2011 NAB Technology Innovation Awards

NAB is currently accepting nominations for the 2011 NAB Technology Innovation Awards. First presented at the 2009 NAB Show, NAB presents the award to organizations that bring advanced technology exhibits and demonstrations of significant merit to the NAB Show. The nominated exhibit should present advanced research and development projects in communications technologies that have not yet been commercialized.

Candidates for the Technology Innovation Awards must be organizations who are currently exhibiting at the NAB Show. The size of the organization is not a determining factor. Nominated projects may not be commercial products that have been offered for sale prior to or at the NAB Show. The merit of the technology exhibit is the sole factor to be taken into account. The entry deadline is March 4, 2011. The awards will be presented at the NAB Technology Luncheon on April 13, 2011 at the NAB Show in Las Vegas.

Here is a summary of past award winners:

2010 Winners:

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) – ETRI is Korea's largest government-funded research institute specializing in information and communications technology. In the NAB Show International Research Park area, ETRI demonstrated technologies that enhance the ATSC DTV system, including increasing the total data capacity of the system. Dr. Soon In Lee, managing director of broadcasting systems research, is shown in the upper photo at right accepting the award from NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith.

Georgia Institute of Technology – the Georgia Institute of Technology (GT) is one of the United States' top research universities, distinguished by its commitment to improving the human condition through advanced science and technology. GT developed a hand gesture-based, wireless, touch-free human-TV interface that uses a standard webcam. At the 2010 NAB Show in Research Park, GT showed the gesture control in the International Research Park area. Benny Bing, research faculty member, is shown in the lower photo at right accepting the award from NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith.

2009 Winners:

National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) – NICT is a national telecommunications research organization in Japan. The NAB Show was the first venue outside of Japan where NICT demonstrated some of the advanced imaging and sound technologies being developed in their labs. Working with their partners in the industry, the NICT demonstrations included holographic television, 3D displays without special glasses, 3D television programming being transmitted via broadband from Japan and a multisensory interaction system that explores human interface to communications media.

NHK Science and Technical Research Laboratories – NHK Science and Technical Research Laboratories (STRL) is the research and development arm of NHK, Japan's public broadcaster. Since its establishment in 1930, NHK Labs has been creating new broadcasting systems and devices in pursuit of its mission to research and develop next-generation broadcasting systems. NHK STRL demonstrations at the 2009 NAB Show included an ultra-HDTV theater, with picture resolution 16 times that of HDTV and 22.2 channels of surround sound, and new technologies that reproduce 3D in HDTV and mobile DTV services based on Japan's digital broadcasting system, ISDB-T.

The NAB Show (Las Vegas, April 9-14, 2011) will once again feature the International Research Park, an area of the show floor that features exhibits from research laboratories around the world and is intended to showcase research and development in leading-edge media technologies.

Participation in the International Research Park is limited to the display of technologies that are not currently commercially available and represent new technology development in media-related areas. NAB will provide suitable exhibit space free of charge. The participating organizations will be responsible for all other booth-related costs, including shipping, material handling, electricity, etc.

If your organization is interested in participating in the 2011 International Research Park, please contact Skip Pizzi, Director, Digital Strategies at spizzi@nab.org.