Kees A. Schouhamer Immink
Encyclopedia
Kornelis Antonie Schouhamer Immink (born 18 December 1946 in Rotterdam
) is a Dutch
scientist, inventor, and entrepreneur, who pioneered and advanced the era of digital audio, video, and data recording including popular digital media such as Compact Disc
, DVD
and Blu-Ray Disc. He has been a prolific and influential engineer, who holds more than 1100 US and international patents. The impact of his work on consumer electronics is so large that it is virtually impossible to enjoy digital audio or video that does not reflect his work. His contributions to coding systems jump started the digital video and audio revolution, by enabling reliable data storage at information densities previously thought unattainable.
Immink received several tributes that summarize the impact of his contributions to the digital audio and video revolution. Among the accolades received are the Edison Medal for a career of creative contributions to the technologies of digital video, audio, and data recording, and an individual Technology Emmy award by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
(NATAS). Beatrix
, Queen
of the Netherlands
bestowed him a knighthood in 2000.
Currently, Immink holds the position of president of Turing Machines Inc., which was founded in 1998. During his career, Immink, in addition to his practical contributions, has contributed to Information Theory
. He wrote over 120 articles and four books including Codes for Mass Data Storage Media. He has been an adjunct professor at the Institute for Experimental Mathematics
, University of Duisburg and Essen, Germany
, since 1994, as well as affiliated with the National University of Singapore
(NUS) as a visiting professor since 1997.
Academy of Arts and Engineering Sciences (1967), a Masters degree in electrical engineering
(1974, cum laude) and a PhD
(1985) from Eindhoven University of Technology
on a thesis
entitled Properties and Constructions of Binary Channel Codes
.
Research Labs in Eindhoven, where he spent thirty years in a fruitful association. The renowned physicist Hendrik Casimir
was director of Philips Research till 1972. Immink worked in various groups. In 1974, he joined the research group Optics, where pioneering work was done on optical laserdisc
systems. He contributed mainly to the electronics
and servo
technology of the video disc. In a joint effort, MCA
and Philips brought the laserdisc system to the market. Laserdisc was first available in Atlanta in 1978, two years after the VHS
and four years before the CD. The Laserdisc never managed a significant presence in market share. The Philips/MCA Laserdisc operation was not successful and discontinued in 1981.
technology. In 1979, Philips and Sony decided to join forces, and Immink took part in the joint Sony
/Philips
task force, which developed the Compact Disc
standard, the Red Book
. He contributed to
the EFM
and CIRC
coding schemes.
In the article, ‘’Shannon, Beethoven, and the Compact Disc’’, Immink presents a historical review of the years leading up to the launch of the CD, and the various crucial decisions made. He refutes the urban legend that the compact disc's diameter was increased from 115 to 120mm solely to hold the 74 minutes playing time of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony
conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler
. Commercial disputes also played a part.
After the CD standard was set in 1980, Immink and his co-workers conducted pioneering experiments with magneto-optical audio recording on pre-grooved discs. They also found a simple method to extend the analog videodisc
standard with digital sound. The new systems were brought to market as MiniDisc
and CD Video
. Laserdisc
’s fabricated after 1984 have digitally encoded sound signals.
engineers developed the Super Density Disc, the successor of the Compact Disc
. Immink was member of the Philips
and Sony
task force, which developed a competing disc format, called MultiMedia CD. Immink created EFMPlus, a more efficient successor of EFM
used in CD. The electronics industry feared a repeat of the format war between VHS
and Betamax
in the 1980s. IBM's president, Lou Gerstner, urged them to adopt Immink’s EFMPlus coding scheme as EFM has a proven record. In September 1995, an agreement was made among the major industries: Philips/Sony surrendered to Toshiba's SuperDensity Disc and Toshiba accepted the EFMPlus modulation. The DVD encompasses the sound-only Super Audio CD
(SACD) and DVD-audio
formats, developed independently by Sony
and Toshiba
, which are incompatible formats for delivering very high-fidelity audio content. SACD is in a format war
with DVD-Audio
, but neither has yet managed to replace audio CDs.
