LONDON—Techex, a provider of live broadcast infrastructure solutions, will showcase expansive enhancements to tx darwin as well as new features for its tx.edge IP transport platform, at the 2025 IBC Show, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam.

These innovations streamline complex broadcast operations, accelerate deployment, and deliver new levels of resilience for moving live video content between ground and cloud the company said.

Techex has expanded its award-winning, modular, media processing framework, tx darwin, launching over 25 new modules since IBC 2024, with more than 60 modules now in production, empowering broadcasters to adapt, conform, monitor, protect and transform their high-value live content.

New for IBC:

• Premium MPEG-4 AVC and JPEG XS codecs allow workflows to span the compressed and baseband domains, moving seamlessly between standards to suit different media flows and transport bandwidths.
• tx darwin Blueprints enables sophisticated, hierarchical workflows to be designed once and deployed repeatedly. This simplifies complex workflows, increases efficiency and ensures design consistency, reducing the risk of errors.
• Motion-compensated video standards conversion, developed with industry experts InSync, delivers a software-native solution that can be deployed on premise or in the cloud.
• Dynamic HTML5 graphics and integrations enabling forensic watermarking introduces the ability to overlay high-quality, dynamic graphics and insert content traceability.

These latest features can be integrated into any tx darwin and will be demo-ed in the company’s stand and elsewhere on the show floor.

Techex has introduced SRT-protected JPEG XS TR-07 for its tx edge IP video transport platform, enabling compromise-free live sports production in the cloud. Performance optimizations deliver higher throughput on the same compute, while its SMPTE-compliant Trust Boundary functions as a secure media firewall ideal for handoff, scalable third-party delivery, and network translation.

At the show, Techex is collaborating with a select eco-system of technology partners, including TAG Video Systems, Nevion, Bridge Technologies, AWS and Google Cloud. Broadcasters, streaming platforms and rights-owners, such as DAZN and Paramount, are already benefiting from this integrated partnership approach, which results in faster deployment, enhanced flexibility, and reduced operational risk.

“Broadcasters want speed, reliability and adaptability, and we’re delivering exactly that,” said Scott Kewley, CEO of Techex. “With tx darwin Blueprints, premium video compression, frame-rate conversion and graphics keying, not to mention powerful new capabilities in tx edge, we’re giving our customers the tools to deploy workflows faster, reduce risk, and adapt more easily to change.”

Techex will be in Stand 2.C46. Other locations to see Techex solutions in action include:

• Master Control Cloud – Hall 14, IBC Accelerator Zone
• Live Media Exchange – Hall 14, IBC Accelerator Zone
• IBC x Google Cloud Hackfest – Hall 14
• TAG Video Systems – Hall 1. C31
• Sony Nevion – Hall 13. A10
• Imagine Communications – Hall 1. B73
• Amazon Web Services – Hall 14. C66
• Densitron – Hall 9. C10
• Skyline Dataminer – Hall 1. B40

CRANBURY, N.J.—IHSE USA is introducing its newest solution, the Draco XStreme series. The new KVM extender product line is based on a new hardware platform and represents a fundamental shift in design, combining cutting-edge performance with maximum flexibility and long-term sustainability, the company reported.

The new extender series supports video resolutions ranging from full HD up to 8K and is engineered for seamless integration with both proprietary and future IP-based transmission technologies.

At the heart of this platform lies the JPEG XS codec, co-developed with the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits. The first of its kind in KVM, the Draco XStreme series enables visually lossless video without any frame drops, up to 16 bits of deep color, HDR support, less than 1 millisecond per frame of video transmission latency, and frame rates of up to 480 fps all on JPEG XS, a widely accepted codec standard in AV and broadcasting, the company reported.

“With the introduction of the Draco XStreme series, IHSE sets a new benchmark for the industry,” said Gregory Lenczycki, chief operating officer, IHSE USA. “The new series features the latest hardware components, delivering exceptional performance while maintaining low power consumption, which is an essential factor for long-term availability and future-proof video and signal transmission.”

Key advantages of the new Draco XStreme series include the ability to transmit high-resolution, low-latency video signals with reduced infrastructure requirements. For instance, users can transmit 4K60 signals over a standard 1-Gigabit network without visible loss in image quality. This not only reduces energy consumption but also simplifies system architecture, resulting in total project cost savings.

The Draco XStreme series introduces several industry-first features. Notably, IHSE is launching its first Dual-Head 4K60 Extender, capable of transmitting two 4K60 video signals over a single cable. Additionally, the company is releasing a Single-Head 4K60 Extender that operates over a 1 GB link for even greater video transmission efficiency.

The Draco XStreme series establishes a future-ready foundation for hybrid environments, IHSE USA said. By bridging proprietary and IP-based systems, it enables interoperability and scalability, paving the way for next-generation KVM applications, the company said..

More information on IHSE USA and its products is available here.

MONT-SAINT-GUIBERT, Belgium—Telestream has integrated intoPIX’s JPEG XS technology into Telestream’s PRISM waveform monitors, which Telestream says will enhance real-time monitoring for ST 2110-22 IP workflows, enabling broadcasters and production studios to transition smoothly from SDI to IP while maintaining pristine image quality and low latency.

The integration allows engineers to inspect and verify video signals with unprecedented precision, ensuring flawless video signal integrity in hybrid SDI/IP environments.

