Case Study
EU Council
SECTION 1
Introduction
How The Council of the European Union innovated its broadcast operations
- When the highest level of political co-operation is required, when laws are being discussed and policies agreed – high-quality AV and broadcasting solutions are a necessity.
- The Council of the European Union and The European Council make relaying critical information in an engaging way a top priority.
- When the opportunity to update broadcasting operations came around- innovation, simplification and automation were key.
- Ross Video’s sophisticated hyperconverged solutions enable The Council of the European Union and The European Council to deliver high quality messages that resonate with their audiences.
Section 2
The Challenge
The Council of the European Union (EU) and the European Council are two of seven institutions that make up the European Union and play a key role in the daily administration of the EU.
Both institutions share the same buildings and infrastructure in Brussels. Known informally as the Council of Ministers, The Council of the EU works alongside the EU’s two other legislative institutions, the European Commission, and the European Parliament.
In the Council of the EU, ministers from the governments of each EU country meet to discuss, amend, and pass laws, and coordinate policies. The European Council brings together EU leaders to set the Union’s political agenda. Ministers have the power to commit their governments to actions agreed at the meetings. Council meetings are held in Brussels, except for three months (April, June, and October) when they are held in Luxembourg.
The European Council, which represents the highest level of political cooperation between EU countries, takes the form of (usually quarterly) summit meetings between EU leaders, chaired by a permanent president. As such, the Council needs to have the best broadcasting solutions to use.
Section 3
The Solution
Ross Video was enlisted to refurbish and upgrade two press rooms as well as the live switching system used in the Master Control Room (MCR) in the Council during 2022 in two different procurements: The first via Telmaco and EMG Belgium, and the second via Diginet and VP Media Solutions.
Ross Video solutions are already in use in the European Commission and in the European Parliament in Brussels, as well as in NATO.
While the procurements were different and the projects took place at separate times, one in Spring and the other in Summer 2022, the upgraded solution for both was based around the hyperconverged production platform. This mid-size unit combines the routing and processing capabilities of Ultrix with the sophisticated creative capabilities of Carbonite, the world’s most popular mid-size production switcher.
In the main press room Ross also installed 5 x X350 PT Heads to upgrade the 12-year-old units still in operation with high quality HD visual content. These were coupled with advanced AI automation that can provide a sophisticated level of directing subject tracking with no human input. Custom interface development was also undertaken in to provide a single unified interface that could control all devices in a room.
The Council wanted to ensure clean switch production in the MCR during guest arrival, which the Ultrix component of the Ross solution provided, alongside improving the visual quality of broadcasts, brought by Ultrix-Carbonite.
The Result
The resulting hyperconverged solution allows both institutions to combine a vast number of optimized features into the same box for ease of use. Less equipment meant a simpler installation. There are less interconnects between devices, and integrated components all speak the same language.
Another key benefit is that Hyperconverged systems consume less power and require less cooling, helping achieve organizational green initiatives.
With a hyperconverged solution, flexibility comes as standard. Both councils can quickly and easily add software-defined features throughout the platform to solve problems without the need to add any external equipment. Reduced external equipment and cabling makes reconfiguration between events much easier.
Critically, having integrated complex workflows both councils have gained operational efficiency whilst not compromising on higher quality productions. The solution Ross provided is easy to use and can be driven comfortably in demanding, high-pressure situations.