BOTHELL, Wash.—The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), the Video Services Forum (VSF), the Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) will hold the first official Internet Protocol Media Experience (IPMX) Product and Certification Event in January 2026.

The event, Jan. 19-23, 2026, at the EBU headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, will give manufacturers the chance to complete formal certification of products built to the IPMX set of specifications for professional media over IP. Certified products will qualify to carry IPMX branding, indicating they are compliant with a verified set of transport and interoperability requirements, AIMS said.

The event in Geneva is the culmination of a series of technical sessions, plug fests and test-suite development activities overseen by AIMS, VSF and AMWA to establish a basis for certification.

“We’re deeply proud and excited to host this event along with our partners from VSF, AMWA, and EBU,” said Sam Recine, IPMX Pro AV Working Group chair at AIMS. “Certification is an essential step for any open standard that promises interoperability across vendors. This event is where IPMX moves from theory into practice. The products tested in Geneva will be the first to demonstrate verified compliance with the IPMX specifications.”

IPMX is a set of open standards and specifications designed to bring SMPTE ST 2110-based media transport and NMOS-based control to a broader range of markets, including Pro AV, live events, corporate media and education. IPMX adds essential features tailored for Pro AV workflows, including support for compressed video, simplified system timing, HDCP and system profiles to make deployment more practical and scalable, AIMS said.

More information is available on the AIMS website.

BOTHELL, Wash.—The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) and the Video Services Forum (VSF) have released the full schedule for the IP Showcase on the Water presentation, taking place at IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Center.

The one-day Sept. 14 event will be held on canal cruise boats launched from Strandzuid, near the convention center. Complimentary registration is now open to reserve a seat for any of the six one-hour cruises. Each cruise will accommodate up to 35 attendees and feature two 20-minute sessions from industry experts, for a total of 12 presentations. IP Showcase partners are also sponsoring the Flint Green Line, an industry initiative aimed at promoting more sustainable travel to IBC, the group said.

Top speakers from Appear, Alpha, Netgear, DirectOut, Nextera Video, Simplexity, Matrox Video, intoPIX, Lawo, Dolby Laboratories, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and Grass Valley will present.

The lineup includes:

• Session 1—Hybrid Live Production Workflows and Real-World ST 2110 Deployments.
• Session 2—IP Infrastructure for IPMX and ST 2110 Networks and PKI and TLS in IPMX and NMOS.
• Session 3—NMOS-Based Systems and the Evolution of NMOS for ST 2110 and IPMX.
• Session 4—Interoperability and Video Profiles and Codec Options in IPMX.
• Session 5—Aligning Flows and Channels and Real-World Dynamic Video and Audio Metadata Deployments.
• Session 6—The Dynamic Media Facility and Media eXchange Layer (MXL).

“At IBC2025, the IP Showcase on the Water gives attendees a front-row seat to the evolution of IP media workflows,” Andrew Starks, AIMS board member and director of product management at Macnica, said. “This year’s presentations highlight key trends shaping the future of our industry—from the growing impact of the dynamic media facility to the continued advancement of IPMX and NMOS. It’s an opportunity to see how open standards are delivering on their promise of greater interoperability, scalability, and long-term flexibility across broadcast and Pro AV environments.”

Boats will depart on the hour from Strandzuid, located near RAI Amsterdam at Europaplein 22, 1078 GZ Amsterdam.

AIMS, AMWA and the VSF are also sponsoring the Flint Green Line to IBC2025. Setting out from London’s St. Pancras Station on Thursday, Sept. 11, the Green Line offers IBC attendees a low-carbon direct route to Amsterdam.

Attendees can register for the IP Showcase on the Water here.

The current IP Showcase on the Water presentation schedule is available here.

More information on the Flint Green Line to IBC2025 is available here.

BOTHELL, Wash.—The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) and the Video Services Forum (VSF) will once again present the IP Showcase in the West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center during the 2025 NAB Show, April 5-9.

The IP Showcase will focus on the convergence of broadcast and Pro AV technologies, with the IPMX open-interoperability framework for AV-over-IP taking center stage.

“The 2025 NAB Show marks a pivotal moment in the convergence of broadcast and Pro AV, and the IP Showcase will be instrumental in educating attendees on how IPMX is bridging the technological gap between these industries,” said Andrew Starks, a member of the AIMS board of directors and director of product management for Macnica.