As broadcasters and production teams transition to IP-based workflows, Telestream says JPEG XS provides the ideal solution for compressing high-quality video without compromising real-time performance or image fidelity. By integrating JPEG XS into PRISM, Telestream enables professionals to monitor and analyze ST 2110-22 streams seamlessly, ensuring efficient, low-latency, and visually lossless video transport across IP infrastructures.

• Ensuring Interoperability: PRISM’s real-time analysis of JPEG XS (ST 2110-22) streams ensures seamless compatibility across hybrid SDI/IP environments, making it easier for engineers to manage complex workflows.
• Ultra-Low Latency & High-Quality Compression: JPEG XS allows 10:1 to 20:1 compression with near-zero latency, providing a high-quality, bandwidth-efficient solution for IP video transport.
• Hybrid Workflow Flexibility: The MULTI Input feature of PRISM supporting simultaneous monitoring of up to four inputs of any mix of SDI, ST 2110-20, and ST 2110-22, and the GEN test signal generator feature empowered by JPEG XS technologygive broadcasters ultimate flexibility when working with mixed SDI and IP workflows.

“Integrating JPEG XS into Telestream PRISM elevates real-time IP monitoring, providing broadcasters and production teams with an essential tool for maintaining high-quality, low-latency IP workflows,” said Jean-Baptiste Lorent, Head of Media, Entertainment & ProAV Group at intoPIX.

“The integration of the intoPIX technology into PRISM allows our users to take advantage of this cutting-edge technology within their IP workflows while ensuring precise video signal analysis,” said Tsuyoshi Kitagawa, Senior Product Manager at Telestream.

Telestream will showcase the integration at its Booth W1501 in the West Hall of the LVCC during the 2025 NAB Show, April 6-9 in Las Vegas.

THAMES DITTON, England—Imagine Communications has announced that Italy’s largest pay TV operator, Sky Italia, has migrated its Rome operations center to SMPTE ST 2110 video infrastructure with NMOS integration and JPEG XS compression using Imagine Communications’ Selenio Network Processor (SNP) and Magellan Control System. 

Sky Italia, which is part of Sky Group Limited, will also leverage the flexible Imagine infrastructure to provide high-quality, low-latency connectivity from the Rome facility to its headquarters in Milan, the companies said. 

“Migrating to a modern, IP-based infrastructure as part of a planned facility refresh was a forward-looking but practical decision that has delivered multiple, immediate benefits,” explained Gabriele Ubertini, director of group origination & distribution platform, Sky. “The flexibility of the 2110 standard and NMOS protocol inherent in the Imagine platforms enabled the fast, easy deployment of a best-in-class, seamlessly integrated system that has improved our operational efficiencies and will enable us to easily scale as our business requirements evolve in the future.”

Sky Italia used a planned technology refresh as an opportunity to migrate to more flexible and scalable ST 2110 IP-based infrastructure. Working with local systems integrator Allyn Srl, Sky Italia deployed a turnkey, open-standard solution that supports uncompressed IP video and audio signal routing within the facility; JPEG XS compression for high-quality, low-latency inter-facility connectivity; and NMOS-based orchestration of all networked connected devices, the companies reported. 

At the core of the new system, Imagine’s SNP serves as an IP gateway, a signal converter and a JPEG XS encoder/decoder, enabling ultra-low-latency, production-quality signal transfer from Milan to Rome and vice versa. A Calrec audio router featuring native ST 2110 connectivity seamlessly integrates into the system to handle audio shuffling and mux/demux of the high number of audio tracks within the video streams. The routing infrastructure leverages an Arista spine-leaf architecture, with uplink to central cores, Imagine said. 

“The SNP’s support for JPEG XS standard is a real value-add that will enable us to lower the costs of video connectivity between our two facilities by using less bandwidth for signal transport,” explained Fabio Mattei, Sky technical project lead. 

Quality of service is guaranteed via the bandwidth management API supported by Imagine’s Magellan Control System, which provides orchestration of multiple streams and control of ST 2110 devices across the network through NMOS. Imagine is now using NMOS in nearly every project deployment to integrate ST 2110 endpoints from other leading vendors, enabling customers to build best-of-breed solutions leveraging the cameras, switchers, audio, and replay technologies that their creative teams prefer, the company explained. 

“The benefits of advancements such as NMOS and JPEG XS are motivating media companies to consider ST 2110 for new infrastructure projects and enabling them to deploy and manage multi-vendor IP media workflows with much greater confidence and ease,” said Mathias Eckert, senior vice president and general manager EMEA and APAC at Imagine Communications. “Imagine is committed to open, standards-based systems and working with partners around the industry to enable best-of-breed systems that benefit our customers like Sky.”

For more information on visit https://www.imaginecommunications.com. 

MONT-SAINT-GUIBERT, Belgium—intoPIX, a leading provider of lightweight low-latency compression solutions, has announced a partnership with Panasonic Connect that will integrate intoPIX’s JPEG XS technology in Panasonic’s PTZ and studio cameras.

Panasonic Connect made the strategic move to JPEG XS technology by adopting the intoPIX TicoXS IP cores, which will allow their camera line-up to interface directly with live production workflows supporting SMPTE ST 2110 and IPMX standards, the companies explained. 

Panasonic Connect recently launched its new flagship AW-UE160W/K PTZ camera and its new AK-PLV100GSJ 4K studio camera, both of which will support JPEG XS. 

