Fraunhofer HHI - A Milestone in the Transmission of Video - The Vodafone Foundation Awards its 2009 Innovation Prize to Professor Wiegand

Store this angel in big sizeThe Vodafone Foundation for Research Honors the Achievement of Professor Thomas Wiegand

Videos on the Internet, adaptable phones, and Blu-ray-Discs apparently wouldn’t be what they are today after Professor Thomas Wiegand. The Berlin-based scientist has played a absolute role in the development of the H.264 video accepted and for his effort, he has been awarded the 2009 Vodafone Foundation for Research Innovation Prize. The approval acknowledges his accomplishments, which accept decidedly beat the encoding and conveyance of motion pictures. Mobile communications networks in accurate accept benefitted from the top above and able compression of avant-garde video standards.

This year’s Vodafone Innovation Prize goes to a German scientist who enjoys the actual accomplished akin of acceptance internationally: Professor Wiegand has already been accustomed alert with the acclaimed American television cost the "Emmy", and he leads the world’s a lot of important accumulation of developers alive on the acclimation of video signals. His aggregation at Berlin’s Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute fabricated a above addition to the success of the H.264 video compression process.

Vodafone Germany’s CEO Fritz Joussen commented, "In anniversary Professor Wiegand, we admit a accurate avant-garde in the use of avant-garde media. His endeavors were the aboriginal to accomplish high-quality videos in adaptable communications networks accessible - and they will appearance how we adore films or television on the go in the future. Berlin’s Technical University and Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute accept absolutely benefitted from a scientist of his caliber, but so, too, has the accomplished German analysis community."

The H.264 video standard, whose complete name is in actuality H.264 ISO/IEC 14996-10 MPEG-4 AVC, is activated in assorted manual modalities. HDTV programs apply it, as do Blu-ray players, iPods, and videos on the Internet (IPTV) and adaptable advice networks (MobileTV). The advantage of H.264 is its able abstracts compression with no arresting above loss: a video book is alone about bisected as big as with antecedent procedures.

Future video-encoding processes will action absolutely altered possibilities, authoritative it possible, for archetype to appraisal movies absolutely automatically so they can be catalogued by seek engines. Research goals aswell cover 3-D environments and video streams with a 360-degree-panorama, and Professor Dr. Wiegand and his aggregation are already at plan in these areas.

In presenting the Innovation Prize and grants back 1997, the Vodafone Foundation for Research has accustomed aberrant accurate exploration. The alternative has tended against scientists from the German-speaking countries. A board composed of eminent assembly of science and industry makes the accolade to both individuals and groups.

With Dr. Ralf Schaefer, Professor Thomas Wiegand leads the Image Processing Department at the Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute. He has captivated the Technical University of Berlin’s Chair of Image Communication at the Institute for Telecommunications Systems back summer 2008.

More advice and photos are accessible at:
www.vodafone-stiftung-fuer-forschung.de

Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications, Heinrich Hertz Institute

World leaders in the development of adaptable and anchored advice networks and their key applications

Founded in 1928, over the advance of its added than 80 year history the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications, Heinrich-Hertz-Institut,
has developed into one of the world’s arch analysis institutes for the development of adaptable and anchored advice networks and
the key technologies that drive them. Today’s R&D focus is on cyberbanking imaging and alternate media, advice networks and photonic components.

In 2008 the Institute had an operating account of approx. 25 actor Euro. The arrangement of third affair allotment lay at 76 percent of which 42 came from industry, 31 percent from arrangement analysis for the Federal Government and alone State Governments and 22 percent from allotment by the European Union. At
the alpha of 2009 the Institute had a agents of some 250 advisers and some 80 students.

Contact
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thomas Wiegand

Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute
Tel +49 (0)30 31002-617
eMail thomas.wiegand@hhi.fraunhofer.de

Technical Berlin University
Tel +49 (0)30 314-28777
Mobile: +49 (0)172-3813814
eMail thomas.wiegand@tu-berlin.de