Big step forward: EMG Italy unveils basketball Instant Replay Center By Roberto Landini, Italian Correspondent
Friday, January 27, 2023 - 09:45
Print This Story
The Instant Replay Center is part of a wider remote production project for championship rightsholder Eleven Sports
EMG Italy has created a centralised remote basketball refereeing service in a new control room within its production centre in Cologno Monzese, Milan.
Officially inaugurated on the 16th day of the championship, before the second round, and called the Instant Replay Center, the control room is being used by Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the FIP Italian Referees Committee. It is part of a wider remote production project for championship rightsholder Eleven Sports.
All incoming signals from the fields of play are received in the centre, allowing precise control of the action to support the decisions of referees, who are connected live via audio and video from courts around Italy.
Building on experience
While the Instant Replay Center is new, it builds on the solid basis of EMG Italy's experience in remote production and the systems installed derive from those already widely used by EMG for other sports.
EMG Italy proposed a centralised arbitration control centre after seeing a similar setup for the NBA in the US. From a technical point of view, this is an enhanced structure that required investments in infrastructure and connectivity: in fact, dedicated connection lines were installed with Fastweb, which created a 1GB A link and a second 200MB B link, explains Francesco Donato, CTO of EMG Italy. In addition, at the Cologno headquarters, two 10GB links were installed to guarantee the management of [up to eight] matches at the same time. This has allowed us to enhance the contribution loops to and from the playing fields.
The project also involved the fixed fibre optic cabling of 16 arenas. In practice, EMG Italy has created a network dedicated to basketball instant replays which handles eight signals coming from each of the basketball arenas to connect these to the Cologno Monzese production centre.
How it works
The installation is full IP , continues Donato. In fact, we start by taking the signal from the cameras in the field, which is conveyed through a system architecture which then allows us to use the content both to feed the instant replay solution and to supply signals to the remote production centre.
In the Instant Replay room each operator for each of the stations is in constant contact with a spotter' on the field, a person in charge of the judges' table who facilitates communications.
The request to intervene in a match can be made by the coach or the referee, who can ask to review game action. The operator in the Instant Replay room collaborates with both.
Each of the stations receives signals from all the cameras on the court using a monitor and multiviewer to operate the system. At the centre of this mosaic of simultaneous images, a further picture-in-picture box shows the scoreboard so the timing of the match can be checked.
The Instant Replay Center is a big step forward for this great sport
The instant replay operator has a control panel and a hardware interface to move the images forwards and backwards at various speeds, frame by frame, and they can share one or more shots with the referee in real-time, depending on the request.
Each referee on the field receives a service signal in audio and the images requested in the video. These images are also available for airing.
Dario Marra, head of graphics at EMG Italy, says: System latencies and two-way remote communication were some of the potential difficulties to face in remote production. So we launched the appropriate technical standards, trained the instant replay operators and added a project manager, who is a dedicated project leader and co-ordinator.
He takes care of the co-ordination of the service, maintains relations with the clubs, takes care of the preventive installations at the arenas, the alignment of all the signals, and verifies a dedicated checklist pre-match.
Furthermore, thanks to his technical preparation on the system, he is able to help the refereeing team by proposing the best shots to the operator and becomes the reference for the customer in the project, to update staff in a co-ordinated way.
Leading from the front
The instant replay service has been used in Italy for many years, operating locally on courts and often managed by personnel delegated by the host clubs. However, EMG Italy wanted to lead the way in Europe and improve the level of operations.
We wanted to improve the whole structure of the arbitration control from a technical point of view, increasing the quality standard, and from an operational point of view with a new level of preparation and management, adds Marra.
The system has all the functions required by FIP for federal approval and is a crucial tool for referee management.
EMG Italy's Cologno Monzese production centre
Umberto Gandini, president of Lega Basket, says: After being the first European basketball league to use instant replay in all matches starting from the 2014-15 season in agreement with the Italian Basketball Federation, we continue to introduce technological improvements giving clubs and referees increasingly advanced tools to ensure certainty and uniformity of decisions at each match.
Luigi Lamonica, commissioner of the Italian Referees Committee, adds: The new system will facilitate the work of the referees above all by speeding up the time taken to reach decisions subject to verification. The hope is that this work will continue and that, thanks to technology, further possibilities may be developed to increasingly facilitate the decisions of referees.
It's certainly big news, underlines Donato, because we have introduced
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
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...
17/05/2026
Delta Goodrem's Eurovision Eclipse marks end of a stellar run
17 May, 2026
Media releases
Bulgaria wins Eurovision 2026
Relive every spellbinding mome...
