Hawk-Eye Innovations, a Sony Group company, has played an integral role in the launch of NEP Platform, NEP Group’s cloud-based, software-orchestration system designed to centralise live production, broadcast control, and media workflows. At the heart of this collaboration is HawkREPLAY, Hawk-Eye’s replay solution. As part of a broader strategic shift towards virtualisation, the system is being optimised for NEP Platform to support the industry’s move towards flexible, software-defined production.
The integration brings the full feature set of the HawkREPLAY system to existing hardware environments. By meeting rigorous hardware specifications, including support for COTS 2110 cards, Sony’s Hawk-Eye’s software can be deployed onto NEP’s certified server platforms. This architecture ensures optimal performance while allowing for an interchangeable, hardware-agnostic approach to live production.
Key benefits of the Hawk-Eye and NEP Platform integration include an intuitive UX that retains the classic HawkREPLAY UI in a virtualised environment, minimising training time and maintaining high-speed operations; scalability across all standards, including 720p, 1080i, UHD, and 4K with full HDR support; and deep, priority integration with Sony hardware, including HDC-P50A POV camera and HDC-5500 system cameras, and the M2L-X switcher.
Other features include integration with Sony Venice 2 cameras for cinematic 23.98fps and native ProRes Codecs for high-end entertainment, and a software-first model that reduces physical footprint, power consumption, and shipping costs.
K. Douglas Price, head of commercial & operations, broadcast solutions at Hawk-Eye Innovations, commented: “The Hawk-Eye broadcast ecosystem is built differently. By bringing HawkREPLAY to the NEP Platform, we are providing media managers and operators with the ability to capture more and see everything, without being tied to proprietary hardware. This collaboration with NEP is a major step in our mission to deliver unprecedented flexibility and scalability to the global sports and entertainment market.”
