SVG Esports Production Summit: A Closer Look at the Technology Behind the Show Blackmagic Design, Canon, Grass Valley, Ross Video, Swiftstack execs discuss the tools deployed By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor
Wednesday, December 11, 2019 - 11:21 am
Print This Story
Story Highlights
In recent years, no live-production sector has pushed the boundaries of technology more than esports has. In an effort to create a unique fan experience, live-esports producers have embraced a wealth of next-gen technologies and workflows, including AR and virtual graphics, UHD and HDR cameras/lenses, cloud- and object-based storage, data and stats integrations, and the at-home-production model. At the SVG Esports Production Summit in Los Angeles last month, tech leaders from Blackmagic Design, Canon, Grass Valley, Ross Video, and Swiftstack took the stage to address how these groundbreaking tools are changing esports production.
Jared Timmins, VP, advanced technology, Grass Valley, on the impact of the esports revolution :
From Grass Valley's perspective, I think this esports revolution that we're seeing is one of the most important revolutions that have happened in sports in my lifetime. We see it setting the stage and taking a different direction for how sports can be produced in the future. If [traditional] sports don't become a lot more like videogame engines in the next 10 years, then we've done something drastically wrong. All of the opportunities opening up in esports - for different metadata environments, different distribution [in terms of] being digital first, having a strong social component - factor into the [traditional] sports world. I see esports blazing a trail that will benefit traditional sports for years and years to come.
Larry Thorpe, senior fellow, Imaging Technologies and Communications Group, Professional Engineering and Solutions Division, Canon U.S.A., on managing the challenge of LED-heavy staging in esports:
The LED [displays on-stage] are a big challenge for esports. We need to know the pixel count because they can vary all over the map and you want to avoid the moir interference. Today, we have cameras that are 4K, 6K, and going up. Super-sampling and down-sampling can help control that, and you can eliminate side bands more easily. There is also a range of illumination from the dark to the extreme bright. Of course, the cameras are astounding today with their sensitivities, and lenses are much faster. I also see an awful lot of smaller cameras in esports, and I see a lot of tight shots. I think that certainly says there's a role for prime [lenses].
Cameron Reed, business development manager, esports, Ross Video, on the value of producing esports content in UHD and HDR:
I think it's an important question to ask yourself where you're transmitting your signal. If you're sending it to Twitch, you can put a lot of work into UHD and HDR, but none of it matters, and you wasted every penny because Twitch is just going to downscale it and convert it into their own [format/resolution]. Even their 1080p isn't really a true 1080p because 720p and 1080p are using the same bitrate on their platform. This is an important question for production engineers. Until Twitch gets there, esports doesn't seem to have much of a reason to go [UHD or HDR] for their live stream.
David Hoffman, business development manager, Blackmagic Design Americas, on the importance (and challenges) of producing esports in high frame rate:
[In esports], you're always thinking about the athlete, and the athletes want to have the highest frame rate possible because they can perceive changes in the game when the frame rates are not as high as possible. But, when we get into our traditional broadcast environment, we have to scale that back to standard 60 fps.
How do we do that? Do we take it prior to the game [feed], or do we take it out after the game [feed]? It's a tough call because we don't have to do multiple frame rates in other sports; everything is standardized for the entire broadcast. Here we're talking about the athletes themselves being part of the presentation; that happens in no other sport. You're pulling [the video feed] off the engine itself, so we need to pull that from them at the same time we are presenting it to them, and that gets very difficult without impacting performance.
Esports Production Unwrapped: The Technology Behind the Show panel: (from left) SVG's Ken Kerschbaumer, Swiftstack's Vince Auletta, Blackmagic's David Hoffman, Ross Video's Cameron Reed, Canon U.S.A.'s Larry Thorpe, and Grass Valley's Jared Timmins
Vince Auletta, director, media solutions, Swiftstack, on the benefits of on-premises object storage over public cloud for esports-content creators:
Once the broadcast is complete, you have all of your video assets. Swiftstack is the on-premises or multi-premises repository where all of those assets live for the long term, as opposed to the public cloud where you pay egress fees. One of the big reasons to use on-premises object storage is that you don't pay for egress. It ends up being a lot more cost-effective and more performant. And it can also span multiple sites natively, so you get integrated DR. If your primary site goes down, your backup site takes over automatically without any kind of intervention.
Auletta on how on-premises object storage opens up new possibilities for the production team:
There are a lot of new possibilities that are unlocked, thanks to having on-premises object storage. You can do things like use AWS or Google for transcribing all of your video assets automatically. And all of those transcriptions will be put back in the media-asset-management system or back in the object-storage system and tied to those assets natively. The power of metadata is a big p
North America Stories
07/05/2026
Multi-year partnership positions Victory+ as a free home for Dallas Cowboys orig...
07/05/2026
From sideline reporting to directing and producing, the talented sophomore is building a well-rounded foundation for a career in live sports production
In the ...
07/05/2026
Cobalt Digital has received two Future Best of Show awards at NAB Show 2026. The COBALT blueCORE platform was recognized by TV Tech, and the COBALT PACIFIC ULL-...
07/05/2026
ESPN analyst Mina Kimes will host the televised semifinals and finals of the 202...
07/05/2026
Bitmovin has announced that MUBI, the global film streaming platform, has selected Bitmovin as its cloud VOD encoding partner. Bitmovin's encoding infrastru...
