BURBANK, CALIF.—Fans got to enter the octagon in a whole new way during the broadcast of the recent UFC 200 event with help from Reality Check Systems. As part of a three-year deal with UFC, RCS provided custom graphics hardware integration and services for the DirecTV Pay-Per-View broadcast for the fight card at UFC 200, providing the sport’s first 4K fight, according to RCS’ press release.
RCS designed a workflow that allowed UFC to use its existing 2K graphics package and up-res it to 4K. The system was made up of two Vizrt graphics engines linked to a single main control PC running Vizrt Trio software, an NVIDIA M4000 graphics card and a Matrox XMIO3 video card, all of which were designed to integrate with a switcher. Both the control computer and software were updated by RCS so the Trio operator could switch between the two channels as needed.
After a successful test during UFC 199, RCS integrated two 4K solutions into the PPV 4K truck; they also integrated four RCS HD Bullet graphics workstations, with two in the PPV/Fox HD truck and two in the Fox studio truck for pre- and post-fight coverage. UFC also made use of a 2K graphics package that RCS built out in 2015. RCS also provided onsite support and is expected to provide updates to the system and graphics package over the length of its three-year deal.
UFC 200 took place in Las Vegas on July 9.
