RaceTech bets on IDT’s CrashCam for photo finish racing

Horce racing tech facilities specialist RaceTech has chosen Integrated Design Tools (IDT) cameras to capture super-slow-motion across-the-line images for Sky Sports Racing.

The cameras give race-goers and viewers the chance to watch the replay immediately after the race has finished, before the official announcement of the winner.

RaceTech has deployed an IDT CrashCam Mini 3510 which can record and store up to 1300 fps at 1080p.

Measuring 44 x 44 x 70 mm, the camera also has an HD-SDI output which can play back at various speeds. The CrashCam Mini 3510 is linked to RaceTech’s outside broadcast vehicle via a single optical fibre. An operator-configurable motion trigger facility allows images to be captured and played back automatically.

“Given the speeds the horses are going past the finishing line, on a close finish it is not always clear which horse may have won a race, even on an instant television replay, because of television camera angles and associated frame rate motion blur”, says Chris Clark, racing engineering manager at RaceTech. “We wanted a way of giving viewers a similar experience to that of other sports where different angle replays are provided immediately before the official announcement.”

IDT cameras are used around the world in various roles from car crash testing to machine automation monitoring.

IDT’s UK Sales Manager David Rudeforth said: “Most high-frame-rate cameras require a separate server/replay system to capture the huge amount of frame data. This amounts to a hefty price overhead on any system before you have even purchased the camera, control, or connectivity interfaces. We quickly established that a camera with built-in record capability was the way to keep within budget. There are several camcorders on the market which have slow motion capability, capturing 150 fps, but even at that frame rate the camera performance was insufficient and lacked the control capability required.”