NDI Setup Empowers Harvard University Athletics Production 

The athletics program at Harvard University relied upon a traditional baseband infrastructure for its video requirements for many years. But more recently, the Multimedia & Production department has been overseeing a gradual migration to IP via the use of NDI® video connectivity technology to benefit from greater flexibility and easier control at-distance. 

Challenge

With the largest athletics program in the US National Collegiate Athletic Association, Harvard University has a significant video requirement that includes the production and transmission of nearly all home games – amounting to about 300 broadcasts per year. Historically, the Multimedia & Production team depended upon baseband video along with fiber optic and copper cable between facilities for camera and audio feeds, but in recent years there has been a gradual shift towards the use of IP-based technologies. 

“We’ve really started relying more on IP technology, such as Dante for audio and NDI for video. Our goal is to rely on NDI more and more, and the best way to do that is just using cameras with built-in NDI.”  
 
Imry Halevi, Assistant Athletic Director for Multimedia & Production 
 

In the past, the department had its usual SDI cameras connected to NDI converters and run into the various control rooms. For 2023, the team opted to go one stage further and utilise cameras from BirdDog with built-in NDI capabilities.

Solution

For the latest stage of its IP journey, Harvard University athletics department has invested in several A200 and one P200 NDI PTZ cameras from BirdDog, supporting NDI High Bandwitdh. 

“We’ve purchased a few of the [A200 Weatherproof NDI PTZ] cameras, which allow us to mount them permanently at our facilities and control them remotely”, said Halevi.  
 
“We can sit at our control room and remotely control these cameras, get the feeds into our switcher and into our replay system while placing our commentators wherever they need to be on campus.” 

Halevi is enthusiastic about the benefits of native NDI and the combination of the connectivity technology with BirdDog hardware. Further equipment purchases, which would have the effect of extending the use of NDI around the athletics facility, are under consideration: “We’ve just purchased our first P200 camera and we’re looking at the 4K line and definitely some of the Mini decoders to connect to more of our monitors around the facility.”