Marshall Electronics Captures Unique Action Shots With Compact POV Cameras

Sports games at the collegiate and professional level are among the most watched programs on television. To guarantee they’re presenting the best program possible, sports production teams aim to be fully equipped with high-quality broadcast equipment that won’t drain their budgets. Marshall Electronics’ affordable and compact POV cameras, can be easily operated and positioned to capture unique perspectives at every corner of the field, court, track, course, and more.

The driving force behind Marshall’s POV cameras is the newly designed, 4th generation CV-Series Miniature 3G/HD-SDI Camera technology with up to 1920x1080p (progressive) resolution at 59.94fps as well as 1920x1080i (interlaced) resolution at 59.94fps and 1280 x 720p resolutions at 59.94fps. These uniquely small and powerful cameras incorporate superior-quality video packing 2.5 megapixels of clear, crisp video capture through full-sized 3G/HD-SDI (BNC) outputs at numerous HD resolution options. Additionally, each camera comes equipped with several video enhancement features for rich video quality including Wide Dynamic Range (WDR), Extreme Low Light Sensitivity, Automatic White Balance, Optical/Digital Zoom, and Digital Noise reduction tools. Marshall also offers a variety of HD lenses to frame specific video requirements from wide to telephoto prime lens options, increasing flexibility. A unique feature of Marshall POV Cameras is the ability to remote match, paint, and shade each camera through Marshall’s Camera Control RCP or Free Downloadable Software. To provide similar looks across many cameras in the production and to adapt to weather or environment changes, users can adjust it from the convenience of the truck or control room.

“We’ve achieved an affordable, broadcast quality POV camera that’s guaranteed to perform in any broadcast or weather environment,” says Tod Musgrave, Director, Camera Division at Marshall. “There is a myriad of cameras from different manufacturers being used for any given sports broadcast, some of which cost tens of thousands of dollars. With our POV cameras, broadcasters can complement and enhance their productions with high-quality footage of unique angles while paying a fraction of the price and remotely match them with other cameras in the workflow.”

Updating Football Pylons to Capture Game-Winning Plays
Versatility is a key feature of Marshall’s POV cameras, as evidenced by the wide array of sports they’ve captured footage for within several unique settings. Perhaps most notable of these applications is how the PylonCam 2.0, installed by broadcast industry service company Admiral Video, has been used for professional football coverage. PylonCams are equipped with two Marshall CV500-series cameras affixed to the corners of the pylon, allowing for clear, direct coverage of both the goal line and sideline. This innovative design enables a third camera to capture a tighter field of view down the goal line. Admiral Video has also affixed Marshall CV500-series cameras to goalposts for HD shots of field goals, extra points and goal-line play, and more recently designed a fiber robo-gooseneck arm built around Marshall’s lipstick camera and used in MLB All-Star events, PGA events, and other sports productions.

PylonCam’s full perspective of the field of play provided crucial confirmation of the game-winning touchdown in a 2017 professional football championship. On what would be the final play of overtime, a running back for the winning team dove towards the goal line to try to break the plane of the end zone and score the game-winning touchdown. PylonCam’s goal line camera provided the referees with clear, high-def footage of the exact angle they needed to review the play, allowing them to confidently determine the outcome of the game.

Discreet Custom Mounts for Courtside and Ringside Views
Beyond the football field, Marshall’s POV Cameras have been discreetly affixed to many other key sports apparatuses, including by Pac-12 Networks, the innovative TV and multimedia company of the Pac-12 Conference and the first such to be wholly owned by 12 universities, for its broadcasts of major collegiate sporting events. With the help of Marshall’s line of custom mounts with clamps and articulating arms, the company’s cameras have been attached to volleyball nets to capture spikes and volleys, and adjust their shots to capture any part of the court. Broadcasters can bring viewers right into the action with cameras positioned as close to the match as possible. Similar setups in basketball backboards and on the pole behind the backboard have given a fresh perspective to free throws and layups during college basketball games. Broadcasters can supplement regular gameplay shots with uninterrupted, real-time views of fast-paced basketball strategy in action.

Nationally broadcasted boxing and mixed martial arts (MMA) matches have also been able to integrate similar unique action shots with Marshall’s CV200-series lipstick cameras. The tube-shaped camera offers the same high-quality footage of Marshall’s POV cameras in a sleek, versatile packaging. Boxing trainers have lipstick cameras mounted to the sides of their eyeglass frames to give viewers a first-person, ringside perspective of the up-close drama of a live prizefight. For MMA matches, broadcasters use lipstick cameras to capture the crowd’s reactions to the pre-fight weigh-ins and get closeup shots of the fighters as they step on the scales. Marshall’s CV500-series have also been placed along the octagon for MMA events and ringside for live boxing.

Weathering the Elements for the Perfect Outdoor Shots
Broadcasters covering outdoor games or water sports can capably adapt to their environment with the weatherproof CV500-WP series, which features an IP67-rated weatherproof housing to ensure the same level of broadcast quality without the restriction of four walls. This allowed a recent pro-golf broadcast to feature up-close shots of golfers chipping out of the sand traps, despite the fact it had been periodically raining all weekend. Marshall’s POV cameras also received dual use at an international auto racing competition. Broadcasters buried CV500s along the track to capture high-speed race cars at tire-level, while lipstick cameras in the drivers’ cars brought viewers into the cabin to see the driver and navigator live as they zoom through hairpin turns at top speed. For a recent national surfing competition, broadcasters were able to circumnavigate the beach and ocean, and capture POV shots with cameras mounted to oceanside piers, railings, and tents.

Additionally, the cameras’ remote adjustability allows broadcasters to account for environmental variables without rushing out into the action. “The ability to remote paint allows broadcasters to seamlessly blend footage from our POV cameras and other cameras on the field, all from the comfort of their broadcast van or control room,” says Musgrave. “We want to guarantee our customers can fine tune our cameras for every situation, so they never lose out on the perfect shot. If clouds roll in during tee off on the 17th hole, broadcasters can adjust the lenses on our cameras from their trucks, rather than sending someone out to reach their hand into the sand trap while a golfer’s trying to set up.”

A POV Camera for Every Application
Marshall POV cameras can be applied to sports, ranging from the collegiate to professional level, capturing footage from hard-to-reach areas that allow for more accurate game calls, and the ability to broadcast unique points of view that contribute to an elevated spectator experience. Weather-proof capabilities expand Marshall’s ability to be applied outside of the court or field and into other sports like surfing or golf, whereas the size and flexibility of lipstick cameras allow viewers to experience the behind-the-scenes of high-speed sports like race car driving.