What is the name of the Emmy award given for outstanding technical achievement in television?

The Emmy award for outstanding technical achievement in television is called the Engineering Emmy Award.

Engineering Emmys recognize important technological developments that improve television’s transmission, recording, or reception. Unlike acting, writing, or directing awards, they usually honor the engineering work behind the medium itself. Recipients can include individuals, companies, research organizations, or collaborative technical teams.

The award exists within a broader split between the Television Academy’s Primetime Engineering Emmy Awards and the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ Technology and Engineering Emmy Awards. Both organizations recognize major advances, but they administer separate programs for different parts of the television industry.

The Engineering Emmy is also distinct from an Engineering Plaque and an Engineering Citation, which are lower levels of recognition in the Primetime Engineering Emmy system. Early recipients included innovators in videotape, cameras, editing, digital imaging, closed captioning, and broadcast transmission. More recent awards have recognized technologies such as streaming systems, digital cameras, video compression, and virtual production.

Therefore, “Technical Emmy” and “Technology Emmy” sound plausible but are not the standard name of this award.