The standards achievements of several
American National Standards Institute (ANSI) members and accredited standards developers were recognized at the
63rd Annual Technology and Engineering Emmy Awards ceremony last week for their contributions to broadcast technology. The awards ceremony was held on January 12 in conjunction with the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES). [
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Hosted by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the Technology and Engineering Emmy Awards honor breakthroughs in technology that have a significant impact on television engineering. Awards can be presented to an individual, company, or scientific or technical organization for developments and/or standardization involved in engineering technologies which either represent so extensive an improvement on existing methods or are so innovative in nature that they materially have affected the transmission, recording, or reception of television.
Members of the ANSI Federation took home Emmy awards in four categories:
Local Cable Ad Insertion Technology - Cable Digital Standards for Local Cable Advertising
- Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE)
SCTE was honored for its work in the development of SCTE 35, Digital Program Insertion Cueing Message for Cable, and ANSI/SCTE 104, Automation System to Compression System Communications Applications Program Interface, which helps to ensure smooth transitions between television programming and commercials. - Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers (SMPTE)
SMPTE won for its work on local cable ad-insertion technologies that help broadcast facilities to switch as easily between digital programming and advertising as they did with similar materials in the analog domain.
Pioneering Development and Deployment of Active Format Description Technology and System
- Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)
CEA won its Emmy for developing CEA CEB16-2006, Active Format Description (AFD) & Bar Data Recommended Practice. This standard provides guidance to TV designers on how best to handle digital TV information related to the aspect ratio of television content so that the display can scale the picture for optimum results. - SMPTE
A second Emmy was awarded to SMPTE for its end-to-end solution for describing a program's aspect ratio and allowing users to control the ratio displayed.
Standardization of Loudness Metering for Use in Broadcast Audio
- Dolby Laboratories
ANSI member Dolby Laboratories won its Emmy for its development of an audio metadata processor which alleviates consumer issues with volume while preserving the original audio quality. Craig Todd, chief technology officer at Dolby Laboratories, also received an Emmy award for his contributions in this category.
Development of Professional Tapeless Portable Acquisition Systems Using Affordable Media
Additionally, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and ITU-R Study Group 6 won Emmys for their work in standardization for loudness metering in broadcast audio.
ANSI congratulates all of the Emmy winners for their contributions to advancing broadcast technology through standardization.
A look back at standards and the Technology and Engineering Emmy Awards:
