Creative Technology supports The Ryder Cup
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The screens however are only half the story, an additional 600 televisions (typically 55” and 65”) are deployed throughout the corporate hospitality and retail/merchandise facilities, all connected on a course-wide IPTV network installed and managed by CT allowing customised content to be remotely routed and controlled on every display across the site.
The network infrastructure further extends to include CT’s ‘TFC Flow’ solution, a hybrid variant of NEP’s award winning ‘TFC’ system optimised for management of broadcast connections at major live events and deployed at multiple events since its launch in 2022. ‘TFC Flow’ handles connections to and from the broadcast compound alongside all incoming/outgoing data sources needed to drive CT’s ‘Mercury’ proprietary scoring and graphics system which creates multiple realtime graphics outputs including customised content available to every LED screen on the course with specific details of each player group as they approach each green, fairway or tee alongside constant real time overall match results and of course the live feed.
At the heart of CT’s system, a Panasonic Kairos provides independent source switching and automated transitions to up to 48 individual M/E outputs, each of which can be remotely controlled by on-course volunteers who select appropriate content as each player group approaches from a custom configured hand-held panel, which can be overridden (if needed) from CT’s central control.
The successful implementation of a SMPTE 2110 workflow for content distribution at the prestigious Ryder Cup underscores the Creative Technology’s commitment to delivering unparalleled experiences to the on-course spectators.
Steve Purkess, Head of Sport and Broadcast at Creative Technology, expressed the significance of this milestone, stating: "Our decision to deliver an SMPTE 2110 workflow for the content distribution at the Ryder Cup was only possible due to the power and flexibility that Kairos and TFC Flow bring. Given the complexity of what we delivered, the move to an IP-based infrastructure was the only logical choice."
Two further high resolution displays complete CT’s line up in Rome. A ultra-wide screen data display in the media centre provides hole by hole scoring alongside live feeds from both SKY and NBC, whilst in the Technology Operations Centre a state of the art 1.2mm pixel pitch display from DigiLED provides a 4K multi image dashboard of the 19 mission critical data sources covering everything from network security to crowd density heatmaps and real time ball positioning allowing critical safety decisions around crowd control to be made as wind and weather conditions change.
Dave Crump, CEO of Creative Technology in Europe comments: “We have been on an incredible journey with the Ryder Cup over almost four decades, the technology deployment in 2023 will inevitably develop further as we look forward to future events. None of this would be possible without the incredible on-site team of around 50, lead by Dominic Hill, who manage, install and operate the project”.
