WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—SMPTE has opened early registration for the 2026 Media Technology Summit (MTS) and announced initial program highlights, including the debut of the SMPTE Media Tech Business Forum.

Early registration rates will be available through August 31.

The annual summit, taking place November 16-19, 2026, in Pasadena, California, brings together engineers, technologists, business leaders, innovators, and decision-makers shaping the future of media technology. This year's conference program will feature peer-reviewed technical papers, keynote presentations, and executive panels tackling today’s most pressing media technology issues.

“The Media Technology Summit is more than a technical conference,” says SMPTE executive director Sally-Ann D’Amato. “It's where our industry comes together to exchange ideas, build relationships, and move media technology forward. This year's program spans everything from AI and sustainable media workflows to the role of media technology in adjacent fields such as space exploration, giving attendees a unique perspective on where our industry is headed."

Programming highlights include Tuesday's keynote presentation from NASA. Astronaut Donald R. Pettit will discuss his unique images taken from the International Space Station, followed by a panel discussion on the Artemis II mission and imagery beyond low Earth orbit.

New for MTS 2026, the SMPTE Media Tech Business Forum will open the summit on Monday with a dedicated program delivering market intelligence and executive perspectives from senior leaders shaping the future of media technology. Executives from leading studios, technology companies, and industry analyst firms will participate in keynote conversations, panel discussions, and interactive roundtables focused on the business forces transforming the industry.

"Our MTS programming on day one is dedicated to business strategy, keynotes from global industry leaders, an outlook on what comes next, and the health of our industry," notes Hans Hoffmann (EBU), chair of the Media Tech Business Forum. "This program shares the vision of industry leaders and brings them into dialogue with users. We offer profound insight from decision-makers, big tech in dialogue with start-ups, and critical strategies for shaping the future. Our industry is changing rapidly, and the Media Tech Business Forum is critical for anyone who needs to understand where our industry is heading, where decisions have to be made, and where opportunities will emerge.”

The Solutions Hub will return, giving attendees the opportunity to experience emerging technologies, engage directly with leading technology providers, and explore real-world applications through presentations from artists, users, and solution providers. Expanded networking events and roundtable discussions will create additional opportunities for collaboration throughout the week.

“The Media Technology Summit has always been where our industry comes together to learn, collaborate, and prepare for what's next,” says Juan Reyes, Summit co-chair. “This year, we’ve implemented further measures to equip industry leaders, mid-career professionals, and newcomers with the skills needed to navigate future challenges.”

More information about the 2026 Media Technology Summit can be found here.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—SMPTE has launched its 110th Anniversary Campaign, a fundraising initiative that honors a legacy of achievement while investing in the organization's vision for the future.

The campaign will support strategic initiatives that advance SMPTE's Standards, Education and Community programs, ensuring they continue to drive innovation, develop industry talent and connect the global media technology industry.

“As we ring in our 110^th anniversary year, there’s a lot to celebrate and a lot of work still to be done,” said SMPTE president Rich Welsh. “Our industry is evolving at an unprecedented pace, from AI-driven and cloud-based workflows to new approaches for content creation, distribution and even authenticity—making SMPTE’s role more vital than ever. This campaign represents a commitment to investing in initiatives that strengthen the foundations of our industry and ensure SMPTE continues to support current and future generations of media technologists.”

The SMPTE 110th Anniversary Campaign will help position SMPTE as a leader in the global media technology community into its next century. Campaign support will advance programs that expand access to technical knowledge, democratize standards access, support responsible innovation in AI and emerging technologies, cultivate the next generation of leaders, deepen local and global community engagement and ensure SMPTE remains prepared to address the evolving needs of the industry for decades to come.

“SMPTE has brought the global media technology community together for 110 years,” said Sally-Ann D’Amato, SMPTE executive director. “Today, more than ever, the industry needs a trusted community where people can share expertise, exchange ideas and address the challenges and opportunities shaping the future of media technology. SMPTE brings together media companies, creators, technologists, educators, students, and leaders from across the industry, and the 110th Anniversary Campaign will help ensure SMPTE continues to serve as that vital resource for the industry, powering another century of innovation.”

More information is available on SMPTE’s website.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — As media technology workflows become increasingly software-defined, IP-based, and interconnected, organizations need professionals with the skills to implement, manage and support them. To help meet that need, the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) is expanding access to practical, industry-focused education through open standards, foundational learning, instructor-led education, and hands-on training.

Building on its open-access Standards Library, SMPTE's education offerings help professionals progress from learning the fundamentals to applying them in real-world IP media environments. The journey begins with the free, self-paced ”Essentials of Media over IP (EMIP)” course available on-demand, and continues with the instructor-led “Understanding SMPTE ST 2110” virtual course, beginning July 21.

Developed in collaboration with EVS, the free EMIP course introduces the fundamentals of IP networking for media. Participants can then continue with “Understanding SMPTE ST 2110,” where live instruction, demonstrations, and interactive discussions explore the standards, technologies, and workflows used in professional IP media facilities.

Graduates of Understanding SMPTE ST 2110 are eligible to participate in the SMPTE ST 2110 Practical Lab, an immersive hands-on experience developed in collaboration with Lawo. Understanding SMPTE ST 2110 is a prerequisite for the Practical Lab, where participants configure, synchronize, test, and troubleshoot IP media systems using technologies from leading industry partners including Lawo, Arista Networks, Meinberg, Bridge Technologies, Matrox Video, AJA Video Systems, Macnica, Leader Electronics, NVIDIA, Embrionix, and others.

The course is led by Willem Vermost (EBU), Wim Van Roy (Lawo), Gerard Phillips (Arista Networks), Chris Lapp (Cisco) and Leigh Whitcomb (Meinberg). Guest lecturers include Felix Poulin (Radio-Canada), Andreas Hildebrand (Lawo), Olivier Ettlin (Simplexity), Pedro Ferreira (Bisect), Stefan Ledergerber (Simplexity) and François Legrand (Radio-Canada).

“Making SMPTE standards freely accessible was the first step,” said Maja Davidovic, director of education at SMPTE. “We’re building on that foundation with a connected learning experience that takes professionals from foundational knowledge to practical application, helping them develop the skills needed for today's evolving media technology landscape.”

Beyond its online courses and hands-on training, SMPTE delivers immersive education through the SMPTE Roadshow at NAB Show New York, technical programming at IBC and the annual SMPTE Media Technology Summit, giving media professionals opportunities to continue developing their expertise throughout the year.

Registration is now open for the next session of “Understanding SMPTE ST 2110,” beginning July 21. Learn more and register here.

SMPTE, has announced that it is making its entire Standards catalog is free to the global media technology community. This includes all published SMPTE Standards, Recommended Practices, Engineering Guidelines and Registered Disclosure Documents (RDDs), as well as all future releases.

For more than a century, SMPTE Standards have provided a foundation for the entertainment technology industry. By removing barriers to access, this milestone is expected to accelerate adoption and implementation, strengthen interoperability, and help drive the next generation of innovation.

“This was a decision we did not make lightly,” says SMPTE President Rich Welsh. “For 110 years, SMPTE has evolved alongside the media technology industry, helping to drive change and innovation — and we’re not stopping now.

“Our industry is confronting transformative shifts, from IP-based workflows to AI authenticity and content provenance, and we find ourselves at another inflection point. We listened to our Members, Partners and the global Standards community, and the answer was clear: Interoperability is essential to the future of media. Now is the time to open the gates and ensure the next generation of media technology is built on a stronger, more accessible foundation.”

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—SMPTE has launched its summer 2026 education lineup, which includes two standalone courses, an intensive boot camp and a hands-on practical lab built to develop expertise in IP networking and SMPTE ST 2110.

Introduction to IP Networks and the ST 2110 Intensive Boot Camp begin June 11, with Understanding ST 2110 starting later in the summer.

Introduction to IP Networks (ITIPN), June 11-July 9, provides a foundation in IP networking suited to those new to the field as well as experienced professionals seeking a refresher. Participants work through every layer of the network stack, cover multicast and protocols, such as DNS and RTP, and gain hands-on experience with Wireshark, earning a certificate of completion and eligibility for the SMPTE Practical Lab.

The comprehensive ST 2110 Intensive Boot Camp for IP Networking Professionals, June 11-Sept. 1, includes 20 modules across three courses, Introduction to IP Networks, Understanding ST 2110 and IP Network Design. Participants progress from networking fundamentals through PTP timing, synchronization and redundancy, network design and operational change management. Live coaching sessions, led by technologists from organizations, including the EBU, Lawo, Arista, Cisco and Meinberg, run Tuesdays and Thursdays and are recorded for on-demand access. Participants who complete the program and pass the final exam earn the industry-recognized SMPTE Certificate of Achievement.

Starting later in the summer, Understanding ST 2110, July 21-Sept. 1, offers an in-depth, practical exploration of the ST 2110 standard, covering uncompressed and compressed video, audio and data encapsulation, timing and synchronization, redundancy and network traffic shaping.

The SMPTE Practical Lab, available to those who complete Introduction to IP Networks, Understanding ST 2110 or the full Boot Camp, provides a sandbox environment in which to design, sync and troubleshoot live-production workflows. The Practical Lab is made possible by the support of partners, including Lawo Academy, Arista, Blackmagic Design, Meinberg, Bridge Technologies, Matrox and AJA Video Systems.

The standalone courses and the boot camp are instructor-led with live coaching sessions recorded and available on demand within 24 hours so participants can take part from any time zone.

“The move to IP is one of the most significant shifts our industry has seen, and our goal is to make the expertise behind it accessible to everyone who needs it,” said Maja Davidovic, director of education at SMPTE. “Our instructors are real-world practitioners who design and run these systems every day, our live sessions bring in special guest participants, and the learning stays hands-on and interactive throughout. Whether you’re taking your first steps in IP networking or preparing to lead a full ST 2110 migration, you'll be working through real challenges alongside the people shaping the field.”

SMPTE is offering member and non-member pricing for the courses, including:

• Introduction to IP Networks (ITIPN): $399 for members and $599 for nonmembers.
• Understanding ST 2110: $399 and $599.
• ST 2110 Intensive Boot Camp: $799 and $999.
• Practical Lab: $99 and $199.

Student and hardship discounts are always available for all SMPTE Education courses. Registration is available online.

BEAVERTON, Ore.—HDR10+ Technologies LLC, an industrywide consortium with more than 180 adopter companies, has been selected to administer the certification program for Eclipsa Video, a new open source video standard.

Eclipsa Video is based upon SMPTE 2094-50, the recently developed specification created by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), with experts from Google, Apple and NBCUniversal leading this initiative.

Roshan Baliga, Google Product Lead for Eclipsa Video explained that "we decided to leverage HDR10+ Technologies LLC’s proficiency in premium video standards, making their organization the ideal partner to administer the Eclipsa Video program.”

The Eclipsa Video program helps to ensure the highest-quality video on compatible smartphones other and next-generation devices. This latest effort marks the second time that the HDR10+ Technologies LLC has been selected to administer a program for Eclipsa. Last October it was selected to administer the Eclipsa Audio certification program

“For years, HDR10+ has been at the forefront of video innovation by delivering a spectacular viewing experience,” Bill Mandel, co-manager of HDR10+ Technologies LLC said. “With Eclipsa Video, we can now expand our pioneering work in Eclipsa Audio certification, in order to deliver a more seamless and immersive audio/video environment”.

Eclipsa Video seamlessly integrates with the broadly supported HDR10+ standard. Devices certified for both standards may utilize the name Eclipsa Video powered by HDR10+.

The new Eclipsa Video program will initially address smartphones, with other devices to follow. The first Eclipsa Video approved devices are expected to be introduced later this year.

For more information on licensing and testing Eclipsa Video, please visit www.eclipsamedia.org

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) has released more details about the SMPTE ST 2110 IP Media Roadshow at the 2026 NAB Show, announced last month.

On Tuesday, April 21, SMPTE will hold a a first-of-its-kind, full-day in-person bootcamp, designed to equip media professionals with the practical knowledge needed to confidently design, deploy, and operate IP-based production systems.

The program runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Rm. N252 in the North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Grounded in real-world broadcast, live production, and hybrid environments, the Roadshow goes beyond theory — focusing on how IP media systems actually perform in the field. As the organization responsible for developing and maintaining the SMPTE ST 2110 standards, SMPTE brings a depth of expertise and vendor-neutral perspective unmatched by any other training provider, connecting specification language directly to operational practice.

“The industry’s shift to IP-based production is well underway, and professionals need more than theory — they need practical, systems-level knowledge they can apply from day one,” said Jesse Janosky, Senior Engineering Leader and ST 2110 Instructor at JPM Technology Consulting. “This Roadshow bridges that gap — grounding standards in the real-world decisions engineers face every day.”

Full-Day Program Schedule
Opening with a welcome and introduction to the SMPTE ST 2110 Working Group from Merrick “Rick” Ackermans — Director of RF and Transmissions Engineering at CBS/Paramount, Chair of the SMPTE ST 2110 Drafting Group, and a SMPTE Fellow — the bootcamp moves through six structured modules that progress from foundational concepts to hands-on system design. Jesse Janosky provides a run-of-day overview before the technical sessions begin.

• Module 1 — ST 2110 Foundations & Standards Overview (Chris Lapp, Cisco): An introduction to the ST 2110 standards suite and the foundational principles of IP-based media transport.
• Module 2 — Precision Time Protocol (ST 2059) for Live Production (Willem Vermost, EBU): A deep dive into how PTP enables deterministic synchronization across live production facilities, followed by a supplementary session on warning signs and failure modes when PTP begins to drift, led by Steve Kolta of Meinberg.
• Module 3 — Audio Over IP in ST 2110 Environments (Andreas Hildebrand, Lawo): Coverage of AES67 and ST 2110 audio transport standards, including packetization, flow configuration, MADI over IP, and practical deployment considerations.
• Module 4 — Network Fabric Design for Media (Gerard Phillips, Arista Networks; Chris Lapp, Cisco): Multicast routing, bandwidth planning, and redundancy strategies for networks carrying real-time, uncompressed media, followed by a session on identifying bottlenecks led by Cassidy Lee Phillips.
• Module 5 — Deployment and Operational Failure Points (Nestor Amaya, EVS): Identification of the design decisions and configuration errors most commonly encountered in the field, and a practical framework for avoiding them.
• Module 6 — Team Practicum: Sample RFP and System Design (Jesse Janosky & Cassidy Lee Phillips): A collaborative exercise built around a realistic RFP scenario covering client needs assessment, workflow mapping, functional diagramming, product research, and deployment partner qualification. The day concludes with team RFP presentations.

What attendees gain extends well beyond the six modules. A shared technical vocabulary, greater confidence in infrastructure decision-making, and a clearer picture of where adjacent technologies — including IPMX, NDI, Dante, and JPEG-XS — fit within the broader standards landscape are among the key takeaways. The program is suited for broadcast and media engineers, systems integrators, live and remote production teams, media IT and cloud professionals, early-career professionals, and students.

Registration is available a la carte and includes a NAB Show Floor Pass. Non-members pay $550; SMPTE members, NAB members, students, and government attendees are eligible for the $450 rate. Discounts are also available for SMPTE Education alumni.

Register for the show here. Click here for more information about the SMPTE ST 2110 IP Media Roadshow /

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—SMPTE has announced the educational presentations it will be presenting at the 2026 NAB Show, between April 18 and 22 in the Las Vegas Convention Center.

This year SMPTE will present the Visual Innovation and Brilliant Engineering (VIBE) Conference in place of the Future of Cinema Conference (FOCC). SMPTE will also introduce the SMPTE ST 2110 IP Media Roadshow, a hands-on, full-day training program for media professionals who are navigating the shift from SDI to IP-based production. Attendees can visit SMPTE at Booth #NL3.

“SMPTE remains the bridge between visionary storytelling and the engineering that makes it possible,” said SMPTE director of education, programming, Laquie TN Campbell. “By introducing VIBE, we are showcasing a massive spectrum of innovation. We are exploring everything from robotic cameras operating from Earth to space, to the frontier of agentic AI, to the intricate engineering redefining the audience experience. It’s the kind of cross-disciplinary exploration that ensures the media technology story evolves as boldly as the stories it helps tell.”

SMPTE released this schedule of its activities at the show and described the content as follows:

Saturday, April 18

10 a.m. PDT – 5 p.m. PDT: SMPTE VIBE – N259

Explore how modern story-driven productions shape technology, from end-to-end workflow design to robotic systems enabling impossible camera motion, content authenticity and provenance challenges, and new pipeline approaches that meet evolving creative demands:

• 9:50 a.m. PDT – 10 a.m. PDT: Welcome and Introductions by SMTPE Leadership
• 10 a.m. PDT – 10:40 a.m. PDT: VIBE – Keynote Session with Carolyn Giardina
• 10:40 a.m. PDT – 11:20 a.m. PDT: VIBE – Imaging at Unprecedented Scale for Sphere
• 11:20 a.m. PDT – 12 p.m. PDT: VIBE – Robotic Cameras from Earth to Space
• 12 p.m. PDT – 12:55 p.m. PDT: VIBE – The Engineering Case for Content Authenticity
• 2 p.m. PDT – 2:50 p.m. PDT: VIBE – Open Source is Ready for Prime Time
• 2:55 p.m. PDT – 3:10 p.m. PDT: VIBE – Ograf – Making Broadcast Graphics Open and Interoperable
• 3:10 p.m. PDT – 4:05 p.m. PDT: VIBE – From Build to Broadcast to Fan Experience in Live Sports Systems
• 4:05 p.m. PDT – 5 p.m. PDT: VIBE – The Global Translation Layer for OTT Accessibility and Scale

Tuesday, April 21

10 a.m. PDT – 5 p.m. PDT: SMPTE ST 2110 IP Media Roadshow – N252

• Module 1: ST 2110 Foundations and Systems Architecture
• Module 2: Precision Time Protocol (ST 2059) for Live Production
• Module 3: Audio over IP in ST 2110 Environments
• Module 4: Network Fabric Design for Media
• Module 5: Deployment and Operational Failure Points
• Module 6: Team Practicum — Sample RFP and System Design

Securing and Scaling Agentic AI: Safe Conversational Control for Media Workflows – 3:30 p.m. PDT – 4:30 p.m. PDT in N261.

