Man of Science, Letters and Courage
Henri Mertens, who had a distinguished career in broadcasting, died on 25 December 2003 at the age of 75. His name will ever be synonymous with courage. He will always be an inspiration to us and those with disabilities.
Henri's courage – in the face of polio, contracted early in life while still a student – was only matched by his intellect and his personal warmth. He achieved so much in spite of his disability. Throughout his career he was determined to play his full part in life and work. He took surgical operations in his stride, along with visits around the world in his quest for understanding and agreement among broadcasters. He was ever searching for technical advances, and for agreement between nations and individuals on new technical systems.
Henri joined the EBU Technical Department in May 1959 under George Hansen and became, successively, Engineer, Senior Engineer, Head of Division, Chief Engineer and was Deputy Director when he retired in June 1992.
Henri's wife, who was the light of his life, passed away tragically several years ago after an air flight, and she may have been a victim of DVT. She had cared for Henri throughout his life and career, while the two had raised a fine family in Brussels, Belgium.
Henri was proud to be born and raised in the great city of Liège, Belgium. He studied there and continued a lifelong association with the University as a Professor throughout his EBU career. He was an engineer, a writer and a teacher.
One of the technical developments that Henri oversaw in his early days with the EBU was the stereophonic sound broadcasting system used for FM broadcasting. Henri helped to steer Europe to use same system as North America. The system became a common worldwide system. It extended the FM monophonic system by adding upper parts, so both mono and stereo receivers could receive the same programmes. Only one type of FM stereo receiver is needed wherever you go on the planet earth today. If only we could achieve such results today with our new broadcasting systems!
Henri was also a great promoter of digital radio. He began the work that matured into the DAB system. As early as the 1970s, he was convinced that satellite sound broadcasting using FM was technically feasible with state-of-the-art receiver and transponder technologies.
One of Henri Mertens' later achievements was the work leading to, and the writing of, a 140-page EBU publication — Tech. 3220: Satellite Broadcasting: Design and Planning of 12 GHz systems. First published in March 1976, this book became the bible for planning satellite broadcasting in Europe, and was well used in other parts of the world also.
In 1977, the satellite broadcasting bands were planned for Europe at an infamous ITU conference, WARC-77. This was a technical tour de force, which took many years to prepare and required substantial collaboration with engineers across Europe. It was a personal triumph for Henri Mertens, when agreement was reached on a plan for the channels and other technical details. Much of the advanced technical work during the conference was done during the nights by Henri on a Hewlett Packard pocket-sized computer.
After WARC-77, the stage was set for the age of satellite broadcasting. In 1981, Henri revised and republished Tech. 3220. It still continues to be used to this day.
The satellite planning having been done, the 1980s saw Henri move on to the content of the satellite channels – the next thing was to make good the technical system for carrying sound and pictures. Europe needed modern and efficient technology for satellite broadcasting. Henri set about harnessing the combined intellect of the European broadcasting community to achieve it. He knew how to lead a committee towards solid achievement.
The result of years of analysis, studies and meetings led to the "MAC/packet" broadcasting system, which was a hybrid of digital and analogue technologies. It contained countless innovations in digital modulation technology and baseband systems. The dream was to unify Europe behind a common system, and to sweep away the older different technical systems used for earthbound television broadcasting.
There were many hurdles to overcome – new technical domains such as packetized data transmission, single key encryption and scrambling, and digital service information. This was the groundwork on which all modern digital media delivery systems are based. The 360-page EBU Specification, Tech. 3258: Specification of the systems of the MAC/packet family was published in 1986. It was the result of Henri's tenacity and care. It was the prototype for the "DVB" systems that were developed later in the mid 1990s, when technology allowed all-digital systems.
Henri was involved in many other technical studies, either working directly at the computer or watching over and advising his staff. There are just too many to mention here.
Henri had many interests outside broadcasting. He was fascinated by all things scientific, particularly space science and astronomy. He was also a poet, and able to discuss just about anything from politics to music over a glass of pastis.
During his career, Henri Mertens was awarded the highest accolades that the European broadcasting industry can offer. At different times, he won the Montreux Television Symposium award and the International Broadcasting Convention John Tucker Award.
Though he worked with very many individuals from different European broadcasters and in the EBU Headquarters, seven in particular shared probably his wisdom most – Marie-Claire de Beer (ne Godin), Alan Brown, Franc Kozamernik, Louis Cheveau, Helen Zeegers (ne Barnsley), Lina Vanberghem (ne Domina) and David Wood. They had the privilege of working for him directly during his most active period, with the EBU Technical Department located at Uccle in Brussels. These were unforgettable years with an unforgettable individual.
Henri leaves a great personal legacy. Humour is something you always remember. Henri used to say "Europe is not behind the United States. When NASA launches another satellite, the EBU launches another committee." But probably Henri himself would like us to remember one of his most meaningful maxims for standardisation: "A second-best common standard is many, many times more valuable that no common standard at all". If only we all had Henri's wisdom.
David Wood
January 2004
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