BUFFALO, NY - The NFL has spearheaded innovation in television for well over 50 years, and nothing will show that off more than the game on Sunday.
Live bullet cam effects via 36 cameras mounted to the top of Levi Stadium, 5k resolution and Beyonce, probably. But if you’ve been watching CBS games this season, you probably recognize a new camera, the pylon cam.
“I’m one of the companies that has come up with the pylon camera that finally works," said Paul Halsey. Lancaster based Admiral Video is a contractor for the NFL on CBS. In fact company president Paul Halsey is a former WGRZ engineer,
“CBS approached me that they were looking for something for this year to be used on Thursday night football," he said.
The pylon camera idea has been around for awhile, but hasn’t been executed very well. ESPN tried to use a WiFi system, different than what Admiral Video uses
“The reason you can’t do WiFi," Halsey explained, "when there’s 80,000 people, is because it looks great on the setup day but when they’re actually trying to play the game and you have 80,000 people there it just doesn’t work.”
At first glance you may think it’s just GoPro camera’s stuck inside a pylon. But the cameras Halsey uses are broadcast quality, can adjust with ever changing color temperature created by the weather and don’t impede on the function of the pylon.
“The design is fairly flexible so that when somebody falls on it you’re not going to injure this high priced player,” he said.
The pylon camera is wired to the production truck and features a breakaway cable if/when a player falls on it. Each pylon has two cameras, one face the goal line the other the sideline.
“There’d definitely be plays that get turned over and seasons could get turned over by what you see from these little cameras,” Halsey said.
While the cameras provide a unique perspective, not everyone was initially sold.
“Some people didn’t want us to do them in their stadium because it’s something new and they don’t want to be involved in it.”
Installation of the camera’s is minor, on turf Halsey and his crew vacuum up the rubber temporarily and place the cable under it. On regular grass the cable simply lies on the ground nestled in the soil.
“I think the fans love the look," said Halsey. "I think the league can benefit from the look if we had them in more games.”