With its high sensitivity capability of F14/2,000 lx which is equivalent to that of a studio camera, the AW-UE160W/K can be used together with studio cameras to add more flexibility to video content production. Equipped with a large format, super 35mm imager, and PL lens mount, the AK-PLV100GSJ offers a shallow-depth look that enhances creativity in broadcasting and streaming events.

Using JPEG XS safeguards all advantages of an uncompressed stream such as ultra-low latency and high quality and offers a significant bandwidth reduction with real-time FPGA, CPU, or GPU-based encoding in HD, and 4K, the companies explained. 

Moreover, it can be used in any LAN, WAN, or cloud-based IP-based application which is sensitive to low latency and high quality. Powered by the shooting feature set of the AW-UE160W/K and the AK-PLV100GSJ, this provides an ideal IP video production workflow for applications such as live TV production and live events, they said. 

“We are excited to partner with intoPIX experts to deliver a premium IP workflow to our customers. Outstanding image quality and near-zero latency are the absolute foundation of our solutions, and this was only possible with intoPIX JPEG XS,” said Masatoshi Taniguchi, director of the ProAV business at Panasonic Connect.

“We are supporting the media industry to deliver premium live IP workflows with more efficiency,” added Katty Van Mele, business development director at intoPIX.

“Panasonic Connect and intoPIX have developed a long-standing relationship over the past years. We are happy to move forward with JPEG XS together and to contribute to the excellence of their products.”

intoPIX has developed a wide range of zero latency encoders and decoders running on any software and hardware platform and supporting any resolution.

For more information about the intoPIX JPEG XS solutions, visit their website or book a meeting with the team during NAB 2023 (Booth C6335) in Las Vegas, from April 16 to 19, 2023. 

FORT LEE, N.J.—Leader Instruments will feature its newly added LV5600-SER33 option for its LV5600 waveform monitor and LV7600-SER33 option for its LV7600 rasterizer—both providing support for JPEG XS (SMPTE ST 2112-22) compressed signals up to 4K—at the 2023 NAB Show, April 15-19, in Las Vegas.

Available as an optional license, the company’s SER33 can perform JPEG XS stream parsing, decoding and encoding, compressed video signal and packet header analysis, packet error detection and comparatively display JPEG XS, SDP and ST2110-40. The SER33 toolset also can output JPEG XS compressed video test signals, the company said.

Leader’s SER33 option allows production staff in a studio or on location to monitor and analyze the quality of incoming or outgoing JPEG XS signals. These checks can be performed during pre-transmission line-up and live production. Decoded JPEG XS signal streams can be compared alongside uncompressed test sources using the multiscreen facilities, it said.

Leader’s LV5600 is a mains-powered SDI/IP waveform monitor in a half-rack width 3U desktop chassis with a touch-screen front panel display. It provides the facilities needed to monitor SDI as well as video-over-IP signals seamlessly in a hybrid operating environment, Leader said.

Features include test pattern generation, eye pattern display, closed-caption monitoring, CIE chroma chart, HDR measurement, focus assist, customizable screen layout, tally interface, 4K/UHD operation, 10G/25G IP input and 12G-SDI interfaces. The unit supports SMPTE 2022-6, SMPTE 2022-7 and SMPTE 2110 protocols. The LV5600 also incorporates Leader's intuitive CINEZONE and CINELITE, it said.

The LV7600 rasterizing waveform monitor offers the same capabilities as the LV5600 but in a low-profile 19-inch 1U form factor for easy rack or desk mounting.

See Leader Instruments at NAB Show booth C4920.

More information is available on the company’s website.

Since its publication in 2017, SMPTE 2110 has been deployed extensively throughout the broadcast industry. Across the globe, the standard has become a staple in IP-based television facilities and many of today’s major sporting and broadcasting events, including the 2020 summer Olympics and 2022 World Cup. This trend shows no sign of slowing in the upcoming year. 

And with so much SMPTE 2110-based equipment already deployed in the field, invalidating existing designs through major changes to the standard is a real concern. Instead, the primary goal for SMPTE 2110 in 2023 and beyond is to provide the highest levels of stability for users. 

To that end, there has been a review of the 2110 documents within the SMPTE over the last few years to ensure they reflect current practices, with minor changes made to address issues that have come up during deployments. This review led to the recent publication of revised versions of the 2110 specs.  

However, delivering stability doesn’t mean the standard’s functionality will remain static. Layers of technical recommendations and operating practices have been — and will continue to be — added that build increased capabilities and address new marketplace requirements. 

JPEG XS
The most recent of these has been the adoption of the JPEG XS standard as a codec used with SMPTE 2110-22. Offering low implementation complexity, JPEG XS specifies a compression technology with an end-to-end latency of a few lines. It’s also optimized for visual lossless compression as defined in ISO/IEC 29170-2 for natural and synthetic images; offers typical compression ratios to 10:1 for 4:4:4, 4:2:2, and 4:2:0 images — or even higher depending on the application’s requirements; supports various pixel formats; allows for precise bit-rate control; provides an end-to-end delay equal to a fraction of a frame; and offers lossless compression of image data with precision to 12-bits per component.

The combination of the JPEG XS standard with SMPTE 2110 addresses increasing interest across the broadcast industry to work with compressed formats. To meet this need, JPEG XS can be utilized in a variety of applications that previously transported uncompressed image data. 

These include professional video links (3G/6G/12G-SDI), IP transport, real-time video storage, memory buffers, omni-directional video capture systems, head-mounted displays for virtual and augmented reality, and image sensor compression. This combination of JPEG XS and SMPTE 2110 is documented by the Video Services Forum (VSF) in its publication TR-08 — a document for JPEG XS over SMPTE 2110 that has played a role in recent global broadcasting events.

