Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Sony Cameras Capture Game Play, Fan Reaction Shots and Replay for High-Res Display at Allianz Field

21/11/2019

--

When Minnesota United Football Club moved into its new home at Allianz Field in St. Paul in Spring 2019, new cameras for the stadium's large video wall presentation were on top of the list of must-haves. Resolution quality from the cameras had to reproduce well on the Daktronics 15mm HD board, concourse monitors and 2.5mm Daktronics LED display in the team's premier Stadium Club. The goal, according to the team's production engineer, Cole Mayer, is that soccer fans at the stadium see the same video quality or better than they would when watching at home.

Camera operator catches the action at Allianz Field with Sony HXC-4300 HD studio camera

Whether they're in the Stadium Club, watching the game in the concourse or replays from their seat, that quality is what stands out to a fan, said Mayer. It attracts their attention. And it enhances the experience of being at the stadium. We don't want them to stay at home to see the best picture.

With resolution and ease of use in mind, the decision was made to purchase four Sony HXC-FB80 HD studio cameras (with HXCU-FB80 CCU units and RCP-1500 panels for remote camera control) and one PXW-X400 shoulder-mounted XDCAM camcorder. The HXC-FB80 is designed for 4K/HDR live production. Equipped with three 2/3-inch Exmor CMOS sensors, the cameras capture full HD picture quality. With a sensitivity of F13 and a corresponding signal-to-noise ratio of just -60 dB, the cameras are ideal for low light reproduction. The PXW-X400 offers advanced picture quality and enhanced networking features with a built-in wireless module.

They're very small, light and robust cameras, said Mayer, of the Sony models.

The HXC-FB80 camera head can output 3G-SDI signals in a range of formats, including 1080p and HD/HDR, as well as 4K up-conversion when using the CCU. The PXW-X400 supports a variety of formats including HD XAVC Intra 1080 59.94p/50p and XAVC Long GOP at 59.94p/50p.

Allianz Field's video-control room is a 1080p 59.94 HD facility that the Minnesota United video team built in collaboration with design firm WJHW and systems integrator Alpha Video. This isn't necessarily the standard yet in terms of stadium presentation, but it is something that boosts our presentation quality, said Mayer. Wherever a fan is watching the game within the stadium, we're giving them the best quality image for replays and regular game action with our new Sony cameras. That's a priority for us. We want to deliver to our fans.

The Sony system cameras affixed with Canon lenses are placed in various positions throughout the stadium - one Sony HXC-FB80 with a Canon XJ80x lens underneath the large video wall and one Sony HXC-FB80 with the same Canon lens in a far corner of the stadium. The remaining -FB80s, equipped with Canon KJ20x8.2B lens, are placed in center and left field.

At 22 feet high x 116 feet long with a resolution of 2304x456 pixels, the large video display at the south side of the stadium required cameras with the resolution of the HXC-FB80 and PXW-400. Slow motion replays and fan close ups are frequently shown on the board and require optimal video quality.

The big board is not very 16:9 friendly, so we can get some funny cropping with the cameras. What really helps our camera operators is being able to outline the safe zone on the viewfinder with the Sony FB80. We don't put tape on our viewfinders. We can see the lines of the crop, so that's been very helpful. The whole design of the cameras - including how well they fit onto the lenses and tripods, their format flexibility - makes for very easy operation.

The infrastructure at the new Allianz Field is also wired for SMPTE fiber, so a camera that is plug and play in that environment is another must-have. We use SMPTE fiber at the stadium for our connections, and the -FB80 has SMPTE fiber built right into the camera body, so it's just plug and play, explained Mayer. It's just one cable into the camera, and the camera control, viewfinder and the lens is powered up. It makes set up and tear down during game days a breeze.

The Sony CCU units are integrated with the team's RTS intercom system over SMPTE fiber connection so once plugged into the camera, the headsets are plug and play as well. Side communication is never an issue. It's back to that ease of use with just one cable, said Mayer.

Another attribute that eases set up is the ability to digitally shade and color the HXC-FB80s. Optical filter wheels for neutral density and color correction can be controlled from the remote-control panel, the RCP-1500. Gamma functions enable the user to fine-tune tonal values as well as control contrast and detail. This is the first time in my experience, we've been able to control the ND filter from the camera, Mayer continued. Being able to do that is so nice. With some of our afternoon games, we don't have to get the cameras out and change the filters. The shader can do that and get the colors just right. It's been a huge help.

With Sony cameras at other stadiums in town, the Twin Cities are very brand loyal, which makes operation and repair considerably easier, said Mayer. I've worked with Sony cameras in the past. A lot of the major sports teams and universities in the Twin Cities use Sony cameras as well. This allows us to stay consistent within the market and when we hire freelancers to come in, its familiar equipment for them. And if anything breaks, they know what to do.

