FEATURE
LET THE GAMES BEGIN W
ith 39 different disciplines and almost 1,000 medals up for grabs, the Olym-
pic Games are widely held to be the world’s largest broadcast operation; one in which virtually every country on earth has a stake. The Olympic Broadcast Service (OBS) is
the organisation that keeps 13,000 techni- cians and their associated rights-holding broadcasters from stepping on each other’s toes, while delivering live coverage of the highest possible quality. One of the feats OBS has pulled off prior to the games is secrecy. With an effectiveness perhaps equaled only in the preparations for the D-Day invasion of Nor- mandy, broadcast partners and their personnel, at all levels, have stayed admirably tight-lipped about the prepara- tions for the games and every rights- holding broadcaster involved has signed a non-disclosure agreement. The OBS team comprises 150 full-time employees, but will expand to about 5,600 for the Games. OBS will use more than 1,000 cameras, including 40 super slow-motion cameras that can capture up to 1,000 frames per second. All TV audio will be produced in Surround Sound 5.1, entirely embedded in the HD stream. International Sound for Radio (IS- RA) will be produced as stereo only. The International Broadcast Centre (IBC)
will be the base of operations for OBS and all other rights-holding broadcasters. The facil- ity covers 48,300 sq m and will provide all necessary technical support services to rights- holders, allowing each to configure its own space according to individual requirements. Each sports venue will have standard facili-
ties for multilateral and unilateral production, with varying levels of complexity according to the dictates of each event or discipline. Multi- lateral facilities are those used by OBS for the production of the international signal, and unilateral facilities are those used by the indi-
16 | Broadcast TECH | March/April 2012 1,000
Number of cameras to be used by OBS at London 2012
vidual rights holders for their own supplemen- tal coverage of events, which might include commentary positions, some camera positions, and broadcast compound space. The VeloPark venue for track cycling repre- sents a typical event set-up. A total of 17 cameras will be used: six hard cameras, six handhelds and five minicams. The speciality cameras include two high-speed slow-motion cameras, one motorbike camera and one 3D cable cam running alongside the track. The Olympics broadcasts have the capacity to bring viewers once-in-a-lifetime images. Speciality camera companies are aware of this, deploying equipment that can be used for super-slow-motion replays or to provide images from a per-
spective that even the athletes may not experience. Not only can it be a
crowning achievement in the broadcast but it can also be a feather in a company’s cap. One technology provider who asked not to be named said of their involvement in the Games: “We’re always looking for ways to present an event in a new light. The OBS wants things to run like clockwork and with- out surprises. But you always want to be the one known for that one iconic shot.”
Paralympics coverage In addition to the main Games, OBS will provide more than 700 hours of coverage of the Paralympic Games in nine competition venues, as well as supplying ENG coverage at the other non-live venues. Panasonic is the official audio and visual equipment provider to the Olympics, and its involvement in the Games stretches back more than 25 years. Sean Taylor is the senior manager of Panasonic’s London Olympic Project Office, operating out of the Locog office in Canary Wharf and Panasonic’s head- quarters in Bracknell. Panasonic has provided the AV technology for the past half-dozen
As broadcasters from around the world gear up for the London 2012 Olympic Games, Neal Romanek takes a look at the technology being deployed to ensure the planet’s biggest sporting event looks better than ever
Games, always working in collaboration with each Games’ organising committee. As the complexity of the broadcast opera- tion has increased, so has Panasonic’s involvement. “Panasonic will be using more technology in London than it did in Beijing,” Taylor says. “But our job isn’t just supplying technology, it’s working with Locog to design it properly from the beginning, and making sure it works perfectly.” Panasonic will provide all image acquisi- tion equipment for London 2012, from its Lumix digital still cameras to the broadcast cameras, through to a variety of displays, from 19-inch professional displays to the largest screen, the TH-152UX1, a 152-inch 4K2K plasma display and numerous 103-inch TH-103VX200 plasma screens. Taylor notes that technology must never
threaten to become an impediment to the Olympic broadcast. “Although we obviously
THE OBS
Based in Madrid, the Olympic Broadcast Serv- ice was founded by the International Olympic Committee in 2001 to provide consistent broadcast coverage from one Games to the next. OBS London was formed in 2008 to work closely with the London Organising Com- mittee for the Olympic Games (Locog). Lon- don 2012 will be the first summer Olympics at which OBS will be the sole host broadcaster, having been a partner to the Bocog in Beijing.
www.broadcastnow.co.uk/techfacils
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