Broadcast Television Systems Inc.

Broadcast Television Systems Inc., commonly abbreviated BTS, was a professional broadcast-equipment company formed in 1986 as a joint venture between Philips Broadcast in Breda, the Netherlands, and Robert Bosch GmbH's Fernseh Division. It combined Philips' long experience in professional television cameras and video equipment with Fernseh's established German engineering and manufacturing heritage. The company served broadcasters, television networks, production facilities, and other professional users rather than consumer electronics customers. BTS developed and marketed equipment across several parts of the television-production chain. Its portfolio included professional studio and outside-broadcast cameras, camera accessories and technologies, video servers, computer-graphics systems, digital storage products, and related broadcast infrastructure. The company was particularly associated with the Philips/BTS LDK camera family and with systems such as Media Pool, a disk-based video-server platform intended to support tapeless and increasingly digital newsroom, playout, and production workflows. Its work also extended into computer animation and graphics, including the FGS 4000 system, and into technologies for high-definition imaging, slow-motion acquisition, image processing, and digital film scanning. BTS maintained an important North American presence. Its North American headquarters initially operated in Salt Lake City, Utah, moved to Simi Valley, California, in 1991, and later returned to Salt Lake City. The company also conducted business in Latin America. In 1991, BTS Latin America reached an agreement to supply Televisa of Mexico with a very large equipment installation, described in contemporary accounts as one of the largest broadcast-equipment sales of its time. BTS products were also used by American television organizations, including ABC-owned KGO-TV, which selected the company's Media Pool video-server technology for an all-digital system initiative in the mid-1990s. The business changed ownership in 1995, when Philips Electronics North America Corp. acquired the remaining interest in BTS Inc. and renamed the operation Philips Broadcast–Philips Digital Video Systems. This ended BTS as an independent joint-venture brand, although its technologies, products, facilities, and engineering capabilities continued within successor Philips and Thomson businesses. In March 2001, Philips sold its broadcast-video division to Thomson SA, where the activities became part of Thomson Multimedia and were subsequently connected with Thomson's Grass Valley operations. BTS's legacy is therefore broader than the period in which the BTS name was used. Its camera platforms and broadcast systems contributed to later Philips, Thomson, and Grass Valley product families. Several related businesses and facilities later changed ownership again, including the Weiterstadt film-technology operation that became Digital Film Technology and the Grass Valley business, which moved through Francisco Partners before being acquired by Belden in 2014. These later companies should not be confused with BTS itself, but they illustrate how portions of the original broadcast-technology portfolio were reorganized after the brand disappeared.

Broadcast Television Systems Inc. was created in 1986 by Philips Broadcast and Robert Bosch GmbH's Fernseh Division. The joint venture was based in the context of a mature but rapidly changing professional-television market. Philips brought a long record in broadcast cameras and video products, including the Norelco professional-camera lineage, while Fernseh brought German broadcast-engineering expertise dating back to the early development of television. By the time BTS was established, Philips had largely replaced the Norelco name with Philips branding in its professional products. The company developed equipment for television production, transmission-related workflows, studio operations, outside broadcasts, and emerging digital media systems. Its best-known hardware family was the LDK range of professional cameras. Earlier Philips camera technology had used Plumbicon pickup tubes, while later systems adopted CCD imaging. Philips' frame-transfer CCD and Dynamic Pixel Management technology were used in later camera generations, including the LDK10 and LDK10p. BTS and its parent organizations also worked on camera signal processing, prism and triaxial-cable technologies, high-definition cameras, super-slow-motion systems, and image-enhancement techniques. BTS expanded its commercial presence in North America and Latin America. Its North American headquarters began in Salt Lake City, moved to Simi Valley in 1991, and subsequently returned to Salt Lake City. That year, BTS Latin America signed a major supply agreement with Televisa in Mexico. In the United States, the company pursued the transition from tape-based production to digital, disk-based systems. Media Pool was positioned as a flexible video-server platform, and KGO-TV selected it for an all-digital initiative in 1995. BTS also participated in the development of graphics and storage technologies, including the FGS 4000 computer-animation system and shared video-data storage systems for television servers. The independent BTS corporate identity ended in 1995 when Philips Electronics North America Corp. acquired the company fully. The operation was renamed Philips Broadcast–Philips Digital Video Systems, but BTS engineering, products, and facilities continued to influence successor product lines. In March 2001, Philips sold its broadcast-video division to Thomson SA. The business subsequently operated within Thomson Multimedia and became connected to the broader Grass Valley portfolio. Later ownership changes affected parts of the inherited technology portfolio. Thomson's film division in Weiterstadt, Germany, including products such as Spirit DataCine, Bones, and LUTher, was sold to Parter Capital Group in 2008 and became Digital Film Technology. The Grass Valley business, after a period under Francisco Partners, was acquired by Belden in 2014. These transactions concern successor operations rather than a continuing BTS company. BTS is best understood as a historical professional-broadcast brand whose products and engineering work were absorbed into later Philips, Thomson, Grass Valley, and related businesses.

