Behind the Scenes: 2014 Seafair Final Heat
The Final Heat at the 2014 Albert Lee Cup at Seafair generated some controversy when the television coverage of the heat made it look like three boats had jumped the start, but were not penalized. This is an explanation of what went on behind the scenes.
Left photo show 1/30 sec. prior to start – Right photo shows official start (0:00 on clock)
H1 documents the start with a video camera shooting from the start/finish tower across the front stretch right on the start line. There is a light in the camera’s field of view which comes on instantly as the clock hits 00:00. The camera shoots video at 30 frames per second. The referee can review the video to determine if any boat crosses the line before the light comes on. He has the ability to view the video frame by frame, with each frame equalling 1/30 of a second.
KIRO TV also had a camera looking across the start line, but from there the technology changes. KIRO had a second camera looking at a digital display – a countdown clock – which was also fed by the H1 computer running the starting sequence.
The signal from the start line camera and the one from the camera looking at the digital display are both sent to the KIRO TV truck in the pit area, some distance away. There they are mixed together to create the image (boats making a start with the clock inserted) seen by the announcers and the audience.
Because of latency (delays) in the two camera system used by KIRO TV, the display on the digital clock shown was about 5 frames (1/6 of a second) behind real time by the time the audience saw it. This created the discrepancey seen by the announcers and audience of the start.
Electrical engineers tell us there are multiple places this latency or lack of synchronization can take place in the two camera system, beginning with the circuitry in the digital display iteself and including the cabling to the switcher in the KIRO truck and all of the connections in and out of that switcher for both incoming signals. They tell us every piece of electrical equipment has some inherent latency. You can Google “Video Signal Latency” and see a lot of information on the subject.
We have a solution which will be in place at Seafair in 2015. We will work with KIRO TV to get them down to a one camera system where synchronizing two signals will not be a problem. We will use their camera to shoot the start for the H1 officials and have the light come on in that camera’s view. When the referee needs to review the start, KIRO TV will show it to him and their announcers will be seeing the same thing. It will also give us a much better picture of the start in HD.
Back to the start as seen by the H1 officials at Seafair. The images are the frames of video as the clock counts down and hits 00:00 and the light comes on. In the first frame where the light has come on in the right side of the frame (at 00:00) the nose of the 1 Graham Trucking is exactly on the line which is in the center of the rectangular white buoy.
At that point, the boats have not hit their maximum straightaway speed but are probably at about 165-175 mph. 170 mph equals 249.33 feet per second. That’s a little over 8 feet per frame of video. In those 5 frames mentioned earlier, they travel over 40 feet – more than a boat length. It makes for very close calls and in this case the correct call was made after the review.
Behind the Scenes: 2014 Seafair Final Heat
The Final Heat at the 2014 Albert Lee Cup at Seafair generated some controversy when the television coverage of the heat made it look like three boats had jumped the start, but were not penalized. This is an explanation of what went on behind the scenes.
Left photo show 1/30 sec. prior to start – Right photo shows official start (0:00 on clock)
H1 documents the start with a video camera shooting from the start/finish tower across the front stretch right on the start line. There is a light in the camera’s field of view which comes on instantly as the clock hits 00:00. The camera shoots video at 30 frames per second. The referee can review the video to determine if any boat crosses the line before the light comes on. He has the ability to view the video frame by frame, with each frame equalling 1/30 of a second.
KIRO TV also had a camera looking across the start line, but from there the technology changes. KIRO had a second camera looking at a digital display – a countdown clock – which was also fed by the H1 computer running the starting sequence.
The signal from the start line camera and the one from the camera looking at the digital display are both sent to the KIRO TV truck in the pit area, some distance away. There they are mixed together to create the image (boats making a start with the clock inserted) seen by the announcers and the audience.
Because of latency (delays) in the two camera system used by KIRO TV, the display on the digital clock shown was about 5 frames (1/6 of a second) behind real time by the time the audience saw it. This created the discrepancey seen by the announcers and audience of the start.
Electrical engineers tell us there are multiple places this latency or lack of synchronization can take place in the two camera system, beginning with the circuitry in the digital display iteself and including the cabling to the switcher in the KIRO truck and all of the connections in and out of that switcher for both incoming signals. They tell us every piece of electrical equipment has some inherent latency. You can Google “Video Signal Latency” and see a lot of information on the subject.
We have a solution which will be in place at Seafair in 2015. We will work with KIRO TV to get them down to a one camera system where synchronizing two signals will not be a problem. We will use their camera to shoot the start for the H1 officials and have the light come on in that camera’s view. When the referee needs to review the start, KIRO TV will show it to him and their announcers will be seeing the same thing. It will also give us a much better picture of the start in HD.
Back to the start as seen by the H1 officials at Seafair. The images are the frames of video as the clock counts down and hits 00:00 and the light comes on. In the first frame where the light has come on in the right side of the frame (at 00:00) the nose of the 1 Graham Trucking is exactly on the line which is in the center of the rectangular white buoy.
At that point, the boats have not hit their maximum straightaway speed but are probably at about 165-175 mph. 170 mph equals 249.33 feet per second. That’s a little over 8 feet per frame of video. In those 5 frames mentioned earlier, they travel over 40 feet – more than a boat length. It makes for very close calls and in this case the correct call was made after the review.