Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Toronto Blue Jays Inject Energy Into Rogers Centre With New 1080p HDR-Capable Control Room, Videoboard

21/09/2022

Toronto Blue Jays Inject Energy Into Rogers Centre With New 1080p HDR-Capable Control Room, Videoboard This is the club's newest scoreboard since 2005, newest control room since 2011 By Kristian Hern ndez, Senior Editor

Wednesday, September 21, 2022 - 7:00 am

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

In the home stretch of the 2022 MLB regular season, the Toronto Blue Jays are one of three Wild Card teams in the American League. With half of their remaining 12 games to be played at Rogers Centre, the club expects an extra boost of adrenaline not only from the home crowd but also from an in-venue show driven by a brand-new 1080p HDR-capable control room and centerfield videoboard.

The Toronto Blue Jays have upgraded their control room at Rogers Centre for the first time since 2011.

I'm really happy with how everything turned out, says Mike Christiansen, director, technical production and broadcast services, Toronto Blue Jays. I'm proud of the way that our crew adapted to going from half of an HD frame to this gigantic display.

Shifted Timeline: COVID Delays Project Two Years The project implementing the franchise's newest scoreboard in 17 years and the newest control room in more than a decade has been three years in the making. After the contract was awarded to Alpha Video in 2019, the process was brought to a screeching halt in 2020 by the COVID-19 pandemic. And the plan ended up being transformed: originally calling for an IP-centric control room, it transitioned to a 1080p, HDR-capable baseband facility.

During the pandemic upheaval, the organization was in and out of Rogers Centre: in the shortened 2020 season, playing 21 games at TD Ballpark, its Spring Training home, in Dunedin, FL, and, in 2020 and 2021, 49 total games at Sahlen Field, home of the Triple A Buffalo Bison. In the offseason prior to the 2022 season, the Blue Jays and the crew at Alpha Video completed the project to wow fans with a new look in Toronto.

EVS is driving the replays to the new LED displays.

Our design team worked with [Anthony James Partners Director, Broadcast,] Mike Martin to put together a baseband equivalent to what we had planned on doing in IP, says Jeff Volk, VP, Alpha Video. After two years of starts, stops, and multiple redesigns and other things, the goal was to be ready for Opening Day.

The lockout at the beginning of the regular season brought no new challenges to the project, but Christiansen, Volk, and the rest of the crew working on the control-room integration still needed to overcome the lingering effects of the pandemic. Health and safety restrictions imposed by the Canadian government made it a bit difficult for an American company to go back and forth across the U.S.-Canada border.

To avoid increased supply-chain issues or other delays, Alpha Video partnered with Unity SI - a trusted company located 35 miles north of Rogers Centre in Newmarket, Ontario - which served as its conduit in Canada. The partnership was fruitful, with the Canadian company helping Alpha fulfill multiple tasks: the heavy lift of revamping the control room, installing the Ross Video XPression-based LED used for the video displays, refurbishing the infrastructure of the new mobile unit docking bay, and upgrading broadcast cabling in numerous positions.

The in-venue crew is tapping Ross Video's XPression graphics system.

We leaned heavily on [Unity] to be our boots on the ground, notes Volk. I can't stress enough what a great job [President/CEO] Doug Waldron and the team at Unity did as our partner.

For Christiansen, it was extremely important to work with a systems integrator that was reliable and committed to the project: We knew that [COVID-19] might be a challenge, but we went with Alpha based on their work in other control rooms. I think it was important that I had a personal connection with them as well.

Behind the Scenes: A Peek Into the New Broadcast-Control Room Heading into this endeavor, Christiansen and his crew of Senior Manager, Technical Production, Christina Gunn and Broadcast Engineer Steph Gagnon were specific on the vendors and products they wanted for this new space. Whether from experience or the need for surefire solutions and services that elevate the game presentation, Volk was more than willing to help bring this equipment to the control room or lower bowl.

Mike and his team had very strong ideas about who they wanted their partners to be, he adds. They wanted Sony as their camera manufacturer. They wanted to continue being EVS users, so they have one of the more advanced EVS replay environments that we've installed on the baseband side.

Ross Video's Acuity production switcher is at the center of in-venue shows.

The 1080p, HDR-capable control room is anchored by Ross Video's Acuity production switcher and XPressions graphics system. Replay is handled by two XT-Via replay servers at 8 channels each and a 6-channel XS-Via playback server, along with IPDirector and XTAccess. Daktronics DakStats provides real-time statistics for all LED displays. Riedel control-room communications equipment includes DSP-2312 SmartPanel and Artist 128 digital intercom network. Evertz EQX16 router is at the core of the rack room. Other notable gear in the space: Adder Technology Adderlink Infinity Dual for KVM; AJA HI5-4K-PLUS for HD/SD-SDI HDR-to-HDMI video and audio conversion; and FS-HDR for HDR material.

