NHL investigating Pen's network and replays

[Chadd 916]

You would think they could just register each camera with Toronto before the game. That way Toronto knows how many angles to expect, if one was missing it would be immediately obvious.

They will know it is missing but they can't bring it back from the dead if it is dumped. In any case, the best angle may be from a hand held camera that is being lugged around the arena. There is no way to know if it will be on at any time, let alone pointed at the action.

[Trooper 8]

You would think they could just register each camera with Toronto before the game. That way Toronto knows how many angles to expect, if one was missing it would be immediately obvious.

They will know it is missing but they can't bring it back from the dead if it is dumped. In any case, the best angle may be from a hand held camera that is being lugged around the arena. There is no way to know if it will be on at any time, let alone pointed at the action.

During a live broadcast, all cameras are live all the time. The director just calls out the camera he wants and the technical director switches to it. Even the handheld ones which if you look at them have a wireless transmitter are always sending a signal to the control room. They are not recording to tape contained in the camera like a news camera. And while they may not be pointed at the action, Toronto would just get the dump from cameras 1-10 (or however many there are) and would be able to sort through them there.

Just a thought.

[Chadd 916]

You would think they could just register each camera with Toronto before the game. That way Toronto knows how many angles to expect, if one was missing it would be immediately obvious.

They will know it is missing but they can't bring it back from the dead if it is dumped. In any case, the best angle may be from a hand held camera that is being lugged around the arena. There is no way to know if it will be on at any time, let alone pointed at the action.

During a live broadcast, all cameras are live all the time. The director just calls out the camera he wants and the technical director switches to it. Even the handheld ones which if you look at them have a wireless transmitter are always sending a signal to the control room. They are not recording to tape contained in the camera like a news camera. And while they may not be pointed at the action, Toronto would just get the dump from cameras 1-10 (or however many there are) and would be able to sort through them there.

Just a thought.

I've actually worked a few televised events in and out of the truck. Giving the NHL direct access to all of the feeds in real time or even the ability to pull whatever they want wouldn't be easy. I can only imagine what the setup required in Toronto to record every feed from every broadcast would look like. Even ten simultaneous games with two broadcasters and ten cameras each would require an impressive array of equipment.

[technophile 0]

You don't have to send all 10 feeds all the time, though. All Trooper is suggesting, as I read it, is that the NHL would know there are 10 feeds being used in game X. If there's a video review and they only get 9 feeds, they'll know something is wrong right away. (Won't stop truly sneaky things like sending in 9 actual feeds and a 10th dummy feed from a camera parked in a closet, but if there's that level of organization there are bigger problems anyway.)

[Chadd 916]

You don't have to send all 10 feeds all the time, though. All Trooper is suggesting, as I read it, is that the NHL would know there are 10 feeds being used in game X. If there's a video review and they only get 9 feeds, they'll know something is wrong right away. (Won't stop truly sneaky things like sending in 9 actual feeds and a 10th dummy feed from a camera parked in a closet, but if there's that level of organization there are bigger problems anyway.)

My point is that they may know a feed wasn't sent but if they can't recover the video, there is nothing they can do. Except maybe fore someone again. I think having someone on-site monitor the feeds is the easiest/cheapest solution.

[skeeter14 0]

The larger issue should not be dead. Something does need to change to prevent it from happening again. Not just in Pittsburgh, but in general.

Agreed, I misspoke there. The issue of integrity of the game should be hammered out, but like you said all those idiots who think the penguins had a direct hand in this, need to move on, because they are missing the big picture.

[Trooper 8]

You don't have to send all 10 feeds all the time, though. All Trooper is suggesting, as I read it, is that the NHL would know there are 10 feeds being used in game X. If there's a video review and they only get 9 feeds, they'll know something is wrong right away. (Won't stop truly sneaky things like sending in 9 actual feeds and a 10th dummy feed from a camera parked in a closet, but if there's that level of organization there are bigger problems anyway.)

My point is that they may know a feed wasn't sent but if they can't recover the video, there is nothing they can do. Except maybe fore someone again. I think having someone on-site monitor the feeds is the easiest/cheapest solution.

Could be, but with 10 cameras you buffer the last 10 minutes of video for each one. You have iso for every one. That wouldn't be that major of an upgrade as this equipment is upgraded pretty regularly.

[Chadd 916]

You don't have to send all 10 feeds all the time, though. All Trooper is suggesting, as I read it, is that the NHL would know there are 10 feeds being used in game X. If there's a video review and they only get 9 feeds, they'll know something is wrong right away. (Won't stop truly sneaky things like sending in 9 actual feeds and a 10th dummy feed from a camera parked in a closet, but if there's that level of organization there are bigger problems anyway.)

My point is that they may know a feed wasn't sent but if they can't recover the video, there is nothing they can do. Except maybe fore someone again. I think having someone on-site monitor the feeds is the easiest/cheapest solution.

Could be, but with 10 cameras you buffer the last 10 minutes of video for each one. You have iso for every one. That wouldn't be that major of an upgrade as this equipment is upgraded pretty regularly.

To constantly buffer 10 feeds per game in Toronto would be a major upgrade.