A major trend in 2023 will be the increasing adoption of JPEG XS as a payload format within SMPTE 2110-22. It will be especially relevant for Ultra HD video, as it lowers costs in large-scale telecom networks by using less bandwidth for signal transport, while still providing a production-quality signal at very low latency.

AIMS' IPMX
Another trend for SMPTE 2110 in 2023 and beyond is the increasing use of the standard in AV-over-IP deployments via IPMX, AIMS’ proposed set of open standards and specifications for the carriage of compressed and uncompressed video, audio, and data over IP networks. 

IPMX was created to address the interoperability challenges in the Pro AV ecosystem, which had previously been dominated by a few proprietary standards from the industry’s top players. Built on TR-08 and leveraging JPEG XS, IPMX is essentially an extension to SMPTE 2110, which serves as its foundation. 

The core requirements of IPMX have been defined through collaboration with leading companies to ensure it serves the needs of manufacturers, integrators, and end users. In 2022, AIMS worked to boost awareness of IPMX through public interoperability demonstrations, including one at InfoComm 2022 in which equipment from a dozen companies was interoperating in a single environment. By the end of the year, IPMX began to see market adoption, with a few early projects being launched. 

In 2023, the stage is set for IPMX to become the core of new IP infrastructure deployments throughout the Pro AV industry. More and more projects will adopt the standard as their foundation, and it will begin to be utilized in bigger rollouts and higher-profile installations. By late 2023 and early 2024, IPMX is expected to really take off, cementing SMPTE 2110’s position in a wide variety of new applications across a range of markets. 

KAWASAKI, Japan—Media Links will highlight its 4K JPEG-XS version of the MDP3020 MAX IP Media Gateway at NAB New York 2022, Oct. 19-20, at the Javits Center.

Leveraging JPEG-XS’ high-quality image compression and ultra-low latency processing characteristics, the MDP3020 MAX is well-suited for live, remote production broadcast applications in which network edge bandwidths are typically constrained and time-sensitive, immediate interaction between the studio and venues is a necessity, Media Links said.

The MDP3020 MAX is a SMPTE standards-based gateway device designed to address the need for cost-effective, remotely configurable and protected 4K video-over-IP services at the network edge. The MDP3020 MAX processes up to two incoming 4K, 12G SDI video/audio streams by first applying JPEG-XS compression and then encapsulating this content into packets for transport over an IP network, it said.

Other features include:

• 10GbE/1GbE data port
• dual 10GbE optical interfaces to support network redundancy along with seamless protection switching (aka hitless media processing or SMPTE ST 2022-7)
• redundant power capability
• integrated frame synchronizer.

The seamless protection/hitless switching function operates on all media, including video, audio and data, and prevents signal disruption in the event of intermittent problems in any one of the two diverse IP network paths, it said.

TV media service providers and broadcasters are using the MDP3020 MAX IP Media Gateway around the world for sports and remote production environments. 

See Media Links in NAB New York booth 715.

More information is available on the Media Links website.

AMSTERDAM—Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits ISS today demonstrated its JPEG XS SDK (software developers kit) 5.0 solutions that achieve a 25% acceleration for encoding and decoding 4K and 8K images on x86 CPUs, ARM CPUs and NVidia GPUs at the ongoing IBC 2022 convention.

The performance increase stems from streamlined parameterization and optimization, much of which centered on massive application of single-instruction multi-data commands and data pipeline optimization for processing, Fraunhofer said.

As a result, fewer than four cores of a CPU processor are needed to encode or decode UHD video at 60 fps, Fraunhofer said.

The organization also announced that the Fraunhofer ISS SDK allows MXF support in accordance with SMPTE ST 2124.

The JPEG XS compression codec was designed to enable transmission of high-quality video up to 8K via the Internet Protocol (IP) in production quality. JPEG XS, an ISO standard, first appeared in 2019 and is now on its way to market, Fraunhofer said.

A patent licensing pool program and several SDKs have been established to enable industry partners to access and implement the new compression codec for different media workflows and devices, it added.

More information is available on the Fraunhofer website.

See Fraunhofer at IBC 2022 Stand 8.B80.

MONT-SAINT-GUILBERT, France—Net Insight has announced a partnership with intoPIX, the leading  provider of innovative compression technology, to develop cutting-edge JPEG XS compliant solutions. 

Currently, intoPIX  TICO-XS is fully compliant with the new JPEG XS standard and delivers pristine image quality and imperceptible  latency within a highly portable software application framework. Net Insight offers JPEG XS standard compliant  applications within its Cloud and IP solution portfolio, the companies said. 

They also said that Nimbra JPEG XS applications are available now and are rolling out to support the delivery of some of the world’s biggest live sporting events. Net Insight’s Cloud and IP media platform combines the power of zero-compromise video compression with its industry-leading, open-standard media delivery technology.  

The JPEG XS content production codec is a so-called lightweight image coding system that processes video at the microsecond level with line-based latency. Based on real-world testing and compression grades in the range of 4:1 to 12:1, Net Insight’s JPEG XS applications can deliver lossless quality video while reducing typical network resource consumption by 90%, it said. As JPEG XS is designed to scale, it fully supports the ability to natively process UHD-4K and UHD-8K content. JPEG XS may be used wherever uncompressed video is currently used, including live and distributed  production, AV over IP, Virtual and Augmented Realities (VR, AR) and eSports. 