"The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) has been coordinating innovation and partnering with the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) for over 100 years,” said SMPTE governor and 2026 NAB Conference Program Co-Chair, Marc Zorn. “SMPTE will host Visual Innovation and Brilliant Engineering (VIBE) during NAB with compelling industry visionaries on Saturday, April 18th in the LVCC North Hall meeting rooms. Please join us at this year's conference to explore new challenges ranging from technologies in exhibition spaces, content authenticity, management of streaming, AI, and even robotics.”

Further information about SMPTE at the 2026 NAB Show is online at SMPTE Visual Innovation and Brilliant Engineering Conference - NAB Show.

Further information about the SMPTE ST 2110 IP Media Roadshow can be found at SMPTE Roadshow: ST 2110 Bootcamp - NAB Show.

Further information about SMPTE is online at smpte.org.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—SMPTE today issued a call for technical papers for its 2026 Media Technology Summit, Nov. 16-19, at the Pasadena Convention Center in Pasadena, Calif.

Organizers aim to offer the latest innovative processes, tools, workflows, interoperability solutions, standards and other initiatives driving the industry forward as relates to creation, management and delivery of media content.

Original, unpublished manuscripts aligning with these goals will undergo multi-peer review when submitted as abstracts. Abstracts should be 300 to 400 words and will be accepted until May 31.

SMPTE has also included a journal track that enables interested parties to submit full, publication-ready manuscripts that will automatically be considered for publication in the “SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal,” subject to a separate post-event peer-review process. Manuscripts must be 3,000 to 5,000 words and will be accepted until May 31.

The conference program committee will notify authors of its decisions by June 30. Authors of selected papers will be granted the opportunity to present at the summit.

Paper topics can include, but are not limited to:

• Color Science: Color vision and adaptation for motion imaging. • Color capture and reproduction.• Color correction, encoding and image processing. • Emerging color pipelines for motion imaging.
• Emerging & Disruptive Technologies:  • Artificial intelligence and automation. • 5G and next-generation connectivity. • Blockchain and decentralized media systems. • Robotics, control systems and machine vision. 
• Content Creation & Production Innovation:  • Virtual, augmented and mixed reality production. • Immersive and interactive media experiences. • Next-generation content creation workflows. 
• Media Infrastructure & Distribution: • Cloud and edge computing solutions. • IP-based media systems and networking innovations. • Evolution of streaming, OTT and hybrid delivery models. 
• Compression, Processing & Optimization: • Advanced codecs, compression techniques and standards. • AI-powered signal processing and media optimization. • HDR, color science and imaging technologies.
• Hardware, Display & Capture Technologies: • Cutting-edge display, projection and viewing systems. • Photonics, sensors and optical technologies.
• Industry, Security & Sustainability: • Sustainable media production and green workflows. • Cybersecurity, privacy and infrastructure resilience. • Standards development and industry evolution. • Cloud workflows and their role in sustainability. 
• Other topics relevant to the Media Tech Industry.

Previously published, product-specific, commercial, sales or promotional papers will not be considered. The society also said it is encouraging students to submit papers.

More information is available on the SMPTE website.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—SMPTE has announced that Steve LLamb, vice president of technology standards and solutions for cinema worldwide at Deluxe, will chair the ISO/TC 36 Cinematography. He will be taking over the role from previous chair, Andy Maltz.

"It was an honor to collaborate with ISO/TC 36 members to maintain and advance the international technical standards that underpin the cinema industry,” said Maltz. “As an experienced ISO/TC 36 working group chair, Steve LLamb's background and commitment to standards positions him for success in his new role."

ISO/TC 36 works to ensure interoperability across the worldwide motion picture industry. A due process organization with a membership of 175 countries, ISO develops international standards in a broad range of topics. ISO/TC 36 has published 114 international standards and has 12 more under development. Current work includes standardization of cinema LED display technical parameters and streamlining digital cinema standards revisions.

“As Andy transitions from the role of Chair, I would like to take a moment to thank him for his leadership and dedication to ISO/TC 36 over the past several years,” said LLamb. “I am honored to step into the role of Chair and to serve alongside such a committed and knowledgeable group of experts. ISO/TC 36 occupies a unique and important place in the standards ecosystem, providing long-term stability and international alignment for cinematography standards that must endure across technologies, workflows, and generations.”

"Since 1952, SMPTE has served as the secretariat for ISO/TC 36 ‘Cinematography,’ with a commitment to ensuring the seamless operation of the TC,” said SMPTE standards director Thomas Bause Mason. “As Andy Maltz completes his tenure as TC chair after a productive seven-year term, and Steve LLamb takes over the role, we are confident that this transition will uphold our tradition of consistency and stability."

Further information on SMPTE Standards is online at Standards Overview | Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers. Further information about SMPTE is online at smpte.org.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) has announced the board officers and regional governors who will serve terms with the industry group starting this month.

Elected as officers to the SMPTE board for a two-year term from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2028, are Chris Lapp, elected membership vice president, and Troy English, selected as finance vice president. Raymond Yeung, SMPTE’s standards vice president, was chosen to serve for another two-year term.

“SMPTE is an organization built on the generosity of its members,” SMPTE Executive Director Sally-Ann D’Amato said. “These officers have gone above and beyond for the Society. That’s why the membership trusts them with this important responsibility, and they are prepared to tackle it head-on. These next two years are looking bright for SMPTE because of the participation from our membership, and we thank every one of you.”

SMPTE also selected six regional governors for two-year terms running from 2026 to 2027. Re-elected as regional governors are:

• Canada Region Governor: Tony Meerakker, Meer Tech Systems
• USA Eastern Region Governor: Sara Seidel, Riedel Communications
• EMEA, Central and South America Region Governor: Dagmar Driesnack, Appear AS

Elected as new governors were:

• Asia-Pacific Region Governor: Paul Whybrow, Varda Creative Leadership
• USA Southern Region Governor: Andre Normil, FanDuel Sports Network
• USA: Western Region Governor Catherine Meininger, Portrait Displays

A full list of SMPTE’s board of governors and further information on the organzation are available at smpte.org.

The broadcast industry has seen major transformations, but what we’re facing now is a deeper shift. It’s not just transport or tools. It’s a rethinking of how we build, scale, and operate live production infrastructure.

You’ve probably heard “infrastructure as code” a lot lately. For some, it’s the next step in automating and scaling live production. For others, it sounds like handing your OB van to a DevOps engineer with a YAML file.

I get the skepticism. But if you look at where the pain points in live production are today, you’ll see this isn’t just another tech trend. It’s a strategic necessity.

Why This Feels Risky (And Why It’s Necessary)
For decades, broadcast engineering has been a hardware-first, hands-on craft. SDI routers, frame syncs, multiviewers, and patch panels were built with precision and meant to run 24/7. Rebuilding a live environment on demand in the cloud? That’s a radical shift.

This works well for customers in sports, OTT, and fast-channel environments. They want modular workflows, not one-size-fits-all systems. But flexibility brings complexity.

It’s relatively easy to code infrastructure to spin up servers, storage, and connections. But configuring tech from 10 different vendors? That’s the real challenge. You need a unified, software-based control system.

The Real Bottleneck: control
The industry’s made progress solving video transport. ST 2110 helped us move beyond SDI into scalable IP production. But in focusing so hard on transport, we overlooked something else: control.

As we added more vendors, cloud services, and hybrid workflows, that gap became more obvious. It’s not just the complexity. It’s the manual overhead of stitching together multiple systems in real time. That doesn’t scale.

Customers don’t want one big system from one vendor. They want to curate their own stack. But large, complex production venues could involve over 200 control protocols across their equipment. No one would design a system that way, but here we are. Event-based, ephemeral infrastructure makes sense. But with a dozen vendors, each with different APIs and quirks, spinning it up isn’t trivial.

What is Infrastructure-as-Code?
It means managing infrastructure with software logic instead of manual steps. Think:

• Configuration as version-controlled text files
• Automated deployments of full production environments
• Predefined templates that launch workflows in minutes

Engineers don’t need to become Python programmers. But they’ll spend less time fixing protocol mismatches and more time producing content.

In software, Infrastructure-as-Code defines entire environments, networks, services, storage, application workflows, via configuration files. Tools like Terraform and Ansible aren’t just for DevOps anymore. Broadcast engineers need them to deliver scalable, on-demand infrastructure.

At AWS, this approach runs some of the most advanced live workflows in the industry. It’s not just about cost, it’s about agility.

Not Just Hype: A Culture Shift
Let’s be honest: not everyone’s ready for this. Broadcast engineers aren’t usually trained in cloud orchestration or declarative configs. That’s not a criticism. It reflects how the industry grew up. Our workflows were built to be robust and hands-on.

Going in as a traditional engineer will be tough. If we don’t invest in training — or use automation to bridge the gap — adoption will stall. But tools exist to help. That’s part of what ST 2138 (formerly known as Catena) is about.

ST 2138 is the latest standard being proposed by The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE). It provides a vendor-agnostic, software-based control layer across on-prem, private cloud, and public cloud, without rewriting APIs each time.

The Payoff: Real Agility
The goal isn’t to turn live production into a science experiment. It’s to reduce friction—especially when you need to launch fast, reconfigure often, and scale on demand. Software-defined infrastructure lets teams work faster and more consistently. It’s the only path forward if you need to do more with less. You can’t afford brittle, inflexible systems.

With a software-defined control layer you can:

• Launch events in hours, not days
• Automate failover, resource allocation, and monitoring
• Test environments in isolation
• Run infrastructure only when needed

Change is Hard, Standing Still is Harder
ST 2138 provides a unified control standard across vendors, platforms, and environments. It simplifies control and enables multi-vendor automation. This shift challenges legacy thinking, skills, and comfort zones. But it’s already happening. If you’re skeptical, that’s healthy. But the transition won’t wait.

To future-proof operations and protect quality and creativity, we must start seeing infrastructure as code: reusable, testable, scalable, and under your control. That’s not the end of engineering. It’s the evolution of it. Infrastructure as code won’t replace the art of live production. It just changes how we manage the canvas.

The draft of ST 2138 is now open for consultation. Click here to review the draft and join the conversation.

RASTATT, Germany—Lawo and the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) have partnered to launch the SMPTE ST 2110 Practical Lab, an immersive training program to assist the industry’s transition to IP-based workflows.

The Practical Lab, hosted at Lawo headquarters in Rastatt, Germany, offers a hands-on environment to design, synchronize and troubleshoot live-production IP networks, the company said.

The lab builds on SMPTE’s education path, which includes:

• Introduction to SMPTE ST 2110 (Independent study.) — Ongoing enrollment throughout 2026. https://www.smpte.org/introduction-to-st2110
• Understanding SMPTE ST 2110 (Instructor-led, virtual/online.) — In-depth technical exploration of ST 2110 with peer learning through an online flipped classroom model. https://www.smpte.org/virtual-course/st2110
• SMPTE ST 2110 Boot Camp (Intensive instructor-led, virtual/online training) — The next Boot Camp session to be held in January. https://www.smpte.org/smpte-st-2110-boot-camp-january

Once media professionals who have completed these courses can apply their knowledge in real-world scenarios using Lawo solutions, including A__mic8 audio stagebox, .edge SDI/IP gateway, VSM, HOME management platform and HOME Apps.

Key dates include:

• Understanding SMPTE ST 2110 (Virtual): Dec. 2–18.
• SMPTE ST 2110 Boot Camp: Jan. 12, 2026, to April 30, 2026.
• Practical Lab: Booked after the Boot Camp or SMPTE ST 2110 course and offered remotely during a one-day self-paced list of hands-on exercises.

“The transition to IP is one of the most significant evolutions in broadcast technology,” said Wim Van Roy, educational architect at Lawo and 2025 education director at SMPTE. “By partnering with SMPTE and the wider industry to deliver this Practical Lab, we’re empowering professionals to confidently design and operate ST 2110 workflows—supporting the industry’s future towards dynamic media facilities powered by SMPTE ST 2110 standards.”

More information about the Practical Lab is available online.

More information is available on the company’s website.

SMPTE has joined forces with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) to publish an updated report on AI and its impact on media.

The document is the result of a task force on AI standards in media that began in 2020 and is an updated version of the Engineering Report released in 2023.

It aims to provide media professionals with a background of both AI and Machine Learning (ML), said the organisations.

The report includes a technical understanding of the two technologies, as well as the impact they are likely to have on the media landscape. It also explores AI ethics and discusses the role that standards can play in AI/ML’s future.

“The AI in Media landscape is evolving at an unprecedented pace, and the SMPTE AI Taskforce remains committed to keeping up with this transformation,” said SMPTE standards director Thomas Bause Mason.

“The revision to the Engineering Report reflects new developments such as the Model Context Protocol (MCP), enhanced security considerations, open source in AI, and emerging frameworks like ISO/IEC 42001 among others. By incorporating these updates, we aim to provide the industry with clear guidance on AI/ML as well as interoperable AI practices for media workflows.”

The report is open to all and can be found here.

The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers has announced it will hold its annual meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 10, via a Zoom webinar at 11 a.m. ET.

Speakers will discuss the state of the society, providing an overview of the progress made over the past year and detailing changes to SMPTE membership based on feedback from current, former and prospective members. There will also be an opportunity to ask questions.

The group said that no registration is required.

SMPTE described its plans for the Annual Membership Meeting as follows:

• “Join us for an inside look at SMPTE’s achievements, ongoing initiatives, and future plans! Highlights include:
• “A Year in Review—Key accomplishments and milestones from the past year.
• "Membership Development Insights—Updates and strategies shaping our growing community.
• “Standards Community Outlook—A look ahead at emerging trends and initiatives.
• “Education Programs Update—Progress on current programs and upcoming opportunities.
• “Looking Ahead to 2026—Exciting plans revealed by Richard Welsh and Sally-Ann D'Amato.
• “Closing Remarks—Reflections on the year and next steps for our members.”

More information is available on the SMPTE website.

It’s easy to frame open standards as a noble cause, somewhere between technical utopia and engineering idealism.

But that sells them short. Open standards aren’t just good engineering practice. They’re a smart business practice. Whether you’re a commercial network, a sports broadcaster or a national public service, the value of openness is measurable in reduced cost, increased agility and decreased risk. And if you’ve ever tried to scale a live-production operation across hybrid cloud and on-prem systems, you already know how valuable that can be.

Open Standards=Business Flexibility
We all know the pain of vendor lock-in. You commit to one supplier, only to discover months later that you’re boxed in—technically and contractually. Want to integrate a new tool from another vendor? Good luck. Want to move parts of your workflow to the cloud? Not so fast.

That’s where open standards come in. They provide the connective tissue—a shared language across devices and systems—so you can evolve your operation without rebuilding from scratch every time. Best-of-breed only works if systems can talk to each other. Standards make that possible.

Your Competitive Edge Depends on Interoperability
The future isn’t monolithic. It’s modular. And modularity only works with interoperability. Without standards, the time, cost and complexity of stitching together those workflows become the bottleneck. That kills agility, and with it, competitive edge.

That’s why we’re seeing growing demand not just for transport-layer standards like SMPTE ST 2110, but now also for control-plane standards like the new SMPTE ST 2138 (also known as Catena).

Customers are the Real Drivers of Standards
One of the biggest misconceptions is that standards come from vendors pushing their own agendas. In reality, the most successful standards are dragged into existence through customer pressure.

SMPTE ST 2110 didn’t win because it was elegant on paper. It won because major broadcasters and sports networks demanded a unified approach to IP video transport. They didn’t want 10 different IP protocols. They wanted one standard. They told vendors: “Get on board or we won’t buy.” That same customer-driven energy is behind Catena.

Why SMPTE ST 2138 Matters
Catena is a new open standard that simplifies control and monitoring across multivendor environments—cloud, on-prem, or hybrid. If ST 2110 solved how to move media, Catena tackles how to configure and control the infrastructure behind it.

It’s being built with real-world use cases in mind, co-developed by broadcasters, vendors and organizations like IABM. And it’s being launched through SMPTE’s Public CD process — a fast-track mechanism to open the spec for public feedback and adoption, without waiting years for full ratification.

We’ve reached the point where we need this to scale. The pain is real, and the time is now. ST 2138 gives us a smarter, more unified way to control our ecosystems.

Why Executives Should Care
Here’s what open standards actually mean for your business:

• Lower integration costs: Less custom engineering=faster deployments.
• Reduced risk: You’re not beholden to a single vendor’s roadmap.
• Greater agility: Spin up new capabilities, scale globally, migrate to cloud—on your terms.
• Talent retention: Engineers prefer open tools and transparent ecosystems.
• Strategic leverage: You negotiate with vendors from a position of choice, not desperation.

In other words, this isn’t an abstract technical debate. It’s a bottom-line issue

The bottom line—open standards aren’t about a live-production industry kumbaya. They’re about keeping your options open in an industry defined by constant change. They’re how you scale with confidence; how you avoid being stuck with yesterday’s infrastructure; how you get to market faster, operate leaner and innovate on your timeline, not someone else’s. In live production, agility is strategy. And open standards are how we enable it.

Want to Help Shape the Future of Control?
If this resonates with you, now’s the time to get involved. ST 2138 (Catena) is entering public consultation, and your feedback could make all the difference.