The show is run with 11 cameras: five Sony HDC-3500's, five Sony BRC-H800 robos (one for home bullpen, one for away bullpen, one high home, one on the roof, and one in the ress conference room) controlled by Sony's RM-IP500 PTZ camera remote controller, and a Sony PMW300 with DTC Solo7 Broadcast Nano COFDM Tx and Pro-RX receiver. All cameras are outfitted with various Fujinon lenses.

Fueling the Playoff Push: Enhanced
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2022/09/21/toronto-blue-jays-inject-energy...
See more stories from svg

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

19/05/2026

Young Journalist' finalists visit London for training and networking

The winner of Thomson Foundation's Young Journalist of the Year 2025, Tracy Bonareri Onchoke, and runner up Wangu Kanuri enjoyed a three-day trip to London ...

19/05/2026

Cisco and USGA Announce Multiyear Partnership Extension

Cisco and the USGA have announced a multiyear extension of their partnership, which began in 2018. Cisco serves as the Official Technology Partner of the USGA, ...

19/05/2026

Urban Edge Network and Spiideo Partner to Enhance NAIA Sports Streaming

Urban Edge Network (UEN), a streaming platform for NAIA sports, has announced a partnership with Spiideo to provide streaming and production tools to UEN's ...

19/05/2026

Warner Bros. Discovery Announces Expanded Roland-Garros 2026 Coverage

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) will provide live coverage of all 900 Roland-Garros matches across its platforms beginning with qualifiers on May 18. In Europe, 21...

19/05/2026

Tubi Launches FIFA World Cup 2026 FOX Hub

Tubi, Fox Corporation's free streaming service, has announced the launch of the FIFA World Cup 2026 FOX Hub, a dedicated destination for World Cup programmi...

19/05/2026

Telefnica and Sony Conduct 5G mmWave Broadcast Trial at Movistar Arena

Telef nica, in collaboration with Sony, has conducted a 5G connectivity trial at the Movistar Arena in Spain using the 26 GHz millimetre wave (mmWave) band. The...

19/05/2026

Ross Production Services Integrates Calrec Argo M into New Hypermax-1 Truck

Ross Production Services (RPS) has installed a Calrec Argo M console into its new Hypermax-1 remote production truck, replacing one of three Argo S consoles pre...

19/05/2026

Panasonic Projector and Display Acquires HIVE Media Control

Panasonic Projector and Display Corporation has announced the acquisition of 100% of the shares of UK-based media technology company Hive Media Control Ltd. (HI...

19/05/2026

Globecast Completes Major Renovation of Singapore Facility

Globecast has announced the completion of a nine-month renovation of its Singapore facility, converting it from a traditional linear broadcast operation into a ...

19/05/2026

Grass Valley Signs Three-Year Enterprise Agreement with Phoenix Broadcast Solutions

Grass Valley has announced a three-year enterprise agreement with Phoenix Broadc...

19/05/2026

Watch Brasil Selects Bitmovin for Streaming Player, Encoder, and Observability

Bitmovin has announced that Watch Brasil, a streaming platform operating across Brazil and Europe since 2018, has replaced its legacy systems with Bitmovin'...

19/05/2026

Ateme and Akamai Power Nepal Premier League Live Streaming

Ateme has announced the migration of Dish Home Nepal's Nepal Premier League (NPL) streaming infrastructure to Ateme's TITAN Live solution deployed on Ak...

19/05/2026

CMSI Supports ESPNs NCAA Gymnastics Championships Coverage

CMSI provided workflow, media management, and HDR support for ESPN during coverage of the NCAA Gymnastics Semifinals and Championships. The company supported fi...

19/05/2026

SVG Rewind: TGLs SmartPin Cam Offers a Whole New Perspective for Golf

In advance of this year's Sports Emmy Awards, SVG is taking a deep dive into the six production-technologies nominated for this year's George Wensel Tec...

19/05/2026

SVG Rewind: FOX IndyCar Takes In-Car AR Graphics to New Heights

In advance of this year's Sports Emmy Awards, SVG is taking a deep dive into the six production-technologies nominated for this year's George Wensel Tec...

19/05/2026

NEP Supershooter 11 and 65 Roll Out To Meet Different Production Needs

Featuring a fully IP infrastructure, Supershooter 11 is intended for large-scale events. Enabling remote and distributed workflows, Supershooter 65 joins the RE...

19/05/2026

Boots Riley Unpacks His Vision of Power, Style, and Time at Sundance Institute's I Love Boosters Denver Screening

By Jessica Herndon The line wrapped around the building outside Denver's La...

19/05/2026

Building a More Trusted Podcast Experience for Creators and Listeners

Podcasting continues to evolve, and so does Spotify. As we build what comes next, one thing remains constant: This is a medium built on connection. It lives in ...

19/05/2026

GC Audio & Looptrotter announce the Emperor Signature Cartridge

Popular design joins Inherit cartridge line-up When GC Audio introduced their modular Inherit system, it was available with a selection of the company's...

