Proposals to enhance the game on TV

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Crows*

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I don't have a ton of proposals on this matter but a couple camera angles i've been thinking of. All and any of your ideas will be welcome. LEt's make a list of how to make this game more exciting to the non tradaitional hockey viewers.

1. Digital and Sattelite: The option to change to any camera angle at will from your remote. Upper deck angled cam, net cam etc etc. Now I don't know the logistics of something like this but It's just an idea.

This is just an example.

But I really think the new improved TV broadcast, needs to imcorporate the cameras within the croud maybe.. new hockey viewers need to see what it's like to be low close to the ice to see how fast it actually is.
 

X0ssbar

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This is kind of off the wall but following an NHL video game on TV is much easier than following an actual NHL game on TV - why is that (well besides the whole make-believe factor :) )?

It seems that most NHL video games adopt the overhead North/South camera angle for viewing/playing which seems to work well. So a suggestion I would make would be for the NHL"s boardcast partners to look into televising a game in the same general manner. I know there would be significant costs with wrigging something up like this but its something to think about and maybe test out.
 

bobomironov

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a wire cam that can move up and down the ice and from side to side, suspended about 12 to 15 feet above the ice. similar to the camera that monday night football uses behind and above the quarterback. the problem with watching hockey on tv is that you can't get a sense of how fast the players are moving. a remotely controlled camera that is not stationary will allow the viewer to feel some of the speed. that, the proliferation of HDTV, and some better marketing and the NHL will be back in the big 4.
 

i am dave

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Top Shelf said:
This is kind of off the wall but following an NHL video game on TV is much easier than following an actual NHL game on TV - why is that (well besides the whole make-believe factor :) )?

Maybe because the guy with the puck has a floating halo around him with his name lit up.
:joker:
 

rekrul

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HD is simply amazing, that will ( could have?) help alot with puck movement, play development/whole ice view that seems to hurt the TV interest from casual fan.

With expansion over talent will ( would have? ) finally cought up, now lets get the goalie pads reduced, enforce obstruction to get the Crosbys, Nashes and Ovechekins to put up moster numbers so they can be premoted.

for something completly novel has enyone watched Fox sports world's broadcast of English Premire Leauge "fan-zone" I've only caught it a few times I think its on thursdays, anyway its a replay of a previous EPL game however there is no play-by-play. Instead its two fans from either side comenting on game, actualy 'comenting' is not whats really taking place its more ranting and raving. They rag on each others team during the game, their historys, call the other team's players overrated while the other guy will carry on about their 'greatness'. its actually quite funny and entertaining, like listening to two die hards at a bar watching the game, they get absoultey brutal on refs and when a goal is scored one guy goes bananas, anyway kept me interested in a soccer game and thats saying a lot, imangine Denis leary and Colin quinn doing a game like this, well it would sure beat listening to CLement...
 

Crows*

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I don't get the thing with HDTV.

I do not have an HDTV ready tv nor do I really care because hockey is hockey to me.

But can someone explain why it's so much better? Ive heard it's just "so amazing"
 

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I think the widescreen format fits the rink dimenssions better than the square screen.

I liked the Matrix style 360 cams they had at Salt Lake and the Cup finals
 

futurcorerock

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Curious... I think HD is going to solve this problem of following the puck, though I tend to think Americans are just ignorant and prefer the object of influence (puck, ball) to be large and covered in leather. I mean, how in the world can you not follow a BLACK puck on WHITE ice.

One thing to note is the view on the sides is best. I prefer sitting on the sides to get a left-to right view of the play. It makes the game much more interesting and the broadcast height in terms of ice level is probably best because you still need to see the minimum of the short boards.

One thing -- Have the Bell Centre fix their cameras AWAY from the fans. Theres nothing more annoying than having a stupid Montreal fan standing up and obstructing the view a few minutes before the end of the game.
 

rekrul

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Crows said:
I don't get the thing with HDTV.

I do not have an HDTV ready tv nor do I really care because hockey is hockey to me.

But can someone explain why it's so much better? Ive heard it's just "so amazing"

I suggest you can go to a best buy and watch a football game, it really makes a huge differance, not only in picture quality but the width allows for more of the 'vision' of the playing surface, Ive only seen one game at a friends house but I was really suprised how much more you can see.
 

CarlRacki

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Crows said:
I don't get the thing with HDTV.

I do not have an HDTV ready tv nor do I really care because hockey is hockey to me.

But can someone explain why it's so much better? Ive heard it's just "so amazing"

Simply put, it's a vastly superior picture in terms of clarity/resolution, which will make the puck easier to see and the image appear more likelike.
Also, HD is broadcast in a 16:9 ratio (i.e. widescreen) as opposed to the 4:3 you get on standard television broadcasts. This obviously benefits any sport (hockey, football, basketball) played on rectangular surface because the viewer sees more of the action
 

Fish

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They need to upgrade the cameras...ESPN for the most part uses top quality, but some of the broadcasts out there are using some pretty crappy compression / technology...it's only going to look worse under HDTV.
 

CarlRacki

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Fish said:
They need to upgrade the cameras...ESPN for the most part uses top quality, but some of the broadcasts out there are using some pretty crappy compression / technology...it's only going to look worse under HDTV.

Nothing broadact in HD looks worse.
 

rekrul

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futurcorerock said:
Curious... I think HD is going to solve this problem of following the puck, though I tend to think Americans are just ignorant and prefer the object of influence (puck, ball) to be large and covered in leather. I mean, how in the world can you not follow a BLACK puck on WHITE ice.

