Animal Kingdom might have won the 2011 Kentucky Derby by more than a nose, but horse racing has a history of close calls. Before 1946, close races would actually be rerun to decide the winner. In fact the Victorian Racing Club’s Australian Cup in 1872 was run three times before a clear winner was determined. Obviously situations like this proved the necessity of photo finish camera technology.Photo finish technology involves a combination of high speed cameras integrated with software and tight security to determine with confidence the true winner. For photo finish accuracy, many tracks utilize CCD-line scanning sensor technology that has the ability to record up to 3000 lines per second with 1360 pixel high resolution. Additionally the, “color line scanning camera scans every movement at the finish line in true color (24 bit, 16.8 million colors) and stores the data on the hard disk of the computer.” For added convenience, finish line images can be viewed on the monitor or directly printed for closer review.
Beyond capturing the images, another major aspect of photo finishes is security. Ensuring unadulterated end of race images is a critical part of race integrity. Some photo systems go as far as tamperproof security that encodes, time-stamps and automatically writes to an archived disk. These measures are taken so no person can alter an image and potentially change who wins the race. Top security and photo accuracy is critical to maintain the integrity of the sport for all athletes and other “interested” parties. Ref. finishlynx.com, racingvictoria.net.au, timingireland.ie
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