Ray Dolby
Ray Dolby | |
|---|---|
 Dolby (left) being inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2004 | |
| Born | Ray Milton Dolby January 18, 1933 Portland, Oregon, United States |
| Died | September 12, 2013 (aged 80) San Francisco, United States |
| Education |
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| Spouse | Dagmar Baumert |
| Children |
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| Engineering career | |
| Discipline | Electrical engineering, physics |
| Institutions | Dolby Laboratories |
| Projects | Dolby NR |
| Significant design | Surround sound |
| Awards |
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| Military career | |
| Service/ | U.S. Army |
| Years of service | early 1950s |
| Notes | |
Ray Milton Dolby, OBE (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. He was the founder of Dolby Laboratories. He was also a billionaire and a member of the Forbes 400 with an estimated net worth of US$2.9 billion in 2008[3] although as of September 2012 it was estimated to have declined to $2.4 billion.[4]
Early life
Dolby was born in Portland, Oregon, the son of Esther Eufemia (née Strand) and Earl Milton Dolby, an inventor. He was raised in San Francisco and attended Sequoia High School (class of 1951) in Redwood City, California. As a teenager in the decade following World War II, he held part-time and summer jobs at Ampex in Redwood City, working with their first audio tape recorder in 1949. While at San Jose State College and later at Stanford University (interrupted by two years of Army service),[5] he worked on early prototypes of video tape recorder technologies for Alexander M. Poniatoff and Charlie Ginsburg. 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]
Career
In 1957, Dolby received his B.S. in electrical engineering from Stanford. He subsequently won a Marshall Scholarship for a Ph.D. (1961) in physics from the University of Cambridge, where he was a Research Fellow at Pembroke College.
After Cambridge, Dolby acted as a technical advisor to the United Nations in India, until 1965, when he returned to England, where he founded Dolby Laboratories in London with a staff of four. In that same year, 1965, he officially invented the Dolby Sound System, a form of electronic filter, although his first U.S. patent was not filed until 1969, four years later. The filter was first used by Decca Records in the UK.[6]
Dolby was a Fellow and past president of the Audio Engineering Society.
Death
Dolby died of leukemia on September 12, 2013, at his home in San Francisco at the age of 80.[7] Dolby was survived by his wife Dagmar, two sons, Tom and David, and four grandchildren.[8] Kevin Yeaman, president and chief executive of Dolby Laboratories, said "Today we lost a friend, mentor and true visionary".[8] Neil Portnow, president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, said Dolby had "changed the way we listen to music and movies for nearly 50 years" and that Dolby's "technologies have become an essential part of the creative process for recording artists and filmmakers, ensuring his remarkable legacy for generations to come."[9]
Dolby noise reduction
The analog Dolby noise-reduction system works by increasing the volume of low-level high-frequency sounds during recording and correspondingly reducing them during playback. This reduction in high-frequency volume reduces the audible level of tape hiss.[6]
Awards and honors
- 1971 — AES Silver Medal[10]
- 1979 — 51st Academy Awards — Academy Award, Scientific or Technical (Scientific and Engineering Award) [plaque][11]
- 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[12]
- 1985 — SMPTE Alexander M. Poniatoff Gold 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[13]
- 1989 — 61st Academy Awards — Academy Award, Scientific or Technical (Academy Award of Merit) [statuette][11]
- 1989 — Emmy Award by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS)
- 1992 — AES Gold Medal[10]
- 1995 — Special Merit/Technical Grammy Award [14]
- 1997 — U.S. National Medal of Technology
- 1997 — IEEE Masaru Ibuka Consumer Electronics Award[15]
- 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 [16]
- 2004 — inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame and the Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame
- 2010 — IEEE Edison Medal
- 2014 — Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame[17]
- 2014 — Induction into the Television Hall of Fame[18]
US patents
- U.S. patent 3,631,365, Signal compressor, filed 1969.
References
- ^ Schudel, Matt (September 15, 2013). "Ray Dolby, 80. Audio pioneer changed sound of music". The Washington Post. p. C8.
- ^ "Ray Milton Dolby". Newsmakers (fee, via Fairfax County Public Library). Detroit: Gale. 1986. Gale Document Number: GALE|K1618001948. Retrieved 2013-09-16. Biography In Context. (subscription required)
- ^ "The 400 Richest Americans: #144 Ray Dolby". Forbes. September 17, 2008. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
- ^ "Ray Dolby". Forbes. 2012-04-18. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
- ^ a b c Wolpin, Stewart. "The Race to Video". Invention & Technology, Fall 1994.
- ^ a b Williamson, Marcus (13 September 2013). "Ray Dolby obituary: Inventor whose noise-reduction technology transformed sound reproduction". The Independent. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
- ^ "Founder and Director Emeritus of Dolby Laboratories Dies at Age 80". Dolby Laboratories. September 12, 2013.
- ^ a b Vincent, James (September 12, 2013). "A minute's silence: audio pioneer Ray Dolby dies aged 80". The Independent. Retrieved September 13, 2013.
- ^ "Audio pioneer Ray Dolby dies aged 80". BBC News. September 13, 2013. Retrieved September 13, 2013.
- ^ a b "AES Awards". Aes.org. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
- ^ a b "Academy Awards Database Academy | Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences". Awardsdatabase.oscars.org. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
- ^ "SMPTE Progress Medal Past Recipients". Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers. Archived from the original on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2013-09-16.
- ^ "The Eduard Rhein Ring of Honor Recipients". Eduard Rhein Foundation. Retrieved February 5, 2011.
- ^ "Technical GRAMMY Award". GRAMMY.org. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
- ^ "Medals, Technical Field Awards, and Recognitions". IEEE. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
- ^ "Ray Dolby Receives Charles F. Jenkins Lifetime Achievement Award". 216.92.188.169. Retrieved 2013-09-16.
- ^ "Tupac Shakur, Phil Hartman to receive Walk of Fame stars - see list - 06/20/2013 | Entertainment News from". OnTheRedCarpet.com. 2013-06-20. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
- ^ "Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jay Leno, Among Six New Hall of Fame Inductees".
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External links
- Ray Dolby at IMDb
- Ray Dolby bio
- Dolby, R. (2002-05-11). Some Musings on Progress in Audio. Heyser lecture at Audio Engineering Society
- 2004 Interview With Dolby
- Group photo of the Ampex VTR team including Ray Dolby
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Warning | Local parameters are deprecated. |
- 1933 births
- 2013 deaths
- American audio engineers
- American billionaires
- American electronics engineers
- American inventors
- Analog electronics engineers
- Businesspeople from Oregon
- Businesspeople from San Francisco, California
- Cancer deaths in California
- CAS Career Achievement Award honorees
- Deaths from leukemia
- Dolby Laboratories
- Emmy Award winners
- Fellows of Pembroke College, Cambridge
- Honorary Officers of the Order of the British Empire
- Marshall Scholars
- National Medal of Technology recipients
- People from Portland, Oregon
- Stanford University alumni
- People with Alzheimer's disease
- Television Hall of Fame inductees