Photo finish

Photo finish

A photo finish occurs in a sporting race, when two (or more) competitors cross the finishing line at near the same time. As the naked eye may not be able to discriminate between which of the competitors crossed the line first, a strip photo, a series of rapidly triggered photographs, or a video taken at the finish line may be used for a more accurate check. Nowadays, the photographs may be digital but usually involve special equipment. They may be triggered by a laser or photovoltaic means.

Historically, a hand cranked strip photograph was taken at the finishing line. Today, finish-line photos are still used in nearly every modern racing sport. Although some sports use electronic equipment to track the racers during a race, a photo is considered the most important evidence in selecting the winner. However, they may be examined only when a race is close or when a record has been broken. An alternative is the use of manual touch pads to register a time by the athletes themselves, such as in competitive swimming.

Athletics

In athletics, races have to be timed accurately to hundredths (or even thousandths) of a second. A battery of electronic devices are installed in high-profile events (such as the Olympic Games) to ensure that accurate timings are given swiftly both to the public and the officials.

At the finish line, photocells and digital cameras are used to establish the placings. Sometimes, in a race as fast as the 100 m sprint, all eight athletes can be separated by less than half a second. It is not uncommon for two athletes to have the exact same time recorded.

The 2008 Summer Olympics saw the introduction of some of the fastest timekeeping equipment yet, with cameras that take photographs 3000 times a second (compared to 1996, which were 1000 times per second) [http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/06/12/olympic-timekeeping.html Olympic Timekeeping More Accurate Than Ever] "Discovery Channel News" (accessed 22 August 2008)] .

Horse racing

In horse racing, a factor known as a dead heat can occur, when two - or possibly more - horses cross the finish line at the same time. Photo finishes determine accurately where the horses were at the time of finish. Stewards at the racetrack usually put up PHOTO status on the races during these photo finishes; the status of objection or inquiry can also trigger if other horses or jockeys somehow interfered in the horse rankings and can factor in Dead Heats. The most notable dead heat was in 1989's Hambletonian, with both Park Avenue Joe and Probe finishing in a dead heat. A photo finish decided the winner of the 2005 edition of the Japan Cup, which was given to Alkaseed and narrowly beating Heart's Cry.

Types of photographs

There are two methods for creating a photo finish. The most common method uses a special slit camera, which produces a panoramic film strip. This camera uses a single vertical slit instead of a shutter, and the film is advanced continuously at a similar speed to the racers' images. This creates a 'virtual view' of the positions of each racer as they crossed the finish line, from the side without motion blur. Racers may appear compressed in this view based on the difference in the speed that the film is turning relative to their movement speed. Still objects at the finish line are imaged as streaks. Slit-scan photography is similar, however the camera moves rather than the subject.

The second method for creating this strip involves combining individual photographs. A high speed camera or a movie camera is used to take a continuous series of partial frame photos at a fast rate, while leaving no blank space between the cells.

With all methods, time markings along the bottom of the photo can be used to find the exact crossing time of any racer, or simply used to compare their finishing positions along the strip.

Cultural references

* In the TV series "Futurama", the episode "The Luck of the Fryrish" starts with several horse races, one of which the finish is measured by an electron microscope, and the difference between the two lead horses is apparently measured in quarks. Professor Farnsworth angrily tears up his ticket after protesting "You changed the outcome by measuring it!," a reference to the observer effect.

ee also

*fully automatic timing

External links and References

* [http://people.rit.edu/andpph/text-photofinish-race.html A description of how the cameras work with examples]
* [http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/news/2004/07_july/00_photofinish.shtml An example of a color strip from a modern bicycle race]
* [http://osaka2007.iaaf.org/images/photofinish/3653/W_100_f_1.jpgWomen 100 m Final in Osaka IAAF 2007]
* [http://www.iaaf.org/images/photofinish/3365/M_4X1_f_1.jpgMen 4x100 m Relay Final in Helsinki IAAF 2005]


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Photo finish — On utilise la photo finish dans des compétitions de course, quand plusieurs concurrents passent la ligne d arrivée dans un intervalle de temps très réduit qui peut être de l ordre du millième de seconde. Quand la différence ne peut être remarquée …   Wikipédia en Français

  • photo-finish — [ fɔtofiniʃ ] n. f. • mil. XXe; de photo(graphie) et angl. finish « arrivée » ♦ Anglic. Enregistrement photographique de l arrivée d une course; appareil qui l effectue. Des photos finish. Arrivée contrôlée au photo finish. ● photo finish, photos …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Photo-Finish — (album) Photo Finish Album par Rory Gallagher Sortie 1978 Enregistrement Dierks Studio, Cologne Durée 44:18 (original) Genre(s) Blues Rock, British Blues …   Wikipédia en Français

  • photo-finish — photo finishes also photo finish N COUNT If the end of a race is a photo finish, two or more of the competitors cross the finishing line so close together that a photograph of the finish has to be examined to decide who has won. He was just… …   English dictionary

  • photo finish — A photo finish is when two contestants (usually in a race) finish at almost exactly the same time, making it difficult to determine the winner. (The saying stems from the practice of taking a photograph when the winners cross the finish line to… …   The small dictionary of idiomes

  • photo finish — photo finish, adj. Sports. a finish of a race in which two or more contestants are so close to the finish line that reference to a photograph of the finish is necessary to determine the winner. [1935 40] * * * …   Universalium

  • photo finish — n. 1. a race finish so close that the winner can be determined only from a photograph of the contestants crossing the finish line 2. any close finish of a contest …   English World dictionary

  • photo finish — n the end of a race in which the leading runners finish so close together that a photograph of it has to be examined to decide which is the winner …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • photo finish — ► NOUN ▪ a close finish of a race in which the winner is identifiable only from a photograph of competitors crossing the line …   English terms dictionary

  • photo finish — noun count the end of a race where the people or animals competing are so close to each other that officials need to look at a photograph to see who won …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • photo finish — → foto de llegada …   Diccionario panhispánico de dudas

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