sound for motion picture and video applications; the SMPTE Color Bars, which enable calibration of accurate color for broadcast production and distribution applications; and SMPTE Digital Cinema standards, which have accelerated the migration to digital distribution of motion picture content around the world. The industry has realized significant workflow benefits and cost efficiencies from SMPTE standards such as the Interoperable Master Format (IMF), which allows for the creation of a set of master files and associated metadata for the interchange and automated creation of downstream distribution packages; SMPTE ST 2052, a common set of instructions for both authoring and distributing captions for broadband video content, enabling broadcasters to reuse existing captions; and Broadcast eXchange Format (BXF), a protocol that allows interoperability with broad-casting equipment within the standardized database schema.
Among SMPTE’s most recent achievements have been its charting of the UHD ecosystem, including not only higher resolutions of 4K and beyond, but also high-dynamic-range (HDR), wider color gamut (WCG), higher frame rate (HFR), and immersive (object-based) audio. Working with leading technology suppliers and with groups including the Audio Engineering Society (AES) and Consumer Technology Association (CTA), the Society is working to ensure that the evolution of motion imaging is built on sustainable standards.
As SMPTE marks the beginning of its second century, it celebrates past achievements while also preparing to address the continued evolution of the media business and the tools and workflows supporting it. To this end, the Society has launched The Next Century Fund, which already is enabling SMPTE to invest further in its three pillars — standards, membership, and education — that have allowed it to flourish over the past 100 years while paving the way for future success.
The Next Century Fund has, to date, raised nearly $1.7 million in committed gifts through the generous support of both corporate and individual donors including Disney, Panasonic, Dolby, Technicolor, Ross Video, Google, Netflix, Aspera, Michelle Munson and Serban Simu, Leon Silverman, Wendy Aylsworth, Peter Wharton, Bud Mayo, Bill Miller and Ellen Sontag-Miller, Andy Setos, and Bob Edge. These donations are already supporting enhancements to the standards-development process. SMPTE is investing in the Society’s infrastructure to make standards creation process go more smoothly, and to ensure that its standards continue to be relevant and on the cutting edge of technology. It is creating test materials that speed the development, adoption, use, and under-standing of new standards, as well as a software repository for standards-development work. All of these efforts will lead to standards development with greater process efficiencies.
The fund also will support membership recruitment that attracts talented young members from around the world. These efforts will foster a diverse membership that sustains and advances timely standards work and their broad adoption while providing current and future generations with access to the experts who drive the industry forward.
While local SMPTE Sections host regular monthly meetings and educational programs featuring well-known experts at exciting venues, the larger organization supports current and prospective members with a broad array of educational programs that offer practical insight into the latest technol-