“As broadcasters and AV professionals increasingly rely on shared IP-based infrastructures, IPMX provides an open-standards-based technology that enables seamless interoperability, high performance and scalability across diverse applications. With NAB’s growing focus on Pro AV, this year’s show offers the perfect platform to demonstrate how IPMX is driving innovation, breaking down barriers, and unifying the way we create, distribute and experience content. It’s going to be an amazing show, and we can’t wait to see everybody there.”

A core component of the IP Showcase will be the IP Showcase Theater where industry professionals will be giving presentations on a wide range of topics. Taking place on the Tech Chat Stage in the West Hall, the IP Showcase will feature 16 presentations.

Topics will include a roadmap presentation for IPMX, which outlines key milestones, including the first product validation tests scheduled for Q3 2025, the control plane and the relationship between IPMX and AES67 and SMPTE 2110. Other topics to be explored include dynamic media facilities and cloud integration, live production, timing and synchronization and security in IP-based workflows, as well as case studies on media organization and facilities that have shifted to IP.

The IP Showcase will also feature an IPMX demo space in booth W2843, across the aisle from the Tech Chat Stage, where attendees will see live demonstrations of IPMX-ready products, including an NMOS controller and multiviewer and integrations with existing AV-over-IP technology.

A meeting space will be available in room W317 where training, standards-related meetings and other IPMX demonstrations will take place.

Visit the IPMX demo space in 2025 NAB Show booth W2843.

Visit the IP Showcase in the West Hall across from the IPMX demo space.

Visit the training space in Meeting Room W317.

More information is available on the AIMS, AMWA and VSF websites as well as the IP Showcase website.

BOTHELL, Wash.—The Video Services Forum (VSF) has announced details of the VidTrans24 conference and exposition, which will take place Feb. 27-29 at the Marina del Rey Marriott in Marina del Rey, California. The first day of the event will be IPMX Technology Day, with a primary focus on IPMX, its benefits, and how it builds on existing SMPTE standards. The formal release of the VSF Technical Recommendations for IPMX takes place at ISE 2024 in Barcelona next week, following a successful interoperability workshop conducted by VSF in Munich.

"Along with industry partners, VSF has been a champion for IPMX standards as a way to ensure interoperability for AV-over-IP systems in the media, entertainment, and Pro AV industries," said Richard Friedel, president of the VSF. "After public comment and several manufacturer implementations and interoperability trials, it is clear that IPMX, which I like to call 2110-lite, is ready for public release."

The official release of the IPMX Technical Recommendations at ISE this year is a significant milestone in the journey to industry adoption, Freidel added. "VidTrans24 will continue that momentum by giving people a chance to learn more about IPMX and how it can improve their businesses," Friedel said.

Based on the SMPTE ST 2110 standard and developed through a collaboration between AIMS and the VSF — using NMOS technology from the Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) — IPMX gives manufacturers and developers everything they need to create low-latency, interoperable, IP-based AV products and applications.

On IPMX Technology Day (Feb. 27), attendees will get high-level and in-depth briefings on how IPMX works. Designed to address the needs of end users, technology managers, developers, and system integrators, the presentations by industry experts will address topics such as the market and business side of IPMX, technical details of some of the key specifications, IPMX switch selection considerations, and a review of the IPMX demonstrations given at ISE 2024. The full conference agenda can be found at vidtrans.org.

Besides IPMX Technology Day, the VidTrans24 agenda includes other sessions covering a variety of topics such as:

• Reality Check: Content Provenance and C2PA to Fight "Fake News."
• From the Bespoke to Generic – How Close Has IP Media Production Got to the IT World?
• Distributed Production in Action – The New Norm. Exploring Use Cases.
• The New JPEG XS TDC Profile: Perfect Quality, Zero Latency, Reduced Bandwidth.
• Building Out Dynamic Media Infrastructures for Tier 1 Live Sports Production.
• Efficient, Scalable SMPTE ST 2110 Media Transport for Containerized Media Applications.

