Grass Valley’s Peter Centen honoured with Dutch National Order

Breda camera R&D group leader Peter Centen has been awarded the Order of the Netherlands Lion for his significant contributions to Dutch society and the broadcast industry.

Presented on behalf of King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, this Order is given to only a limited amount of people each year who have distinguished themselves by exceptional artistic achievement, scientific performance, technical innovation or inventive entrepreneurship. Paul Depla, mayor of the city of Breda, awarded Centen on 31 January at a reception hosted in his honour. Centen has led the camera research and development group located in Breda for the past nine years.

Centen, who recently retired from Grass Valley, had a 34-year career in the broadcast industry designing and building product innovations and technical strategies to advance the development of camera technology. His expertise and leadership have been instrumental in a number of advancements that saw Grass Valley being awarded multiple Emmy Awards for Technology and Engineering.

He played a major role in transitioning camera technology from CCD imagers to CMOS sensors – which enabled present-day HD, 4K UHD and HDR imaging. Centen invented HD-DPM technology and has been recognised worldwide for his work in imaging.

“This recognition is incredibly well deserved. Peter is a visionary and was a major asset to us at Grass Valley and the industry as a whole,” said Marcel Koutstaal, general manager and vice president cameras, Grass Valley. “It is incredible to see him being honored for his impactful work, his passion for people and significant contributions to the industry over the last 34 years.”

Centen has published over 65 international journal and conference articles on image sensor technologies and cameras. He holds a Bachelor of Science, a Cum Laude Master of Science and a Doctor of Philosophy from the faculty of Electrical Engineering at the Eindhoven University of Technology.