Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers.

The SMPTE standards have been very important for cinematography and television, especially for professional applications.

Their importance has decreased since the transition to digital video, when many relevant standards have been issued by other organizations, but many SMPTE standards are still important, especially regarding the formats used for distributing digital movies for movie theaters.

I learned this from the Frank Zappa song "Baby Snakes" which contains the lyrics:

They live in a ho-ho-hole

(Tiny hole)

That is usually empty

(Usually empty, tiny too)

They live by a code

(Dit dit dit dit)

That is usually SMPTE

Which stands for

Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers

But they are getting back in the game with SMPTE 2110 which is a standard that describes how to send digital media over an IP network.