Sony Video Conferencing: A Slam Dunk for NBA-TV
PCS-1 Changes Production Economics for Interviews Bringing Broadcast & IP Together
A suite of Sony professional HD broadcast equipment featuring HDCAM® cameras would be the ultimate for most operations. But for Steve Hellmuth, NBA Entertainment's Senior Vice President, Operations and Technology, this is just the baseline for achieving excellence in sports broadcasting.
Hellmuth builds on this with a groundbreaking use of IP-based technology using the Sony PCS-1 Video Communication System. Since it was first deployed in the 2003-2004 season, it has opened a new window for NBA-TV to get behind the scenes at the more than 200+ games broadcast during the leagues' regular season and the chance to look onsite at what's happening at the 900+ other games scheduled.
Incorporating IP connectivity rewrites traditional production costs making it practical to include a much wider array of on-air interviews that add depth and breadth to coverage as rich as the HD images of action on the court.
According to Hellmuth, with the cost of sending a two-way crew at approximately $2,300 per event, the payback for the $5,000 system is immediate. It is a quantum leap beyond the previous practice of posting a photograph of someone being interviewed by phone. "With this Sony video conferencing technology, suddenly we're not talking about ‘broadcast quality' – we're able to raise the bar for what defines a quality broadcast," said Hellmuth.
Innovating with broadband video conferencing is part of Hellmuth's charge to develop and integrate broadcast operations with information technology. It is a natural evolution of his pioneering work using IP-based data feeds to deliver the official statistics of the NBA directly from courtside to the world via traditional media, NBA.com and other online outlets. This staple of the league's operation had originally been delivered via ISDN lines. But in 2003, the system was upgraded to dedicated T1 lines at each arena linking up with the NBA-TV command center in New Jersey. Since the statistics data only required fraction of the 1.4Mbps of bandwidth on tap, Hellmuth wondered what the latest video conferencing technology could do with the 1Mbps available. Would it be able to take the place of onsite crews typically needed to grab a two-way remote interview?
After researching the market, he saw a major opportunity with Sony's PCS-1. This unit stood out not just for H.264 video quality with XGA resolution, but also for the MPEG-4 audio bringing a full 14kHz depth – twice that of previous video conferencing systems. Even running at just half the PCS-1's 2Mbps maximum capacity, the units get the message across.
"The PCS-1 produces a great image that's terrific for full-screen interviews plus amazing audio quality so there's no compromise whatsoever in getting interviews. This is a perfect compliment to the Sony HDC900 HDCAM cameras we use for game coverage to produce the gorgeous pictures our viewers with HDTVs demand," said Hellmuth.
The PCS-1's image and audio quality is just one element in what makes it a starting player on NBA-TV's all-star lineup. This past season, 38 units have been installed at every arena and stadium in the league. Ease of installation was a key consideration because of the need for safe keeping between games at these public settings. Each is built into a special vibration-isolated roll about enclosures designed and built by Rochester NY-based integrator PicturePhone Direct.
After use, they are disconnected and stored safely while the facilities are used for other purposes. But when game time nears, getting them ready to go is simple. It is just a matter of plugging them into a standard Ethernet connection. Back at the broadcast center, the IP address for each camera is assigned to the switcher. Each unit's pan-tilt-zoom controls are operated over the same connection saving the need for having anyone managing the shoot on location. Focus, white balance and light levels are adjusted automatically. The only customized feature is a professional headset for the featured guest for the cleanest audio possible. At master control, the data can be shared over IP from up to six units simultaneously. Incoming information is converted to serial 601 digital video and AES audio for the routing switcher where it is available to the Sony MVS-8000 production switcher, tape machines, or any other destination in the infrastructure.
So far, the system is typically used for two-way interviews connecting studio talent with the remote interview. Conducting two interviews simultaneously with remote talent talking to each other across the screen also works well. The capability for gathering a full roundtable conference on split screen is also possible. Hellmuth says that they have just begun to explore the new opportunities that come from working with Sony on this to achieve his goal of getting more and better content onto NBA-TV's 24-hour channel.
"From the beginning, Sony has been dedicated to improving this product for our application. What's really powerful is that they know broadcast technology and video conferencing. A typical video conferencing company simply would not understand the language we broadcasters use," Hellmuth said.
Applause from the Audience
NBA-TV is the first 24-hour television channel launched by a professional sports league. Since being introduced in 1999, it has become available to 66 million homes through the majority of leading cable operators and the nations largest satellite providers as well as millions more abroad through broadcast affiliates in 39 countries. The introduction of high-definition broadcast of almost 50 games happened alongside the arrival of the in-depth coverage possible with the PCS-1.
Across the Horizon
In the coming months, NBA-TV promises to raise the bar even higher with plans to become fulltime HD in the 2004-2005 season as well as to expand the use of the PCS-1. According to Hellmuth, affiliates abroad are anxious to tailor their coverage by featuring PCS-1 interviews with players of particular interest to their markets. Hellmuth also says that with the prohibitive cost of conducting two-ways from overseas, this affords an opportunity to increase audience by highlighting the NBA's international players. Best of all, this involves no added production for NBA-TV itself. Foreign broadcasters can simply tap into the PCS-1 system to conduct their own interviews and incorporate this into the feed.
Stateside, programming possibilities with the PCS-1 abound. An initial project "Destination Finals" helped build the excitement for this year's post season. The feature checked in via video conference with host Rick Kamla as he hit 30 games in 30 days to gather stories across the league. With the PCS-1, access to NBA-TV is literally anywhere that you can find a broadband Internet connection. Hellmuth suspects that colleagues watching and wondering how he does it will soon copy his innovations.
"Our NBA-TV producers love it and want to use it more and more. I've received a lot of calls from other broadcasters wanting to know what we're using so they can add it themselves," said Hellmuth.