The media industry has embraced remote working and the enabling technologies. By leveraging JPEG XS, users can further reduce our resource utilization and the number of processing steps, the companies said. 

Software-based processing enables content editing and production workflows to eliminate the need to jump back and forth between  different uncompressed interface standards and different codec formats. This breakthrough in video workflow  processing accelerates the transition to high-quality distributed content creation and eliminates the need to  accept heavily compressed and artefact filled workflows as the compromise for moving to distributed production, the companies said. 

By integrating JPEG XS into its Cloud and IP media platform, Net Insight adds yet another processing option for  content producers and service providers to harness. The same application acceleration platform offers virtualized  processing across IP, SDI, and mixed format environments. Customers can reuse the same acceleration hardware  to perform both media and network processing. The application list includes the IP Media Trust Boundary, lossless Ethernet switching, IP WAN aggregation, MPEG-4, JPEG 2000, and JPEG XS. All of these processing apps,  whether it is for ST2110, SDI or IP/Ethernet data are available with lossless 1, 10, 25 and 100 GE network interfaces. 

Reusing the same hardware and loading new software applications when needed allows Net Insight customers to plan further ahead and adapt to the media industry’s shift to IP, secure IT and Cloud services. 

“We are proud to be partnering with intoPIX, pioneer of class-leading video compression technologies, to  create solutions that deliver meaningful environmental and financial savings for the media and broadcast industry,” said Christer Bohm, vice president of product management at Net Insight. “The JPEG XS standard strengthens the innovation possible within content production, thereby assisting to create improved live experiences for viewers all over  the world. Net Insight’s JPEG XS applications bring game-changing cost reductions to our customers. In addition to bringing JPEG XS to our latest Cloud and IP solutions, we have also invested to bring JPEG XS to existing Nimbra  media networks.” 

“Net Insight’s leadership in Cloud, IP and standards-based technology represents the kind of role model partnership needed to realize the full potential of JPEG XS,” said Jean-Baptiste Lorent, marketing and sales director at  intoPIX. “We believe that content producers, media companies and service providers will greatly appreciate the  engineering excellence and innovative nature of Net Insight’s adoption of the JPEG XS technology. We are immensely proud to partner on new solutions that can reduce resource consumption and environmental impact.” 

OSLO, Norway—Bridge Technologies has integrated JPEG XS compression analysis into its VB440 monitoring solution, the company said today.

Working with intoPIX, Bridge Technologies added JPEG XS support to the VB440, which now provides its full range of measurement metrics for the new compression standard.

The VB440 is designed for monitoring and analysis of SMPE ST 2110 and ST2022-6 high bitrate broadcast traffic. It is well-suited for core broadcasting networks, production studios, master control centers and outside broadcast vehicles and venues, the company said.

Capable of monitoring both IP and SDI-encapsulated video, the VB440 delivers ultra-low latency analytics of compressed and uncompressed data for the deep insight needed to ensure error-free delivery of live and recorded broadcast from any remote location across the globe, it said.

JPEG XS delivers a similar level of compression as the JPEG 2000 standard, supporting lossless compression of between 10 and 15 times the original, but with significantly lower latency, thus allowing for responsive, real-time production of broadcasts, it said.

The standard is particularly useful in conditions where there is either limited bandwidth within a production network or there is a lack of control over the timing precision that can be achieved between PTP leader and follower clocks in long-haul networks between studio and venue.

The ability of JPEG XS to operate across both PTP and traditional Transport Streams makes it a flexible compression standard, and this is fundamental to delivering content in a way that is efficient and affordable, but which still ensures exceptional image quality. In essence, JPEG XS allows broadcast networks to do more with less, it said.

The company has published a YouTube video on the implementation of JPEG XS.

More information is available on the company’s website. 

TEL AVIV, Israel—TAG Video Systems has announced that it will support JPEG XS, a move that will make it easier for companies to move live production into the cloud using the high quality, low latency JPEG XS format. 

JPEG XS provides all the benefits of uncompressed IP workflows over long-distance remote and cloud production environments without the expense and complexity of engineering and implementing an uncompressed network and cloud connectivity, the company noted. 

Adding support for JPEG XS to TAG’s MCM-9000 probing, monitoring and multiviewing platform allows customers to directly and natively monitor and view JPEG XS sources, eliminating the need to decode or convert them to other standards.

According to Kevin Joyce, TAG’s Zero Friction Officer, integration of JPEG XS into the MCM-9000 was instigated by Fox for its cloud Media Center in Tempe, Arizona running in AWS to enable low-latency, cloud-based playout for live workflows, and also by NBC Olympics for coverage in Tokyo.  

Joyce also noted that JPEG XS will have many benefits to many others. “Finding a workable, effective and budget-pleasing path to production in the cloud using compression technologies is becoming a huge priority for our broadcast customers,” he said. “JPEG XS potentially reduces cloud bandwidth and network utilization by 90% without sacrificing quality or latency. So, it was a no-brainer for us; we added support to our MCM-9000 platform, the first in a cloud monitoring platform to offer it natively.  We're also the only monitoring, probing and multiviewing solution that offers both JPEG 2000 and JPEG XS support without requiring a GPU or FPGA,  which allows our customers to run in much more economical cloud instances.”

SIOUX FALLS, S.D.—Sencore has announced that its DMG 4000 system is now able to incorporate JPEG XS technology for compression needs.

