Leading Chinese broadcaster Tencent Sports has turned to LiveU technology used to stream live the Simulation Game of the International Skating Union (ISU) Championships in Beijing.
Following the International Skating Union (ISU)’s postponement of the 2020 World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in South Korea, the China Short Track Speed Skating team decided to go ahead and organise a Simulation Game of the ISU Championships in Beijing. The event organiser closed the stadium, didn’t allow an audience to minimise the risk of people gathering in one place, and limited the number of essential staff onsite. The Simulation Game still enabled the skaters to sustain their performance levels and continue their preparations for the 2022 Winter Olympics. The Game was organised in a way, which strictly followed the rules and regulations of the ISU World Championship.
Filming within the strict limitations of the Covid-19 outbreak, Tencent was responsible for the live production and public broadcast. It engaged LiveU to implement a remote production solution, deploying only the necessary equipment on site, including the cameras and wireless transmission units. All the rest, including production, contribution and distribution, was handled back in the studio in Tencent’s technical centre.
Tencent Sports used four LiveU LU600 HEVC bonding units, which provided live video streams with low delay. All the streaming came to a single high-density LiveU server, with the same delay, using LiveU’s Precision Timing in its at-home production solution. With support from China Unicom, a 5G signal was also available in the field and all of the LiveU units combined both 4G and 5G connectivity to ensure optimal streaming conditions.
According to Tencent, the live coverage and production workflow was fully enhanced. “Remote production with fewer facilities and lower costs will undoubtedly become a major trend in sports production in the future,” explained Ding Yi, chief director of Tencent Sports. “During this difficult virus period, it has showed unique advantage under circumstances which didn’t allow us to use the traditional ways of production. Looking ahead, we are keen to cooperate with world-leading technology providers like LiveU to deliver creative sports production solutions.”
Filming within the strict limitations of the Covid-19 outbreak, Tencent was responsible for the live production and public broadcast. It engaged LiveU to implement a remote production solution, deploying only the necessary equipment on site, including the cameras and wireless transmission units. All the rest, including production, contribution and distribution, was handled back in the studio in Tencent’s technical centre.
Tencent Sports used four LiveU LU600 HEVC bonding units, which provided live video streams with low delay. All the streaming came to a single high-density LiveU server, with the same delay, using LiveU’s Precision Timing in its at-home production solution. With support from China Unicom, a 5G signal was also available in the field and all of the LiveU units combined both 4G and 5G connectivity to ensure optimal streaming conditions.
According to Tencent, the live coverage and production workflow was fully enhanced. “Remote production with fewer facilities and lower costs will undoubtedly become a major trend in sports production in the future,” explained Ding Yi, chief director of Tencent Sports. “During this difficult virus period, it has showed unique advantage under circumstances which didn’t allow us to use the traditional ways of production. Looking ahead, we are keen to cooperate with world-leading technology providers like LiveU to deliver creative sports production solutions.”
