Video Disk Control Protocol (VDCP) is a proprietary communications protocol primarily used in

broadcast automation Broadcast automation incorporates the use of broadcast programming technology to automate broadcasting operations. Used either at a broadcast network, radio station or a television station, it can run a facility in the absence of a human oper ...

to control

hard disk A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating hard disk drive platter, pla ...

video server {{refimprove, date=September 2014 A video server is a computer-based device that is dedicated to delivering video. Video servers are used in a number of applications, and often have additional functions and capabilities that address the needs of p ...

s for

broadcast television Broadcast television systems (or terrestrial television systems outside the US and Canada) are the encoding or formatting systems for the transmission and reception of terrestrial television signals. Analog television systems were standardized ...

. VDCP was originally developed by Louth Automation and is commonly called the Louth Protocol. At the time it was developed, Hewlett Packard (whose broadcast server division was eventually sold to

Pinnacle Systems Pinnacle Systems, Inc., was an American manufacturer of digital video hardware and software for the mainstream and broadcast markets. Pinnacle was a pioneer of using Workstation, computer workstations for video production and was the top player in ...

) and

Tektronix Tektronix, Inc., historically widely known as Tek, is an American company best known for manufacturing test and measurement devices such as oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and video and mobile test protocol equipment. Originally an independent c ...

were both bringing to market the first of the VideoFile Servers to be used in the broadcast industry. They contacted Louth Automation who then designed the

communications protocol A communication protocol is a system of rules that allows two or more entities of a communications system to transmit information via any variation of a physical quantity. The protocol defines the rules, syntax, semantics (computer science), sem ...

basing it on Sony protocols of both the Sony LMS Storage Device and the Sony VTR. The principal work was carried out by Ken Louth at Louth Automation. VDCP uses a tightly coupled master-slave methodology. The controlling device takes the initiative in communications between the controlling broadcast

automation Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, mainly by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machine ...

device and the controlled device (video disk). VDCP conforms to the

Open Systems Interconnection The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model is a reference model developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) that "provides a common basis for the coordination of standards development for the purpose of systems inter ...

(OSI) reference model. VDCP is a

serial communications In telecommunication and data transmission, serial communication is the process of sending data one bit at a time, sequentially, over a communication channel or computer bus. This is in contrast to parallel communication, where several bits ar ...

protocol based on

RS-422 RS-422, also known as TIA/EIA-422, is a technical standard originated by the Electronic Industries Alliance, first issued in 1975, that specifies the electrical characteristics of a digital signaling circuit. It was meant to be the foundation ...

. It is derived from the

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

9-Pin Protocol The Sony 9-Pin Protocol or P1 protocol is a two-way communications protocol to control advanced video recorders. Sony introduced this protocol to control reel-to-reel type C video tape recorders (VTR) as well as videocassette recorders (VCR). It ...

, an industry-standard protocol for control of professional broadcast VTRs that is used in

online editing A collaborative real-time editor is a type of collaborative software or web application which enables real-time collaborative editing, simultaneous editing, or live editing of the same digital document, computer file or cloud-stored data – s ...

. Full details of the protocol are available from Imagine Communications who, as Harris Broadcast, acquired Louth in 2000.

External links

Imagine Communications (formerly Harris Broadcast)

NDCP Launch press release
Broadcast engineering Television technology Digital television Television terminology {{tv-tech-stub