Immediately after the DVD standard was settled in 1996, Philips and Sony, disappointed after the DVD failure, decided to develop a next-generation blue-laser
-based digital video recorder
(DVR), which would be positioned as DVD
s high-density successor. Philips and Sony set up a joint task force, where Immink and his co-workers developed DVRs, later called Blu-Ray's, code design. In 2005, seven years after its design, the Blu-ray disc was brought to market. In 2002, the DVD forum
adopted an alternative format, the HD DVD
. The two resulting standards had significant differences that made each incompatible with the other. The blue-laser format war
with Toshiba’s HD DVD
was settled in early 2008 when Toshiba withdrew their system effectively ending the high definition optical disc format war
.
and the Digital Compact Cassette
(DCC)
. The DCC was short-lived: introduced in 1992 and discontinued in 1996. The DV
, launched in 1994, has become a popular tape standard for home and semi-professional video production.
Research in 1998, and founded Turing Machines Inc, where he currently serves as its president. The small research institute has been successful in creating new coding technology, and was granted around ten US patents.
, IEEE, Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers
, and several universities. He is a trustee of the Shannon Foundation, and was a governor of the IEEE Consumer Electronics and Information Theory Societies. He was on the governors board of the Audio Engineering Society
for over 10 years, and was its president in 2002-2003.
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
) is a Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
scientist, inventor, and entrepreneur, who pioneered and advanced the era of digital audio, video, and data recording including popular digital media such as Compact Disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
, DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
and Blu-Ray Disc. He has been a prolific and influential engineer, who holds more than 1100 US and international patents. The impact of his work on consumer electronics is so large that it is virtually impossible to enjoy digital audio or video that does not reflect his work. His contributions to coding systems jump started the digital video and audio revolution, by enabling reliable data storage at information densities previously thought unattainable.
Immink received several tributes that summarize the impact of his contributions to the digital audio and video revolution. Among the accolades received are the Edison Medal for a career of creative contributions to the technologies of digital video, audio, and data recording, and an individual Technology Emmy award by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences or NATAS was created in 1955 to advance the arts and sciences of television. Headquartered in New York, NATAS's membership is national and the organization has local chapters around the country....
(NATAS). Beatrix
Beatrix of the Netherlands
Beatrix is the Queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands comprising the Netherlands, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, and Aruba. She is the first daughter of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld. She studied law at Leiden University...
, Queen
Queen regnant
A queen regnant is a female monarch who reigns in her own right, in contrast to a queen consort, who is the wife of a reigning king. An empress regnant is a female monarch who reigns in her own right over an empire....
of the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
bestowed him a knighthood in 2000.
Currently, Immink holds the position of president of Turing Machines Inc., which was founded in 1998. During his career, Immink, in addition to his practical contributions, has contributed to Information Theory
Information theory
Information theory is a branch of applied mathematics and electrical engineering involving the quantification of information. Information theory was developed by Claude E. Shannon to find fundamental limits on signal processing operations such as compressing data and on reliably storing and...
. He wrote over 120 articles and four books including Codes for Mass Data Storage Media. He has been an adjunct professor at the Institute for Experimental Mathematics
Institute for Experimental Mathematics
The Institute for Experimental Mathematics was founded, with the support of the VolkswagenFoundation, as a central scientific facility of the former University of Essen, now University of Duisburg-Essen in 1989. With the addition of the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation Chair on 1...
, University of Duisburg and Essen, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, since 1994, as well as affiliated with the National University of Singapore
National University of Singapore
The National University of Singapore is Singapore's oldest university. It is the largest university in the country in terms of student enrollment and curriculum offered....
(NUS) as a visiting professor since 1997.
Education
Immink received a Bachelor's degree from the RotterdamRotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
Academy of Arts and Engineering Sciences (1967), a Masters degree in electrical engineering
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...
(1974, cum laude) and a PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
(1985) from Eindhoven University of Technology
Eindhoven University of Technology
The ' is a university of technology located in Eindhoven, Netherlands. The motto of the university is: Mens agitat molem . The university was the second of its kind in the Netherlands, only Delft University of Technology existed previously. Until mid-1980 it was known as the...
on a thesis
Thesis
A dissertation or thesis is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings...
entitled Properties and Constructions of Binary Channel Codes
.
