The 2007 season is at its halfway mark, and while the New York Yankees are struggling in their division, they’re not quite as slow as they may sometimes appear. Even so, their slow-motion highlights are now aired in HD.
The YES Network, which covers all Yankee home games in the Bronx, this season has added 3X slow-motion replays of game action. Ed Delaney, YES Network’s vice president of operations, said the addition of the HD playback “is the greatest single enhancement we’ve made to our production for this season.”
YES is using one HD camera (a Sony HDC-3300) at an elevated site located halfway between first base and home plate (known as “mid-first”). The camera is mounted with a long lens on a small high-hat with a tripod head. The effect is slow motion at one-third normal speed, which is suitable for instant analysis from commentators, as well as viewing exceptional and/or close plays with added detail.
The HDC-3300 system transmits 180 fps with an EVS server, according to YES. The camera outputs normal speed signals simultaneously for live feeds through separate digital signal processing. The setup includes three two-thirds-inch high-speed progressive CCDs, enabling recording at 1920x1080i or 150i, as well as 1280x720/180p or 150p.
