Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers

Association of media and entertainment engineers

"SMPTE" redirects here. For the album by Transatlantic, see SMPT:e.

"SMPE" redirects here. For IBM's System Modification Program, see SMP/E.

Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers

Abbreviation| SMPTE
Pronunciation|

* /ˈsɪmptiː/, rarely /ˈsʌmptiː/

Formation| 1916; 108 years ago (1916)
Website| www.smpte.org

The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) (/ˈsɪmptiː/, rarely /ˈsʌmptiː/), founded in 1916 as the Society of Motion Picture Engineers or SMPE,[1] is a global professional association of engineers, technologists, and executives working in the media and entertainment industry. As an internationally recognized standards organization, SMPTE has published more than 800 technical standards and related documents for broadcast, filmmaking, digital cinema, audio recording, information technology (IT), and medical imaging.

SMPTE also publishes the SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal, provides networking opportunities for its members, produces academic conferences and exhibitions, and performs other industry-related functions. SMPTE membership is open to any individual or organization with an interest in the subject matter. In the US, SMPTE is a 501(c)3 non-profit charitable organization.

## History

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An informal organizational meeting was held in April 1916 at the Astor Hotel in New York City. Enthusiasm and interest increased, and meetings were held in New York and Chicago, culminating in the founding of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers in the Oak Room of the Raleigh Hotel, Washington DC on the 24th of July. Ten industry stakeholders attended and signed the Articles of Incorporation. Papers of incorporation, were executed on 24 July 1916, were filed on 10 August in Washington DC. With a second meeting scheduled, invitations were telegraphed to Jenkin’s industry friends, i.e., key players and engineering executives in the motion picture industry.

Three months later, 26 attended the first “official” meeting of the Society, the SMPE, at the Hotel Astor in New York City, on 2 and 3 October 1916. Jenkins was formally elected president, a constitution ratified, an emblem for the Society approved, and six committees established.

At the July 1917 Society Convention in Chicago, a set of specifications including the dimensions of 35 mm film, 16 frames per second, etc. were adopted. SMPE set and issued a formal document reached by consensus, its first as an accredited Standards Development Organization (SDO), registering the specifications with the United States Bureau of Standards.

The SMPTE Centennial Gala took place on Friday, 28 October 2016, following the annual Conference and Exhibition; James Cameron and Douglas Trumbull received SMPTE’s top honors. SMPTE officially bestowed Honorary Membership, the Society’s highest honor, upon Avatar and Titanic director Cameron in recognition of his work advancing visual effects (VFX), motion capture, and stereoscopic 3D photography, as well as his experimentation in HFR. Presented by Oscar-winning special effects cinematographer Richard Edlund, SMPTE honored Trumbull, who was responsible for the VFX in 2001: A Space Odyssey and Blade Runner, with the Society’s most prestigious medal award, the Progress Medal. The award recognized Trumbull’s contributions to VFX, stereoscopic 3D, and HFR cinema, including his current work to enable stereoscopic 3D with his 120-frames-per-second Magi system.

## Educational and professional development activities

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SMPTE's educational and professional development activities include technical presentations at regular meetings of its local Sections, annual and biennial conferences in the US and Australia and the SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal. The society sponsors many awards, the oldest of which are the SMPTE Progress Medal, the Samuel Warner Memorial Medal, and the David Sarnoff Medal.[2] SMPTE also has a number of Student Chapters and sponsors scholarships for college students in the motion imaging disciplines.

## Standards

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Recreation of the SMPTE RP-133 Medical Diagnostic Imaging Test Pattern

SMPTE standards documents are copyrighted and may be purchased from the SMPTE website, or other distributors of technical standards. Standards documents may be purchased by the general public. Significant standards promulgated by SMPTE include:

* All film and television transmission formats and media, including digital.
* Physical interfaces for transmission of television signals and related data (such as SMPTE timecode and the serial digital interface) (SDI)
* SMPTE color bars
* Test card patterns and other diagnostic tools
* The Material Exchange Format (MXF)
* SMPTE 2110
* SMPTE ST 421:2013 (VC-1 video codec)

### Film format

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SMP(T)E'S first standard was to get everyone using 35-mm film width, four sprocket holes per frame, 1.37:1 picture ratio. Until then, there were competing film formats. With the standard, theaters could all run the same films.

