Tiny 29.5 g camera gives TV viewers a referee's-eye view during live football match

How different does a football match look when the camera is running around the pitch with the referee?

Japanese camera maker Xacti has revealed that its CX-WL100 wearable camera was used to capture the referee's perspective during a live international football match broadcast nationally by TBS in Japan on October 1.

Alongside the conventional cameras positioned around the pitch, the system put a compact camera directly on the match official. Footage was carried into the broadcast using LMS (Live Multi Studio), a video transmission system used by TBS and WOWOW Entertainment.

Keeping that picture watchable presents an obvious problem: the person carrying the camera is also running, turning and following play for the duration of the match.

According to TBS Act's broadcast production team, there had been concern about whether the footage could cope with the referee's vigorous movement. The team credited Xacti's image stabilisation technology with producing more stable, easier-to-watch footage for viewers.

The hardware itself is unusually small. The CX-WL100's camera head measures approximately 25 × 34 × 34 mm (0.98 × 1.34 × 1.34 in) and weighs 29.5 g (1.04 oz), excluding its cable.

The camera can output Full HD video at up to 30 fps and uses Xacti's image-stabilisation technology. Importantly, the 29.5 g figure applies to the camera head alone, rather than the complete wearable system.

Referee cameras are beginning to move beyond experimental trials. FIFA says its Referee View cameras were used throughout the group stage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with live footage incorporated into broadcasts. Its implementation used Lenovo stabilisation technology to compensate for the rapid movement inherent in a referee's point of view.

Referee cameras enter the rulebook

The rules are moving with the technology too. Under the 2026/27 Laws of the Game, competitions can allow referees and other match officials to wear body cameras when the organiser supplies the equipment, controls the footage and follows the relevant guidelines.

There are limits. A camera microphone cannot be used to broadcast communications with the video assistant referee.

FIFA is also investigating professional referee body-camera systems for future competitions, with its Innovation Programme focusing on factors including small and lightweight hardware, secure mounting and sufficiently low-latency video transmission for live broadcasting.

For broadcasters, that creates an unusual new camera position. It does not sit behind the goal or track the touchline.

It runs straight through the game.