[technophile 0]

You don't have to send all 10 feeds all the time, though. All Trooper is suggesting, as I read it, is that the NHL would know there are 10 feeds being used in game X. If there's a video review and they only get 9 feeds, they'll know something is wrong right away. (Won't stop truly sneaky things like sending in 9 actual feeds and a 10th dummy feed from a camera parked in a closet, but if there's that level of organization there are bigger problems anyway.)

My point is that they may know a feed wasn't sent but if they can't recover the video, there is nothing they can do. Except maybe fore someone again. I think having someone on-site monitor the feeds is the easiest/cheapest solution.

Could be, but with 10 cameras you buffer the last 10 minutes of video for each one. You have iso for every one. That wouldn't be that major of an upgrade as this equipment is upgraded pretty regularly.

To constantly buffer 10 feeds per game in Toronto would be a major upgrade.

Well, you know, you'd only need about... 200 HD Tivos to do it.

[Chadd 916]

You don't have to send all 10 feeds all the time, though. All Trooper is suggesting, as I read it, is that the NHL would know there are 10 feeds being used in game X. If there's a video review and they only get 9 feeds, they'll know something is wrong right away. (Won't stop truly sneaky things like sending in 9 actual feeds and a 10th dummy feed from a camera parked in a closet, but if there's that level of organization there are bigger problems anyway.)

My point is that they may know a feed wasn't sent but if they can't recover the video, there is nothing they can do. Except maybe fore someone again. I think having someone on-site monitor the feeds is the easiest/cheapest solution.

Could be, but with 10 cameras you buffer the last 10 minutes of video for each one. You have iso for every one. That wouldn't be that major of an upgrade as this equipment is upgraded pretty regularly.

To constantly buffer 10 feeds per game in Toronto would be a major upgrade.

Well, you know, you'd only need about... 200 HD Tivos to do it.

And the bandwidth to get those feeds into Toronto.

[Trooper 8]

You don't have to send all 10 feeds all the time, though. All Trooper is suggesting, as I read it, is that the NHL would know there are 10 feeds being used in game X. If there's a video review and they only get 9 feeds, they'll know something is wrong right away. (Won't stop truly sneaky things like sending in 9 actual feeds and a 10th dummy feed from a camera parked in a closet, but if there's that level of organization there are bigger problems anyway.)

My point is that they may know a feed wasn't sent but if they can't recover the video, there is nothing they can do. Except maybe fore someone again. I think having someone on-site monitor the feeds is the easiest/cheapest solution.

Could be, but with 10 cameras you buffer the last 10 minutes of video for each one. You have iso for every one. That wouldn't be that major of an upgrade as this equipment is upgraded pretty regularly.

To constantly buffer 10 feeds per game in Toronto would be a major upgrade.

I meant each local broadcast would be buffering all their cameras, not Toronto, then there would never be any excuses that a camera wasn't live and couldn't be sent to Toronto. Considering the highlights you see from different angles anyway, they already are iso-ing most of the cameras.

Even worst case, buffering requires nothing more than computers, insignificant when you consider handheld HD broadcast cameras are around $30,000 or more a piece and the ones you see up in the rafters doing the main feed can get into the higher five digits.

[Chadd 916]

I meant each local broadcast would be buffering all their cameras, not Toronto, then there would never be any excuses that a camera wasn't live and couldn't be sent to Toronto. Considering the highlights you see from different angles anyway, they already are iso-ing most of the cameras.

The local broadcasters already save the feeds, that wasn't the problem. The problem was that they didn't give the NHL access to one of the feeds. The only way to get around the potential for shenanigans is to give the league direct access to the feeds and not rely on the local broadcaster at all.

[Trooper 8]

I meant each local broadcast would be buffering all their cameras, not Toronto, then there would never be any excuses that a camera wasn't live and couldn't be sent to Toronto. Considering the highlights you see from different angles anyway, they already are iso-ing most of the cameras.

The local broadcasters already save the feeds, that wasn't the problem. The problem was that they didn't give the NHL access to one of the feeds. The only way to get around the potential for shenanigans is to give the league direct access to the feeds and not rely on the local broadcaster at all.

Which brings us back to the basis of my original suggestion, that Toronto be notified how many cameras each broadcast is using. This is known in advance and Toronto would know instantly if they were provided all the feeds available.

[Chadd 916]

I meant each local broadcast would be buffering all their cameras, not Toronto, then there would never be any excuses that a camera wasn't live and couldn't be sent to Toronto. Considering the highlights you see from different angles anyway, they already are iso-ing most of the cameras.

The local broadcasters already save the feeds, that wasn't the problem. The problem was that they didn't give the NHL access to one of the feeds. The only way to get around the potential for shenanigans is to give the league direct access to the feeds and not rely on the local broadcaster at all.

Which brings us back to the basis of my original suggestion, that Toronto be notified how many cameras each broadcast is using. This is known in advance and Toronto would know instantly if they were provided all the feeds available.

And knowing there is a feed missing still does no good if they can't access it, just like I said earlier. They aren't going to stop the game for a couple hours while they try and find it. Since we've now gone full circle, I'm done.