Accuracy Assessment of On-air Graphics System with 3D Object Tracking Function

Abstract

We propose a new on-air graphics system to be utilized in live sports broadcasting. The graphics system has the object tracking function, it is possible to track the ball which is shot in actual sports field, and get the 3D position accurately, in real-time. Our system utilizes multiple Pan-Tilt-Zoom cameras to be applied to broadcasting cameras. The cameras with zoom lens are mounted on platform equipped rotary encoders, and we apply the encoder data to get the real-time camera information. Our key technologies are consisted from real-time object tracking, camera calibration for Pan-Tilt-Zoom cameras, triangulation, and 3DCG graphics system. We put these technologies into together, and experimented system accuracy with 4-camera system. Our experimental results show high accuracy enough for on-air graphics system.