Eyeheight playout chosen for BBC Broadcast Centre

BBC Broadcast has made an initial order for seven Eyeheight playout master control systems to be installed at the Broadcast Centre in White City, west London, the new headquarters for BBC Broadcast.
The contract includes dual downstream keyers, audio lead/lag and automation command stacking. Eyeheight will also supply the SD-2 subtitle decoder, AF-2 video index decoder and PM-2E in-vision audio level display, plus an AV-2E embedded-audio and video status monitor. This equipment will be used to control and monitor playout of BBC Worldwide and the corporation's interactive channels. Systems integration is being undertaken by TSL.
Eyeheight Managing Director Martin Moore commented: "BBC Broadcast specifically stipulated embedded audio lead/lag and automation command stacking for this project to ensure frame-accurate control. The Eyeheight playout master control system satisfies both these key requirements.
"Developed from the presTX video and audio switching equipment family, playout enables broadcasters and systems integrators alike to configure a master control system to meet their exact current needs while retaining scalability for easy and efficient future expansion."
Playout comprises seven modules: base configuration unit, mix/wipe module, keyer, audio/voice-over module, internal cross-point, logo- store and dual-channel DVE. These can be combined to create a simple automated A/B mixer right up to a full-scale multi-channel master control system with manual over-ride.
The base configuration unit comprises a 1U chassis capable of housing up to three independent channels and offering the lowest cost-per channel of any scalable master control system. Playout's mix/wipe module, again housing up to three channels in 1U, provides a wide range of wipes with user-preset edge characteristics, audio-follows-video, audio only, video only, audio lead and audio lag. Transitions can be performed via manual T-bar, timed with manual activation, or fully automated. Multiple keying modules with individual key, fill and background inputs plus dedicated preview output are supported within the base configuration. All keyers can be operated independently or in parallel via a TK-10 control panel. Key and transition parameters can be preset and stored in internal user memories. Playout's audio and voice-over module adds dual AES audio inputs, mono mixdown and channel swap.
Optional motorised faders register automated changes in audio mixing level, an essential requirement for multi-channel operation.
(GB)