Georges Valensi

M. Georges Valensi (1889–1980) was a French telecommunications engineer who, in 1938, invented and patented a method of transmitting color images via luma and chrominance so that they could be received on both color and black & white television sets.^[1][2] Rival color television methods, which had been in development since the 1920s, were incompatible with monochrome televisions.

Valensi was an official of CCIF serving first as Secretary-General (1923–1948) and then as Director (1949–1956).^[3]

All current widely deployed color television broadcast standards – NTSC, SECAM, PAL and today's digital standards, and importantly digital image data compression – implement some form of his idea of reducing a signal to a separate luminance with chrominance encoded separately. The original patents expired in 1962.

References

1. FR patent 841335, Valensi, Georges, "Procédé de télévision en couleurs", published 1939-05-17, issued 1939-02-06 
2. US patent US2375966A, Valensi, Georges, "System of television in colors", published 1945-05-15 
3. "Past and Present Senior Officials". International Telecommunication Union. hdl:11.1004/020.2000/s.048.