Martin Dietz

Biography

Among the leaders of key audio coding technology, Martin Dietz, together with colleagues Kristofer Kjörling, and Lars Liljeryd, helped set the standard for high-quality audio compression employed in today’s mobile and digital media devices. Dietz, Kjörling, and Liljeryd developed the concept of spectral band replication for more efficient and natural-sounding perceptual audio coding. Mr. Liljeryd provided the vision of using bandwidth replication to improve existing coding methods; Mr. Kjörling led the research that turned the vision into working prototypes; and Mr. Dietz provided the knowledge and industry connections to bring the technology to market. The trio’s groundbreaking work evolved into the High-Efficiency Advanced Audio Coding method, standardized in 2004, which is a key component of today’s cell phones, mobile media devices, digital radios, televisions, and personal computers. Its efficiency has enabled lower-bitrate audio streaming for wireless applications, reducing storage needs and lowering transmission and streaming costs.

Mr. Dietz is chief executive officer with Innosupport AG in Nuremberg, Germany.