### Film frame rate

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SMP(T)E's standard in 1927 was for speed at which sound film is shown, 24 frames per second.[3]

### 3D television

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SMPTE's taskforce on "3D to the home" produced a report on the issues and challenges and suggested minimum standards for the 3D home master that would be distributed after post-production to the ingest points of distribution channels for 3D video content. A group within the standards committees has begun to work on the formal definition of the SMPTE 3D Home Master.[4][5][6]

### Digital cinema

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In 1999, SMPTE established the DC28 technology committee, for the foundations of Digital Cinema.[7]

## Membership

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### SMPTE Fellows[8]

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* Terry Adams, NBC Olympics, LLC
* Andy Beale, BT Sport
* Lynn D. Claudy, National Association of Broadcasters
* Lawrence R. Kaplan, CEO of SDVI

## Honors and awards program

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The SMPTE presents awards to individuals for outstanding contributions in fields of the society.

### Honorary membership and the honor roll

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Recipients include:

* Renville "Ren" H. McMann Jr. (2017)
* James Cameron (2016)
* Oscar B. "O.B." Hanson (2015)
* George Lucas (2014)
* John Logie Baird (2014)
* Philo Taylor Farnsworth (1996)
* Ray M. Dolby (1992)
* Linwood G. Dunn (1984)
* Herbert T. Kalmus (1958)
* Walt Disney (1955)
* Vladimir K. Zworykin (1950)
* Samuel L. Warner (1946)
* George Eastman (1928)
* Thomas Alva Edison (1928)
* Louis Lumiere (1928)
* C. Francis Jenkins (1926)

### Progress Medal

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The Progress Medal, instituted in 1935, is SMPTE's oldest and most prestigious medal, and is awarded annually for contributions to engineering aspects of the film and/or television industries.[9]

Recipients include:

* Douglas Trumbull (2016)[10]
* Ioan Allen (2014)
* David Wood (2012)
* Edwin Catmull (2011)
* Birney Dayton (2008)
* Clyde D. Smith (2007)
* Roderick Snell (2006)
* S. Merrill Weiss (2005)
* Dr. Kees Immink (2004)
* Stanley N. Baron (2003)
* William C. Miller (2002)
* Bernard J. Lechner (2001)
* Edwin E. Catmall (1996)
* Ray Dolby (1983)
* Harold E. Edgerton (1959)
* Fred Waller (1953)
* Vladimir K. Zworykin (1950)
* John G. Frayne (1947)
* Walt Disney (1940)
* Herbert Kalmus (1938)
* Edward W. Kellogg (1937)
* Kenneth Mees (1936)

### David Sarnoff Gold Medal

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* Chuck Pagano (2013)
* James M. DeFilippis (2012)
* Bernard J. Lechner (1996)
* Stanley N. Baron (1991)
* William F. Schreiber (1990)
* Adrian Ettlinger (1976)
* Joseph A. Flaherty, Jr. (1974)
* Peter C. Goldmark (1969)
* W. R. G. Baker (1959)
* Albert Rose (1958)
* Charles Ginsburg (1957)
* Robert E. Shelby (1956)
* Arthur V. Loughren (1953)
* Otto H. Schade (1951)

### Eastman Kodak Gold Medal

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The Eastman Kodak Gold Medal, instituted in 1967, recognizes outstanding contributions which lead to new or unique educational programs utilizing motion pictures, television, high-speed and instrumentation photography or other photography sciences. Recent recipients are

* Andrew Laszlo (2006)
* James MacKay (2005)
* Dr. Roderick T. Ryan (2004)
* George Spiro Dibie (2003)
* Jean-Pierre Beauviala (2002)

## Related organizations

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Related organizations include

* Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC)
* Audio Engineering Society (AES)
* BBC Research Department
* Digital Video Broadcasting
* European Broadcasting Union (EBU)
* ITU Radiocommunication Sector (formerly known as the CCIR)
* ITU Telecommunication Sector (formerly known as the CCITT)
* Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
* Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG)
* Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG)

