Bernard J. Lechner
Encyclopedia
Bernard J. Lechner is an electronics
engineer
and formerly Vice President, RCA
Laboratories, where he worked for more than 30 years covering various aspects of television and display.
Mr. Lechner is a Fellow of the IEEE, the Society for Information Display
(SID) and the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers
(SMPTE). In 1971, he was named the first recipient of the SID Frances Rice Darne Award for his outstanding contributions to matrix displays and in 1983, he was named the first recipient of the Beatrice Winner Award for his contributions to SID. He holds ten United States patent
s and has widely published in the areas of displays and television systems.
In 2001 he was awarded the Progress Medal by SMPTE for his many contributions to the technologies essential to today's television systems. Mr. Lechner received two RCA Laboratories Outstanding Achievement Awards and a David Sarnoff Team Award in Science.
In 2000, the Advanced Television Systems Committee
(ATSC) established the Bernard J. Lechner Award in his honor.
Mr. Lechner holds a BSEE degree from Columbia University
.
For example, the optimal viewing distance to a 42 inch 1080 HD TV is 5.5 feet.
Mr. Lechner researched the typical distance between a viewer and their television screen by taking measurements in many American homes. The median distance compiled from all his data came out to 9 feet. Given this distance, a 1080 HD TV with a screen size of 69 inches would deliver the optimal viewing resolution.
Electronics
Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...
engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
and formerly Vice President, RCA
RCA
RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
Laboratories, where he worked for more than 30 years covering various aspects of television and display.
Mr. Lechner is a Fellow of the IEEE, the Society for Information Display
Society for Information Display
The Society for Information Display is an industry organization for displays, generally electronic displays such as televisions and computer monitors. SID was founded in 1962. Its main activities are publishing technical journals and running Display Week, its main conference, held in May each year...
(SID) and the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers
Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers
The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE , founded in 1916 as the Society of Motion Picture Engineers or SMPE, is an international professional association, based in...
(SMPTE). In 1971, he was named the first recipient of the SID Frances Rice Darne Award for his outstanding contributions to matrix displays and in 1983, he was named the first recipient of the Beatrice Winner Award for his contributions to SID. He holds ten United States patent
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
s and has widely published in the areas of displays and television systems.
In 2001 he was awarded the Progress Medal by SMPTE for his many contributions to the technologies essential to today's television systems. Mr. Lechner received two RCA Laboratories Outstanding Achievement Awards and a David Sarnoff Team Award in Science.
In 2000, the Advanced Television Systems Committee
Advanced Television Systems Committee
The Advanced Television Systems Committee is the group, established in 1982, that developed the eponymous ATSC Standards for digital television in the United States, also adopted by Canada, Mexico, South Korea, and recently Honduras and is being considered by other countries.-See also:*ATSC...
(ATSC) established the Bernard J. Lechner Award in his honor.
Mr. Lechner holds a BSEE degree from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
.
Lechner distance
The Lechner Distance chart illustrates the optimal viewing distances at which the human eye can best process the details a HDTV resolution has to offer.For example, the optimal viewing distance to a 42 inch 1080 HD TV is 5.5 feet.
Mr. Lechner researched the typical distance between a viewer and their television screen by taking measurements in many American homes. The median distance compiled from all his data came out to 9 feet. Given this distance, a 1080 HD TV with a screen size of 69 inches would deliver the optimal viewing resolution.
External links
- TV Viewing Distance versus Screen Size
- Viewing distance calculator
- BBC R&D White Paper WHP092, Tests of visual acuity to determine the resolution required of a television transmission system, J.O. Drewery and R. Salmon, 2004.