"Every year, people come to VidTrans to get the latest information about media networking technologies. They learn things they can take back and apply in their own organizations," said Brad Gilmer, executive director of the VSF. "This year we're especially pleased to be able to shine the spotlight on IPMX. VSF believes it represents the future of media connectivity. I hope people will take advantage of this opportunity to hear from some of the architects of the IPMX standards."

Registration for VidTrans24 is open at vidtrans.org, with an early-bird discount available through Jan. 27.

The Video Services Forum (VSF),has further enhanced the Reliable Internet Streaming Transport (RIST) protocol by incorporating a RIST Relay function to address the issue of firewall traversal for RIST devices. This feature, detailed in TR-06-4 Part 3, is the third release in a series of ancillary features for RIST specifications.

The RIST Relay provides a connection service to RIST devices using the RIST Advanced Profile. RIST devices connect to the RIST Relay as a rendezvous point, and the RIST Relay either facilitates a direct connection between the RIST devices, or relays the traffic between them. The RIST Relay is also capable of supporting group operation (many-to-many communication).

Developed jointly by a group of experts using a standards-based approach, the RIST protocol is designed to reliably transport video over unmanaged networks such as the Internet. It provides an open, interoperable and technically robust solution for low latency video contribution. It can be used for any use case where video needs to be transported over the Internet, but is typically used for professional media workflows, such as news and sports contribution, remote production, affiliate distribution and primary distribution.

"The RIST Relay function allows devices to connect simply and securely across firewalls, without needing to open ports in advance," said Adi Rozenberg, CTO and Co founder, Alvalinks and RIST Forum Director. "Using a proxy device that is external to the organization and a SIP like mechanism to connect peers and organizations, RIST Relay massively simplifies connectivity, solving many real-life broadcast problems. The RIST Relay is an exciting development that brings much needed functionality to the market, enabling many new user applications."

Technical recommendations are available from the VSF website..

To understand the development of Internet Protocol Media Experience (IPMX)—a set of open standards and specifications for AV-over-IP deployments—we must first delve into the broadcast industry and the implementation of SMPTE ST 2110.

First Steps
The story starts about a decade ago, when it became clear that an IP infrastructure would not only be viable for television broadcasting, it would be the preferred platform. After all, 10 Gb datacenter-scale internet switches were readily available and offered ample bandwidth. 

Furthermore, following Moore’s Law, high-bandwidth switch ports would continue to improve at a rapid pace, and they would become less expensive as they did. This technology trajectory sparked SMPTE, in addition to vendors and other relevant organizations, to explore and advance the use of IP technology in the broadcast industry.

For guidance, the informal consortium closely observed the transition that occurred in the audio industry, which began its shift toward IP-based production around 2010. What they found is that every vendor initially developed its own proprietary solution, which led to a market full of incompatible audio-over-IP systems.

The situation was far from ideal; it didn’t favor the vendors who built the systems, nor was it advantageous for customers who wanted to integrate equipment from different manufacturers. The result was the creation of a chaotic environment that took the audio industry a considerable amount of time to untangle.

To avoid a similar scenario, leading standards bodies in the broadcast industry sought a different approach toward IP-based systems: Establish a common, industry-wide technical roadmap leveraging off-the-shelf commercial networking technologies. This would allow end users to select switches, cameras, multiviewers, replay systems, and other equipment from various manufacturers and seamlessly integrate it into comprehensive systems. 

To achieve this goal, a group of broadcast engineers, technologists, vendors, business executives, and others founded the Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), a trade organization dedicated to fostering the adoption of industry standards to help facilitate the broadcast and media industry’s transition from SDI to IP.

Next Stop: Pro AVFinal Destination
AIMS was instrumental in promoting the adoption of SMPTE ST 2110—a suite of standards for transporting digital video, audio, and metadata over IP—the Advanced Media Workflow Association’s (AMWA) NMOS specification for networked media, the AES67 standard for audio IP, and other related technologies in the marketplace. 

Through the work of AIMS, SMPTE, AMWA, the Video Services Forum (VSF), and others, the broadcast industry was remarkably successful in establishing a common ground based on these standards. Today, virtually every new project utilizes and builds on these technologies, fostering a more comprehensive and interoperable broadcast ecosystem.