I guess I know that person as 'disinterested casual fan' you get that guy to watch a game and the reason they can't follow the puck is they have no sence of flow to the game, tv can't puck up the whole ice just 1/2, and even then they can't anticipate where a pass should go or see an open guy that a pass should go to, let alone understand a slap shot heading to the net @95 mph doesn't often get seen well in person. I allways here the complaint after a goal, " i didn't see it go in". I take casual fan to a game and they finaly apreciate the speed which the game moves at and how the flow, changes on the fly ect and they dig it. HD doesn't quite replace the in house effect but brings you a lot closer than conventional signal.
 

puck_it

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bobomironov said:
a wire cam that can move up and down the ice and from side to side, suspended about 12 to 15 feet above the ice. similar to the camera that monday night football uses behind and above the quarterback. the problem with watching hockey on tv is that you can't get a sense of how fast the players are moving. a remotely controlled camera that is not stationary will allow the viewer to feel some of the speed. that, the proliferation of HDTV, and some better marketing and the NHL will be back in the big 4.


dude, ESPN/ABC already does that
 

officeglen

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The problem with HD is that it is so good that one wants to stay home to watch the game, instead of lacing up a pair of boots and enjoying the fighting to get in and out of the parking lot, the battles for position around the front of the beer stands, and the attempts to score with the service staff of one's persuasion. So HD will increase TV based revenue, but could very well decrease ticket/corporate box revenue, especially from the big spenders who can afford home theatre HD systems (you lucky dogs). And if the game is a dud, one can always change the channel and watch Desperate HockeyWives, Beer Factor, the Left Wing or whatever else is on.
 

Dr Love

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Crows said:
1. Digital and Sattelite: The option to change to any camera angle at will from your remote. Upper deck angled cam, net cam etc etc. Now I don't know the logistics of something like this but It's just an idea.

This is just an example.
It's not a bad idea, but it's not really feasible, and it would cost a lot, so much so that if it were to happen, it wouldn't happen with the NHL first.
 

mzon

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futurcorerock said:
, though I tend to think Americans are just ignorant and prefer the object of influence (puck, ball) to be large and covered in leather. I mean, how in the world can you not follow a BLACK puck on WHITE ice.

I am amazed that these kind of comments are tolerated on these boards. If you haven't seen hockey live, or don't watch the game enough know where the puck is, I could see where someone might have trouble following the puck. Please explain how this makes all Americans ignorant.

Not withstanding those bigoted comments, once you have seen hockey (or any sport) in HD nothing else will do. The detail it is capable of showing in incredible. With HD broadcasts you also get digital sound which makes a huge difference. It is like watching the game on a DVD. HD broadcasts of hockey also show a wide view of the ice, ABC often show the difference during their broadcasts.
 

Wetcoaster

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I am for:

1. A fluorescent orange puck with flashing LEDs imbedded.

2. Having the puck show "mouse tails" when shot and have the colour change green if 50 mph or below, yellow if 50 to 90 and red if over 90 mph.

3. Having a cute mascot to explain the rules to the uninitiated, we could have him dressed up like a puck and call something like Peter Puck.

4. Miking the players, coaches and on-ice officials.

5. Lots of directional mike to pick up the sounds of the game, particularly the players trying to make dates for after the games with the hockey groupies.

6. Having the players sing the national anthems.

7. Cloning Foster Hewitt and Danny Gallivan and have them do all the broadcasts along with Howie Meeker to do the colour.

8. Making sure that Don Cherry is a part of every US broadcast.

9. Having lots of cheerleaders.

10. Having female on-ice officials in skimpy outfits. No problem with strength we just give Tasers and electric cattle prods instead of whistles.

1i. Removing the redline and the blue lines - no more icings or offides.

12. Leaving the Zamboni running during the games, it will make for a lot more excitement as players have to not only dodge opposing players but also the Zamboni - however it must stay in the neutral zone so it helps break the neutral zone trap.

That should do it. It should be hit south of the border in non-hockey markets. Just send me my consulting fee, Gary.
 

Munchausen

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IMO there is one thing the NHL should bank on to market hockey on TV, and it's the speed of the game. Any ideas to improve TV coverage should gravitate around this simple concept. Right now, that speed and fast pace is all negated by unlogical (but practical) camera choices.

1- Because of the way lenses work to gather the light from and to a point, a telephoto focal length crushes the different planes in the image together and makes it look like objects are moving slower than they are in reality. So the current techniques kill any sense of depth and speed because the cameras are too far away from the action and must use longer telephoto lenses. The closer to the ice you will bring the cameras, the wider the focal length will be, and therefore the more depth and speed will be introduced during players and puck movement.

2- A simple camera pan has the same unwanted effect on speed. If you want to optimize the intensity and quickness of the game, the camera must travel with the players on the horizontal axis (of course, this is a bit tricky due to abrupt changes of direction by the players, and it depends if the technology permits it). So I agree with the idea of a wired camera that follows the players, but not just one. There should be 3-4 cameras in movement using different angles as well as different shot scales (close-up, medium, wide), all moving in the same direction but with variable speed, so the shots can be inter-cut live without jump-cut and disorientation effects. Of course, you'd also want those cameras to be able to pan as well.

3- The HD 16:9 format is indeed a technology that fits almost any sporting event like a glove, but since this won't become a standard for a while in NA, I don't think this is a viable solution for now.


Also, one thing I hate during broadcasts is they never have the crowd sound loud enough. Mic the crowd for crying out loud, it's what we want to hear, not boring play-by-play guys!
 

Roughneck

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The behind the net camera for the power-play is something that I love. Helps people see the speed of shots better as well as be more part of the movement of the game, something that will help make the game much more popular on TV if they can find a good way to do it during even strength play as well.

I agree with whats said above that the speed of the game is what they need to show. I like the idea of mics all over the ice to hear the sounds as well. The sounds of hockey are one of the best parts. Whatever can be done to appreciate the physical aspect of the game would also help tremendously IMO.
 
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