While Mayer says they haven't had any technical issues yet, he knows that when they do, he can count on Sony to deliver excellent and fast support. As the production engineer, it's critical to know that when we have an issue (which we expect to be much later down the line), I'm confident that we'll get things fixed and returned on time.
LINK: https://news.creativecow.net/story/899137...
See more stories from creativecow

North America Stories

28/07/2026

LiveUs World Cup Record: 1,700 Units Support Wide Range of Transmission Needs

LiveU, the pioneer in IP-video transmission and cloud-based remote production, today detailed its historic performance records set during the 2026 FIFA World Cu...

28/07/2026

Case Study: How the Dallas Cowboys Removed Bottlenecks in Off-site Content Production

The NFL franchise rebuilt their off-site content operation for an era when teams...

28/07/2026

A New Way To Watch': How Formula 1 and Sky Sports Are Pushing Race Coverage Into a New Era

Longtime partners expand viewer choice, data-driven analysis, access, immersive ...

28/07/2026

Grass Valley Op Ed: Seven Paradoxes Shaping the Next Era of Media Production

There is a unique moment before every major production. The audience never sees it. The cameras are ready. The talent is preparing. Directors review the final...

28/07/2026

The CW Network, ESPN Ink Streaming Agreement With Launch on Aug. 4

The CW Network and ESPN have announced their highly anticipated streaming agreement to bring CW Sports' live events to the ESPN App will officially launch o...

28/07/2026

Lawo Delivers Audio Excellence for Europes Largest Classical Open-Air Concert on Bastille Day

As more than tens of thousands of spectators filled Paris' Champ de Mars and...

28/07/2026

Appear Assists Chile's First Large-Scale 4K FIFA World Cup Viewing Experience

Appear's X Platform played a central role in Chile's first large-scale c...

28/07/2026

IBC 2026: Solid State Logic Highlights Transition to Software-Defined Production

Responding to the broadcast industry's shift to embrace more flexible production platforms, Solid State Logic (SSL) is evolving its comprehensive System T p...

28/07/2026

TNT Sports Goes to Greater Heights With New DUNKMAN League

Production leverages innovative camera technologies, AI, and data to capture the action in four-week inaugural competition The first-ever professional dunking ...

28/07/2026

Rogers, Prime Video Ink 12-Year Sublicensing Deal for NHL Rights in Canada

Prime Video to exclusively broadcast Wednesday night national NHL regular-season games in Canada...

28/07/2026

CBS Sports Snags U.S. English-Language Rights for CONCACAF Champions Cup

Every match will stream live on Paramount+ beginning in February,...

28/07/2026

Nielsen Launches Ad Intel AI: the Only Product of its Kind that Transforms Fragmented Ad Data into Actionable Intelligence

Ad Intel AI is Nielsen's first in a new generation of AI products built to t...

28/07/2026

The Tow Foundation Awards PMVP $400,000 Grant

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

28/07/2026

LiveU's World Cup Support Breaks Company Records

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

28/07/2026

Encompass Selected by Channel 4 to Deliver Managed Linear...

Encompass Digital Media has been selected by Channel 4, one of the UK's public service broadcasters, to deliver managed linear playout services as part of a...

28/07/2026

Cinegy partners with SAMA Digital Media Solutions to sati...

Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has confirmed a new partnership with leading Korean systems integrator and distribu...

28/07/2026

Limecraft Adds Multicam Player and Audio Fingerprint-Base...

Limecraft today announces version 2026.5 of its AI-powered production platform. Limecraft 2026.5 https://(www.limecraft.com/limecraft-2026-5-multicam-quad-view-...

28/07/2026

Appear powers first large-scale 4k FIFA World Cup viewing...

X Platform technology enabled a premium UHD viewing experience through a hybrid ground-to-cloud architecture developed with Chilevisi n, ClaroVTR and Pixop App...

28/07/2026

LiveU Delivers Record-Breaking LIQ and Cloud Service Depl...

LiveU, the pioneer in IP-video transmission and cloud-based remote production, today announced it has set historic performance records during the 2026 World Foo...

28/07/2026

DHD Releases New Firmware and Options for its Audio Produ...

dhd.audio announces that its latest generation firmware, Version 10.4, is now available to DHD customers. Version 10.4 introduces expanded configuration capabil...

28/07/2026

Study: TV Operating Systems Gain Influence Over Viewing

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

28/07/2026

Maryland Public Television Promotes Ling Ling Sun to CTO

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

28/07/2026

NUGEN Audio Helps Mix Technician Blake Bunzel Deliver Rel...

Brand's Intuitive Metering and Dialogue Tools Improve Efficiency and Maintain Clarity Across Projects Ranging from Sitcoms to Effects Heavy Fantasy Series ...

28/07/2026

TAG Video Systems Accelerates the Move to Cloud and Virtu...

TAG Video Systems, a leader in 100% software-based realtime media monitoring, multiviewing and quality control (QC), today announced the latest innovations to i...

28/07/2026

Harvard Athletics Transforms Collegiate Sports Storytelling with AJA Gear

Harvard Athletics Transforms Collegiate Sports Storytelling with AJA Gear Brie Clayton July 27, 2026 0 Comments Between the maturation of IP and remot...

