Blackmagic DeckLink, UltraStudio Devices Used With Slomo.tv’s Sports Officiating System

Blackmagic Design’s DeckLink Quad 2, DeckLink 4K Pro and UltraStudio 4K Extreme capture and playback devices are used with Slomo.tv Inc.’s sports officiating system, videoReferee.

The system has become popular with broadcasters and sports leagues, including the recent Rio Summer Olympics. Slomo.tv’s videoReferee-IIM3 system, which is based around three DeckLink Quad 2 cards, was used to judge canoe competitions at the Rio games, and the DeckLink Quad 2’s real–time performance was a key feature.

Slomo.tv is a manufacturer of high quality multi-channel professional video recording products, including the popular videoReferee® line: a specialized multi-channel system for officiating sport events, providing a way to resolve complicated game situations and creating a video document of an entire event. The system also works with official time, score and game logs from scoreboard control systems and is used as part of sports events and broadcasts around the globe.

At NAB 2016, Slomo.tv introduced the videoReferee-4, a new family of products that includes the world’s first 16/18 channel sports video judging systems. Slomo.tv builds each videoReferee-4/4G/4K around two DeckLink Quad 2 and a DeckLink 4K Pro PCIe cards, which provide the real-time capture and playback performance needed by sports officials and broadcasters as they make split-second decisions. Slomo.tv also introduced a new model of its all-in-one videoReferee Jr. based around the DeckLink Quad 2, which captures up to eight cameras in real time.

Many popular sports are now switching to video refereeing technologies for decision-making in contentious situations. The most notable is the transition to video assistant refereeing in soccer.

At the FIFA seminar recently held in Zurich, the referees were introduced to this technology with the Slomo.tv videoRefere-4A server. It differs from the systems presented at NAB by having additional HDMI/SDI video output based on the Thunderbolt and PCIe-based UltraStudio 4K Extreme, which allows output to HD video via SDI and HDMI outputs simultaneously.

“We have been using Blackmagic Design boards for more than 11 years. Our very first replay server was based on one of the first DeckLink models, and we have been using the DeckLink technology ever since,” said Igor Vitiorets, CTO of Slomo.tv. “Throughout the years of working with Blackmagic Design, we know that Blackmagic will always make precisely the boards we need. When we first saw the DeckLink Quad 2, we were able to come up with the design for the new and videoReferee Jr. We are grateful to Blackmagic for being at the forefront of industry needs.”

DeckLink Quad 2 is a high performance capture and playback solution that puts the power of eight DeckLink cards onto a single circuit board that plugs into a single PCI Express slot. It provides four independent capture and playback channels, but also four extra channels that developers, such as Slomo.tv, can use for configuring the card in any combination of up to eight capture or eight playback channels. The DeckLink 4K Pro is a PCIe capture and playback card with advanced 12G-SDI for working in SD, HD, Ultra HD and 4K DCI at up to 60 frames per second.

videoReferee-IIM3 system, which is based around three DeckLink Quad 2 cards, was recently used for judging canoe competitions at the Olympic Games in Rio.