Sharper Image : Engineer Adapts Video Technology
When Richard Taylor saw a demonstration of an advanced video-imaging technology for the military, he got the idea to form QVIS Corp. to adapt it for television broadcasters. Before making his first sale, he had to be sure he understood both the technology and the size of the potential market in the entertainment industry. Taylor was interviewed by Karen Kaplan.
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This technology was created for a simple reason: to get more visual information out of a video image. Originally, it was developed for the military, but when I saw this technology, I realized it could be used by television broadcasters.
My background is in engineering, and I specialized in image processing at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory during the Apollo moon missions. Later, I worked on graphics simulations for theme parks for the entertainment industry. When I founded QVIS Corp., it helped that I had experience in both of those areas.
I used a lot of my contacts in the broadcast and post-production communities to see whether they would be interested in this technology. I knew it would need some work to come up to broadcast standards, but the first thing I wanted to do was find out exactly how much work would be required.
I found about 25 outside investors and we spent several hundred thousand dollars and eight or nine months getting feedback from the entertainment industry. We decided to proceed and came up with the QVIS Light Equalizer.
When an image is broadcast, the light and dark areas are accentuated compared to the way they would look to the human eye. This technology works like the contrast knob on a TV set, but it’s like having a separate knob at every point on the screen and they can all adjust themselves automatically.
For example, when someone hits a baseball into a shadow, it seems to disappear. We can use the QVIS Light Equalizer to sharpen the image so that the baseball is always in sight.
We made an agreement with the company that developed this technology that they would help us make the necessary adaptations to sell it to the entertainment industry. Their engineers are thoroughly familiar with the technology, and it would have been outrageous for us to start from scratch and do it ourselves.
It took about a year to build the QVIS Light Equalizer. Our product has been used by CBS and Fox for their sports broadcasts. But our engineering work will never be done because we have to keep up with the standards that the market demands. Different companies want different kinds of improvements so they can use it for different applications.
If you’re going to adapt a technology to a new market, you really have to understand how it works. Sometimes it can be easy to misinterpret, but you have to get it right so that you know whether it can actually be applied for that new purpose.
You have to find out whether your target market is interested in the new application you’re trying to sell. When you ask around, you’ll get a lot of negative responses. But those are more important than the positive responses because they give you a clear definition of the boundaries of the market. It’s best to establish that before you spend a lot of money trying to adapt the technology.
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AT A GLANCE
Company name: QVIS Corp.
Founder: Richard Taylor
Nature of business: Develops and sells lighting technology for broadcasters
Location: Whittier
Year founded: 1993
Number of employees: 6
Annual sales: Expecting $2 million this year
