Thomson Slows Downs Soccer

New LDK 8300 slo-mo camera used for UEFA EURO 2008 soccer championships coverage.

By Glen Dickson -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/27/2008 1:33:00 PM

The latest super-slo-mo camera from broadcast equipment vendor Thomson Grass Valley, the LDK 8300, is being used successfully during coverage of the UEFA EURO 2008 soccer championships, which are being televised in the United States by ESPN and ABC.

The LDK 8300 cameras have been used since June 8 by German mobile production vendor Studio Berlin Adlershof, which is responsible for coverage of all of the UEFA EURO 2008 games from Vienna and Salzburg, Austria, and the cameras will also be used for coverage of the final match Sunday, Thomson said.

Studio Berlin Adlershof’s OB truck, U6, is equipped with seven LDK 8300 cameras and a further 26 LDK 6000 and LDK 8000 cameras.

“Planning for UEFA EURO 2008 started many months ago,” said Werner Reese, chief technology officer of Studio Berlin Adlershof, in a statement. “We knew the many millions of viewers around Europe and the world would expect excellent image quality and high production values including super slo-mo. The LDK 8300 cameras were delivered on time and we had every confidence in using them for one of the most prestigious of games: the first of the championships to be held in Austria, and featuring the home country.”

For its EURO 2008 coverage, ESPN has also been employing some unique replay technology of its own with “ESPN Axis,” a graphic-enhancement developed in conjunction with Swiss firm LiberoVision.

The Axis system, which is based in Bristol, Conn., takes the world feed and creates virtual replays that give freeze-frames of the action from multiple angles that can be telestrated by ESPN analysts. ESPN has said that it may experiment with the Axis technology for coverage of other sports, such as football or baseball.