El Clásico is once again one of the most avant-garde televised sports shows

LaLiga has partnered with various technology providers to prepare a suite of technical tools including True View, 4K-HDR, an aerial camera, Be The Player and Laser Wall, allowing a potential audience of more than 500 million viewers to feel closer than ever to the action.

Although on this occasion the Camp Nou experienced the least classic classic of recent times, with a Barça that has already secured the double (League and Copa del Rey) and a Real Madrid that will trust its season to the final of the Champions League, from a television point of view the meeting between both clubs was once again one of the most avant-garde televised sporting spectacles of the year.

In this weekend's meeting between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, LaLiga and its official production company, Mediapro, showcased some of the most advanced and innovative technologies in the sports industry to a global audience.

The LaLiga Clásico was once again one of the most avant-garde televised sports spectacles of 2018, on par with other global events such as the NFL Super Bowl in its use of innovative technologies to provide viewers around the world with the most immersive experience possible.

LaLiga has partnered with various technology providers to prepare a suite of technical tools that include True View, 4K-HDR, a aerial camera, Be The Player y Laser Wall, allowing a potential audience of more than 500 million viewers from 182 countries sits closer than ever to the action.

Joris Evers, director de comunicación global de LaLiga, admite que “LaLiga es una de las competiciones deportivas con más seguidores del mundo, pero no todos tienen la oportunidad de venir a los estadios para ver los partidos en vivo. Así que nuestro reto es acercar la acción lo máximo posible a los que están lejos y usamos muchos medios técnicos para hacerlo”.

Vídeo volumétrico

Un acuerdo con Intel ha permitido a los televidentes del Clásico acceder a repeticiones de 360 grados, using the same True View system that is implemented in the NBA and NFL. Technicians in the stadium collect information from the 38 cameras placed around the pitch, and then “stitch” the 2D shots to offer a multi-angle view of the key plays during the 90 minutes.

“It is known as volumetric video"explains Melcior Soler, director of LaLiga's audiovisual area. "You can place the camera wherever you want, not physically but virtually. With this virtual camera, you can have exactly the same view as the player before shooting for the goal.”

After the first December Clásico in LaLiga in 2017/18, the match was produced by Mediapro in 4K-HDR resolution thanks to 30 Ultra High Definition cameras located around Camp Nou. By contrast, last season's UEFA Champions League final in Cardiff (which Real Madrid won) was filmed with just a dozen UHD cameras.

LaLiga's aerial camera that flies over the pitch at 21 meters high once again allowed us to offer exclusive sequences. The images from this state-of-the-art equipment are displayed through a special UHD camera with a wide-angle lens and a 14x zoom, which can also rotate and move at high speed to cover an area of ​​almost 7,000 m².

40 cameras

In total, Mediapro used 40 cameras, including some in helicopters, on cranes and on motorcycles, following the team buses when they arrived at the stadium and 6 super slow cameras following the two big stars, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, throughout the match.

“We deployed even more technology than in the Super Bowl,” admits Melcior Soler.

Mediacoach, the next-generation suite of match analysis tools and service, developed by Mediapro, was made available to coaches Ernesto Valverde and Zinedine Zidane, even as the action was taking place during El Clásico. “Mediacoach captures a lot of information and makes it available in almost real time for coaches to make decisions on the bench,” Evers says.

Spectators were also able to judge controversial decisions during the match thanks to Laser Wall, an overlay graphic showing a virtual straight line that will end arguments over whether a player was offside or not. The Live3D Graphics technology on the screen during the broadcast also improved the match experience for viewers. Another innovation from LaLiga and its operators is the Be The Player function which, in the words of Evers, “allows the viewer to get under the skin of the player.”

This is possible thanks to the servers that process the match images collected by the 38 5K resolution cameras installed by Intel, which allows LaLiga to get closer to the pitch level and offer a view of the action from the players' point of view, putting spectators in the middle of the action.

The cutting-edge technology was used for the first time in LaLiga during December's Clásico. In total, 4 stadiums are equipped with Intel True View: the Camp Nou, the Santiago Bernabéu, the Sánchez-Pizjuán and the Wanda Metropolitano. Additionally, Mestalla and San Mamés are ready to use this technology before the next season.

This weekend's Classic was also the first in which immersive sound has been used Dolby Atmos capturing audio with more microphones than ever placed around the stadium, providing spectators with a 360-degree audio experience.