
EXCLUSIVE: Home match for MagentaTV posted: 18/10/2021
by Bernhard Herrmann, Kevin Reimuth
If you wanted to watch all 51 matches of the UEFA EURO 2020 on screen this summer, in Germany you had to turn to MagentaTV. All matches were offered there in UHD and Dolby 5.1. As the service provider, Plazamedia was responsible for the studio production. Bernhard Herrmann was there for our issue 9.2021 in the nerve-racking 2-2 between Germany and Hungary.
The German national soccer team met the team from Hungary in their last preliminary round match of the UEFA EURO 2020 in the arena in Munich on June 23, 2021. They needed at least a draw to advance to the round of 16.
Around noon, the Plazamedia studio complex in Ismaning, Bavaria, just outside the city limits of Munich, is covered in summery sunshine. At the compound of Plazamedia, a company of Sport1 Medien AG, three Covid-19 test stations have been set up at the main entrance to the building. Each of the up to 120 employees who are present every day must undergo a PCR or rapid test according to a scenario agreed with the health department. Anyone who has completed their test and received the negative result will receive a colored bracelet for that day, which allows access to certain studios.
Plazamedia was commissioned by Deutsche Telekom as the general contractor. A total of three studios with an area of around 2,600 square meters, four playouts and a content center are used for MagentaTV. The technical production of all 51 games took place on 22 live production days between June 11 and July 11 on two HD and two UHD channels. As a content-related program service provider, thinXpool TV GmbH was responsible for all editorial aspects of the project. Hardy Steinweg, COO of Plazamedia GmbH, welcomes us and we take a seat at a beer table set in the shady courtyard. He explains the workflows, the technology used and what Plazamedia has set up for a month on the occasion of the production for MagentaTV for EURO 2020.
Live production area in the Plazamedia-Compound in Ismaning
The arena in Munich-Fr ttmaning, where the team's last preliminary round match will take place that day, is less than three kilometers away from the studios. Unfortunately, the German Weather Service has already issued a severe weather warning with thunderstorms and heavy rain for the kick-off of the game, which is nowhere to be suspected with the Bavarian white-blue sky still prevailing. Gradually, the employees from the various trades arrive at Plazamedia.
Augmented Reality and 3D graphics in the studio
In Plazamedia Studio M, a 250 square meter action area was available for MagentaTV programs. A 60 square meter LED video wall in 32: 9 format served as backdrop and was feeded with a Pandoras box system from Christie as a media server. The curved, black presenters desk in front of the video wall with monitors embedded in a semicircle was based on the Telekom logo.
The U-shaped, light gray and silver-colored wall elements with various large curves at the corners were mainly kept in Deutsche Telekoms CI color magenta. Two white circumferential light strips indirectly illuminate the rear and side walls above and below. In addition to around two dozen spotlights, points the size of a tennis ball made of reflective film stand out on the ceiling of the studio. These belong to the Mo-Sys StarTracker system, where an LED sensor is attached to each of three studio cameras. This is used to calibrate the position and orientation of the camera. Rotation and lens data are determined exactly. This data is sent to a rendering engine so that a virtual 3D graphic can be integrated into the 2D TV image as an augmented reality element.
The central equipment room was housed in an external container
With the help of this system, VIZRT graphics could be faded into the TV image as an animated steel frame of the roof of the Munich arena in the studio image, giving the impression that you were actually there. The transition from the real studio wall to the virtual roof consisted of the familiar real, but now virtual, wall elements in magenta color. In some scenes of the program, the graphic designers had pushed the high-contrast combination of studio colors in the virtual representation a little too far, so that the complementary colors no longer matched each other. The reflection of the color yellow from the virtual German flag even gave the presenter and an expert a yellowish color in the TV picture.
All of UEFAs on-air graphics were produced by Deltatre in UHD, assigned to the live stadium feed and made available to broadcasters for their own superimpositions. The respective statistic datas were recorded and distributed by Deltatre in the stadiums.
Five cameras for MagentaTV
Five UHD-capable Sony HDC 3500 with Fujinon HD Boxed 24x and Fujinon EFP wide-angle 14x lenses were used in the MagentaTV studio. Three cameras were on pump tripods. This setup was supplemented by a camera crane and a steadicam. The moderators were equipped with headband microphones and in-ears.
The LED screen and AR control were particularly important for additional information and the virtual extension of the studio.
For the MagentaTV analysis on the Magic Wall , expert Jan Henkel used a 100-inch UHD touchscreen with a Piero Sport graphics analysis system from Ross Video. He used various graphic 3D elements and markings to explain game- and goal-deciding scenes with routes and positions on the field that had previously been selected for analysis from the live stadium feed and saved locally. This enabled for instance goals to be explained at half-time on a sport-professional level (that did not require a trainer seminar for viewers, as was sometimes necessary for other TV stations). The sports graphics and analysis engine also offered everything to display the actions in video scenes frame by frame
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
06/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/06/2026
Matrox Video today announced the launch of the Matrox Maevex MGX Series, a new lineup of IPMX-ready video encoders and decoders with USB support that is enginee...