If you want control standards that truly support your infrastructure, now’s the time to get involved. Click here to review the draft and join the conversation.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. —SMPTE has announced its lineup of sessions and show highlights for IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, in Amsterdam. Show visitors will find SMPTE and other show owners — the leading international bodies behind IBC — in the IBC2025 Owner Pavilion, located in the RAI Hall 8 Lobby, at the top of the escalator.

SMPTE Partner Programme Sessions at IBC2025
As an IBC2025 Partner, SMPTE will present four sessions within the IBC2025 Partner Programme. Free to attend, these sessions feature seminars from industry leaders on key topics driving change in media technology, workflows, and business models.

• Saturday, Sept. 13: 14:10 – 14:45 in E102
  Smart Workflows - Harnessing AI tools for Next Generation Content
  AI is rapidly redefining the media landscape, unlocking capabilities once thought impossible. This session delves into how modern AI systems interpret and generate multimedia content, enable richer storytelling, and automate key production processes. Take a look at the risks, limitations, and opportunities ahead.
• Saturday, Sept. 13: 14:55 – 15:30 in E102
  Securing and Standardizing Control: Inside the SMPTE ST 2138 Ecosystem
  Controlling media devices and services has traditionally been a fragmented challenge —especially in today’s hybrid infrastructures. This discussion introduces a standardized, open-source control framework that’s transport-agnostic, secure by design, and scalable from the smallest tool to the most complex production system. Experts will share insights into the Catena ecosystem, its flexible data model, and how it supports interoperability across vendors and platforms. Attendees will gain a clear understanding of the problems it solves and how it can be applied in their own workflows.
• Saturday, Sept. 13: 15:40 – 16:15 in E102
  From Classroom to Control Room: Building Careers in Media Technology
  Attracting and nurturing talent is critical for the future of the media technology sector. In this discussion, past program participants, academic leaders, and industry representatives share their perspectives on what works — and why. From forging new partnerships to identifying emerging skill sets, we’ll examine how collaborative efforts between education and industry are shaping the workforce of tomorrow.
• Saturday, Sept. 13: 16:25 – 17:00 in E102
  SMPTE Forward: New Standards, New Skills, New Communities
  With new challenges emerging across media production, distribution, and preservation, SMPTE is launching a range of initiatives to help the industry adapt. This session covers upcoming standards, including content authenticity and AI — and explores educational efforts aimed at creative and technical professionals. From community networks to immersive skills training, find out how SMPTE is creating tools, spaces, and standards to support the next generation of media innovation.

Networking Events at IBC2025:

• Thursday, Sept. 11: 11:04 – 16:15 from London St Pancras to Amsterdam Centraal
  The Green Line Media Networking Event
  SMPTE is a sponsor in The Green Line, bringing together broadcasters, technologists, sustainability experts, analysts, and journalists for a train trip that will feature networking, education, and even a pub quiz. The event will be DJed by SMPTE President Richard Welsh and Beyond Zero CEO Dee Davison.
• Sunday, Sept. 14: 16:00 – 18:00 at Stand 0.A05
  BT Media and Broadcast Drinks and Networking Event
  Please join SMPTE Partner BT Media and Broadcast for their famous drinks and networking event in the sunshine. This pleasant afternoon is an excellent time to meet with SMPTE leaders and experts to discuss the future of the organization, catch up with colleagues, and engage with other attendees in a comfortable setting. Register here.

SMPTE Representatives and Speakers at IBC2025
SMPTE President Richard Welsh, SMPTE Executive Director Sally-Ann D’Amato, SMPTE Marketing Manager Erminia Fiorino, SMPTE Standards Director Thomas Bause Mason, and SMPTE Education Director Maja Davidovic will all be at IBC2025 on behalf of the Society and available for meetings. SMPTE’s IBC Booth number is 3.A44.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—SMPTE, the home for media professionals, technologists, and engineers, will honor some of the industry’s top minds and organizations at its annual Awards Gala, Thursday, Oct. 16, at the conclusion of the 2025 SMPTE Media Technology Summit. The Gala will take place in the Pasadena Convention Center.

"I want to congratulate all of this year's award recipients," said Fellows Committee Chair and SMPTE past-president Renard Jenkins. "Their dedication to the Society and our industry as a whole is evident through their work and volunteerism. Each and every one of these individuals have had a positive impact on the relevance and longevity of SMPTE. Thank you and Congratulations!"

This year, 14 honors will be bestowed upon 31 individuals and organizations.

The David Sarnoff Medal was established in 1950 and recognizes outstanding contributions to the development of new techniques or equipment that have improved the engineering phases of television technology. This year, the medal is being awarded to Darryl Jefferson in recognition of his visionary engineering leadership and transformative innovations in large-scale broadcast systems. At NBC Olympics and Sports, Jefferson has advanced the frontiers of live television production through pioneering work in cloud-based workflows, IP architectures, and real-time media delivery for global events.

The Progress Medal award honors an individual who has made outstanding technical contributions to the progress of engineering phases in the motion picture, television, or motion imaging industries. This year’s recipient is Sir Ian Taylor, in recognition of his decades-long leadership and technological innovation in animation and sports production. As the founder of Animation Research Ltd, Sir Ian has pioneered virtual technologies that have transformed how audiences experience live sports — most notably in sailing, golf, cricket, and motorsports.

The Excellence in Education Medal was established in 2016 and recognizes outstanding contributions to new or unique educational programs that teach the technologies of motion imaging sciences, including emerging media technology. This year, SMPTE recognizes Polly Hickling for her outstanding contributions to developing inclusive and accessible learning pathways in the dynamic field of media engineering. Through her innovative use of nontraditional teaching strategies in both academic and professional settings, Hickling has ensured that learners from diverse backgrounds are engaged, supported, and empowered to advance their careers.

The Workflow Systems Medal was established in 2012 and recognizes outstanding contributions related to the development and integration of workflows that enhance creativity, collaboration, efficiency, or novel approaches to the production, post-production, or distribution process. This year, SMPTE will honor Michelle Munson in recognition of her visionary leadership and entrepreneurial impact in transforming media workflows on a global scale. As the co-founder and CEO of Aspera, she built one of the most influential technology companies in modern media infrastructure — solving one of the industry's most persistent challenges and enabling faster, more efficient, and more collaborative content production and delivery.

The Camera Origination and Imaging Medal was established in 2012 and recognizes significant technical achievements related to invention or advances in imaging technology. This year, the award will honor Dr. Peter Centen for pioneering innovations in image sensor technology that transformed electronic cinematography and broadcast imaging. Over a career spanning more than four decades, Dr. Centen played a pivotal role in the industry’s transition from CCD to CMOS image sensors, serving as chief architect of the Xensium family that enabled HD, 4K, HDR, and HFR imaging.

The James A. Lindner Archival Technology Medal was established in 2012 and recognizes significant technical advancements or contributions related to the archive or preservation of media content essence. This year, the Medal is awarded to Reto Kromer in recognition of his pioneering contributions to audiovisual preservation through practical, accessible, and forward-looking technologies. A mathematician and computer scientist, Kromer has advanced the field through his work on open-source tools, low-energy conservation methods, and digital workflows — including color space analysis and codec emulation.

The Natalie M. and Herbert T. Kalmus Award honors the recipient by recognizing outstanding contributions that reflect a commitment to the highest standards of quality and innovation in motion picture production, post-production, and distribution services. This year’s recipient is Scott Miller for his pivotal contributions to the invention, development, advocacy, and standardization of the Perceptual Quantizer (PQ) transfer function. PQ provides an efficient mapping of absolute luminance levels to human visual perception, establishing a critical foundation for the widespread adoption of high dynamic range (HDR) motion imaging.

The Samuel L. Warner Memorial Medal Award honors the individual by recognizing outstanding contributions in the design and development of new and improved methods and/or apparatus for motion picture sound, including any step in the process. This year’s recipient is Ben Burtt in recognition of his transformative contributions to the art and science of motion picture sound. Burtt revolutionized sound design by departing from traditional library-based effects, instead crafting unique, organic sounds tailored to each scene — often derived from nature or real-world sources.

The Excellence in Standards Award recognizes those who have been actively involved in advancing Society standards, activities, and processes. This year’s award will be presented to Steve LLamb in recognition of his exemplary leadership and enduring contributions to the SMPTE Standards Community. For over a decade, he has shaped digital cinema standards, chairing the Digital Cinema Working Group for eight years and guiding the integration of the film and sound technology committees.

The Louis F. Wolf Jr. Memorial Scholarship is designed to assist students in furthering their undergraduate or graduate studies in motion pictures and television, with an emphasis on technology. This year’s recipient is Anthony Guarino from the Rochester Institute of Technology.

The Citation for Outstanding Service to the Society recognizes dedicated service to SMPTE, particularly at the Section level. This year, four individuals will be honored with this award: Zandra Clarke in recognition of her dedicated and multifaceted service to the Atlanta Section and to SMPTE at large; Bill Hogan for his unwavering commitment to advancing SMPTE’s mission and fostering Section engagement; Jim DeFilippis in recognition of his leadership and educational outreach within the Hollywood Section; and Ujwal Nirgudkar in recognition of his exceptional leadership as Chair of the India Section and his enduring efforts to expand SMPTE’s presence across India.

The Journal Award for the best paper originally published in the SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal during 2024 will be presented to Alejandro Arango, Simon Therriault, and Andriy Yamashev for their paper, “Enhancements to Media Transport in ICVFX Using SMPTE 2110,” by A. Arango, S. Therriault and A. Yamashev, published in the October 2024 issue of the Motion Imaging Journal – Volume 133, Issue 6.” Additionally, Journal Certificates of Merit will be awarded to Ricardo Figueroa for his paper, “What Electronic Image Noise Signatures Can Tell Us About Image Linearity and Camera Encoding,” by Ricardo Figueroa, PhD, published in the September 2024 issue of the Motion Imaging Journal – Volume 133, Issue 5.”

Thirteen new SMPTE Fellows will be recognized at this year’s Gala for attaining an outstanding rank among engineers or executives in media and entertainment through their proficiency and contributions to the motion-picture, television, or related industries. These individuals are John Abt, Francois Bourdua, Carolyn Giardina, Eric Gsell, Carys Hughes, Russell Trafford-Jones, Phillip Graham Layton, François Legrand, Nick Mitchell, Paritosh Saha, Florian Schleich, James Toten, and Ron Williams.

Tickets for the SMPTE Awards Gala can be added to conference registration packages or purchased separately. Reserved tables are also available for purchase. Gala Sponsorships and congratulatory program book ads are available as well. To purchase a table or to become a sponsor, contact Anthony Catalano. More information can be found at Why Sponsor: SMPTE Media Technology Summit 2025.

More information about the Gala and the 2025 Honorees, including full award citations, can be found on the Summit website at SMPTE Media Technology Summit 2025.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers today introduced its Content Provenance and Authenticity (CPA) in Media Study Group (SG).

The study group will assess how current content provenance and authenticity technologies affect media production and distribution. One key focus will be on the carriage of content provenance information in MXF files due to an urgent industry need, SMPTE said.

“The CPA SG was established at a critical juncture, as artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly integrated into media production,” Thomas Bause Mason, SMPTE’s director of standards and head of the CPA in Media Study Group, said.

“In this evolving landscape, ensuring that audiences can trust the authenticity of the content they consume is more important than ever,” he said. “The SG will explore how CPA-related information can be transported effectively and securely across today’s professional media infrastructure.”

The project will identify content provenance and authenticity technologies and areas of work and activities in other professional media organizations. It will make recommendations on where SMPTE can update existing standards or create new ones to support the flow of content provenance and authenticity information. The group will also gather use cases and requirements as well as summarize its findings and recommendations in one or more study group reports, SMPTE said.

The group includes representatives of the SMPTE standards community from Ross Video, Sony, Adobe, the European Broadcasting Union and Metaglue.

More information is available on the SMPTE website.

The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) has opened early-bird registration for the Media Technology Summit, which will take place in a new location—the Pasadena (Calif.) Convention Center.

MTS2025 kicks off Monday, Oct. 13, with a full day featuring the latest in live-event broadcasting technology and workflows.

Technical sessions begin on Tuesday, Oct. 14, with a diverse range of sessions covering topics from cloud production and immersive media to standards development and practical case studies.

On Thursday, SMPTEsaid MTS2025 will offer sessions highlighting the constantly-evolving role of AI in media technology.

MTS2025 will also feature the Super Session on the Color Track, which will take a deep dive into how color science is reshaping imaging workflows.

Registration is available here. More information on the schedule is available here.

On Air, a 26-hour global live broadcast will take place on Oct. 16 2025, delivering a continuous stream of original and pre-recorded content managed entirely by university and college students.

The project has been put together by the Global Media and Entertainment Talent Manifesto, with backing from ITV Studios, SMPTE, AWS, Vizrt and Deluxe.

Each participating institution will contribute at least one hour of live programming to the broadcast. Confirmed universities/locations include: Auckland University of Technology (SMPTE), Baltic Film and Media School, Hochschule der Medien Stuttgart (SMPTE), Hong Kong Design Institute (SMPTE), Lycée René Cassin – Biarritz, Medieklyngen – Media Cluster Norway, University of Sao Paulo in partnership with Faculdade Casper Libero, University of Surrey, University of Texas (SMPTE), and York University with Ravensbourne University London as the central hub for master control room, playout control and operations.

The aim is for On Air to give participating students real-world experience, international exposure, and networking opportunities, as well as offering media and entertainment organisations direct access to a diverse pool of future-ready creatives and technologists.

“On Air exemplifies the power of collaboration between education and industry by providing an opportunity to connect with and support the next generation of talent,” said Carrie Wootten, founder of the Global Media and Entertainment Talent Manifesto. “By giving students real-world experience, hands-on learning and visibility among potential future employers, we can help ensure the future of our sector is more innovative, inclusive and sustainable.”

Tim Guilder, head of production technology – ITV Studios at ITV, added: “ITV is committed to helping foster the next generation of talent and we’re proud to be supporting On Air and providing technical support and studio access to this exciting project. The scale of this project will give creatives and technologists more global opportunities to shine.”

The On Air team is looking for a distribution partner and any platform integrators to take the project further. More details about the project are available here: http://mediatalentmanifesto.com/on-air

This article originally appeared on TV Tech sister brand TVBEurope.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—The initial documents defining the Catena control plane standard were introduced June 1-3 in Tokyo at Imagica SMPTE during the society’s Technology Committee meetings, the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) said today.

The product of extensive work by SMPTE’s Rapid Industry Solutions Open Services Alliance group (RIS-OSA), the initial Catena documents (known as the ST 2138 suite) were introduced to the SMPTE Standards Community (and its 34CS Technology Committee that focuses on Media Systems Control and Services). The move begins Catena’s official standardization process.

“Catena represents one of the most ambitious and essential standardization efforts SMPTE has undertaken in recent years,” said Chris Lennon, director of Standards Strategy at Ross Video and an SMPTE Fellow.

“With media workflows now spanning on-prem, cloud and hybrid environments, the need for a unified, secure and vendor-agnostic control plane is more urgent than ever,” Lennon said. “By introducing the initial Catena documents into the SMPTE Standards Community, we’re inviting the broader industry to help shape a solution that works for everyone, regardless of where their services reside or what platform they use.”

Hundreds of proprietary protocols are used today to control media devices, creating a control plane challenge across the media industry. In defining and standardizing Catena, SMPTE aims to provide the first and only standardized open-source solution to this challenge. In providing a vendor- and platform-agnostic solution, Catena offers a single secure protocol that is equally suited to controlling very small devices and microservices as it is to controlling the most complex physical devices and services in use by the media industry.

The initial suite of Catena documents introduced this week consists of:

• ST 2138-00: Catena Overview
• ST 2138-10: Catena Model
• ST 2138-11: gRPC Connection Type
• ST 2138-12: REST Connection Type
• ST 2138-50: Catena Security

These documents are transitioning into SMPTE’s 34CS TC to begin the official standardization process. SMPTE has also stood up its Catena repository on GitHub, which includes interface files, schema and other supporting resources, it said.

SMPTE’s plan is to advance these initial Catena documents to Public Committee Draft (PCD) status as soon as practical, then pause development to give implementers time to integrate Catena into their products and provide feedback. Following this implementation and review period, the documents will quickly move forward through the final standardization and approval stages, the group said.

More information is available on the SMPTE website.

Artificial intelligence, and its implications for the film and TV industry, were among the main topics of discussion at the SMPTE DC Chapter’s “Bits by the Bay” conference held in Chesapeake Beach, Maryland, from May 21-22.

The conference—organized by the late Peter Wharton, former chief strategy officer for TAG Video Systems—returned after a long hiatus, and the event is dedicated to his memory.

Rounding Up
In a presentation devoted to fractional film frame rates, James Snyder, formerly with the Library of Congress’ National Audio Visual Conservation Center (NAVCC) and now an industry consultant, discussed the evolution of frame rates in tandem with the development of film and television and the expectation that with the film industry transitioning to digital, that frame rates can be modified to address the streaming market.

The battle waged over interlace vs. progressive image standards during the transition from analog to DTV several decades ago illustrated the coming battles between broadcasters—most of whom favored interlace—and the computer industry, who favored progressive.

In a world where 24 fps in traditional film is really 23.98 frames per second (fps) for TV and digital video, and 60 fps is technically 59.94 fps, Snyder said it’s time to round up to the next number (an even integer) because advances in technology have made fractionals less relevant in today’s media distribution ecosystem.

As streaming and gaming have taken hold over the past several decades, progressive has won that battle, and streamers simply don’t care about frame rates, Snyder added.

“Interlace and fractional are two sides of the same coin—they're both problems we need to get rid of,” he said. “[Interlace is] the easiest to get rid of right now, because all displays are now natively progressive; we have no CRTs anymore and progressive is baked into our technical distribution now, or at least the end viewing. And frankly, getting rid of fractional is also baked into it.”

