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ROE Visual Powers Sky Sports' State-of-the-Art Studio

Revolutionizing Sports Broadcasting

Located at Sky Sports' Osterley campus in West London, the studio boasts an array of state-of-the-art features designed to immerse fans in the excitement of sports like never before, setting a new standard for sports presentation. Designed and engineered in-house, the studio incorporates four distinct physical spaces, an extensive LED floor and walls, AR and VR capabilities, and a BatCam wire cam system.

Jonathan Licht, Sky Sports' managing director, remarked, "Sky Sports has been at the forefront of broadcasting innovation since our inception over 30 years ago. This studio demonstrates our commitment to continuing to give sports fans the most entertaining viewing experience possible of the biggest and most-loved events in the sporting calendar."

Ben Wickham, Director of Creative Output at Sky Sports, expressed excitement about the studio's potential: "We wanted to create a modular space that brings the latest technology to our customers, allowing us to showcase the joy of sport and capture the huge advances in technology that are happening rapidly. The options are endless for future content presented from this studio."

With ROE Visual's cutting-edge LED technology at its core, Sky Sports can deliver unmatched coverage of sporting events, captivating audiences worldwide.

Among the studio's highlights are:

  1. Futuristic LED Floor: The massive LED floor enables immersive and dynamic displays of detailed formations and live data during matches, enhancing analysis and engagement for fans.
  2. Virtual Canopy Roof: Adding to the immersive atmosphere, the virtual canopy roof provides a unique visual element that sets the stage for captivating sports coverage.
  3. Super-Wide High-Res Screen: Equipped with a super-wide high-resolution screen, the studio offers expansive views, enhancing the overall viewing experience.

These technological advancements, coupled with the studio's modular design, pave the way for limitless creativity and innovation in sports broadcasting.

Kevin McCue, Sky's director of group production engineering, emphasized the deliberate selection of suppliers and the meticulous design process to ensure the studio's effectiveness. ROE Visual's contribution played a crucial role, with the studio benefiting from its cutting-edge LED technology.

Experienced studio designers, White Light, were consulted during this process. "They helped us with information on what technology is going somewhere and what isn't. Sharing, for example, what is great and what will be hard to integrate."

"We are working closely with manufacturers and suppliers to ensure we can make everything work."

Choosing the suitable LED screens was a crucial part of the studio build. McCue adds: "We have installed several different types of screens from ROE Visual. To guarantee the right selection of products, we did a big product shootout with all the various screen technologies. We went through a massive iteration process to get the right floor, the right totems, the right high-res wall, and the right curved wall."

Visiting ROE Visual with a good representation of the Sky Sports team, including the studio engineering team, camera experts, and content creators, convinced all involved that ROE Visual could offer the perfect solution for their exacting demands in terms of screen quality, on-camera behavior and flexibility of the screen placement in the studio.

"The team at ROE Visual proved very supportive in the running-up to this project. They gave us the showroom with a vast array of LED screen types to try and test, which was a valuable opportunity for the team."

The final product selection encompassed these products:

  • ROE Visual Black Marble BM4 LED floor, fitted with a non-reflective matte mask
  • A large LED wall comprising Ruby RB1.9BV2 LED panels is ground-stacked.
  • Both Flat and Curved Totems of Ruby RB2.3 on specially designed moving platforms, with a flush floor fitting
  • HELIOS LED processing, 12G SDI Input, Fiber 10Gb Output
  • Netgear Network Switches

 

moving platforms, with a flush floor fittingThe moving platform solution, with a flush floor fitting

Wickham further noted the importance of skill development and collaboration with industry experts to maximize the studio's potential. Despite the studio's advanced capabilities, Wickham remains excited about its future possibilities and ability to empower Sky's production teams.

In conclusion, the studio marks a significant step forward in sports broadcasting, offering a platform where creativity knows no bounds. As Wickham aptly stated, "I feel genuinely great about it. I wanted to ensure that we created a studio to hand over to all of the great production teams at Sky. It has been genuinely exciting to take up that challenge and develop something beyond what I imagined it to be."

Discover Ruby

Broadcast Applications

 

This article is based on these sources:

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/30778/12939376/monday-night-football-sky-sports-launches-new-state-of-the-art-studio-ahead-of-manchester-united-vs-wolves

https://www.svgeurope.org/blog/headlines/breaking-the-lines-sky-sports-unveils-mixed-reality-presentation-studio-for-monday-night-football-and-us-open-tennis-coverage/

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/sky-sports-mnf-new-studio-30699473

 

The Studio Technology

  • Five Grass Valley LDX 86n cameras upgraded with integrated Mo-Sys StarTrackers
  • All the systems are connected to the Sky Studios' IP core, allowing flexibility to utilize all control rooms depending on the production and the ability to expand and evolve the platform
  • ROE Visual LED screens run on HELIOS LED processing by Megapixel and support GhostFrame. The main LED walls are from the Ruby range, using RB1.9BV2 and RB2.3 LED panels. The floor is Black Marble BM4 with a non-reflective matte finish for TV studio use.
  • A 4-point wire camera supplied as a custom unit by BATCAM with a Grass Valley camera and Mo-Sys tracker
  • Touchscreens with Piero, controlled by Unity
  • All fixtures are either Robe or Arri, all with a CRI of 95+, giving full-colour temp control and color. No gels are used, reducing single-use plastic. All lighting is LED

 

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