Under the posts: How Aerial Camera Systems' PostCAM is bringing Autumn Nations Cup viewers closer to the action By Will Strauss, Editor
Tuesday, November 17, 2020 - 09:48
Print This Story
Saturday's Autumn Nations Cup rugby match at Twickenham between England and Georgia might have been a somewhat un-noteworthy one-sided affair on the pitch but off it there was at least one thing that caught the eye: the debut of PostCAM.
As the name suggests, PostCAM is a specialist camera system that is installed on the goalposts at either end of the playing area. It provides a unique view of try-line and end-of-field action and can be used for both live shots and replays.
At the weekend, PostCAM was used in the host broadcast as part of the world feed for England vs Georgia (pictured above) and to aid the Television Match Official (TMO). It will be used again on all England's home games at Twickenham during the tournament and at the Parc y Scarlets stadium in Llanelli for Wales vs England.
Supplied and operated by Aerial Camera Systems (ACS), the innovation consists of eight 1080p 3G POV minicams (four at each end) attached to the rear of the posts in the in-goal' areas using specially designed low profile adjustable mounts.
Powered by battery, PostCAM includes multi-channel video encoding and transmission equipment housed in a padded enclosure which is clamped to the post.
The enclosure is installed immediately above the lower sponsored padding while the mounts and the main body of the cameras fit inside the post diameter with the two inside cameras on each set of posts. The Reverse inside' and Gantry inside' are remotely operated pan and tilt cameras that can follow play.
As production gets more familiar with it, we would expect its use to become more common. It will depend to a certain extent on the flow of the game though.
Speaking to SVG Europe following the debut of PostCAM, ACS sales director Matt Coyde explained how the idea came into being.
Over the years we've watched a lot of rugby and seen the innovations that are brought in, he said. We've always felt that there's something that we could do in-and-around the goalposts because that's an area where there's a lot of action.
Once we had the idea, we went through various testing iterations looking at what was currently available on the market in terms of cameras.
Obviously there's a lot of challenges in placing cameras on the posts because they have to be small and discreet and you can't run power out to the posts as there's a live area of the pitch behind them. Also, there was the question of how you get all those feeds back? Do you just put one camera on and have an RF link? Or can you put more than one and switch the feed back from the post to the OB? We did a lot of research but what really helped was some innovations from Dream Chip Technologies and their UK representative, which is Broadcast Solutions.
This was the game-changer for ACS and PostCAM that allowed the concept to move forward and eventually secure approval from World Rugby for use on the Autumn Nations Cup.
We identified that Dream Chip's cameras would be suitable for the application because they were small, the right format and they also had a separate device called the Barracuda which allows you to encode live video outputs into an IP Stream, explained Coyde. This allowed us to create an array of cameras on each post and work within the space restrictions.
A shot from PostCAM captured during a test that took place ahead of the Autumn Nations Cup
To get the signals back to the OB compound where ACS has its own dedicated unit, PostCAM is wirelessly linked to a receiver behind the advertising hoardings. From there, the signal is cabled to the compound via fibre.
Within the compound itself, two operators control PostCAM's pan and tilt cameras. They are backed up by a support engineer who ensures a consistent wifi signal.
To optimise EVS requirements within the OB, the eight live video feeds are switched by ACS between each end of the pitch before being sent to the main truck.
CyanView RCPs are also provided to enable PostCAM to match the other stadium line cameras.
On Saturday, PostCAM was mainly used for replays but Coyde is convinced that as the technology beds in, it'll be used more and more, including for live shots.
We were really pleased with how the first match went. As production gets more familiar with it, we would expect its use to become more common. It will depend to a certain extent on the flow of the game as well, though.
Nobody else has tried to achieve this in the way that we've done it and using this range of new technologies.
Coyde is also optimistic there are more opportunities out there for PostCAM too, on other sports and other tournaments.
The idea was to try and do something new and different and I think that's what PostCAM does because it provides some brand-new angles. Nobody else has tried to achieve this in the way that we've done it and using this range of new technologies.
It is an efficient operation and is very cost-effective. Rather than having four separate video feeds going back, you can basically encode it into one cable or one link to your OB. I have no doubt there will be more applications for this in the future.
The Autumn Nations Cup is a new international rugby union tournament that has been developed to fill the gap in the schedules caused by the COVID-related cancellation of international rugby tours.
England vs Georgia in the Autumn Nations Cup took place on Saturday 14 November. Live coverage, produced by Sunset+Vine, was broadcast on Amazon Prime Video in the UK. The tournament continues until 6 December.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
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...
22/07/2026
Among other tweaks to coverage, the broadcaster added announce positions in the ...
22/07/2026
The Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN) has reported a sharp acceleration in Australia's sportstech sector, with revenue growth rising from 10% in...
22/07/2026
From a retrofitted broadcast bus to packed Match Day Live! events, Bennett detai...
22/07/2026
TMRW Sports has named Brendan Donohue as President, Flag Football, where he will lead the company's professional flag football business in partnership with ...
