Orad To Help CBS Track Players at U.S. Open

By John Rice
Viewers of CBS’ weekend coverage of the U.S. Open tennis tournament will get a unique perspective on the action through Orad’s MVP (Motion Video Play) system. The system’s Flow Motion feature tracks a player through play of a point.
‘There’s basically a freeze of where the player is on the court after they hit each ball,” says Julianna Barbieri, manager for CBS Sports Graphics. “It gives the viewer at home the option to see how the player progressed through the point. How is their footwork? Are they running too much or too little? Are they reaching for the ball?
“Flow Motion, in a nutshell, is basically object-tracking with stop action,” she adds. And unlike with other systems, the turnaround time is fast. “We don’t have to wait very long. It can be [accomplished] within a couple of minutes. We can turn it around and have it on screen for the viewers to see.”
CBS has been testing the system, and the Open will mark its first on-air application. It will be used for CBS’ coverage of the tournament on Labor Day weekend (Aug. 30-Sept. 1) and the final weekend (Sept. 5-7).
Barbieri believes the Orad MVP with Flow Motion will provide new insight into the matches. “Footwork is such a big thing in tennis. How you move on the court is a big part. If you are there early or late can be the difference whether you are going to win the point.”
CBS’ U.S. Open coverage will also see the return of SwingVision, the Emmy Award-winning slow-motion camera from Photron most recently used by CBS at last month’s PGA Championship.