GoPro Taps Vislink To Offer Live HD Broadcasting

GoPro has forged a partnership with Vislink to bring live HD broadcasting to the GoPro line of portable, rugged HD cameras.

The companies have been working together to build a small live transmitter that can be attached to GoPro Hero4 cameras, taking the professional use of the GoPro camera line to a whole new level.

Thus far, professional athletes and television networks alike use GoPro to cover a wide swath of sporting events. But to capture in HD, GoPro has always limited users to onboard recording, meaning that the footage could only be used in post-production. With this partnership, GoPro is putting its cameras in the ring with highly expensive professional equipment.

Here’s the official wording from GoPro President Tony Bates:

GoPro has changed the way people see the world, creating an immersive viewing experience. Now with unique GoPro perspectives available to broadcasters, watching live events is like being part of the action instead of watching it from the stands. Our partnership with Vislink brings a new level of excitement to live broadcast and we can’t wait to see what players, broadcasters and fans do with this new innovative solution.

GoPro clearly has a vision for this being used on a professional scale, but it also allows for some interesting consumer applications. The blog post didn’t clarify whether or not GoPro and Vislink’s special Hero4 hack would be available to general consumers, but they did promise we’d learn more this spring.

Stay tuned.