The BBC will use Linux-based graphics software to improve the speed and accuracy it can process real time results at the Athens Olympics.

The broadcaster will use this month's event to showcase the graphics system before using it at other major sporting events.

A portable PC system has been installed at the IBC Media Centre in Athens, which will receive real-time results in XML format from the Athens' Organising Committee, and then use SQL databases and HP ProLiant servers to store the information.

Red Hat 8 Linux desktop applications on Apple eMac computers will then produce moving '3D' graphics, cutting down on the need for manual data input and graphics production.

'BBC One will be broadcasting in a live environment, where millions of viewers will be waiting for the latest information, so accuracy, integrity and reliability is incredibly important,' said Andy Townsend, design systems manager at BBC Broadcast.

'Our software makes it easier for the production team to receive and interpret results, which means they can find the most interesting stories as they emerge.'

Townsend says by using open standards technologies such as Linux, Java, SQL and XML, the BBC will be able to provide a more cost effective, high performance and high availability computing system, 'suitable for the rigorous demands of Olympic schedules.'

The system includes a wide range of graphic design templates, so results tables can be created automatically from the data feeds.

'Producers can browse the database for templates they are interested and then create graphics,' said Jon Hanford, senior systems analyst, BBC Broadcast.

'It means producers can choose graphics for any event they want, as soon as they like, so they can create them quicker without any errors,' he said.

Hanford says if the system is successful at the Olympics, BBC Broadcast plans to roll the technology out to other sporting events.

'A lot of new broadcast technology gets tried out on the Olympics and they are then rolled out for future BBC programming,' he said.

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