NAB 2023 in Review: North Hall SportsTech Buzz From Blackmagic Design, LiveU, Ross Video, and More By SVG Staff Thursday, April 20, 2023 - 7:00 am
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The SVG and SVGE editorial teams were out in full force at NAB 2023, covering the biggest sports-technology news and delivering daily SportsTechBuzz at NAB 2023 roundups. Here is a look at the news from exhibitors in North Hall.
Featured in this roundup are Blackmagic Design, Brainstorm, Chyron, Evertz, EVS, FingerWorks Telestrators, G&D North America, Hitomi Broadcast, IHSE USA, IPV, LiveU, LucidLink, Open Broadcast Systems, OpenDrives, Quantum, Rohde & Schwarz, Ross Video, RT Software, Studio Network Solutions, Teradek, Wasabi Technologies, and Zero Density.
The latest in keyer capabilities on the green screen is on exhibit by Zero Density (Booth N1817), which is showcasing solutions from bubbles to the best in photorealism. A highlight is the basketball set, which demonstrates player stats and line-ups in real time, enabling broadcasters to transform even modest studios with a video wall into a 360-degree virtual world. The company has also announced ZD|Virtual Studio, a software bundle that includes Reality Keyer - the real-time image-based keyer used by Fox Sports, Warner Media, and The Weather Channel - and its RealityHub control application, which lets users control both on-air graphics and virtual production from a single interface. With support for real-time depth of field, ray tracing, and Unreal Engine 5.1, ZD|Virtual Studio enables broadcasters to set up an industry-standard virtual production with green screen, AR, or XR at an affordable price point, Zero Density said.
Hitomi Broadcast (Booth N2860) has launched a new IP SMPTE 2110 interface for MatchBox. Director Russell Johnson noted, We've been asked about this for years, and we've finally done it. We've created a new rear that plugs into the back of MatchBox and upgrades it from SDI to IP. We've also launched cloud-based measurement here at NAB. It's a software approach that can be deployed anywhere; you can have as many instances as you need, and that leads onto a quality-control tool for lip-sync AV timing. When audio sync gets ahead in sport, it's a nightmare; viewers just turn off.
Chyron's Mark Friedman (left) and Carol Bettencourt
For Chyron (Booth N2647) VP, Strategic Accounts, Mark Friedman this is one of the most exciting NAB Shows since he joined the company, marked by the latest enhancements to Chyron's PRIME live-production engine and Chyron LIVE cloud-native platform. Enhancements in PRIME version 4.7 include improved designer-usability features for fast-paced workflows; more effects, resources, and logic, including advanced auto-follow and Data Table Resource; and extended ability to organize, filter, and display data easier and faster - along with the integration of several new data partners. Meanwhile, version 1.3 of Chyron LIVE features a new Matchpad module that allows virtually any user to manage dynamic motion graphics for live sports production. This first implementation of Matchpad in LIVE 1.3 focuses on soccer, but the technology provides a foundation for simplified graphics-control interfaces for a variety of sports in future LIVE releases. Chyron also announced new features in its CAMIO and Newsticker environments and soft-launched a new AXIS platform running on AWS.RT Software (Booth N2861) has introduced version 7.0 of its Tactic premier sports-analysis telestrator software aimed at professional broadcasters. Commercial Director Mike Fredriksen said, We have version 7.0 of Tactic, which is taking AI to the next level delivering lightning-fast turnarounds of sports-play analysis. Now, with our AI, we're tracking the players all the time; complex graphics sequencies can be turned around quickly.
At NAB 2023, OpenDrives (Booth N1861) has announced multi-cloud migration as part of its efforts with Fox Sports, as well as the addition of AI-enabled remote-production and backup/recovery workflows to its software-defined ecosystem. The company's Atlas Core software platform and Atlas Cloud Plus (ACP) fully managed cloud solution centralize content across Fox Sports' 10 onsite locations, multiple editing facilities, and geographically distributed remote teams. Now Fox Sports has selected ACP to streamline content access from any location while enhancing tiering efficiencies for files migrated between AWS and GCP. According to Chief Operations and Strategy Officer Sean Lee, giving Fox Sports the ability to instantly launch containerized applications, including Signiant and Aspera, OpenDrives provides a resilient and adaptive storage platform enabling data access and movement from anywhere.
Despite the move to IP, there is still a place for SDI within live sports broadcasting, as Evertz (Booth N2225) is demonstrating at NAB 2023. The company is touting 12G-SDI updates that are for sports venues and local sports broadcasters who, for cost reasons, aren't yet ready to move to IP but want to upgrade their SDI capabilities. This includes new features for its 12G-SDI NEXX processing router, such as output frame synchronization, timecode, and mixed-reference support. The addition of the new NEXX-670 FPGA-based module expands the processing capabilities of the NEXX platform and allows broadcasters to transition to IP when they are ready.
Brainstorm's booth features Virtual Production Theatre to demonstrate virtual-set and real-time 3D-graphics capabilities.
Brainstorm (Booth N2639), a provider of virtual-set and real-time 3D-graphics solutions, is showcasing its flagship InfinitySet, which enables users to create photorealistic augmented- and mixed-reality content. The demonstration at the company's Virtual Production Theatre features a combination of chroma sets and shaped LED
