THURSDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2020

Camera Control

IDS camera control

With IDS you can have full control of the visual side of your business. Having eyes on the critical elements of your operation are essential especially with the ever-growing requirement for remote control.  The resourcing workflow has evolved with more staff and users spread across geographical locations.  If you have no physical line of sight with a particular location, you need a reliable solution which can bring the remote to the present.

IDS has been bringing this level of control to users across multiple sectors for many years and has become an essential tool for a diverse range of applications such as

• Broadcast facilities
• Hospital training rooms and operating theatres
• Live music productions
• Remote control and confidence monitoring
• Government buildings and committee rooms
• Auditoriums and corporate AV spaces
• Security control – CCTV or control rooms

Camera Integration

With a wide range of integration solutions and control surfaces, ids allows a full eco-system to accommodate any requirement.  IDS integrates with all common camera manufacturers, supporting their proprietary protocols such as Visca, Panasonic or NDI.  IDS also supports most widely used streaming protocols such as RTSP, HTTP, RTMP and incorporating H.264.  This allows IDS to be truly agnostic to the environment it works in, allowing a simplified integration to minimise the time of deployment.

• Panasonic AW range (anything from old to the latest 4K models)
• VISCA based cameras
• Sony BRC-300
• Marshall CV350
• Data Video BC-80
• Bird Dog NDI * under development

Functions covered by IDS

• Full Pan, Tilt, Zoom control
• Focus adjustment
• Camera shading – White Balance, Iris, Shutter, Gain control
• Power on/off
• Tally on/off
• Pan, Tilt, Zoom speed control
• Pre-set set and recall

Pedestal Integration

As customer requirements evolve, IDS evolves with them.  New technology is released, demands from internal stakeholders change and to stay applicable IDS needs to scale and flex accordingly.  Camera control is not the only necessity for visual implementation.  Many camera heads are fitted to complex robotic pedestals which when coupled to an IDS system allows for a full intuitive control, delivering flexibility which incorporates the full range of functionality offered by the manufacturer.  This can be driven by the user from any location over IP. 

Imagine a touchscreen display with a set of uncomplicated buttons for common commands and a preview tile of the camera feed, as you move the camera or pedestal from the touchscreen from the users perspective you have total confidence in the fingertip control.  Simple, accurate and reliable.

• Vinten Radamec
• Shotoku
• PoleCam AutoPod+
• Telemetrics

Functions covered by IDS

• Full Pan, Tilt, Zoom contro
• Elevation contro
• Pan, Tilt, Zoom, Elevation speed control
• Shot recal
• Control multiple pedestals

IDS HMI – beautiful and elegant

The solution offered by IDS does not stop at the software and the integration.  We have a range of intuitive HMI devices to deliver an unparalleled user experience.  The understanding of customers’ needs is paramount, and we understand that requirements vary from each person.  With ids you can address this and deliver a full range of interface devices in different form factors and input options.  By partnering with proactive companies such as Skaarhoj, IDS can also offer full live environment and granular operation via a custom panel with physical buttons and joystick control.

Example usage

Panasonic AW

• The Panasonic AW driver is our longest standing and most widely used camera driver. NEP have about 12/15 instances of the driver running at their Hilversum facility, with IDS providing Touchscreen control to all of these. Google DeepMind use the driver to control 4K Panasonic PTZ cameras in their meeting room spaces to deliver remote presentations.  BBC Radio 1 also use IDS to control multiples PTZ cameras within the various studio on the 8th Floor of NBH.

VISCA

• The VISCA driver implementation was originally created to control DataVideo BC-80 cameras at the ‘News UK’ facility in London Bridge. IDS provides preset recall to the various cameras installed within the studios as part of the visualisation setup
• The driver was then redeveloped to expand integration in a more generic way, adding support for the Sony BRC-300 and Marshall CV350. BBC Wales use IDS to control multiple Marshall cameras (up to 6 per studio) for visualisation purposes. The CV350 is a POV camera just like the BC-80 so the control IDS offers is for zoom, focus and camera shading.

Vinten Radamec

• The Vinten Radamec driver was developed for use at the CNN bureau in London. When CNN moved to their new facility in Old Street the IDS system was expanded to control 5 independent cameras, two of which are pedestal mounted cameras and the others are Sony PTZ cameras. IDS provides queue-based control of each camera on a first come, first serve basis.

Shotoku

• The Shotoku driver is used at the Financial Times offices in London. IDS provides control of multiple robotic pedestals, including control of the camera heads.