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The Technology Behind the NBA Finals

Posted by Soulskill on from the invalid-three-pointer dept.

BobB-nw brings us NetworkWorld's behind-the-scenes look at the technology supporting the NBA Finals. They primarily use Lenovo ThinkPads which run an automated statistic-gathering system. The NBA eschews Wi-Fi due to security concerns, and it abandoned attempts to use touch-screen technology because of durability and ease-of-use issues. Whether or not basketball is your sport of choice, it's an interesting view of how modern sports presentations come together. "Other courtside systems with proprietary software synch up with compact belt packs worn by the referees, who automate clock stoppages by blowing their whistles. Hellmuth noted that he oversaw an effort to ensure that clock stoppages could be seen from any angle in the arena by having lights on the backboard and elsewhere all flash at once."

4 of 48 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Hmmm by drdaz · · Score: 5, Informative

    No, the Boston Garden closed following the 1994-1995 NBA season. They now play here:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TD_Banknorth_Garden

  2. Re:Referee belt packs by Hawthorne01 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I take the greatest possible exception to your comments. The quality of the officiating the NBA has always been above reproach, and represents the highest ethical standards in any professional sport. The NBA is known world-wide for having the most ethical, most accurate and most honest officials, and we work hard to maintain that standard.

    Sincerely,

    Tim Donaghy

    --
    "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
  3. Re:Communication speeds by joseph.bartolotta · · Score: 5, Informative

    As a broadcast engineer for the company who provides the technical facilities to ESPN/Turner for the broadcasts of NBA games, I can say this network is only used for the statistics data.

    the live webstream is generated by an entirely separate entity who derives their video from our cameras, but as for their transmission, i believe they transfer from site to NBA.com offices via the house WAN (typically t3 trunks)..

    networking in television production trucks, while rather basic, employs some pretty interesting technologies... the EVS machines (basically really advanced dvr's that allow for "live slowmo", and creation of clips from the incoming video signals instantaneously, for all those instant replays) transmit all audio/tvideo to a proprietary dataserver located inside the truck by use of a proprietary coaxial network (called sdti)

    as for your hd broadcasts, those still go out the old fashioned way, via satellite...

    and i gotta tell you.. if you own an hdtv, you're getting hosed by your service provider. it's crazy how bad the signal you get at home is in comparison to what gets beamed to/from that satellite.

  4. Referees by sjbe · · Score: 5, Insightful

    All that technology and they can't use replay to correct the mistakes of inept refs. If you think those referees are so "inept", why don't you get out there and officiate? Might give you some badly needed perspective.

    Fact is the NBA refs are extremely good at their jobs. You just notice when the occasional, inevitable mistake crops up. Funny how when LeBron James makes a bad pass or Kobe Bryant makes a bad shot no one calls them "inept". I have no problem with the use of replay in important situations, especially in the pros where they have the money to do it right, but to call the refs "inept" is just ignorance at its finest.

    And in the interest of disclosure, yes I officiate sporting events and have for some years. Yes it is a LOT harder than most people even remotely realize.