Wireless Video Enhances Spectator Experience at Horse Trials

05 May 2007

The wonderful parkland of the Belmont Estate (Bristol, UK), was the setting last month for an impressive demonstration of wireless video technology delivering live sports video coverage to spectators at the Belmont Horse Trials. Visitors to the event were able to watch live video from around the course using regular handheld PDA’s, and to select different channels according to their preference.

“This is a big step forward for real-time TV coverage at sports events,” said Dr. Nick Lodge, CEO at ProVision Communications. “Equestrian trials are just one of many sports where the participants are often out of sight of the spectators. The solution in the 1990’s was to provide giant TV screens for spectators to watch, but these only display a single video feed at a time, and do not allow a spectator to track particular riders or players who might be at different points around, say, a cross country or golf course. Our wireless solution delivers multi-channel video directly to a personal display in the spectator’s hand, and gives viewers control of which particular video feeds they want to watch.”

The Belmont trial was organised as part of the DTI funded Visualise project, working together with experts from the University of Bristol and Maniac Films. The remote cameras were fitted with a long range WiFi version of ProVision’s ProVu H.264 video encoder and IP server, and the live video feeds were streamed using WiFi over distances of up to 450 metres to a centralised access point. These streams were then distributed wirelessly at bit rates up to 256 kb/s to hand held terminals running ProVision’s H.264 software decoder. The video feeds were also displayed on a plasma screen in the hospitality tent.

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