Appear’s X Platform transport built on existing live production facilities at ClaroVTR to deliver robust 4K UHD hybrid ground-to-cloud architecture supporting challenging live sports events.
Chile's first large-scale cloud-based 4K distribution workflow was built for the FIFA World Cup 2026, and was a key factor in the delivery of Ultra HD viewing from Chilevisión and ClaroVTR to audiences across the country.
Chilevisión, Chile's free-to-air rights holder for the tournament, and major pay-TV operator ClaroVTR, designed and built a hybrid workflow. This infrastructure transformed Chilevisión's live HD broadcast signal into a dedicated 4K UHD channel available to subscribers throughout the tournament. A further partner in the project was cloud video specialist Pixop, a Danish developer of AI-assisted tools used to deliver consistently high-quality video from diverse sources in custom workflows.
The media processor that the contribution chain centred on was the X20 from Appear, which served as reliable, low-latency video transport between ground and cloud environments. The workflow began with the X20 encoding Chilevisión's live 1080i HD-SDI feed to HEVC, which was transported securely via SRT from the broadcaster's facilities into AWS cloud infrastructure.
Within the cloud environment, Pixop's AI-powered video enhancement applications performed real-time deinterlacing, restoration, upscaling to very high resolutions and image optimisation, transforming the HD source into a high-quality 4K UHD signal. Once processing was complete, a second Appear X20 received the enhanced feed through a cloud-to-ground workflow and decoded it for downstream delivery to ClaroVTR subscribers.
In this case, broadcasters and service providers used this deployment to bridge established live production environments with modern cloud-based workflows without adversely affecting quality, resilience or latency. In particular, through Appear's open ecosystem approach, the X Platform’s technology worked directly alongside specialist partners to support live sports coverage at scale.
Broadcasters and operators transitioning towards hybrid ground-to-cloud and cloud-to-ground production models are attracted to the scalability and flexibility of modern cloud environments, but reluctant to lose the reliability of proven broadcast infrastructure. By combining Appear's hardware-accelerated SRT transport with high-density HEVC encoding and cloud integration, the deployment delivered an end-to-end architecture capable of supporting challenging live sports events.
"This workflow has enabled us to build on our existing live production environment and extend it into 4K UHD in a practical, efficient way," said Jorge Cabello, Director of Technology at Chilevisión. "Working with Appear, ClaroVTR and Pixop, we have been able to combine proven broadcast workflows with cloud-based innovation to bring viewers an enhanced UHD World Cup experience."
"The FIFA World Cup is one of the most demanding live production environments in the world, and delivering a premium 4K experience required a contribution chain that was technically robust and operationally flexible," said Luis Perez, Sales Director LATAM at Appear.
"Working with Chilevisión, ClaroVTR and Pixop has helped engineer an architecture that connects traditional broadcast and cloud environments, enabling a practical and scalable approach to UHD delivery. This project demonstrates that it’s possible to adopt hybrid production models without having to rebuild facility infrastructure." www.appear.net