07/05/2026
NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises and the U.S. Soccer Federation have announced...
07/05/2026
Angel City Football Club (ACFC) and Victory have announced a regional broadcast partnership bringing live match coverage to fans across the greater Los Angeles...
07/05/2026
Spiideo has announced the launch of AI Highlights inside Spiideo Play, its automated sports production platform. AI Highlights combines video, event data, audio...
07/05/2026
Leostream Corporation has announced a unified remote access ecosystem for high-p...
07/05/2026
The Atlanta Dream has partnered with Victory to stream all locally broadcast Dream games for free, expanding the team's digital distribution strategy and g...
07/05/2026
Riedel Communications has announced the appointment of Marc Engroff as Chief Fin...
07/05/2026
SES and ARD, Germany's largest public broadcasting network, have announced a long-term extension of their satellite distribution partnership through 2039. U...
07/05/2026
UpLight Technologies delivers a flexible video and lighting system for a new televised sportLaunching the Pro Cheer League required more than creating a compell...
07/05/2026
Full Day Productions and GSE Worldwide have announced Spikes Under the Lights, a...
07/05/2026
Two multi-role L3Harris products - the Red Wolf launched effects vehicle and SK...
07/05/2026
L3Harris will be developing key features of a secure and resilient digital infra...
07/05/2026
Alysa Liu and Shohei Ohtani Help Drive Viewership as 91 of the Top 100 Broadcast...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
Cobalt Digital Wins Two Future Best of Show Awards at 2026 NAB Show
Manufacturer Recognized by TV Tech and TVBEurope for Innovation in signal processing
Cobal...
07/05/2026
Software and hardware platforms, AI power and user-friendliness on show...
07/05/2026
Intinor will demonstrate its latest technical enhancements for the Direkt series at BroadcastAsia 2026. With a continued focus on reliable contribution and remo...
07/05/2026
Bitmovin has announced that MUBI has chosen Bitmovin as its cloud VOD encoding partner, replacing MUBI's legacy on premises encoding setup to improve scalab...
07/05/2026
Meet Graduates from Berklees Class of 2026 Members of this years graduating class reflect on their proudest moments at Berklee and look ahead to whats next.
...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
At BroadcastAsia 2026, Interra Systems will demonstrate its latest innovations in automated quality control (QC), real-time monitoring, and captioning. The comp...
07/05/2026
At this year's Broadcast Asia, PlayBox Neo is set to unveil recent innovations across its PlayBox Neo Suite and integrated range of broadcast media solution...
07/05/2026
Strategic three-year partnership marks delivery phase of BFBS' next-generation media vision
Media organisation and military charity BFBS (British Forces Br...
07/05/2026
Amagi, the agentic industry cloud platform for unified broadcast, streaming, and monetization, today announced the availability of its In-Content Ads offering v...
07/05/2026
Lightware Visual Engineering has developed Rack Taurus for rack-based environments such as education and corporate training spaces. It enables clean and simple ...
07/05/2026
Jigsaw24, the UK's leading media equipment supplier and systems integrator, will showcase its expanded end-to-end workflow capabilities at MPTS 2026, signal...
07/05/2026
Ease Live, an Evertz company, today announced that it has been granted a US Patent for its proprietary graphical overlay technology, the foundation for interact...
07/05/2026
Test & measurement innovator Leader Electronics of Europe will present an extensive range of Leader, PHABRIX and LeaderPhabrix test and measurement solutions at...
07/05/2026
At Broadcast Asia 2026 (Stand 5H3 8), LiveU is redefining live production with its most powerful IP-video EcoSystem to date built to help broadcasters and con...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
Recreating the 1974 Doctor Who Time Tunnel in After Effects
Graham Quince May 6, 2026
0 Comments
The Time Tunnel from Doctor Who titles is one of th...
07/05/2026
Back to All News
Red Chillies Entertainment and Netflix Present the Trailer of ...
07/05/2026
Less typing, more tanking.
Faster logins mean more time in the gaming action - and this week provides GeForce NOW members with a smoother path straight into th...
06/05/2026
Gravity Media Chief RF Communications Engineer Glenn Willems uses Wisycom RF over Fiber and wireless solutions across major cycling events and international mar...
06/05/2026
A Sennheiser Spectera module is now available in Bitfocus Companion and Buttons, enabling direct integration of Spectera with the two software platforms. The mo...
06/05/2026
Ted Turner, the visionary media entrepreneur whose appetite for disruption helpe...
06/05/2026
The streamer aims to provide a fully integrated Spanish language experience with...
06/05/2026
Polands Miecznik-class frigates are part of the largest contract in Polish shipbuilding history. (Image Credit: PGZ Stocznia Wojenna)...
06/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/05/2026
Riedel Communications today announced the expansion of its leadership structure as part of a strategic initiative to strengthen both its operational management ...
06/05/2026
For nearly three decades, Veteran Production Sound Mixer and Five-time Emmy Award Winner Dirk Sciarrotta has helped define the sonic identity of the long-runnin...
SVG Esports Production Summit: A Closer Look at the Technology Behind the Show Blackmagic Design, Canon, Grass Valley, Ross Video, Swiftstack execs discuss the tools deployed By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor 
