Capping off its 2010 Technical Conference and Expo, the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) held its annual banquet in Hollywood last week to honor 30 motion-imaging and audio professionals who have made their mark on audio and video production and broadcast in the United States.
The 2010 award recipients and fellows include honorary membership to Ian Childs and Stanley N. Baron for a lifetime of technical leadership and pioneering research. Childs is renowned for recording DTV signals in holographic form on black-and-white film; investigating digital radio and TV broadcasting systems; and understanding image processing and the study of HDTV. Baron, among a number of innovations, was cited for his contributions to the development, advancement and implementation of digital imaging technologies included the proposal for a digital sampling structure and equipment interface that formed the basis of component 4:2:2 DTV, the foundation for HDTV.
The 2010 SMPTE Progress Medal was awarded to Takuo Miyagishima in recognition of more than 50 years of innovation in motion picture optical systems.
The Herbert T. Kalmus Gold Medal was given to Vince Roth in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the development of color films, processing, techniques and equipment.
The John Grierson International Gold Medal Award was given to D.A. Pennebaker, a pioneer of cinéma vérité filmmaking whose credits span “Don’t Look Back,” which followed Bob Dylan’s last acoustic concert tour in England, to “The War Room,” which documented the first presidential campaign of Bill Clinton.
The Samuel L. Warner Memorial Medal Award was given to Noboru Nishio for more than 50 years of contributions in the area of design and development for motion picture sound and film recording technologies.
The David Sarnoff Medal recognized Kohji Mitani for more than 20 years of developing advanced camera systems.
In addition, the SMPTE Fellow Award was given to a dozen well-deserving members: Jay C. Adrick, Al Barton, William Elswick, Robert Gilmartin, Michel Golitzinsky, Paul J. Hearty, Bill Hogan, Bob Lambert, Harry Mathias, Kohji Mitani, Nestor M. Rodriguez and Clyde McKinney.