Snyder blamed the current U.S. broadcast TV standard.

“The only reason we can't do even integer right now is because ATSC 1.0 is in the way; ATSC 3.0 can accommodate it, the displays can accommodate it,” he said. “Every vendor I've talked to who has equipment that does production or post production can switch to even integer. The only thing that's standing in the way right now seems to be ATSC. 1.0 is a technical blocker.”

Snyder said he came to this conclusion in his work at the Library of Congress, where he worked in film digitization and restoration. Adherence to global media standards and the demands of storing and managing millions of hours of film and video content prompted him to think of new ways to approach the problems of cost and efficiency.

“We had to deal with the problems of interlace, we had to deal with the problems of fractional frame rates, and we had to deal with the technical issues that came with creating new versions for reuse, because people could license the content, and they would ask for various versions,” Snyder said. “And so I got to see firsthand the extra cost. And the reality is, there are increased costs just in producing new content, there are increased production costs when it comes to reusing old content.

“And so that's where a number of us got together and asked ourselves, ‘do we really need to be doing this?,’” Snyder added. “A genuine technical reason why we're still doing this, and the only one we can come up with is ATSC 1.0. If you take ATSC 1.0 out of the mix, ATSC 3.0 doesn't have that problem, and streaming certainly doesn't have that problem. Streaming doesn't care what your framework is. Your computer just adjusts it to present the content.”

Snyder added that this approach needs to be modified when considering live broadcasts.

“The one area that still needs some discussion and some work is, ‘how do you go from live feeds that are fractional to live feeds that are integer?’ We do need to talk about that. There are converters out there that do the work we can do… but they have a strange cadence to them. We need to figure out how to not have that strange cadence, and work it out in the software and the hardware.”

AI and Democratization of Media
John Footen, managing director with Deloitte, discussed the democratization of media production over the past four decades and how AI is impacting its future, pointing out that for as little as $500, today’s mobile device can produce professional content that cost thousands of dollars to produce in the 1980s. (Footen also pens TV Tech’s Media Matrix column.)

“You don't even have to have an education to do it, people are just doing it … and that's an overall trend of democratization in content production and distribution,“ he said. “Are we done democratizing media? Is it all democratized out? The answer is no.”

The ability for the average Joe to produce Disney-level content powered by AI is coming sooner than we thank, Footen added.

“That level of production is going to be theoretically possible for good or for bad, it's going to happen,” he said. “And it’s going to further democratize the content types that can be created by anyone. You don't have to be good at using a camera because you don't have to touch a camera to make an image, right? You don't have to get a lot of training and framing and all that stuff, because a machine will frame it for you.”

Footen elaborated on agentic AI, the concept of using AI “agents” to do specific tasks that could eventually replace the “app” environment of today.

“You can think of it interchangeably with the word 'apps' that you've been using today,” he said. “An agent is a system … it could be a simple system or it can be a complex system that performs a function. It actually does something like you would expect out of many kinds of applications.”

As these agents become more adept at each individual’s media tastes, this trend will lead to a breakdown of brands that still act as a sort of “walled garden.”

“A curator agent is an agent that works on your behalf to get your content for you today,” Footen said. Using the Plex video playback app as an example, Footen said the more information a user adds to it, the more intelligent it gets, the less important the origination.

“All you need to add to that is keeping track of who you are and what your preferences are, and giving it access to your data and giving it this AI capability to curate for your content,” he said. “Eventually, that curation disintermediates the media company, because why do I care what channel it's on, what app it's on… if it's just coming to you through my agent, my agent is my app. I don't care where the content came from.”

Content Validation
Matt Galek, Footen’s colleague at Deloitte, discussed the issue of authenticated content in the age of AI, elaborating on the latest developments around the Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI), a six-year-old project designed to to promote transparency and authenticity in digital content; and the C2PA, a consortium of tech companies tasked with developing the technical standards for content credentials, among other things.

C2PA is the “leading standard” to confirming and maintaining trust in digital content and is on the path to becoming an ISO standard this year, according to Galek, who pointed to the three pillars of technology that drive the standards developed by the CAI: metadata, fingerprinting and watermarking.

“All these together provide a solid foundation for authenticity,” Galek said.

While C2PA’s standards don’t deal with detection of AI-altered media, it starts with the assumption that most of it is now, Galek said. “C2PA kind of assumes that users are going to be changing a piece of media, and [in] some of the research I was looking at, most studies were saying that over 50% of people posting content to social media platforms have manipulated in some way, whether it's due to editing that content or adding a filter,” he said. “So that's a significant amount that has been altered in some way, and kind of unknowingly, you're consuming that media.”

Galek pointed to the importance of metadata in tracking a piece of content’s evolution through the complete production chain and how that vital information is getting lost when content migrates to various platforms. Adopting C2PA will help protect that information, he added.

“There's a ton of tech that’s used today where metadata gets stripped inherently out when media is transferred from one system to another,” he said. “For vendors adopting this standard, you will have that methodology to retain that metadata through an entire supply chain.”

Working groups with the C2PA are focused on areas like audio and video watermarking, but Galek said there has to be intra-industry cooperation.

“There needs to be an additional spotlight on the implementation side of things, to provide a forum for broadcast-based and other industries to collaborate,” he said. “We know how increasingly fragmented the broadcast vendor landscape is, so it’s that much more critical for us to collaborate together around content authenticity.”

Detecting Deep Fakes
Anyone who has dabbled in generative AI knows how better it is getting with time but altering video and images (aka “deep fakes”) has been done for decades, something Ed Grogan, a motion imagery researcher and former Defense Department official, discussed during the session “The Dark Side of AI.”

(Grogan discussed his work in video forensics with TV Tech in 2018).

“When we started this, it took a little Hollywood studio to really make good deep fakes, and they couldn't do much,” Grogan said. “We’re now at the point that some of these levels where that little Hollywood studio was are [now] being done by middle schoolers.”

Using a historic picture of Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt and Josef Stalin at the Yalta conference in 1945—with Groucho Marx in place of the Soviet dictator—Grogan emphasized the importance of spotting discrepancies as early as possible, since a widely distributed AI-altered image could rapidly alter public perception. In other words, it could allow a lie to travel halfway around the world before the truth has its boots on, a line often attributed to Churchill himself.

“If you think it's fake, put it in your documentation, because someone 20 years from now might lose the reference material,” he said. “And if you don't say you think it’s fake and the audience didn’t have the historical reference, they might not know that really should've been Stalin and that’s the wrong Marx. So sometimes, because they don’t have the historical understanding, you can get something past somebody to tell your story.”

Although no one sees media companies losing their gatekeeper status anytime soon, Footen summarized the promise and perils of AI in removing media companies as the “middleman” for content consumption.

“If everyone can do what we're doing today, I think our industry is going to be disintermediated,” Footen concluded. “I'm not sure how much of a media industry we have left when everyone is a media company. Every person, every company, is a media company. Our job, historically, has been to create the content, to gather the audiences and to monetize that content. But what if we’re not needed to do that? That’s kind of happening already.”

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers has issued a call for technical papers for its 2025 Media Technology Summit, Oct. 13-16, at the Pasadena (Calif.) Convention Center.

The society will accept 300- to 400-word paper abstracts until May 31 on a variety of potential topics, including:

• Emerging and disruptive technologies, including AI and automation, 5G and next-generation connectivity, blockchain and decentralized media systems and robotics, control systems and machine vision.
• Content creation and production innovation, including virtual, augmented and mixed reality production, immersive and interactive media experiences and next-generation content creation workflows.
• Media infrastructure and distribution, including cloud and edge computing solutions, IP-based media systems and networking innovations and evolution of streaming, OTT and hybrid delivery models.
• Compression, processing and optimization, including advanced codecs, compression techniques and standards, AI-powered signal processing and media optimization and HDR, color science and imaging technologies.
• Hardware, display and capture technologies, including cutting-edge display, projection and viewing systems and photonics, sensors and optical technologies.
• Industry, security and sustainability, including sustainable media production and green workflows, cybersecurity, privacy and infrastructure resilience, standards development and industry evolution and cloud workflows and their role in sustainability.

The program committee will also accept submissions on other topics relevant to the media technology industry.

Abstract submission closes May 31. The program committee will review abstracts and notify authors of their decisions between June 1-30. Presenters will be required to confirm conference attendance and submit more details July 3-17. Draft manuscripts and presentation decks are due Aug. 31. Final manuscripts and presentations are due Sept. 30.

More information is on the SMPTE website.

At the beginning of the year, Rich Welsh, senior vice president with Deluxe, was appointed the new president of Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), succeeding Renard Jenkins. Rich recently spoke with TV Tech during the 2025 Spring TV Tech Leadership Summit. An edited transcript follows.

TV Tech: Congratulations on your new appointment, Rich. Can you tell us a little about yourself?
Rich Welsh: I’ve been on the board of SMPTE for about 12 years in total, although not continuously, and more recently, on the senior side of the board.

Becoming president of SMPTE, I can't believe it, somehow it's not the sort of thing that I would have even imagined when I started my career. But I've learned a lot about the industry and the mechanics. I think what drives me now to do this, is to help bring new talent in and develop that understanding of the different areas of the industry that people can be in, and also to help nurture the talent that is going to invent the new technologies we will be using in the future. So yeah, it's been an interesting journey for me, a fairly winding path, and none of it planned. But I've loved every minute of my career so far, and I can't imagine doing anything else.

TVT: In addition to you, SMPTE also has a new director as well?
RW: Yes, Sally D'Amato. Sally is exceptional. We have worked together for a long time. She's been there a lot longer than I've been on the board, and, in fact, probably longer than I've been a member. She has really grown with the organization over the last couple of decades, and I was delighted that we chose her to be our new Executive Director.

Sally and I really believe in the same things in terms of the future of SMPTE and how we should get there. And I don't know anyone who has such deep and wide knowledge of SMPTE, and not just the mechanics of it and how it works, but a lot of the history, and she's able to help guide us as a board to make sure that we're understanding the history of what we're doing, as well as trying to plan for the future.

TVT: Do you think the name SMPTE still accurately describes what its members are?
RW: The acronym is used a lot, and sometimes people don't know what it is, but I actually think we're somewhat broader than that these days, and we've debated whether we should change the name. It has changed in the past as well but it means so much more than just motion pictures and television these days.

TVT: What do you think is the public’s impression of SMPTE regarding standards these days?
RW: Standards are a core part of SMPTE, and it's why we started. So for those who don't know, Charles Francis Jenkins, who started SMPTE, originally standardized 35mm film so he was the person looked at all the different formats out there, and came up with the initial standard of 35mm being the gauge, 24 frames a second, four perforations. And this led to the standardization and projection, which obviously then meant films could be played the world over. I mean, it's incredible to think back in 1916 we started a worldwide standard for media delivery, something that we still work on today.

And I think this speaks to why standards are so important. If you think about just watching video on your TV, laptop, mobile or tablet, these things aren't possible without standards, so it's it's really important still that we have standards organizations like SMPTE.

I completely take on board the thought that the standards take many years to create and honestly, a while ago, that was true—it's difficult to shake off that reputation once you've got it. We are much more nimble now; we can produce standards more quickly. Standards are not one giant, monolithic thing for any particular application, they have to be much more modular, and we have to be more flexible in the way in which we're able to update them and swap parts out. The modern suites of standards coming out of SMPTE have developed more quickly, and they are much more flexible to change with the rapidly changing technology environment that we're in today.

TVT: What are some of the more interesting standards SMPTE is working on now?
RW: We're still working quite heavily on a video over IP, obviously, that's a huge transition for the broadcast industry, and as we move to more cloud-based environments, that's just going to become more and more important to other parts of the industry, like film and TV, TV production.

There are parts of the industry we’re very familiar with, and other parts are not so much—or there's certainly technical barriers. So another suite of standards—IMF for interoperable master format—is used extensively for mezzanine masters, and we've recently bridged between that and digital cinema and introduced the PDCDM standard.

It's going to be very niche, but it's one that's close to my heart, because it's basically taking the kind of IMF thinking around JPEG encoding at a high quality level—so actually lossless JPEG for a master that is now, then half the size, and also using high throughput JPEG2000, which means it can be encoded and decoded very quickly. And this is really useful in the film production chain to get the Digital Intermediate over to the mastering houses that are going to make the original and then all the different foreign language versions and so on. I think we're still in draft, and we're going to release that, publish it fully in the very near future, but it's already being used.

Standards allow commercial deployment of tools that help us as an industry operate better, be more efficient, and actually push technology forward as well and allow us to do new things that we couldn't do before. It gives filmmakers more flexibility to be creative and try new things.

TVT: In terms of Hollywood, you’ve described AI as a “ticking time bomb.” Can you elaborate?
RW: Actually I described AI as a ticking time bomb or a gold mine and I think it's both. Actually, it is a huge opportunity for new revenues and more efficiency and a new creative palette, actually. So on the opportunity side, I actually see this as a the bigger story here, but we should be mindful that we're in a bit of an ethical and legal minefield right now with AI and I think you we need, as an industry, to get to grips with, not only quite rapidly changing legislation, but also the question of what's ethical, and I don't just mean replacing jobs, because I think that's what people run to straight away when you talk about AI.

I really don't see that as a long term problem in the way that any other technology has not really destroyed jobs. Certainly some processes have been automated but typically, new jobs appear as a result of automation of other processes.

On the ethical side, I think we as an industry are trying to come to an agreement with is this: How can we make sure that when we train AI, we do so responsibly in terms of the content going in. Is it properly licensed? Is it available with the blessing of the creator of that content? Or is it rights managed so that we can compensate people for the use of their creative works in training?

I think that's really important and obviously for the studios, that's a really big challenge. Because on the one hand, there's a lot of information out there on the internet; it's very hard to stop anyone from accessing that and building models with it. But having a responsible, ethically sourced data set for your model is becoming more and more important, and it's even becoming a selling point for a lot of these AI providers.

The legislative part of that is probably more challenging, but it's in flux. So again, it's difficult to know where we should go, but I feel like it's pointing towards a change in the way copyright is handled to again allow rights to be tracked all the way through both the training of models and then inference the output of models, so that you can see, for instance, if the output of a model used certain components of a data set.

So you could even say that, “yes, this copyright material was used in this particular output of the model.” Now that then leads to a potential compensation methodology where people get paid when the output of the model uses their creative work as part of the development of that output. So obviously the commercial structures around that are super complicated, but we have to think about these things and just be fair and equitable to everybody in the chain.

TVT: The NAB Show is a big event for our industry. What are SMPTE’s plans for the show?
RW: AI is going to be pretty high on the list. We have the Future Of Cinema conference where we will be covering AI in film production, but we'll also be looking at other topics around cinema, as we do every year.

NAB is a really big show for us as you can imagine. It's a good opportunity for us to meet our members and reach out to our constituents and hopefully also encourage people to join simply and get involved. I'm looking forward to encouraging younger members of our community to get involved because, they’re the lifeblood of any organization like ours.

Watch the keynote in its entirety on the TV Tech Leadership Summit, now on demand.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—SMPTE, the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, today unveiled the educational presentations that will be shown at this year’s NAB Show.

"SMPTE Education is at the heart of innovation in the media and entertainment industry, and we're thrilled to continue this legacy at NAB," said Polly Hickling, SMPTE education vice president and learning and development lead for media at Eviden. "The Future of Cinema, along with our hands-on floor sessions, embodies the spirit of practical, cutting-edge demonstrations that are vital to shaping the future of technology. This year’s Future of Cinema conference offers a dynamic showcase, with an exclusive look at tomorrow’s technologies from script to screen, while the floor sessions showcase real-world examples of how these innovations are being applied today. It’s sure to be productive, educational, and entertaining.”

Saturday, April 5
9:15 a.m.-6 p.m. PDT: SMPTE Future of Cinema Conference – Scene in a New Light

9:30-9:35 a.m. PDT: SMPTE Future of Cinema Conference – Welcome

9:35-10:20 a.m. PDT: SMPTE Future of Cinema Conference – AI from the Trenches – Real-World Insights and Innovations

10:25-10:50 a.m. PDT: SMPTE Future of Cinema Conference – Reimagining Filmmaking Through AI – Empowerment, Collaboration, and Education

11-11:40 a.m. PDT: SMPTE Future of Cinema Conference – Preview the Next Generation of Projection and Exhibition

1:30-2:50 p.m. PDT: SMPTE Future of Cinema Conference – Beyond the Frame – How Sphere Studios Creates and Delivers Evolving Content for a Dynamic Screen

3-4:20 p.m. PDT: SMPTE Future of Cinema Conference – Movie AI for Real – Live Demos of the Latest Gen AI and ML Tools

4:20-5 p.m. PDT: SMPTE Future of Cinema Conference – Reception and Demo

Sunday, April 6
12:05-12:50 p.m. PDT: SMPTE Presents – AI-Driven Live Broadcasting Through the SMPTE Lens

3:15-3:35 p.m. PDT: Making Media Services and Devices Just Work

Monday, April 7
11:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m. PDT: SMPTE Presents – Filmmakers Talk About the Importance of Color Management and ACES

2:45-3:30 p.m. PDT: SMPTE Presents – AI as Ally – Enhancing Human Creativity in Media Production

Further information about the 2025 NAB Show is online at smpte.org/future-of-cinema-at-nab-25.

Further information about SMPTE is online at smpte.org.

RANCHO MIRAGE, CALIF.—The movers and shakers of the content production community gathered under the HPA Tech Retreat banner once again here in southern California’s Coachella Valley resort area to hear about the latest industry trends, technological breakthroughs and issues, network, and also “kick back” a bit from winter doldrums.

The year’s event, held Feb. 16-20, marked the 30th anniversary of a gathering that began as a rather small “winter break” and eventually morphed over the years into a consistently sold-out “must attend” conference, with attendance limited to 800. The Hollywood Professional Association serves the professional community of the post-production industry in film, television, and digital media.

