TWC Sports Utitlizes Sony F55 Cameras for 4K Broadcast Tests

Time Warner Cable Sports tested Sony’s F55 4K camera in two recent tests of 4K broadcasting in late December. The tests used a range of professional 4K production equipment to simulate aspects of a typical live broadcast: production, transport to the studio, processing and final distribution to the home. Two live sports events were used for the tests: the CIF high school football Division 1 Championship game, held at StubHub Center in Carson, Calif.; and an NBA regular season game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Golden State Warriors on December 23 from Los Angeles’ Staples Center. Each event was also televised in HD on Time Warner Cable SportsNet.

Both events were produced using four Sony F55 cameras with Canon lenses (2- 95X100, 1 -17X120 Cine-Servo and 50X1000 PL mount lens). Replay was provided by four Evertz Dreamcatcher replay systems. Game graphics was provided by a Chyron Hego 4K Mosaic. Signal routing was done by Evertz’s EQX router and all sources will be switched through a Sony MVS-8000 switcher. Production truck and system integration services were provided by IMS Productions.

The tests also used Sony’s PWS-4400 XAVC server in two different applications. One was as a 4K clip server attached to the MVS switcher, configured to playback the two 4K signals (key and fill) required for the logo replays. Its other use was to record the 4K program output from the MVS switcher. While the server is in record mode, it is capable of streaming MXF files directly to an external HDD. As a result, within seconds of the event’s completion, the MXF file was completely transferred so production teams didn’t need to wait for data to be offloaded.

“These tests successfully demonstrated the practicality of 4K broadcasts,” says Dan Perry of Sony Electronics. “Consumer awareness of 4K content is growing, 4K production and distribution is making incredible progress and Sony is ready to provide end-to-end 4K solutions.”