JPEG XS provides lite compression technology to reduce bandwidth usage. When combined with DMG 4000, the technology can compress SMPTE ST 2110 flows by 10:1 with end-to-end latency of less than a frame. It can also encode or decode 36 flows in 1RU or 72 flows in 2RU. There are also SDI and ST 2110 inputs and outputs to work with any JPEG XS workflow.

Additional features include 10 GB, 40 GB and SDI connectivity to process different types of streams; PTP synchronization for all flows; and APIs for complete control and monitoring.

For more information, visit www.sencore.com. 

ERLANGEN, Germany & MONT-SAINT-GUIBERT, Belgium—Fraunhofer IIS and intoPIX have launched a joint licensing program for JPEG XS-based software and hardware solutions.

JPEG XS is expected to be used within studio environments and broadcast systems to help increase bandwidth requirements as video is transported over local, wide-area or wireless networks.

The near zero latency codec has been designed to transfer any audiovisual content over IP-based workflows, including 4K, 8K and beyond.

According to the organizations, the integration of JPEG XS eliminates the need for “jumping back and forth between different interfaces and compression technologies by allowing seamless video streaming over IP-based workflows”. For the broadcast industry, the rollout and integration of the codec into professional studio environments and broadcast systems will “reshape content creation and live production for years to come.”

Three different licensing models will be available: licensing for cloud-based or any type of on-demand or time-billed professional services; licensing for any type of professional equipment; and licensing for use in consumer devices, like TV, tablets or smartphones.

MONT-SAINT-GUIBERT, Belgium—intoPIX has announced the launch of the JPEG XS Plugin for Adobe Premiere. This video editing and live streaming plugin is designed to speed up the pre- and post-production process in the JPEG XS format.

With the JPEG XS Plugin, users can review HD, 4K or 8K JPEG XS MXF files by displaying a sub-resolution, which reduces the bandwidth utilization and computational load during editing or playback. With the plugin, users can switch instantly between lower and fuller resolutions.

The new plugin is embedded with the FastTICO-XS SDK and enables super-fast encoding and decoding, support of all resolutions from HD, 4K to 8K, supports a range of pixel formats, features MXF wrapping and audio support, per intoPIX. It also can operate using a normal Intel or AMD processor.

It also provides access to the standardized JPEX XS format, which allows video editors to access features like visually lossless compression, multiple encoding/decoding cycles, low latency and low complexity. All of this helps replace SDI-based workflows to steam over standard networks using SMPTE 2110, said intoPix.

For more information, visit www.intopix.com.  

MONT-SAINT-GUIBERT, Belgium—Media Links is including JPEG-XS compression in its MDP3020 IP media gateway, intoPIX announced this week.

“Media Links brings deep engineering, system integration and wide-area-network connectivity expertise to deliver a new IP media experience with the world’s best low-latency visually lossless lightweight codec,” said Jean-Baptiste Lorent, director marketing and sales at intoPIX. 

JPEG-XS, which can deliver high-quality compression ratios of up to 10:1, is well-suited for the edge of IP networks where bandwidth typically is limited and transport of uncompressed video is not possible.

JPEG-XS (ISO/IEC 21122) provides visually lossless quality with sub-millisecond (<1 video frame) delay. It is especially designed for latency-critical applications, such as live remote event production over wide area networks.

“We are proud of our continuous relationship with intoPIX. They have co-created JPEG-XS and deliver now efficient FPGA IP-cores,” said Mark Podesla, senior manager at Media Links. “The technology is poised to unleash a new level of low-latency connectivity that will transform the way we make live remote production today.” 

The Media Links MDP3020 provides video, audio and data transport to and from the fringes of the IP network. 

More information is available on the Media Links and intoPix websites. 

OSLO, NORWAY—Nevion, a provider of virtualized media production technology, says it has added a new JPEG XS encoding and decoding media function to its Virtuoso software-defined media node. The new functionality is already being rolled-out by “a leading global broadcast network” to get video in and out of content hubs, as part of a centralized live production infrastructure solution—the world’s first official deployment of the technology, according to Nevion.

JPEG XS (ISO/IEC 21122) is a new encoding standard for video that achieves pristine visually lossless output (both for one-time and multiple concatenated compression), at sub-millisecond latency, i.e. a fraction of a video frame. High quality compression is achievable with ratios up to 10:1 and beyond, depending on the application.

Read More:JPEG XS Reduces Cabling Bandwidth Needs

This makes JPEG XS extremely attractive for low latency real-time transport of HD and 4K/UHD video over wide-area networks (WANs). It also makes it suitable for bandwidth-constrained campus and facility local area networks (LANs) when uncompressed transport is not a viable option.

The Nevion Virtuoso JPEG XS media function is powered by TICO-XS from intoPIX and offers both encoding and decoding capabilities, and multi-channel support. It takes uncompressed video in either SDI and IP (SMPTE ST 2110-20) formats, and outputs JPEG XS encoded video for transport over IP (SMPTE ST 2110-22). The solution also provides transport protection using SMPTE 2022-7 based SIPS (Seamless IP Protection Switching).

The JPEG XS media function can also be combined with the Virtuoso’s extensive audio capabilities, for example to enable encoded video and audio to be transported as separate SMPTE ST 2110 flows, and be synchronized at the receiving end.

“We are very excited to have added JPEG XS to the many media functions that can be configured dynamically on Nevion Virtuoso,” says Johnny Dolvik, Chief Product and Development Officer at Nevion. “We are also very proud of the fact that it is already being deployed. We have no doubt this is the first of many deployments, as JPEG XS provides an exceptional balance between compression ratio and latency.”