06/06/2026
Atomos (booth# S1006) announced immediate availability of Sumo PRO-19, a new 19-inch 4K HDR monitor-recorder-switcher designed as a central production hub for m...
06/06/2026
Cine Gear Expo 2026 DoPchoice introduces a complete light-shaping system for the new Creamsource Vortex2, further expanding the fixture's wide versatility...
06/06/2026
SmallHD will debut a new OLED 4K production monitor with a 16 display, the OLED 16, that combines OLED's industry-benchmark contrast ratio, exceptional col...
06/06/2026
Ed Lachman ASC, Caleb Deschanel ASC, and M. David Mullen ASC Being Honored at the 30th Annual Cine Gear Expo LA
Cine Gear Expo has announced the recipients of ...
06/06/2026
World premiere at Cine Gear Expo Los Angeles, June 5-6...
06/06/2026
See it first at Cine Gear Expo LA, Booth #S1703
DoPchoice introduces the latest addition to its inflatable AIRGLOW series the 8 2 Frame for RuPixel Canvas. ...
05/06/2026
The university-wide initiative has pushed their creative content to a new level
Although collegiate athletics at a single institution can contain numerous spo...
05/06/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
05/06/2026
Synamedia has announced that Lumine Group has agreed to acquire its Video Network business. The company is positioning the transition as the start of a new phas...
05/06/2026
Ateme, Broadcasting Center Europe (BCE), and Scaleway have announced a strategic partnership to deliver a cloud-based media supply chain covering ingest through...
05/06/2026
Audinate has announced three new additions to its Dante AVIO Install adapter series: a 4-Channel Analog Input, a 4-Channel Analog Output, and a 2-Ch In/2-Ch Out...
05/06/2026
Sportradar Group AG has announced a multi-year extension of its exclusive global...
05/06/2026
The M6 Group will broadcast FIFA World Cup 2026 matches live and in Ultra High D...
05/06/2026
The Athletic has announced that PGA TOUR highlights will be integrated into its golf coverage beginning with the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday. PGA T...
05/06/2026
When the FIFA World Cup arrives in North America in 2026, it will bring more tha...
05/06/2026
FIFA and DAZN have announced the launch of FIFA exclusively on DAZN, consolidating FIFA's content portfolio within DAZN's sports platform. The move fol...
05/06/2026
Telemundo's exclusive Spanish-language coverage of the FIFA World Cup 2026 G...
05/06/2026
Dolby Laboratories and NBCUniversal have announced that Peacock will stream Tele...
05/06/2026
Formula 1 has announced a 10-year extension to keep the Las Vegas Grand Prix on the F1 calendar through 2037. Las Vegas Grand Prix, Inc., Clark County, and the ...
05/06/2026
The broadcast-engineering team overcomes wind, speed, and salt water - and dista...
05/06/2026
Deploying both onsite and remote crews, the company is providing calibrated-came...
05/06/2026
With Inter&Co Stadium unavailable, ESPN's UFL team rebuilt its broadcast pla...
05/06/2026
One of the most exciting and informative events on the SVG annual event calendar is the Regional Sports Production Summit, an annual gathering of industry profe...
05/06/2026
For the race's third year at the historic racetrack, the broadcaster has added cameras and will incorporate multiple drones
The 158th edition of the Belmon...
05/06/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
05/06/2026
Built from the same recordings as flagship library
Sonuscore's LUX Orchestral Strings has been met with widespread praise since its launch in late 2025,...
05/06/2026
High-end converter, interface & headphone amp upgraded
Said to represent the next evolution of RME's all-in-one reference converter concept, the all-new...
05/06/2026
Win a Soundgas Type 636P & Type G preamps
Soundgas, one of the UK's leading vintage and boutique audio equipment specialists have just announced the lau...
05/06/2026
New leadership of Technology Systems Division at Rohde & Schwarz On July 1, 2026, Hansj rg Herrbold and Andreas H gele will take over as Executive Vice Presid...
05/06/2026
Hitachi and Intel announced a strategic collaboration to explore opportunities t...
05/06/2026
MRI-Simmons and S&P Global Mobility are expanding advanced audience capabilities...
05/06/2026
New Nielsen data shows insurance ad spend grew 11%, while consumers remain highl...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
ASG Promotes Joe Marchitto to Western Regional CTO
Brie Clayton June 5, 2026
0 Comments
Appointment to Support Engineering Alignment and Client Experi...
05/06/2026
Stargate Studios Colombia Uses DaVinci Resolve Studio for Vertical Microdramas
Brie Clayton June 5, 2026
0 Comments
End to end post in one platform al...
05/06/2026
People Need to Come First When We Use AI
Andy Marken June 5, 2026
0 Comments
It's just surviving. Life's very existence requires destruction....
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...