## See also

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* Digital Picture Exchange
* General Exchange Format (GXF)
* Glossary of video terms
* Outline of film (Extensive alphabetical listing)
* Media Dispatch Protocol SMPTE 2032 parts 1, 2 and 3
* Video tape recorder (VTR) standards defined by SMPTE

## References

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1. ^ The name was changed from Society of Motion Picture Engineers (SMPE) to Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) in 1950 to embrace the emerging television industry.
2. ^ "Honoring the Contributions of Leaders – Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers". smpte.org.
3. ^ TWiT Netcast Network (March 30, 2017), How 24 FPS Became Standard, archived from the original on December 11, 2021, retrieved March 31, 2017
4. ^ Hollywood gears up 3D TV effort
5. ^ "New SMPTE 3D Home Content Master Requirements Set Stage For New Market Growth". Archived from the original on May 2, 2009.
6. ^ "Welcome to the SMPTE Store – Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers". store.smpte.org.
7. ^ See Charles S. Swartz (editor). Understanding Digital Cinema. A Professional Handbook. Elsevier, 2005, p. 7.
8. ^ Team, SMPTE Marketing. "SMPTE Fellows | Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers". www.smpte.org. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
9. ^ "List of SMPTE Progress Medal winners". Retrieved November 27, 2020.
10. ^ "SMPTE Progress Medal Historical List Recipients | Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers". www.smpte.org. Retrieved February 20, 2018.

## Bibliography

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* Charles S. Swartz (editor). Understanding Digital Cinema. A Professional Handbook. Elsevier, 2005.
* Philip J. Cianci (Editorial Content Director), The SMPTE Chronicle, Vol. I 1916 – 1949 Motion Pictures, Vol. II 1950 – 1989 Television, Vol III. 1990 – 2016 Digital Media, SMPTE, 2022.
* Philip J. Cianci (Editorial Content Director), Magic and Miracles \- 100 Years of Moving Image Science and Technology - The Work of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, SMPTE, 2017.
* Philip J. Cianci (Editorial Content Director), The Honor Roll and Honorary Members of The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, SMPTE, 2016

* v
* t
* e

Video storage formats

Videotape|

| Analog|

* Quadruplex (1956)
* VERA (1958)
* Ampex 2 inch helical VTR (1961)
* Sony 2 inch helical VTR (1961)
* Type A (1965)
* CV-2000 (1965)
* Akai (1967)
* EIAJ-1 (1969)
* U-matic (1971)
* Cartrivision (1972)
* Philips VCR (1972)
* V-Cord (1974)
* VX (1974)
* Betamax (1975)
* IVC (1975)
* Type B (1976)
* Type C (1976)
* VHS (1976)
* VK (1977)
* SVR (1979)
* Video 2000 (1980)
* CVC (1980)
* VHS-C (1982)
* M (1982)
* Betacam (1982)
* Video8 (1985)
* Betacam SP (1986)
* MII (1986)
* S-VHS (1987)
* S-VHS-C (1987)
* Hi8 (1989)
* Ruvi (1998)

|

Digital|

* D1 (1986)
* D2 (1988)
* D3 (1991)
* DCT (1992)
* Digital Betacam (1993)
* D5 (1994)
* Digital-S (D9) (1995)
* Betacam SX (1996)
* Digital8 (1999)
* MPEG IMX (2000)
* MicroMV (2001)

High Definition|

* Sony HDVS (1984)
* UniHi (1984)
* BCH 1000 (1992)
* W-VHS (1994)
* HDCAM (1997)
* D-VHS (1998)
* D6 HDTV VTR (2000)
* HDV (2003)
* HDCAM SR (2003)

Videodisc|

| Analog|

* Phonovision (1927)
* Ampex-HS (1967)
* TeD (1975)
* LaserDisc (1978)
* CED (1981)
* VHD (1983)
* Laserfilm (1984)
* CD Video (1987)
* VSD (1990)

|

Digital|

* VCD (1993)
* MovieCD (1996)
* DVD (1996)
* MiniDVD (c. 1996)
* CVD (1998)
* SVCD (1998)
* EVD (2003)
* PVD (Personal Video Disc) (2003)
* UMD (2004)
* FVD (2005)

