Thomas Wiegand
Encyclopedia
Thomas Wiegand is a German
electrical engineer
who actively participated in the creation of the H.264/AVC video coding standard. He was one of the chairmen of the Joint Video Team (JVT) standardization committee that created the standard and was the editor of the standard itself (and he remains active in those roles). He was also an active technical contributor to the standard.
Wiegand also holds a chairmanship position in the ITU-T
VCEG
and previousls in ISO/IEC
MPEG standardization organizations. In July 2006, the video coding work of the ITU-T
jointly led by Gary J. Sullivan
and Wiegand for the preceding six years was voted as the most influential area of the standardization work of the CCITT and ITU-T in their 50-year history.
Wiegand is Professor at the Technical University of Berlin
and head of the Image Processing Department of the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications – Heinrich Hertz Institute , Berlin, Germany. At both institutions, he is heading research teams working on
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
electrical engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
who actively participated in the creation of the H.264/AVC video coding standard. He was one of the chairmen of the Joint Video Team (JVT) standardization committee that created the standard and was the editor of the standard itself (and he remains active in those roles). He was also an active technical contributor to the standard.
Wiegand also holds a chairmanship position in the ITU-T
ITU-T
The ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector is one of the three sectors of the International Telecommunication Union ; it coordinates standards for telecommunications....
VCEG
VCEG
The Video Coding Experts Group or Visual Coding Experts Group is the informal name of Question 6 of Working Party 3 of Study Group 16 of the ITU-T. Its abbreviated title is ITU-T Q.6/SG 16...
and previousls in ISO/IEC
International Electrotechnical Commission
The International Electrotechnical Commission is a non-profit, non-governmental international standards organization that prepares and publishes International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies – collectively known as "electrotechnology"...
MPEG standardization organizations. In July 2006, the video coding work of the ITU-T
ITU-T
The ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector is one of the three sectors of the International Telecommunication Union ; it coordinates standards for telecommunications....
jointly led by Gary J. Sullivan
Gary Sullivan (engineer)
Gary J. Sullivan is an American electrical engineer who led the development of the H.264/AVC video coding standard and created the DirectX Video Acceleration API/DDI video decoding feature of the Microsoft Windows operating system platform...
and Wiegand for the preceding six years was voted as the most influential area of the standardization work of the CCITT and ITU-T in their 50-year history.
Wiegand is Professor at the Technical University of Berlin
Technical University of Berlin
The Technische Universität Berlin is a research university located in Berlin, Germany. Translating the name into English is discouraged by the university, however paraphrasing as Berlin Institute of Technology is recommended by the university if necessary .The TU Berlin was founded...
and head of the Image Processing Department of the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications – Heinrich Hertz Institute , Berlin, Germany. At both institutions, he is heading research teams working on
- Video processing and coding
- Multimedia transmission
- Semantic approaches in image processing
- Coding, interactive streaming, and visualization of 3D environments
Education
- 1995: Dipl.-Ing. degree in Electrical Engineering from Hamburg University of Technology, Germany
- 2000: Dr.-Ing. degree from University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany.
Standardization
- Since 2000: Associated Rapporteur of VCEGVCEGThe Video Coding Experts Group or Visual Coding Experts Group is the informal name of Question 6 of Working Party 3 of Study Group 16 of the ITU-T. Its abbreviated title is ITU-T Q.6/SG 16...
(Video Coding Experts Group - ITU-TITU-TThe ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector is one of the three sectors of the International Telecommunication Union ; it coordinates standards for telecommunications....
SG16 Q.6) - Since 2001: Associated Rapporteur / Co-Chair of JVT
- Since 2002: Editor of the H.264/AVCH.264/MPEG-4 AVCH.264/MPEG-4 Part 10 or AVC is a standard for video compression, and is currently one of the most commonly used formats for the recording, compression, and distribution of high definition video...
video coding standard and its extensions (FRExt and SVC) - 2005-2009: Associated Chair of MPEG Video (Moving Pictures Experts Group - ISO/IECInternational Electrotechnical CommissionThe International Electrotechnical Commission is a non-profit, non-governmental international standards organization that prepares and publishes International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies – collectively known as "electrotechnology"...