As well as JPEG XS, Nevion Virtuoso already offers JPEG 2000, TICO, and H.264 encoding capabilities.

Nevion Virtuoso and the new JPEG XS media function will be on show on Nevion’s booth (1.B79) at IBC 2019.

ALEXANDRIA, Va.—Every time a new digital production standard gains traction, there is great stress on old infrastructures to carry state-of-the-art (i.e. “broadcast quality”) signals.

In the 1990s, it was SDI for standard definition, which had a data rate of 270 Mbps. That was so much more demanding than the analog signals that came before it, that it required new cables, new connectors, new patch panels, and of course new equipment to handle the digital signals. At the time, 270 Mbps seemed like a breathtaking data rate.

Then in the mid-2000s, broadcasters started upgrading their facilities to HD, with its data rate of 1.5 Gbps. That was for 1080i and 720p HD, and it seemed like a lot of data.

Until the push came for “full” HD with its 1080p frame rate and its demanding 3 Gbps of data. Video facilities that had installed HD-SDI were now upgrading products for a data rate twice as high as HD-SDI.

Although cables and connectors for 3G video are now common, the reality is that the frequency response of copper cables is starting to reach its limit at 3G. When 4K came along and we learned that its uncompressed data rate would be 12 Gbps, there were whispers that it was going to be impossible to send 12G video more than a short distance on coaxial cable.

Despite the whispers, some clever engineers tackled the challenge and there is now a 12G-SDI standard with cable and connectors that can be used to wire real-world facilities. It works and that’s good—although the higher the frequency, the more persnickety the cabling gets. At 12G data rates, a slight crimp in a copper cable or a bend radius that’s a little too tight will cause the signal to deteriorate quickly.

"LOSSLESS" COMPRESSION?

There is another way to tackle the problem, however. What if there was a “lossless” compression system that could reduce the necessary bandwidth by four or eight times, without adding complexity or latency?

That standard is being worked on right now, and it’s called JPEG XS.

“JPEG-XS is a newly evolving compression technology that is exciting because it is extremely low latency and also low complexity,” said Andy Rayner, chief technologist for Norway-based Nevion and the director of Nevion’s U.K. technology center. “It is an intra-frame compression—it is spatial only, with no temporal element. It is wavelet-based, and conceptually can be thought of as lots of tiny stripes of JPEG2000. The exciting thing is that where the base compression technology used for JPEG XS-TICO was visually lossless at a compression rate of 4:1, in JPEG XS this is doubled to at least 8:1.”

TICO (which stands for TIny COdec) is a precursor to JPEG XS that promotes a lossless 4:1 compression to permit 12G video to be carried on a single 3G cable. Many manufacturers in the video industry are members of the TICO Alliance, and the same developers are behind JPEG XS.

Rayner knows what he’s talking about. In addition to being awarded the Martlesham Gold Medal for technical innovation, Rayner received a technical Emmy for JPEG 2000 standardization.

When you think compression, you normally expect signal degradation, lots of latency as signals are encoded and decoded, and added power drain as powerful processors calculate how to compress and decompress the signals. JPEG XS specifically targets those concerns.

“I see it as having the potential to replace JPEG2000 as our de facto choice for mezzanine compression,” Rayner said. “The encoder-decode latency is only 32 video lines, which means at only a few hundred microseconds, this becomes negligible compared with other latency in the systems [especially wide area connectivity]. The compression has also been optimized for real estate usage on FPGAs, CPUs and GPUs, which means its use in server technology is also highly viable.”

SAFEGUARDING ADVANTAGES

One of the other goals of the team developing JPEG XS is that it not be specific to any resolution, and be capable of supporting future format requirements, while safeguarding the advantages of an uncompressed stream. These advantages include interoperability, visually lossless quality, multigeneration robustness, low power consumption, low latency in coding and decoding, ease of implementation, small size on chip (no additional DDR memory is required), and fast software running on general-purpose CPUs and GPUs.

“No other codec fulfills this set of strong requirements simultaneously,” said Antonin Descampe, founder of and compression technologist at IntoPIX, a Belgium-based manufacturer of signal compression and processing components. “JPEG XS can thus ‘compete’ with uncompressed in every aspect, and reduce bandwidth and video data significantly.”

There are lots of compression formats out there, including some widely used for their ability to maintain high quality for serious production work. Do we really need a JPEG XS codec?

“The main difference between JPEG XS and existing codecs from JPEG, MPEG or other standardization committees is that compression efficiency is not the main target,” Descampe said. “Whereas other codecs primarily focus on their efficiency, disregarding latency or complexity, JPEG XS addresses the following question: ‘How can we ultimately replace uncompressed video?’”

To many in the television industry, switching from an uncompressed format to a compressed one sounds unwise. The only reason to consider it would be due to the high bandwidth of uncompressed 4K video reaching the limits of what copper cabling can support.

That said, JPEG XS can make a real difference in bandwidth.

“The typical operating points for visually lossless quality with JPEG XS are around 10:1.” Descampe said. “However, it is important to take resolution and content type into account when identifying a maximum compression ratio. For instance, natural content usually reaches higher compression ratios for a given quality level. During its development, JPEG XS has been tested against the strictest quality assessment procedures (ISO/IEC 29170-2, ‘Evaluation procedure for visually lossless coding’), seeking the threshold guaranteeing an ‘indistinguishable flickering’ between original and compressed image—a measure often referred to as ‘visual transparency.’”

