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Home / Sport / Tennis

Tennis: Players disappearing on Australian Open TV cameras in 'spooky' illusion

news.com.au
21 Jan, 2020 06:44 AM3 mins to read

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Players have been disappearing from the Australian Open. Photo / Twitter

Players have been disappearing from the Australian Open. Photo / Twitter

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Tennis commentators have been having a good old giggle at the Australian Open's expense after a camera glitch saw the international broadcast feed break down.

Players on outside courts on day two of the Open at Melbourne Park were seen "disappearing" during live match broadcasts sent to overseas viewers.

Matches on courts 13, 14 and 15 were among those to be hit with the technical difficulties, with an apparent smudge on the camera lens causing players to look almost ghostly to those watching abroad.

Channel 9 in Australia didn't run footage from the impacted courts, meaning its broadcast wasn't affected. But the international feed, which is used by Australian Open broadcast partners around the world, showed matches for more than an hour before the problem was addressed — and viewers noticed.

There has been no word from Open or broadcast officials as to what caused the problems, but tennis spectators pointed out that it seemed to be fixed with a simple cleaning of the camera lenses used.

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The opening matches on the outside showcourts were all broadcast with an imperfection that obscured vision right in the middle of the main camera view used by broadcasters around the world.

Even worse for viewers overseas, the camera angle used to broadcast the live matches had to be changed while the lens issue was corrected.

While it was being addressed, broadcasters were forced to switch to an eye-level camera parked at the back corner of the court.

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The problem was fixed early on Tuesday afternoon, but not before the strange issue caught the attention of viewers.

The Australian Open international feed switched to an unfamiliar angle. Photo / Twitter
The Australian Open international feed switched to an unfamiliar angle. Photo / Twitter

Some kind of stain is plaguing the cameras on the outside courts today, causing a blur.

Spookily, it’s in exactly the same place every time.

As a result, this is the new angle. #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/kc4vCBlNMk

— The Tennis Podcast (@TennisPodcast) January 21, 2020

The matches impacted by the broadcast problem included Roberto Bautista Agut's win over Feliciano Lopez, Dennis Novak's five-set loss to Hubert Hukacz and Englishman Kyle Edmund's match against Dusan Lajovic.

Viewers noticed some of the players appeared to disappear entirely at some points when their pastel blue shirts blended in with the court.

someone should tell the @AustralianOpen to clean the camera on Court 13 😂 #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/wk7As15871

— Robert (@Robbbiee96) January 21, 2020

Expect funky camera angles while they fix the main one on court 15. https://t.co/4BzjFbd3iG

— Lee S (@acetennisfan1) January 21, 2020

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