Venues set store by Ross Video technology

Article posted by Coliseum, October 22^nd, 2024

Image: Coliseum GSVA

James Ransome strongly believes that providing fans an enthralling in-venue experience should be “at the heart of” any venue undertaking. Fans should be the raison d’être of venues. And only when the fan engagement is matchless will it give them enough reasons to come back to the arenas on a regular basis.

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Stadia must also offer cutting-edge technology and Ransome, who works for Ross Video that designs and manufactures equipment for live event and video productions, asserts that the people calling the shots of the venues fall in love with the incisive technology which they offer. Ross Video is a name which power-up the corridor of technology.

James Ransome is the Business Development Manager of Sports and Live Events for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) for Ross Video, UK.

James Ransome, BDM Sports & Live Events EMEA, Ross Video, UK, talks at length with ‘Coliseum’ on how the people running the shows of the SoFi Stadium in the United States and the Principality Stadium in the United Kingdom set store by Ross Video’s technology as it has helped them to boost fan engagement and provide the spectators an immersive viewing experience. For the SoFi Stadium it is ‘Ross or nobody’. Ransome also avers that collaboration is key and only team work can create that pack-a-punch tech effect in any venue venture.

Ross Video

Ontario (Canada)-based Ross Video powers live productions for the billions of viewers. With the industry’s widest range of high-impact, high-efficiency solutions and services, Ross Video helps all manner of organizations create and share compelling content, from leading broadcasters to houses of worship, stadiums, corporations, and Governments. Ross Video is the trusted technology behind the world’s greatest live productions.

Unified Venue Solution

Ross Video’s Unified Venue Solution is a combination of production control room technology and light-emitting diode (LED) content management systems for the sports venues. The solution is designed to give the gameday operators control over their productions and create an immersive experience for the fans.

James Ransome informed that Ross Video’s Unified Venue Solution has been deployed at the SoFi Stadium and the Principality Stadium.

Giving a brief introduction about his company, he further informed, “Ross Video builds technology. We are a Canadian company with offices across the globe and we manufacture video production solutions. We actually have the widest range of video production solutions in the industry. Our Unified Venue Solution is one of a kind because it enables to create more powerful productions. Our LED Display Control technology helps us to map graphics and content across any size LED.”

DashBoard

Ross Video’s DashBoard is free software that enables one to monitor, control and program production technologies in simple-to-use, highly customizable control interfaces.

Remarked Ransome, “We have a piece of software called DashBoard which can be used to create custom-controlled interfaces to meet the specific requirements of each venue.”

SoFi Stadium

The SoFi Stadium is a 70,000-seat sports and entertainment indoor-outdoor stadium in the Los Angeles County suburb of Inglewood, California, United States.

Terming the SoFi Stadium an “absolute spectacle” he informed, “Ross Video technology is driving the production control, we are driving all of the LED Displays including the roof LED of the SoFi Stadium and it is tied all together with our Unified Venue Control system.”

Since the original vision of the stadium was to be world-class therefore a groundbreaking video experience was required – “So, the LED on the roof, they have that breathtaking 360 degree double-sided sensor hung videoboards. It is revolutionary.”

He said that they did face challenges as the SoFi Stadium operators wanted a totally flexible system and the screen itself has over 80 million pixels and four different video resolutions. So, just mapping content to that screen is a huge challenge in itself and that too with minimal or zero errors.”

He narrated that so impressed were the venue officials of SoFi Stadium with Ross Video’s flawless work that they were convinced that it was only Ross Video which could create an unforgettable experience for fans with their brand of technology.

The SoFi Stadium offers the best fan experience in the world and Ross Video is responsible for the 360-degree infinity screen at SoFi Stadium. The screen is part of a groundbreaking video experience that includes a translucent roof with LED lights that project images for the passing planes – the venue being close to the Los Angeles International Airport.

Said Jason Cothern, former Vice-President of Productions and Broadcast Operations of SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park, “The infinity screen, we are sitting right in front of the fans’ face. When it comes to technology what others cannot do, Ross Video definitely allows us to do those things. It is all-in-one encompassing. The fans feel immersed in the actual event.”

Principality Stadium

The 74,500-capacity Millennium Stadium, known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales (UK). Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national rugby union team and has also held Wales’s national football team games.

Ransome moved on to the Principality Stadium which he described as “the first stadium in United Kingdom with a fully retractable roof and holds a raft of events”.

Challenges

Ross Video did the in-venue technology upgrades for the facility.

Talking about the challenges, Ransome pointed out, “The first major challenge was integrating the existing Unified Venue Control Solution and with DashBoard we were able to do that.”

With deadlines looming over Ransome and his team, they also had to provide comprehensive training – “to the engineering team, the design team and also to the operational team. But we pulled it off.”

Wrap-up

James Ransome wrapped up by stating, “For any project to be successful collaboration is key. Projects like the above are only made possible when we work as one team with the tech manufacturers, with the service providers, with the system integrators, the LED manufacturers, and the customers themselves. We are all working together to create that powerful, immersive experience. Moreover, unified workflow minimizes errors.”

Ross Video’s leading-edge technology helps venues to rake in the moolah. The tech company’s video production solutions have a distinctive flavor of its own and the opportunities it offers are endless.

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