22/07/2026
Stephen Arnold Music (SAM) designed and produced soundtracks for nine projection...
22/07/2026
Harmonic has announced a $25,000 donation to Global Empowerment Mission (GEM) fo...
22/07/2026
Telemundo has announced it has acquired from UC3 exclusive U.S. Spanish-language...
22/07/2026
The Rest Is Football, hosted by Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, and Micah Richards, ...
22/07/2026
Sports Studio has announced a partnership with TheSoul Group to distribute Free ...
22/07/2026
Daktronics has concluded its 2026 High School Video Summit, a two-day hybrid event combining virtual sessions with hands-on host school visits across the countr...
22/07/2026
FOR-A America will exhibit at the MMCA Show in Pensacola, Florida (July 21-24), marking the company's first appearance at the house of worship AV event. FOR...
22/07/2026
The New York Yankees have selected Lumen Technologies (NYSE: LUMN) to connect Ya...
22/07/2026
Calrec will exhibit at IBC 2026 (Stand 8.C47) with demonstrations of its IP-native audio ecosystem built around the Argo console range, and will announce two ne...
22/07/2026
Solid State Logic has announced the appointment of Algam EKO as its distributor for SSL large format consoles in Italy, covering the Live, Broadcast, and Studio...
22/07/2026
FloSports has announced the launch of the FloSports Channel, a free ad-supported streaming channel premiering on Prime Video in the U.S. on July 21. The channel...
22/07/2026
Banana Ball TV (BTV), the broadcast operation of the Savannah Bananas, has insta...
22/07/2026
SiriusXM and Audacy have announced an agreement bringing 42 Audacy sports, news, and talk stations from 29 U.S. markets to SiriusXM. Twenty-three Audacy sports ...
22/07/2026
The collaboration produced more than 500 short-form videos across four cities th...
22/07/2026
At 2,600 sq. ft., the new home of digital content houses a main studio, podcast space, and an auxiliary control room
NFL franchises are accelerating their prod...
22/07/2026
Library now available in Engine Player
Another of Eduardo Tarilonte's popular sample libraries has just been moved over to Engine Audio's Engine Pla...
22/07/2026
All-in-one mic & DSP interface overhauled
Cloudvocal have just refreshed the design of their all-in-one mic, audio interface and DSP processor, introducing ...
22/07/2026
The final boss of the lost dual-op-amp circuit
Electro-Harmonix have just introduced the Deluxe Big Muff Pi 2, which they say offers their latest take on t...
22/07/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Proven managed IP solution helps broadcasters confidently navigate the future of broadcast distribution
LTN announces it has completed successful satellite-to-...
22/07/2026
Today, Chaos announced V-Ray 7, update 4, eliminating the need for asset conversions and tool switching, which slow down media and entertainment pipelines. Arti...
22/07/2026
An AI playground for the Project Indigo camera app
Marc Levoy July 22, 2026
0 Comments
At left is the user interface of our Playground, running on an ...
22/07/2026
Custom Consoles announces the completion of a large technical furniture project for Radio T l vision Suisse (RTS) at the networks recently inaugurated productio...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Culver City, CA, July 21, 2026 3D streaming infrastructure provider Miris today announced glTF intake, including the binary .glb form, to its spatial streamin...
22/07/2026
Documentary Lo Invisible Captured with Blackmagic PYXIS 6K
Brie Clayton July 21, 2026
0 Comments
Camera's versatile design allowed filmmakers to c...
22/07/2026
AAF Bridge converts AAF and XML Timelines to Ableton Live - and back
Jerome Gardier July 21, 2026
0 Comments
A two-way converter for macOS and Windows...
22/07/2026
From Class to Concert: Explore a Student-Led Production of David Bowies Work Thr...
22/07/2026
A poisoned spy, a secret war, and a small English city contaminated by a deadly chemical weapon. Available on Sky Documentaries from 4 AugustWednesday 22 July 2...
22/07/2026
Audio at Parity: Comscore Launches Transcript-Level Targeting and Measurement wi...
22/07/2026
Arvato Systems and Lobster Enter into a Partnership and Combine the Integration Platform and Managed Services
Flexible integration solutions for cloud, hybrid...
22/07/2026
RT REPORTS NET SURPLUS OF 22.5 MILLION IN 2025...
22/07/2026
In the Opinion of the Censor airs Monday 27 July at 9.35pm on RT One and RT Player
In the Opinion of the Censor looks at how films for theatrical release wer...
22/07/2026
Before a healthcare robot can be useful in the real world, it has to learn how the physical world pushes back. Anatomy varies. Instruments bend, press, slip and...
21/07/2026
New research involving a cross-section of Mongolias independent media landscape finds enthusiasm for AI as a tool to improve efficiency, sustainability and resi...
21/07/2026
With winners Spain having already paraded the World Cup trophy through Madrid in front of millions of fans and the dust now settling on an epic tournament of th...
Under the posts: How Aerial Camera Systems' PostCAM is bringing Autumn Nations Cup viewers closer to the action By Will Strauss, Editor 
