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F1 Digital+ (also known as just F1 Digital) was the name of the enhanced world feed for Formula One coverage between mid 1996-2002. The service offered additional features to the normal television feed of the sport, which broadcasters had the option of taking up (at a higher price than the standard television feed, which often necessitated the broadcasters charging viewers for), such as channels dedicated to onboard cameras, cameras in the pit area and live timing data. The programmes were also broadcast commercial-free. ==Service launch== The service launched at the 1996 German Grand Prix. Initially the service was only offered by the German-based DF1 service, broadcasting into Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The French broadcaster Canal Plus, also signed up for the service in 1996, with a ten-year contract estimated to be costing $60 million per year. Italian broadcaster TELE+ launched at the beginning of the 1997 season. British broadcaster BSkyB however did not offer the service until later. An initial investment of $35 million was made to set up the service.〔 By the time the service closed, over $100 million had been spent on it. The race coverage shown on regular terrestrial TV was produced by a local broadcaster (the host broadcaster) and provided to all other broadcasters around the world. By comparison, the majority of the coverage shown on the F1 Digital+ service was produced on-site at each Grand Prix venue by Formula One Management. The operation involved transporting around 200 tons of equipment to each race. To transport the equipment required 18 trucks for European rounds or two Boeing 747 jumbo jets for fly-away races. At the race venue, a 1200 sq m air-conditioned tent was set up containing the majority of the equipment. The service was run by Eddie Baker, and the tent was colloquially referred to as Bakersville. Two hundred staff were employed to provide the coverage. A two-week turn around was required to dismantle and reassemble all the equipment. Dismantling would begin immediately following a race broadcast on Sunday and would be finished by Tuesday. It would then be transported to the next venue. Between Friday and Sunday the broadcast centre would be reassembled and all cameras and cabling around the circuit would be completed by Wednesday. The equipment was tested on Thursday in preparation for the first broadcast of a race meeting on Friday. The initial offering consisted of five different channels, as well as a six "Super-Signal" channel, which combined footage from the first 4 individual channels listed below. This "Super-Signal" feed was similar in style to what was available on the regular terrestrial broadcasts, however it differed in that it had access to more cameras, had extra graphics including a lap counter and broadcast radio conversations conducted by the teams. The first channel showed action from the trackside cameras as well as onboard and pitlane. A second channel focused on showing action that was taking place involving cars lower down the running order. The third channel consisted entirely of material from the onboard cameras of the cars whilst the fourth consisted of material from the cameras located in the pit-lane running a highlights reel of action from the race up to that point, every 20 minutes. The fifth channel transmitted the data screens available to the teams at the circuit, showing timing information (positions, laptimes etc.) From 1999, a new design for the graphic overlays was introduced to distinguish it from the standard coverage, and to incorporate new features such as race control updates. At the 2002 United States Grand Prix, the digital feed was available free on the normal channels, such as ITV. Although the option to change to a different camera was not available, the coverage was more extensive, featuring the overlays, additional cameras and team radio from the channel. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「F1 Digital+」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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