Sony has announced that two of its 4K Ultra HD cameras will be used to film this year’s Wimbledon tennis tournament.
The Sony NEX-FS700 and F55 35mm cameras will be installed at the courts and will be soaking up every blade of grass and cord of the nets in glorious 4K detail.
In an interesting advertising opportunity, Sony has also launched what it’s calling a ‘microtising’ campaign starring Anne Keothavong, the British number 5.
Read Recombu Digital’s guide to Super Hi-Vision, Ultra HD, 4K and 8KSony, keen to push the limits of its 4K power, has painted its logo onto Keothavong’s fingernails, footwear and other tiny places that would otherwise go unnoticed by the cameras. Keothavong says that Sony branding has been painted onto her shoelaces, fingers and even the hem of her skirt.
Paul Gyles, Marketing Head of Sony Televisions adds: “With more footage being generated in 4K people are going to see every single detail and get much closer to the action. We thought we’d push it to the limit by running a microtising campaign – proving that Sony televisions can pick up on the smallest details.”
Today, coincidentally, sees the launch of Sony’s 55X9 BRAVIA and 65X9 BRAVIA TV sets, the latest 4K Ultra HD TV sets from Sony. This would be excellent timing were the BBC planning to broadcast the tennis competition in 4K.
A BBC spokesperson told us:
“During Wimbledon the BBC and the EBU [European Broadcasting Union] are involved with Sony’s trials of Ultra High Definition television. The BBC is taking part in engineering trials to help us further explore the technology and standards.”
While digital terrestrial TV (Freeview, YouView, BT Vision) satellite (Sky, Freesat) and cable (Virgin Media) should be able to handle 4K broadcasts in the future, there currently aren’t any plans to show Wimbledon in 4K this year. The outcome of these trials should put the BBC and Sony in good stead for planning 4K broadcasts in the future.
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