With broadcasters now fully embracing Video-over-IP, AIMS set its sights on the Pro AV industry, which like the audio industry before it, began its journey to an IP infrastructure with proprietary solutions. To address the industry’s need for a common set of standards and protocols in the transition to AV-over-IP—ensuring interoperability across a diverse range of applications, from enterprise conference rooms to digital signage systems in football stadiums—the organization began development of IPMX.

[Why It's Time for Pro AV to Take Digital Twin Metaverse Technology Seriously]

Fortunately, AIMS had a running start in its creation. Not only do Pro AV applications share many of the same requirements as broadcasting, but with the successful establishment of a multi-vendor, interoperable ecosystem in the television broadcast domain, AIMS had a clear path to follow. Established technologies including SMPTE ST 2110, AMWA NMOS IS-04 and IS-05, and others would serve as the foundation within the IPMX framework for the packaging and organization of video content.

However, while the broadcast and Pro AV industries have many requirements in common, Pro AV environments do present some additional ones, and accommodating them has been at the core of IPMX’s development. For example, facilitating extended display identification data (EDID) negotiations over IP networks when connecting displays to sources has been a significant area of focus and development for IPMX. 

In addition, high-bandwidth digital content protection (HDCP) is essential for HDMI applications, but isn’t typically employed in traditional SDI broadcasts. By ensuring the secure handling of protected content, HDCP support holds great significance within the IPMX framework, and was a key priority in establishing a robust and comprehensive standard.

To overcome these technical hurdles, they were parceled out to individual standards groups and trade associations based on their knowledge and experience in certain domains. For example, AMWA was tasked with addressing EDID negotiations and facilitating format chats and negotiations throughout the entire workflow. 

And within the VSF, an IPMX working group addressed the intricate aspects of signal-level details, which encompassed crucial areas such as the functioning of HDCP negotiations and the mapping of formats into the SMPTE ST 2110 standard. Through such advancements and augmentations, IPMX has evolved as a comprehensive solution that expands on existing standards to ensure seamless interoperability and efficient format negotiations within the IPMX ecosystem.

The standard has made significant progress since AIMS began its work. Approximately two-thirds to three-quarters of the components comprising IPMX have already been published, including the initial drafts of VSF’s TR-10 suite of Technical Recommendations, which recently became available for download on VSF’s website. The TR-10 suite outlines the differences between SMPTE ST 2110 and IPMX, with documents covering everything from system time and definitions, to using AMWA NMOS APIs, to the transparent transport of AES3 audio using the RTP protocol.

[Dirty Hands and IPMX]

In addition, ongoing studies are being conducted to determine optimal profiles and levels for specific codecs in various applications. The current focus is primarily on establishing market-facing profiles and levels, and specifying the mandatory and optional features that vendors must adhere to in order to obtain IPMX certification.

The primary goal of AIMS and its members is to ensure that IPMX attains the same level of adoption and widespread implementation in the Pro AV industry as SMPTE ST 2110 has in broadcasting. Currently, IPMX is following a trajectory similar to that of SMPTE ST 2110, and is expected to reach a comparable level of market acceptance in the near future. And as the final stages of standardization are completed, a surge of IPMX-certified products is expected to hit the market, marking a new era of AV-over-IP deployments.

This article originally appeared on TV Tech sister brand Systems Contractor News.

BOTHELL, Wash.—The Video Services Forum (VSF) has made available to the public the initial draft of its TR-10 suite of Technical Recommendations for Internet Protocol Media Experience (IPMX), the Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) said.

"The release of VSF's TR-10 drafts represents a major milestone in the work on IPMX, and we couldn't be more excited to announce that they are now available for the public to preview and comment on," said Jack Douglass, co-chair of the VSF IPMX Activity Group. "At this stage, several manufacturers have made implementations based on these documents, and those implementations have been tested in multiple labs and interoperability trials. Now we are closing in on the last stages before they are finalized within VSF."

A set of open standard-based protocols designed to ensure interoperability for AV-over-IP systems in the media, entertainment and Pro AV industries, IPMX is based on the SMPTE ST 2110 standard. It was developed through a collaboration between AIMS and the Joint Taskforce on Network Media (JT-NM), which includes VSF, the Advance Media Workflow Association (AMWA), the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and SMPTE.

