In Broadcast - May 2014 - 44

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

WWW.INBROADCAST.COM | ISSUE 31 - MAY 2014

N E W S

InSTUDIO

Developments In Sports Television
Production Equipment
Slow-motion cameras and servers took centre stage at NAB 2014 showcasing
the latest developments in top end sports production...

By David Kirk
Contributing Editor

he popularity of televised sports
should logically increase in
proportion to the size of consumer
video displays. Given a large enough
screen and sufficiently high
resolution, viewers can decide
for themselves which
aspect of a game to
eyeball. The following
is an overview of the
latest developments
in sports television
production equipment,
centred on slow-motion cameras
and servers.
EVS Sports recently announced
an enhanced XT3 live production
server which offers built-in
proxies, 4K zooming, live multiangle review and support for up
to 12 live recording channels. The
server will ingest four simultaneous
3G-SDI feeds while playing back
another four 3G-SDI feeds to
provide instant replay of live 4K
video. EVS is currently working on
supporting 4K live replays using a
two-channel in / one-channel out
conﬁguration, allowing a single XT3
server to record two 4K cameras
simultaneously while providing 4K
instant replays and highlights.
FOR-A's FT-One is claimed to be
the world's ﬁrst high-speed camera
designed for 4K resolution superslow-motion acquisition at up to
900 frames per second. The FT-One
incorporates a CMOS colour sensor.
Data is recorded at high speed to
the internal memory which holds
nearly 10 seconds of 900 frames per

T

44

FOR-A's FT-One camera

Grass Valley's
LDX camera

second 4K
content. Data can
then be transferred to optional solid
state memory cartridges.
Grass Valley's LDX XtremeSpeed
is claimed to be the ﬁrst handheld
ultra slow-motion camera and the
ﬁrst of its kind to integrate into
live workflows with higher than
3x speeds. It can operate at up
6x in 1080i and 720p or 3x speed
operation in 1080p. A 1x standardspeed live output is also provided.
The cameras share the same camera
accessories as the company's LDX
range and use the same camera
control system.
NAC Image Technology's HiMotion II is claimed to be the only
three-chip camera system in the
world that can shoot at ultra slow
motion. Recording speed can be
varied from normal to more than
10x real-time with instant ultra
slow motion playback. Since
development of the Hi-Motion
camera started in 2005, it has been
used in sports such as the Olympic
Games, FIFA World Cup, Formula
One motor
r a c i n g ,
American
Football, golf,
tennis, cricket,
boxing, rugby,
volleyball,
basket ball,
ice hockey,
baseball,
swimming,
diving and
horse-racing.
The Hi-Motion
II camera is
equipped with

MLB Network recently invested in EVS servers for its studio

a B4 lens mount and a 3-CMOS
sensor block generating native 1920
X 1080. The control panel includes
standard matrix settings and easy
colour matching to other live
cameras. Features include ﬂicker
correction and continuous live video
output. Simultaneous recording of
ultra slow motion images during
replay allows users to cue up slow
motion imagery without missing
live action.

NAC Image Technology's
Hi-Motion II Camera

Hi-Motion II can be operated
directly from EVS slow motion
servers series or via a dedicated
controller for record and replay. First
introduced in 2005, Hi-Motion has
since been used at events such as
the 2006 World Cup, Beijing 2008
and Vancouver 2010. More recently
22 Hi-Motion II systems were used
at the 2012 London games, ﬁve
cameras at the 2013 SuperBowl and
four at the 2013 UEFA Champion's
League Final.
NewTek's 3Play 4800
sports production server is
designed for broadcasters,
sports organisations and large
venues. It comprises a single
4U rack chassis plus a remote
control console. Features
include eight-camera ISO

recording, 200 hours of HD storage
and playback, slow-motion, multicamera replay switching, content
publishing and highlights creation.
Colour correction capabilities are
built in and can be automated to
provide picture calibration across
camera signals for the duration
of a game, even when lighting
ﬂuctuates. Incoming HD and SD can
be adjusted in speed from -200%
to 200% under pre-set or manual
operation with T-Bar-controlled
playback and rates.
Orad's PlayMaker is an SD/HD
slow-motion video server designed
for live sports productions. It ingests
up to eight channels in multiple
video formats, including DVCPRO,
DNxHD and JPEG2000, with
synchronised slow motion replay
and integral editing tools. With
its PlayNet module, PlayMaker
provides Gigabit network filesharing between servers for
preview, copy, or instant playout
of clips from remote servers. With
its synchronised recording of inputs,
once an in point is set, switching to
a different camera angle re-cues
to the same in point, replaying the
same event from all camera angles.
If necessary different in and out
points can be set for each camera.
By connecting directly to any USB
or IP-based device, PlayMaker
enables sports broadcasters to
CONTINUED ON PAGE 46

NewTek's 3Play 4800 sports production server is aimed at large venues

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