Alan E. Bell
Born1949
Brixton, south London
DiedMay 15, 2016(2016-05-15) (aged 67)
Laos
Alma materImperial College, London
Occupation(s)Technologist, Engineer/Physicist
Employer(s)RCA, IBM, Warner Brothers, Paramount Pictures
SpousePatricia Wilkinson (m. 1972-2009)
Awards

Alan Edward Bell was a technologist who played a central role in developing the universal DVD format and the DVD copy protection system. He worked at RCA, IBM, Warner Bros. Studios, and Paramount Pictures before co-founding WR Entertainment.[1][2]

Background, Education, and Death

Alan Bell was born in Brixton, south London, around 1949. His parents, Ivy (nee Smith) and Ted were a factory worker and a printer, respectively. The family moved to Crawley, West Sussex, in 1957 where Bell attended Thomas Bennett comprehensive school.[1]

Bell studied at Imperial College, London, gaining a first class degree in physics in 1969. He was awarded a PhD degree in 1973 also from Imperial College for experimental work on the low-temperature magnetic and electrical properties of dilute alloys (Kondo effect) working under A. D. Kaplin.[2][3] He then received a Sarnoff Fellowship to visit RCA Laboratories at Princeton, N.J. as a postdoctoral researcher working, for nine months, on liquid crystals using optical Raman scattering to determine the molecular ordering of the nematic phase.[2]

Bell was married to Patricia (nee Wilkinson) from 1972 until their divorce in 2009. They had two children, Geoffrey and Melissa.[1]

In May 2016, Bell was killed in a motorcycle accident while on vacation in Laos.[1]

Career

In 1974, Bell completed his postdoc and joined the technical staff at the RCA David Sarnoff Research Center. His research focussed on improving the recording characteristics of metallic recording media. The research led to the development of broadcast-quality optical video recording, the RCA videodisc.[2][4]

Bell served as a Senior Scientist for Exxon’s Central Research Laboratory.[5]

From 1982 to 2000, he worked for IBM Almaden Research Center. He was instrumental in the unification of the competing formats that resulted in the introduction of DVD and was a member of IBM's digital media team focused on copy protection technologies.[6] The method and format were agreed between IBM, Intel, Matsushita, and Toshiba.[7]

In 2000, Bell was named Executive Vice President of Technology at Warner Bros., Technical Operations.[8][5][9]

In 2007, Bell became Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Paramount Pictures.[8][10][11]

In September 2009, Bell co-founded WR Entertainment with six other founders James F. Cardwell, Ryan Wiik, Duane M. Eberlein, Øyvind Holm-Johnsen, Steinar Larsen and Michael Joseph Smith.[12]

Alan Bell is most recognized for his role in the unification of the DVD format,[13][14] and also led the negotiations that led to the development of DVD copy protection,[15] without which the major studios would not have released content to DVD.

Awards and recognition

In 1975, Bell received an RCA Laboratories Achievement Award.[2]

In 1984, he became a Fellow of the Optical Society of America for his contributions to the DVD format.[16]

In 2001, Bell became a fellow of the IEEE "for developments in optical data storage applications and technology".[2]

Bell has authored or coauthored 29 issued US patents and numerous scientific papers.[17][18][19][6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Tom Plimmer (29 May 2016). "Alan Bell obituary". The Guardian.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 CED Magic: Memories of VideoDisc - Who's Who in VideoDisc: Alan E. Bell
  3. ↑ A.E. Bell, "Magnetic and electrical measurements on very dilute zinc and copper based alloys", Imperial College, London, Ph.D. Thesis, 1973
  4. ↑ Alexander B. Magoun, "David Sarnoff Research Center: RCA Labs to Sarnoff Corporation", Arcadia Publishing, page 105, 2003
  5. 1 2 "Alan E Bell named senior vice-president technology", Warner Brothers press release, October 25, 2000
  6. 1 2 Alan E. Bell, "Next-Generation Compact Discs" Scientific American , Vol. 275, No. 1, pp. 42-46, July 1996
  7. ↑ "Record Companies unveil DVD Copy Protection Plans", Tech Monitor: Technology, March 3, 1999
  8. 1 2 "TM Forum - Alan E. Bell". TM Forum. Archived from the original on 2011-08-07.
  9. ↑ J. Goldfarb, "Inventors try one disc for two new DVD formats", NBC Tech News, Sept. 19, 2006
  10. ↑ C. Mayberry, "Par hires Bell to get technical", The Hollywood Reporter, Jan 30, 2007
  11. ↑ E. Jacobs, "Paramount's Alan Bell Talks About Their Exclusive HD-DVD Decision", Movieweb, Aug. 22, 2007
  12. ↑ "WR Entertainment". Wide Release Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2019-05-02. Retrieved 2017-10-11.
  13. ↑ "Alan E. Bell". Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee. Archived from the original on 2010-06-20.
  14. ↑ Hyperleap: Alan E. Bell
  15. ↑ C. R. Odgers, A. Bell "Method and Apparatus for Uniquely Identifying a Large Number of Film Prints", US Patent 7,308,430, Issued Dec 11, 2007
  16. ↑ Optica: list of Fellows: 1985
  17. ↑ Justia Patents: Alan Edward Bell
  18. ↑ USPTO search for Bell,-Alan E. or Bell, Alan Edward
  19. ↑ DBPL Computer Science Bibliography: Alan E. Bell
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