PictureTel
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Videoconferencing, Telecommunications |
| Founded | August 1984 |
| Founder | Brian L. Hinman, Jeffrey G. Bernstein, David H. Staelin |
| Defunct | October 2001 |
| Fate | Acquired by Polycom |
| Headquarters | United States |
Key people | Ronald S. Posner (initial CEO) |
| Products | Videoconferencing codecs (e.g., C-2000) |
PictureTel Corporation was a pioneer in the commercial videoconferencing industry, reaching peak revenues surpassing $490 million during 1996 and 1997 prior to its purchase by Polycom in October 2001.
History
Established in August 1984 under the name PicTel by MIT students Brian L. Hinman, Jeffrey G. Bernstein, and Professor David H. Staelin, PictureTel received early backing from MIT Professor Michael Dertouzos along with graduate students Greg Papadopoulos and Richard Soley. The initial CEO was Ronald S. Posner Ph.D.
Drawing inspiration from video compression studies conducted by UC Davis Professor Anil K. Jain (1946–1988) and Jaswani R. Jain, PictureTel created one of the earliest real-time systems utilizing motion compensation and transform coding by July 1986.
The company went public with an initial public offering in November 1984 as PicTel, later rebranding to PictureTel in 1987 to distinguish itself from Pacific Telephone Co. Although its debut product was launched in 1986, substantial sales growth occurred starting in 1987.
PictureTel’s leading product, the C-2000 codec, represented the first commercial use of a computationally demanding technique that analyzed motion between video frames to minimize data transmission requirements. This advancement allowed operation over nascent dial-up services such as ISDN, significantly reducing expenses compared to dedicated high-speed lines.
The firm’s technological breakthroughs shaped the majority of video compression standards used in two-way communications and broadcasting, including prominent protocols like H.264/MPEG-4 AVC. PictureTel made significant contributions to industry standards covering video, audio, and data communications, frequently offering its innovations without charging royalties.
In 2001, Polycom acquired PictureTel; Polycom had been co-founded in 1990 by Brian Hinman alongside early employee Jeffrey Rodman. Subsequently, Hinman and Bernstein were instrumental in establishing 2Wire.
See also
- Ascend Communications
- Bonding protocol
- Compression Labs Inc.
- International Multimedia Telecommunications Consortium