Automatic Multi-Camera Control and Switching for Sports Game Broadcasting Based on Real-Time Video Analysis

To broadcast sports games, we need several video cameras and a multi-camera switching system. This paper describes a new automatic shooting and switching system that enables broadcasting an American-football game by controlling cameras and a switcher. This system directs active cameras at the position of the players and switches between the cameras according to the results of image analysis based on the characteristics of the game. In image analysis, the position of the players is detected by background subtraction and calculation of gravity points with labeling and histogram analysis. For this analysis, images from a fixed wide-angle camera are used. In shooting a game by using several active cameras, each active camera records a certain type of players' motion. The switching system determines which active cameras shoot the game according to the analysis of the players' motion. We have designed prototype system. Experimental results show that this system can shoot the players' motion automatically.