-- --
SCREEN AFRICA EXCLUSIVE:
The broadcast and media technology industry sectors are enormous, covering everything from cameras and studios through to network technologies, post-production services and live streaming video. Last year we saw incredible advances, with the wider availability of machine learning and Augmented Reality (AR). These developments promise a new wave of automated production processes and the upward rise of virtual studio technology.
Augmented Reality and virtual studio technology changed the face of broadcast television in 2019, through the creation of virtual objects within a live studio environment. We saw photorealistic representations of football players during a match build up or a journalist standing in digital representations of parliament as voting occurred during an election. This year, thanks also to the rapid development of 5G technology, will see AR being used more in studio setups, especially in the sports broadcast environment with the 2020 Olympics on the horizon. Virtual set solutions, powered by games engines, proved a big draw for the live broadcast as well as the scripted broadcast markets. The fusion of games-engine renders with live broadcast has taken virtual set solutions to another level with photorealistic 3D graphic objects appearing indistinguishable from reality. The technology is not only being used in existing studio set-ups, but is spurning new growth in the studio facility market worldwide.
One example is dock10, United Kingdom's leading television facility housing ten television studios offering a wide range of production services, who recently chalked up a new milestone with its latest virtual studio capability. dock10 called in Zero Density, providers of the cutting-edge product Reality Engine, to power the brand-new 4K UHD virtual studio housed in MediaCityUK and used by shows such as BBC Sport's landmark show Match of the Day (MOTD). The soccer show draws around seven million viewers each weekend and BBC Sport has gone on-air with said virtual studio capability as of August last year. MOTD2, Football Focus and Final Score will also broadcast in the same virtual studio. The studio has five Reality Engines deployed on five cameras (three pedestals, one crane and one railcam).
Founded in Istanbul in 2014, Zero Density is an international technology company dedicated to developing creative products for the broadcast, augmented reality, live event and eSports industries. The founders, who shared a common background in broadcast and media, came together on a mission to use their creativity to develop innovative virtual production solutions for live broadcast. The company's headquarters remain in Turkey, but the company now has an extensive network of clients all over the world. Zero Density offers the next level of virtual studio production with real-time visual effects. It provides Unreal Engine native platform, Reality Engine, with advanced real-time compositing tools and its proprietary keying technology, Reality Keyer. Reality is the most photorealistic real-time 3D Virtual Studio and Augmented Reality platform in the industry.
Another adoptee of Zero Density technology is Sky News Arabia (SNA), who have employed the latest virtual and augmented reality technologies as part of a massive editorial and technical revamp aimed at staying at the forefront of news reporting.
Sky News Arabia (SNA), a joint venture between Abu Dhabi Media Investment Corporation (ADMIC) and Sky Limited, recently completed an editorial overhaul with a fresh line-up of presenters and a special selection of digital-only programming. The revamp saw the launch of one of the most advanced newsrooms in the region, with the addition of a brand-new wing that is now home to Studio B, a 400sqm studio boasting the UAE's largest chromakey background at 15x11m. The large chroma area gives the broadcaster ample room to use a lighting grid for keying objects in positions where the presenters are on the VR set. The facility also includes an outdoor landscape set designed for the morning show. In the US market, Zero Density partnered with The Weather Channel Television Network to be a virtual studio technology provider for immersive mixed reality content late last year. The Weather Channel chose the latest technology to create awareness among its audiences with visually-striking disaster scenarios. Zero Density's hyper-realistic graphic renderings and Hollywood-level visual effects are used to communicate the vital message of the channel to their audiences more effectively.
Virtual studio technology doesn't necessarily mean that studio floor space is no longer required. Media giant Sky announced in December 2019 that is to build huge new film and television studios near the existing Elstree production site just outside London. As the battle between Netflix, Amazon and other streaming services intensifies, the need for more VR and AR studio space has also grown. Sky Studios Elstree will become the European production base for Sky and NBCUniversal, which owns Universal Studios, as both are owned by the US pay-TV giant Comcast. Sky says the studio complex, which it hopes will also become a base for other companies' projects, will result in £3bn being spent on TV and film productions in its first five years. The company has made the move to develop its own production base as the UK increasingly faces a squeeze on studio space, as TV companies, film studios and the streaming giants pour billions into making new content. Sky Studios Elstree will have 14 stages, the smallest of which will be 1,800 square metres, with enough space to shoot several films and TV shows at the same time.
Television broadcast of the Olympic Games has, over the decades, become a showcase for new technologies. Virtual reality (VR) and 5G innovations will add val
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
When Canada qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026, OneSoccer knew this wasn'...
04/07/2026
Celebrates company's 80th anniversary
Rhodes have recently revealed that they will be producing a limited run of electric pianos in celebration of their...
