Parliament audio video systems and webcast.

Our involvement with this goes back to 1999, when we designed control panels to go with the Committee room audio controllers in the House of Lords, and the newly built Portcullis house.

Our AES3 fibre technology was also used, with the added feature of encryption, based upon simple pseudo-random number modulation, so the AES3 stream sounds like white-noise.

Further rooms were installed, up to 2008.

In 2007 we were approached to look into webcasting of the Committee rooms. Sony BRC300 PTZ cameras were to be used, which had SDI-SD outputs, RS422 control of PTZ and required Black-burst synchronisation. The camera control looked possible by the creation of a 1U box with multiple RS422 channels to the Cameras, and by using the existing control panel information, which was also on RS422, and we had helped design this anyway in 1999.

BCD Audio was reluctant to get involved with the video side, as we had limited experience with Video at the time. The solution at this time was a video switcher with RS422 control, a black-burst generator, and audio embedder unit.

In 2008 we were asked to look again at the video switcher requirement. Our newly acquired FPGA technology allowed us to create a BCD Audio Video switcher that absorbed all of the added boxes that were required. Around 20 rooms were equipped.

By 2009, we were asked to look at Radio Webcasting. The BCD Video switcher was reworked with audio inputs and used for video triggers. This eliminated the need for a separate audio controller, and the Cameras in a Radio environment were generally fixed shot, so no PTZ control was needed.

These were deployed in several installations.

By 2019, we were looking at HD implementations. Brexit and Covid struck, and the project abandoned.