DIFFERENT KINDS OF CONTENT

Based on the tests performed by the JPEG XS working group, Table 1 shows the codec’s performance with different kinds of content (screen content, computer-generated images (CGI)) and natural imagery. The lower compressed bitrate in the table defines performance with natural content, while the upper range is for more complex content requiring full visual transparency.

For broadcasters, overall image quality is a big concern, but not the only one. Perhaps equally important is latency, and JPEG XS should address that concern as well.

“In terms of latency, using MPEG-4/H.264 and HEVC/H.265 in a live production workflow with multiple encoding and decoding steps would lead to a compiled latency of many seconds,” Descampe said. “JPEG XS has a microsecond-latency and can thus be run throughout a whole live production workflow without inducing the latency of a single MPEG-4/H.264 encode/decode step. Even though we need H.265 for the last mile to distribute it to the consumer, we try to avoid any additional latency in the production workflow before distribution.”

Descampe said that we should hear about the finalization of the JPEG XS standard around 2019 IBC in September.

“Concerning the status of the standardization process itself, JPEG XS Part-1 [Core Coding System] is published and available as an international standard already,” he said. “Part-2 and Part-3 [respectively profiles and transport formats] are finalized and being prepared by ISO for immediate publication. Part-4 and Part-5 (respectively conformance testing and reference software) are under ballot and shall be published by the end of this year.”

In addition to that standards work for JPEG XS, there are several ongoing liaisons between standards bodies and industrial organizations such as AIMS, VSF, SMPTE, TICO Alliance and IETF. The IP Showcase at the 2019 NAB Show hosted a presentation about JPEG XS in ST2110-22.

WORKING ON IMPLEMENTATIONS

Descampe said that several broadcast suppliers are already working on implementations in their soon-to-be-announced products. And he pointed out one more feature of the standard that makes it compatible with IP video requirements.

“JPEG XS uses a constant bitrate and is thus highly relevant for reliable video over IP transport, especially with compressed video being added to ST 2110 as ‘part 22,’” Descampe said.

Why name this new format JPEG XS? There is some precedent in the JPEG2000 system, which is also used for high-quality video transmission. Why “XS,” however?

“I think the funniest thing is the name,” Rayner said. “It literally stands for eXtra Small!”

Extra small or not, JPEG XS looms large to the people who have been working on it.

“I genuinely expect this to become the de facto mezzanine compression within the next year,” Rayner said.

Further down the line is the possibility that some production facilities may add 8K video capability. The only way to handle uncompressed 8K video data today is to split it into four 12G feeds, as the bandwidth is far beyond what a copper network can carry on a single cable. JPEG XS might be the lubricant that eases 8K production tools into high-end facilities.

LAS VEGAS—Compression, image processing and security specialist intoPIX will introduce the JPEG-XS standard with a demo of its TICO-XS FPGA and ASIC IP-cores at CES 2019, Jan. 8-11, in Las Vegas.

The company, which will also unveil CPU and GPU software development kits for the standard, co-developed JPEG XS based on intoPIX’s TICO RDD35 codec. It foresees TICO-XS as being an important enabler for development of video devices because it solves problems facing CE manufacturers, such as how to manage more and better pixels, realize cost and power savings, simplify connectivity and preserve quality with no latency.

For 4K and 8K, JPEG XS can carry video over existing bandwidth with lossless quality and imperceptible latency, the company said. The standard also saves on cost and power in regards to in-device video transport by reducing internal links and memory.

It has undergone rigorous testing by the ISO JPEG committee and has been shown to provide fully transparent quality at compression ratios of 1.5 bits per pixel ~ 16:1 for TV, the company said.

See intoPIX at CES 2019 booth 1129 at Westgate Paradise Center.

More information is available on the company’s website. 

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LAS VEGAS—If you were a broadcaster walking the aisles of the 2018 NAB Show earlier this month in Las Vegas, no one could blame you if you focused much of your attention when it came to video compression on HEVC, or its extension SHVC, which will help to power Next-Gen TV.

However, high efficiency video coding as implemented by ATSC 3.0 wasn’t the only compression development that promises new efficiencies for those in the M&E industry.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS used the Las Vegas venue to announce the first JPEG XS codec implementation for professional video. The research institute demonstrated its new codec as an input format for post-production.

Specifically, Fraunhofer showed JPEG XS as a software plug-in for Adobe Premiere Pro CC, providing real-time playback of 4K 60p UHD video in a Windows environment using an NVidia graphics card to accelerate decoding.

[Read: A discussion with Fraunhofer on what’s ahead in compression] 

Fraunhofer is positioning its new codec as a solution to the impending train wreck it sees when the ever-growing data demands of higher res video and HDR meets the limitations of coax cables in studios. Exacerbating the problem is the desire of production companies to move away from specialized switches and cable for video transport to commercial off-the-shelf alternatives that move IP packets via standard Ethernet infrastructures.

The JPEG XS codec, which is being standardized by the JPEG committee for IP workflows in studios, local video networks and VR/AR applications (ISO/IEC SC29 WG1), enables high-res video transfer via standard Ethernet and other wired connections, Fraunhofer says.

It is optimized for use with mezzanine compression applications involving high-res video to be transferred over limited bandwidth or when limited computer resources are employed. JPEG XS is also designed to take advantage of the SMPTE ST 2110 transport layer.