SMPTE at BIRTV 2025

SMPTE was invited by the Beijing International Radio, TV & Film Exhibition (BIRTV Organization) to participate in the 32nd BIRTV keynote presentation on 22 July 2025 at the Grand Hall, Beijing International Hotel Convention Center. BIRTV is an annual Film and TV exhibition in Beijing organized by BIRTV Organization, directed by the National Radio and Television Administration and China Media Group, and hosted by China Broadcasting International Economic and Technical Cooperation Co., Ltd. The exhibition event is held from Wednesday, 23 July, through Saturday, 26 July. The event included a full day of keynote speeches with prominent speakers invited by the BIRTV organization on 22 July, prior to the start of the Exhibition. This year, BIRTV’s TV and Film Exhibition covered 12 halls with a floor area of 50,000 square meters, joined by 510 exhibitors, including approximately 200 international exhibitors, and more than 80,000 visitors.

This year, 16 speakers participated, and SMPTE Headquarters invited Tony Ngai, SMPTE Asia Pacific Governor, to represent the organization with a 26-minute presentation titled "Presenting SMPTE: Values on Standards, Education, and Global Professional Community on Media Technologies Since 1916."

Ngai began the presentation by showing SMPTE’s latest short reel, We Are One, before providing a brief history of the organization. He noted that SMPTE was founded in 1916 by Charles F. Jenkins, and highlighted the scale of its global community—now over 5,000 members strong—as well as its contributions to the industry, including the development of more than 800 standards and numerous prestigious awards. Ngai also cited SMPTE’s major awarded achievements (Oscar), crediting the Society for developing and launching the SMPTE ST 2110 suite of "Media over IP" standards, which migrates motion imaging technology in areas of "contribution," "distribution," and "exhibition" to use industrial robust IT infrastructure. Ngai also emphasized that the core purpose of a "Standard" is to enable interoperability across international applications once adopted. He highlighted SMPTE’s ongoing commitment to education, citing the launch of the Rapid Industry Solutions (RIS) initiative in 2021, which began with the timely topic of On-Set Virtual Production (OSVP). This initiative includes focused subcommittees on "Metadata" and "Color." In addition, he noted that SMPTE’s 2024 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engineering Report has laid the groundwork for new standardization efforts in the AI domain.

As for the "Community," Ngai told the audience that he joined SMPTE’s Hollywood Section as a student member in 1974. He noted that SMPTE has established Sections worldwide and highlighted the achievements of the SMPTE Hong Kong Section, founded in 1994. Ngai, who served as Section Chair for over 14 years, also noted that the Hong Kong Section—like many others—has actively organized workshops, seminars, training sessions, screenings, and more to address the rapid evolution of media technologies. He cited key initiatives over the years, including a digital cinematography workshop in 2000, stereoscopic 3D cinematography and projection in 2013, and more recent topics such as training for digital imaging technicians (DITs), high dynamic range (HDR), camera-to-cloud workflows, OSVP, and the upcoming focus on AI for filmmaking.

Ngai also encouraged the audience to consider joining SMPTE, as there is a wide variety of membership options, including individual and corporate memberships. In addition to its global Sections, SMPTE headquarters actively participates in major international events such as NAB and IBC, and hosts the annual Media Technology Summit (MTS) in Hollywood—an event that showcases the latest advancements and solutions in media technologies while offering outstanding networking opportunities.

After the presentation, several audience members approached Ngai expressing appreciation for the presentation’s clarity, which helped them understand more about SMPTE and would consider joining.