engineering

Video Disk Control Protocol

Video Disk Control Protocol is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Video Disk Control Protocol rather than just read about it. In short: Video Disk Control Protocol (VDCP) is a proprietary communications protocol primarily used in broadcast automation to control hard disk video servers for broadcast television. VDCP was originally developed by Louth Automation and is commonly called the Louth Protocol.

Key takeaways

Video Disk Control Protocol belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Video Disk Control Protocol to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Video Disk Control Protocol from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Video Disk Control Protocol (VDCP) is a proprietary communications protocol primarily used in broadcast automation to control hard disk video servers for broadcast television. 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) and Tektronix 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 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 device and the controlled device (video disk). VDCP conforms to the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) reference model. VDCP is a serial communications protocol based on RS-422. It is derived from the Sony 9-Pin Protocol, an industry-standard protocol for control of professional broadcast VTRs that is used in online editing. Full details of the protocol are available from Imagine Communications who, as Harris Broadcast, acquired Louth in 2000. It was largely succeeded by the Network Device Control Protocol.

References

External links Imagine Communications (formerly Harris Broadcast) NDCP Launch press release

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Video Disk Control Protocol

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Video Disk Control Protocol claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Video Disk Control Protocol before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Video Disk Control Protocol ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Video Disk Control Protocol

In research: Video Disk Control Protocol appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Video Disk Control Protocol in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Video Disk Control Protocol is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Broadcast engineering, Digital television, Television technology, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Video Disk Control Protocol outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Video Disk Control Protocol” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Video Disk Control Protocol in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Video Disk Control Protocol means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Video Disk Control Protocol out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Video Disk Control Protocol in simple terms?

Why does Video Disk Control Protocol matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Video Disk Control Protocol?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Video Disk Control Protocol.