LG Electronics CTO Receives Engineering Lifetime Achievement Award Aug 26, 2008

Printable format  Email this Article  Search

Dr. Woo Paik, president and chief technology officer (CTO) of LG Electronics Inc., has received the highest technical honor bestowed on an individual by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences -- the Charles F. Jenkins Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award.

The Academy honored Dr. Paik as the "Father of Digital TV" during the 2008 Primetime Emmy Engineering Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. The Charles F. Jenkins Lifetime Achievement Award honors a living individual whose contributions over a long period of time have significantly affected the state of television technology and engineering.

Dr. Paik's specific technological contributions cited by the Academy include invention of the digital video compression technology adopted by the Digital HDTV Grand Alliance, his leadership in the development of DigiCipher, the digital compression technology that is the basis for digital TV broadcasting, and his role in the development of VideoCipher, the de facto standard for distribution of scrambled cable channels over satellite.

In his acceptance remarks, delivered in high-definition from Seoul, Dr. Paik reminisced about the "fast and furious" early days of digital TV developments. "Really important was our willingness to take risks, to develop all-digital systems while others continued work on analog or hybrid
systems." Putting history in perspective, Dr. Paik concluded: "I suppose you all enjoyed the wonderful picture and sound quality of the Olympics in digital HDTV. I feel great every time I watch HDTV and think about what we were able to achieve together."

Back to Daily News