Utilizing PTZ Cameras for Sports Analytics

With video technology getting smaller, more powerful, and more budget friendly, it is no surprise that PTZ cameras have been rising in popularity in a variety of industries such as film, broadcast, and corporate environments, but one of the most innovative advancements in PTZ camera technology is their integration into live sports and sports analytics. PTZ cameras have a great set of features to fit into a live sports production, such as their small size and remote-control abilities, and many venues have installed them into their stadiums, courts, fields, and arenas for basic game streams. However, capturing the match only to stream or edit later isn’t enough for fast-paced sports applications that need to review plays instantly.

Sports Analytics Integration

Sports analytics is the next level in any athletic program to provide analysis and instant replay. Coaches, players, and trainers need feedback, and integrating video cameras with analytics software provides valuable data to improve skills and performance. You’ve probably seen NFL quarterbacks perusing a tablet right after they come off the field, but they aren’t looking at their email—they are viewing the play that just happened for analysis to make sure they adjust for rest of the game.

But analytics isn’t just for the pros—youth, high school, and college sports are also utilizing analytics for coaching and training. And PTZ cameras paired with analytics software can work in any sport: pickleball, hockey, auto racing, swimming, football, rugby, soccer, basketball, lacrosse, tennis, softball, table tennis, baseball, and even archery.

Analytics examples include timing track events, tracking soccer player patterns around the field, analyzing a football play to see where players ended up, examining a baseball player’s swing, or a pitcher’s throwing motion. You can even use data to immerse in-person fans , sending camera feeds to displays and signage, and adding interactive AR/VR graphics.

Analytics/Replay Software

There are several options out there for instant replay, including simpler options such as utilizing a switcher that has built-in replay like YoloBox Pro or YoloBox Mini, but they only replay a short rollback during a live stream.

For integration with software analytics, connecting your cameras to the cloud or central recording apps can not only provide replay but apply analytics, automatic clipping, make highlight reels, crop to specific players, have multiple users view simultaneously, provide phone/tablet integration, and more.

Camera Features for PTZ Sports Capture

Cameras need to be able to capture fast, dynamic in-game action, and PTZ cameras that have body/face auto-tracking and auto-framing features are great for this function. (Though not all live sports may work with auto-tracking, such as hockey or lacrosse with an extremely small puck/ball and cross-play.) They should be able to capture high-resolution video at high frame rates to capture detail without blur, and lenses should have a very wide field of view and a long optical + digital zoom to capture detail from far away. If you use analytics software, you may want to digitally zoom/crop specific plays or areas of the field, so choosing the highest resolution sensors, such as 4K, is important to maintain detail. And if your sports photographer is on vacation, you can even clip out high-quality stills from 4K video. 

The cameras should also have remote control ability to control from a distance, since operators are not always available at all levels of sports, especially high school or college sports, and the controls should be easy to use. Multiple remote operators and controllers can operate during a live sporting event, because when there is so much action to follow, one operator may not be enough to control multiple cameras. The cameras should also have a compact design with multiple mounting options so they can be installed in a variety of locations, and you should make outdoor considerations for weather and temperature or in places like swimming pools and hockey rinks with a waterproof housing.

A reliable network/cable extension is also required to connect to the cameras for control, streaming, power, and recording, as well as monitoring each camera and main feed.  Other considerations are the ability to color match between cameras, share presets, and even genlock ability to sync cameras for broadcast. Live IP streaming and FreeD integration are also great features to have for data analytics.

If you’re considering installing or creating a mobile Wi-Fi package with your cameras, switchers, and tablets, consider adding a high-quality long-range wireless solution to the package so you can save on wiring pain points. Wireless products like the ones from Ubiquity can provide high-data-rate Wi-Fi for point-to-point transmission of your camera video over long distances for control and streaming.

Large-Budget Cameras and Controllers

When planning large sporting events with multiple cameras, operators, and sync requirements, higher-end cameras with more features are ideal. Sony has always been one of the leading brands in PTZ camera development, starting with surveillance and VISCA camera control signaling, so they are naturally one of the leading brands in PTZ camera use in sports.

The Sony BRC-AM7 has the ideal camera features for large-scale broadcast productions. It provides auto-framing, a long 20x optical zoom lens with 40x digital zoom, auto-framing and auto-tracking, 12G-SDI and HDMI outputs that support up to 4K, NDI|HX, PoE++, IP streaming, adjustable color profiles, internal ND filters, FreeD/RS-422/VISCA support, recording to SD/CFexpress, and broadcast features such as timecode, genlock, and tally inputs.  

Bolin produces powerful PTZ cameras for sports applications such as the Bolin R9 series for indoor use and the EX Ultra series for outdoor use. Bolin’s R9 series includes multiple models that support NDI as well as HD and 4K video output, multiple simultaneous streams, varying zoom length choices, and support for FreeD data to aid in VR/AR and analytics applications. Bolin also offers a PTZ Controller that supports both serial, IP, and NDI control, so you can mix and match your camera setup.

Another choice for professional sporting events is the Canon CR-N500 PTZ camera. Along with NDI|HX and live streaming, the camera features Canon’s reliable Dual Pixel CMOS AF for fast focus and subject tracking, a high-quality lens, built-in ND filters, and tally/genlock for broadcast integration. Canon also offers its own IP controllers with the touchscreen RC-IP1000 (up to 200 cameras) and RC-IP100 (up to 100 cameras) that use RS-422 or their proprietary XC protocol which uses your IP network.

Lower/Mid-Budget Cameras and Controllers

The Sony BRC-X1000 and BRC-X400 feature 3G-SDI outputs and have many of the same features as the BRC-AM7 but at a lower price point. Though Sony cameras can be controlled using any IP controllers that support compatible protocols, the Sony RM-IP500 controller is a fully-featured IP controller that can control up to 100 PTZ cameras.

One of the most active brands in PTZ camera innovation in sports is PTZOptics. The Move 4K works well with a variety of sports, fitting into lower to mid-size budget ranges to provide an endlessly expandable workflow. Their SuperJoy controller supports NDI, IP, and serial communication for versatile control options. Their new HIVE central cloud system allows you to not only record, share, and stream, but you can also switch, configure, and control cameras with remote hardware from anywhere in the world without the need to have a hardware switcher on site.

BirdDog also offers powerful PTZ cameras for low/mid-range budgets that have ideal features for sports, and their X5 Ultra camera provides a long 20x lens, high-quality, low-latency NDI|HX streaming, and multiple 4K outputs. The camera’s auto-tracking features, color matching, PoE+ support, and integration with NDI networks provide easy setup and high-quality imagery for fine detail. BirdDog also makes versatile NDI encoders and decoders that can be used to bring almost any PTZ camera onto an NDI network.

Case Studies 

Panasonic provides this case study of using PTZ cameras to improve athlete performance with sports analytics integration.

PTZOptics discusses the elements required to capture and analyze college athletics to improve performance in this case study.

BirdDog provides a basic installation of NDI PTZ cameras to broadcast and capture live games at Harvard University.