Digital compression is to 21st century broadcasting as E=mc2 was to nuclear physics.
Charles Osgood introducing Dr. Woo Paik, CTO, LG Electronics

Photo/RTO Online

Fellow Giants of Broadcasting 2009 honorees Katie Couric, Anchor and Managing Editor, CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, and Dr. Woo Paik, President and Chief Technology Officer of LG Electronics Inc., the "Father of HDTV."

Every time you rent a High-Def TV, you might want to say a silent thank-you to Dr. Woo Paik, CTO of LG Electronics. The national Library of American Broadcasting honored Dr. Paik as the "Father of HDTV" at the Seventh Annual Giants of Broadcasting Awards ceremony in New York City. The event serves as a tribute to those individuals who have played pivotal roles in advancing the electronic arts.

Charles Osgood of CBS Sunday Morning and CBS Radio, who served as Master of Ceremonies, introduced Dr. Paik: "Digital compression is to 21st century broadcasting as E=mc2 was to nuclear physics. It is the essential ingredient in the digital revolution that has transformed the world's television over the last two decades. No one is more identified with that advancement - which first made possible satellite television and then the conversion from analog to digital broadcasting and HDTV - than Dr. Woo Paik.... The possessor of some 25 patents in the digital realm, he has been called the Edison of Electronics, and the Father of HDTV, designations that appear more apt every day."

Dr. Paik's contributions saluted by the Library 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. Dr. Paik's leadership has established LG Electronics as a global technology powerhouse and innovator in digital TV standards, including the new ATSC Mobile DTV broadcast standard, which is expected to be adopted later this month.

In his acceptance remarks, Dr. Paik thanked the Library of American Broadcasting, saying, "HDTV is ubiquitous in the United States today - with thousands of hours of hi-def programming weekly, and over 100 million HDTV receivers in consumer homes. For those of us who were involved from the beginning, this is very gratifying."

"Today, television broadcasting is poised for the Next Big Thing - mobile digital television. Over the past three years, I have had the privilege of leading the team at LG Electronics and Zenith, which co-developed the core technology behind the new ATSC Mobile DTV Standard," Dr. Paik continued.

"This innovative technology makes it possible for TV stations to send a robust signal (right along with the HDTV and multicast signals) to serve viewers on the go. Dozens of TV stations are going on the air and consumers will soon be able to buy portable DTV receivers, like personal DTVs, mobile phones and in-car TVs, for these new signals."

The 2009 Giants of Broadcasting Award is the latest in a long list of accolades recognizing Dr. Paik's contributions to digital TV. A year ago he received the highest technical honor bestowed on an individual by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences - the Charles F. Jenkins Lifetime Achievement Primetime Emmy® Award.

In 2004, he was inducted into the Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame and the Academy of Digital Television Pioneers. He received the Digital Television Pioneers Award from Broadcasting & Cable Magazine in 2000, the Arthur C. Clark Award from the Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association in 1999, an Engineering Emmy for his outstanding digital television achievements in 1996 and the Matti S. Siukola Memorial Award from the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society in 1991.

During his tenure at LG Electronics, Dr. Paik has been involved with virtually all of the company's core technologies, products and business ventures and is responsible for technology innovation in LG's five core business areas, Home Entertainment, Mobile Communications, Home Appliances, Air Conditioning, and Business Solutions. Dr. Paik is the Chief Technology Officer overseeing ten R&D institutes and more than 20,000 engineers worldwide. He joined LG in 1998 as President and CTO, a position he held for seven years. From 2004-2007, he served as LG's chief technology adviser, based in the United States; he returned to LG headquarters in Seoul as President and CTO in January 2008.

Prior to joining LG Electronics, Dr. Paik was Executive Vice President, Technology for the General Instrument Communications Division (now the broadband division of Motorola). He led the Advanced Development team that vaulted General Instrument to the forefront of digital TV technology. His team developed the DigiCipher HDTV system, the world's first all-digital HDTV system, in 1990. He later worked as a key member of the Digital HDTV Grand Alliance Technical Oversight Group and various Technical Specialist Groups that developed the U.S. HDTV broadcast standard. He also applied the DigiCipher technology for the multichannel NTSC system, now deployed in U.S. satellite and digital cable systems.

After joining M/A-COM-Linkabit in 1978, Dr. Paik later moved to General Instrument as a founder of the VideoCipher Division. He is one of the key inventors of the VideoCipher II system that became the de facto standard for the C-Band satellite video encryption system and is still in use by most cable programmers. He held various senior management positions at General Instrument before being named Executive VP. He also briefly served as Senior Vice President, Technology, for Qualcomm Inc. prior to joining LG Electronics.

Dr. Paik earned his doctorate in electrical and electronics engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and his masters and bachelors in engineering degrees from Seoul National University. He is the author of numerous technical papers and co-inventor of more than 25 inventions earning U.S. Patents in the area of digital video compression, digital transmission, and digital signal processing.

In addition to Dr. Paik, 2009 Giants of Broadcasting honorees include: Katie Couric, Anchor and Managing Editor, CBS Evening News with Katie Couric; Ken Burns, Award-winning Documentarian and Biographer (Brooklyn Bridge, The Civil War, Baseball, Jazz and The War); Barbara Cochran, Veteran Print and Broadcast Journalist and President of the Radio & Television News Directors Association; Norman Pattiz, Founder and Chairman, Westwood One; and Chris Rohrs, President, Television Bureau of Advertising. Posthumous honors went to the late Bea Arthur, Actress, Maude and Golden Girls and Edward McMahon, Announcer of The Tonight Show and Host of Star Search, while the Library paid special tributes to legendary broadcasting icons Walter Cronkite, Paul Harvey and Don Hewitt.

The Library has been honoring leaders in the broadcasting industry annually since 2003 - its list of Giants now totals 116. Previous honorees include Good Morning America's Diane Sawyer, PBS' Charlie Rose, Bob Schieffer of CBS News, former president of Hearst Frank Bennack Jr. and the late Tim Russert of NBC.