PVI Virtual Media Services
PVI Virtual Media Services is one of the companies behind the virtual yellow-down-line shown on television broadcasts of American football games in the United States and Canada. Founded in 1990 as Princeton Electronic Billboard, PVI Virtual Media Services was a wholly owned subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation with a research and operations facility in Lawrenceville, NJ before being acquired by ESPN in December, 2010.
L-VIS displays a virtual TV screen showing the Defensive Line Up during the Fox broadcast of Super Bowl XXXIII.
1st & Ten (graphics system)
1st & Ten is a computer system that augments televised coverage of American football by inserting graphical elements on the field of play as if they were physically present; the inserted element stays fixed within the coordinates of the playing field and obeys the visual rules of foreground objects occluding background objects. Developed by Sportvision and PVI Virtual Media Services, it is best known for generating and displaying a yellow first down line over a live broadcast of a football game—making it easier for viewers to follow play on the field. The line is not physically present on the field and is seen only by the television audience.
The 1st and Ten line displays the yard line needed for a first down during an ESPN Sunday Night Football broadcast.