BBC Sport EURO 2024

Advanced broadcast studios

BBC Sport covered EURO 2024 from two innovative studios in central Berlin, overlooking the Brandenburg Gate. The studios, one outdoor and one indoor, were designed following the central theme of a football museum, offering stunning presentation areas. Advanced virtual production technologies, including extended reality (XR) and augmented reality (AR), were used in both studios, providing a unique viewing experience for BBC Sport viewers.

The open-air studio

The open-air studio featured Black Marble 4 Glass panels. This remarkable setup faced unique challenges due to weather durability and reflective properties. The glossy floor had to be both functional and lively, performing well in daylight and and coming to life at night, with reflections adding a unique visual dimension.

Indoor studio

This studio design combines physical and virtual elements to create a stunning presentation area. It features a large glass wall in the middle with a view on the Brandenburg Gate and LED side screens using Ruby RB1.9 panels. These panels offers a fine pixel pitch, perfect on camera results and are ideal to facilitate advanced virtual production technologies.

For the indoor studio we build a special construction; an innovative sliding mechanism around the indoor LED walls. To ensure safety and maintenance aspects for the production.

Custom software solution

One of the major challenges when working with LED and AR/XR is color uniformity, especially when mixing in natural light. Creative Technology Business Solutions supported the studios with a custom-made software-suite that enabled the vision and lighting directors to remotely adjust their LED settings and color behavior. Using presets and real-time control they were able to get a uniform image no matter the circumstances. Extra unique was that they could adjust the LED settings remotely from their control room in the UK.

The Remote Monitoring Platform was also installed and provided secure connectivity between the Berlin studios and the UK control room. The platform provided real-time insights into the performance of the studios.