High Definition|

* MUSE Hi-Vision LD (1994)
* Professional Disc (PFD) (2003)
* HVD (High-Definition Versatile Disc) (2004)
* VMD (2006)
* HD DVD (2006)
* BD (Blu-ray Disc) (2006)
* MiniBD (c. 2006)
* HVD (Holographic Versatile Disc) (2007)
* CBHD (China Blue High-definition Disc) (2008)

Ultra-High Definition|

* UHD-BD (Ultra HD Blu-ray) (2016)

Virtual|

| Media agnostic|

* DV (1995)
* DVCPRO (1995)
* DVCAM (1996)
* DVCPRO50 (1997)
* DVCPRO HD (2000)

|

Tapeless|

* CamCutter Editcam (1995)
* XDCAM (2003)
* GBA-TV (2004)
* MOD (2005)
* AVCHD (2006)
* AVC-Intra (2006)
* TOD (2007)
* iFrame (2009)
* XAVC (2012)

Solid state|

* P2 (2004)
* SxS (2007)
* MicroP2 (2012)

Video recorded to film|

* Kinescope (1947)
* Electronicam kinescope (1950s)
* Electronic Video Recording (1967)

* v
* t
* e

SMPTE standards

Standards|

* SMPTE 259M
* SMPTE 268M
* SMPTE 274M
* SMPTE 291M
* SMPTE 292M
* SMPTE 296M
* SMPTE 330M
* SMPTE 344M
* SMPTE 356M
* SMPTE 360M
* SMPTE 367M
* SMPTE 372M
* SMPTE 377M
* SMPTE 421M
* SMPTE 424M
* SMPTE 2022
* SMPTE 2059
* SMPTE 2067
* SMPTE 2071
* SMPTE 2117
* SMPTE color bars
* SMPTE DCP
* SMPTE timecode

Related articles|

* Broadcast-safe
* Broadcast television systems
* Interoperable Master Format

Related standards organizations|

* Advanced Television Systems Committee
* BBC Research
* Digital Video Broadcasting
* European Broadcasting Union
* ITU Radiocommunication Sector (formerly CCIR)
* ITU Telecommunication Sector (formerly CCITT)
* Joint Photographic Experts Group
* Moving Picture Experts Group
* NHK Science & Technology Research Laboratories

* v
* t
* e

Academy Honorary Award

1928–1950|

* Warner Bros. / Charlie Chaplin (1928)
* Walt Disney (1932)
* Shirley Temple (1934)
* D. W. Griffith (1935)
* The March of Time / W. Howard Greene and Harold Rosson (1936)
* Edgar Bergen / W. Howard Greene / Museum of Modern Art Film Library / Mack Sennett (1937)
* J. Arthur Ball / Walt Disney / Deanna Durbin and Mickey Rooney / Gordon Jennings, Jan Domela, Devereaux Jennings, Irmin Roberts, Art Smith, Farciot Edouart, Loyal Griggs, Loren L. Ryder, Harry D. Mills, Louis Mesenkop, Walter Oberst / Oliver T. Marsh and Allen Davey / Harry Warner (1938)
* Douglas Fairbanks / Judy Garland / William Cameron Menzies / Motion Picture Relief Fund (Jean Hersholt, Ralph Morgan, Ralph Block, Conrad Nagel) / Technicolor SA (1939)
* Bob Hope / Nathan Levinson (1940)
* Walt Disney, William Garity, John N. A. Hawkins, and the RCA Manufacturing Company / Leopold Stokowski and his associates / Rey Scott / British Ministry of Information (1941)
* Charles Boyer / Noël Coward / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (1942)
* George Pal (1943)
* Bob Hope / Margaret O'Brien (1944)
* Republic Studio, Daniel J. Bloomberg, and the Republic Studio Sound Department / Walter Wanger / The House I Live In / Peggy Ann Garner (1945)
* Harold Russell / Laurence Olivier / Ernst Lubitsch / Claude Jarman Jr. (1946)
* James Baskett / Thomas Armat, William Nicholas Selig, Albert E. Smith, and George Kirke Spoor / Bill and Coo / Shoeshine (1947)
* Walter Wanger / Monsieur Vincent / Sid Grauman / Adolph Zukor (1948)
* Jean Hersholt / Fred Astaire / Cecil B. DeMille / The Bicycle Thief (1949)
* Louis B. Mayer / George Murphy / The Walls of Malapaga (1950)

