(9 July 2012 5:34 pm)

MUMBAI: IBC, the annual event for professionals engaged in the creation, management and delivery of entertainment and news content worldwide has announced that the International Honour for Excellence, the highest honour it bestows, will this year be presented to NHK Science and Technology Research Laboratories (STRL).

Japanese public service broadcaster NHK has been foremost in developing new techniques and technology for broadcasting since its formation in 1930. IBC takes place in September in Amsterdam.

The IBC International Honour for Excellence is presented each year to an outstanding individual or organisation who has fostered or contributed to the relationship between technology and creativity in the broadcast, movie or media industries.

In 2011 the award went to Sir David Attenborough; previous recipients have included Director James Cameron, Aardman Animation, Manolo Romero, Managing Director, Olympic Broadcasting Services and the BBC Natural History Unit.

Having recently celebrated its 80th anniversary, NHK Science and Technology Research Laboratories has been at the forefront of research in broadcasting technology, working on both practical solutions to current issues and visionary future technologies which transform the way professionals create content and audiences enjoy it.

NHK STRL pioneered high definition television as we know it today, including the development of plasma displays. It has recently been awarded an IEEE Milestone Award for the world's first direct to home satellite broadcast service in 1984.