Kodak Claims 12th Emmy Award For Role In Developing 24p Standards

18-Oct-01

Kodak received an EmmyÆ Award for the role it played in ""The Development Of 24p Video"" standards. The award was presented by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), which named LaserPacific Media Corporation and Sony Electronics as co-recipients.""In 1992, our scientists recognized that with the coming of digital television, 24 frames per second, progressive line scanning would provide a vast improvement in the quality of film images displayed on television screens,"" said Mark Gaul, Worldwide Television Marketing Manager for Kodak's Entertainment Imaging division. ""Audiences would finally see images on television screens without artifacts and with more of the subtleties captured on the original film negative that are so important to visual storytelling.""The 24p video standard also enables a substantial improvement in the efficiency of program transmission. Kodak scientists first discussed the advantages of a 24p video standard in a technical paper published in 1992 by the Journal of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE). Kodak scientists strongly proposed the inclusion of 24p in HDTV standards as well as the technical implementation to a SMPTE working group. These standards have been widely adopted by the television industry, hardware manufacturers and post-production facilities, and are used throughout the process from origination to transmission.""We believe this is important because the vast majority of narrative content -- including episodic dramas, situation comedies, telefilms and miniseries -- seen in primetime on broadcast and cable channels is originated on film,"" Gaul says.Kodak has been engaged in developing imaging technology since the earliest days of the television industry. Bell Laboratories initially contacted Kodak in 1934 asking for assistance in developing optics that would enable film to be displayed on ""high-definition,"" 240-line resolution black-and-white ""radio-vision"" screens. Kodak subsequently developed technology incorporated into film chains that enabled broadcasters to air motion pictures during the late 1930s.During the early 1950s, Kodak scientists developed the Kinescope system, which made it possible to broadcast live programs on the same schedule in different time zones. The Kinescope film copies also preserved countless live programs for posterity.During the 1970s, Kodak played an important role in the development of flying spot scanner technology incorporated into the modern telecines introduced by Rank-Cintel. The new telecines resulted in a significant improvement in the quality of film content on television screens. During the 1980s, Kodak developed machine-readable Keykode technology, which made it substantially quicker and easier to conform film-to-video edit decision lists. With Thomson Multimedia, Kodak co-developed the first CCD telecine, the Spirit DataCineô, which resulted in another dramatic advance in image quality on TV screens. Kodak continues to manufacture the analog imaging head that is an essential element of the Spirit's quality.Upon accepting the award, Gaul noted that Kodak has received 12 Emmys for scientific and technical achievements. ""We are proud of our consistent ability to pioneer the development and implementation of new technologies for content creators, broadcasters, postproduction facilities and others who bring those programs to the public,"" he said. ""We see this award as a challenge to continue to provide more and better tools that will enable the creative community to produce television programs for display with the full richness and detail so important to their stories.""For more information about the Entertainment Imaging division of Kodak, visit www.kodak.com/go/motion.

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