Logo

NBC Olympics: TV Testing Lab

Jul 20, 2008  •  Post A Comment

The Olympic Games carry a storied tradition not only of physical achievements, but technological advances in television as well.
With the world watching, networks carrying the Games have utilized the latest advances in production technology to showcase the events. Whether it’s the Dive-Cam, the Rail-Cam or Lane ID, every new Olympics brings new twists on the art of TV storytelling.
At 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, NBC will aim to continue that tradition, showcasing the rapid development in production capabilities since the 2006 Winter Games.
“The Olympics serve as a great laboratory for us,” said David Neal, executive producer, NBC Sports, and executive VP of Olympics for NBC. “It serves as a great tradition on television that dates back to the days where the Olympics was in its own way a version of NAB on the road. ABC would roll out all this technology and viewers will see that phenomenon replicated here.”
As digital technology improves, key advances this year center on high-definition. In a first for a U.S. broadcaster at a Summer Olympics, NBC will broadcast the Olympic Games entirely in high definition. The HD coverage will be available on NBC’s HD affiliates, CNBC HD, USA HD and Universal HD.
To make this possible, the Beijing Olympic Broadcasting Co., which is running production operations for the Games, will not have a single standard-definition camera, instead utilizing more than 1,000 HD cameras and 60 HD mobile units for the competitions. Meanwhile, all Olympics venues will be wired with fiber-optic cables for high-definition transmission. Panasonic was tapped to deliver the largest-ever supply of digital electrical technologies to the event.
Helped by a $40 million investment from China, NBC’s HD coverage will no longer be limited to a finite number of sports. During the previous Summer Games in Athens, the network offered 399 hours of HD coverage for select events, including basketball, diving, soccer, swimming and track and field. During the 2006 Winter Games, the network produced just over 300 hours of high-definition fare. This year’s Games will approach closer to 800 hours.
“The Chinese government has put an amazing investment into the Games,” said Mr. Neal. “Because everything will be shot in HD, not only will the HD viewers benefit, but so will other audiences as well, because everything will be sharper. By taking this wealth of content and allowing us to apply it to the increased number of platforms available to us, we will be witnessing a technological marvel with complete and total distribution of the finest quality.”
To accomplish this, older cameras had to be swapped out for the HD models. In addition, HD technology has improved to the point where even lipstick cameras, for events such as archery and the pole vault, are capable of capturing the action. Technological advances in these HD cameras, as well as high-quality slow-motion recording, will allow NBC to tell stories and show angles that were not possible before.
Moving Into Mainstream
While these innovations have been previously used in niche sports such as rugby, the Olympics brings the technology to the mainstream for use in major league games.
“These are cameras that were not considered possible a very short time ago,” said Mr. Neal. “This is the type of technology that is quickly duplicated in other sports.”
Beyond the realm of high definition, NBC will be bringing back upgraded versions of its virtual technology to identify athletes and their country affiliation, as well as world and Olympic record marks. In addition, courses for mountain bike, road cycling, marathon, race walks, triathlon and the equestrian cross-country competitions will be illustrated using satellite mapping and aided with 3-D models of selected landmarks.

28 Comments

  1. It all looks great except I hate that they cover up the lead swimmers with the country logo just after they make their flip turns! You can’t see the swimmers do their cool glide! That dolphin glide is one of the coolest things and can make/break the race for a swimmer…yet all we see is this logo covering up the swimmers. I hate it.

  2. Good post, thanks

  3. Good post, thanks

  4. The new Zune browser is surprisingly good, but not as good as the iPod’s. It works well, but isn’t as fast as Safari, and has a clunkier interface. If you occasionally plan on using the web browser that’s not an issue, but if you’re planning to browse the web alot from your PMP then the iPod’s larger screen and better browser may be important.

  5. Zune and iPod: Most people compare the Zune to the Touch, but after seeing how slim and surprisingly small and light it is, I consider it to be a rather unique hybrid that combines qualities of both the Touch and the Nano. It’s very colorful and lovely OLED screen is slightly smaller than the touch screen, but the player itself feels quite a bit smaller and lighter. It weighs about 2/3 as much, and is noticeably smaller in width and height, while being just a hair thicker.

  6. I mean, I could see all this fuss over the guy if he’d led Jersey to the Finals

  7. Great blog!! You should start many more. I love all the info provided. I will stay tuned 🙂

  8. I love the expression. Everyone needs to express there own opinion and feel free to hear others. Keep it up 🙂

  9. Great wordpress blog here.. It’s hard to find quality writing like yours these days. I really appreciate people like you! take care and see you soon

  10. Nice!! Great Ifo. Great People. Great Blog. Thank you for all the great sharing that is being done here.

  11. Dreamin. I love blogging. You all express your feelings the right way, because they are your feeling, focus on your blog it is great.

  12. Nice blog here! Also your website loads up fast! What host are you using? I wish my website loaded up as fast as yours lol

  13. Amazing freakin blog here. I almost cried while reading it!

  14. Love the blog here. Nice colors. I am definitely staying tuned to this one. Hope to see more.

  15. I would like to start my own blog one day. This was a really nice blog that you made here. Keep up the success 😛

  16. Great blog!! You should start many more. I love all the info provided. I will stay tuned 🙂

  17. Great wordpress blog here.. It’s hard to find quality writing like yours these days. I really appreciate people like you! take care and see you soon

  18. I love your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you create this website yourself or did you hire someone to do it for you? Plz reply back as I’m looking to create my own blog and would like to know wheere u got this from. thanks

  19. Way to focus and straight to your point, i love it. Keep up the work people. Dont let anyone stop us bloggers.

  20. Howdy I really considered the post , good information, Can we fix the RSS feeder. . .? or is it my browser. Anyway thanks,.
    http://www.facebooknuke.info – Make Money With Your Facebook Account – Hey, it Works!

  21. Interesting thoughts here. I appreciate you taking the time to share them with us all. It’s people like you that make my day 🙂

  22. Nice!! Great Ifo. Great People. Great Blog. Thank you for all the great sharing that is being done here.

  23. Kudos to you! This is a really good blog here and I love your style of writing. How did you get so good at blogging?

  24. Keep focusing on your blog. I love how we can all express our feelings. This is an extremely nice blog here 🙂

  25. Kudos to you! This is a really good blog here and I love your style of writing. How did you get so good at blogging?

  26. Keep focusing on your blog. I love how we can all express our feelings. This is an extremely nice blog here 🙂

  27. Can I just speak what a pain relief toward hit upon someone who essentially understands what theyre discussion regarding on the web. You definitely identify how toward transport an issue to brightness and make it significant. More people need to read this and understand this side of the narrative. I cant believe youre not additional popular because you definitely contain the gift.

  28. Do notforget Union Financial institution as 1 on the worst redesigns.

Leave a Reply to links of london links Cancel Reply

Email (will not be published)