Shortly before the start of the SMPTE 2017 Technical Conference & Exhibition, TV Technology spoke with Matthew Goldman, president of SMPTE, and senior vice president of technology, TV & Media, Media Solutions for Ericsson.
TV TECHNOLOGY: What are your top priorities for SMPTE going into your second year as the organization’s president?
MATTHEW GOLDMAN: My top priority for 2018 is to finish our business plan and accompanying roadmap so that we can meet the strategic goals we set out in our “Vision 2020” strategic planning efforts. Along these lines, we have several near-term tactical work items to complete in 2018 as well, such as defining and implementing a specification process that will address our industry’s transformation to software-defined media processing, with a more agile, DevOps style of specification creation. Specifications will exist an as adjunct to our due-process, global standards. As you know, SMPTE supports our industry in three main areas, known as our three pillars: Membership, Education, and Standards. The new business plan and road map will include strategic updates to each of the three pillars.
TVT: SMPTE has made great strides in its SMPTE ST 2110 suite of standards. What’s left to do coming out of the Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition and what is the timeframe?
GOLDMAN: Yes, we have! The first three parts of ST 2110—Systems (-10), Uncompressed Video (-20) and PCM Audio (-30)—became approved standards back in mid-September. Traffic Shaping and Timing (-21) is undergoing ST audit at the time of this writing, which is the final stage in due process standardization to become an approved standard. Ancillary Data (-40)—which includes items such as closed captions, subtitling, time codes, active format description, dynamic range and color space—is undergoing final committee draft comment resolution. We expect that ST 2110-21 will be an approved standard prior to the end of this year, with ST 2110-40 following in early 2018. There are other areas under development that will become part of the SMPTE ST 2110 suite in the future.
TVT: What is the thinking behind moving to a new venue for next year’s gathering? What are the benefits of doingso?
GOLDMAN: We really have enjoyed the Hollywood & Highland location. The close proximity of the conference sessions and the exhibition halls is a great plus in the atmosphere, fostering hallway social interactions, while enabling a quick return to the conference sessions or exhibits. Having access to a top-end cinema for sessions, which require the theater experience, has been great as well.
We are moving because, simply put, we are a victim of our own success. We have outgrown the Hollywood & Highland location and so we sought a venue that will allow us to expand while still providing the social networking opportunities. The new location, Westin Bonaventure in Downtown Los Angeles, allows the conference and exhibition to continue to grow. We will be able to accommodate more exhibitors and delegates.
