Beijing 2022: OBS Ready to Innovate for Winter Games, Set to Create More than 6,000 Hours of Content By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, February 1, 2022 - 9:37 am
Print This Story
Later this week the Olympic flame will be lit for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, igniting 17 days of competition that will be the largest Winter Olympics production ever and capping off an intense period of production that saw OBS and rights holders from around the world tackle two Olympic Games in less than seven months. Of course, there was a time when that was the norm, but that was also a time when the scale of the games and the broadcast operations were much smaller.
OBS has taken steps to make the Beijing main IBC smaller and more efficient.
In the next 17 days OBS will produce an estimated 6,000 hours of content for rights holders and sports fans, delivered via 41 HD multilateral feeds and 31 UHD multilateral feeds (plus 43 HD and 36 UHD distribution feeds). More than 660 cameras and 1,600 microphones will be used by production teams working out of 16 production trucks and nine datacenter-based production units. And home base for OBS and various rights holders will be two IBCs: a 30,000 square meter IBC at the newly built China National Convention Centre Phase II in the Olympic Green in Beijing (which also includes the Main Press Center for the first time) and a 5,000 square meter mountain IBC at the Zhangjikao Mountain Broadcast Centre. The Beijing IBC will be home to eight rights holders (representing 38 organizations, counting sublicensees) while the Mountain IBC will be home to five rights holders which represent another 16 organizations.
The Mountain IBC will be home to five rights holders.
OBS says it has been a unique build-up to a Games as the COVID-19 pandemic caused not only travel restrictions, but also forced the postponement of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 to the summer of 2021. That disrupted the broadcast preparations for the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 and planning has needed to be nimble and flexible, requiring a new way of thinking and constant adaptation to an ever-changing situation. However, OBS says the many lessons learnt from the safe organisation of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics have helped put in place everything required for a smooth and efficient broadcast operation. Moreover, the guidelines laid out in the Beijing 2022 Playbook mean everyone involved with the Games will be able to work in a safe and secure environment.
From a broadcast perspective, Beijing 2022 will offer an exciting glimpse into the immersive and virtualized future of Olympic broadcasting, exploring new and innovative ways of producing the Games while engaging worldwide audiences further. Beijing 2022 will again mark a leap forward in Olympic Games broadcast technology. The Olympic Games Beijing 2008 were the first to be produced and broadcast entirely in High Definition (HD) and now, 14 years later, Beijing 2022 will be the first time an Olympic Winter Games is natively produced in Ultra High Definition (UHD) High Dynamic Range (HDR) with immersive audio.
OBS will achieve this level of coverage thanks to a brand-new, state-of-the-art IP-based core system that will allow for additional services, new formats and more flexibility, while dramatically reducing the carbon footprint of the broadcast operation in the host city.
To showcase Beijing 2022's celebration of winter sports, OBS will introduce a series of innovative technologies to improve the overall Olympic viewing experience and provide worldwide audiences with the genuine feeling of being at the Games. Working with Worldwide partners, Alibaba and Intel, OBS plans to use the latest technologies to deliver a far more immersive experience than in previous Games. Together with Intel, for example, OBS will capture, produce and distribute the Olympic Winter Games in live 8K Virtual Reality (VR) for the first time. Through a much improved, smoother user experience, Olympic fans (via participating RHBs) will be able to watch the action in higher quality, true-to-life VR and feel like they're actually there alongside the athletes, while broadcasters will be able to use these VR feeds in 8K to create virtual backdrops for their television studios.
OBS will generate further engaging and dynamic viewing experiences in Beijing by deploying more multi-camera replay systems for frame-freeze bullet-time' slow motion replays. These systems will allow viewers to move around the athlete and capture an up-close look at the action from various angles.
For curling and speed skating, OBS has joined with Alibaba to use its leading-edge cloud solution to seamlessly deliver unique replays to viewers around the world in mere seconds. The wider adoption of cloud and 5G technologies in Beijing will reshape the way the Games are broadcast.
The OBS Cloud will once again support the backend of Olympic broadcasting and play a key role in content distribution and post-production workflows. OBS will distribute the feeds in HD and UHD through the cloud for the first time to more than 20 broadcast organizations. Not only do the RHBs have a new means of receiving the live signals in their home countries but they also have a more agile solution to choose which feeds they wish to receive.
The full 5G coverage implemented across all Olympic venues also provides new opportunities for live coverage, and for the first time, OBS will capitalize on super-fast 5G wireless connectivity to deliver live signals from several cameras, including those fitted on snowmobiles at cross-country skiing and also those used in the start and finish areas at alpine skiing.
Teaming up with Intel, OBS will also explore more flexible and modular production environments by designing a revolutionary virtualized Outside Broadcast (OB) van. With the full adoption of
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...
