Internet Protocol (IP) technology is changing the landscape for broadcasting. As technology advances, broadcasters are able to process content more quickly and efficiently and deliver it to audiences in a more diverse range of environments. Widely-known IP-only content engines like Netflix and YouTube specialize in online video streaming and have been gaining in popularity in recent years. In the IP revolution, broadcasters have to consider what it means for business as they know it, what it means to be a broadcaster, and what the entire media industry of the future may look like.
The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE®) and other organizations have been hard at work to streamline the transition to video over IP. The SMPTE ST 2110 Professional Media Over Managed IP Networks standards suite is a major contributing factor in the movement toward one common IP-based mechanism for the professional media industries. With this suite, manufacturers will be able to create products that work seamlessly together in an IP-based studio.
Seeing SMPTE ST 2110 First Hand
The SMPTE ST 2110 standards suite was a primary focus of the IP Showcase at the 2018 NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) Show in Las Vegas. In an effort to help broadcasters and content producers navigate the industry’s disruptive transition from baseband video infrastructures to IP-based workflows, Hitachi Kokusai Electric America showcased its implementation of the standards suite across its extensive range of broadcast camera systems.
Visitors were able to experience first-hand the video quality transparency and low latency enabled by Hitachi Kokusai’s IP implementation, as SDI-delivered signals were displayed alongside IP-based video transport from the same source.
John J. Humphrey, Hitachi Kokusai vice president of business development, said, “The move to IP-based video transport is revolutionizing production infrastructures, and the SMPTE ST 2110 standards suite is critical in ensuring the interoperability that customers need to transition smoothly from SDI to IP.”
Just Published: SMPTE 2110-40
The recently published SMPTE 2110-40, maps ancillary data into RTP packets, complementing the existing video and audio portions of the SMPTE ST 2110 standards suite.
“This advance is momentous,” said SMPTE Director of Standards Development Thomas Bause Mason. “because it means that, thanks to the ST 2110 standards suite, every element that has been part of the traditional SDI studio can now be put into an IP studio.”
IP technology allows broadcasters to deliver more to increasingly demanding audiences who are looking for greater choice and quality. It lowers the cost of producing and delivering high-quality content. This would allow broadcasters to use the same resources to offer additional camera angles, more interactivity, and higher resolution. Of course, audiences will drive future hurdles to jump, requiring ongoing innovation well into the future.
Upcoming Webinar: What is SMPTE ST 2110 & Why Does it Matter?
Register for the IEEE free webinar scheduled for Tuesday, June 5, 2018 at 12:00PM EST.
Resources
(3 May 2018). SMPTE Publishes ST 2110-40, Addressing Ancillary Metadata for Professional Media Over Managed IP Networks. Broadcast Beat.
(13 March 2018). NAB 2018: Hitachi Kokusai To Demonstrate SMPTE ST 2100 Support. Sports Video Group.
Cobban, John. (8 Sept 2018). Understanding the impact of the IP revolution. MTM London.
[…] SMPTE ST 2110 Professional Media Over Managed IP Networks standards suite streamlines the transition to video over internet protocol (IP). A major contributing factor in the movement toward one common IP-based mechanism for the […]