Early years at Philips Research
Fresh from engineering school, in 1967, he joined PhilipsPhilips
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
Research Labs in Eindhoven, where he spent thirty years in a fruitful association. The renowned physicist Hendrik Casimir
Hendrik Casimir
Hendrik Brugt Gerhard Casimir FRS was a Dutch physicist best known for his research on the two-fluid model of superconductors in 1934 and the Casimir effect Hendrik Brugt Gerhard Casimir FRS (July 15, 1909 in The Hague, Netherlands – May 4, 2000 in Heeze) was a Dutch physicist best known...
was director of Philips Research till 1972. Immink worked in various groups. In 1974, he joined the research group Optics, where pioneering work was done on optical laserdisc
Laserdisc
LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...
systems. He contributed mainly to the electronics
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...
and servo
Servomechanism
thumb|right|200px|Industrial servomotorThe grey/green cylinder is the [[Brush |brush-type]] [[DC motor]]. The black section at the bottom contains the [[Epicyclic gearing|planetary]] [[Reduction drive|reduction gear]], and the black object on top of the motor is the optical [[rotary encoder]] for...
technology of the video disc. In a joint effort, MCA
Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Universal Studios Home Entertainment is the home video division of Universal Pictures...
and Philips brought the laserdisc system to the market. Laserdisc was first available in Atlanta in 1978, two years after the VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
and four years before the CD. The Laserdisc never managed a significant presence in market share. The Philips/MCA Laserdisc operation was not successful and discontinued in 1981.
Compact Disc
Around 1976, Philips and Sony showed prototypes of digital audio disc players, which were based on optical videodiscVideodisc
Videodisc is a general term for a laser- or stylus-readable random-access circular disc that contains both audio and analog video signals recorded in an analog form...
technology. In 1979, Philips and Sony decided to join forces, and Immink took part in the joint Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
/Philips
Philips
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
task force, which developed the Compact Disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
standard, the Red Book
Red Book (audio CD standard)
Red Book is the standard for audio CDs . It is named after one of the Rainbow Books, a series of books that contain the technical specifications for all CD and CD-ROM formats.The first edition of the Red Book was released in 1980 by Philips and Sony; it was adopted by the Digital Audio Disc...
. He contributed to
the EFM
Eight-to-Fourteen Modulation
Eight-to-fourteen modulation is a data encoding technique – formally, a channel code – used by compact discs and pre-Hi-MD MiniDiscs. EFMPlus is a related code, used in DVDs and SACDs. EFM and EFMPlus were both invented by Kees A...
and CIRC
Cross-Interleaved Reed-Solomon Coding
In the compact disc system, cross-interleaved Reed-Solomon code provides error detection and error correction. CIRC adds to every three data bytes one redundant parity byte.-Overview:...
coding schemes.
In the article, ‘’Shannon, Beethoven, and the Compact Disc’’, Immink presents a historical review of the years leading up to the launch of the CD, and the various crucial decisions made. He refutes the urban legend that the compact disc's diameter was increased from 115 to 120mm solely to hold the 74 minutes playing time of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony
Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)
The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, is the final complete symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven. Completed in 1824, the symphony is one of the best known works of the Western classical repertoire, and has been adapted for use as the European Anthem...
conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler
Wilhelm Furtwängler
Wilhelm Furtwängler was a German conductor and composer. He is widely considered to have been one of the greatest symphonic and operatic conductors of the 20th century. By the 1930s he had built a reputation as one of the leading conductors in Europe, and he was the leading conductor who remained...
. Commercial disputes also played a part.
After the CD standard was set in 1980, Immink and his co-workers conducted pioneering experiments with magneto-optical audio recording on pre-grooved discs. They also found a simple method to extend the analog videodisc
Videodisc
Videodisc is a general term for a laser- or stylus-readable random-access circular disc that contains both audio and analog video signals recorded in an analog form...
standard with digital sound. The new systems were brought to market as MiniDisc
MiniDisc
The disc is permanently housed in a cartridge with a sliding door, similar to the casing of a 3.5" floppy disk. This shutter is opened automatically by a mechanism upon insertion. The audio discs can either be recordable or premastered. Recordable MiniDiscs use a magneto-optical system to record...
and CD Video
CD Video
CD Video was a format introduced in 1987 that combined the technologies of compact disc and laserdisc. CD-V discs were the same size as a standard 12 cm audio CD, and contained up to 20 minutes worth of audio information that could be played on any audio CD player...
. Laserdisc
Laserdisc
LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...
’s fabricated after 1984 have digitally encoded sound signals.
