WHITE PLAINS, NY — The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) will award Michael Cieslinski, technical lead imaging frontend at Arri (www.arri.com), with the 2022 Camera Origination and Imaging Medal Award. The prize, established in 2012, recognizes significant technical achievements related to invention or advances in imaging technology. The award, and others, will be distributed on October 27th in Hollywood at the SMPTE Annual Awards Gala ceremony, which is part of the SMPTE Media Technology Summit.
According to Jay Ballard, chair of the SMPTE 2022 Camera Origination and Imaging Medal Award Committee, Cieslinski will receive the prestigious award “in recognition of his pioneering work in image and camera design, which led to the development of a family of high dynamic range electronic cinematography cameras that have the ability to create images with the look of 35mm film.”
“Arri is a special place to work,” says Cieslinski. “On the one hand, there’s the know-how — on the other, there’s the Arri spirit, with which people help and support each other. There is an absolute fixation on image quality and a management that has confidence in the employees and supports innovation. Outstanding products are then created on this basis. Without our excellent team, my ideas could not have been realized. I would therefore like to expressly thank my colleagues for the many years of cooperation and accept the award on their behalf as well.”
Cieslinski started his professional career in 1985 at a small company, where he created one of the first digital CCD cameras. After joining Arri in 2000, he was initially tasked with the concept development for the Arriscan while working on Arri’s first image sensor, the ALEV2, which was used in the D20/D21 cameras. He went on to lead the Arriscan project until 2005 before starting work on the architecture of the ALEV3 sensor, which first came to the market in the Alexa in 2010. For the Arriscan, Cieslinski received a Scientific and Engineering Award by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2010. Currently, he works as a technical lead at Arri on various topics, like new sensor architecture, sensor package, image compression algorithm, calibration lamp and pixel design.