Creation of High-Resolution Video Panoramas for Sport Events

This paper describes an approach for creating high-resolution video panoramas of large-scale sport events. In an exemplary football scenario, we used two ARRIFLEX D-20 "film-style" digital cameras to capture both sides of the playing field as well as large parts of the stands. From the recorded left and right view images, we created a joint panoramic view with a resolution of 5016 × 1400 pel (5k) using sophisticated image processing algorithms. These highly immersive football panoramas were screened with our modular, high-resolution multi-projection system during the FIFA World Cup 2006 in a 600 seat CinemaxX movie theater in Berlin, providing the viewers with the feeling of actually watching the game from a good seat on the stands.