JTC1/SC29/WG11)
Awards
- 1998: SPIE VCIP Best Student Paper Award
- 2004: Fraunhofer Award (together with Detlev Marpe and Heiko Schwarz)
- 2004: ITG Award of the German Society for Information Technology (together with Detlev Marpe and Heiko Schwarz)
- 2006: The video coding work of the ITU-T led by Gary SullivanGary Sullivan (engineer)Gary J. Sullivan is an American electrical engineer who led the development of the H.264/AVC video coding standard and created the DirectX Video Acceleration API/DDI video decoding feature of the Microsoft Windows operating system platform...
and Thomas Wiegand jointly since 2000 was voted as the most influential area of the standardization work of the CCITT and ITU-T in their 50-year history - 2008: Primetime Emmy Engineering AwardPrimetime Emmy AwardThe Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming...
(awarded to the JVT standards committee by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for development of the High Profile of H.264/MPEG-4 AVCH.264/MPEG-4 AVCH.264/MPEG-4 Part 10 or AVC is a standard for video compression, and is currently one of the most commonly used formats for the recording, compression, and distribution of high definition video...
, for which Wiegand served as associated rapporteur/co-chair, editor, and technical contributor) - 2009: Paired Technology & Engineering Emmy AwardTechnology & Engineering Emmy AwardA Technology and Engineering Emmy Award is given by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for outstanding achievement in technical or engineering development...
s (one awarded to VCEG and one to MPEG by the National Academy of Television Arts and SciencesNational Academy of Television Arts and SciencesThe National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences or NATAS was created in 1955 to advance the arts and sciences of television. Headquartered in New York, NATAS's membership is national and the organization has local chapters around the country....
for development of the H.264/MPEG-4 AVCH.264/MPEG-4 AVCH.264/MPEG-4 Part 10 or AVC is a standard for video compression, and is currently one of the most commonly used formats for the recording, compression, and distribution of high definition video...
standard) - 2009: Group Technical Achievement Award of EURASIP (European Association for Signal Processing) for active contributions to video coding research and standardization activities
- 2009: Best Paper Award of IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology (together with Heiko Schwarz and Detlev Marpe)
- 2009: Innovation Award of Vodafone Foundation for Research in Mobile Communications
- 2010: Technology Award of Eduard Rhein Foundation (together with Jens-Rainer Ohm)
- 2011: Fellow of the IEEEIEEE FellowAn IEEE member is elevated to the grade of IEEE Fellow for "unusual distinction in the profession and shall be conferred by the Board of Directors upon a person with an extraordinary record of accomplishments in any of the IEEE fields of interest"...
for contributions to video coding and its standardization - 2011: Best Paper Award of EURASIP (European Association for Signal Processing) (together with Karsten Müller, Aljoscha Smolic, Kristina Dix, Philipp Merkle and Peter Kauff)
- 2012: IEEE Masaru Ibuka Consumer Electronics AwardIEEE Masaru Ibuka Consumer Electronics AwardThe IEEE Masaru Ibuka Consumer Electronics Award is a Technical Field Award of the IEEE given for outstanding contributions to consumer electronics technology. It is named in honor of Masaru Ibuka, co-founder and honorary chairman of Sony Corporation. The award is currently given each year to an...
Other
- 1993–1994: Visiting Researcher at Kobe UniversityKobe UniversityShindai is one of the leading universities in Japan. It can be seen in the several rankings such as shown below.-General Rankings:The university is ranked 10th in 2010 in the ranking "Truly Strong Universities" by Toyo Keizai...
, JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south... - 1995: Visiting Scholar at the University of California at Santa Barbara, U.S.United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
- 1997–1998: Visiting Researcher at Stanford UniversityStanford UniversityThe Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, California, USA - 1997–1998: Consultant to 8x8, Inc., Santa Clara, CaliforniaSanta Clara, CaliforniaSanta Clara , founded in 1777 and incorporated in 1852, is a city in Santa Clara County, in the U.S. state of California. The city is the site of the eighth of 21 California missions, Mission Santa Clara de Asís, and was named after the mission. The Mission and Mission Gardens are located on the...
, USA - Since 2006: Member of technical advisory board of VidyoVidyoVidyo, Inc. is a privately held, venture funded company that provides both software-based technology and product-based visual communication solutions...
, Inc, Hackensack, New JerseyHackensack, New JerseyHackensack is a city in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States and the county seat of Bergen County. Although informally called Hackensack, it was officially named New Barbadoes Township until 1921. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 43,010....
, USA - 2006-2008: Member of technical advisory board of Stream Processors, IncStream Processors, IncStream Processors, Inc was a Silicon Valley-based fabless semiconductor companyspecializing in the design and manufacture of high-performance digital signal processors for applications including video...
., Sunnyvale, CaliforniaSunnyvale, CaliforniaSunnyvale is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States. It is one of the major cities that make up the Silicon Valley located in the San Francisco Bay Area...
, USA