As might be expected, the topic of artificial intelligence permeated the 2025 Tech Retreat, with AI either the subject or object of more than a third of the presentations, and managing to creep into a number of other panel discussions and exchanges of information. (AI-related topics even factored into the Retreat’s daily “breakfast roundtable” discussions where attendees could listen to, and join in, timely discussions as they enjoy breakfast.)

The Human Factor In AI-Based Content Creation
“This year’s topic could not be more timely,” said Seth Hallen, HPA past-president, in opening the conference’s initial “Supersession,” which was themed “The Evolving Human Role in AI-Driven Film and TV Production and Post-Production Workflows.”

“A year ago, we sat on this stage and introduced — and maybe in some cases — dragged people into this world of AI,” said Hallen. “Since then, we have marveled at the sheer power of these tools. AI is transforming workflows and long-held processes, and causing more debate than any technology shift that we’ve seen in years. But today, we’re going to shift our focus. Let’s refocus our attention away from the tools themselves and turn, in fact, to the humans, because the real power of AI isn’t about replacing creativity, it’s about amplifying it.

Hallen then turned the program over to Renard Jenkins, president and chief executive officer of I2A2 Technologies, Studios and Labs, who stressed the importance of the human factor in meaningfully creating anything with artificial intelligence.

Jenkins observed that one year ago, AI’s stage of development could be compared to that of an infant or toddler, and in the intervening period, that toddler has now developed into a teenager. “We’re at the stage where AI thinks it knows more than we do,” he said. “We can do nothing right in AI’s eyes. We are not helpful to AI.”

Jenkins noted, however, that whether or not “the teenager” agrees, it still needs guidance.

“The teenager still needs the input from parents. Teenagers — no matter how smart they think they are — can only learn, can only grow [if they have guidance].”

In relating this human analogy to AI, Jenkins stressed that developers of the technology needed to spend plenty of time to be sure that their models “are ethically sourced, responsibly built, and actually have a purpose,” and not to merely “graft off what’s already there.”

He also offered encouragement for anyone who might feel threatened by the incursion of AI into the content creation industry. “If anybody tells you that AI is going to replace the workers, replace the artists, AI is going to replace, replace, replace…, I will theorize that person is extremely misguided as to how these tools and how these systems should be used, and how they can be most impactful to us as a society.”

Jenkins admonished anyone whose work and career path will likely involve AI technology to take advantage of the educational opportunities that now exist in the area of artificial intelligence and get “upskilled.”

“Upskilling” is the way forward for those of you who are concerned about where our industry is going,” he said. “Start now Prepare yourself for where this is going. Get yourself into this space.”

A Fresh Look At AI
Tech Retreat presentations also examined changes in AI evolution during the past year.

In one of these — “Is The Industry Sitting On An AI Goldmine Or A Ticking Timebomb?” — Richard Welsh, SMPTE president and senior vice president of innovation at Deluxe, provided an update on recent legal decisions involving the technology, with one of these providing some amplification on the previously-established rulings on copyrightability involving AI.

“The [U.S. Copyright] Office confirms that the use of AI to assist in the process of creation or the inclusion of AI-generated material in a larger human-generated work does not bar copyrightability,” said Welsh, in citing a very recent (Jan. 29, 2025) U.S. Copyright Office bulletin. He added that this excluded, however, “the mere provision of prompts.”

Welsh said that the European Union is also taking a fresh look at AI, repeating a Feb. 12 dispatch from Reuters that reported that “draft rules that regulated technology patents, AI and consumer privacy to messaging apps had been scrapped.”

He also noted that an EU “Liability Directive” now allows consumers to bring lawsuits based on “harm due to the fault or omission of (the) provider, developer or user of AI technology,” and that new legislation requires generative AI developers to disclose if copyrighted material is used in training data.

Welsh said that the “ticking timebomb” in the title of his presentation referred to legal aspects surrounding content that involved AI in some way. “We in the industry need to spend a lot of time talking about this,” said Welsh.

In looking at some of the items content creators needed to consider when involving AI in their work, Welsh noted that “AI needs to be trained only on your own work, so data from other’s works doesn’t get in there.”

He also stated that traceability of all elements used in creating content was very important. “Rights are going to become more and more important; this is already a big issue,” said Welsh. With the explosion of content originating from dashcams, surveillance cameras, other non-mainstream sources, it’s more important than ever to know where your video clips are coming from.

“Every bit of data that comes into your organization needs to be tagged as to its source,” said Welsh. “Tag everything.”

Can AI Have A Role In Sustainability?
In a slightly different take on the value of AI in the media industry, Barbara Lange, principal and chief executive officer of Kibo121, noted in her presentation — “AI for Good: The Role of Emerging Tech in Sustainability”— that AI was something of a double-edged sword.

Lange observed that AI is a very energy-hungry technology, stating that “by 2030, over 20% of U.S. electricity could be powering data centers for AI,” and noting that in light of this “sustainability is not just a responsibility; it’s a business imperative.”

Lange stated that AI did have a “plus side,” as it is a powerful search tool, and in this application could be used effectively by content creators to reduce the need for re-shoots, which in turn would save time, money, and transportation costs, all of which would go to reducing the M&E industry’s carbon footprint.

“AI is already being deployed in other industries with an eye to sustainability,” she said. “Increasing efficiency in transportation, enhancing indoor climate control, making appliances smarter, optimizing agriculture outcomes, optimizing electricity use, and maximizing resources and utilities.”

Everyone Can Now Be A Content Producer/Distributor
Apart from the main AI theme, a special pre-conference TR-X (“Tech Retreat eXtreme”) program themed “Affordable Production” focused on today’s increasing democratization in the areas of content creation and distribution. “Affordable Production.”

“I don’t know of any other generation in Hollywood that’s been confronted with such a tectonic industry shift in such a small period of time,” stated TR-X co-chair, Mark Chiolis, in describing the disruption created by the emergence of inexpensive devices for capturing content and the pipelines and channels for distributing this content.

In his “Disruptive Pixels: The Big Power of Small Budgets” session keynote, Mike Cioni, founder of several start-up M&E production operations, described the shift in consumer content consumption patterns, citing a survey that revealed “in 2023 the average American purchased only two movie theater tickets, and 84% of podcasts are being viewed on video platforms.”

Cioni blamed this situation on a reluctance by the content production industry to break away from long-established practices and patterns associated with maintaining perhaps an artificially high level of quality, referring to this condition as “friction.”

“In order for us to maintain that quality, we introduced a lot of friction,” he said. “This worked for a long time. If you make a production, you know that it is slow, it is hard, it is expensive. Production and distribution is super complicated and hard. Many companies are now acting on their momentum rather than their propulsion. I believe that there is major trouble on the horizon. I believe that this is why our industry is facing what it’s facing.”

Cioni noted that while breaking away from established practices could be risky, there were rewards for those willing to try something new and different. “If you bet wisely on early adopted technologies, when those inevitably hit as industry standards, your path will be so far ahead that everybody else will be behind.”

Cioni drove home the fact that “the technology gap is shrinking,” by showing video clips illustrating the image quality provided by three very different cameras. The first was captured with an ARRI Alexa, the second with a Fuji GFX 100 camera in the under-$10K price range, and the third was produced by a consumer iPhone. Other than some slight differences in depth of field, the imagery was strikingly identical in quality.

“The difference between a camera costing nearly $100,000 is not that much different than a $1,000 camera,” said Cioni. “It’s all about accessibility to technology.”

In commenting on the shift in content distribution platforms, Cioni noted that “YouTube represented 20.3% of TV viewing in July 2024 according to Nielsen.”

Mark Schubin’s Industry Updates
A regular feature of Tech Retreats is Mark Schubin’s “Technology Year in Review,” in which, in his words, “presents news items involving the cinema and television industry that may have gone unnoticed by many.”

This year, Schubin, a multiple Emmy Award winner and the Retreat’s official “wrangler” or “program maestro,” led off with some good and bad news about movie houses.

“Cinema is still not dead, I’m happy to report,” said Schubin, observing that gross receipts for 2024 were just about what they’d been in 2005. “The problem is that the consumer product index has gone up 65% since 2005, so it’s not the same. It’s comparing apples to oranges.”

Schubin reported that in order to remain in operation, some citizens groups are now buying movie theaters and operating them on a non-profit basis.

Other lesser reported industry news in Schubin’s review included Nielsen figures indicating that streaming now accounts for more than 43% of all viewing, and that while the majority of streaming content a year ago was older TV shows, it’s now mostly new content. Another reversal is the way viewers are consuming content.

“The TV is now a primary viewing device,” he said. “People are not using their phones as much as they’re using their TVs.”

Other factoids from Schubin included a comeback of the videocassette, with a new movie, “Alien: Romulus,” being offered in VHS format in a limited release, genetically-engineered bacteria that can be used as a form of AI in solving a range of problems, the promised availability from Nvidia of a consumer supercomputer for less than $250, and a new satellite constructed entirely from wood.

Looking Forward
The 2026 HPA Tech Retreat will again be held at the Westin Rancho Mirage Golf Resort & Spa. Conference dates are set for Feb. 15-19.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) has tapped Raymond Yeung as the organization’s standards vice president.

Yeung is head of content standards at Amazon MGM Studios Technology, focusing on advancements in the media supply chain, SMPTE said. He brings extensive experience in digital effects and film mastering and joined the HDR imaging develompent effort at Dolby Laboratories in 2021, according to SMPTE.

“I am honored to be serving as the new standards vice president,” Yeung said. “Leading this renowned standards development institution is a great responsibility, and one that I take very seriously. I plan to draw from my experience serving as a SMPTE standards director and chair of Technology Committee 35PM to drive innovation for the standards community.”

Yeung is a SMPTE Life Fellow and an Academy of Motion Picutre Arts and Sciences member. He started as standards VP on Jan. 1 and will remain in the role until year-end.

“I’m delighted to welcome Raymond to the board as vice president of standards,” SMPTE President Richard Welsh said. “His commitment to SMPTE standards work and his high standing in the community are reflected in this leadership role. I look forward to working with Raymond as we continue to lead and evolve standards development in the rapidly changing media technology world.”

For more on SMPTE, visit the organization’s website.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) has named Sally-Ann D’Amato executive director.

D’Amato served as interim executive director since last October, when David Grindle stepped down. The SMPTE board of governors subsequently named her executive director, a role she began Dec. 18.

“I’m honored to accept the role of executive director,” D’Amato said. “After more than two decades with the society, I’m humbled to be chosen as its leader. I will continue to work toward a society that is efficient, innovative and united. My goal as executive director is to encourage more collaboration across sections to create more opportunities for members, strengthen the standards community and reinforce the organization's infrastructure. This will be enacted through a mission we’re calling ‘We Are All One SMPTE.’”

D'Amato joined SMPTE in 2001 as an administrative assistant. Two years later, she was promoted to executive assistant. In 2005, she was elevated to director of operations. Eleven years later, she became director of events and governance liaison and was responsible for planning and executing events, as well as working with the board, SMPTE said.

Among her accomplishments at SMPTE are helping to enact the current bylaws and operations manuals and production of the Media Technology Summit since 2005, as well as a virtual version during the COVID-19 pandemic. She also produced the SMPTE centennial celebration in 2016, the group said.

“Sally-Ann has been a tremendous asset to SMPTE, and will continue to be in this new role,” SMPTE president Renard T. Jenkins said. “She has proven her commitment, qualifications, and talent time and time again, and when asked to lead the Society, she didn’t hesitate to step up. Her performance in the role of interim executive director has already had a positive impact on the society. I believe she will lead SMPTE to a brighter future, and I look forward to helping her do just that.”

More information is on the SMPTE website.

Rich Welsh has announced he has been appointed president of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE).

He succeeds Renard Jenkins, who has come to the end of his two-year tenure in the role. Welsh will serve as president from January 2025 to December 2026.

Writing on LinkedIn, Welsh said: “I look forward to working with my colleagues in this great organization, all the amazing talent in the industry and everywhere media touches to unleash creativity for our artists, ensure integrity for our media and deliver the best possible experiences to audiences everywhere in the world.”

Welsh was appointed SMPTE’s executive vice president in 2023 and has now moved up to the organization’s top role.

SMPTE is currently on the hunt for a new executive director, with Sally-Ann D’Amato stepping into the role of interim executive director last October.

This article initially appeared on TV Tech sister brand Radio World.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—SMPTE has joined with Avid to publish a new standard for the VC-3 codec in Interoperable Master Format (IMF).

The VC-3 standard, a codec implementation that Avid provides under the DNx brand, is a primary production codec used by enterprise media organizations worldwide for critical broadcast functions such as capture, editing, rendering, base transcoding and long-term archiving. SMPTE ST 2067-70 is a new standard that specifies an application of the IMF framework covering the use of VC-3 as specified in SMPTE ST 2019-1, SMPTE said.

“For many of Avid's customers, the DNx family of codecs, VC-3, is used in their productions as a mezzanine format to maximize quality while obtaining superior editing performance on common off-the-shelf desktop and server platforms,” Avid Vice President of Technology Shailendra Mathur said. “This newly published standard will ensure that the same mezzanine-quality codec used in production can now be passed through to the IMF mastering stage for distribution.”

IMF is an important international media standard for providing a single interchangeable master file format and structure for content distribution. IMF is a family of SMPTE standards (SMPTE ST 2067) that simplifies the storage of all the audiovisual content needed to create different versions for distribution to multiple territories and platforms in one package. It is an essential component of modern, high-scale content fulfillment and has enabled the building of simplified delivery and processing systems for versioning. The IMF package can be used for business-to-business content exchange between content owners, post facilities and distribution platforms.

As VC-3 is a primary production codec used in delivering content to a variety of broadcasters, the new ST 2067-70 standard covers its usage with IMF, which enables delivery in VC-3 codecs that closely match the ideals of IMF in keeping the maximum quality possible for future distribution/reversion and archive. The standard allows any broadcast facility to deliver final assets for broadcast/archive with as much of the original creative intent in place as possible. It also offers a choice to use a constant-bit-rate (CBR) codec profile, enabling predictability for storage and network transport. The standardization will provide time and cost savings and will bypass quality degradation due to the ability to pass through previously encoded content without the need to transcode into a different format, SMPTE said.

The DPP, an organization with membership spanning the media supply chain, including media technology and production companies, initially approached SMPTE and Avid as a proponent in the development of this standard, which offers significant workflow advantages over the alternatives currently in the specification, including the easy insertion of changes (before creating a final IMF deliverable) and potentially faster turnaround times.

“It has been great to support the collaboration between Avid and SMPTE to enable the use of VC-3 codec within the IMF framework,” DPP technology strategist David Thompson said. “This addition meets a clear business need for companies who use VC-3 as their primary production codec and wish to adopt IMF for distribution and archiving.“

Added Avid Chief Technology Officer Kevin Riley: “We are pleased to be working with SMPTE on improvements to the DNx family of codecs, VC-3, for the benefit of our valued member partners in the DPP. Avid understands that improving DNx is critical to our customers in keeping existent media processing chains intact. This new standard maintains the ability for our DNx codec to be storage- and network-friendly while also producing time and cost savings, as the delivery format can now match the production codec used by our partners and customers.”

Further information about SMPTE can be found at smpte.org.

More information on Avid and the DPP is available at www.avid.com and at www.thedpp.com.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) has introduced the board officers and regional governors who will serve terms starting in January, including three new SMPTE officers have been elected for a two-year term from Jan. 1, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2026.

The new SMPTE officers include president Richard Welsh, executive vice president Eric Gsell, and SMPTE Education vice president Polly Hickling.

One SMPTE officer, Lisa Hobbs, will contiue as SMPTE secretary and treasurer for another two-year term. Additionally, Raymond Yeung will be stepping into the role of standards vice president on Jan. 1, 2025.

“SMPTE’s membership has spoken,” SMPTE Interim Executive Director Sally-Ann D’Amato said. “These officers have been tasked with an important responsibility, one each of them is prepared to tackle head-on. These next two years are looking bright for SMPTE!”

In addition to the officers, 10 regional governors were elected by the Society to serve two-year 2025-2026 terms. These include the following regional governors, re-elected to continue their service:

• Asia-Pacific Region Governor: Tony Ngai, Society of Motion Imaging Ltd.
• EMEA—Central & South America Region Governor: Fernando Bittencourt, FB Consultant
• United Kingdom Region Governor: Chris Johns, Sky UK.
• USA—Central Region Governor: William T. Hayes, Consultant
• USA—Eastern Region Governor: Dover Jeanne Mundt, Riedel Communications
• USA—Western Region Governor: Jeffrey F. Way, Open Drives

Also elected were four newcomers to the SMPTE Board:

• Canada Region Governor: Jonathan Jobin, Grass Valley
• USA—Hollywood Region Governor: Allan Schollnick, Voxx Studios
• USA—Hollywood Region Governor: Brian Gaffney, MTI FILM LLC
• USA—New York Region Governor: Jeff D. Cohen, Meta Martis

The full listing of the SMPTE Board of Governors can be found at  Board of Governors | Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (smpte.org). Election results can be found at 2024 Society Election Results. Further Information about SMPTE can be found at smpte.org.

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. —The SMTPE Media Technology Summit made a return engagement at the Loews Renaissance Hollywood Hotel here, playing before an audience of some 800 television and cinema industry professionals. While the four-day event (Oct. 21-24) featured sessions on a broad range of cutting-edge topics including advances in video compression, color-space management, content streaming, virtual production, high dynamic range (HDR) and cloud applications, artificial intelligence (AI) and SMPTE’s ST 2110 digital media IP transport standard were a very big part of the agenda.

Opening the proceedings, Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers President Renard Jenkins welcomed attendees to “the only peer-reviewed conference that is still in existence today for media technology.”

