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WAKEFIELD, Mass., USA – Jan. 9, 2012 – The International Imaging Industry Association (I3A, the leading global association for the imaging industry; http://www.i3a.org) announced today that two papers arising from its Camera Phone Image Quality Initiative (CPIQ) will be delivered by CPIQ participants at the IS&T/SPIE Electronic Imaging 2012 conference, to be held in Burlingame, California, January 22-26.  Both sessions will take place on January 24.

I3A's CPIQ Initiative has been working to develop a standardized means of measuring and communicating image quality by producing a complete set of image quality testing metrics and methodologies, enabling a consumer-oriented image quality rating system.  The rating system will provide a tool for translating and distilling the complex set of measurements into a rating that consumers can quickly and easily understand, to aid in selection of camera phones.

CPIQ's work to date has been broadly influential in the scientific and standards communities and has yielded a number of published papers during the last several years.  The CPIQ group will hold a meeting for its participants before the start of the Electronic Imaging conference; for more information about joining the Initiative and attending this meeting, contact Donna Cohn, donnac@i3a.org.

"Development of the I3A CPIQ spatial metrics," presented by Henrik Eliasson of Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB and co-authored by Donald Baxter of STMicroelectronics Ltd., Frédéric Cao of DxO Labs and Jonathan Phillips of the Eastman Kodak Company, describes the development of a specific group of spatial measurements within the CPIQ set of subjectively correlated image quality metrics.. Contained in this group are the edge acutance, visual noise and texture acutance metrics, which are all dependent on the spatial content of the specific scene being analyzed.

"Calibration and adaptation of ISO visual noise for camera phone image quality assessment," presented by Donald Baxter and co-authored by Andrew Murray of STMicroelectronics, describes the motivation behind the choice of a visual noise metric, why the characteristics of cell phone cameras necessitate adaptation of an ISO visual noise protocol, and the specific calibration of the adapted visual noise metric.

"These two papers are the latest examples of the significant contribution made by I3A's CPIQ initiative to furthering the scope of image quality assessment, particularly in the area of subjective analysis," said I3A President Lisa Walker.  "The breadth and depth of CPIQ papers' topics and their presentation in prestigious venues such as the Electronic Imaging conference demonstrate the initiative's high level of scientific achievement.  We are pleased to see these important papers presented to the public, and we will welcome additional CPIQ participants who share our commitment to image quality research to join our efforts."

Published research by CPIQ experts includes:

• "Camera motion and mobile imaging"
• "Image quality quantification in camera phone applications"
• "Softcopy quality ruler method: Implementation and validation"
• "Correlating objective and subjective evaluation of texture appearance with applications to camera phone imaging"
• "Interaction of image noise, spatial resolution, and low contrast fine detail preservation in digital image"
• "Slider-adjusted softcopy ruler for calibrated image quality assessment"
• "Measuring texture sharpness of a digital camera"
• "Applying image quality in cell phone cameras: lens distortion"
• "Validating a texture metric for camera phone images using a texture-based softcopy attribute ruler"
• "Dead leaves model for measuring texture quality on a digital camera"
• "Texture-based measurement of spatial frequency response using the dead leaves target: extensions, and application to real camera systems"
• "Toward a quantitative visual noise evaluation of sensors and image processing pipes"

Links to download the individual papers, some of which are available at no charge, are on the I3A website.  The two Electronic Imaging conference papers will be added after they have been presented.

About the International Imaging Industry Association (I3A)

I3A's vision is to enable the use of imaging to simplify and enrich people's lives through visual experiences that connect generations, communities, information and services.  I3A drives the global imaging ecosystem toward this vision by bringing members together to create standards and collaborate on initiatives that advance shared interests, foster growth, and open pathways to new markets. 

Information about I3A can be found at http://www.i3a.org or by phone at +1 914-285-4933.  For information on joining I3A, please write or call Noel Mareno, noelm@i3a.org, +1 914.285.4933 x6; companies based in Europe can contact Andrea de Polo, + 39 347-488-3223, andread@i3a.org.

