Chances are if you’re a sports fan watching a live event on weekends – or any day of the week — there’s a strong likelihood that it is being shot and produced with professional equipment from Sony Electronics, the industry leader in offering video and audio technologies for sports video production.
Whether it’s cameras, displays, monitors, switchers or any other piece of production equipment, Sony technology is keeping pace and, in many cases, setting the standard for content capture and production at sporting events.
The technology giant’s relationships with sports leagues and properties stretch from the NBA and NFL to the PGA TOUR and MLB, among others. It’s also dialed into the college athletics scene, having deeply-invested partnerships with conferences such as the Pac-12, ACC and SEC.
As Rob Willox, Director of Marketing at Sony Electronics explained, “The relationships with networks, leagues and properties don’t start and end with the sale. It begins well before the sale, through finding out and delivering on customers’ needs, and goes well after the sale. It never ends.”
Sony technology has helped the sports industry move from SD to HD and to 4K. Now the most recent shift from HD to 4K HDR, as Willox described, has been as big as the “leap from analog to digital” years ago. Over the past year alone, Sony has shot everything from the Sony Open in 4K HDR to the Opening Ceremonies of the 2016 Summer Olympics. In fact, the Summer Games in Rio marked the 9th consecutive Games Sony Electronics supported for NBC Olympics, with NBC using more than 100 Sony 4K and HD cameras and other production gear in Rio for replays and to record footage and interviews. Sony-shot events also include numerous golf tournaments for various networks in HD HDR, basketball games and the National Hot Rod Association, both in 4K HDR.
Sony has had discussions with the big four sports broadcasters about integrating 4K HDR technology to help improve broadcasts even more in the future.
“All of the sports networks are extremely interested in bringing it to market because of how it can enhance the viewer’s’ experience, improve ratings and ultimately bring in more dollars,” Willox said. “The amount of color and the detail in the picture is phenomenal. It’s so much more like being there than previous experiences.”
Regardless of the medium sports networks choose to shoot sports, Sony aims to offer services that meet their ever-evolving needs as they look to continuously change and improve the broadcast.
According to Deon LeCointe, Senior Manager of IP Production Technology and Sports Solutions, when Sony launched the HDC-1500 in 2005, “It was a game changer” for Sony and the industry at large. Broadcasters and production teams could now shoot content natively in 720p and 1080i, giving them the flexibility to easily handle the different production requirements of shooting for clients who needed content delivered in either resolution. “That’s when Sony became an even more dominant player in this space,” LeCointe said.
The HDC series – the 1500 models and others in the series — has since continued to evolve to include 4K and high frame rate, and in recent years has spawned a new sports production standard. The 2016 introduction of the HDC-4300 was the first Sony camera to use three 2/3-inch 4K image sensors, ushering in a new era of sports production: shooting 4K at 2x normal frame rate and HD at 8x normal frame rate. This was a camera that could be used for HD and 4K live productions and incorporated high frame rate and HDR.
Its design also allowed it to work seamlessly within Sony’s family of existing of HDC accessories. Directors and operators could keep their approach to live events using familiar camera technology but with capabilities now suited to the current demand for 4K and high frame rate content.
Since its introduction, this camera has been put to use on just about every high profile live production in sports and entertainment. Sony added ultra high frame rate capabilities in 2016 with the HDC-4800 camera, capturing 8 times 4K and up to 16 times HD.
Now, Sony cameras allow sports production professionals to capture HD, 2K, 4K and high-frame rate and HDR content for all major professional and collegiate sporting events.
“No matter what type of production you’re going to have or how you want to change the cameras on a production, you can do that with Sony cameras,” said LeCointe.
In addition to their widespread acceptance by teams and leagues, Sony’s imaging technology used in the HDC-1500 and HDC-4300 cameras has been recognized with Technical Emmys for outstanding achievement.
For the 2017 College Football Playoff Championship game, Sony had its HDC-4300 cameras at the 50-yard line, in the end zone and as an overhead camera at Raymond James Stadium. Additionally, the HDC-4800 was used at the game.
Beyond the development of products for sports production, Sony technologies and solutions are helping sports organizations make their A/V operations more efficient and enhance the fan experience. Sony has played a key role — often as prime contractor — in comprehensive A/V projects at professional and college stadiums and arenas across the United States.
Another technology impacting sports production is IP. As teams build newer venues, and fans grow increasingly accustomed to receiving information whenever and however they want it, Sony’s IP live production systems try to make content distribution practical and cost-effective, compared to traditional SDI environments. IP transport is format-agnostic, enables flexible management of signals on a network, and can add “intelligence” to a system through analytics.
Finally, Sony offers technologies for tracking, relay and coaching. The company’s Hawk-Eye Innovations North America group, a wholly owned LLC of Sony Electronics’ Professional Solutions Americas, develops technology for live sports tracking, replay and officiating technology by U.S. sports leagues, professional teams and collegiate conferences, schools and universities, as well as amateur organizations. Its line of SMART systems enables customized tracking and officiating software as well as coaching tools that provide instant analysis with video and statistical data.
“Modern sports production is about storytelling, drawing the viewer in and making them feel part of the event,” said Willox. “Shooting the game itself is only one part of the story. Developing the technologies that complete the entire sports production workflow and working with leagues, networks, venues and partners at every level of sports not only completes the story, but helps us continue to write new chapters.”