Tech Focus: Bodypack Transmitters, Part 1 - A Growing Role in Sports Sound The devices are becoming smaller, tougher, and increasingly flexible By Dan Daley, Audio Editor
Thursday, January 4, 2018 - 7:45 am
Print This Story
Story Highlights
The wireless bodypack may be hitting some physical limits when it comes to size and power, but its capability for putting on-field audio on the air for sports broadcasts has never been more in demand.
Broadcasters have been collecting sounds from the fields and the courts for decades, mostly from the sidelines. For several years, the NFL had placed a lavalier microphone on the umpire's cap, to pick up the offense's cadence. When the league moved that official's position from the middle of the defensive line to well behind the offense for safety reasons after 2010, it left more than a hole on the gridiron: fans at home had grown accustomed to hearing the scrimmage sound up close.
Lectrosonics SMWB and SMDWB wideband transmitters
It took another four years of experimentation and bargaining, but the NFL now places lavs on either the center or the guards, adding a new dimension to the game's sound. Meanwhile, companies like Quantum5X were developing player-worn transmitters well adapted to the physicality of sports, such as the lightweight bodypacks sewn into jerseys for NBA games. The robustness of their design has let them be placed even closer to the playing field, such as the transmitters buried in the ground in the outfield and around home plate and the pitcher's mound during postseason MLB games in recent years. The bodypack has become the sixth man of broadcast-sports audio, able to go anywhere, anytime.
Size Still Matters
The trends around size and weight, generally dictated by battery dimensions, remain in place, according to Lectrosonics VP, Sales, Karl Winkler. He notes increased emphasis on small and tough units; and lots of flexibility in the units, like variable power settings, wide tuning range, and infrared sync. What's new for this round of the company's products is built-in recording functionality, so that, in situations where a wireless might not be practical, the unit can be put into recording mode and high-quality audio can still be captured for use in postproduction, he explains. Rather than requiring [field engineers] to keep several units in the kit to accomplish these tasks, the SMWB/SMDWB [models] have all these features and functions built in.
Paul Johnson, CEO of PlayerMic developer Quantum5X, sees growing demand for more remote control of bodypacks, including power management and frequency changes. The former is becoming more important as bodypacks move off the body and into other applications, such as being implanted into the ground on playing fields; Q5X's AquaMic was used in that manner during several postseason MLB games, planted in the infield around bases, the pitcher's mound, and home plate.
Remote control of frequency changes is becoming more critical in the wake of the recent spectrum repack, says Johnson, adding that, as these types of bodypack transmitters become part of a broadcast's live sound, as they were during Mylan WTT matches this year, the ability for the A1 to quickly shift frequencies as the spectrum environment around them changes dynamically will grow in importance.
Q5X has also focused R&D attention on optimizing the performance of its remote-control units, which operate at 2.4 GHz, managing transmitters in the UHF range. The 2.4 GHz noise floor is higher than ever as more mobile [devices] enter that spectrum, Johnson explains. The sound crew will do their setup in an empty venue, and there's plenty of space, but, when it fills up with 30,000 fans with mobile phones, that changes everything. We have dramatically improved our 2.4 GHz performance to ensure reliable remote-control functionality in these noisy environments
The future of bodypack design will likely hinge on developments in battery technology. Driven by the emergence of electric vehicles and other products, battery size could be greatly reduced in coming years. One such technology is Prieto Battery's copper-foam-substrate battery. The copper foam is approximately 98% air, or void space; the anode and separator material are applied via electrodeposition. Then, the cathode material is applied as a liquid slurry. It's a bit more complex than an Energizer 9-volt, but it could someday become as common. That could take bodypack technology into the nano realm.
CLICK HERE for Tech Focus: Bodypack Transmitters, Part 2 - A Look at the Leaders.
Most recent headlines
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
16/10/2025
SVG Sit-Down: FUJIFILM Execs on GFX ETERNA 55 Camera, Importance of Shallow-Dept...
16/10/2025
Squash's Most Ambitious Broadcast Production To Be Deployed at Comcast Busin...
16/10/2025
Main Street Sports Group Inks Deal With Omaha Productions, Launches Original-Con...
16/10/2025
A Historic Precursor? FIFA, HBS, DAZN Offer an Inside Look at Production of FIFA...
16/10/2025
Prime Video Offers Sneak Peak at New NBA on Prime StudioThe massive 13,000-sq-ft, two-story studio features a LED regulation half court and hoopBy Jason Dachman...
16/10/2025
SVG Remote Production Forum Draws Record Crowd for Visit to PGA TOUR Studios, De...
16/10/2025
BitFire's Ben Grafchik on How Growing Cloud Workflows Are Impacting the Live...
16/10/2025
AI technology is advancing quickly, bringing both new creative possibilities and...
16/10/2025
In 2017, Imani Ellis launched CultureCon, a conference that's become a must-attend event for more than 10,000 diverse creatives and Black professionals to c...
16/10/2025
It might still be a little early to break out the tinsel and mistletoe, but Spotify's already queuing up some holiday magic. This year's Spotify Singles...
