To increase availability of accurate time signals, NIST developed a way to hide time codes in broadcast television transmissions. In 1971, NIST and ABC-TV applied the technology to closed caption an episode of The Mod Squad. Today, closed captioning is used on many TV shows and thousands of motion pictures. It has greatly benefited the deaf and hard of hearing. In 1980, the technology won NIST, ABC, and PBS an Emmy^© Award for outstanding engineering achievement.

Photo ©Academy of Television Arts and Sciences