FOX Sports will be streaming live 4K video from the U.S. Open’s seventh hole this year. Using 5G wireless technology, and thanks to help from the Fox Innovation Lab, Ericsson, Intel, and AT&T, that means fans at home will get ultra high-definition views of the players’ successes or failures on the difficult par-3 challenge at Shinnecock Hills, N.Y.
A pair of FOX cameras will transmit 4K HDR video to a nearby production truck, and then 5G, which provides multi-gigabit speeds with low latency, will be used to get that footage out to viewers. In the future, FOX could use this setup to stream live virtual reality from the U.S. Open.
“It’s part of our FOX Sports DNA to aggressively explore evolving technologies as part of our live sports production,” said Michael Davies, FOX Sports SVP Field & Technical Operations, in a statement. “This is exactly the kind of effort we consistently put into the leading edge of today’s technology, in preparation for what will become the industry standards of the future.”
SportTechie Takeaway
Intel and Korea Telecom recently used 5G to transmit 360-degree video from the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics. Verizon also tested out a 5G network at Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis. The company gave participants VR headsets to watch the game in a live, 360-degree view.