CBS Sports EyeVision Set for Debut; Powered by Orad PlayMaker and HyperZoom

CBS Sports’ EyeVision will makes its debut during Super Bowl XLIV, giving CBS Sports the opportunity to zoom in on frame at up to seven times magnification. Powered by Orad PlayMaker and Orad HyperZoom, this marks the first time the system has been used in a live application. CBS Sports used it last year for the U.S. Open tennis championships but it was not used in a live, immediate playback environment.

Shaun Dail, Orad, North America vice president, sales and marketing, says the PlayMaker server system stores clips and then allows the operator to drag a magnifying glass over the clip. “The magnifier then tracks with the clip so it can either be used as a freeze frame or to isolate and follow a foot as it is coming down,” explains Dail.

Julie Curtis, Orad support engineer, will operate the system during the game. The system has one input and one output and will record the program feed or, if needed other sources can be pumped into the PlayMaker system. A mouse is used to move the magnifying glass around the screen and then a jog shuttle allows the operator to dial forward and back.

“In theory the best look of a replay will be shown on air so I’ll be able to take the line cut,” says Curtiss. “This is the main function of the system we are using here but it has many other capabilities as well.”

While EyeVision can zoom in up to seven times Curtiss expects magnification to top out around five times during the game. The amount of magnification is directly related to the amount of zoom on the original image as cameras that are zoomed in tighter won’t require as much magnification.