OTTAWA — Video production solution provider Ross Video today announced company founder John Ross will be awarded Honorary Membership of SMPTE (the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers) at the SMPTE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, which is being held as a virtual event this year in November.
Honorary Membership is the society’s highest accolade, which recognizes individuals who have performed distinguished service in the advancement of engineering in motion pictures, television or the allied arts and sciences. Ross is being recognized for a lifetime of advancing the state of the art in television engineering, says an SMPTE news release issued Tuesday.
As a recipient of the award, Ross will join some of the most influential names in motion picture and television engineering history, such as Thomas Edison, Walt Disney, George Lucas and Ray Dolby. The award also adds to other titles and accolades Ross has received — in 2013 he was awarded the Order of Canada, and in 2015 he became an Honorary Member of the IABM (International Trade Association for the Broadcast and Media Industry).
“I’m extremely grateful to the president and officials at SMPTE for this prestigious honour, which is most unexpected. As an engineer, it’s especially humbling to be recognized by a society that has had so many illustrious names in my field as members and I am honoured to be recognized among their number. I have also had the privilege of working with many great engineers and teams throughout my career; I share this success with them and thank them for their encouragement and advice over the years,” Ross said, in the Ross Video news release.
Barbara Lange, SMPTE’s executive director, welcomes Ross to the roll of Honorary Members.
“With his work and inventions spanning more than five decades, John Ross is the true embodiment of a role model, mentor and leader. We are pleased to honour his achievements,” Lange said.
Having a keen interest in designing and building amateur radio equipment as a teenager, Ross got his first job in broadcasting in 1950 — at the age of 14 — when the chief engineer of Winnipeg radio station CKY offered Ross a summer job as transmitter operator.
In 1954, Ross joined the staff of Winnipeg’s new TV station CBWT, where he went on to build the first studio production switcher in Canada to have wipe transitions and keying capability. Ross attended the University of Manitoba to become an engineer. During the summers, he worked for CBC Studio Engineering in Montreal where he did TV studio design and installation work.
In 1963, Ross founded the Broadcasting Equipment division of Central Dynamics Limited in Montreal, where he assembled a talented engineering team and accomplished many “world firsts” during the next 11 years. Some of these innovations included the first fully transistorized production switcher, the first automated master control switcher, the first computer-based videotape editing system, and the first TV digital character generator display system to be used in any broadcasting equipment.
Ross also received a fundamental patent for the first chroma keyer to offer easy single-knob selection of any keying hue — which was quickly adopted by all switcher manufacturers and led to the use of the green screen.
After founding Ross Video in 1974, Ross continued to innovate and designed several series of production switchers as well as many unique distribution and signal processing products, including a compact NTSC-to-digital converter specifically for use on the International Space Station.
To read more about Ross’ long, illustrious career, please click here.
For more information on the SMPTE Technical Conference and Exhibition, please visit 2020.smpte.org/.
