NFL Playoffs 2022: CBS Sports Rolls Out New Sony F5500 Shallow-Depth-of-Field Camera, TrolleyCam, Live Drone for AFC Championship NFL Today show iw onsite in KC; RomoVision makes big strides By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor
Friday, January 28, 2022 - 3:00 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Coming off one of the greatest games in NFL Playoffs history, CBS Sports is primed to deliver its biggest production of the year at the AFC Championship on Sunday. With more than 80 cameras covering the game and its NFL Today studio show onsite at Arrowhead Stadium, CBS is looking to go out on a high note in Kansas City.
Overall, it has been a really amazing season for us, says Steve Karasik, VP, remote productions, CBS Sports. We're looking forward to another exciting and innovative production on Sunday. I think we showed last week - not just in that unforgettable Kansas City-Buffalo game but also in the Tennessee-Cincinnati game - just how great our production can be. We're going to carry that momentum into this weekend, and we'll have every possible angle covered.
80+ Cameras: Sony HDC-F5500, TrolleyCam, Live Drone, and More CBS will be well-covered in the air - with TrolleyCam and Skycam cabled aerial systems, as well as a live drone - and on the ground with 16 super-slo-mo cameras and two shallow-depth-of-field wireless RF cameras on the sidelines.
CBS will use the Sony HDC-5500 on the sidelines as a combo broadcast/shallow-depth-of-field camera.
In addition to the Atlas Cam RF Sony PXW-FX9 shallow-depth-of-field system that has become a staple of CBS's NFL coverage, the network will deploy an RF Sony HDC-F5500 handheld shallow-depth-of-field system. The F5500, which first appeared on NFL coverage in November, can switch between a traditional broadcast sideline handheld configuration and a shallow-depth-of-field cinematic configuration.
We're very excited about the new Sony F5500 camera because it allows [the operator] to go back and forth between a normal game camera and a shallow-depth- of-field camera, says Karasik. We experimented with it on a regular-season game a couple of months ago, but we wanted to [formally] debut it for the first time on a major national game like this. We feel like it's going to add a whole new element to the broadcast.
The TrolleyCam will fly parallel to the field at speeds up to 65 mph.
The TrolleyCam point-to-point cabled camera system is back, having drawn rave reviews on CBS's Playoffs coverage last year and this year (check out the aerial replay shot it captured of a Bills-Chiefs TD at 00:27 in this clip). Provided by Flycam, the camera zips along a wire from one end of the stadium to the other at up to 65 mph to capture front- row angles for viewers.
It gives us a lot of really exciting and different types of shots that you haven't seen much in football, says Karasik. We got a lot out of it last year in the playoffs and so far this year as well. The TrolleyCam really shines on long runs and big plays, so, with the explosive offenses of both the Bengals and the Chiefs with guys like Tyreke Hill, Jamar Chase, and Travis Kelsey, there's going to be a real opportunity to get some exciting replays out of that TrolleyCam.
MECOLE HARDMAN TURNING ON THE JETSpic.twitter.com/EfEyXbzXoY
(via @NFL)
NFL on CBS (@NFLonCBS) January 24, 2022
After deploying a live drone first during a game in Green Bay earlier this year, CBS will bring back the Beverly Hills Aerial-provided camera for the AFC Championship.
The drone will give a lot of real impressive sense-of-place shots for director Mike Arnold to weave into the broadcast, says Karasik. We used [Beverly Hills Aerial drones] a lot on our SRX auto-racing coverage, and they were tremendous. We're excited to see what the drone can give us on Sunday.
Remote control for one of four Sony HDC-4800 high-speed 4K robo systems provided by Fletcher for zoom-in replays in Kansas City
3G Wireless is also supplying 20 pylon cams across the two end zones, as well as two line-to-gain cameras embedded in the first-down markers.
NEP's Aerial Video Systems (AVS) is handling RF for all the wireless cameras (including the Sony PXW-FX9) and also providing the RF Sony HDC-3500 handheld, and the RF system for the TrolleyCam system, as well as an RF Sony HDC-P1R Steadicam and an RF Sony 3500 handheld for the NFL Today studio show.
In addition, NEP's Fletcher division is providing four Sony HDC-4800 high-speed 4K camera systems zoom-in replays, two Sony HDC-P43 high-speed goal-post robos, a Sony HDC-P31 booth robo, two Sony HDC-P1R hallway robos, and a Panasonic AW-UE150 PTZ camera for the commentator camera system.
Inertia Unlimited is supplying the RF Sony PXW-FX9 shallow-depth-of-field camera, as well a Sony Venice 4K cinema camera in the booth to shoot play-by-play man Jim Nantz and analyst Tony Romo.
