The World Cup for streaming, 4K and the second screen

The World Cup is, by definition, an event that activates technological development. It suffices to return to the Chilean example. In the early 1960s, television took its first steps in the country and the event that took place in 1962, in which La Roja finished in third place and Brazil established themselves as double champions until then, after the crown which he won. joined in 1958, marked a before and after . Since then, the device that carried the images of what happened on the playground to the living room of the house has not left. And its use continued to spread, initially with the difficulties of a country which struggled against economic limitations. Today it is practically unimaginable that there is a house in which there is none.

The first world televised had been that of Sweden, in 1954 . 16 years later, the first color images are broadcast from Mexico, with the consecration of Pelé. Since then, the milestones have continued to follow one another. Today, High Definition is pure and it only takes a little education and visual acuity to notice the differences between 720p, 1080p, 4K and even 8K. . Qatar will also go down in history for another milestone: It will not even be necessary to connect via a cable or an antenna to receive the signals: they can be received perfectly in streaming . And you won’t even need the TV: a mobile phone, a tablet and a good internet connection will suffice .

Directv will live stream all matches of the competition which will be played in Qatar. It is, strictly speaking, the only one who will do it, since Chilevisión will carry half of it offline . There will be three signals available to cover the 64 matches the event includes. In other words, 1,400 hours of original programming, interactive tools, the famous multi-camera system, which will make it possible to follow the duels from different angles and, now, even with different speakers and commentators. The broadcasts will be in 4K. DirectvGO, the company’s streaming platform, has been renamed DGo. It will also stream all the content.

Each of the signals will indeed have different objectives. Directv Sports will broadcast the games; Directv Sports 2 will focus on cell phones in training, press conferences and the most important of the 29 days and Directv Sports 3 will seek to show the passion of the fans who will accompany each of the teams. Qatarsis is the concept that the firm put in place a few weeks ago to encompass the proposal.

Javier Fuks is the director of Tournament Programming, which acts as a producer for Directv. In this state, he describes to El Deportivo the proposal they have prepared for the event. “The World Cups are always a big challenge, the most important project of the year”, underlines a part. “In that case, it’s a weird time of year. The distances are short and this allows us to note some deviations from previous world championships . We will have three channels, one-hour previews for each match. Then Directv Sports 2 will be the news channel, entering and leaving matches, showing goals, interviews, arrivals, without neglecting what is happening. This is an option for those who want to be informed. And the third channel will be the fans, how they live it “, he describes.

“There will be different cameras, tiles and everything that Directv usually offers. This second differential screen will continue to be, as our viewers are accustomed to,” he explains.

Fuks highlights the new way of watching football, via mobile devices. “It’s a big challenge, although I believe matches, especially for football audiences, want to see them sitting comfortably on a screen that’s as comfortable as possible. The most important novelty is the concept of the second screen . To have the game on TV and also have that second screen. Interact, choose the cameras. Young people are at three or four screens. And one wonders how they can do it. It’s part of what has come and is coming “, projects.

“In this World Cup, there will no longer be the problem of the neighbor shouting at me for the goals”, dares to assure Fuks, compared to the speed with which the images will arrive. And also that the image will be optimal. “According to the people we receive, we have a differential in favor of image quality. And not to mention the World Cups”, he assesses with regard to the product they usually offer. “We will see an evolution. FIFA has put together handbooks for distribution. They’re going to change the graphics, but it’s not that we’re going to see it from behind the arc. It is established that the conventional transmission is the best . Yes, it’s getting better in charts and stats,” he explains.

However, he maintains that there is always room for improvement and that Qatar 2022 will be no exception in this regard. “In this one, in particular, everything will be generated from the source in 4K. So anyone who has 4K will see it in pure 4K. And the majority, who have HD, will have 4K downlink coverage . The television that FIFA does in the World Cups is hard to compare with other events because the best is on display. The quality is never lost,” he says.

Transmissions will be entirely from the stadiums. “The footballer realizes this. It’s a huge differential says Fuks. The proposal includes mobile units in each training session and a studio in the heart of Doha.