16/05/2026
Helps to deliver a clean, balanced midrange
Developed alongside Newfangled Audio, the latest plug-in in Eventide's software collection has been designed...
16/05/2026
Brings onboard stem rendering to RANE System One
Engine DJ have just released Engine DJ 5.0, a free update for their Engine DJ OS embedded hardware and Engi...
16/05/2026
Boris FX Continuum Pairs AI Precision and Advanced Creative Controls
Jessie Electa Petrov May 16, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic de...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/05/2026
Seattle Sounders FC and Seattle Reign FC, in partnership with RAVE Foundation an...
15/05/2026
Dan Brumm has served as sound designer on Bluey, the Australian children's t...
15/05/2026
The Professional Audio Manufacturers Alliance (PAMA) and Shure Incorporated are accepting applications for the 6th annual Mark Brunner Professional Audio Schola...
15/05/2026
Netflix has announced an expanded NFL schedule for 2026 and beyond under a four-year partnership extension with the NFL through the 2029-30 season. Each season,...
15/05/2026
Ateme is supporting TVRI (Televisi Republik Indonesia) with a contribution and d...
15/05/2026
Concacaf has announced the launch of a new website and mobile app built on Deltatre's FORGE platform. Concacaf.com and the mobile app, available on iOS and ...
15/05/2026
Eutelsat has announced the launch of QBC Business Economic Channel by Qatar Media Corporation, broadcasting in 4K/UHD via Eutelsat's 7/8 West video neighbo...
15/05/2026
Major League Soccer has announced four original content series timed to the 2026...
15/05/2026
The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) has announced it will exhibit and present at InfoComm 2026, taking place June 13-19 at the Las Vegas Convention Cente...
15/05/2026
InfoComm 2026 will take place June 13-19 (exhibits June 17-19) at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The show will include sessions and exhibits covering broadcas...
15/05/2026
Tracy McGrady's Ones Basketball League (OBL) and FuboTV Inc. have announced ...
15/05/2026
Disguise has partnered with Creative Technology (CT) to deliver visual playback ...
15/05/2026
Sony Electronics has announced two new products for professional imaging: the Alpha 7R VI full-frame mirrorless camera and the FE 100-400mm F4.5 GM OSS super-te...
15/05/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
15/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
15/05/2026
For sports organizations, the most valuable assets are often the most sensitive:...
15/05/2026
The NFL's broadcast partners released their 2026 regular season schedules ye...
15/05/2026
When MMA icons Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano meet inside the Hexagon at Intuit Do...
15/05/2026
Daniel Roher attends the Tuner Premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at Eccles Theatre on January 22, 2026 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Neilson Bar...
15/05/2026
Last night, the Spotify Podcast Awards in Mexico returned to the country's capital. Now in its second year, the evening honors creators whose voices are hel...
15/05/2026
Rebranded show announced
Ahead of their 2026 return, Music Expo have announced that they have now officially changed their name to the MONO Music Conference...
15/05/2026
Fuzz pedal joins UK companys line-up
UK-based pedal makers Buzzing Bugs Audio Devices have recently unveiled their latest creation, the Bolster. Said to pay...
15/05/2026
Joint Statement: News Bargaining Incentive
28 April, 2026
Media releases
The vibrancy of Australian democracy relies on the robust and open exchange of new...
15/05/2026
Call it Deltavision, Australia's through to the Grand Final of this year'...
15/05/2026
Join Calrec at MPTS 2026 | May 13-14 | Stand A40 | Olympia, London We're looking forward to meeting up with customers and partners at this year's Media ...
15/05/2026
86% of media planners would move more linear TV budget to CTV if they had show-level targeting and reporting - and 65% would also shift dollars from programmati...
15/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/05/2026
Clear-Com will showcase new communications solutions and major platform updates at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N7005), June 17-19, in the North and Central Halls of t...
15/05/2026
Following an outstanding inaugural year in 2025, Rise AV is proud to announce the return of its flagship leadership initiative, Elevate. The programme continues...
15/05/2026
Berklee Announces Lineup for Inaugural AI Music Summit The three-day event puts musicians at the center of the future of music creation, ethics, and the indus...
15/05/2026
Lightware returns to InfoComm 2026 with a focused showcase of scalable USB-C connectivity, next-generation AV-over-IP solutions, and technologies that help over...
15/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/05/2026
Delivering a live, arena-scale production of a massively popular band is no small feat. Between expansive in-arena LED walls and a global live stream fed to onl...
Big step forward: EMG Italy unveils basketball Instant Replay Center By Roberto Landini, Italian Correspondent 