The broadcaster has gone heavy on Canon glass, including a full arsenal of 4K UHD-DIGISUPER 111x and 122x lenses. In addition, the SkyCam system is outfitted with a Canon CJ20ex5 lens, while the Sony 5500 has a Canon 17-120mm Cine Servo lens.
RomoVision Hits Its Stride: Now Available on First Replays As this season progressed, so too did CBS Sports' RomoVision augmented-reality-driven replay segments. The technology, which CBS created in conjunction with Second Spectrum (owned by Genius Sports) and the NFL's Next Gen Stats system, shows 11 X's and 11 O's on a virtual field on the left side of the screen as Romo breaks down the play.
By the time the regular season came to an end, CBS Sports was using RomoVision on first replays, thanks to an accelerated turnaround time in the truck.
A look at the @Juiceup__3 TD in RomoVision courtesy of @NextGenStats@NFLonCBS #BALvsPIT pic.twitter.com/gIEdtXyRfH
NFL (@NFL) December 5, 2
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
26/11/2025
A cinematic snow sculpture at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Randall Michelson...
26/11/2025
Book podcasts are booming. On Spotify, you'll find everything from celebrity book clubs to deep dives with bestselling authors. And in markets where audiobo...
26/11/2025
Mumbai, November 24, 2025: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, JioStar, in collab...
26/11/2025
LONDON Factual content producer ITN Productions has launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins....
26/11/2025
MIAMI TelevisaUnivision said it struck a new multiyear distribution agreement with YouTube TV that includes distribution of TelevisaUnivision's U.S. network...
26/11/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leader in software-defined data storage and data services, today announced the launch of the Atlas Corporate Creative Solution. This new Atl...
26/11/2025
Disguise, the industry-leading company powering the world's biggest live performances, is partnering with pioneering LED wall manufacturer DVS to give atten...
26/11/2025
HighField AI, the pioneer in agentic and multimodal automation for broadcast and media production, today announced the expansion of its global channel partner n...
26/11/2025
As high-stakes Premier League fixtures approach and additional premium content launches, with MONO positioning themselves to dominate Thailand's sports stre...
26/11/2025
Hosting a wide variety of events from high-intensity NHL games to complex live music concerts and major entertainment productions, Montreal's 21,000 capacit...
26/11/2025
Vizrt, the leader in live production technology revolutionizing viewer engagement and experience, releases AI-driven advances focusing on speed, intelligence, a...
26/11/2025
ITN Productions, an award-winning factual content producer, today launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins. Responsible for delivering a leading...
26/11/2025
Ikegami reports ongoing advances throughout 2025 in developing and delivering coordinated television production solutions that maximize quality, versatility and...
26/11/2025
Following the Nov. 21 blackout of NBCUniversal channels on Fubo, the two sides have traded barbs about their inability to reach a new carriage deal....
26/11/2025
LONDON As TV sports rights become increasingly important for both broadcasters and streamers, Ampere Analysis predicts global investment in the genre will surpa...
26/11/2025
LOS ANGELES Vubiquity said it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Media & Entertainment Competency as part of the AWS Partner Network (APN). This designa...
26/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau said it has entered into a consent decree with Comcast calling for the cable company t...
26/11/2025
Berklee Named to the Hollywood Reporters Top Music Schools List The publication highlights the college's screen scoring program, industry partnerships, and ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
Animated Series Love Through a Prism' Casts New Light on ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
NALIP Unveils Fifth Cohort of Director Incubator
Social Impact
26 November 2025
United States
Link copied to clipboard
The National Assoc...
26/11/2025
YouView Achieves Greenly Gold Certification for SustainabilityNov 26, 2025
YouView is proud to announce a Gold Certification award from Greenly for our perform...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Deepens Partnership with Taiwan's 62nd Golden Hors...
25/11/2025
Tracy Bonareri Onchoke, an investigative journalist from Kenya is the winner of the Thomson Foundation's Young Journalist Award 2025.
The 26-year-old-sele...
25/11/2025
SVG All-Stars: Blayke Scheer, Senior Director, Creative Content, YES NetworkThe Indiana alum has turned storytelling into an artform for more than two decadesBy...
25/11/2025
Op-Ed: With FCC's C-Band Auction on the Horizon, Broadcasters Need Proven, C...
25/11/2025
Analysis: Is Baller League really the future of sport? By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, November 25, 2025 - 10:10
Print This Story
With KSI on...
NFL Playoffs 2022: CBS Sports Rolls Out New Sony F5500 Shallow-Depth-of-Field Camera, TrolleyCam, Live Drone for AFC Championship NFL Today show iw onsite in KC; RomoVision makes big strides By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor 
