ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE. BROMPTON TECHNOLOGY
BROMPTON TECHNOLOGY CELEBRATES ITS ANNIVERSARY
Since 2012, Brompton Technology has been at the forefront of LED video processing. We look back to see how it became the powerhouse it is today
The company grew steadily, remaining focused on live events until 2018, when new applications using LED screens as virtual backgrounds for film and television production started to emerge. The team saw a need for the same high-quality processing it had been providing for live events. “From the off, we’d prioritised making LED screens look good to both the eye and the camera as most major live events are televised, so this new market was a natural fit for us,” explains Mead. In 2019, over 80% of Brompton’s business was still in live events. “But in 2020, as live events were suppressed, we focused on an area that was accelerated by the pandemic – virtual production and XR.”
Barco, Mead and the team saw the rental companies turning towards the increasing number of decent-quality LED panels being manufactured more cost-effectively in China. But the one area where these products clearly fell short was processing. “The vision from day one was to plug that gap and develop a processing system that could be paired with the panels coming out of Chinese factories,” says Mead. “Brompton’s first customer was VER, one of the world’s biggest AV rental companies, now part of the PRG Group. By 2013, VER was using Brompton LED processing on the biggest live televised shows of the year. The first high-profile project was the Oscars, so we didn’t start small.”
CELEBRATING TEN SUCCESSFUL years in business, Brompton Technology’s revolutionary approach to LED video processing began much earlier than 2012. According to CEO Richard Mead, the founders met while working as a team of designers, software developers and hardware engineers at Flying Pig Systems, the iconic lighting console manufacturer, now part of ETC-owned High End Systems. Following Flying Pig’s purchase at the start of 2004, a group of seven, including Mead, formed Carallon – with a mission to develop high-quality control systems for the entertainment industry. Over the following years, several spin-off companies were born, the second being Brompton Technology, focused on serving the LED video processing needs of the top end of the live events industry. At the time, the world of LED video was in a period of significant change. Having been dominated by big brands like “The first high-profile event to use our technology was the 2013 Oscars – so we didn’t start small”
GO WITH THE FLOW The company weathered losing out on live events in 2020 by developing virtual production workflows
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