Filmmaker, innovator and entrepreneur Douglas Trumbull, the 2016 recipient of the SMPTE Progress Medal, will join Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) President Robert Seidel, who serves as VP/Engineering & Advanced Technology at CBS, in presenting the opening keynote at the SMPTE 2016 Annual Technical Conference & Exhibition (SMPTE 2016) on Oct. 25 in Hollywood, Calif.
The keynote address is set to discuss the past, present, and future of media and entertainment technology and supporting standards work — a key theme for SMPTE 2016. Trumbull will depict the evolution of cinema technology, from Cinerama and Cinemascope to immersive experiences including virtual and augmented reality — hot topics in the tech world.
Seidel will focus his remarks on the benefits of digital television, and discuss current trends such as 4K television and over-the-top (OTT) streaming services.
“We are proud to open our centennial year Annual Technical Conference with a joint keynote from these two industry leaders,” said SMPTE Executive Director Barbara Lange.
Over his career at CBS, Seidel has played a key role in the evolution of the network’s broadcast technology. He directed the design and installation of the CBS Broadcast Origination Center and later led the engineering team that made broadcasting history on July 23, 1996, when WRAL-HD, the CBS affiliate in Raleigh, became the first television station to transmit in high-definition (HD).
Meanwhile, composer and researcher Daniel Teruggi, director of the research and experimentation department at the National Audiovisual Institute in Paris and the recipient of the 2016 SMPTE Archival Technology Medal Award, will present the SMPTE 2016 Symposium keynote on Oct. 24, also in Hollywood.
Teruggi has been the coordinator of the FP6 European project PrestoSpace, devoted to the development of new technology for digital preservation, and the FP7 European project PrestoPRIME, dedicated to the long-term preservation of digital audiovisual content.
