FOX Sports, in cooperation with Fox Innovation Lab and partners Ericsson, Intel and AT&T, will stream 4K video at the US Open (Golf) over a 5G network for the first time. The groundbreaking trial will allows FOX Sports to take advantage of a true 5G live test environment for 4K image capture, processing and streaming to multiple platforms to showcase a powerful use case for reducing live production costs, while enabling high-definition broadcasting to scale.
Ericsson is providing the 5G radios, baseband, simulated network core, and 4K video encoder and decoder. Intel is providing the Intel 5G Mobile Trial Platform, a compact device capable of transmitting 1.6Gbs/s, that allows fast field and interoperability testing of 5G networks and equipment. This real-world field test will be located at the seventh hole to deliver 5G to IP translation. AT&T will use millimeter wave spectrum to deliver the 5G connection. AT&T also plans to be the first U.S. carrier to launch standards-based, mobile 5G services to customers in a dozen cities, including parts of Dallas, Atlanta and Waco, later this year.
The 5G wireless technology will transmit 4K HDR images from two FOX Sports cameras positioned on the challenging par-3 seventh hole at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club through the FOX Sports production truck, making it available to FOX Sports and its viewers through DirecTV. In the future, 5G could possibly be used to deliver real-time virtual reality views from the course to viewers.
Deployed for the first time at broad scale earlier this year by Intel and partners at the Winter Games in PyeongChang, 5G technology has the potential to provide disruptive abilities, to broadcasters and consumers alike. The new wireless technology enables multi-gigabit speeds with ultra-low latency. This groundbreaking trial will be the first available broadcast footage enabled using 5G technology from a premier U.S. golf event. It allows FOX Sports to take advantage of a true 5G live test environment for 4K image and streaming U.S. Open video to multiple platforms. This will showcase a powerful use case for reducing live production costs, while enabling ultra-high-definition broadcasting to scale.
