Blackmagic Design at the races

Sportvision is using Blackmagic Design’s Universal Videohub 288 router to support its motorsports productions. This includes delivering race graphics and performance data for live broadcasts of NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series races. Universal Videohub 288 is used as the primary router for Sportvision’s broadcast trailers, which are parked inside the television compounds at each NASCAR-sanctioned race.

Sportvision has produced more than 15,000 live events for broadcast partners worldwide, delivering graphic enhancements while capturing real-time performance data for television broadcasts, online applications and wireless devices.

The Sportvision RACEf/x System, which tracks cars at speeds exceeding 200mph, creates a complete digital record of a NASCAR race in real time, delivering a wide range of visual effects for television, such as pointers, telemetry, and bubbles and arrows. The system also provides viewers with real-time car performance data, including acceleration, braking, lap position, speed and RPMs.

With each NASCAR race, Sportvision provides video feeds to network partners throughout each live race. The company's broadcast truck is located downstream in the broadcast process, with RACEf/x graphics added directly in the trailer and the final product played out live. To support this broadcast infrastructure, the company has installed a Universal Videohub 288 router in its broadcast truck on site.

One of the primary responsibilities of the Universal Videohub 288s is to allow Sportvision to manage the multiple feeds required by each respective network. Broadcast rights holders use different formats: Some networks require 720p, while others need 1080i. The Universal Videohub offers the company a single routing solution that interfaces with both formats and eliminates the confusion that would come from having multiple routers to handle each format.

Built around a modular design and small form factor that allows it to be easily scaled up or down to fit the needs of each race and easily fit into the tight spaces of the broadcast truck, the router supports between 20 and 40 feeds coming in and out of the Sportvision broadcast truck from 25 computers and several video and audio jack fields.