IMG and European Tour use Appear X5 for DP World Tour golf

European Tour Productions and IMG are using the Appear X5 media processing platform to support live contribution workflows for DP World Tour golf events.

IMG, through its broadcast fibre service provider Cingularity, has become the first company to deploy the X5 internationally. It is using the X5 to contribute HEVC video from DP World Tour golf tournaments to its studio facility in Stockley Park, London, for distribution.

The X5 is designed for deployments where space, power draw and operational simplicity are essential. It enables broadcasters and production service providers to deliver “ultra-low latency contribution, high-quality compression and resilient IP media transport” from the venue edge, flypacks and mobile rigs, says Appear.

Cingularity is using the X5 as part of flyaway workflows that have been created for the geography and scale of DP World Tour events, helping to ensure consistent, broadcast-grade contribution for tournaments where transporting large-scale infrastructure is impractical.

Carolina Minhoto Santos, director of sales engineering at Cingularity, said: “Appear has been much more than a technology provider to us, it has also been a strong technical partner throughout the implementation process. Its close collaboration with our team made deployment straightforward, and the X Platform has helped us standardise our workflows, simplify operations and reduce complexity by reducing the need to work with multiple vendors. Just as importantly, Appear enables us to deliver excellent picture quality and low latency at low bitrates, helping us to maximise limited connectivity and do more with less.

“X5 gives us the best of both worlds: the proven performance of Appear’s X Platform and a compact solution that makes far more sense for flyaway contribution. For global event workflows like the DP World Tour, that means smaller, more efficient kits, faster deployment and the confidence that we can deliver low-latency, broadcast-grade contribution from venue to venue.”

Andy McClelland, senior vice president EMEA & GM UK&I at Appear, adds: “Cingularity’s deployment highlights how live production is evolving, becoming more distributed and agile, so operators like Cingularity can deploy broadcast-grade contribution in flight cases and space-constrained environments without limiting functionality or changing how they operate.”