DVD and Blu-Ray Disc
In 1993, ToshibaToshiba
is a multinational electronics and electrical equipment corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is a diversified manufacturer and marketer of electrical products, spanning information & communications equipment and systems, Internet-based solutions and services, electronic components and...
engineers developed the Super Density Disc, the successor of the Compact Disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
. Immink was member of the Philips
Philips
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
and Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
task force, which developed a competing disc format, called MultiMedia CD. Immink created EFMPlus, a more efficient successor of EFM
Eight-to-Fourteen Modulation
Eight-to-fourteen modulation is a data encoding technique – formally, a channel code – used by compact discs and pre-Hi-MD MiniDiscs. EFMPlus is a related code, used in DVDs and SACDs. EFM and EFMPlus were both invented by Kees A...
used in CD. The electronics industry feared a repeat of the format war between VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
and Betamax
Betamax
Betamax was a consumer-level analog videocassette magnetic tape recording format developed by Sony, released on May 10, 1975. The cassettes contain -wide videotape in a design similar to the earlier, professional wide, U-matic format...
in the 1980s. IBM's president, Lou Gerstner, urged them to adopt Immink’s EFMPlus coding scheme as EFM has a proven record. In September 1995, an agreement was made among the major industries: Philips/Sony surrendered to Toshiba's SuperDensity Disc and Toshiba accepted the EFMPlus modulation. The DVD encompasses the sound-only Super Audio CD
Super Audio CD
Super Audio CD is a high-resolution, read-only optical disc for audio storage. Sony and Philips Electronics jointly developed the technology, and publicized it in 1999. It is designated as the Scarlet Book standard. Sony and Philips previously collaborated to define the Compact Disc standard...
(SACD) and DVD-audio
DVD-Audio
DVD-Audio is a digital format for delivering high-fidelity audio content on a DVD. DVD-Audio is not intended to be a video delivery format and is not the same as video DVDs containing concert films or music videos....
formats, developed independently by Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
and Toshiba
Toshiba
is a multinational electronics and electrical equipment corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is a diversified manufacturer and marketer of electrical products, spanning information & communications equipment and systems, Internet-based solutions and services, electronic components and...
, which are incompatible formats for delivering very high-fidelity audio content. SACD is in a format war
Format war
A format war describes competition between mutually incompatible proprietary formats that compete for the same market, typically for data storage devices and recording formats for electronic media. It is often characterized by political and financial influence on content publishers by the...
with DVD-Audio
DVD-Audio
DVD-Audio is a digital format for delivering high-fidelity audio content on a DVD. DVD-Audio is not intended to be a video delivery format and is not the same as video DVDs containing concert films or music videos....
, but neither has yet managed to replace audio CDs.
Immediately after the DVD standard was settled in 1996, Philips and Sony, disappointed after the DVD failure, decided to develop a next-generation blue-laser
Laser
A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of photons. The term "laser" originated as an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation...
-based digital video recorder
Digital video recorder
A digital video recorder , sometimes referred to by the merchandising term personal video recorder , is a consumer electronics device or application software that records video in a digital format to a disk drive, USB flash drive, SD memory card or other local or networked mass storage device...
(DVR), which would be positioned as DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
s high-density successor. Philips and Sony set up a joint task force, where Immink and his co-workers developed DVRs, later called Blu-Ray's, code design. In 2005, seven years after its design, the Blu-ray disc was brought to market. In 2002, the DVD forum
DVD Forum
The DVD Forum is an international organization composed of hardware, software, media and content companies that use and develop the DVD and formerly HD DVD formats...
adopted an alternative format, the HD DVD
HD DVD
HD DVD is a discontinued high-density optical disc format for storing data and high-definition video.Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to the standard DVD format...
. The two resulting standards had significant differences that made each incompatible with the other. The blue-laser format war
Format war
A format war describes competition between mutually incompatible proprietary formats that compete for the same market, typically for data storage devices and recording formats for electronic media. It is often characterized by political and financial influence on content publishers by the...
with Toshiba’s HD DVD
HD DVD
HD DVD is a discontinued high-density optical disc format for storing data and high-definition video.Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to the standard DVD format...
was settled in early 2008 when Toshiba withdrew their system effectively ending the high definition optical disc format war
High definition optical disc format war
A format war took place between the Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD optical disc standards for storing high definition video and audio.These standards emerged between 2000 and 2002 and attracted both the mutual and exclusive support of major consumer electronics manufacturers, personal computer...
.
