BBC Research, formerly the BBC Research Department or BBC Research & Development, made major contributions to broadcast technology, carrying out original research in many areas, and developing items like the Peak programme meter (PPM) which became the basis for many world standards.
Though famous world-wide as a broadcaster, the BBC is not so widely recognised as a pioneer of broadcasting. Tape recorders barely existed when the BBC started broadcasting, and the same was still true of video recorders as late as 1969, when the first helical-scan Ampex machines began to be widely used and television programmes no longer had to be staged 'live'.
The BBC's R&D centre is in Kingswood, Surrey. The Kingswood Warren site is due to close in 2008, with plans to split the department's work across two sites - London, and SalfordMediacity:uk.
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