The Technology Behind the Magic Yellow Line

CurtMonash writes "Fandome offers a fascinating video explaining how the first-down line on football broadcasts actually works. Evidently, theres a lot of processing both to calculate the exact location being photographed on the field — including optical sensors and two steps of encoding — and to draw a line in exactly the right place onscreen. For those who don't want to watch the whole video, highlights are here."

The only yellow lines in Australia...

[Laser_iCE]

are the ones on the platforms at train stations. (In QLD anyway) The closest thing we have to this in sports around here is either during swimming, or between balls during a test match, when the commentators are bored and start drawing lines all over my TV.

Re:My Idea For a Football Field

[RockMFR]

Was this idea invented by Shampoo?

Re:My Idea For a Football Field

[Ihmhi]

You're thinking a bit too far ahead, I think. I say we just hack some Roombas with spraypaint cans and GPS and let them sort it all out.

Flamebait +1

[Anonymous Coward]

I thought Football was a game played with your feet! What the article discusses is a bastardised form of Rugby.

Re:My Idea For a Football Field

[Kickasso]

Lessee. The football field is 360 by 160 feet. You need a resolution of at least 1 inch This is very coarse, really, but let's say it's 1 inch. This means your field is a giant 4320 by 1920 color screen right here. Which is, like, quad HDTV or something like that. You know what? Fuck the game, let's see some movies.

Re:Flamebait +1

[Dupple]

I believe the game under discussion is known as hand egg

Amazing...

[OneSmartFellow]

... All that technology applied to paint a yellow line in a completely arbitrary position. The rules need to be changed so that the location of the ball touching the ground is the location of the line. Also, the ball should have some kind of RFID chip in it, and the entire field should be built on top of a fine mesh of RFID sensors. Until then the location of the line is subject to too much human error, and as a result completely arbitrarily placed anyway.

Re:My Idea For a Football Field

[ozbon]

Thanks for that - if I'd been drinking at the time, you'd now owe me for a new keyboard.

Re:My Idea For a Football Field

[citizenr]

genetically engineered light emitting grass?

Re:New trend

[BlackCobra43]

I didn't RTFC but I'm going to assume you posted something funny and voice my approval.

Re:Watch the video

[Anonymous Coward]

Steve Ballmer, is that you?

Re:My Idea For a Football Field

[Authoritative Douche]

OLEG

xkcd saves the day!

[ConanG]

And really, if you've lived with non-metric units all your life, it is easy. I have no problem knowing what size and 8 oz tenderloin or 16oz strip steak is or how big it is. I'd be completely lost trying to, off the top of my head...buy or cook with metric units. When I college in a lab, sure, no problem in doing chemistry experiments in metric, but, that isn't real every day life stuff.

I know how to dress when it is 72F outside. I'd have no clue what to dress for at something like 32C (random temp)...

A handy guide to converting to metric [xkcd.com].

Re:The reason for SI units

[fishwallop]

From my perspective, it is sufficiently advanced technology to be regarded as magic. Of course, I haven't watched TFA.

Re:Flamebait +1

[Anonymous Coward]

"American football developed into a game with much larger, stronger, faster, players"

And I take it the highest paid ones are the ones who can stand there without moving the best, lest they give away a penalty?

Yes, that's the height of athletic pursuit!