NDI Empowers Milan Winter Olympics: ZowieTek Cameras Help SMG Achieve AI-Powered Full-IP Broadcast of Curling Events
Shanghai, China / Milan, Italy | February 2026
At the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics curling competition, in addition to the athletes’ precise throws, a revolution in “Broadcasting Industry 4.0” is also unfolding. Shanghai Media Group Technology Center (SMT) has extensively adopted a full-IP lightweight production and broadcasting solution for this Winter Olympics broadcast. Among them, the native NDI camera matrix provided by ZowieTek, with its high-bandwidth transmission and extremely low latency characteristics, has become the most sensitive “eye” of SMG’s InnoMotion sports event AI system.
Simple Deployment: Achieving “Instant Networking” on the Ice and Snow Venue
The curling rink is long and narrow with a complex environment. Traditional SDI cabling is not only time-consuming but also difficult to flexibly adjust camera positions. The SMT team leveraged Zevite cameras’ native NDI support to condense a complex broadcasting system into a standard gigabit network:
“One-Cable” Architecture: A single network cable can carry 4K video signals, multi-channel audio, PTZ control, and PoE power supply, improving on-site deployment efficiency by nearly 50%.
Millisecond-Level Detection: Once a camera is connected to the network, it is automatically recognized by SMT’s self-developed “CUBE Broadcasting System,” enabling rapid camera relocation and dynamic adjustment.
Low-Loss Transmission: With the support of the high-bandwidth NDI protocol, the signal’s anti-interference capability in complex network environments is significantly enhanced, ensuring the purity of the live broadcast.
Intelligent Vision: An AI-Driven Revolution in “Data Visualization”
SMG chose Zevite cameras not only for their transmission efficiency but also because they provide high-quality, lossless underlying material for the InnoMotion AI engine. In the broadcast of curling at this Winter Olympics, AI technology made this “chess on ice” more intuitive and understandable:
Real-time Rotational Speed (RPM) Analysis: Using ultra-high-definition footage captured up close by Zevette POV cameras, the AI system could calculate and display the number of rotations and speed of the curling stone in real time.
Trajectory Prediction and Deviation Monitoring: The NDI stream output by the cameras retained precise timecode, which the AI engine used to generate a real-time heatmap of the curling stone’s trajectory and predict its sliding path after a collision.
3D AR Replay: Combining the high frame rate signal from the NDI stream, the broadcast footage could be instantly synthesized into a 3D reconstructed video, presenting viewers with a dashboard of thermodynamic data generated by the curling stone’s friction against the ice.
“The NDI protocol has minimized the distance between acquisition and computation,” said a technical expert at the SMT site. “Zevit cameras have reduced end-to-end latency by approximately 30%, which is key to our ability to achieve real-time AI data overlay.”
Core Value: From “Equipment Supplier” to “Strategic Co-creator” The successful application of this technology at the Milan Winter Olympics marks a shift in the collaboration between Zevit and SMG from simple hardware procurement to deep technological synergy.
End-to-End IP Integration: Achieving a closed-loop IP process for video signals, from acquisition and transmission to intelligent analysis and cloud distribution.
Future Scalability: The NDI-based workflow provides ample bandwidth for subsequent remote production (REMI) and cloud collaboration.
In the precise movements of curling, Zevit cameras are helping the SMG technical team present every minute detail of this ancient sport to the world in a smarter and more efficient way.
