In 2021 Football Association of Singapore (FAS) signed a 5-year contract with Ideal Systems for the supply and build of a state-of-the-art multi-stadium live multi-camera production system and Intercoms systems for five football stadiums in Singapore. The system received FIFA® certification and went live in early 2022 and includes cameras and video production equipment for five stadiums, two production control rooms, a TV studio, a server room, and commentary rooms. It supports two simultaneous venues and provides multiple live streams and signal transport to multiple broadcasters, OTT and social media platforms. The entire system is completely managed in house by FAS ensuring that FAS is now a vertically integrated sports media organization with complete production and delivery control over its own content.

In order to meet the budgetary and production requirements from FAS for three hundred football matches over five years, a complete re-think of the typical technologies used for live football production was necessary. For the delivery of this project Ideal Systems deployed a multitude of new cutting-edge broadcast technologies for the first time in Asia. The heart of the entire production system is based on technology from SimplyLive. Used by some of the leading sports entities and broadcasters around the world, SimplyLive are the leading provider of intuitive and ultra-efficient next generation software solutions for multi-camera live sports productions. SimplyLive leverage cloud, touch screen and NDI technologies to create the most intuitive, reactive, and reliable production systems on the market today. SimplyLive harness these technologies to make slow motion, instant replay, graphics, transitions, recording, switching, highlights creation and referee review easier to use for higher quality television productions every time.

Ideal built two Production Control Rooms (PCR’s) in FAS’s main facility which lies within the Jalan Besar Stadium. These PCR’s allow 2 simultaneous live matches to be produced at any one time. The matches can be either be remotely controlled from any 4 remote connected stadiums or from Jalan Besar stadium itself. Each remote stadium has a SimplyLive Venue Gateway which allows remote stadiums to send low latency multiple camera feeds, audio, return video and audio & intercom using SRT protocol.

Both PCR’s are fitted with the SimplyLive ViBox (Core Production Application and Device) a software-based NDI-enabled multi-camera football production toolkit which includes a video switcher, audio mixer, dynamic graphics, instant replay, slow motion system, multi feed recording and highlights creation, all of which are managed via an easy smart touchscreen user interface.

THE KEY FUNCTIONS OF THE VIBOX INCLUDE.

o Mixing up to 16 inputs

o Gfx Keyer

o M/E capable

o Up to 14 records (12 cameras + Clean/Dirty)

o Instant Replay and Slow motion capabilities

o Customisable multi-function User Interface to support multiple users for different functions including (Vibox Live + Vibox Slomo + Ro + VAR operator +RRA 64x64 Audio integration in Dante

The multiple ENG cameras and audio feeds along with BirdDog weatherproof A200 NDI PTZ camera control from the remoted stadiums are aggregated at each of the 4 stadiums and connected to the remote PCR in Jalan Besar by the SimplyLive Venue Gateway (Stadium Interconnect Device). The SimplyLive Venue Gateway is a low-latency, bi-directional, multi-channel and multi-format contribution appliance bridging FAS remote venues cameras at Jurong East Stadium, Toa Payoh Stadium, Tampines Sports Hub and Hougang Stadium with the PCR broadcast production infrastructure in Jalan Besar. It aggregates and provides transport for match video signals, audio signals, commentary signals, intercom signals and tally. The Venue Gateway offers seamless integration with Vibox through an IP interface.

Each PCR is also equipped with the FIFA® certified RefBox Video Assisted Referee (VAR) from SimplyLive. RefBox is a software application that runs on the SimplyLive ViBox server. RefBox provides an intuitive touch screen user interface for referee or coach review. It provides synced video feeds to make it easy to recall playout and monitor multiple angles of the same play. The touch screen displays a live multiviewer with multiple configuration presets of the feeds from all the cameras making it easy to swipe through a shot by the operator touching the screen to select multiple angles to compare using intuitive pinch to zoom to easily step through the action frame by frame on the screen. This makes jogging backwards and forwards through the clip to mark points much quicker and easier as all the view angles in the multiviewer jog in sync. The clips can be created, and metadata added.

A key interface to the SimplyLive systems is the SimplyLive UI Gateway multiviewer and workflow manager. The UI Gateway is the essential link in the SimplyLive platform to enable flexible and optimized remote workflows for live multi-camera productions.

The SimplyLive UI Gateway manages the bandwidth of the information sent between the ViBox server and the application layer UI enabling UI bandwidth which can be to be reduced by 20 times. Using the Gateway enables UI feeds to operate between 5Mbps and 50Mbps per UI allowing applications to run over standard internet connections.

Another key feature of the UI Gateway is it generates a web-based multiviewer for monitoring video sources as well as program outputs. This multiviewer can be viewed by people both on the server and user(s) side of the network.

CAMERAS

All camera feeds for matches at remote stadiums are natively using IP based on NDI® protocol They're aggregated into the SimplyLive Venue Gateway, which then uses low latency SRT protocol to deliver the feeds to the production.

