Sarnoff Corporation (formally the David Sarnoff Research Center) is lending
a joint venture consisting of Comark, NBC, IBM, MCI, Sun Microsystems, Tho
mson, and Philips to develop a high-definition compressed digital studio. T
his paper provides an overview of the goals and accomplishments of the Nati
onal Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) high-definition televisio
n (HDTV) broadcast technology joint venture.