Sep 8

Hawk-Eye Tennis Officiating System

Love all…for instant replay at U.S. Open: The animated instant replay system has been a hit at the U.S. Open so far.

If the player chooses to consult the replay (each player is allowed two challenges per set), an animated image of the ball hitting the court zooms into focus on giant screens around the stadium.

The effect is so entertaining that tennis officials have actually asked the Hawk-Eye technicians to delay showing instant replays for a few extra seconds to allow suspense and excitement to build.

Alas, tennis has been sullied by technology. Here’s a more detailed narrative. of how it actually works within a game.

And, of course, there’s a Wikipedia page.

Hawk-Eye uses six or more television cameras situated around the ground, linked to a computer system. The computer reads in the video in real time, and tracks the path of the ball on each camera. These six separate views are then combined together to produce an accurate 3D representation of the path of the ball, which can be viewed in a virtual reality simulation.

Why don’t they just use a camera in slow motion?

by Deane   September 8, 2006 3:38 PM   |

Comments

by Brian,   September 9, 2006 11:09 PM  

My guess to why slow motion isn't good enough is that, even with slow mo the compression and path of the ball from a single viewpoint doesn't show enough. The combined view and elongated path with the balls compression spread shows exactly where the ball did or did not touch. I'm on vacation and watched a few reviews, it is neat. But it doesn't allow any McEnroe types to develop and make the game actually interesting... these guys hit the ball so fast it's almost like watching ping pong, no fun!

by Jmo,   July 9, 2007 1:27 PM  

So how does Hawkeye account for the different spins that the ball is hit with. The reason I bring this up is because the different spins would cause a different compression of the ball upon impact. Since so many of these balls are so close to the line the system must be accurate to the milimeter. Which brings me to my next question. What is the variance for the system?

by Jack Howard,   July 9, 2008 1:59 AM  

The hawkeye is wrong. A tennis ball is a sphere, not a disc or hockey puck. When a replay shows the edge of the ball just over a line, the ball is out by just under the radius of the ball. The center of the ball is always the first part of the ball to touch the court. No matter how the ball is distorted by spin, the edge can never be the first part of the ball to contact the court regardless of what direction the ball is coming from. Please explain why no one seems to recognize this obvious fact.

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