Archive notice: This article was originally published on November 23, 2009. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
In cooperation with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) and Olympic Broadcasting Services Vancouver (OBSV), Panasonic is equipping every competition venue and broadcast location with the corresponding HD equipment—paving the way for the first Winter Olympics in HD.
As in Beijing in 2008, all international video signals at the 2010 Winter Games will be produced at the International Broadcasting Center (IBC) and transmitted worldwide in HD format to all rights-holding broadcasters. For the first time, the HD video signals will also be used for broadcast on the large LED display systems at the venues and in BC Place Stadium, the location of the opening and closing ceremonies. This makes the 2010 Winter Games the first “Winter Olympics in HD”, with all Olympic video broadcast exclusively in HD format.
Panasonic will install three LED video screens with a total display area of 243 square metres at BC Place Stadium in downtown Vancouver—approximately 1.4 times the display area used at the main stadium in Turin in 2006. Together with Panasonic’s professional sound system and plasma display boards, the Panasonic AV system will translate the excitement of the opening ceremony into spectacular images.
The official recording format for the 2010 Winter Games is Panasonic’s DVCPRO HD format. Panasonic is providing a comprehensive range of broadcast equipment, including the P2 HD series and a complete solid-state-memory-based newsroom system. Since the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, the 2010 Winter Games will be the ninth Olympic Games to use Panasonic digital technology as the recording format.
Panasonic is also supporting the safe running of the Olympics by providing high-quality, high-sensitivity surveillance cameras for indoor and outdoor Olympic facilities and the surrounding areas and roads.
In cooperation with VANOC and Bell, a Premier National Partner and exclusive telecommunications partner for the 2010 Winter Games, Panasonic will also provide an HD videoconferencing system. The Panasonic HD videoconferencing system, with Full HD PDPs and HD camcorders, will for the first time enable a direct live connection between the two athletes’ villages in Vancouver and Whistler. Transmission between the two locations will use high-resolution H.264 images and flawless sound.
Coaches and athletes will be able to communicate directly “live” through the Panasonic HD videoconferencing system without having to travel between the villages. Vivid images and clear sound will create a live feeling as though coaches and athletes were in the same room. The Panasonic system will also be used to broadcast the welcome ceremony to athletes in the two Olympic villages. Reducing travel between the locations will efficiently save time, costs and—with regard to the environment—CO2 emissions.