1951–1975|

* Gene Kelly / Rashomon (1951)
* Merian C. Cooper / Bob Hope / Harold Lloyd / George Mitchell / Joseph M. Schenck / Forbidden Games (1952)
* 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation / Bell & Howell Company / Joseph Breen / Pete Smith (1953)
* Bausch & Lomb Optical Company / Danny Kaye / Kemp Niver / Greta Garbo / Jon Whiteley / Vincent Winter / Gate of Hell (1954)
* Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto (1955)
* Eddie Cantor (1956)
* Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers / Gilbert M. "Broncho Billy" Anderson / Charles Brackett / B. B. Kahane (1957)
* Maurice Chevalier (1958)
* Buster Keaton / Lee de Forest (1959)
* Gary Cooper / Stan Laurel / Hayley Mills (1960)
* William L. Hendricks / Fred L. Metzler / Jerome Robbins (1961)
* William J. Tuttle (1964)
* Bob Hope (1965)
* Yakima Canutt / Y. Frank Freeman (1966)
* Arthur Freed (1967)
* John Chambers / Onna White (1968)
* Cary Grant (1969)
* Lillian Gish / Orson Welles (1970)
* Charlie Chaplin (1971)
* Charles S. Boren / Edward G. Robinson (1972)
* Henri Langlois / Groucho Marx (1973)
* Howard Hawks / Jean Renoir (1974)
* Mary Pickford (1975)

1976–2000|

* Margaret Booth (1977)
* Walter Lantz / Laurence Olivier / King Vidor / Museum of Modern Art Department of Film (1978)
* Hal Elias / Alec Guinness (1979)
* Henry Fonda (1980)
* Barbara Stanwyck (1981)
* Mickey Rooney (1982)
* Hal Roach (1983)
* James Stewart / National Endowment for the Arts (1984)
* Paul Newman / Alex North (1985)
* Ralph Bellamy (1986)
* Eastman Kodak Company / National Film Board of Canada (1988)
* Akira Kurosawa (1989)
* Sophia Loren / Myrna Loy (1990)
* Satyajit Ray (1991)
* Federico Fellini (1992)
* Deborah Kerr (1993)
* Michelangelo Antonioni (1994)
* Kirk Douglas / Chuck Jones (1995)
* Michael Kidd (1996)
* Stanley Donen (1997)
* Elia Kazan (1998)
* Andrzej Wajda (1999)
* Jack Cardiff / Ernest Lehman (2000)

2001–present|

* Sidney Poitier / Robert Redford (2001)
* Peter O'Toole (2002)
* Blake Edwards (2003)
* Sidney Lumet (2004)
* Robert Altman (2005)
* Ennio Morricone (2006)
* Robert F. Boyle (2007)
* Lauren Bacall / Roger Corman / Gordon Willis (2009)
* Kevin Brownlow / Jean-Luc Godard / Eli Wallach (2010)
* James Earl Jones / Dick Smith (2011)
* D. A. Pennebaker / Hal Needham / George Stevens Jr. (2012)
* Angela Lansbury / Steve Martin / Piero Tosi (2013)
* Jean-Claude Carrière / Hayao Miyazaki / Maureen O'Hara (2014)
* Spike Lee / Gena Rowlands (2015)
* Jackie Chan / Lynn Stalmaster / Anne V. Coates / Frederick Wiseman (2016)
* Charles Burnett / Owen Roizman / Donald Sutherland / Agnès Varda (2017)
* Marvin Levy / Lalo Schifrin / Cicely Tyson (2018)
* David Lynch / Wes Studi / Lina Wertmüller (2019)
* Samuel L. Jackson / Elaine May / Liv Ullmann (2021)
* Euzhan Palcy / Diane Warren / Peter Weir (2022)
* Angela Bassett / Mel Brooks / Carol Littleton (2023)
* Quincy Jones / Juliet Taylor (2024)

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF

National|

* United States
* Czech Republic
* 2
* Israel

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