This year’s recipient of the Bernard J. Lechner Outstanding Contributor Award is Dr. Youngkwon Lim from Samsung Research¹ America’s Standards and Mobility Innovation Lab, marking the first time ever a Samsung Electronics employee has received the award since its inception.

▲ Dr. Youngkwon Lim, Standards and Mobility Innovation Lab at Samsung Research America

The ATSC is made up of over 103 member organizations, together whom represent the broadcast, broadcast equipment, motion picture, consumer electronics, computer, cable, satellite and semiconductor industries worldwide. The Bernard J. Lechner Outstanding Contributor Award is bestowed once a year to an individual representative of the membership whose technical and leadership contributions to ATSC have been invaluable and exemplary. The ATSC’s latest development, ATSC 3.0, is being deployed now in the U.S. and Korea, and is being adopted by Brazil and Jamaica as the next generation broadcasting standard.

SRA’s Dr. Youngkwon Lim has been actively contributing IP-based low-latency multimedia delivery technology including MPEG Media Transport, MMT, to ATSC 3.0 development, and has served as Chair of Specialist Group on Management and Protocols, S33, from its inception.

“We are grateful for Dr. Lim’s leadership in this critical piece of the ATSC 3.0 standard,” noted Madeleine Noland, President of the ATSC at the award-presenting ceremony that took place during the ATSC’s annual conference. “His experience in other standards development organizations allows him to quickly align ATSC documents with external documents for a cohesive set of standards. His valuable knowledge has helped ATSC move forward with signaling solutions, and I appreciate his expert guidance of S33.”

The recognition Dr. Youngkwon Lim has attained through receiving this award demonstrates Samsung’s continuous support for the development of next generation standards for the constant growth of the broadcast industry, as well as the company’s industry leadership.

¹ Samsung Research, acting as Samsung Electronics’ advanced R&D hub, leads the development of future technologies for the company’s Device eXperience (DX) Division.

“Samsung is constantly transforming the technology we put in front of our consumers to give them the ultimate home entertainment experience, so leading this endeavor was a natural step,” said Hyogun Lee, Executive Vice President of the Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “NEXTGEN TV powered by ATSC 3.0 enhances the at-home viewing experience for our 2020 QLED 8K owners and beyond. We’re excited to see how the standard steers our broadcast partners into developing content and experiences for our 8K ecosystem. We are just beginning to scratch the surface and are excited about the full potential enabled by ATSC 3.0.”

One of the key benefits and improvements of NEXTGEN TV powered by ATSC 3.0 over the current ATSC 1.0 standard is its potential to receive and playback content in up to 4K resolution, rather than just Full HD that is currently available. This ensures that Samsung QLED 8K owners are able to playback 4K broadcasts and content when the signals are transmitted.

Alongside the vivid resolution, NEXTGEN TV brings audiences a more engaging and realistic audio experience. The standard’s Multi-Channel Object Audio and Dialogue Enhancement features give users louder and clearer sound enabling immersive experience in addition to the traditional surround sound. The standard also revamps the capabilities with enhanced content and added information.

Samsung has been at the forefront of development efforts around high-resolution broadcast for years. The company has also been working with Pearl TV and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) on testing new features and broadcasting experimental transmissions, across many industry events and collaborations. These efforts have ensured that Samsung is leading the world with the best in class Ultra HD viewing experiences and have given broadcasters the ability to continue innovation within the 8K ecosystem.

For more information on Samsung’s 2020 QLED TV lineup and NEXTGEN TV, please visit www.samsung.com.