28/07/2026

New Live Action Projection Mapping Film Captured with URSA Cine 12K LF

New Live Action Projection Mapping Film Captured with URSA Cine 12K LF Brie Clayton July 27, 2026 0 Comments Large format sensor allows Texas Legacy ...

28/07/2026

NVIDIA Agent Toolkit Expands With New Omniverse Libraries, Putting AI Agents to Work Building Simulation-Ready Worlds

NVIDIA Agent Toolkit Expands With New Omniverse Libraries, Putting AI Agents to ...

28/07/2026

AI Agents Expand Creative Tools to Millions

AI Agents Expand Creative Tools to Millions Brie Clayton July 27, 2026 0 Comments Hero image courtesy of Epic Games Leading creative applications are...

28/07/2026

How Rick Aggeler Built a Music Community for Boston Teens

How Rick Aggeler Built a Music Community for Boston Teens When he was a Berklee student, Aggeler volunteered at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston, where he hel...

28/07/2026

Powerful Compute So Compact, It's Clutch - Build AI in Your Hand With NVIDIA Jetson

Anyone can make a robot move; NVIDIA Jetson makes it think. As a discerning AI i...

27/07/2026

AES Educational Foundation Announces 2026/2027 Scholarship and Grant Recipients

The Audio Engineering Society Educational Foundation has named its scholarship and grant recipients for the 2026/2027 academic year. The awards support students...

27/07/2026

ESPN and MEAC Reach Multi-Year Media Rights Agreement Through 2030-31

ESPN and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) have signed a multi-year media rights agreement covering basketball championships and select football and ba...

27/07/2026

Yahoo Sports and Cameo Integrate Celebrity Video Bookings into Yahoo Fantasy

Yahoo Sports and Cameo have partnered to allow fantasy football users to book personalized celebrity videos directly within the Yahoo Fantasy app and website. T...

27/07/2026

Eutelsat to Receive $504 Million in FCC Upper C-Band Transition Payments

Eutelsat has welcomed the FCC's order establishing the regulatory framework for the transition of Upper C-band spectrum in the United States. Under the orde...

27/07/2026

ESPN Acquires U.S. and International Rights to International Dance League

ESPN and the International Dance League (IDL) have signed a global rights agreement for the 2026 season. Events will air bi-weekly on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. ET beginni...

27/07/2026

NBCUniversal and YouTube Announce Multi-Year Global Partnership

NBCUniversal and YouTube have signed a multi-year global partnership that includes bundling Peacock with YouTube Premium, extending NBCUniversal's distribut...

27/07/2026

Two Weeks Away: 2026 SVG Venues & Teams Summit at Miamis Kaseya Center To Reunite In-Stadium Production Community

Agenda includes presentations from the Miami Heat, Inter Miami, Florida Panthers...

27/07/2026

Behind The Mic: CBS Sports Bolsters College Football Analyst Team

Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, including new deals, departures, and assignments compiled from press releases and repo...

27/07/2026

PBR Goes Animated With BS: Bull Stories, Giving Its Bucking Bulls a Voice

Ten one-minute shorts will roll out across CBS, The CW, Paramount+ during the 2026 PBR Teams season PBR is officially moving into scripted animation. The Profe...

27/07/2026

T-Mobile Tops Ookla's Mobile Network Rankings

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/07/2026

Pebble to Feature Virtualization, Cloud-Based Playout Tech at IBC

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/07/2026

NBCU Telemundo Turns To Chyron PRIME 5 For World Cup Graphics

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/07/2026

Lightware Adds SNMPv3 Monitoring to Taurus Devices

Lightware announces SNMPv3-based monitoring support for selected Taurus devices, available from firmware v1.20.0. The update enables IT administrators and AV in...

27/07/2026

Mediagenix Showcases the Real-Time Media Enterprise at IB...

Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitably connect the right content to the right audience, will showcase its vision for the Real-Time...

27/07/2026

Seven paradoxes shaping the next era of media production - Episode 4

Why Confidence MattersIn this series, we explore the technologies, architectures and operational realities shaping modern media operations. Along the way, we ex...

27/07/2026

Industry Leaders Unite in Open Secure AI Alliance for AI Safety and Security

Open source software is a critical pillar of the global economy. It underpins cloud computing, financial services, manufacturing, telecommunications, government...

26/07/2026

Audio Vivid: A New Destination for Immersive Audio

What is Audio Vivid? A New Destination for Immersive Audio Over the past several years, immersive audio has evolved from a niche production consideration into a...

26/07/2026

NVIDIA Harnesses Vera CPU to Speed Up Design of Next-Generation CPUs and GPUs

The complexity of modern chip design continues to grow as engineering teams work to develop increasingly sophisticated CPUs, GPUs and AI systems. To help meet t...

25/07/2026

Study: T-Mobile Remains Best Mobile and Fastest 5G Network

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...