IPMX gives manufacturers and developers what they need to create low-latency, interoperable, IP-based AV products and applications. The VSF TR-10 suite outlines the differences between SMPTE ST 2110 and IPMX with documents covering everything from system time and definitions for using AMWA Networked Media Open Specifications (NMOS) APIs to the transparent transport of AES3 audio using the RTP protocol, it said.

"The VSF is pleased to have participated with its industry partners in developing IPMX, and we believe it will have a major impact in both the Pro AV and Media & Entertainment industries," said Richard Friedel, president of the VSF.

The draft documents are available online.

More information is available on the AIMS website.

LAS VEGAS—Now in its eighth year, the IP Showcase has evolved into a must-see exhibit for anyone deploying IP technology. Over the years, AIMS and other major technical and standards organizations within the broadcast industry have taken advantage of large industry events like the NAB Show to highlight vendor products, technical presentations, and real-life case studies of IP deployments, while providing attendees with networking opportunities with access to the experts that make open IP standards a reality. 

As the NAB Show celebrates its 100th anniversary, we couldn’t be more excited to be there again, as well as welcoming our newest members—Megapixel VR and NETGEAR—to the IP Showcase.

Demonstrating Interoperability
In the beginning, the IP Showcase started out as a way to demonstrate to the industry that IP standards work and to highlight their interoperability. However, in listening to feedback from attendees on what they’re hoping to see and what they need from the Showcase, we quickly learned that there’s a lot of hunger out there for education on a wide range of topics. 

Part of this need is met by the IP Showcase Theater, where industry professionals give 20-minute presentations on case studies and other topics. As in previous years, this will be a centerpiece of the IP Showcase at the 2023 NAB Show. In addition, the “IP in Action” wall will be back, which will display additional information about different IP installations that have taken place. 

We’ll also have people on the ground to answer questions about today’s hot topics, such as ground-to-cloud, cloud-to-ground, and of course, the IPMX set of open standards and specifications for AV-over-IP deployments being developed by AIMS. 

There’s also been a lot of work going on with codecs in our various groups, and we’ll be there to educate people on the flurry of activity around standards over the last year, including work around JPEG XS, H.264, and EDID. In addition, the Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) recently published its guide for implementing NMOS controllers, and its work on stream compatibility management is moving to the next phase of testing and interoperability. 

The Video Services Forum (VSF) has also released the first draft of TR-10-1 for system timing in IPMX—with revisions active and ongoing—and the HDCP Key Exchange Protocol draft specification. We’re expecting these to be popular topics of discussion at the show. 

Knowledge Sharing
Education is certainly at the forefront of attendees’ expectations for the IP Showcase; however, we’ve also learned that organizations and individual professionals aren’t strictly looking for information and insight, they are also eager to share ideas. 

So, this year at NAB Show, we decided we really wanted to emphasize the social aspect of the IP Showcase and provide attendees with the opportunity to get together and have these conversations. And we’re doing that with the introduction of a new element: the meetup section. This is going to be an open space with flexible seating, where attendees can come in and host conversations revolving around IP media systems that are important to them.

And while we’re normally very selective about who can give presentations at the IP Showcase, we’re opening the meetup space to just about anybody who wants to have a conversation regarding anything related to AV-over-IP, SMPTE 2110, or even other proprietary protocols out there. As long as the topic is centered around IP media systems and making them work, anyone can host a conversation; they don’t need to belong to AIMS or any other organization. 

The reason for this inclusivity is that we envision this new section not only as a place to support our community of open-standards-based solutions, but to also hear from users in general. We want to find out what you’re doing in IP, the problems you’re facing, and your success stories. 

Sharing such information at the IP Showcase is a really exciting prospect, and we’re anticipating that a lot of smaller groups will want to take advantage of it. So, we’ve been casting a wide net for participants, sending out a sign-up sheet via social media and other outlets. All people have to do is fill out a form, and they’re given a time slot for their conversation.

We’ll also have industry experts come in to address groups that want to discuss certain topics. So, for example, if there’s a group that wants to discuss network convergence or issues they’re having when setting up IP systems, we’ll bring in experts from companies in our organization that specialize in those topics, and they’ll be available for those meetups. 

