Teledyne DALSA cameras to power breakthrough video replay system for NBC Sunday Night Football

Teledyne DALSA is partnering with Replay Technologies by providing its latest cameras and frame grabbers for deployment in the breakthrough freeD sports video replay system at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, in Arlington, TX.

Replay’s freeD (free dimensional video) system recordsvideo not just as regular 2D video, but as true 3D scenes, which enables the production team, and in the near future the actual viewers, to freely roam around a captured scene where no physical camera exists, according to the Teledyne DALSA press release.

Cameras and algorithms are used to produce3D pixels which help create real-time photorealistic 3D scenes in the freeD system. The information is stored as a freeD database that can render any desired viewing angle from the detailed information. freeD was first used in 2012 at the Players Championship PGA golf event, and then at the London 2012 Olympic Games gymnastics competition. It is currently deployed at Yankee Stadium in New York. See video of the system in action here.

The system will utilize 24 Teledyne DALSAFalcon2CMOS cameras. These 12 Mpixel cameras have “4K” resolution that enable the freeD system to capture all of the action while being able to “get closer” while retaining HD quality. In addition, the rugged Falcon2 cameras feature in-camera image pre-processing, global shutter imaging to capture moving objects, and selectable 4:3 or 1:1 aspect ratios while maintaining the same resolution (for 8M and 4M models).

Installed in the control room at AT&T Stadium are Teledyne DALSA’sXcelera frame grabbers, which are optimized for the Falcon2 cameras, and will capture camera data and interface with the freeD system. These half-length PCI Express x8 boards acquire images from one Camera Link full, medium, or base camera and feature image transfer rates beyond 1 GB/s.

Fans of Sunday Night football will be able to seamlessly move from side to side and around an entire play without switching shots, which will be both entertaining and informative, according to Fred Gaudelli, Producer of NBC Sunday Night Football

“Fans will think they’re playing a video game or watching a Sci-Fi movie, but they’ll actually be viewing real NFL football as never presented before.”

View theTeledyne DALSA press release.

View thefreeD video replay system in action.

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