The football World Cup is one of the biggest television events globally. With 48 teams, 104 matches and 16 venues spread across the United States, Canada and Mexico, the tournament is the largest and most complex production challenge FIFA and Host Broadcast Services has ever faced. Every match is being produced in ultra-high definition with high dynamic range as an enhanced world feed, with up to 45 cameras at each stadium. Whether you will be able to see it in true 4K UHD depends on where and how you are watching.
The International Broadcast Centre in Dallas Texas is co-ordinating the operation. Although producers, directors, core production teams and camera crews are on site at each stadium, replay operations, graphics control, audio mixing and camera shading are all being done remotely through six dedicated galleries at the central site.
The BBC studio punditry is being hosted in Salford in the north of England, while commercial broadcaster which shares the coverage has a team on site in Brooklyn with a real view of the Manhattan skyline.
The BBC is offering coverage in ultra-high definition on the BBC iPlayer for those with a compatible television. It has claimed its biggest ever UHD event on the BBC, with over 600,000 concurrent streams in week one watching France against Senegal. That is out of a peak audience of 6.7 million and match average of 5.9 million across the United Kingdom.
The England 4-2 win against Croatia had a peak audience of 15.4 million on ITV, with an average over the game of more than 10 million.
Much higher number might be expected depending on the fortunes of the England team in the tournament.
The BBC will show 54 live matches on its broadcast channels in high definition, with online versions in UHD, with highlights also be available on demand. Viewers will need an internet connection of at least 24 megabits per second for the full 3840 pixel Ultra HD experience.
All England games in the last 32, 16, and semi-final, should they get that far, will be available on the BBC. The final, as usual, will be shown on both the BBC and ITV.
Most viewers in the United States, which is co-hosting the tournament, will see 1080p pictures upscaled to 4K, a production model that Fox uses for other major sports.
With a combined audience of 27.5 million viewers, the opening match between the United States and Paraguay in Los Angeles became the most-watched World Cup match seen in the country. More than 54 million people across the United States, Canada, and Mexico watched the opening matches of their respective nations.