HDTV - A Perspective for the Broadcaster

Laurence Thorpe is director of studio product management, Sony Communications Products Co. In this role, he is responsible for the entire line of broadcast and professional video cameras, Betacam field equipment, broadcast display equipment, super motion system, and the fiber optics system. He is also principal technical consultant on HDTV. Mr. Thorpe graduated in 1961 from the College of Technology in Dublin, Ireland, with a GRAD IEEE degree in electrical engineering. In 1966 he was awarded an MIEE and was made a Chartered Engineer (C. Eng.—UK). He joined the London-based Designs Department of the British Broadcasting Corporation in 1961. In 1966 Mr. Thorpe left the BBC to join the Broadcast Division of RCA in Camden, New Jersey, where he remained until 1982. In 1982 Mr. Thorpe joined the new Sony Broadcast Co., where he assumed his present responsibilities. Mr. Thorpe represents Sony Communications Products Co. on the three technology groups of the ATSC. He is a member of the A TSC Executive Committee (1988–89). He is an active member of the SMPTE Working Group on High Definition Electronic Production and also the SMPTE Working Group on Studio Video Systems. He was made a Fellow of the SMPTE in 1986. He has published numerous technical articles on broadcast camera technology and HDTV.