Behinds the scenes at the hi-def Super Bowl
Here’s an interesting article about preparations for high-definition broadcasting from this year’s Super Bowl.
In addition to just about every camera being high-definition, there is some interesting prototype technology being used.
ABC Sports will field test the Sony advanced prototype HD super slo-mo camera system, according to Robert Willox, director of marketing for content creation at Sony Electronics. He said the world’s first 3x super slo-mo camera captures video at 180 fps in multiple HD formats, from 720p to 1080i, “so the camera will be useful for NBC or CBS the next time they air the Super Bowl.” Several engineers from the Sony design center in Atsugi, Japan, will baby-sit the prototype during game, according to Willox. Sony also is providing its Cinealta HDW-F900 camera, which will shoot HD 1080p at 24 fps for archive material to be created by NFL Films.
Cool stuff. Hopefully we can get the network waivers we’ve requested via DirecTV to allow us access to the west coast high-definition network feeds (we’ve been unsuccessful at getting the local channels over the air). Otherwise, we’ll be stuck watching the game in standard definition.