Appear X Platform supports Orange Slovakia’s new centralised operations for high-capacity delivery of remote VAR content from its live coverage of the Slovak First Football League.
Orange Slovakia has developed a new centralised operational model for delivery of its Video Assisted Referee (VAR) content. The project supports Orange Slovakia’s live coverage of the Slovak First Football League, and means that, going forward, the Slovak Football Association can move its VAR operation from on-site to a more efficient, centralised infrastructure.
VAR systems, used for reviewing footage of contested incidents during sporting events, are some of the most demanding applications in live sports. VAR requires extremely precise synchronisation, down to the millisecond, of the video links between the cameras on the pitch, the referee touchline screen and the centralised Video Operations Room (VOR).
This room hosts the referees and assistants who operate and use the VAR system for decision-making. The continuous robustness, quality and timing of these video links is critical because VAR video footage may be needed at any time during an event.
Orange Slovakia has chosen Appear’s X Platform to manage delivery of the VAR feeds from the stadium to the VOR, and back to the venue for the on-pitch referee to call the decision. Appear’s local partner, Sunteq, handled System Integration services for Orange Slovakia.
Appear’s hardware IP media processing and delivery workflows are dense and scalable, and prioritise maintaining synchronisation while minimising latency. The X Platform keeps implementations simple through its robust, secure connections that protect content integrity. Users can choose different types of compression – including AVC, JPEG-XS, TICO, HEVC, JPEG2000 – to balance bandwidth with latency to suit the application.
Martin Lednár, IoT, TV and Service platforms manager at Orange Slovakia, said, “The most important element of centralised VAR is keeping all the camera and video delivery feeds time-aligned. Appear’s X Platform has the robustness as well as the scalability needed to meet the standards of the Slovak Football Association, allowing referees to call a free kick or an offside goal with zero delay. The technology foundation of Appear, with reliable support from Sunteq, creates the potential for an upgrade path to new contribution standards in the future, and ultimately benefits the football fans.”
The remote VAR project is an extension of Orange Slovakia’s existing X Platform capabilities, which now serve as a single, hybrid ecosystem, optimized to handle contribution of live production feeds as well as remote VAR operations. By operating both together, Orange Slovakia creates an efficient, unified system that enhances its live football coverage and leads to fast, accurate refereeing decisions.
Thomas Bostrøm Jørgensen, CEO at Appear, said, “Live sport is the most time-intense and critical type of content to produce, and VAR applications only amplify the need for flexible, accurate media processing and delivery methods. Orange Slovakia’s choice of Appear to support its centralised VAR attests to our abilities as a partner for major live sporting events, ensuring Orange Slovakia has the tools needed to deliver high quality experiences to viewers.” www.appear.net
