The ScoreBox Gives Producers Tools to Keep Score Like Pros

For more than a decade, The ScoreBox has been helping local and regional sports broadcasters put out a product on par with national broadcasters with its eponymous on-screen score system that combines portability and flexibility with low cost. Now, the company is enabling users to literally cut the cord as the latest version of The ScoreBox includes a self-contained optical character recognition (OCR) that allows it to read scores and time clock information directly from scoreboards without a cable connection.

Such innovative features have made The ScoreBox a popular choice among sports broadcasters, sports venues, schools, and independent producers across North America, including the Edmonton Oilers, Kansas City Wizards, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Las Vegas' MGM Grand Hotel. Recent purchasers include the Staples Center in Los Angeles and a Midwest-based collegiate sports network that is adding 15 units this summer.

We've been implementing new features and capabilities into the system since it was first introduced in 2002, says The ScoreBox CTO Jerry Zuckerman. Our system provides smaller producers with many of the features of custom-built systems used by the networks, but at a fraction of the cost.

Enhancements built into the system over the years have increased the ability of users to configure on-screen score boxes to suit individual needs and made the system applicable to a growing number of sports. Standard support is provided for baseball, basketball, football, hockey, soccer, volleyball, and wrestling. Other sports can be accommodated upon request. Another recently added feature made the system compatible with NewTek TriCaster iVGA streaming as part of a complete, mobile production solution.

The ScoreBox is available either as a portable, all-in-one, lunchbox system or as a rack-mounted device for mobile production. Users control the DVE display through a simple user interface and can customize it in a variety of ways, including the addition of team colors and logos. Other features for boosting production value include go to break and other scores functions, and a comparison page and tab function for competing team stats.

The new self-contained OCR feature is an alternate to the system's standard scoreboard interface. Instead of a direct cable connection, a camera is used to read scores and time clock information directly off the scoreboard. Accuracy is up to 1/10th second. It's very simple to set up and use, making it a great convenience for producers, says Zuckerman.

In keeping with longstanding policy, the new OCR feature is being offered to current users at no cost. We're working on other new features that will improve the quality of character display, says Zuckerman. When that becomes available, users will be able to add it without having to pay for an upgrade or buy a whole new system. The ScoreBox is future-proof.

LINK:	http://sportsvideo.org/main/blog/2015/07/the-scorebox-gives-producers-...
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