• 2001

  Broadcast-video division transfers to Thomson

  [1]Broadcast Television Systems Inc.en.wikipedia.org

  Philips sells its broadcast-video division to Thomson SA, ending the direct Philips ownership phase of the BTS successor business.

• 1995

  Philips takes full ownership

  [1]Broadcast Television Systems Inc.en.wikipedia.org

  Philips Electronics North America Corp. acquires BTS Inc. and changes its operating name to Philips Broadcast–Philips Digital Video Systems.

• 1991

  North American headquarters relocation and Televisa agreement

  [1]Broadcast Television Systems Inc.en.wikipedia.org

  BTS moves its North American headquarters to Simi Valley and its Latin American operation signs a major equipment agreement with Televisa.

• 1986

  BTS is established

  [1]Broadcast Television Systems Inc.en.wikipedia.org

  Philips Broadcast and Robert Bosch GmbH's Fernseh Division form Broadcast Television Systems as a professional broadcast-equipment joint venture.

Professional broadcast and production technology for television networks, broadcasters, studios, outside-broadcast operators, and other high-end media organizations.

• Professional television cameras

  LDK camera family

  The LDK line was the principal professional-camera family associated with Philips and BTS. It covered studio, field, standard-definition, high-definition, and specialized slow-motion applications. Examples cited in historical product lists include the LDK 300, LDK 400, LDK 500, LDK 23HS Mk2, LDK 4000, LDK 5000, LDK 6000, LDK 6200, and LDK 8000. The range reflects the transition from tube-based imaging to CCD cameras and later digital and HDTV production.

• Broadcast video server · 1994

  Media Pool

  Media Pool was a BTS disk-based video-server platform designed for television organizations moving toward tapeless and digital workflows. It was promoted as a flexible system for storing, managing, and playing video, and was selected by KGO-TV for an all-digital operating initiative. The product represented BTS's expansion beyond cameras into shared storage, server-based production, and broadcast playout.

• Computer animation and graphics system

  FGS 4000

  The FGS 4000 was a BTS computer-animation system associated with the company's Salt Lake City operation. It received recognition from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for technical and engineering achievement in three-dimensional computer-graphics technology. The system illustrates BTS's involvement in broadcast graphics as well as camera and video hardware.

• Video tape recorders

  Philips early VTR systems

  The Philips professional-video heritage connected with BTS included early recorder products such as the LDL110 portable recorder, NL1500 cassette system, NL1702, VR202, and VR2350. These products belong primarily to the earlier Philips broadcast portfolio, but they provide context for the recording and production technologies that preceded BTS's later digital-server systems.

• 2001

  Philips divests broadcast-video division to ThomsonM&A

  Background

  Philips sold its broadcast-video division in March 2001 as part of a transfer of the business to Thomson SA.

  Action taken

  Thomson acquired the division and operated it within Thomson Multimedia.

  Aftermath

  BTS-related products and capabilities became part of Thomson's broader broadcast and Grass Valley-related activities.

  Source

• 1995

  Philips consolidates BTSM&A

  Background

  BTS had operated as a joint venture between Philips and Bosch's Fernseh Division since 1986. Philips Electronics North America Corp. subsequently acquired BTS Inc. outright.

  Action taken

  Philips took full ownership and renamed the operation Philips Broadcast–Philips Digital Video Systems.

  Aftermath

  The BTS name ceased to represent an independent joint venture, while its products and engineering activities continued within Philips and later Thomson broadcast businesses.

  Source

1. 1Broadcast Television Systems Inc.en.wikipedia.org
2. 2National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences technical and engineering awardsemmyonline.tv