Speaker: Laurence Thorpe

HDTV is a saga of technological developments in imaging, recording, video processing, and digital transmission and also in international standardization. Large screen displays are proliferating and HD program origination is escalating. Confusion still abounds in relation to the technical numerology surrounding digital HD formats.

The "front-end" of HDTV is the lens-camera that originates the multidimensional attributes of HD imagery and separately represents them in the digital domain. The "back-end" speaks to the promise of HDTV in terms of what can be delivered to the living room. This relates the capabilities of the human visual system to typical viewing distances and screen sizes. This presentation will discuss these issues.

Laurence J. Thorpe is the National Marketing Executive of the Broadcast and Communications Division of Canon U.S.A., Inc.

Thorpe joined Sony Electronics in 1982, where he spent 22 years in HDTV development. Prior to Sony, he worked for RCA’s Broadcast Division in NJ from 1966 to 1982, developing color television cameras and telecine products. He holds ten patents from this period. From 1961 to 1966, Thorpe worked in the Designs Dept. of the BBC in London, England, developing a range of color television studio products.

Thorpe is an IET Graduate (1961) in electrical engineering of the College of Technology in Dublin, Ireland. He holds a Chartered Engineer (C.Eng.)and MIET (1965) from the Institution of Electrical Engineers in London.