He told the audience they were part of a very special group. “We have the opportunity to affect the direction of our industry, because we are the science behind the art of motion picture and content creation, as well as visual imagery,” he said.

In the aftermath of the pandemic, “our industry is in a corrective state,” Jenkins said. Productions and the overall industry are now starting to ramp up, he said, although the situation is not what it was before COVID-19.

“We’re seeing productions coming back, but not coming back as great as they were in 2021 and prior to 2020,” he said. “However, we are seeing that they are coming back at the rate of 2017, which is a little more of what we should expect. The market and the industry, as a whole, were saturated—content was being created everywhere, and we were in the gravy boat together, and things were wonderful.

“COVID showed us that we had to think differently about what we do,” Jenkins continued. “Like the phoenix, we do rise, because people love our content, people love to be able to communicate and we have an immense amount of power and an immense amount of influence and impact throughout the world. Having that type of power and impact is something that we as an industry should hold very close, and understand that it is the responsibility that we have to actually put forward.

“Let us be ethical in the way we operate,” he concluded. “Let us be inclusive in the way we build our teams. Let us think forward and think about what we are doing, because just because we can does not mean that we should.”

AI on Center Stage
AI is taking on more and more roles in cinema and television content creation, as was reinforced in several sessions at this year’s MTS. In one, a dialogue between cinematographer and director Lawrence Sher and Variety senior entertainment technology and crafts editor Carolyn Giardina, Sher urged attendees to embrace artificial intelligence.

“Don’t be afraid of technology,” he said. “I think the knee-jerk reaction is to be terrified about new technology such as AI. I’d rather embrace what is possible for it to do and then choose what parts of it that work. I think AI is a powerful tool. I’ve seen [it create] beauty and I’ve seen things that are soulless and terrible. I don’t think we are going to be replaced.”

Erik Weaver, director of the Entertainment Technology Center at USC, also shared his views on AI in “Foundations of AI in Entertainment: A Two-Year Retrospective on Tech and Trends.”

Discussing the practicality of AI, Weaver observed that despite all the rumors and fears, the technology is still experimental and very expensive to deploy. “It costs $700,000 a day to operate ChatGPT,” he said. “And it’s a perfect container for hype and fantasies.

“Don’t believe the hype, ChatGPT is not AGI [artificial general intelligence] and no jobs will be replaced,” Weaver said. “[However], generative AI will put more power in the hands of the ‘top of the food chain,’ creatives like directors and producers who will love its ability to help them communicate their vision and prototype shots.”

While much progress has been made in AI and machine learning in recent years, he noted, there’s a lot more to do.

“The big breakthrough in AI came with the release of Chat GPT 0.1,” Weaver said. “It uses chain-of-thought reasoning and develops logical thinking steps. I’ve seen some amazing stuff coming down the runway lately.

“[However], the domain of AI is vast, complex and still poorly understood — even in the AI research community,” he continued. “The technology is advanced in certain areas, and burgeoning in others. It involves many domains of science and tech. It touches many different areas of an organization unevenly. And it scares everyone.”

The ethics of applying AI also remain a gray area, Weaver noted, which presents a challenge to users.

“AI governance is an emerging and complex issue, which for most organizations doesn’t have a precedent,” he said. “Regulations are still emerging and the boundaries or even implications of AI governance are still very opaque. Just like the technology itself, the ethics of AI is still experimental and involves multiple domains and competencies.”

Diving Deep Into ST 2110
Although AI wove its way into many of the conference presentations, the really big spotlight was aimed at SMPTE’s ST 2110 suite of standards for content transport and metadata via internet protocol (IP). Sessions covered ST 2110’s role in the fine-tuning of LED video walls, or “volumes,” used in production sets; support for the most recent video codecs; and even its application in making this year’s Paris Summer Olympics more “accessible and immersive.”

The conference also featured an intensive five-hour training session designed to provide a grounding in the theory behind ST 2110 signal transport, as well as the project-management elements necessary to create a successful IP infrastructure.

Enrollment in the ST 2110 class, which took place on the final day, was limited to just 70. Whitcomb Consulting Principal Leigh Whitcomb discussed the various elements of systems for transporting content over IP, and Karl Kuhn, principal and founder of consultancy Sherwood Insights, gave information to help smooth the transition from an SDI (serial digital interface) infrastructure to an all-IP facility.

Whitcomb’s contribution included the planning and design of an ST 2110 network; precision time protocol (PTP) timing; and the place of the SMPTE ST 2059 standard in implementing PTP for the synchronization of video over IP networks.

The goals for Whitcomb’s portion of the training were to provide “an appreciation of the key differences between SDI and ST 2110 systems; a description of the role of each model comprising the ST 2110n suite; a discussion of how video, audio and ancillary data are packetized; an explanation of how synchronism is achieved between different media flows; an understanding of the packet traffic constraints for video signals; and how to read and understand an SDP [session description protocol] file,” he said.

Such an educational session is needed because now that ST 2110 has been around for seven years, “the market has become relatively mature,” he said.

“Before, unless you were doing it for the flexibility, there weren’t as many business reasons for moving to ST 2110,” Whitcomb said. “Nowadays, there are a lot more. If you’re building a new facility or need a lot of flexibility it makes sense to go to 2110. If you’re doing any upgrades, 2110 makes a lot more business sense. And if you’re going to switch to 2110, you want to get educated in it. Some things are the same as SDI—the functions you have to do are the same—[but] how we do it is quite different.”

Whitcomb broke his training component into two parts—ST 2110 itself and PTP (precision time protocol) synchronization, a necessary part of creating an IP infrastructure. A separate emphasis on PTP was needed, he said, because the protocol has acquired a somewhat “jaded” reputation—and must be better understood to move forward with ST 2110.

“[Early on], there were a lot of mistakes made,” he said. “People made some bad decisions. There were some implementation problems, and there were a lot of bad feelings and myths going around.

“People were saying PTP doesn’t work and it’s really hard; I’m trying to demystify that,” he said.

Whitcomb noted that while analog color black timing was relatively foolproof, “there are many ways to do PTP wrong, but there are some simple rules to do it right, and when you do, you will have a good experience.”

Kuhn (who appeared virtually) stressed in his portion of the training that creating an ST 2110-based infrastructure is not a “do-it-yourself project.”

“Most people have not done this before, as SDI has been around for 30 years or so and they’ve very comfortable with that technology,” he said. “IP is a totally different thing. You need to bring in a qualified systems integrator. You need to know how to ‘speak the language’ in dealing with vendors and, unlike SDI, what’s really important is to build a ‘sandbox’ lab for testing things before you try to introduce them into your main network.”

Kuhn said that although transitioning to IP involved a number of challenges—including a steep learning curve—the rewards are numerous.

“According to [Director of Customer Solutions] Cassidy Phillips at swXtch.io, who’s done a lot of study in this area, there’s a 58% savings in power for roughly the same switch density,” Kuhn said. “Also, a 5120-by-5120 SDI router might occupy 10 racks. You can now do this in two RUs within a single rack if you move to IP. There’s really an incredible savings in electrical power, air conditioning and floor space.”

The Oct. 24 event wrapped up with a comprehensive testing of ST 2110 knowledge, with certificates of completion awarded to participants. Organizers said it was the first time SMTPE has offered a certificate educational program at its annual conference. The course was intended as a preview of a very comprehensive virtual course on ST 2110 that SMPTE will offer, they said.

The 2024 SMPTE Media Summit attracted some 800 attendees and featured 40 exhibitors of television and cinema products and services in its “Solutions Hub.”

Summing up this year’s event, SMPTE president Jenkins said: “SMPTE strives to provide quality educational and innovative, research papers and panels as the foundation for our yearly MTS. Our goal is to showcase the work of the individuals who are driving efficiency and improvement throughout our industry by developing and deploying advanced technology and solid engineering.

“The attendance for this year's summit was on par with our 2023 summit and the vibe was one of camaraderie and support for the industry, our members, vendors, and partners,” he added. “We were excited to add a specific track for students this year under the moniker of SMPTE Student Day.

“Feedback from attendees has been positive, especially regarding the session selection this year, which focused on everything from IP transport and delivery via ST 2110, virtual production, deep dives into color science, sound technology and, of course, artificial intelligence,” he concluded.

Sally-Ann D’Amato, named SMPTE’s interim executive director earlier this month, also shared her thoughts on the event.

“This year’s MTS was all about networking opportunities and a better synergy between the program and the exhibitors,” she said. “We continued with 2023’s addition of the Emerging Tech Stage Sessions, with many of our exhibitors participating. We also added the ‘Tech Treks’ this year, which were guided exhibit tours of companies that were showcasing technology discussed within the program. It was a great way for our exhibitors to show the attendees ‘technology in action,’ and also to demonstrate the impact of SMPTE standards on their work, especially ST 2110.

“We also tried to build in more time for networking, and I heard a lot of positive response from attendees on that,” D’Amato added. “SMPTE has always been about quality over quantity. We want to bring together the practitioners, the manufacturers and the decision-makers in the same room and give people access to connections that they might not otherwise make.

“We tried to put more focus on early career professionals and students this year,” she concluded. “We want to set these individuals on a path to more involvement and eventually leadership within SMPTE and the industry.”

The 2025 SMPTE Media Technology Summit will move from its longtime location in Hollywood to neighboring Pasadena next year, running from Oct. 13-16, 2025.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) has named Sally-Ann D’Amato as its interim executive director, effective immediately.

D’Amato, currently director of events and governance liaison, has been with the engineering society and international standards-setting body for the past 23 years, involved in almost every aspect of its operations and governance, SMPTE said. SMPTE President Reynard Jenkins said D’Amato has developed a deep understanding of the society’s operations and mission of driving advancements in motion imaging and media technology and will play a key role in ensuring continuity in its initiatives during a time of transition.

“Throughout my tenure, I have had the pleasure of working closely with Sally-Ann,” Jenkins said in a note announcing her appointment. “I have witnessed her leadership-in-action approach; it is both refreshing and effective. I look forward to supporting her as she continues to provide extraordinary service and contributions to the SMPTE community.”

D’Amato succeeds David Grindle, who announced in September that he was stepping away as the group’s executive director on Oct. 18. Formerly executive director of the United States Institute for Theatre Technology, Grindle had led SMPTE since April of 2022.

“I look forward to working with my SMPTE colleagues, members, and partners to shape a strong future for the society,” D’Amato said. “All of us are essential to the ongoing success of our organization and to the continued vitality of our shared community. Together, we are SMPTE. I’m excited about what we can achieve as we take the society forward.”

SMPTE has announced that David Grindle will conclude his term as SMPTE’s executive director on Oct. 18, 2024. Grindle held this post for the past two years, leading the Society through a period of significant change and growth, the group said. 

In April of 2022, SMPTE announced that David Grindle will serve as the Society's next executive director, succeeding Barbara Lange, who had led the group for 12 years and announced that she was stepping down as executive director in the fall of 2021. 

Grindle formally joined SMPTE in July of 2022 after concluding a 12-year tenure as executive director of the United States Institute for Theatre Technology, an association dedicated to performing arts and entertainment professionals. 

“During his time with SMPTE, David has made valuable contributions to expanding the Society’s global membership, launching new educational initiatives, and improving member services,” said Renard T. Jenkins, president, Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers in a letter to SMPTE members. “Under his leadership, we’ve introduced flexible membership options, enhanced operational efficiency, and developed new resources to support professionals across the media, technology, and entertainment sectors. David’s efforts have helped to position SMPTE on a positive trajectory, and we are grateful for his dedication to our mission. While we will miss his presence (and his colorful bow ties!), the SMPTE Executive Committee and Board of Governors, along with SMPTE staff, are committed to ensuring a smooth transition and continued forward momentum for the Society.”

SMPTE and Grindle will be at IBC 2024 on stand 8.F55f (in the Owners Pavilion). 

As the disruptive forces unleashed by artificial intelligence engulf the media and entertainment industry, the prospects for minimizing the potential for harm are growing less certain by the day.

Not that there isn’t an immense amount of work going into mitigating the dangers on the part of station groups, networks, distribution affiliates and industry organizations. But those efforts parallel an exuberant industry-wide embrace of AI that’s driving cost-saving efficiencies, enhanced user experiences and monetization to new heights at an accelerating pace.

No one among the many industry leaders calling for corporate policies, industry standards and government regulations that would establish guardrails against misuse of AI question the wisdom of maximizing the AI upside. “We certainly welcome AI innovations that enhance operational efficiencies and localism, enabling stations to better serve their communities,” says NAB president and CEO Curtis LeGeyt.

Hype and Unproven Expectations
AI dominated the 2024 NAB Show, bringing to light benefits impacting everything from creative to production, encoding, packaging, distribution, advertising, and anything else where data analytics comes into play. But with the guardrails coming together slowly on a learning curve impeded by hype and unproven expectations, the situation calls to mind scenes from old westerns that left moviegoers on the edges of their seats watching good guys trying to stop runaway trains.

As Deloitte managing director Judah Libin notes, AI adoption, including the use of large language model (LLM) generative AI tools that exploded into prominence two years ago, is proceeding at “a pace that far exceeds the speed at which our societies and regulatory frameworks can adapt, creating significant gaps in our understanding and governance.” Making matters worse, Libin adds, the technology poses “profound ethical and societal dilemmas, from the creation of deepfakes to the inherent biases in AI-generated outputs.”

When it comes to formulating laws relating to AI, those dilemmas are especially daunting for a Congress locked in election-year combat. Unlike in Europe, where the EU Parliament has passed the “AI Act” with final approval expected by year’s end, Congress has made little headway beyond holding some hearings and taking a preliminary look at a handful of bills.

Nobody is more focused on the need for legislative action than LeGeyt, who has had a front-row seat at two Senate hearings on AI issues. During an appearance before a Senate Subcommittee in January, the NAB president highlighted examples of AI-related abuses in three major areas of broadcast industry concerns, including copyright infringement, misuse of AI-generated likenesses of radio and TV personalities that spread false information, and other uses of deepfakes that make it hard to distinguish between truth and fiction.

“I have seen the harm inflicted on local broadcasters and our audiences by Big Tech giants whose market power allows them to monetize our local content while siphoning away local ad dollars,” LeGeyt tells TV Tech. “The sudden proliferation of generative AI tools risks exacerbating this harm. To address this, NAB is committed to protecting the unauthorized use of broadcast content and preventing the misuse of our local personalities by generative AI technologies.”

Along with pursuing Congressional action, NAB is deeply engaged in fostering self-governance.

“Our technology team is working closely with these new innovations to equip local stations with the best tools to integrate into their operations,” LeGeyt says.

Of course, with whatever help NAB and the various standards organizations can provide in developing tools and standards, it’s up to broadcasters to execute, notes Deloitte’s Libin. “The burden is on broadcasters to organize, monitor and regulate themselves, then focus on industry standardization,” he says. A “clear governance structure and ethical guidelines” are essential, as is “rigorous and continuous testing.”

In the Newsrooms
A big part of self-governance is centered in broadcast newsrooms. Fostering such efforts has been a top priority at the Radio Television Digital News Association, the first national journalistic association to issue guidelines on news outlets’ use of AI, according to RTDNA president and CEO Dan Shelley.

Issued a year ago, the guidelines focus on how AI is used in newsgathering, editing and distribution with attention to ensuring accuracy through contextual and source validation, avoiding violations of privacy and maintaining clarity when AI is used to modify content. The association says newsroom policies should also keep faith with audiences, informing them of AI usage with assurances that everything is reviewed for adherence to journalistic principles by journalists.

Things are moving in the right direction. “There are infrastructures in place with experts thinking hard and acting very carefully when it comes to testing and implementing AI technology in local newsrooms,” Shelley says.

But staffing up with AI specialists is just part of the labor-intensive aspects of keeping AI on track. Everyone involved in news broadcasting has a role to play, underscoring the fact that, as Shelley stresses, “no matter how good AI becomes, it will never replace human intellect and the sensibilities to produce the best results obtainable.”

Humans in the Loop
Such views pervade discussions about AI in industry leadership circles, leading many to suggest rank-and-file fears of job losses are overblown. Ironically, the hype factor is contributing to job security.

In this Wild West tableau, rampant hype is wreaking havoc with broadcasters’ and everyone else’s efforts to put AI to good use. “One thing that drives me nuts is the amount of hype we’ve seen in the past two years,” says Yves Bergquist, director of the AI & Neuroscience in Media Project at the Entertainment Technology Center (ETC). “Keeping humans in the loop is extremely important.”

Yves is co-chair with AMD fellow Fred Walls of the task force on AI standards and media mounted by ETC and the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers. Earlier this year the task force produced what SMPTE President Renard Jenkins calls “the most comprehensive document looking at both the technical side as well as the impact and the ethical and responsibility areas of this particular technology.”

Participating in a recent webinar with Jenkins and Walls, Yves says research shows that the true capabilities of AI systems in the vast majority of cases “are a fraction of what they’re trying to advertise.’ When it comes to getting to the truth of what can be done, “not enough people talk about how hard this is.”

Jenkins notes AI-assisted facial recognition is one example of where AI isn’t living up to a widely accepted 85% performance standard. “People go into using AI thinking it’s going to save us a lot of money,” Jenkins says. “Most of the time, the reason it fails to deliver is there isn’t enough time put into figuring out what it can really do.”

Societal and Ethical Considerations
One of the most daunting tasks involves identifying biases that are inevitably built into LLM models. While part of the challenge involves eliminating the most egregious biases by using reference material in facial recognition, it’s also important to be transparent about the unavoidable biases that arise from cultural disparities.

The blending of ethical and performance issues in bias assessment is just one example of how addressing ethics and performance is really two sides of the same coin, Yves notes. “I have yet to see a requirement related to ethical AI that isn’t also a requirement of rigorous AI practice,” he says.

This is reflected in the dozens of standards and policy framework initiatives identified in the AI task force report that are underway at ISO-EPS, IEEE, ITU, W3C and other organizations. It’s an impressive list, but there’s obviously a long way to go, especially when it comes to setting the ethical frameworks on which performance standards must be built.

SMPTE’s report spells out the challenge: “While stakeholders in the development of this plan expressed broad agreement that societal and ethical considerations must factor into AI standards, it is not clear how that should be done and whether there is yet sufficient scientific and technical basis to develop those standards provisions. Moreover, legal, societal, and ethical considerations should be considered by specialists trained in law and ethics.”

How fast the industry gets to having real guardrails will greatly depend on how big the perceived risk becomes, which “will help to drive decision making about the need for specific AI standards and standards-related tools.” How much comfort can be gained from a realization that the scarier AI gets, the more likely we are to act is debatable.

But even that modicum of relief from anxiety is yet to be found when it comes to reducing the alarms generated by the threat posed by “deep fakes,” in which AI is used to create alternative audio and video that doesn’t represent reality. When asked about progress toward creating tools capable of identifying professional caliber deep fakes, Walls replies that while efforts to develop such tools abound, the pace of deep fake AI development is such that it “will be really hard to tell if something is a deep fake or not.”

Taking it all into account, we can only hope that the old Western analogy holds to reel’s end, when the sound of screeching brakes signals the good guys have saved the day.

WHITE PLAINS, NY—The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) has unveiled a pilot IP networking boot camp consisting of three different courses and a final exam.

The courses will cover the latest SMPTE ST 2110 advancements, updates and standards and will be offered on a first-come-first-serve basis. Seating is limited, the society said.

Two of the three courses are new, and the existing course has been updated. Those who complete the three courses and pass the final examination will become certified in IP networking with a focus on SMPTE ST2110, it said.

The courses include:

• Introduction to IP Networking, which covers the basics needed for a foundation in IP networking.
• Designing an IP Network, which provides an overview of the elements, systems and devices in a fully IP facility environment. The course looks at the entire IP media supply chain.
• Understanding ST 2110, which covers how ST 2110 can be used to create media production or delivery systems within IP networks.

Each class is three-weeks long and will be taught by live instructors. Study groups and discussion forums will run the duration of the boot camp. Practice exams and sample questions will be offered following each course. A syllabus is available upon request, SMPTE said.

The final week of boot camp includes three interactive sessions with industry experts, who will offer practical insight into solving real-world problems. Attendees have one week to complete the final exam following the sessions.

The price of the bootcamp is $1,350. An early bird discount price of $900 is available until June 28. SMPTE’s schedule at the moment is tentative; however, a different boot camp course currently is scheduled to be offered one week in July, August and September. The beginning date in July currently is unavailable, but it will be after July 4, SMPTE said.

Course registration is available online.

More information is available by emailing Dr. Michele Wright.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) has opened registration for its 2024 Media Technology Summit, Oct. 21-24, at the Ovation Hollywood in Hollywood, Calif.

“This year, the Media Technology Summit will be bigger and better than ever,” said Marc Zorn, SMPTE Hollywood chair and conference co-chair. “For example, instead of a traditional keynote address, we will have featured speaker sessions with key filmmakers to discuss the roles that technologies and SMPTE play in their process.

“Throughout most of SMPTE’s 108-year history, this conference has been the one to set the standards with technologists, high-level professionals, creatives and executives. This is the best forum in media and entertainment in which to exchange ideas, create innovation, improve everything we do and foster the networks to make it all happen.”

Early bird pricing is available June 10-July 31. Those attending can access peer-reviewed technical sessions, invited presentations and panels on issues facing the industry. The summit will also again offer the Solutions Hub and new features like Tech Trek, an interactive guided tour of exhibits showcasing technology discussed in sessions. The conference will also offer off-site experiences Oct. 24, SMPTE said.

“The 2024 Media Technology Summit will have something for everyone,” said Zandra Clarke, SMPTE director of membership and MTS co-chair. “Whether you want to learn, network or further your career, the Summit is the place to do it. SMPTE has provided the tools to succeed in the industry. It’s up to you to use them wisely.”

More information is available online.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—SMPTE and members of its Rapid Industry Solutions, On-Set Virtual Production (RIS-OSVP) initiative recently orchestrated a camera and lens measurement study to test and validate the optical model for accurately determining the circle of confusion and the near and far focus planes.

The circle of confusion is the blur circle formed when a point source of light (like a star or a distant point) is out of focus. Instead of a sharp point, it appears as a small circle on the image plane. Filmmakers can manipulate this phenomenon to create stunning visuals. Understanding and accurately modeling the circle of confusion can help those in postproduction to create visual effects that match the visual quality and tone of live-action footage, SMPTE reported. 

"After months of planning, the Camera/Lens Metadata committee under RIS-OSVP conducted a Circle of Confusion test with the assistance of the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences," said Snehal Patel, director/producer and committee leader for the Camera and Lens Metadata committee. "Our belief is that modern digital cinema cameras are not accurately representing the usable depth of field achieved with various lenses. The calculations for depth-of-field have traditionally assumed a certain value for Circle of Confusion, which was based on experience with film technology. A more modern approach has to be achieved."

Spearheaded by Patel and Jim Helman, co-leads of the Camera and Lens Metadata committee — one of three Interoperability Groups within RIS-OSVP — this study was done with both monochrome and color cameras with the goal of finding the correct levels of focus or blur for computer-generated images. The committee will use the results to propose improved ways of encoding and using this information for virtual production and visual effects.

"Our camera tests examined multiple camera types from two different manufacturers," said Patel. "We also examined multiple versions of a camera with and without demosaicing and with and without glass filtration in front of the sensor. The cameras were mated with a set of prime lenses and measured in the center of the frame using a calibrated depth-of-field test chart. The results of the tests are currently being evaluated and the committee will publish them when the analysis is complete."

The committee is also looking at how this test will integrate into virtual twins of cinema lenses and cameras in computer-generated and ICVFX-specific workflows.

Further information about RIS-OSVP can be found at The On-Set Virtual Production Initiative (smpte.org). 

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—SMPTE has announced the educational presentations that it will be bringing to the 2024 NAB Show in Las Vegas. 

"SMPTE has been bringing the best of its educational content to the NAB show for years, and we're thrilled to be here again," said Michael Zink, SMPTE Education Vice President and VP of Home Entertainment Strategic Technical Partnerships for LG Electronics. "From the Future of Cinema to RIS, this year SMPTE will be showcasing everything from emerging technologies to our work in virtual production. We're beyond excited."

The presentations for Saturday April 13 are:

• 9:30-10:50 a.m. PST: Emerging Projection Technologies and the Role of SMPTE Standards Supporting Upcoming Advancements
• 11 a.m.-12:20 p.m. PST: How Capturing a Musical Event for Global Audiences Enhances the Immersive Experience and Breaks Traditional Barriers
• 1:30-2:50 p.m. PST: The Art and Science of IMAX
• 3-4:20 p.m. PST: In-Depth Look at MSG Sphere Capture Technology
• 4:30-5:30 p.m. PST: SMPTE Virtual Production Panel

For Sunday April 14:

• 10:45-11:15 a.m. PST: Unveiling Enhanced Membership Benefits and Future SMPTE Initiatives
• 12:15-12:45 p.m. PST: SMPTE IMF UG — Mastering QC Efficiency — Leveraging IMF to Prevent Repeated Failures
• 3:30-4:30 p.m. PST: SMPTE Camera Metadata and Camera Tracking for VFX/VP

Monday April 15

• 10-10:30 a.m. PST: Exploring AI's Impact on Film and TV — SMPTE Student Insights Into the Creative and Technical Evolution
• 11 a.m.-12 p.m. PST: Unleashing Generative AI — Transforming Creativity in the Cloud
• 12:15-12:45 p.m. PST: SMPTE RIS - A Case Study on Problem-Solving Innovations in Virtual Production Workflows
• 3-3:30 p.m. PST: Empowering Innovation — Navigating SMPTE Standards

Tuesday April 16 

• 12:15-12:45 p.m. PST: SMPTE RIS-OSA: Tackling the Control Plane and Live Streaming

Further information about the 2024 NAB Show is online at smpte.org/future-of-cinema-at-nab-24.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) today issued a call for technical papers for the 2024 SMPTE Media Technology Summit and presentations for its Emerging Technology Stage.

SMPTE, which will hold the summit Oct. 21-24, at the Loews Hollywood Hotel in Hollywood, Calif., is seeking original, unpublished manuscripts, which will undergo multiple peer reviews. Abstracts of 300 to 400 words should be submitted to SMPTE between March 4 and May 30, it said.

Proposed papers should align with the content goals SMPTE has set for the summit, which include discussions of the latest innovative processes, tools, workflows, interoperability solutions, standards and initiatives driving the industry forward, it said.

Paper topics can include, but are not limited to: 5G, AI and machine learning, color science, cloud media, communication, networking and broadcast technologies, compression, design and integration, digital cinema, display technology, immersive media, sustainability, UHD/HDR and workflows, it said.

"The worldwide interconnected nature of the SMPTE 2024 Media Technology Summit explores trends and strategies we expect tech leaders to implement this year and beyond," said Zandra Clark, co-chair of the 2024 MTS and transmission specialist at Warner Bros. Discovery. "There will be a groundswell of innovation, strategic and operational planning, and technology workflow projects. Your informative collaboration will have an empowering, engaging, and meaningful impact."

SMPTE will not consider previously published, product-specific, commercial, sales or promotional papers. The society also is encouraging students to submit paper proposals, it said.

To submit a proposal, visit SMPTE online. 

The organization is also welcoming submissions for the SMPTE Emerging Technology Stage. Sessions consist of 20-minute-long presentations focusing on a use case, technical solution, innovative workflows, next-generation technology, web-based production tools and similar topics.

The presentations will be held in an auditorium seating 30 to 50 people. The sessions are intended to be lively, informative and interactive as well as providing a forum for people to network.

Presentation proposals must be submitted by June 30. The program committee will review proposals. If accepted, draft presentations are due Sept. 1, and final versions Oct. 1.

To submit a presentation proposal for the stage, visit SMPTE online. 

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.— SMPTE announced today that has joined forces with the Interoperable Master Format (IMF) User Group (UG), a worldwide forum for end-users and implementors of the IMF family of SMPTE Standards.

The IMF User Group was launched in 2016 under the auspices of the Hollywood Professional Association (HPA). HPA Executive Director Phil Kubel notes, "HPA is proud to have been the home of the IMF UG and its important work for the past 9 years. As they take this next natural step, we look forward to seeing the exciting work ahead for the group and our colleagues at SMPTE."

"We are honored to become the home for the IMF User Group and thankful to our colleagues at HPA for all they've done to administer the user group to this point," said SMPTE Executive Director David Grindle. "Community organizations, like IMF UG, are vital to keeping our standards updated with the feedback from those using the systems."

IMF is a family of SMPTE Standards (SMPTE ST 2067) that simplifies the storage of all the audio-visual content needed to create different versions for distribution to multiple territories and platforms in one package. The IMF package itself can be used for B2B content exchange between content owners, post facilities, and distribution platforms. IMF is an essential component of modern, high-scale content fulfillment and has enabled the building of simplified delivery and processing systems for versioning. IMF played a critical role in the transition from tape-based to file-based workflows in television and streaming. It is now the preferred UHD media delivery format for multiple content providers.

The IMF UG brings together content owners, service providers, retailers, and equipment/software vendors to promote the use of IMF. The group hosts member meetings, organizes public events including workshops and plugfests, and publishes best practices. Members have the opportunity to contribute to the long-term roadmap of IMF.

"IMF is a true example of how a standard was developed in one organization, deployed into the industry and then gathered a community of users via the HPA and now SMPTE," said SMPTE President Renard T. Jenkins. "As a longtime member of the UG and SMPTE, I am excited that the user group and the standards community are coming together to continue its growth and further its development."

For more information, or to join the IMF User Group, visit www.imfug.com. Further information about SMPTE is online at smpte.org.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y—The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the Entertainment Technology Center (ETC), have released a report on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its effect on the media, SMPTE said today.

The document is the product of a task force on AI standards in media that began in 2020, it said.

"When we started this project in 2020, many saw AI as technically challenging, risky, costly and even scary," said task force co-chair and AMD Fellow Fred Walls. "Since then, it has become clearer that AI will transform the media industry from preproduction to distribution and consumption. This report is a great read for those looking to understand AI and how it is being deployed in media, as well as the important roles of standards and ethics."

The report provides media professionals with a background on both AI and Machine Learning (ML). It begins with a technical understanding of the two technologies followed by the effect they will likely have on the media landscape. The report then moves on to examine AI ethics and ends by discussing the role that standards can play in AI/ML's future.

"I believe that AI will continue to see exponential growth and adoption throughout 2024," said SMPTE president Renard Jenkins. "Therefore, it is imperative that we examine the overall impact that this technology can have in our industry. That is why the progressive thought leadership presented in this document is so important for us all."

Members and non-members of SMPTE can access the document for free on the SMPTE website.

The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers is a highly respected organization that works to establish technical frameworks for the creation and distribution of films and television programs. Although it is not the only group involved in broadcast standards, some of its good works involve such critical signal distribution standards as the Serial Digital Interface (SDI), ST 2022 and ST 2110.

SDI, first defined in 1989, remains a popular and reliable method of transporting high-quality video signals from point-to-point within a facility or field production. (The current version of SDI is “SMPTE ST 2083.”) However, since 1989, our world has become increasingly data-oriented and it soon became obvious that transporting broadcast-quality video signals over IP networks was both necessary and advantageous. SMPTE’s first standard to marry SDI video with IT was the ST 2022 standard.

“When the need for uncompressed IP networks in live TV production arose, companies turned to the SMPTE ST 2022 family of standards, the online media-over-IP standard available at SMPTE, to build infrastructure,” said Thomas Bause Mason, SMPTE director of standards development. 

“SMPTE ST 2022 was designed for content contribution, and was not well-suited for live TV production. A better standard needed to be created that reflected the needs of live TV production.”

That standard is ST 2110. First published in 2017, it is catching on quickly. 

“When it comes to large-scale infrastructure, almost all new facilities built [that have] IP networks for production are using SMPTE ST 2110,” Mason said. “SMPTE ST 2110 was also greatly adopted by equipment manufacturers, and SMPTE ST 2110 products are widely available.”

Core Parts Are Done
The core parts of the SMPTE ST 2110 standards family are done and were published starting in 2017, Mason said. Since then, all documents in the family except for one (ST 2110-30) went through revisions to clarify their provisions and to fix minor issues, while considering compatibility with existing implementations. These revisions were published in 2023. (SMPTE recently announced that SMPTE Standards will now be available at smpte.org to members at no additional cost.)

Perhaps the biggest benefit of using ST 2110 is that it uses standard IP networks. This has many advantages, including a large body of IP specialists that can build and maintain such networks. Another big advantage is that high-speed networks suitable for live television use commercial-off-the-shelf products that are relatively common and inexpensive. 

SDI, as well as it works, is for television only. SMPTE ST 2110 uses what the rest of the world uses.

Manufacturers are wasting no time building products compatible with the ST 2110 standard.

“Imagine has introduced SMPTE ST 2110 technology into almost every product family in our line,” said John Mailhot, CTO for infrastructure at Imagine Communications. “We see ST 2110 as the basis of design for almost every large media project in our pipeline, and even small/medium facilities are seriously considering the redundancy and scalability advantages of an ST 2110 approach.”

Mailhot said that Imagine’s Selenio Network Processor uses SMPTE ST 2110 to carry up to eight uncompressed UHD signals in each direction over 100G network interfaces, alongside their related audio and ANC components. This consolidation reduces the amount of cable (fiber) and the associated construction and project management time significantly.

“The ability to pick-and-choose from a marketplace of QSFP [quad small form factor pluggable] optical power options ensures that 100G [and 400G] IP connections can reach even the farthest corners of large facilities or even campuses,” he said. “In university settings, we are able to run 100G network connections between sports facilities on opposite corners of large campuses, building consolidated production environments that would have been much more expensive and difficult using traditional SDI approaches.”

Launching Products
Blackmagic Design launched two products last year using the SMPTE ST 2110 standard: the 2110 IP Converter and the DeckLink IP. The 2110 IP Converter 3x3G is a rackmount converter that converts 3G-SDI devices to 2110 IP broadcast systems, and the DeckLink IP is a family of three PCIe cards that capture and playback 10-bit uncompressed, broadcast-quality video directly into ST 2110 IP-based broadcast systems.

“Blackmagic Design views ST 2110 as an important tool for the industry,” said Dave Hoffman, business development manager for Blackmagic Design. “From a simplicity and flexibility standpoint, ST 2110 creates a universal language we can all speak and work in.”

Hoffman pointed out the features that make the company’s 2110 IP converter the right fit for many applications.

“Unlike using an array of miniconverters, the Blackmagic 2110 IP Converter 3x3G is rack-mountable and includes a front panel with an LCD, so users can walk up and change settings at any time,” he said. “The front-panel LCD also has the benefit of allowing live video monitoring of all input and output channels. Plus, the LCD includes network diagnostic tools to assist in troubleshooting issues in complex 2110 IP broadcast systems.”

Matrox Video offers both point-of-use ST 2110 converters as well as ST 2110 network adapters for OEM applications.

“ST 2110 is important for broadcasters, venue and stadium operators, and other media companies seeking to move to IT-based production workflows,” said Francesco Scartozzi, vice president of sales and business development for Matrox Video. “As an open SMPTE standard, like SDI, customers can choose best-of-breed products from their preferred vendor and maintain compatibility. ST 2110 production workflows use general-purpose networking equipment, which means users can easily upgrade an ST 2110 network from 10GigE to 25GigE, and even (in the future) to 100GigE without changing the whole infrastructure.”

Scartozzi said that another advantage ST 2110 offers is its ability to process video, audio and auxiliary data streams separately, depending on the capacity of the network. For example, with the right network connection, one Matrox ST 2110 NIC can support up to four 25 Gbps links and can process up to 32 channels of HD with full redundancy enabled.

“Matrox Video is an expert in ST 2110 and supported the standard before its SMPTE ratification,” he said. “We provide components to OEMs, who then build end-user products for media production, and are being used in ST 2110 productions worldwide today. The knowledge and expertise we gained during the development of ST 2110 OEM network cards has been poured into Matrox ConvertIP, which converts 3G/12G SDI to/from ST 2110. This lets broadcasters work with baseband signals inside their IP video network, and display ST 2110 on SDI/HDMI monitors.”

Manufacturer Agnostic
Chris Scheck, head of marketing content at Lawo, pointed out that an advantage of ST 2110 is that it is manufacturer-agnostic. That means customers can pick the best gear for their operations and production workflow, and avoid being locked into any particular manufacturer’s equipment universe. 

A recent addition to Lawo’s IP-native product portfolio is .edge, its hyper-density SDI/IP conversion and routing platform with up to 192 SDI connectors on 2RU.

“We recently introduced HOME Apps for server-based multiviewer generation, up/down/cross conversion, stream transcoding and graphics insertion,” Scheck said. “A lot more HOME Apps are on the roadmap, some of which will be introduced over the coming months.”

Scheck said that both these product lines feature JPEG XS compression and decompression for lossless, yet bandwidth-saving stream transport. On top of that, Lawo’s HOME Apps support NDI, SRT, H.26x, and will support more formats/protocols as soon as they become relevant.

PAC-12’s New 2110 Facility
ST 2110 is making strides in the real world of big-time sports production as well. The Pac-12 Network, a major collegiate sports producer on the west coast, recently fired up a 42,000 square-foot broadcast and production facility that it will use for production of more than 850 live events each year.

The Pac-12 Network system, designed and installed by Advanced Systems Group, uses a hub-and-spoke design where content acquired at the sports venues is backhauled to control rooms in San Francisco. This model reduces onsite staff and minimizes reliance on costly mobile trucks. 

Pac-12 also exploited the universities’ existing Internet 2 IP backbone for A/V transport and centralized production, creating the largest private IP network in the U.S. dedicated to sports. Pac-12 selected the Imagine Magellan control system for IP routing, control and monitoring, and Arista high-speed Ethernet switches. Imagine’s Magellan formed the ST 2110 orchestration backbone of the facility, while Arista’s switching and routing is the core transport component. 

There were many other vendors involved in the Pac-12 build, including Calrec Artemis audio consoles, Grass Valley K-Frame video switchers, Ross XPression graphics, Evertz Dreamcatcher replay systems, just to name a few. The audio in the Pac-12 Netword system is AES67, a standard for audio-over-IP that’s part of the ST 2110 protocol. Interoperability between the two is paramount, and requires careful network orchestration so that the two transports are handled separately and all I/O’s align properly.

“Implementing audio redundancy within an IP infrastructure is not a trivial undertaking,” said Dave Van Hoy, president of Advanced Systems Group. “We got caught in a couple of places where those became very interesting challenges. Everything worked out, with many thanks to the impressive cooperation of the Calrec, ASG and Imagine teams. It was definitely a learning lesson.” 

Identifying What's 2110-Compliant
The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) is a non-profit organization founded by leading manufacturers to promote the adoption of standards as the industry transitions toward an IP future. AIMS has catalogued nearly 300 products related to SMPTE ST 2110 from 45 manufacturers (available at ).

“Originally a specialized solution for high-end or spatially constrained projects, SMPTE ST 2110 has evolved into the primary choice for designers building reliable, scalable IP-based systems,” said Andrew Starks, marketing working group chair for AIMS. “There is a tremendous innovation happening within the SMPTE ST 2110 community.”

Does this mean that the industry is rolling toward a future that is all IP and does not use SDI?

“SDI’s affordability, industry-wide familiarity, and proven reliability ensure its continued relevance,” Starks said. “Presently, most SMPTE ST 2110 systems incorporate some level of SDI integration, acknowledging its practicality and the need to support legacy equipment.

“This reality underscores the importance of interoperability between SDI and SMPTE ST 2110,” Starks added. “Such interoperability influenced key aspects of ST 2110’s design, notably in the handling of ancillary data (ST 2110-40). As SMPTE ST 2110 equipment becomes more affordable, and as the industry gains more tools and expertise in managing IP media networks, we anticipate a shift towards predominantly IP-based systems.”

The economy, familiarity and ever-growing capacity of IP networks make them a natural medium for carrying television signals. As SMPTE ST 2110 takes hold and more products are exposed to more people, expect to see ST 2110 forming the backbone of an increasing number of facilities.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—SMPTE has announced the board officers who will lead the organization in 2024 and the election of six regional governors. They started serving their terms at the beginning of January.

Three SMPTE officers are continuing their service, each for an additional two-year term from Jan 1, 2024, to Dec 31, 2025. The re-elected officers include standards vice president Sally Hattori, finance vice president Paul Stechly, and membership vice president Rose Lockwood. They will continue to serve alongside current board officers president Renard T. Jenkins, executive vice president Richard Welsh, education director Michael Zink, secretary Lisa Hobbs, and past president Hans Hoffmann.

"It's an honor to serve SMPTE again," said Lockwood. "Serving SMPTE in any capacity means supporting a good cause, but acting as a vice president for the organization shows that SMPTE members trust me too. I will honor that trust and do what I can for our Society."

"We are thrilled about these election results," said SMPTE executive director David Grindle. "Our members trust each and every one of these individuals, and we expect tremendous things from them. Together, 2024 and 2025 will see us continue to provide value to our members close to home and around the globe."

In addition to the officers, six regional governors were elected by the Society to serve two-year terms in 2024-2025.

These include the following regional governors, re-elected to continue their service:

• Asia-Pacific Region. Michael Day, Telstra Australia.
• EMEA, Central & South America Region. Dagmar Driesnack, Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co. KG.
• USA - Hollywood Region. Kylee Peña, Adobe.
• USA - Southern Region. Frank Torbert, WKMG-TV.

Also elected were two newcomers to the SMPTE Board:

• Canada Region. Tony Meerakker, Meer Tech Systems.
• USA - Western Region. Cassidy Phillips, swXtch.io.

The full listing of the SMPTE Board of Governors can be found at Board of Governors | Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers. 

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—SMPTE today announced that SMPTE Standards will now be available to members at no additional cost. The SMPTE Standards library, which are housed on the IEEE Explore website, will now become available on smpte.org, where members can download them at any time. Non-members will also have access to SMPTE Standards through a paid subscription service.

SMPTE self-study courses will also be available to members at no additional cost. Other continuing education materials, like instructor-led courses, will be sold at a discount to members. Non-members will still be able to purchase both self-study and instructor-led courses. Finally, a new version of the SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal will be available to members on the website. This updated version of the journal will improve the member experience by being more comprehensive and accessible to members and will include a search function. The last ten years of issues will be available in January.

According to SMPTE Executive Director David Grindle, SMPTE has a library of 945 standards documents which were previously available to members for a discount. Now for an annual [professional] membership fee of $180, individuals can download any of the 945 standards, including their full history. For non-members, one family of standards can cost upwards of $100 or more.

The new benefits will be financed by a small increase in the annual membership fee, Grindle said, adding that the changes were in response to a society-wide membership survey taken after he joined SMPTE in 2022. 

“When we asked our members, ‘what are the things you value most and what are your pain points [regarding SMPTE]?’” Grindle said. “They said ‘we hate paying extra for standards when we're already members.’ And they said ‘we really would like access to education.’”

“SMPTE has both self study and instructor led courses so we have taken the commitment to make our self study courses included in the membership, because those allow people to start getting some of the basic knowledge they need,” he added. “And we also cut the member cost for an instructor-led course in half, making it more affordable and within the reach of the average person working today.” 

"These changes are imperative to the future of SMPTE and the industry, as they make our society, and our services, more accessible."

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—SMPTE has announced the formation of a new SMPTE Student Chapter at Barnard College. This will mark the first-ever SMPTE Student Chapter at a Seven Sisters' College.

"We are thrilled to welcome Barnard College to the SMPTE family," said SMPTE executive director David Grindle. "SMPTE is dedicated to diversifying the media tech workforce, and that starts with presenting students interested in STEM with opportunities to advance their careers."

Barnard is an all-women's college and one of the Seven Sisters, a group of historic liberal arts colleges created to provide women with an equivalent education to that of historically all-male Ivy League colleges. Barnard is currently in a partnership with Columbia University.

"I was told that there would not be a whole lot of interest from students at Barnard College, a predominantly liberal arts college with no engineering program," said Barnard director of AV services Rosana Chang. "But I believed that there was interest but no opportunity — an 'if you build it, they will come' scenario. The students are career oriented and excited about internships and job opportunities."

Every member of the Barnard SMPTE Student Chapter will have access to a SMPTE student membership. This means access to discounted events, including the 2024 SMPTE Media Technology Summit. They will also have access to all SMPTE standards and independent study courses at no additional charge.

Further information about SMPTE is online at smpte.org. More information about Barnard College is available at barnard.edu. 

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineering (SMPTE) has announced that Clark Atlanta University (CAU) has become the first Historically Black College and University (HBCU) to launch a SMPTE Student Chapter. Through its new SMPTE Student Chapter, the organization says CAU will give students the opportunity to learn about the latest technologies and trends, to meet industry leaders and professionals, and to develop and even refine the skills they need to move into a workplace in need of those talents.

"I'm thrilled to be working with Dr. Michele Wright, an HBCU alum herself as a Tuskegee University grad, and the larger SMPTE team — including President Renard Jenkins, Executive Director David Grindle, and Membership Director Zandra Clark — on dynamic projects to foster student success and professional sustainability," said Dr. Brian Bentley, assistant professor and associate dean of arts and sciences at Clark Atlanta University. "SMPTE is the gold standard for the industry, literally setting the standard with its color bars, time code, and so many others. A SMPTE Student Chapter at CAU will create fantastic possibilities for student and faculty development. In building this relationship with SMPTE and reaching this historic milestone, I believe we'll also open up opportunities for other HBCUs."

CAU was formed in 1988 with the consolidation of Atlanta University and Clark College, both of which hold unique places in the annals of African American history. Atlanta University, established in 1865 by the American Missionary Association, was the nation's first institution to award graduate degrees to African Americans. Established four years later in 1869, Clark College was the nation's first four-year liberal arts college to serve a primarily African American student population. Today, with nearly 4,000 students, CAU is an urban research university and the largest of the four institutions (CAU, Morehouse College, Spelman College, and Morehouse School of Medicine) that comprise the Atlanta University Center Consortium. It is also the largest of the 37-member UNCF institutions.

Leveraging its distinctive history, Clark Atlanta University transforms the lives of students and their communities by preparing citizen leaders to be problem-solvers through innovative learning programs; supportive interactions with faculty, staff, and students; exemplary scholarship; and purposeful service. 

The CAU SMPTE Student Chapter likewise will help to prepare students for success in future roles, providing both community and resources supporting their exploration of careers as media professionals, technologists, and engineers, SMPTE said. Thanks to their close connection with SMPTE and its extensive professional network, SMPTE Student Chapters host educational and networking events that are in tune with the skills needed, the knowledge most valuable, and the opportunities available for students as they move into the professional realm.

"The SMPTE Student Chapter at CAU is a tremendous addition to our stellar group of chapters across the world," said SMPTE Director of Business Development and Outreach Michele Wright. "While students and faculty will benefit from connections with the technologists, artists, executives, and other professionals whose work and ideas are shaping the industry, SMPTE will be enriched through a deeper relationship with the university, the research conducted by its faculty, and the participation of its student body. The Society is dedicated to creating pathways into the industry for a diverse workforce, and synergistic collaboration through the launch of SMPTE Student Chapters is an exciting element of that work. We couldn't have a better partner than CAU in establishing this first SMPTE Student Chapter at an HBCU, and we look forward to further collaborations with HBCUs all over the nation."

CAU will be home not just to the first SMPTE Student Chapter at an HBCU, but also to the 2024 Power of Color Symposium, a first-of-a-kind SMPTE event dedicated to the art and science of portraying aspects of color — diverse hues and human features — in film, TV, animation, and gaming. More information on the two-day symposium, Feb. 6-7 at CAU, is online at www.smpte.org/section-events/power-of-color-symposium.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.— SMPTE today announced that SMPTE publications and standards accessible as part of the Society's individual and organizational membership options will be available at SMPTE.org as of Jan. 1, 2024. By making the full SMPTE portfolio — including publication workflows for standards, conference papers, and the SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal — available on its website, the Society says it is positioned to add further value to SMPTE memberships.

SMPTE's extensive library of publications, technical articles, and data complements the vast educational offerings, career development, and networking opportunities that are available to individual SMPTE members. Current subscribers to SMPTE publications will be contacted directly regarding continued access options via SMPTE.org.

Further information about SMPTE is online at smpte.org.

The media technology industry is striving to create a more diverse, equitable, and long-lasting workforce of passionate engineers and technologists. Three organizations are leading the way in this charge, expanding diversity initiatives, and creating a more inclusive industry. These organizations include  SMPTE, AES, and VDT. Each of these influential entities have expanded diversity in their leadership, and  things are only looking up from here. 

SMPTE 

SMPTE is the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers. The organization has existed for over a  century and is responsible for many of the industry’s most innovative standards from film sprocket size  and placement to the famous Color Bars and more recently ST 2110. In 2023, the organization welcomed  its first African American president, Renard T. Jenkins. Jenkins began his career in college, working as a  PA and eventually a location sound engineer on national film and television productions as well as being  an on-air radio personality. He soon moved into live sports, working freelance for ESPN and ABC covering  golf, tennis, and college sports. 

Jenkins was recruited for a job at CNN/Turner Broadcasting, rising the ranks fast and gaining valuable  knowledge along the way. “The thinking at that time that was instilled in all of us was, if this is  something cutting edge, throw all your efforts and resources into it to see if it will fly. If it does, great. If it  doesn’t, take what you’ve learned and apply it to the next project. Dream big,” said Jenkins. “I always  look at that as the turning point in the way that I thought about my career because it helped me to  understand that, really and truly, the only limitations that you have, even in a giant corporation, are the  ones that you put on yourself.” 

After more than a decade and a half at Turner Broadcasting, Jenkins moved to PBS. His most current role  was SVP of Production Integration & Creative Technology Services for Warner Bros. Since leaving that  role, Jenkins has focused on completing AI coursework at UC Berkley and MIT as well as his AR/VR  content company. He has also dived headfirst into his presidential duties at SMPTE. Jenkins hopes to  continue fostering innovation at SMPTE, expanding student chapters, especially amongst HBCUs, and  supporting international sections in their film technology endeavors. 

AES 

AES is the Audio Engineering Society, and Leslie Gaston-Bird, author of Women in Audio (Focal Press) and  Math Fundamentals for Audio (A-R Editions), is their first African American president. Gaston-Bird began  her career by studying audio technology and telecommunications at Indiana University Bloomington where she got a work-study with public radio affiliate WFIU-FM. Soon thereafter, she was hired at NPR  headquarters in Washington, D.C. "I got the job just three months after graduating from IU,” said Gaston Bird. “Looking back, when I think about the first time I saw the blue AES Journal, and if I imagine  someone telling me I would be AES President one day, I would say, ‘Yeah, I can see that!’”

Gaston-Bird’s career flourished after leaving NPR headquarters. She’s held positions at Colorado Public  Radio, Post Modern Company, the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, and the University of Colorado Denver.  Her current position is at City, University of London and she is a director of Immersive and Inclusive  Audio. Though her jobs keep her busy, her presidency at AES has become a major priority. 

“Our members have such great ideas and share my passion for audio. My job as president is to help bring  those ideas to fruition and hopefully grow and strengthen our society, increasing the value of  membership while expanding our umbrella worldwide,” said Gaston-Bird when asked about her goals for  the future of AES. “There are so many people who can benefit from what AES has to offer, and we need  to let them know to join, get involved, and bring their great ideas to the table.” 

VDT 

The VDT is the German Association for Audio Professionals, and Ulrike Schwarz is their first female  president in the 73-year history of the organization. Along with partner, Jim Anderson, she has over 30  Grammy nominated recordings and a slew of international awards involving her audio engineering work.  She also has perfect pitch. 

“At a very young age I was drawn to music. I could read and write music before I could read and write.  The transition into playing an instrument and studying music and the field of audio engineering and  producing was natural for me,” said Schwarz. “I had great mentors and having had the chance to work  with world class musicians very early on prompted me to match their vision and results in my field of  audio engineering. I love my job and am thankful that I get to spend most of my days listening to great  music and learning from the masters in our fields.” 

Schwarz worked with German Public Radio for more than ten years, serving as the audio engineer on some of their biggest broadcasts. Along with being president of VDT, she also recently received a grant  from the Women’s Fund of the New York Foundation of the Arts for her work on Jane Ira Bloom’s  Grammy nominated album (2023) Picturing The Invisible – Focus 1. “I plan to keep working on bigger and  better projects, helping and growing the VDT and strengthening the connections between the SMPTE,  AES and VDT.” 

Conclusion 

SMPTE, AES, and VDT play major roles in the media technology industry, especially when it comes to the  world of audio. The diverse leadership of these organizations reflects a positive change in the industry,  and that trend is sure to continue as diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives are cemented in the  cultures of these companies. The future looks bright, especially with these great leaders at the helm. As  Jenkins surmises, “The three of us have committed to working together to change the world around us  for the better. There will be more collaboration between our organizations that we feel will create more  opportunities for our members and the industry starting very soon.”