16/10/2025
Earlier this year, our in-house publishing imprint, Spotify Audiobooks, put out ...
16/10/2025
VAMPIRE has been integrated onto GM Defenses Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV), providing a mobile solution to effectively and affordably counter small drone threat...
16/10/2025
The AgilePod mounted on the host aircraft....
16/10/2025
60% say infotainment systems are a critical purchasing or leasing consideration,...
16/10/2025
NEW YORK The Broadcasters Foundation of America has launched its 2025 Year-End Giving Campaign, which seeks to raise donations from tax-deductible personal and ...
16/10/2025
Roku has added several new features to its user interface and operating system meant to make it easier to discover and personalize content, the company said....
16/10/2025
NEW YORK CNN has announced that its All Access subscription tier will launch in the U.S. on Oct. 28, providing audiences with a centralized destination for CNN&...
16/10/2025
Student Spotlight: Alan Villanueva The graduate student and saxophonist, who performed on Natalia Lafourcades Latin Grammy-nominated Live at Carnegie Hall alb...
16/10/2025
The XR Sports Alliance (XRSA) has announced the third cohort of members. The new members include Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), the Vegas Golden Kni...
16/10/2025
NEW YORK The Broadcasters Foundation of America has launched its 2025 Year-End Giving Campaign which seeks to raise donations from tax-deductible personal and c...
16/10/2025
NEW YORK Australia's Nine Network and the NHL today announced a media partnership that will bring the world's premier professional ice hockey league to ...
16/10/2025
Parks Associates has released new data showing that nearly half (45%) of U.S. internet homes watch free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) services and 89% of U.S...
16/10/2025
TROY, Mich. -New data from J.D. Power's 2025 U.S. Residential Internet Service Provider Study shows that residential wireless internet providers are growing...
16/10/2025
TV's most charming detective drama * Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investi...
16/10/2025
Back to All News
Thailand's Legendary Outlaw Returns: Tee Yai: Born to be ...
16/10/2025
Back to All News
Christmas Is Just Around The Corner: Home For Christmas Season...
16/10/2025
Back to All News
Trist n Ulloa Stars in El crimen de Pazos, the New Netflix Ser...
16/10/2025
ABS Completes Redomiciliation to Dubai Development Authority as Part of Strategi...
16/10/2025
This Saturday October 18 Katja Mia will burst onto the radio airwaves for the first time as she joins 2FM. Katja will be standing in for Bl thnaid Treacy on Sat...
16/10/2025
This October, RT is delighted to support Wexford Festival Opera, Babor International Arts Festival for Children, Open House Dublin and 36 other arts and cultu...
16/10/2025
GeForce NOW is more than just a platform to stream fresh games every week - it offers celebrations for the gamers who make it epic, with member rewards to sweet...
15/10/2025
Across the world, early-career reporters are interrogating systems that shape daily life, from mortuaries and classrooms to the corridors of legal education and...
15/10/2025
St. Louis Blues Pay Tribute to Ozzy Osbourne in New Pregame Open VideoThe NHL franchise worked with production firms 2WEI and 4th Floor CreativeBy Mark J Burns,...
15/10/2025
Cobalt Digital, G3DVu, Proxima Vision, and Telos Alliance Renew Premier Sponsors...
15/10/2025
By Paige Bethmann
Before my grandmother passed away in 2019, I went to visit her in the hospital where she'd been for a few weeks. When I arrived, the nurs...
15/10/2025
Two years ago, Spotify set out to grow the entire publishing industry by making ...
15/10/2025
People turn to DJ for a listening experience that feels personal, dynamic, and j...
15/10/2025
Las personas recurren a DJ para vivir una experiencia de escucha personal, din m...
15/10/2025
Rock legend Bruce Springsteen and luminary actor Jeremy Allen White came togethe...
15/10/2025
At Spotify, we're all about supporting rising talent and helping them connec...
15/10/2025
New SBS Documentary Series THE CANCER KILLERS Premieres 4 November on SBS & SBS ...
15/10/2025
SBS celebrates the Festivals of Lights with bold, illuminating stories across th...
15/10/2025
One of humanity's most profound questions continues: Is there any place in our galaxy suitable for life beyond Earth? NASA intends to find out, with the hel...
15/10/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
15/10/2025
Scality, a global leader in cyber-resilient storage software for the AI era, today announced the advancement of its comprehensive AI ecosystem certification pro...
15/10/2025
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) today unveiled key highlights of the 2026 HPA Tech Retreat, scheduled for Feb. 15 19 at the Westin Rancho Mirage Go...
15/10/2025
At NAB Show New York 2025 (Stand 244), Interra Systems will showcase the future of media QC, monitoring, and captioning, highlighting its award-winning, AI- and...
15/10/2025
Grass Valley today announced that RMC BFM, part of the CMA-CGM Group and France's third-largest private media group, has chosen Grass Valley's productio...
Tech Focus: Bodypack Transmitters, Part 1 - A Growing Role in Sports Sound The devices are becoming smaller, tougher, and increasingly flexible By Dan Daley, Audio Editor 