DV and DCC
In 1985, Immink joined Philips’ magnetic recording group, where he contributed to the design of coding technologies of the digital video tape recorder, DVDV
DV is a format for the digital recording and playing back of digital video. The DV codec was launched in 1995 with joint efforts of leading producers of video camcorders....
and the Digital Compact Cassette
Digital Compact Cassette
Digital Compact Cassette was a magnetic tape sound recording format introduced by Philips and Matsushita in late 1992 and pitched as a successor to the standard analog cassette. It was also a direct competitor to Sony's MiniDisc but neither format toppled the then ubiquitous analog cassette...
(DCC)
. The DCC was short-lived: introduced in 1992 and discontinued in 1996. The DV
DV
DV is a format for the digital recording and playing back of digital video. The DV codec was launched in 1995 with joint efforts of leading producers of video camcorders....
, launched in 1994, has become a popular tape standard for home and semi-professional video production.
Turing Machines Inc.
After more than thirty years, Immink left PhilipsPhilips
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
Research in 1998, and founded Turing Machines Inc, where he currently serves as its president. The small research institute has been successful in creating new coding technology, and was granted around ten US patents.
Service to engineering society
Immink has served in officer and board positions for a number of technical societies, government and academic organizations - including the Audio Engineering SocietyAudio Engineering Society
Established in 1948, the Audio Engineering Society draws its membership from amongst engineers, scientists, other individuals with an interest or involvement in the professional audio industry. The membership largely comprises engineers developing devices or products for audio, and persons working...
, IEEE, 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...
, and several universities. He is a trustee of the Shannon Foundation, and was a governor of the IEEE Consumer Electronics and Information Theory Societies. He was on the governors board of the Audio Engineering Society
Audio Engineering Society
Established in 1948, the Audio Engineering Society draws its membership from amongst engineers, scientists, other individuals with an interest or involvement in the professional audio industry. The membership largely comprises engineers developing devices or products for audio, and persons working...
for over 10 years, and was its president in 2002-2003.
Awards and honors
- Foreign associate, National Academy of EngineeringNational Academy of EngineeringThe National Academy of Engineering is a government-created non-profit institution in the United States, that was founded in 1964 under the same congressional act that led to the founding of the National Academy of Sciences...
, 2007. - SMPTE Progress Medal awarded by the Society of Motion Picture and Television EngineersSociety of Motion Picture and Television EngineersThe 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), 2004, For the central role played in research and development of audio and video recording products. - IEEE Consumer Electronics Engineering Excellence Award, 2004.
- Heyser Memorial lecturer awarded by the Audio Engineering SocietyAudio Engineering SocietyEstablished in 1948, the Audio Engineering Society draws its membership from amongst engineers, scientists, other individuals with an interest or involvement in the professional audio industry. The membership largely comprises engineers developing devices or products for audio, and persons working...
, May 2004.http://www.aes.org/technical/heyser/aes116.cfm - Technology and Engineering Emmy AwardEmmy AwardAn Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
awarded by the National Television Academy 2003, For coding technology for optical recording formats. - Inducted into the Consumer Electronics Hall of FameConsumer Electronics Hall of FameThe Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame, founded by the Consumer Electronics Association , honors leaders whose creativity, persistence, determination and personal charisma helped to shape the industry and made the consumer electronics marketplace what it is today...
, (CEA), 2003. - Knighthood in the Order of Orange-NassauOrder of Orange-NassauThe Order of Orange-Nassau is a military and civil order of the Netherlands which was created on 4 April 1892 by the Queen regent Emma of the Netherlands, acting on behalf of her under-age daughter Queen Wilhelmina. The Order is a chivalry order open to "everyone who have earned special merits for...
awarded by BeatrixBeatrix of the NetherlandsBeatrix is the Queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands comprising the Netherlands, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, and Aruba. She is the first daughter of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld. She studied law at Leiden University...
, QueenQueen regnantA queen regnant is a female monarch who reigns in her own right, in contrast to a queen consort, who is the wife of a reigning king. An empress regnant is a female monarch who reigns in her own right over an empire....
of the NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, 2000.
- Honorary member, Netherlands Electronics and Radio Society (NERG), 2000.
- Millennium Medal awarded by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, (IEEE), 2000.
