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I was curious what the advertising board would have looked like to the athletes -- it must be a bit distracting to see a display scrolling at ~10m/s! You can s

I was curious what the advertising board would have looked like to the athletes -- it must be a bit distracting to see a display scrolling at ~10m/s! You can see it here at 9m50s: https://youtu.be/7Xnr805bm4E?feature=shared&t=590 https://youtu.be/7Xnr805bm4E?feature=shared&t=590 It's just a single animated strip, one pixel wide. I assume the camera array is on the opposite side.

xanderlewis 2y ago
It’s weird that it still comes out distorted though. You’d think they’d know the correct rate to play it back at, since they’re the ones capturing it.
- seszett 2y ago
  They would need to know beforehand the precise span between the first and last athletes. I think they did a pretty good job, it's only slightly stretched for an event when there was only 0,12 seconds between the first and the last runners, which is unusual.
  - xanderlewis 2y ago
    I don’t see why the distance between athletes has anything to do with it; they record at a fixed speed which presumably is the estimated speed of the winner crossing the line. So it’s known in advance, and the stretch factor if they get that speed exactly right is 1 anyway. And of course when I say ‘speed’, I mean [width of strip] / [time between the capture of each strip].
- numpad0 2y ago
  This smells of a cascading dongle tape wrapped and marked "sprints #3"
ninju 2y ago
Video no longer available :-(
- ceejayoz 2y ago
  NBC is very quick to DMCA Olympics clips.
  - ipsum2 2y ago
    NBC isn't DMCA-ing the official Olympics channel.
  - reaperducer 2y ago
    NBC is very quick to DMCA Olympics clips. Writing a check for $12,000,000,000.00 will do that to you. https://marketrealist.com/p/how-much-did-nbc-pay-for-the-olympics/ https://marketrealist.com/p/how-much-did-nbc-pay-for-the-oly...
- ipsum2 2y ago
  Region blocked from the US.
chch 2y ago
Thanks for pointing that out! This video doesn't seem to be available in the US, so you can also see it in the slow motion footage here, right on the finish line: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcxyXnPIF4o#t=2m45s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcxyXnPIF4o#t=2m45s (You can see it in normal speed too, but I can feel the formation of shapes better in the slow-mo, instead of it just feeling like blinking)
- iainmerrick 2y ago
  Ha, and that video isn't visible outside the US! I guess pick one or the other depending on your country (or if neither works, search for one that does).
ipython 2y ago
This makes total sense as a way to quickly validate the cameras calibration visually. “Does the ad look correct?” Clever.
peeters 2y ago
Oh thanks for this! I had the same question and assumed the Omega branding and Olympic rings were superimposed onto the image; I never assumed it would actually be an animated advertisement timed perfectly to match the runners' pace! I assume they had a different backdrop speed for the women's race, according to their projected pace? Or would the ad look squished for them? (or alternatively, the runners stretched?) Now that I look at it, the logos in the men's photo finish look stretched, so maybe it's calibrated for the women's pace.

xanderlewis 2y ago

It’s weird that it still comes out distorted though. You’d think they’d know the correct rate to play it back at, since they’re the ones capturing it.

seszett 2y ago
They would need to know beforehand the precise span between the first and last athletes. I think they did a pretty good job, it's only slightly stretched for an event when there was only 0,12 seconds between the first and the last runners, which is unusual.
- xanderlewis 2y ago
  I don’t see why the distance between athletes has anything to do with it; they record at a fixed speed which presumably is the estimated speed of the winner crossing the line. So it’s known in advance, and the stretch factor if they get that speed exactly right is 1 anyway. And of course when I say ‘speed’, I mean [width of strip] / [time between the capture of each strip].
numpad0 2y ago
This smells of a cascading dongle tape wrapped and marked "sprints #3"

ninju 2y ago

Video no longer available :-(

ceejayoz 2y ago
NBC is very quick to DMCA Olympics clips.
- ipsum2 2y ago
  NBC isn't DMCA-ing the official Olympics channel.
- reaperducer 2y ago
  NBC is very quick to DMCA Olympics clips. Writing a check for $12,000,000,000.00 will do that to you. https://marketrealist.com/p/how-much-did-nbc-pay-for-the-olympics/ https://marketrealist.com/p/how-much-did-nbc-pay-for-the-oly...
ipsum2 2y ago
Region blocked from the US.

chch 2y ago

Thanks for pointing that out! This video doesn't seem to be available in the US, so you can also see it in the slow motion footage here, right on the finish line: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcxyXnPIF4o#t=2m45s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcxyXnPIF4o#t=2m45s (You can see it in normal speed too, but I can feel the formation of shapes better in the slow-mo, instead of it just feeling like blinking)

iainmerrick 2y ago
Ha, and that video isn't visible outside the US! I guess pick one or the other depending on your country (or if neither works, search for one that does).

ipython 2y ago

This makes total sense as a way to quickly validate the cameras calibration visually. “Does the ad look correct?” Clever.

peeters 2y ago

Oh thanks for this! I had the same question and assumed the Omega branding and Olympic rings were superimposed onto the image; I never assumed it would actually be an animated advertisement timed perfectly to match the runners' pace! I assume they had a different backdrop speed for the women's race, according to their projected pace? Or would the ad look squished for them? (or alternatively, the runners stretched?) Now that I look at it, the logos in the men's photo finish look stretched, so maybe it's calibrated for the women's pace.