering radio and wireless telephony technologies.
-
D.
Douglas Fairbanks
Douglas Fairbanks was a pioneering American silent film actor, producer, and screenwriter, famed for his swashbuckling roles in early Hollywood classics like "The Mark of Zorro" and "The Thief of Bagdad."
-
E.
Lick
Lick is the nickname of Joseph Carl Robnett Licklider, a pioneering American computer scientist whose ideas helped lay the foundations for interactive computing and the internet.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
film sound system
ⓘ
sound-on-disc motion picture system ⓘ |
| associatedWithCompany | Western Electric ⓘ |
| associatedWithStudio | Warner Bros. Pictures ⓘ |
| associatedWithTerm | talkies ⓘ |
| basedOnTechnologyFrom | Western Electric ⓘ |
| commercialPeak | late 1920s ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| declineBeganInDecade | 1930s ⓘ |
| developedBy |
Warner Bros. Pictures
ⓘ
surface form:
Warner Bros.
|
| era |
early sound era
ⓘ
late silent era ⓘ |
| firstFeatureFilm | Don Juan (1926 film) ⓘ |
| firstFeatureFilmWithRecordedScore | Don Juan (1926 film) ⓘ |
| historicalSignificance |
helped establish audience acceptance of sound films
ⓘ
major milestone in film sound technology ⓘ |
| introducedBy |
Warner Bros. Pictures
ⓘ
surface form:
Warner Bros.
|
| introducedInDecade | 1920s ⓘ |
| introducedInYear | 1926 ⓘ |
| limitation |
discs could wear out or be damaged
ⓘ
risk of loss of synchronization between disc and film ⓘ |
| mediumType | sound-on-disc ⓘ |
| notableFor |
being one of the last major sound-on-disc systems
ⓘ
commercially successful early sound film system ⓘ |
| playedKeyRoleIn |
transition from silent films to sound films
ⓘ
transition from silent films to talkies ⓘ |
| replacedBy |
optical sound-on-film
ⓘ
sound-on-film systems ⓘ |
| requiredEquipment |
amplifier and loudspeakers in theater
ⓘ
special turntable attached to projector ⓘ |
| soundCarrier |
16-inch disc
ⓘ
phonograph disc ⓘ |
| soundFormat | monophonic sound ⓘ |
| soundRecordingSpeed | 33 1⁄3 rpm ⓘ |
| soundReproductionMethod | mechanical reproduction of sound from disc ⓘ |
| synchronizationMethod | interlocked projector and phonograph turntable ⓘ |
| usedByExhibitorType | first-run urban theaters ⓘ |
| usedFor |
feature films with synchronized dialogue
ⓘ
feature films with synchronized music and effects ⓘ musical shorts ⓘ orchestral performance films ⓘ short subjects with synchronized sound ⓘ synchronizing recorded sound with motion pictures ⓘ vaudeville performance films ⓘ |
| usedInFilm |
Lights of New York (1928 film)
ⓘ
The Jazz Singer (1927 film) ⓘ The Singing Fool (1928 film) ⓘ |
| usedInterlockSystem | projector and turntable mechanically linked ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Subject: Vitaphone Description of subject: Vitaphone was an early sound-on-disc motion picture system developed by Warner Bros. that played a key role in the transition from silent films to “talkies” in the late 1920s.
Referenced by (10)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.