I’m curious as to how a ref will blow their whistle and get instant replay footage within seconds. Can someone explain this process to me?
In: Technology
Former Instant Replay Equipment Installer Here – I set up equipment, tested it, and trained refs on it for the NFL and US college football.
At least as of 15 years ago, the network truck (ABC network, for instance) is set up with experts that have control over the ability to switch and replay any camera feeds to the network feed.
The instance replay booth was startlingly simple: in our configuration, there were three operators, two of them refs, each in front of one of three touch screens.
The operator on the far left, usually a non-ref and tech person, would wait for the network to send footage from multiple angles out onto the network, and mark the beginning and end of the plays. These plays would show up as icons on the center screen for the first ref. If more angles were needed, the operator called down to the network truck (i.e. ABC, NBC, CBS etc.) and ask for more angles. Believe it or not, this is why viewers would sometimes see so many slow motion shots from various angles replayed on TV. Not for the viewers, but for the instant replay refs!
The first ref, in the center, would then touch icons to show plays from various angles on the right-hand screen, in front of the second ref, and the refs would discuss and relay information to the field.
An interesting mix of high-tech with low-tech to solve a problem.
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