1st and 10 sysytem technology

The first down line usually comes in orange and yellow. But most people take it for granted. It takes at least up to four people and a truck load full of equipment to provide this simple line that is drawn out on the field. The first down line originated from a company based out of New York called sports vision. Sports vision debuted its first and ten system during a game between the Bengals and the ravens. This game was broadcast on ESPN on September 27, 1998. Since that first game, sports vision has continued to provide ESPN, ABC and Fox sports with the ability to enhance their football telecast with this technology. So much more goes into the first down system than most people would realize. The orientation of the field with respect to the camera is very important so that they can paint the first down line with the correct perspective from that cameras point of view. The framework is very important because they need to know exactly where the yard lines on the field are. The system has to be able to sense the cameras movement such as tilt, pan, zoom, and focus to understand the perspective change that results from that movement. The system also has to be able to recalculate the perspective at a rate of thirty frames per second as the camera moves. A football field is not flat we all know that. A-line calculated by the system has to appropriately follow the curb of the field. A football game is filmed by multiple cameras at different places in the stadium, so the system has to do all this work for several cameras. The system has to be able to sense when players, referees or the ball crosses the first down line so it does not paint the line right on top of them. The system also has to be aware of superimpose graphics that the network might overlay on the screen so that they don't interfere with each other. All of these factors have to be taken into consideration. There are definitely some other key pieces such as special camera mount that holds the television cameras. This mount encodes all of the cameras Movement. Also the data mount produces and helps the computers understand what each camera is doing in real time. Finally a very big portion of all of this comes from a 3-D model of the field that helps everything tie itself into each other because it is an exact replica of the field. So the next time you see that 1st down line dont take it for granted.