Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

ESPN Unleashes 4DREPLAY as NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships Hit ABC

18/04/2025

ESPN Unleashes 4DREPLAY as NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships Hit ABC Men's championships to follow Saturday night on ESPN2 By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital

Friday, April 18, 2025 - 9:57 am

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

Saturday (4 p.m. ET) marks the fifth consecutive year that ESPN will broadcast the finals of the NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships on ABC.

Throughout that half decade, the broadcaster has introduced a wave of innovations to improve the live-viewing experience of this rapidly growing sport. From live leaderboards (which, in gymnastics, is far more complicated than it sounds) to graphical enhancements that illustrate the elite athleticism of the student-athletes, ESPN has revolutionized the presentation of women's gymnastics.

The trend continues this year with the debut of 4DREPLAY on two apparatuses: vault and uneven bars. The technology produces volumetric, time-slice frozen moment replays that immerse viewers in a previously impossible perspective of the sport's most dynamic moments. The image is produced by stitching together images from 30 cameras arranged in a semicircle around the apparatus.

Gymnastics delivers a perfect environment for volumetric replays provided by 4DReplay, says Phil Orlins, VP, production technology and innovation, ESPN. The vault and uneven bars offer close proximity and an eye-level shot of the athlete that is ideal for showcasing the dynamic action. These time-slice freezes give us the tools to provide in-depth analysis of fast-moving content like never before.

Orlins and ESPN have plenty of experience with 4DREPLAY, having used it most recently on events like the 2024 MLB Home Run Derby.

--

Video clip courtesy of ESPN.

Tech That Bridges the Gap

Beyond the 4DREPLAY integration, ESPN's broadcast team stationed at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, TX, continues to enhance the understanding of gymnastics with such tools as height meters and protractors providing relatable metrics for viewers.

The enhancements are valuable also for the analysts on the broadcast: Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman, silver medalist Samantha Peszek, and three-time Olympian John Roethlisberger.

Tech tools, like the protractors and the height meters, create a relationship between what is happening and what [the fans] already know, says Roethlisberger, a member of the U.S. Olympic Team in 1992 (Barcelona), 1996 (Atlanta), and 2000 (Sydney) while competing collegiately at the University of Minnesota. Everyone knows how high a basketball hoop is. When we show the height meter on vault or bars and it goes 6 ft. above the high bar, which is already 8 ft. off the ground and we say that [the gymnast's] head is 14 ft. above the floor, every human in the world goes, 14 ft., that's 4 ft. higher than a basketball hoop. That's 4 ft. higher than Anthony Edwards can dunk a basketball.' There's a lot of those things that have helped make [the sport] more understandable and relatable to the audience.

Roethlisberger also credits women's collegiate gymnastics for developing a set of rules and a scoring system that make it much easier for the audience to follow compared with other disciplines of the sport.

Women's college gymnastics has figured out how to make the rules the most understandable rules on the planet Earth, he says. Because of that, along with all the things that networks like ESPN have done to bring it to your living room and make it understandable and visually appealing, every person that watches gymnastics, by the third night, [is watching a routine and] going, That's 9.9. I remember, two nights ago, she got a 9.8 when she took a big step forward on her landing and Aly and Sam said that cost her two-tenths. Now she stuck it, and that's going to be a 9.9.' That is what women's college gymnastics has done and no other version of gymnastics has done.

All the tech enhancements, including slow-motion-capable cameras and in-depth replay, do create an interesting dynamic for the sport.

It's a blessing and a curse in some ways, says Peszek, who was a member of the U.S. Olympic Team in 2008 and competed collegiately at UCLA. We have the ability to show replays in slow motion, and guess who doesn't get to see the replays in slow motion: the judges. To John's point about the [fan] conversation of I thought she should have scored this' while watching a side-by-side replay and the only people that don't have the luxury of watching it are the judges, I think we're getting a lot of heated conversation around judging. We have the ability to take a microscope to everybody's routine and each skill and the protractor, and we replay it to see if it was actually vertical. I think what a lot of fans don't take into account is where the judges are sitting, the angle that they're at. Also, they're seeing it in real time, and humans have the ability to make errors.

Enhanced Fan Engagement With Stream Team Beyond the championship on ABC, ESPN+ will again feature its popular Stream Team coverage, bringing personality and insight directly from a lineup of NCAA greats. This year's team comprises Olympic silver medalist and Florida legend Bridget Sloan, Oklahoma's four-time NCAA champion Anastasia Webb, 11-time All-American Kennedy Baker, and ESPN newcomer Trinity Thomas, an 11-time NCAA All-American and two-time Honda Award winner.