04/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Cameras Empower Youth Broadcasting Program
Brie Clayton July 3, 2026
0 Comments
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro and Blackmagi...
04/07/2026
iZotope Joins Boris FX
Boris Yamnitsky July 3, 2026
0 Comments
iZotope, the team behind RX and Ozone, is joining Boris FX. A letter from founder Boris...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
03/07/2026
New bundle & three Single Packs
Continuing to expand their already sizeable orchestral collection, VSL's latest release introduces three new Single Pack...
03/07/2026
Venue installs new ATC-equipped control room
LSO St Luke's, a unique music venue that also serves as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, have rec...
03/07/2026
Caden Pearson appointed new Commissioning Editor for NITV
3 July, 2026
Media releases
National Indigenous Television (NITV) has strengthened its commitment...
03/07/2026
1 February 2023
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Death Star
Andy Marken July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Look, I can't get involved. I've got work to do. It's not that I like the Empire; I hate i...
03/07/2026
Berklee's New Visual Identity: Honoring Our History, Building for What's...
03/07/2026
Scripps Research scientists awarded $2M to advance global disease surveillance Two Gates Foundation grants will expand wastewater surveillance and AI-driven dis...
03/07/2026
Joan Pulupa joins Scripps Research faculty to study the organization of DNA in brain cells and its links to neurodegeneration Using smell-sensing neurons and ad...
02/07/2026
Entering her senior year, this hometown girl is paving a career in live sports production gaining experience in replay and audio and as a TD
In the live-sports...
02/07/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
02/07/2026
BLAST, a competitive entertainment company focused on esports, has announced more than $133 million in revenue for 2025, representing more than 40% year-over-ye...
02/07/2026
Riedel Communications has announced official SKAARHOJ panel support for SimplyLive production workflows, enabled through the SimplyLive 2.1 release. The integra...
02/07/2026
The Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic has deployed LiveU video-over-bond...
02/07/2026
Gravity Media USA has announced the appointment of Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development, effective July 1, 2026. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Bosto...
02/07/2026
TwelveLabs, a video intelligence company, has announced $100 million in Series B funding co-led by NEA and NAVER Ventures, with participation from Amazon, Radic...
02/07/2026
The Pro Padel League (PPL) has announced a broadcast partnership with USA Sports that will air five PPL championship matches on CNBC during the 2026 season, the...
02/07/2026
LiveLike, a digital fan engagement platform, has announced eight confirmed FIFA ...
02/07/2026
Cobalt Digital has received Future's Best of Show Award, presented by AV Technology at InfoComm 2026, for its blueCORE family of standalone signal processor...
02/07/2026
Synamedia has announced the appointment of Dr. Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transition...
02/07/2026
The Esports Foundation (EF) and Sony Group Corporation have announced an expanded collaboration for the Esports World Cup 2026 (EWC), taking place in Paris, Fra...
02/07/2026
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. ( Z') has announced exclusive broadcast and digital rights for the Bundesliga in India for five years, beginning with the...
02/07/2026
An effort uniting News, Sports, Local, and Telemundo, the 50+-camera live produc...
02/07/2026
Zoey Deutch, John Slattery, Ken Marino, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, and Ben Wang appe...
02/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
02/07/2026
A new era in unmixing and spectral editing
The latest version of Steinberg's spectral audio-editing software has just arrived, building on the strength...
02/07/2026
Aims to simplify additive synthesis
Sine Machine is the debut launch from Melatonin, a Vienna-based developer who have spent the past six years creating wha...
02/07/2026
Products to remain fully active & supported
Following the news of Native Instruments joining the inMusic brand line-up, Academy and Emmy Award-winning visua...
02/07/2026
What you missed!
Last weekend, Saturday 27 June 2026, saw the debut of Sound On Sounds new GearExpo UK event, the largest dedicated pro-audio event to take ...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Following the successful launch of its inaugural APAC Mentoring Programme last month, the Rise AV APAC Regional Council will bring the conversation around mento...
02/07/2026
Blackmagic PYXIS 6K Used to Shoot Director Takahisa Zeze's Cry Out
Brie Clayton July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Highly mobile camera supports tense and de...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions acquires BFE, expanding its lead in European broadcast, medi...
02/07/2026
Berklee Alum and Faculty Perform at Boston Public Library's 250th Anniversar...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions GmbH, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast media industry, is acquiring BFE Studio und Medien...
02/07/2026
Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has extended the ingest facility at leading Brazilian sports company LiveMode, work...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Standalone processors acknowledged for the innovation and value they bring to Pro AV
Cobalt Digital, a leading designer and manufacturer of signal processing ...
02/07/2026
Synamedia announced today the appointment of Dr Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transitio...
-- -- 
