Leitch Technology Corporation was a Canadian corporation based in Toronto, Ontario specializing in the design and manufacture of equipment for the broadcast television and video post-production industries.
Leitch technology's history begins in 1971 when Robert A. Lehtonen, Chairman and CEO, and the late James Leitch, combined their extensive experience in the broadcast industry to form Leitch Video Inc. Their vision, dedication and a strong talent for innovation created the world's first zero SCH sync pulse generator and put the name of Leitch on the map. The introduction of this equipment, which simplified the video editing process, represented one of the first digital products introduced into the broadcast market and led to the development of other leading-edge products which are the building blocks of today's company --- distribution amplifiers, processing amplifiers, clock systems and test signal generators.
On October 25, 2005, Leitch was acquired by the broadcast division of the Harris Corporation for the sum of US$450 million, with former Leitch shareholders approving the acquisition by Harris for $14 CAD per share.
Leitch was famous for developing the Viewguard system (similar in function to VideoCipher I) used by networks such as ABC, Fox, and others for encrypting their analog network feeds.
Their Digital Processing Systems (DPS) product line is still widely used in professional video applications like time base correction and stop-motion animation.
Famous quotes containing the word technology:
“If we had a reliable way to label our toys good and bad, it would be easy to regulate technology wisely. But we can rarely see far enough ahead to know which road leads to damnation. Whoever concerns himself with big technology, either to push it forward or to stop it, is gambling in human lives.”
—Freeman Dyson (b. 1923)