Ray Dolby
Ray Dolby PhD ) | |
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Spouse | |
Children |
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Engineering career | |
Discipline | Dolby Laboratories |
Projects | Dolby NR |
Significant design | Surround sound |
Awards |
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Military career | |
Service/ | United States Army |
Notes | |
Ray Milton Dolby Hon OBE, HonFREng (/ˈdoʊlbi, ˈdɒl-/; January 18, 1933 – September 12, 2013) was an American engineer and inventor of the noise reduction system known as Dolby NR. He helped develop the video tape recorder while at Ampex and was the founder of Dolby Laboratories.
Early life and education
Dolby was born in
In 1957, Dolby received his B.Sc. in electrical engineering from Stanford.[6] He subsequently won a Marshall Scholarship for a Ph.D (1961) in physics from the University of Cambridge, England, where he was a Research Fellow at Pembroke College.
Career
As a non degree-holding "consultant",[5] Dolby played a key role in the effort that led Ampex to unveil their prototype Quadruplex videotape recorder in April 1956 which soon entered production.[5]
After Cambridge, Dolby acted as a technical advisor to the
The Dolby B consumer noise-reduction system works by compressing (boosting) low-level high-frequency sounds during recording and expanding (decreasing) them symmetrically during playback, which also decreases inherent tape noise. This reduces the audible level of tape hiss.[7] The professional Type A system operates on four different frequency bands, and the final SR system on ten.
After his pioneering work with audiotape noise reduction, Dolby sought to improve film sound. As Dolby Laboratories' corporate history explains:[citation needed]
- Upon investigation, Dolby found that many of the limitations in optical sound stemmed directly from its significantly high background noise. To filter this noise, the high-frequency response of theatre playback systems was deliberately curtailed… To make matters worse, to increase dialogue intelligibility over such systems, sound mixers were recording soundtracks with so much high-frequency pre-emphasis that high distortion resulted.
The first film with Dolby sound was A Clockwork Orange (1971), which used Dolby noise reduction on all pre-mixes and masters, but a conventional optical sound track on release prints. Callan (1974) was the first film with a Dolby-encoded optical soundtrack. The first true LCRS (Left-Center-Right-Surround) soundtrack was encoded on the movie A Star Is Born in 1976. In fewer than ten years, 6,000 cinemas worldwide were equipped to use Dolby Stereo sound.
Dolby then developed a digital
Dolby was a
Death and legacy
Dolby died of
In his will, Dolby bequeathed £35 million to Pembroke College, Cambridge, reportedly the largest single donation received by any college in the university's history.[15] In December 2017 it was announced that his family had donated a further £85m from his estate to Cambridge University's Cavendish Laboratory[16] which funded a physics professorship and the building of the Ray Dolby Centre, to be completed in 2023.[17][18] In 2022, the Dolby Family Fund for Excellence in Physics was expected to fund further academic posts and PhD studentships, as well as an annual symposium.[18]
Awards and honors
- 1971 — AES Silver Medal[19]
- 1979 — Academy Award, Scientific or Technical (Scientific and Engineering Award) [plaque][20]
- 1983 — SMPTE Progress Medal For his contributions to theater sound and his continuing work in noise reduction and quality improvements in audio and video systems and as a prime inventor of the videotape recorder[21]
- 1985 — SMPTE Alexander M. PoniatoffGold Medal
- 1986 — honorary Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire(OBE)
- 1988 — Eduard Rhein Ring of Honor from the German Eduard Rhein Foundation[22]
- 1989 — Academy Award, Scientific or Technical (Academy Award of Merit) [statuette][20]
- 1989 — Emmy Award by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences(NATAS)
- 1992 — AES Gold Medal[19]
- 1995 — Special Merit/Technical Grammy Award[23]
- 1997 — U.S. National Medal of Technology
- 1997 — IEEE Masaru Ibuka Consumer Electronics Award[24]
- 1999 — honorary Doctor degree by the University of York
- 2000 — honorary Doctor of Science degree from Cambridge University
- 2003 — Charles F. Jenkins Lifetime Achievement Award by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences[25]
- 2004 — inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame and the Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame
- 2004 — elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering[26]
- 2010 — IEEE Edison Medal
- 2012 — Berlin International Film Festival Berlinale Kamera
- 2014 — Induction into the Television Hall of Fame[27]
- 2015 — Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame[28]
U.S. patents
- U.S. patent 3,631,365, Frequency selective, symmetric signal compressor/expander (Dolby noise reduction); application filed October 20,1969, patent granted December 28, 1971
References
- ^ Schudel, Matt (September 15, 2013). "Ray Dolby, 80. Audio pioneer changed sound of music". The Washington Post. p. C8.
- ^ "Ray Milton Dolby". Newsmakers. Detroit: Gale. 1986. K1618001948.
- ^ Bishop, Shaun (March 27, 2009). "Sequoia High School alumni inducted into Hall of Fame". The Mercury News. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
- ^ "Biography of Ray Dolby | Simply Knowledge". Simplyknowledge.com. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
- ^ ISSN 8756-7296.
- ^ Singer, Natasha (September 12, 2013). "Ray Dolby, Who Put Moviegoers in the Middle of It, Is Dead at 80". The New York Times. p. A20.
- ^ a b Williamson, Marcus (September 13, 2013). "Ray Dolby obituary: Inventor whose noise-reduction technology transformed sound reproduction". The Independent.
- ^ "Ray Dolby: A life in sound". Teufel Audio Blog. January 15, 2016. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
- ^ "Ray Milton Dolby | American audio engineer and inventor". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
- ^ "Ray Dolby". Forbes. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
- Dolby Laboratories. September 12, 2013. Archived from the originalon September 15, 2013. Retrieved September 12, 2013.
- ^ a b Vincent, James (September 13, 2013). "A minute's silence: audio pioneer Ray Dolby dies aged 80". The Independent.
- ^ Kaufman, Debra. "Remembering Ray Dolby: A Life of Invention". CreativeCow.net.
- ^ "Audio pioneer Ray Dolby dies aged 80". BBC News. September 13, 2013.
- ^ "American inventor bequeaths largest-ever donation to Cambridge's Pembroke College". Cambridge News. December 3, 2015. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
- ^ "Dolby estate gives Cambridge University Cavendish lab £85m". BBC News. December 6, 2017.
- ^ "University of Cambridge Receives $114 Million From Dolby Estate". Philanthropynewsdigest.org. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
- ^ a b "Dolby family extend their support to create a new fund for excellence in physics". The campaign for the University and Colleges of Cambridge. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
- ^ a b "AES Awards". Audio Engineering Society. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
- ^ a b "Academy Awards Database". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on September 13, 2013. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
- ^ "SMPTE Progress Medal Past Recipients". Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
- ^ "The Eduard Rhein Ring of Honor Recipients". Eduard Rhein Foundation. Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
- National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. October 19, 2010. Archived from the originalon October 26, 2014. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
- ^ "Medals, Technical Field Awards, and Recognitions". Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Retrieved September 15, 2013.
- ^ Benzuly, Sarah (September 1, 2003). "Ray Dolby Receives Emmy Engineering Award". Mix.
- . Retrieved October 7, 2023.
- ^ "Ray Dolby is inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. March 8, 2014.
- ^ "Ray Dolby was Honored with a Posthumous Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame". Hollywood Walk of Fame. January 22, 2015.