Fox Cameras at Packer Game

[Kevin Arnold]

I was at the Packer game today sitting in the south end zone (what a game!). Fox's end zone camera was nearby and during commercials I trained the binocs on it. SD all the way with no indication this thing could do widescreen. Even was able to gaze into the "viewfinder" in glorious b & w. No dual use camera here.

[uplinkguy]

Cameras of industrial or professional quality have been made for years that can switch to 16:9.  This is done with a flip of a soft key in the menus.  Unfortunately, when most cameras switch, there are less pixals being used.  The camera simply ignores the top and bottom and letter boxes  the image basically.  (Just like when you take a panoramic shot on a 35 mm camera.  The top and bottom of the film are blocked by the camera. This changes the aspect.)

Besides seeing the big "HD" on the side of a large lens, other hints to watch for an HD camera:  Currently I believe only Ikegami makes a HD camera that connects with a traditional triax connector.  It's a big connector about an inch wide and the connector is about 4" long.  It contains an inner conductor with two layers of shielding.  Sony cameras use a hybrid cable with 2 fibers and copper for power.  HDNet uses only two fibers and powers the camera locally.

So if it isn't an Ikegami, and looks like triax, probably just plain old SD.
 

[Mike Sheahan]

They don't even show the darn yellow first down line in Green Bay any more!

I know they are doing it elsewhere, but I hav yet to see it in Lambeau this season.

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Mits 65819
Hughes E86
My HT Page

[uplinkguy]

Sorry Sheahan, but to some other people out there in the country, the Packer game is not considered the 'A' game.

Matchups each week are labeled by the networks by considering their potential audience.  When the screens pop up mentioning the games that will be on, the 'A' game is the one in a bigger font.  This is where the network puts most of the production toys.  An 'A' game will have 3 production trucks on site to deal with the extra cameras, more graphics, slo-mo machines, camera dollies and so forth.  The 1st and ten line is included.

Once the subjective part is over with, there is actually a technical reason why Packer games at Lambeau field don't happen very often.  IT Doesn't Work Very Well!  Here is how the system works:
  2 cameras up high at the 50 yard line have a special tripod with them.  These tripods keep track of the azimuth and elevation of where the camera is pointed and another control in the camera measures the amount of zoom.  The computer than calculates at what angle to make the line and how long it should be.  The operator just needs to type in the yard line of the 1st down.  
   This is why it doesn't work as well at Lambeau:  The line is drawn using a chroma key function like the weather guys use.  The computer draws the line on the field where it sees the grass.  Now when a player of a particular home team walks through the 1st down line, the computer gets confused because the uniform and the grass are of a very similar color.

So Gilbert Brown could end up with a very large yellow streak down his back....

[Mike Sheahan]

Thanks for the explination, although I think I would be willing to put up with a few glitches in the system, to be able to tell when the guys are getting close to the line.

And if Terry Glenn turned yellow every once in a while I don't think anyone would be able to tell the differance.

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Mits 65819
Hughes E86
My HT Page