IDS to supply timekeeping systems for Olympics

IDS will again provide results and timing interfaces to NBC Olympics during its coverage of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

“We are pleased to be working once again with IDS, and we are confident their experience and expertise in the presentation of real-time data will help us add new and intriguing dimensions for viewers watching the Games on the networks of NBCUniversal,” said Craig Lau, vice president of information technology at NBC Olympics, in a joint statement issued by the two companies.

The IDS support team will be responsible for delivering TV graphics interfaces for NBC Olympics’ Mosaic systems in its coverage of alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, snowboarding, figure skating, short track speed skating, speed skating, bobsled, luge, skeleton, ski jumping and the ski jumping portion of Nordic combined.

IDS’ Point-in-Time system will allow the production crew to go back to the precise point in a competition to simultaneously and seamlessly illustrate points being made by the announcers, for both live and taped coverage.

The software system can locate and connect NBC Olympics to a specific point in the competition, even from previous days, allowing the network to show how a race began, when a lead changed, where an athlete improved his or her performance and other similar key events.

IDS has worked with NBC Olympics for 14 years, in roles ranging from providing graphical interfaces and Web content as well as NBC’s digital asset management interface that helped the network receive an Emmy Award for “Outstanding Team Technical Remote” following the 2008 Olympics.