The Technology Behind the Sochi 04 Olympic Games

Viewers of this years Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games will see notable improvements in graphics, new studios and streaming media technologies that NBC Olympics is betting will make the games more visually appealing and a more engaging experience.

NBC has built entirely new studios designed by New York-based ClickSpring that will include more screens that staff can use to explain the action.

It has also made significant investments in graphics and virtual technologies. Graphics technologies are particularly important for the Olympics because many people may be less familiar with some of the sports.

Having graphics to show the speed of the athletes or the force of gravity during a bob sled run will get viewers more engaged in the action, NBC executives have said. (For a detailed look at NBCs tech strategy for covering the Sochi Games click here.)

Equally important will be technologies for streamlining workflows and producing record amounts of content both for TV and for a variety of digital platforms.

During the games, NBC Olympics will supply 1,539-plus hours of total coverage, more than the 2010 and 2006 Winter Games combined. It will deliver a record 536 hours for its television channels and will stream all 98 events live, for more than 1,000 hours of coverage on digital platforms.

Major Vendors Make Return Appearances

Many of the vendors and a lot of the technology being deployed in Sochi has been battle tested in previous Games.

Sochi, for example, will mark Sonys eighth Olympics working with NBC. Sony is supplying more than 70 Sony HD studio and portable field cameras as well as its F55 4K camera to capture footage at various venues.

Canon will be supplying all of the lenses.

NBC is also deploying Sony MVS production switchers - both the MVS-6530 and MVS-7000 models - to handle feeds from venues to the International Broadcast Center, and to originate HD cable coverage on its various networks.

In addition, NBC will use more than 500 Sony professional monitors, various professional audio products and the NXL-IP55 IP live production unit. Sonys Professional Services Group and Sonys Systems Solutions team will also be supplying services.

The coverage will utilize more than 60 EVS XT2 and XT3 HD Video Servers and 40 IP Directors for replays and other features.

Avids technologies for content creation, media management, and storage will also play a key role at the Sochi games, which is the seventh straight Olympics that NBC has deployed Avid products.

To help manage and streamline the process of creating and distributing a record amount of content, NBC will be using the Avid Interplay Media Asset Management (MAM) system. In addition, the NBC Olympics International Broadcast Center in Sochi will be equipped with Avid Media Composer and Symphony editing systems connected to an Avid ISIS 7000 with 384TB of shared storage system.

Olympic Venues are equipped with a 64TB ISIS 5000, AirSpeed 5000, and Interplay Production systems that are connected to the IBC.

The Harmonic MediaGrid shared storage and Spectrum MediaDeck integrated media playout server will play a central role in a highlights factory at the broadcasters Stamford, Conn. facility. This technology allows crews to quickly access event footage captured in Russia, create highlights clips, and make them available to mobile devices and computers. During the London Olympics that system helped NBC Olympics serve up more than two billion page views.

The MediaGrid is closely integrated into NBCs EVS workflows so that users of the EVS IPDirector systems can have immediate access to footage from any venue, from any day of competition.

PESA will be providing the International Broadcast Center in Sochi with a Cheetah 864XR coax and fiber HD video routing switcher. It will play an integral part of the system that provides live and pre-recorded video feeds for local distribution and for satellite feeds to the United States for re-broadcast.

In terms of graphics, ChyronHego has been selected to provide 12 Lyric PRO-powered Mosaic XL on-air graphics systems.

IDS will once again be used to provide results and timing interfaces. That technology will help NBC commentators analyze the action with real time data and graphic interfaces.

The Russian telco Rostelecom will deliver feeds from Sochi to AT&T, which is supplying 55 HD feeds to the U.S. and 14 HD feeds back to Sochi from the U.S.

Snell will provide 25 Alchemist Ph.C-HD standards converters, which will be important in maintaining the quality and clarity of the images as they are converted from 50Hz European standard to the 59.94Hz U.S. television standard.

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