Ideal provided the well-respected JVC GY-HC500, which is a professional grade 4K production camera specifically suited to sports productions, featuring a 1-inch sensor and uses an add-on BirdDog NDI encoder. It offers uncompromised live and recorded image quality. The camera can shoot up to 4K Ultra HD with HDR and record to SD as well as SSD media in a wide variety of formats, including 10-bit ProRes 422 at 4K resolution and 50/60p frame rates.

Ideal also provided Asia’s first installation of BirdDog’s A200 NDI® weather sealed PTZ sports cameras with 30x zoom with super-fast presets to allow superfast camera repositioning by FAS operators for pre-defined shots.

BIRDDOG A200 KEY FEATURES

Native full NDI® support. The best pictures come from the best silicon. A200 uses the world class Sony CMOS Backlit Sensor with the BirdDog custom NDI® chip to form a perfect match.With an IP67 rating, external housing corrosion resistance treatment against extreme humidity and rain, and an operating temperature rating up to +60°C, A200 has been designed to easily withstand the extreme weather conditions that can be experienced in Singapore. It even has a remote-controlled rain wiper to ensure perfect coverage even during tropical Singapore rain.30x optical zoom makes A200 perfect for professional grade imaging for long goal shots or throw in’s on the opposite side of the pitch.

The cutting edge television production studio in Jalan Besar utilizes a chroma key green screen set for virtual reality (VR) productions, as well as a commentary set. All of the studio cameras are full NDI®, and all of the networking and production systems are based on NDI®. In the FAS TV studio Ideal installed the top-of-the-line BirdDog P4K NDI camera which connects on native NDI to a NewTek TriCaster professional studio production system for the virtual studio. The Tricaster also supports Skype TX, Zoom, Teams and Meet so presenters in the studio can conduct live video calls in the virtual set with a remote guest, anywhere in the world.

Another key feature of the Tricaster is its revolutionary new automation & teleprompter module which works with MS Word® called Live Story Creator. With Live Story Creator, the script for the production is created in MS Word, including production cues using the comments feature in word (camera takes, transitions, effects, graphics, clips, and more), and export as a .docx file. Load the file into the TriCaster system and run the teleprompter control to execute the entire production timed to the pace of the presenter reading the Telescript NDI Teleprompter.

Even more BirdDog NDI cameras are used in the VAR area which is fitted with two BirdDog PF 120 Box Cameras. As they are native NDI and connected to the network they are permanently available to be used as live feeds in the production when the video referees are making important decisions. Fitted with a Sony Exmor R™ back-illuminated CMOS image sensor the PF120 delivers incredible images with significantly enhanced imaging characteristics. PF120 is powered by Power over Ethernet (PoE 802.11af) further reducing cabling and complexity.

To increase functionality and reduce costs the entire video networking is based on NDI® protocol instead of SDI or other IP standards, Ideal used Netgear M4250’s NDI optimized network switches at each of the four remote stadiums as well as in each of the central PCR’s and studio. The entire systems bandwidth was computed in the design phase allowing the selection of the appropriate bandwidth and network design. Along with being NDI optimized for the audio and video networking, Netgear switches were also used for all of the SimplyLive and studio production computers. Using the cost effective and highly reliable Netgear switches for both the video and IT networking on the same switches with systematic network design allowed for significant system wide cost savings and a dramatic reduction in power and cooling requirements as no separate SDI equipment was used.

Along with NDI, the inter-site connectivity and a contribution feed to linear TV use Kiloview SRT encoders and decoders. This helped to further reduce costs while maintaining professional quality.

Ideal also provided FAS with a new audio over IP intercom system for the production team. Unity Intercom is software-based with unity iOS and Android apps operating on mobile phones as "beltpacks," demonstrating yet another application of modern technologies. This will allow all users at the production hub and stadiums to communicate locally and remotely. Unity enables for a variety of connections from mobile devices using either wifi or cellular data.

" We were seeking for ways to boost the appeal of live football broadcast and we were able to do it thanks to the technology solutions design and integration of Ideal Systems. Our broadcasts have gotten positive feedback since we were able to merge technology and video with viewers, enhancing their viewing experience. We also expected that because to the pandemic, many would be unable to attend matches, so we could arrange the coverage of the matches with special regard for online viewers. We believe that by working with Ideal Systems, we have increased the quality of our live production in ways that will attract more viewers. "

Abhishek Ravikrishnan, Manager (Content and Production), FAS

“We based the entire video production architecture on next-generation NDI® infrastructure for the FAS solution, which allowed FAS deliver professional live sports production at a fraction of the cost of traditional SDI based systems. Leveraging NDI technology and its associated cost savings allows Asian sports bodies such as FAS to afford to do next-generation Football TV production in-house using their own systems from camera, through production and live streamed to the viewer while maintaining total control of their content”

Fintan Mc Kiernan, CEO Ideal Systems S.E.A.