PSSI Global Services deploys Appear's X Platform for REMI productions for UFC, with high-density, high bandwidth HEVC encoding / decoding from live events to the Las Vegas UFC Apex.
PSSI Global Services is handling the global distribution of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) coverage starting in May 2023. Not only a high-profile project, it has demanded equipment with the scalability, features and density that would enable PSSI to meet their client's increasing volume of camera signals and super slow-motion feeds for remote replay servers. The ability to encode and transmit within a small form-factor would also be essential to control power and shipping costs for their field acquisition kits.
A global live event management and distribution company, PSSI Global Services is deploying Appear's X Platform to supply contribution backhaul – or, from the point of view of the broadcast engineer in the field, the contribution feed – for REMI-based productions for UFC.
Broadcasters and service providers use the Appear X Platform for remote production and distribution workflows that need to transport high-quality video with low latency and IP security. The platform supports formats including HEVC/AVC, ST-2110, JPEG XS, Zixi and high-capacity SRT, and carries out varied processing, Network Address Translation (NAT) and firewall functions.
The Appear X Platform stood out as the only compression system PSSI tested that met all of their client’s requirements, and that would be able to support high-capacity remote productions. Their initial Appear platforms are configured to perform high-density, high bandwidth HEVC encoding and decoding from live events to the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, where PSSI has located its UFC network operations centre.
Appear's X Platform includes ECx110 modules for HEVC ultra-low latency encoding and decoding. It is unusual for its ability to carry out ultra-low latency, HD and UHD compression with SDI and ST-2110 uncompressed I/O, at scale, and is deployable in 1RU (X10) or 2RU (X20) chassis for compactness. As a high-capacity IP gateway, it supports any input formats to any output formats.
The Appear X Platform is part of Appear's ground-to-cloud vision that aims to make it possible for media companies to send signals from cameras at an event to a cloud production platform without the need to send a mobile unit and accompanying production team. In primary distribution and video transport to and from the cloud, the platform enables cost-efficiency through transport over the internet resulting in video transport with flexibility, density and energy efficiency. www.appear.net
