Talk about a sharper image.
The NFL playoffs are not only home to the league’s best 12 14 teams, but also the best technology around (unless when it comes to deciding what is or isn’t a fumble, right Colts-Bills?). We got a taste of this during the wild card matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks, when FOX cut to its handheld 8K camera.
Just look at it capturing two-time Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald:
This seriously looks like a trailer from a future Madden or some other video game featuring insanely ripped men.
How does FOX produce extra-sharp pictures like these? By not going with a traditional camera normally used for broadcasts as Brandon Costa explained on Twitter when 8k technology was first used earlier during the season:
FOX uses a mirrorless Sony α7R IV on a handheld gimbal, Brandon explained. That setup, by the way, is comparatively easy to assemble at home: all you need to get the same images is around $5,000 and a bunch of NFL players lying around.
Also, let Brandon rain on your 8K parade a bit: he pointed out in a follow-up post that the camera would not actually shoot at that resolution but rather at 4K: “It’s being transmitted on the backend at 1080p. So this is actually just really good HD.”
Still, the end result is impressive nevertheless. I mean, it makes Aaron Donald look even more uber-human than he already appears to be.