GhostFrame Tech Proves Powerful for Regional Feeds, Shoots Without Reblocking, and More Single LED wall can be used to create multiple simultaneous outputs By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, May 16, 2023 - 9:19 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
In recent years, the capabilities of virtual studios, green-screen studios, and LED walls have expanded exponentially, thanks to increasingly powerful graphics engines, better graphics tools, and improved tracking. Such developments are also spurring production personnel to look for new ways to derive as much as possible from those elements, and that is one reason a relatively new production toolkit from GhostFrame is beginning to resonate with U.S. broadcasters, Fox Sports among them.
It's a toolkit that enables you to hide video content in an LED wall, which is invisible to the naked eye but visible through a camera, says Peter Angell, CEO, AGS AG, a GhostFrame partner. Each frame is sliced into a number of subframes. Those subframes include the frames that are supposed to be visible on each of the feeds as well as other frames that are used to visually delete the frames not relevant to each output.
We do that by showing the inverse image, he continues. The simplest way to explain that is with a green screen. We want you to see the green-screen frame on camera, but then we insert a frame that is magenta, the opposite of green, and they are played back so quickly your eye doesn't see either green or magenta. Instead, you see gray.
GhostFrame allows each of four feeds to have a separate background behind a presenter or talent.
The trick is in orchestrating the subframes in such a way that the overall light cycle of the frame appears to be one-60th of a second, eliminating flicker or motion disruption.
The end result is a system that allows a single LED wall to be used to create multiple simultaneous outputs. For example, a single presenter can stand in front of an LED wall announcing sports scores, and a single camera and the single LED wall can output feeds that have a different look or branding, making it much easier to embrace a future that is increasingly going to require personalized content. Even the studio audience could have a different experience.
They could see something completely different from what those watching the broadcast or stream see, Angell notes. A sports studio show could be regionalized or have a different feed for the home and visiting teams.
GhostFrame can make it easier to create regional feeds or to produce content with less need for reblocking.
GhostFrame's secret sauce is not hardware but firmware sent to the LED wall (currently, it is compatible with LED walls only from Roe Visual LED Display Solutions) and LED-wall-control systems from Megapixel. The firmware is licensed, either on a yearly basis or for a shorter period.
We do provide initial support as it can be quite hard to set up, adds Angell.
At the core, he adds, the system is all about the mathematics of camera frame rates and the refresh rate of the LED wall. The LED wall on show at NAB 2023, for example, refreshes around 14,000 times a second while the camera records at 240 fps.
If we are using a camera with global shutter, says Angell, we can sync the camera to the wall, run it at exactly the same rate, and then carve out the individual frames. If we are running at 240 fps, we can get really clean definition for all the frames because all four of the outputs will be 60 fps.
Other applications can help reduce the time required for resetting a scene or allow the LED wall or floor to display blocking instructions and even scripts to those in the studio while viewers at home see graphics or video elements (think footsteps visible only to talent so they can know where to walk). Camera tracking patterns can also be hidden, allowing the system to be used in a fully enclosed volumetric studio without the need for physical markers.
We can put the marker invisibly onto the wall, Angell explains. Wherever you point the camera, there are markers and physical points that are integrated with TrackMan. When you add it all up, you can do four things at the same time because the LED wall can have four realities.
The most interesting aspect of the demo at NAB 2023 involved shooting a daytime and nighttime scene at the same time. Three lighting panels around the small set were set up to light a daylight scene; three others lit a nighttime version. With the light panels controlled via the same controller as the LED panel, the subframes for the day scene were synchronized with the daylight panels, the subframes for the night scene with the nighttime panels. The result was one output that looked as if the subject was in daylight and one where the subject seemed to be outside at dusk.
This is crucial, says Angell, because you can light all your realities simultaneously and don't need to reblock or reshoot or reset the lighting. That's a real production benefit because you can do three or four things at once without changing anything.
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
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
10/06/2026
DAZN-owned digital-media company launches three fan-first series leaning into cr...
10/06/2026
Clear-Com has announced the appointment of Jason Dino as Southwest Regional Sales Manager USA, covering Southern California and the Southwest region. Dino joins...
10/06/2026
An 11% decrease in number of global broadcast deals reflects the organization...
10/06/2026
The Women Without Boundaries Awards recognize women whose work is advancing the future of media, broadcast, AV, workplace technology, digital experience, and re...
10/06/2026
Today is match day minus two for FIFA and HBS. On Thursday, there will be two ma...
10/06/2026
SES is supporting broadcast distribution of the world's biggest football tou...
10/06/2026
NDI has announced that BirdDog has become the first hardware manufacturer to achieve full NDI 6.3 compatibility across its complete lineup of cameras, encoders,...
10/06/2026
Vince Caputo and Scott Carter, winners of the 2026 Sports Emmy for Outstanding Post Produced Audio have been announced as presenters for the 2026 SVG Advanced A...
10/06/2026
FOX One today unveiled a slate of new product features and enhancements designed to elevate the viewing experience for fans on the official streaming platform o...
10/06/2026
Primary production partners Dome Productions and Raycom Sports once again played...
