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The 2024 Media Technology Summit
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About Standards

SMPTE Standards  

Since its founding in 1916, SMPTE has developed more than 800 standards, recommended practices, and engineering guidelines, that are currently in force; and it continues to innovate at a rapid clip, generating an average of 50 new standards annually focused on film and digital cinema, television, and internet video.

By providing structure, organization, and interoperability, SMPTE has assisted in advancing the motion-imaging industry through all of the major transitions, from the advent and integration of sound and color to the shift from celluloid and analog to digital formats, including digital cinema, high-definition TV (HDTV), and 3D TV.

SMPTE standards touch nearly every piece of motion-imaging content consumed by billions of viewers around the world, ensuring that content is seen and heard in the highest possible quality on any display screen. Our standards also enable repeatable workflows for content creators and distributors, as well as the manufacturers who support them.

With more than 100 years of motion-imaging standards leadership, SMPTE is the innovator of some of the most iconic standards for high-quality content, as well as those that are facilitating the transition to an IP-based multiscreen world.

SMPTE Standards are recognized across the world. SMPTE is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and recognized by the International Standards Organization (ISO), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) as an Approve Referenced Organization. Among its many roles on the international stage, SMPTE provides the Secretariat for the ISO Technical Committee on Cinematography, TC-36.

Technology Committees

SMPTE conducts its work in Technology Committees which focus on different technology areas. The general scope of all Technology Committees is to develop SMPTE Engineering Documents.

Learn more about SMPTE Technology Committees.

Document Types

Engineering Documents:

Standards (ST), Recommended Practice (RP), Engineering Guideline (EG)

Non-Engineering Documents:

Registered Disclosure Document (RDD), Engineering Reports (ER)

Learn more about document types.

Interested in Creating a SMPTE Document?

How to Create an RDD

SMPTE’s Standards Liaisons:

Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA)
Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC)
Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE)
Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB)
Society of Cable Television Engineers (SCTE-DVS)
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
Working Group 1 – Joint Photographic Experts Group (WG1 JPEG)
Working Group 11 – Moving Picture Experts Group (WG11 MPEG)
Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG)