The Joint Task Force on Networked Media (JT-NM) said it will enhance its JT-NM tested program, a standards testing effort that when validated will authorize vendors to display badges at their 2020 NAB Show booths attesting to their implementations of parts of SMPTE ST 2110, AMWA NMOS specifications and the JT-NM TR-1001-1.

The Joint Task Force will publish testing criteria. Vendors will perform testing at their own facilities. Standards validation of vendor test results will be confirmed at a testing event scheduled for the week of March 16, the task force said.

Overall testing results will be published in a catalog. Past catalogs are available online.

This round will include testing of broadcast controllers and registries. All vendors producing equipment using relevant portions of the standards to be tested are welcome to participate in the tested program, the task force said.

Participation in past events is not a prerequisite for participation in the program for the 2020 NAB Show.

The Joint Task Force is a consortium of industry organizations, including the Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA), the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) and the Video Services Forum (VSF).

More information about the testing and standards validation program is available by emailing Bob Ruhl. 

With SDI environments under pressure from the need to support higher resolutions and simultaneous delivery to all platforms, broadcasters and production companies are turning to open standards-based IP as their future-ready infrastructure. Not only does IP underpin the smarter workflows needed to meet fast-evolving consumer demands, it also is key in delivering the agility and scalability needed to handle a wide range of applications. From live sports production to fixed facilities, IP infrastructures bring the efficiency and OPEX-based operational models needed to build successful media businesses.

OPEN IP IS CENTRAL TO FUTURE-READY INFRASTRUCTURES

In today’s mediascape, content creators have a growing need for operational and business flexibility and IP allows them to spin up channels and services far more rapidly, providing a level of responsiveness that was previously unavailable.

The work on open standards-based IP interoperability by industry bodies like SMPTE, AIMS and AMWA has gone a long way towards addressing interoperability, price and the need for comparable functionality to SDI environments, contributing to the accelerated deployment of IP-based solutions. New specifications such as JT-NM TR-1001-1 promise to enable much more streamlined and straightforward configuration of SMPTE ST 2110-based systems, making the power of IP more accessible to smaller installations and facilities as well as large ones.

A wide range of products are now available from vendors that offer native IP connectivity—from cameras to production switchers, processing to multiviewers, routers and servers. Broadcasters and media organizations can flexibly select solutions from multiple vendors with the assurance that all products will be compatible with one another.

By deploying open standards-based IP infrastructures, broadcasters, outside broadcast (OB) companies and service providers can deliver the quality of service that clients have come to expect from SDI—with the added benefit of greater scalability and format flexibility. Major OB providers, such as Mobile TV Group (MTVG) have already deployed glass-to-glass open standards-based infrastructures for new trucks and this trend will continue.

THE HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE

Meeting consumer demand for more live content, while budgets remain static, means having to deliver first class content with greater efficiency. The real potential of IP lies in transforming the way production teams work—especially in the live production environment; it can open up smarter ways of working, regardless of where staff are located. Remote/at-home production is just one way that IP can radically shift broadcasters’ approach.

Using IP connections allows cameras and base stations to be separated by very long distances. Once signals are received in the production center, operators can match the cameras using operational control panels (OCPs) and switch the program as they would in a standard live production set-up.

Rather than acting as a like-for-like replacement for SDI, IP opens up new ways of working. Distributed production models, for instance “At-Home” production, allow the cameras to be located at the venue while directors may be on location with the vision mixer, other processing equipment and the rest of the crew in the production studio. IP also makes truly collaborative live production workflows a possibility, allowing production staff to work from any location, even if it’s their home. As smarter, more efficient workflows free staff to focus on higher-impact creative tasks, broadcasters and production companies can leverage the best talent—wherever they are in the world.

As well as bringing the majority of the live sports and event production infrastructure and workflow back to the home studio, this approach allows the same production team and on-screen talent to support multiple, back-to-back games in a day. While the cost savings and ability to ensure consistency across multiple productions is undeniably alluring, the reduction in environmental impact—from sending less kit and crew out on location—is significant and of growing importance to media companies.

THE IP FUTURE IS NOW

Now a maturing technology, price points are coming down and open standards-based IP is no longer a solution reserved for large facilities or premium events with big budgets. A growing number of strong use cases demonstrates that the benefits of IP extend beyond supporting new higher resolutions—without compromising on speed.

The full potential of open standards IP will come to light as it becomes embedded in broadcast and content production infrastructures. Rather than using a new technology to do things in the same way, customers are already beginning to look at how to create new and innovative workflows underpinned by scalable, agile IP infrastructures.

MONTREAL, Quebec — September 13, 2019 —Matrox® Video is pleased to announce that the Matrox X.mio5 Q25, Matrox X.mio3 IP, and Matrox DSX LE5 D25 SMPTE ST 2110 network interface controller (NIC) cards have all successfully passed the most recent Joint Task Force on Networked Media (JT-NM) Tested program for both the SMPTE ST 2110 standard and the NMOS/JT-NM TR-1001 specification. Matrox’s participation and technical contributions to the testing initiative represents a renewed commitment in maintaining the highest standard for multi-vendor interoperability in SMPTE ST 2110, IP-based deployments.

Returning to the IBC 2019 IP Showcase, the JT-NM Tested program offers prospective purchasers of IP-based equipment with greater, more documented insight into how vendor equipment aligns with open industry standards. The Matrox X.mio5 Q25, Matrox X.mio3 IP, and Matrox DSX LE5 D25 cards underwent the rigorous JT-NM testing program, with each of them seamlessly serving as reference sources for the SMPTE ST 2110 trial. For the NMOS/JT-NM TR-1001 trial, the same Matrox NICs demonstrated their built-in NMOS support with predictable, system-level connectivity for the TR-1001-1 technical recommendation. With built-in support for the NMOS IS-04 Device Discovery and Registration, NMOS IS-05 Device Connection Management, NMOS IS-09 System, LLDP, DHCP, and DNS-SD specifications, Matrox NICs completely abstract all low-level design work enabling OEMs to readily integrate their solutions into the ST 2110 network environment. 

Featured Matrox ST 2110 cards in the JT-NM Tested program: 

• Matrox X.mio5 Q25 ST 2110 quad 25 GbE NIC card for IP workflows from HD to 4K
• Matrox X.mio3 IP ST 2110 NIC card with multi-channel video I/O over 10 GbE plus onboard video processing
• Matrox DSX LE5 D25 ST 2110 dual 25 GbE NIC card for IP workflows from HD to 4K

“Matrox has been a long-time supporter of the SMPTE ST 2110 standard, and we are thrilled to continue this commitment through JT-NM’s IBC 2019 Tested program,” says Alberto Cieri, senior director of sales and marketing, Matrox Video. “Backed by our unique combination of IP know-how and broadcast expertise, Matrox NICs are built to offer the simplest path from SDI to ST 2110, while guaranteeing complete network interoperability and 24/7 reliability for next-generation ST 2110 workflows.”  

See Matrox SMPTE ST 2110 NIC cards in action at IBC 2019 on Matrox stand B15, hall 7 and in the IP Showcase Future Zone in rooms E106-107. 

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About Matrox Video

Matrox Video is a technology and market leader in the field of 4K, HD, and SD digital video hardware and software for accelerated H.264 encoding, realtime editing, audio/video input/output, streaming, A/V signal conversion, capture/playout servers, channel-in-a-box systems, and CGs. Matrox's Emmy award-winning technology powers a full range of multi-screen content creation and delivery platforms used by broadcasters, telcos, cable operators, post-production facilities, live event producers, videographers, and A/V professionals worldwide. Founded in 1976, Matrox is a privately held company headquartered in Montreal, Canada. For more information, visit www.matrox.com/video. 

Matrox Media Contact: 

Email: pr@matrox.com

Tel: +1 (514) 822-6000

Website: www.matrox.com

THATCHAM, England—At the recent JT-NM Testing Interop in Wuppertal, Germany, Phabrix’s Qx rasterizer and Sx TAG products were successfully tested and met the criteria for the AMWA NMOS TR-1001-1 and SMPTE ST 2110 standards for IP-based equipment.

The Qx ST 2110 core IP featured was proved to provide ST 2110 confidence status monitoring, while the Sx TAG was verified to offer support for modern IP broadcast systems with JT-NM encapsulation and decapsulation of ST 2110-20/30/40 with IP to SDI gateway, ST 2059 PTP and ST 2022-6.

“Phabrix is committed to complying with the growing list of standards our industry is facing, with the JT-NM program offering a trusted reference source for our customers,” said Phillip Adams, Phabrix CEO.

Phabrix will display both the Qx rasterizer and Sx Tag system at IBC 2019.

WUPPERTAL, Germany—In August, another round of JT-NM interop tests took place in Germany to test a slew of company products and if they met the qualifications for JT-NM’s standards, including the newly announced JT-NM TR-1001-1. Three companies—Grass Valley, Lawo and Nevion—have announced that their tested products passed the tests for both TR-1001-1 and the previously developed SMPTE ST 2110 standards.

GV’s XIP-3901-UDC-IP agile processor, IPVU monitoring gateway, K-Frame X video production center and Kaleido IP multiviewer systems all passed the tests. Nevion’s software-defined media node Virtuoso also passed. Lawo did not specifically announced which of its products passed the test, but noted that all did.

With the passing grades, all of these products have shown that they are capable of working in a multi-vendor environment in an IP media network.

The official results of the test program will be published in a JT-NM Tested catalog and made available during the IP Showcase at IBC 2019, Sept. 13-17.

BOTHELL, Wash.—The AIMS roadmap to IP technologies in broadcasting has received an update with the addition of JT-NM Tech Stack Part 1, also known as JT-NM TR-1001-1, the Alliance for IP Media Solutions announced today.

“The JT-NM Tech Stack Part 1 is a critical link in the continuum of standards that are easing the broadcast industry’s transition to IP operations. Now that the industry is seeing broader and more mainstream IP deployments, JT-NM TR 1001-1 will play a key role in making IP installation and operation easier and more straightforward,” said Andy Warman, board member, AIMS.

The JT-NM Tech Stack Part 1, developed by the Joint Task Force on Networked Media (JT-NM), is intended to automate installation and eliminate complexity by providing specifications and guidance aimed at making SMPTE ST 2110 systems easier to deploy and operate, AIMS said.

Using the stack, media and entertainment companies are able to connect new recommendation-compliant equipment to their networks and configure it with less human interaction.

JT-NM TR-1001-1 covers four areas, including:

• The network environment, which defines use of the Precision Time Protocol for time synchronizing IP flows on the network, DHCP for IP address assignment, LLDP for devices to identify themselves to media network switches and DNS-SD for service discovery when using AMWA NMOS IS-04.
• Discovery and registration using AMWA NMOS IS-04 to discover devices on a network and register them with a central registration server.
• Connection management via AMWA NMOS IS-05 for switching control between IP network flows.
• System resource, which defines system-wide constants.

The JT-NM Tech Stack Part 1 will be highlighted at the IP Showcase during IBC 2019, Sept. 13-17, at the RAI Amsterdam. The showcase will be held in Room E106/E107.

More information is available on the AIMS Alliance website.