News Technology & Live Sport
Tracking the action
Slow motion in sport
very high gain sensor, the HD-DPM+ CCD.
Together with very sophisticated analogue to
digital conversion, this achieves a signal to
noise ratio of better than 54dB, significantly
higher than other slow motion cameras on the
market. Side by side tests - including at the
Euro 2008 football - showed that the noise
floor of the LDK 8300 is clearly visibly better
than the competition.
One other important point on this issue is
that the clock rate of the sensors is set right at
the front end, and it allows you to set the
camera into 3x, 2x or 1x speed capture.
Different sports have different requirements
from slow motion replays: directors in very
fast paced games like basketball tend to use 2x
slow motion because there simply is no time
to replay an event at three times its original
length: the game will have moved on by then.
Obviously, setting the camera to 2x capture
gives you 50% longer exposure for each
frame, and therefore an even better signal to
noise ratio.
At the CCU there is advanced digital
Thomson’s TIM SLATE and PAUL DE BRESSER report.
circuitry which combines the two or three
ne of the most attractive and helpful Grass Valley LDK 8300 HD super slo-mo video phases into a normal speed signal.
O
production techniques in sports camera, which was first used at the Euro 2008 Sophisticated algorithms blend the signals
television is the use of the slow football championships in June, followed by together in a way which reduces the signal to
motion replay. Whatever the sport, the use of almost 50 of the cameras in Beijing. noise figure by a further 3dB, giving an
there are key moments which benefit from There are three key issues involved in excellent standard performance which can be
giving the audience more time to study the developing a new super slo-mo camera. The transparently intercut with other cameras on
action. innovative solutions to these three challenges the production.
Traditionally the challenge was that, with make the LDK 8300 a unique product which This is a particular challenge when the
only 25 frames a second, slowing the action sets the standard in super-slow motion. production standard is 1080i: it is much easier
down meant that slow motion replays were First is sensitivity. The imaging chip in a to blend progressive frames, and sports
jerky, and quite often the key moments camera converts light to electricity. The more broadcasters should really be thinking in terms
occurred in the gaps between frames. Thomson light, the more voltage from the chip. If you of 720p at all times. However, the choice must
eliminated that problem with the world’s first want to capture video frames three times as be the producer’s and not limited by
super slo-mo camera, the LDK 23. The solution fast as usual, then the exposure time for each technology, so the algorithms are equally
was to shoot at three times the normal frame is one third the norm, which means less light effective in interlaced and progressive capture.
rate - 75 frames a second in Europe - allowing is collected so the output voltage is The second major challenge for a high
the replay to be slowed by a factor of three significantly reduced. This potentially has a definition super slo-mo camera occurs when it
without compromising quality. very damaging effect on the signal to noise is used under artificial lighting. While electric
Today, sport is one of the strongest drivers ratio right at the very beginning of the signal lights appear to be constant to the eye, they
for the take-up of high definition television, chain. are actually cycling with the mains frequency.
and so the call has been for an HD equivalent The LDK 8300 super slo-mo camera uses a A 50 fields per second camera under 50Hz
of the widely-respected and used LDK 23 head block based on the standard LDK 8000 lighting will always be at the same point in
camera. The result has been the new Thomson camera, which already employs an active and the cycle, so the picture will appear stable.
20 IBE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2008
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