15/06/2026
Detach from Direct-Attached: How Remote Editing with EVO Keeps Creative Teams Mo...
14/06/2026
Library captures 1960s R&B/pop drum sound
Following on from their recent wave of plug-in effects, Iconic Instruments have just launched an all-new virtual d...
14/06/2026
HBO Comedy Rooster Shot with URSA Cine 17K 65
Brie Clayton June 14, 2026
0 Comments
Large format brings viewers intimately close to characters.
Black...
13/06/2026
Latest expansion pack includes 252 presets
Devious Machines have recently introduced another expansion for their powerful multi-effects plug-in, Infiltrator...
13/06/2026
Create custom DAW/plug-in controllers using prompts
MetaGrid have recently introduced an all-new AI Builder function to their touchscreen-based control surf...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
YES Network and The Gotham Sports App will air seven Athletes Unlimited Softball...
12/06/2026
The United Football League will host its FAST Innovation Suite at the 2026 United Bowl presented by Credit One Bank on Saturday, June 13 at 3:00 p.m. ET at Audi...
12/06/2026
PTZOptics and LayerJot will present live demonstrations at InfoComm 2026 showing how natural-language AI prompting, robotic camera control, and on-device comput...
12/06/2026
MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will exhibit at InfoComm 2026, featuring...
12/06/2026
Ateme has announced that Eurovision Services is using Ateme's software-based frame-rate conversion technology for international live event workflows. The de...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin and Simplestream have announced a partnership with Xperi to simplify the launch of OTT streaming services on TiVo OS smart TVs and devices. The collabo...
12/06/2026
Net Insight has announced that a multinational technology company is deploying a...
12/06/2026
MLB Players Inc., the business arm of the MLB Players Association, has announced a partnership with Athletes First to develop and sell brand partnerships across...
12/06/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D) and VuWall have announced the CommandKeyboard-Advanc...
12/06/2026
Comcast Smart Solutions announces a new smart technology deployment with Major L...
12/06/2026
Elevation Worship completed the initial leg of its Elevation Nights 2026 tour ...
12/06/2026
AJA Video Systems has announced KONA IP25 support for Colorfront Transkoder and ...
12/06/2026
Audinate Group Limited (ASX: AD8) will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C7321, Ce...
12/06/2026
Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould has announced the appointment of Scott Adametz as Chief Technology Officer. The Pac-12 describes the hire as the first CTO appo...
12/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced AMPP Edge Live, a production system combining Grass Valley hardware, NVIDIA Blackwell GPU acceleration, and AMPP OS in a single platf...
12/06/2026
At one time a trailblazer with the launch of the Longhorn Network, the Universit...
12/06/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
12/06/2026
Chyron has announced PAINT 10.4, an update to its illustrated replay and sports ...
12/06/2026
SVP, Production, Mark Gross: With the new schedule, with not having every Sunday night, it has given us an opportunity to take a step back and reimagine what o...
12/06/2026
For Televisa Technical Engineering Manager Roberto N nez Ibarra and the small team of 12 technicians and two production personnel at the IBC things are already ...
12/06/2026
Simple Steps to Better Acoustics - Taming The Small Room
Most of us mix in spare rooms and small spaces, where the acoustics fight us at every turn. At Gear...
12/06/2026
Latest addition expands vintage-inspired effects palette
Meris' Ottobit pedal range draws its inspiration from vintage gaming consoles, and the latest a...
12/06/2026
Soundbox-based chamber strings series expanded
Sonora Cinematic have just announced the launch of the second instalment in their Soundbox-based chamber stri...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
AJA Announces KONA IP25 Integration with Colorfront Software
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Collaboration enables uncompressed SMPTE ST 2110 I/O ...
12/06/2026
URSA Cine 12K LF Used to Create Visuals for STUTS' K-Arena Concert
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Organic visuals projected on a giant scre...
12/06/2026
MTI FILM Acquires Mango New Edit, Expanding its Global Post-Production Services ...
12/06/2026
AI Point Tracking Speeds Up Complex VFX Tracks in Mocha Pro
Jessie Electa Petrov June 12, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic point trac...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Simplestream, a provider of OTT and broadcast solutions, and technology provider Xperi, to...
12/06/2026
Leostream Corporation, creator of the world-leading Leostream Remote Desktop Access Platform, today announced Jigsaw24, a leading B2B IT solutions provider wit...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
How Aussie indie games and screen are levelling up with IP 11 June 2026
Ari Harrison, Pro Jank Footy
Head of Games Joey Egger and Ari Harrison of Umbrella sha...
12/06/2026
AgentPerf from Artificial Analysis, the industry's first agentic AI benchmark, gives developers, enterprises and infrastructure providers a clear way to com...
Beijing 2022: OBS Ready to Innovate for Winter Games, Set to Create More than 6,000 Hours of Content By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director 
