Hitomi Broadcast, leading technology provider for broadcast synchronisation and timing solutions, has announced that The Scottish Parliament has used the MatchBox system to calibrate their broadcasting operations, ensuring flawless audio-visual alignment in their hybrid parliamentary sessions.
The Scottish Parliament has faced challenges with lip-sync and video delay discrepancies, which have become more pronounced with the shift to hybrid working models prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. To address these issues, they turned to Hitomi’s MatchBox technology, a proven solution in the broadcasting industry known for its precision and reliability.
A complete solution, comprising both the MatchBox Generator and MatchBox Analyser, was used to set-up the enhanced broadcast centre recently installed at The Scottish Parliament. The system also included a licence to use the innovative MatchBox Glass app, which allows precise lip-sync and video timing alignment at the point of capture using a simple iOS device. Multiple cameras and screens are employed in the chamber, and all have different latencies that needed to be precisely aligned to achieve sufficient coherency for the MSPs in attendance, those contributing remotely and anyone watching the broadcast.
As part of their commitment to improving parliamentary broadcasts, The Scottish Parliament has invested in significant upgrades to their audio infrastructure, integrating one of Europe’s largest Dante audio networks connecting custom-designed Glensound conferencing consoles. This state-of-the-art sound setup and security system, managed by bespoke software from renowned experts, Squared Paper, enables seamless, high-quality audio management that is critical in the hybrid working environments of today.
Russell Johnson, Director at Hitomi Broadcast, commented: “Our solution has enabled the parliamentary engineers to measure quickly and accurately, adjusting where necessary, audio and video timings. These objective measurements ensure repeatable quality broadcasts proven to be of the highest standard.”
Bill Ward, Head of Broadcasting at The Scottish Parliament, remarked on the effectiveness of the MatchBox system: “Its intuitive features and rapid, precise measurement capabilities made it the obvious choice to fine-tune the video and audio synchronisation in our quest to improve our broadcast operations.”