10/06/2026
The Women in Sports Filmmaking Experienceship is an immersive professional devel...
10/06/2026
The league has expanded its HSAN architecture for the NBA Finals to manage more ...
10/06/2026
The inaugural MoonPay X Games League (XGL) Winter Draft will take place Wednesday, September 16, 2026 at Cosm Los Angeles from 7-9 p.m. PT. The event will strea...
10/06/2026
The University of Oklahoma (OU) Athletics Department and Learfield have announce...
10/06/2026
The Video Services Forum (VSF) has released TR-06-4 Part 8, a new specification for RIST Satellite-Hybrid: Out-of-Band Method. The specification creates a mecha...
10/06/2026
Riedel Communications provided the communications infrastructure for the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference (WLNC) in Lisbon, supporting live medical proc...
10/06/2026
A still from The Doom Generation by Gregg Araki (Courtesy of Sundance Institute)
By Lucy Spicer
Have you checked out our Sundance Film Festival 101 list yet...
10/06/2026
Get Hands-On with Interfaces & Mic Preamp Brands
If youre after a new interface or preamp, then GearExpo UK is the place to be! Well have a whole host of au...
10/06/2026
November 13-14 2026, The Midway, San Francisco
Following their recent rebranding, MONO Music Conference (formerly Music Expo) have officially announced thei...
10/06/2026
Debut instrument free for limited time
deFORM is the debut release from newly founded developer ebbandflow, and it's being offered as a free download fo...
10/06/2026
Alone Australia Season 4: Meet the Cast
10 June, 2026
Media releases
WATCH THE TRAILER
Smash-hit survival series Alone Australia drops its highly anticipa...
10/06/2026
DEADLY THEN, DEADLY NOW, DEADLY ALWAYS: SBS & NITV IGNITE NAIDOC WEEK 2026 WITH ...
10/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz and TRUMPF advance laser-based drone defense with THORIS LCS Rohde & Schwarz is showcasing THORIS at ILA 2026: A sovereign, end to end counter...
10/06/2026
MAHLE and Rohde & Schwarz develop application for sensor testing of modern drive...
10/06/2026
Production and Development Funding supports the creation of compelling, commercially viable, artistic and culturally relevant South African screen content. Deve...
10/06/2026
Media buyers and sellers can now compare YouTube reach from computer, mobile, an...
10/06/2026
Accedo, Humans not Robots, and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) have announced the launch of Ecoflow X. Formerly an IBC Accelerator project, ...
10/06/2026
Frequency, the engine powering the world's leading streaming television channels, today announced that James Smith has joined the company as General Manager...
10/06/2026
At the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference (WLNC) in Lisbon, Riedel Communications provided the communications infrastructure for live medical procedures s...
10/06/2026
Globecast, a leading provider of broadcast, media, and entertainment managed services, today announced the launch of its Content Exchange platform powered by Or...
10/06/2026
Klvr will showcase how venues, integrators and production teams are rethinking disposable battery usage at InfoComm 2026 (Las Vegas, June 17-19, booth #N6311). ...
10/06/2026
The Video Services Forum (VSF) has further enhanced the Reliable Internet Streaming Transport (RIST) protocol by incorporating a new feature, RIST Satellite-Hyb...
10/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/06/2026
10 Jun 2026
VEON's Banglalink Brings Every World Cup 2026 Match to Football...
10/06/2026
Wednesday 10 June 2026
How to watch every ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 match live on Sky Sports
Where is the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 availabl...
10/06/2026
Wednesday 10 June 2026
P RLA brings first-ever Beautifully Clean Oral Care'...
10/06/2026
Wednesday 10 June 2026
Sky reveals pulse-pounding first teaser trailer for upco...
10/06/2026
Wuppertal June 10, 2026
Riedel Artist at the Heart of the 14th World Live Neurovascular ConferenceAt the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference (WLNC) in Li...
10/06/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Showcases New Mobile Experience, Collections and Games Vision in APAC
Product
10 June 2026
GlobalSouth KoreaJapan
Link copied to c...
10/06/2026
Back to All News
Ready to Join? The Netflix Fan Club Arrives at Cannes Lions
Business
10 June 2026
Global
Link copied to clipboard
Download all assets
N...
10/06/2026
Chemists snap together complex 3D molecules from highly reactive radicals-without losing their shape Scripps Research team develops stereoretentive radical-radi...
09/06/2026
Kiswe announces an expanded long-term partnership with ONE Championship (ONE), t...
09/06/2026
SiriusXM will broadcast FOX Sports' English-language commentary for all 104 FIFA World Cup 2026 matches from June 11 through July 19, available to subscribe...
09/06/2026
EVS has announced it is changing its corporate name from EVS Broadcast Equipment to EVS, reflecting the company's expanded portfolio beyond broadcast equipm...
09/06/2026
Fox Corporation and the NFL have announced a multi-year agreement to bring NFL c...
GhostFrame Tech Proves Powerful for Regional Feeds, Shoots Without Reblocking, and More Single LED wall can be used to create multiple simultaneous outputs By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director 
