WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—It’s been a year long party for the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers as the organization celebrates turning the big 1-0-0, but the next couple of weeks will include a pair of major anniversaries. The first will be Founder’s Day on July 24, followed by the 100th anniversary of SMPTE’s incorporation on Aug. 10.
Hans Hoffman, Egon Verharen, Barbara Lange, and Simon Fell toast the SMPTE Centennial at the EBU Tech Assembly.
SMPTE was originally founded in 1916 as the Society of Motion Picture Engineers—Television was added later—by C. Francis Jenkins and his contemporaries Paul Brockett, Herbert Miles, Donald J. Bell, Paul H. Cromelin, C.A. Willatt and J.P. Lyons. In its existence, the organization has formulated, formalized and standardized the technical details for many technical advancements in entertainment technology.
As part of its celebration, SMPTE has planned a special August edition of the SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal dedicated to the centennial. There will also be a Centennial Exhibit at the SMPTE 2016 Annual Technical Conference & Exhibition with early artifacts. In addition, the full history will be chronicled in a new book, “Magic & Miracles: 100 Years of Moving Image Science & Technology” and in a documentary produced by 3 Roads Communications; both will be released in 2017. It all will culminate with the Centennial Gala at Ray Dolby Ballroom in Hollywood, Calif., wrapping up SMPTE 2016 on Oct. 28.
For more information on SMPTE’s celebration, visit www.smpte100.org.