In a fresh twist for 2025, instead of traditional apparatus-only streams, viewers can follow specific teams throughout the arena on dedicated feeds with tailored commentary. Each stream pairs two teams with expert analysis, letting fans personalize their experience in unprecedented ways.

Immediately following the women's final, the NCAA Men's Championship takes center stage on ESPN2
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2025/04/18/espn-unleashes-4dreplay-as-ncaa...
See more stories from svg

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

01/04/2026

DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION

January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...

06/03/2026

TNT Sports Acquires Exclusive U.S. English Language Broadcast Rights to FIBA Men's and Women's Tournaments

TNT Sports and the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) have reached a mul...

06/03/2026

OffBall to Partner with TOGETHXR Across Commercial Strategy and Operations

OffBall and TOGETHXR, two influential young media companies in sports, announce a strategic and operational partnership in a shared push to scale and create inn...

06/03/2026

InfoComm 2026 Names Shure as Exclusive Headline Partner, Showcasing Audio and Innovation Across Key Activations and Stages

InfoComm 2026, a destination for AV, IT, broadcast, and AI-driven systems, annou...

06/03/2026

LTN, MediaKind Partner to Deliver Integrated Reliable IP Transport and Edge Processing

LTN and MediaKind announce a strategic partnership to integrate MediaKind's ...

06/03/2026

X Games Brings First-Ever Summer Championship Event to New Orleans in July

X Games and the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation (GNOSF) announce that New Orleans, Louisiana, will host the first-ever X Games Championship event - the fi...

06/03/2026

Chyron Releases New Edition of AXIS Maps

As part of a busy start of the year at Chyron, the AXIS team developed a set of improvements for AXIS Maps. The features released empower users with more flexib...

06/03/2026

BeckTV Launches BeckFlow at 2026 NAB Show While Highlighting its Latest Design and Integration Projects

At the 2026 NAB Show, BeckTV, a premier systems integrator for the broadcast ind...

06/03/2026

Net Insight Sets New Standard for Live Media Operations with Nimbra Live Intelligence

At NAB Show 2026, Net Insight introduces Nimbra Live Intelligence, which definin...

06/03/2026

SES Adds New MEO Capacity as Latest O3b mPOWER Satellites Enter Commercial Service

SES announces that it has added new Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellite capacity ...

06/03/2026

LucidLink Launches Connect to Extend Instant Access to Data Stores

LucidLink, the cloud-native file streaming platform for instant, secure access to large files, announce LucidLink Connect, a new solution that enables real-time...

06/03/2026

Case Study: Panasonic Projection Brings Paddington to Life in London's West End

Panasonic helped bring the world of Paddington: The Musical to life through imme...

06/03/2026

SVG GameDay, Ep. 6: Cincinnati Bengals' Alex Schweppe - Welcome to the Jungle

In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...

06/03/2026

Ratings Roundup: Post Olympics High, NHL on ESPN Viewership Spikes Over 50%

Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week's edition, NASCAR Cup Se...

06/03/2026

Riedel Communications Demos Product Innovations at 2026 NAB Show

At the 2026 NAB Show, Riedel Communications opens with a clear message to the North American market: production technology does not have to be complex. This ye...

06/03/2026

SVG Sit-Down: Midco Sports' Andy Price and Craig DeWit on How the Dakotas-Based RSN Is Redefining Regional Sports Media

Midco Sports isn't your typical regional sports network. Backed by nearly a ...

06/03/2026

Inside the Paralympics with OBS Producer Josephine Xiaofan

The stories around the Paralympics are really touching and the athletes, the atmosphere it is all amazing and we want to use new technologies to help us tell th...

06/03/2026

Apple TV Kicks Off F1 Era in U.S. With Driver Tracker, On-Board Cameras, Multiview, Sky Sports Feed

Apple TV subscribers will have access to as many as 30 additional live feeds acr...

06/03/2026

Ten Years On, South African Hip-Hop Artist Kwesta Reflects on DaKAR II'

Ten years after its release, South African hip-hop artist Kwesta's DaKAR II is still making waves. With 51.8 million streams on Spotify, the album continues...

06/03/2026

Statement on the appointment of Dr Nicholas Pappas AM as SBS Chair

Statement on the appointment of Dr Nicholas Pappas AM as SBS Chair Media releases The SBS Board and Executive have welcomed the appointment of Dr Nicholas P...

06/03/2026

Nielsen: 46 Billion Minutes of Women's Sports were Consumed in 2025*

Nielsen Highlights Women's Sports Viewership Milestones Ahead of International Women's Day on March 8 New York March 5, 2026 According to Nielsen&#...