19/05/2026

oeksound introduce Soothe3

Resonance-suppression plug-in gets ground-up rebuild Following on from its 10-year anniversary, oeksound's flagship plug-in has just reached its third m...

19/05/2026

Novation unveil the FLKey 2

Dedicated FL Studio controller keyboard range refreshed Novation's dedicated FL Studio controller family has just been upgraded, with four new models ex...

19/05/2026

Rohde & schwarz strengthens its in-vehicle networks test portfolio with the launch of new ASA-ML compliance solution

Rohde & schwarz strengthens its in-vehicle networks test portfolio with the laun...

19/05/2026

Lawful Intelligence: Rohde & Schwarz stellt neues Portfolio fr moderne Polizeiarbeit vor

Lawful Intelligence: Rohde & Schwarz stellt neues Portfolio f r moderne Polizeia...

19/05/2026

Press Release: South Africa to be celebrated as European Film Market's Country in Focus at the Berlinale 2027

Press Release 18 May 2026, Johannesburg South Africa has been selected as the...

19/05/2026

To Deliver for the Warfighter, Acquisition Reform Must Provide a Level Playing Field

When all companies in the market are allowed to compete under the same set of ru...

19/05/2026

Unjammable Lifeline: L3Harris Fiber-Optic Tethers Keep Warfighters Connected

Battle-proven technology withstands electronic warfare threats across air, maritime surface and subsea domains....

19/05/2026

WESCAM MX-Series: Defining the Moment Before the Target Moves

WESCAM MX-Series EO/IR systems provide high-precision targeting across domains, including counter-UAS applications...

19/05/2026

Cobalt Digital and SineSix Media Partner to Transform Accessibility Compliance into a More Engaging Viewer Experience at NAB Show 2026

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. April 16, 2026 - Cobalt Digital today announced a partnership ...

19/05/2026

Cobalt Digital Announces Launch of blueCORE at NAB Show 2026: Compact Powerhouse Signal Processors for SDI and ST 2110 Workflows

Las Vegas - April 18, 2026 Cobalt Digital, the leading designer and manufactur...

19/05/2026

Advanced HDR by Technicolor and Cobalt Digital Address Live Production Gap as HDR Adoption Collides With Legacy Workflows

LAS VEGAS April 18, 2026 - Advanced HDR by Technicolor and Cobalt Digital are ...

19/05/2026

Cobalt Digital Wins Two Future Best of Show Awards at 2026 NAB Show

LAS VEGAS - May 4, 2026 - Cobalt Digital, the leading designer and manufacturer of signal processing products, and a founding partner in the openGear initiativ...

19/05/2026

Cobalt Digital Brings Flexible End-to-End IPMX/ST 2110 Ecosystem to MPTS

London - 11 May 2026 Cobalt Digital, the leading designer and manufacturer of award-winning signal processing products, and a founding partner in the openGear...

19/05/2026

Clear-Com Enhances Musikal Perahu Kertas with Eclipse HX and FreeSpeak II

eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......

19/05/2026

Ross Production Services Flexes Infrastructure with Console Switch

Celebrating its ability to quickly adapt to changing requirements, Ross Production Services (RPS) has put its flexible infrastructure to good use, switching one...

19/05/2026

NFL Pushes Back Against Critics of Games on Streaming

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

19/05/2026

NEP Group Rolls Out Two New Mobile Production Units In U.S.

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

19/05/2026

Phoenix Broadcast Solutions Raises its Live Production Ga...

Grass Valley has entered into a three-year enterprise agreement with Phoenix Broadcast Solutions as the Singapore-based company expands its live production oper...

19/05/2026

Clear-Com Enhances Musikal Perahu Kertas with Eclipse HX...

Clear-Com supported Musikal Perahu Kertas, a large-scale musical theater production in Indonesia adapted from the acclaimed novel by Dee Lestari, through the d...

19/05/2026

METEO CONSULT and La Chaine Meteo Select Actus Digital fo...

Actus Digital, a LiveU company, and a leading provider of intelligent media monitoring and broadcast compliance platforms, announced today that METEO CONSULT ha...

19/05/2026

Transforming Broadcast Operations - Globecast Unveils Sta...

Globecast, a leading provider of managed services for the broadcast and media industry, today announced the completion of a major renovation of its Singapore fa...

19/05/2026

Calrec Console Switch Helps Ross Production Services Fle...

Following a major upgrade to its Connecticut remote production centre with the installation of three 60-fader Argo S consoles in 2023, RPS has switched one of t...

19/05/2026

PlayBox Technology Launches a Modular Media Orchestration...

PlayBox Technology today announced the launch of Celebro Play, a browser-based media orchestration platform designed specifically for broadcast facilities and p...

19/05/2026

Publicis Groupe to Buy LiveRamp for $2.2 Billion

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

19/05/2026

Tubi Launches 2026 FIFA World Cup Fox Hub

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

19/05/2026

Viamedia Introduces a New Geographic Intelligence Layer

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...