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It’s great to see our high tech world mesh with the “good
old” ways of doing things. I was recently reminded of this when I saw a person
riding a horse while talking on a cell phone. Well, you don’t have to take a ride in the
country to see the new and old together. All you have to do is turn on your
television for the Superbowl or one of the upcoming televised football games.
As you all probably know, one of the main objectives of the
game of football is to gain a first down, which means that the offense must
gain 10 yards within a series of four plays. The interesting mix of
high-and-low-tech materializes in just how those 10 yards are measured.
The National Football League still uses a length of metal
chain that is strung between two poles to measure the distance for the first
down. This measuring technique is certainly low tech and has probably been
around about as long as the game of football itself.
In contrast, if you are watching the game on one of the
major channels on television, you will see the first down measured with
wonderful high-tech methodology and precision. A computer-generated yellow line
is drawn across the field, showing television viewers the exact line that the
offense must get to in order to achieve the first down.
Although a New York City company called Sportvision has been
drawing the line for football games since 1998, the technology is still
amazing.
It sounds simple. Just have the computer draw a line 10
yards down the field from where the ball is placed for the play. Yet, if you
consider the fact that the line must be precisely placed and that the players,
referees, and football must not be obscured by the line, you begin to realize
that even with a computer, drawing that line for television viewers is a
complex task.
In fact, it is kind of a technical wonder that requires
specialized camera equipment, eight computers, and four full-time people. Much
of the work is done by a special computerized camera mount which is provided
for each camera. Since the picture varies as the cameraman zooms, tilts, and
pans with the camera, all of the camera’s movements are digitally recorded by
the camera mount. This gives the computers the exact positioning and viewpoint
of each camera. The mount records the camera’s movements 30 times per second,
so that the camera’s perspective is constantly recorded and the computer can
correct its perspective as the line is drawn.
With this information and a three-dimensional
model of the field, the computer can draw the first down line in the proper
place with the proper perspective. The next problem, showing the line under the
players and field artifacts, rather than over them, is accomplished with
several color palettes. The colors of the player’s and referee’s uniforms and
the football, are kept in a color palette and these colors are not changed to
yellow. The color of the field and other things that should be turned to yellow
when the line is drawn is kept in a separate palette. The computer keeps tabs
on all the colors. However, it still requires a real live person to change the
color palette when needed. For instance when the field turns to mud or snow,
the color palette must be changed to reflect those changes.
All in all, that simple yellow line is a
technical marvel. I wonder when the NFL will update their methodology.
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