Virtual ads on the boards…

[LabattBlue]

Okay, after a few games you get used to it, but now I am intrigued.  How do they do it?  Are there sensors in the boards that are used to keep the ad overlays in the correct place?

Enquiring minds want to know?(old school National Enquirer reference) 😂

[Taro T]

3 minutes ago, LabattBlue said:

Okay, after a few games you get used to it, but now I am intrigued.  How do they do it?  Are there sensors in the boards that are used to keep the ad overlays in the correct place?

Enquiring minds want to know?(old school National Enquirer reference) 😂

Huh???

If you aren't joking, they're using advances from the same technology that Fox developed to create the glowing pucks in their '90's NHL broadcasts which was then adapted to put down & distance lines/guides on football broadcasts.

[LabattBlue]

Just now, Taro T said:

Huh???

If you aren't joking, they're using advances from the same technology that Fox developed to create the glowing pucks in their '90's NHL broadcasts which was then adapted to put down & distance lines/guides on football broadcasts.

Not joking.  Maybe I am just technically challenged. 🤔

[SDS]

While not definitive, I think this is just pattern recognition done in post processing. You have a well defined structure you’re looking for. Boards of a certain height, red line on top, yellow line across the bottom. These are patterns that can be extracted and then the ad over laid on top of it. This would be done frame by frame. The real trick is making sure the ads don’t go over bodies.

[JoeSchmoe]

The first game I noticed them a lot and it kind of bugged me.

Yesterday though, I think it was at least the 2nd period yesterday until I remembered there were electronic ads on the boards. Whatever ad it was that twigged me was a motion ad. Had it not been moving I likely wouldn't have noticed it either. Thankfully my brain has nicely tuned them out. 

Edited October 19, 2022 by JoeSchmoe

[LabattBlue]

Just googled it.  7 years in the works. 😱

 

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nhl/news/nhl-digital-board-ads-technology/xvbavhozzovipin9iak7zllc

[thewookie1]

Hate them as I enjoy seeing the local sponsors on the road

[Stoner]

5 hours ago, LabattBlue said:

Not joking.  Maybe I am just technically challenged. 🤔

Yeah, come on, it's common knowledge.

[shrader]

4 hours ago, thewookie1 said:

Hate them as I enjoy seeing the local sponsors on the road

Whoever paid for the actual ads on the boards has to be pretty pissed. They’ve lost a huge piece of their audience. I’ve always felt like the board ads were more aimed at the tv audience, but maybe I’m off on that. 

[pi2000]

Are there still physical ads on the boards or no? 

[SDS]

3 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

Are there still physical ads on the boards or no? 

Yes. You can see them when the play is up close. They really only do the virtual thing from the main camera.

[Curt]

12 hours ago, shrader said:

Whoever paid for the actual ads on the boards has to be pretty pissed. They’ve lost a huge piece of their audience. I’ve always felt like the board ads were more aimed at the tv audience, but maybe I’m off on that. 

I’m guessing that the cost of a physical advertisement on the boards dropped significantly, they probably aren’t pissed about that aspect of it.

[shrader]

13 minutes ago, Curt said:

I’m guessing that the cost of a physical advertisement on the boards dropped significantly, they probably aren’t pissed about that aspect of it.

They must have.  I haven't been in an arena in a while now, but I don't remember every really noticing who is advertising on the boards.  I don't know if most people are like that.  To me, it seems like the physical ads now have no target audience.

[Doohicksie]

17 hours ago, JoeSchmoe said:

Thankfully my brain has nicely tuned them out. 

Which is what I predicted in the earlier thread on the subject.

[GASabresIUFAN]

18 hours ago, LabattBlue said:

Okay, after a few games you get used to it, but now I am intrigued.  How do they do it?  Are there sensors in the boards that are used to keep the ad overlays in the correct place?

Enquiring minds want to know?(old school National Enquirer reference) 😂

My daughter and I were watching the Edm game and we noticed the boards showing Buffalo ads (La Nova pizza specifically), yet that was no interference with the broadcast of the players when they in front of the boards.  Amazing tech.  I noticed last year the ads on the ice by the blueline and the one on the glass behind the net,  but the changing ads on the boards is really crazy.  What is also weird is seeing a Buffalo ad on the board during the live broadcast, but then seeing the ad painted on the boards in the highlights or replays. 

[Doohicksie]

I might ask my son about this; he's in college for broadcast production and I know he's done some virtual reality special effects.

[SwampD]

Our studio uses N-Cam.
https://www.ncam-tech.com/hardware/

Pretty amazing technology. 

Not sure if it’s what the NHL uses.

It combines the imaging it is getting through IR with the actual camera image to create the virtual environment that you can put whatever you want in it.

Pretty cool.

Edited October 20, 2022 by SwampD

[elcrusho]

"They" & "Them"

 

I said what I said 😅

[matter2003]

The one where it showed the team logos and then contracted to like 5 or 6 logos was freaking awesome last night!

[matter2003]

20 hours ago, SwampD said:

Our studio uses N-Cam.
https://www.ncam-tech.com/hardware/

Pretty amazing technology. 

Not sure if it’s what the NHL uses.

It combines the imaging it is getting through IR with the actual camera image to create the virtual environment that you can put whatever you want in it.

Pretty cool.

Apparently the NHL uses a company called Supponor

[All Along The Watchtower]

I love the NHL but it's almost becoming unwatchable...ads on the boards, glass, ice, jerseys, helmets, even the scorebug. 

Go back and look at a game in the early 80s and see how clean and uninhibited it looks.

I get the need for revenue, but good gawd, ENOUGH!

 

[Pimlach]

On 10/19/2022 at 4:00 PM, SDS said:

While not definitive, I think this is just pattern recognition done in post processing. You have a well defined structure you’re looking for. Boards of a certain height, red line on top, yellow line across the bottom. These are patterns that can be extracted and then the ad over laid on top of it. This would be done frame by frame. The real trick is making sure the ads don’t go over bodies.

Yes I agree. Definitely done in post processing after a full frame.  They overlay the new ads after the image is stable. Another challenge  is turning off the post processing when camera positions change.  

[Pimlach]

7 minutes ago, All Along The Watchtower said:

I love the NHL but it's almost becoming unwatchable...ads on the boards, glass, ice, jerseys, helmets, even the scorebug. 

Go back and look at a game in the early 80s and see how clean and uninhibited it looks.

I get the need for revenue, but good gawd, ENOUGH!

 

Heck, I’ll go back to the later 60’s.  
 

Just hope the don’t ever defile their uniforms with ads. 

[SwampD]

40 minutes ago, All Along The Watchtower said:

I love the NHL but it's almost becoming unwatchable...ads on the boards, glass, ice, jerseys, helmets, even the scorebug. 

Go back and look at a game in the early 80s and see how clean and uninhibited it looks.

I get the need for revenue, but good gawd, ENOUGH!

 

Meh. I don’t even notice them anymore.

I honestly couldn’t tell you if there were virtual ads in the game last night.

[French Collection]

1 hour ago, Pimlach said:

Heck, I’ll go back to the later 60’s.  
 

Just hope the don’t ever defile their uniforms with ads. 

It’s amazing how people were able to stay off their phones and focus on the games back then. LOL.

Ads are creeping in on the uniforms, I hope they never get to the Euro level. I can’t recognize teams there, lack of actual team logos, just corporate stuff everywhere.