06/03/2026

MXL Moves Into Stable Production Release

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/03/2026

LTN, MediaKind Partner on Industry Transition From C-Band to IP

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/03/2026

Roku Unveils 'Roklue' Interactive Content Discovery Feature

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/03/2026

FCC Releases Tentative Agenda for March Open Meeting

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/03/2026

ESPN to Air Animated Version of Capitals vs. Rangers NHL Game

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/03/2026

Tedial to Highlight AI-Fueled Media Lifecycle at 2026 NAB Show

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/03/2026

esRadio Advances with DHD RX2 Audio Production Consoles

Spanish FM and online broadcaster esRadio has selected DHD RX2 audio production consoles for use at its studio headquarters in Madrid. Part of the Libertad Digi...

06/03/2026

LucidLink launches Connect to extend instant access to da...

LucidLink, the cloud-native file streaming platform for instant, secure access to large files, today announced LucidLink Connect, a new solution that enables re...

06/03/2026

BeckTV Launches BeckFlow at 2026 NAB Show While Highlight...

At the 2026 NAB Show, BeckTV, a premier systems integrator for the broadcast industry, is launching BeckFlow, the first web-based schematic documentation platfo...

06/03/2026

Net Insight sets a New Standard for Live Media Operations...

At NAB Show 2026, Net Insight introduces Nimbra Live Intelligence defining a new category and setting a new standard for live operations: the Open Media Platfor...

06/03/2026

Interra Systems Focuses on StreamingFirst QC Monitoring a...

At the 2026 NAB Show, Interra Systems will showcase its latest advancements in automated QC, real-time monitoring, and captioning reinforcing its position as ...

06/03/2026

Riedel Communications at 2026 NAB Show

At the 2026 NAB Show, Riedel Communications opens with a clear message to the North American market: production technology does not have to be complex. This yea...

06/03/2026

LTN and MediaKind partner to deliver integrated reliable...

New partnership combines on-prem video processing with reliable IP transport to support the transition from C-Band satellite to IP distribution LTN and MediaKi...

06/03/2026

VEON and JazzWorld Advance Pakistan's Digital Financial Future with Acquisition of TPL Insurance

06 Mar 2026 VEON and JazzWorld Advance Pakistan's Digital Financial Future ...

06/03/2026

Teaser revealed for Saturday Night Live UK

Friday 6 March 2026 Teaser revealed for Saturday Night Live UKTurn on cookies to view this content. Go to Privacy options and select Accept All'. Privacy...

06/03/2026

Announcing 'Barbara - Becoming Shirin David'

Back to All News Announcing Barbara - Becoming Shirin David Entertainment 06 March 2026 GlobalGermany Link copied to clipboard Available exclusively on N...

06/03/2026

F1: Bringing real Formula 1 sound to cinema

Discover how the F1 sound team turned a real Grand Prix into a cinematic experience. Director Joseph Kosinski and his team worked directly with the Formula On...

06/03/2026

Arvato Systems Joins Initiative D21 e. V.

Arvato Systems Joins Initiative D21 e. V. Shaping digital transformation together Collaboration in Germanys largest network for the digital society Membersh...

06/03/2026

ABC clients recognised in latest TAG certification release, reinforcing industry trust in digital advertising

The Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG) is a global initiative dedicated to c...

06/03/2026

Death of John McHugh

We are deeply saddened to hear the very sad news of the death of our friend and colleague, John McHugh. John was an exceptionally talented creative leader who s...

06/03/2026

A Nation Holds Its Breath Again

First exclusive look at RT 's promo as Ireland prepare to take on Czechia Every Moment, Every Generation https://youtu.be/2ijo96EadLU 36 years after Geor...

06/03/2026

March 05, 2026

A new clue to how the body detects physical force Scripps Research scientists offer new insight into how the body detects light touch and how disruptions in tha...

05/03/2026

SVG GFX Forum Draws 250+ Industry Pros To Talk Creative Philosphy, AR/XR, Future of Live Sports Graphics

More than 250 sports-graphics professionals packed into The Cutting Room in New ...

05/03/2026

Cosm Atlanta Set to Open at Centennial Yards on June 10

Cosm announces that it will open its third immersive entertainment venue at downtown Atlanta's Centennial Yards on June 10, 2026. Its first public event wil...

05/03/2026

The CW Network to Broadcast Six Banana Ball Games During 2026 Season

Following last year's broadcast television debut, The CW Network is growing its partnership with the Savannah Bananas, announcing that it will be the exclus...