The evolution of sports broadcasting
Apr 1, 2009 12:00 PM, By Laurie Frost
Advances like robotic cameras and solid-state recorders put viewers right at the sporting match.
During the 2008 Olympics, broadcasters attached an HD minizoom camera system to a Kirin sports bike
Depending on the country where you live, live events such as baseball, football, horse racing, motor racing and skiing have long been some of the most popular elements of daily television broadcasting, right back to the start of television. Prior to that, it required the talents of radio commentators to conjure images of these events into the imagination of their audiences.
Almost from the inception of televised sports broadcasting, mobile television production vehicles were coupled back to base via multihop line-of-sight links. Many state broadcasters maintained an entire department to handle communications issues, supplying auxiliary link vehicles with dish aerials aimed at intermediate repeaters, which carried line-of-sight wireless feeds to and from headquarters. Before long, many of the world's largest cities were equipped with a coaxial network linking broadcasters with key outside broadcast locations such as sports arenas and concert venues.
Until the advent of videotape recording in the late 1950s, sports broadcasting was by its very nature live. Multiturret lenses, succeeded later by powerful zoom optics, allowed a small team of camera operators to follow field sports action simply and efficiently, connected by cable straight back to the OB truck. Film played a crucial element in delivering close-up coverage of activities such as yachting, mountain climbing, flying and even parachuting. Many years passed before mobile VTRs could match the quality and portability of film.
At the China Games in August 2008, a motorized tracking system captured biking events.
Spectators attending a live sports event can experience a game at several levels, making their own choice of viewing direction, hearing the roar of the crowd and shouting encouragement to their preferred team. Even a modern 40in flat-screen display falls short of reality when relaying these experiences into the home. Hence, the constant pressure on producers to augment their coverage with new and unusual viewing angles, effectively transporting television viewers much closer to the action than would ever be possible had they actually travelled out to the game.
Robotic cameras
The most important single advance in sports broadcasting has been, and continues to be, the introduction of specialized robotic cameras. Take the example of televising a boat race. What better cutaway from the traditional shots from the riverside or following boat could you wish for than a miniature lightweight camera mounted above the stern of the competing boats? One possibility is a view from within each boat showing the respective coxes urging the crew onward. There is a lot more to this than meets the eye, as issues such lens cleaning under wireless remote control; installing, testing and dismantling the kit under competition conditions; and ensuring efficient RF links combine to make this “wet hire” at its wettest.
An important consideration for many producers is to avoid distracting their audience with too many high-profile point of view (POV) cameras. In other words, robotic POV cameras should be capable of delivering the best possible image from, for example, the mouth of a football or hockey goal, without themselves spoiling or interrupting the spectators' or televised view of the game. That has resulted in the design of a wide range of cameras dedicated to specific sports activities.
Archery
One of the most extreme examples of invisible POV sports coverage in which we have been involved was placing cameras into archery targets to show incoming arrows as they approach the bull's-eye. For the China Games in Beijing, we provided a practical archery target camera in HD. We had previously designed and implemented an SD camera based on a 6mm diameter single-CCD imager, which was mounted in the center of the target. Because no HD camera this small exists, a special lens 180mm long by 10mm diameter was commissioned, tapering down to just 2mm diameter at the tip.
Other similarly specialized POV technologies have included helmet-mounted cameras, body-worn cameras, pop-up cameras giving ground-level views of bobsleigh and ski events, slalom pole cameras, high-jump bar cameras, underwater robotic pan/tilt systems, and motorized track cameras.
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