FOX Sports specifies EVS systems for 2013 World Series

EVS has announced that its live video production systems have been deployed by FOX Sports for the 2013 World Series, including a total of 29 XT series media production servers, with one being used for 4K zooming.

Video equipment rental company VER provided FOX Sports with an eight-channel 4K XT3 server with Epsio Zoom, two eight-channel XT3 servers, four six-channel XT3 servers – two of which are used for super slow-motion replays – and two XFile3 stations for archiving and transcoding. Game Creek Video in Boston and NEP in St Louis have each equipped their trucks with 14 XT series servers, an XFile3 system for transcoding and archiving, and multiple LSM Connect solutions, the new tablet-based companion to the MulticamLSM controller for quick and easy indexing, browsing and selection of clips, and playlist management.

“EVS systems give us the ultra-reliable and highly efficient workflow we need for the World Series,” says Jerry Steinberg, senior vice-president, technical operations, FOX Sports. “With a simple upgrade, the 4K XT3 with Epsio Zoom gives us greater clarity in replays and enables us to zoom into a shot and still get a very high-quality image.”

The 4K XT3 server manages ingest and live replays of live 4K camera feeds. Existing XT3 customers are able to migrate to 4K with a nominal upgrade to their systems, and its identical user interface to the original XT3 requires no additional training for EVS operators. The 4K XT3 integrates with EPSIO Zoom for 4K zooming, allowing customers to scale any 16:9 region within 4K frames to HD in real time.

“Year after year, FOX Sports pushes the technical boundaries at the World Series to deliver viewers the highest quality broadcasts possible, and continues that tradition this year with 4K zooming,” says Frederic Garroy, SVP, The Americas, EVS. “We worked closely with two of our long-standing customers, Game Creek Video and NEP, to create an identical workflow that would work for both companies.

“EVS’ XFile3 application takes care of FOX Sports’ file transfer and archive needs in the live production workflow. It enables the production team to find, restore and transcode archived content, and automatically back it up to disk during production. All file transfers can be monitored and managed from a single, connected workstation, providing complete control and visibility of content across its lifecycle.”