I3A Press Contact
Judith Vanderkay Virtual, Inc.
jvanderkay@virtualmgmt.com
+1 781 876-6208
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WAKEFIELD, Mass. – Dec. 21, 2011 — The International Imaging Industry Association (I3A; http://www.i3a.org), the leading global association for the imaging industry, has conferred its prestigious annual Leadership Award upon Eero Salmelin, Head of Imaging at Nokia.  I3A's Chairman Daryl Hunt of the Eastman Kodak Company made the presentation during a webconference held today.  Mr. Salmelin will receive an engraved crystal captain's decanter, symbolizing leadership.

Presented annually for two decades, I3A's Leadership Award each year recognizes one individual in the international imaging community who has exhibited the exemplary qualities and innovative vision of a leader.  Recent recipients of the award include Shantanu Narayen of Adobe (2010), Atsushi Kodera of Kyocera Sanyo Telecom, Inc. (2009); Makoto Kimura of the Nikon Imaging Company (2008); Antonio Perez of Kodak (2007); and Fumio Iwai of Konica Minolta Holdings, Inc. (2006).

"Eero Salmelin is an exemplary recipient of the I3A Leadership Award," said I3A President Lisa Walker.  "His vision and leadership during the past decade have made a significant impact on the mobile imaging industry.  During this time, the industry has grown from insignificance to one that touches the lives of billions of people around the planet daily.  It's no exaggeration to say that Nokia and Eero's work there pushed the capabilities of mobile imaging and helped bring a camera into almost every pocket.  I3A has been fortunate to have his contributions to our Camera Phone Image Quality Initiative."

"During my career at Nokia so far, there have been huge technological challenges as well as challenges in manufacturing camera components in volumes never before possible," said Mr. Salmelin.  "I have had the privilege to lead a team of professionals with endless new ideas and innovations that has also had the ability to turn the ideas into products.  We are still just in the beginning of the mobile imaging journey, and I believe the greatest innovations are still to come.  Working on the CPIQ initiative has enabled us to strengthen our understanding of image quality and has given us new perspectives.  I am grateful to I3A for that opportunity, and especially for the honor of this award."

Mr. Salmelin got his first camera at the age of four.  When he joined Nokia as a camera design engineer in 1999, he was soon offered the possibility of doing a Master’s thesis on the then-crazy idea of putting a camera into a mobile phone.  His tenure at Nokia began with developing the first camera modules for mobile phones, and eventually included responsibility for all the company's camera solutions.  During this time, Nokia became the largest camera manufacturer (in volume) in the world, shipping more than two billion camera components to consumers inside Nokia products. 

In addition to the huge volume, Nokia has brought a continuous stream of products to the market, extending the reach of mobile imaging.  The company's high-end devices, developed under Mr. Salmelin's leadership, have pushed the boundaries of image quality (more than merely increasing megapixels), making his early dream of capturing great images and video with a device that is always with you a reality.

After holding several positions of increasing scope within Nokia's camera-related business units, including serving as project manager for the first megapixel camera and as Director of Symbian camera solutions, in 2011 Mr. Salmelin was appointed Director, Head of Imaging.  In this role he is responsible for leading the development of camera hardware and imaging software for the company, in its Windows Phone organization. 

About the International Imaging Industry Association (I3A)

I3A's vision is to enable the use of imaging to simplify and enrich people's lives through visual experiences that connect generations, communities, information and services.  I3A drives the global imaging ecosystem toward this vision by bringing members together to create standards and collaborate on initiatives that advance shared interests, foster growth, and open pathways to new markets. 

Information about I3A can be found at http://www.i3a.org or by phone at +1 914-285-4933.  For information on joining I3A, please write or call Noel Mareno, noelm@i3a.org, +1 914.285.4933 x6; companies based in Europe can contact Andrea de Polo, + 39 347-488-3223, andread@i3a.org.

I3A Press Contact
Judith Vanderkay
Virtual, Inc.
jvanderkay@virtualmgmt.com
+1 781 876-6208

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EDITORS’ NOTE:  

To obtain a digital photo of Eero Salminen, write or call Judith Vanderkay, jvanderkay@virtualmgmt.com or +1 781 876-6208.