Kazan-based Ak Bars Ice Hockey team adopts videoReferee system

Professional hockey team Ak Bars from the Russian Federation has tested, approved and purchased Slomo.tv’s new videoReferee 4G system. The new videoReferee won’t be officially launched until IBC 2017 next month.

Video refereeing has become a vital element of modern Ice Hockey. Europe’s Continental Hockey League (KHL) now dictates that video referee systems are required in addition to investigating goal line incidents also to control blue line offside situations. This requirement means that the system must be able to record and replay an additional four channels, so judges can clearly monitor all in-play incidents.

Following this new requirement, the Ak Bars team, based in Kazan, has purchased four additional slomo.tv vR-Cam cameras and upgraded its existing system that it acquired in 2014 to the newest version — videoReferee® 4G.

The new slomo.tv videoReferee 4G system supports up to 16 discrete 3G SDI video channels, as well as providing the capability to work with 3G/HD/720p signals in any combination. This space saving capability is key when the system is installed within an OB vehicle environment.

In addition, videoReferee 4G provides an extra multiviewer output for the referee’s assistant. It supports the vR-Keypad, which enables the assistant to easily mark and label in-play incidents for subsequent or immediate search. The new system records time in 1/10 second increments: to achieve this level of precision slomo.tv has worked closely with more than 20 scoreboard controller manufacturers. To comply with the latest KHL requirements regarding archiving of recorded material, slomo.tv has developed batch export functionality in H.264 and XDCAM formats so that operators can start exporting with the push of just one button.