- AES Gold Medal awarded by the Audio Engineering SocietyAudio Engineering SocietyEstablished in 1948, the Audio Engineering Society draws its membership from amongst engineers, scientists, other individuals with an interest or involvement in the professional audio industry. The membership largely comprises engineers developing devices or products for audio, and persons working...
, (AES), 1999, For significant contributions to the advancement of consumer audio technology.
- IEEE Edison Medal, 1999, For a career of creative contributions to the technologies of digital video, audio, and data recording.
- Golden Jubilee Award for Technological Innovation awarded by the IEEE Information Theory SocietyIEEE Information Theory SocietyThe IEEE Information Theory Society , formerly the IEEE Information Theory Group, is a professional society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers focused on several aspects of information: its processing, transmission, storage, and usage; and the "foundations of the...
, 1998, For the invention of constrained codes for commercial recording systems.
- AES 50th Anniversary Commemorative Medal awarded by the Audio Engineering Society, 1998.
- Academician, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and SciencesRoyal Netherlands Academy of Arts and SciencesThe Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences is an organisation dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands...
, (KNAW) 1996.
- Fellow, Society of Motion Picture and Television EngineersSociety of Motion Picture and Television EngineersThe 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),1996.
- IEEE Masaru Ibuka Consumer Electronics Award awarded by the IEEE, 1996, For pioneering contributions to consumer digital audio and video recording products
- Alexander M. PoniatoffAlexander M. PoniatoffAlexander Matveevich Poniatoff was a Russian-American electrical engineer.Poniatoff was born 25 March 1892 in Aisha, Zelenodolsky District, Tatarstan, Russian Empire. He emigrated from Russia to China, where he worked for the Shanghai Power Company until he emigrated to the United States in 1927...
Gold Medal Award for Technical Excellence awarded by the Society of Motion Picture and Television EngineersSociety of Motion Picture and Television EngineersThe 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...
, 1994, For outstanding contributions to the development of new techniques and/or equipment that have contributed to the advancement of audio or video magnetic recording and reproduction.
- Sir J.J. Thomson Medal awarded by the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE)Institution of Electrical EngineersThe Institution of Electrical Engineers was a British professional organisation of electronics, electrical, manufacturing, and Information Technology professionals, especially electrical engineers. The I.E.E...
, 1993, For distinguished contributions to electronics.
- AES Silver Medal awarded by the Audio Engineering SocietyAudio Engineering SocietyEstablished in 1948, the Audio Engineering Society draws its membership from amongst engineers, scientists, other individuals with an interest or involvement in the professional audio industry. The membership largely comprises engineers developing devices or products for audio, and persons working...
, 1992, For major contributions to the development of digital audio recording systems.
Literature
- Codes for Mass Data Storage Systems, Second fully revised edition, Shannon Foundation Publishers, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, Nov. 2004. ISBN 90-74249-27-2 http://www.shannonfoundation.org/book.html
- The Compact Disc Story, AES Journal, pp. 458–465, May 1998 http://www.exp-math.uni-essen.de/~immink/pdf/cdstory.pdf.
- The future of digital audio recording, AES Journal., pp. 171–172, 1999 http://www.exp-math.uni-essen.de/~immink/pdf/future.pdf., EFM Patent, base code applied in Compact DiscCompact DiscThe Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
, CD-RCD-RA CD-R is a variation of the Compact Disc invented by Philips and Sony. CD-R is a Write Once Read Many optical medium, though the whole disk does not have to be entirely written in the same session....
, MiniDiscMiniDiscThe disc is permanently housed in a cartridge with a sliding door, similar to the casing of a 3.5" floppy disk. This shutter is opened automatically by a mechanism upon insertion. The audio discs can either be recordable or premastered. Recordable MiniDiscs use a magneto-optical system to record...
, EFMPlus Patent, base code applied in DVDDVDA DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
, DVD-RWDVD-RWA DVD-RW disc is a rewritable optical disc with equal storage capacity to a DVD-R, typically 4.7 GB. The format was developed by Pioneer in November 1999 and has been approved by the DVD Forum. The smaller Mini DVD-RW holds 1.46 GB, with a diameter of 8 cm.The primary advantage of DVD-RW over...
, SACDSuper Audio CDSuper Audio CD is a high-resolution, read-only optical disc for audio storage. Sony and Philips Electronics jointly developed the technology, and publicized it in 1999. It is designated as the Scarlet Book standard. Sony and Philips previously collaborated to define the Compact Disc standard...