wTVision Graphics Systems To Supply Stats to Three European Football Leagues

By Kevin Hilton
Sports in high-definition TV are gaining momentum in
Europe, and the football leagues in
Portugal,
Spain, and
Belgium are among the latest to be covered in the format. A sometimes overlooked part of HD is graphics, but, in all three of these cases, attention has been paid to real-time statistics and on-screen displays, with software provided by TV-sports specialist wTVision.
The Portuguese company, which is part of the pan-Europe Media Pro audio-visual-production and media-rights group, has signed long-term contracts to supply graphics systems being used in coverage of the Jupiler Pro League in
Belgium, Liga Sagres in
Portugal, and La Liga in
Spain. The programs are integrated with Orad s graphics platform in
Belgium and
Portugal and with Vizrt in
Spain.
In all three cases, the wTVision software is being used to compile and present statistics for a number of games on each match day, with all functions — including management and updates — performed in real time.
Media Pro is providing facilities for coverage of La Liga in HD for the first time, making the feeds available around the world. In
Belgium, Belgacom has the contract to distribute the Jupiler Pro League for the next three seasons and will broadcast three matches live in HD each week. Because the country is multilingual, the graphics are simulcast automatically in Dutch and French.
Portuguese broadcaster Sport TV is also marking a first by transmitting Liga Sagres in HD for the 2008-09 season and will be covering at least two games in the format on each match day. Nuno Ferreira, news and programme director of Sport TV, says, We asked wTVision to develop a creative new graphics look and feel and to continue broadcasting real-time on-air graphics, including virtual graphics, such as distance between a free kick wall and the goal and off-side line detection.