And finally, we’re opening up the space to groups that already meet within standards organizations over Zoom and elsewhere to have face-to-face meetings at the NAB Show. There are so many possibilities to use this new space as an educational opportunity, and we can’t wait to see what people do with it. It’s going to make the 2023 NAB Show 2023 one to remember, and we look forward to seeing everybody there.

Visit us during exhibit hours at Booth W2867 in the West Hall of the LVCC. 

Register for the 2023 NAB Show at nabshow.com/2023.

The Video Services Forum (VSF), has announced a new specification for the RIST protocol (Reliable Internet Streaming Transport) that allows for the use of Wireguard VPN in RIST devices. This feature, detailed in TR-06-4 Part 2, is the second release in a series of ancillary features for RIST specifications.

Wireguard VPN has been selected as an off-the-shelf alternative to transport RIST Simple Profile (VSF TR-06-1) or unencrypted RIST Advanced Profile (VSF TR-06-3) streams. Wireguard sessions can also be used to carry non-RIST data for in-band control or other purposes. Additionally, Wireguard can also support IP Multicast, if configured to do so. Technical recommendations are freely available from the VSF website for all to download and make use of.

The RIST protocol has been designed as a reliable, low-latency video contribution transport over the Internet. It is typically used for professional media workflows, such as news and sports contribution, remote production, affiliate distribution and primary distribution. Developed with multi-vendor interoperability as its key objective, RIST provides a technically robust transport solution regardless of the application, use case, or environment it is deployed in. 

Ciro Noronha, CTO, Cobalt Digital and RIST Forum President, commented: "For some time, the RIST Advanced Profile has been a novel way to provide a VPN service, but for some applications, offering a standard off-the-shelf VPN is more desirable. The Wireguard VPN has been selected by the RIST Activity Group as the recommended alternative. RIST was launched to address compatibility issues in video transport and this update furthers enhances its interoperability and functionality.”

The VSF will be holding its annual technical conference and exposition, VidTrans, in Marina Del Ray Feb. 28-March 2. RIST representatives will be exploring the technical benefits and latest developments of the protocol during the event, in a series of demos. 

Registration is now open.

LAS VEGAS--This year’s IP Showcase at NAB Show has announced a call for presentations for the event.

The IP Showcase is a joint venture between the Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), the Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA), European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the Society of Motion Picture and Technology Engineers (SMPTE), and the Video Services Forum (VSF).

The submission deadline for speaking proposals is Feb. 25. Speaking times are limited during the four-day exhibition; the selection committee is looking for the following types of presentations:

• Tutorial (basic, intermediate, advanced)

• Case study

• Panel discussion

• Market/business case analysis

• Point-of-view/advocacy

• Standards progress/update

Preference will be given to presentations related to the following technology areas on the Joint Task Force on Networked Media (JT-NM) Roadmap:

• AES67

• SMPTE ST 2110 suite of standards for Professional Media Over Managed IP Networks

• AMWA NMOS specifications such as IS-04, IS-05, IS-07, and IS-08

• Timing and synchronization using SMPTE ST 2059-1/2

• JT-NM TR-1001-1 framework for installing, configuring, and interconnecting equipment

More details and the submission form are available at the IP Showcase’s website.

AMSTERDAM—The IP Showcase will return to the IBC for the third year in a row, according to several broadcast technical and standards organizations.

The Audio Engineering Society (AES), Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA), European Broadcasting Union (EBU), Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), and Video Services Forum (VSF) will again host the IP Showcase at the annual IBC Show in Amsterdam, Sept. 14-18.

The Showcase, which started out as the “IP Interoperability Zone” at the 2016 IBC Show, will feature vendors and broadcasters who will provide instructional and case-study presentations and an array of IP-based product demonstrations highlighting the benefits of, and momentum behind, the broadcast industry’s move to standards-based IP infrastructure for real-time professional media applications.

[Read: IP Showcase Returns To IBC2017]

Organizers say the event has been instrumental in helping the industry to galvanize behind the standards-based approach to IP. This is the first IBC show since the publication of documents within the SMPTE ST 2110 Professional Media Over Managed IP Networks suite of standards, the foundational standards for essence-based transmission of video, audio, and metadata.

“The broadcast industry reached a crossroads when it faced the choice of pursuing a standards-based approach to IP or pursuing multiple alternatives and directions,” said Brad Gilmer, executive director of the IP Showcase. “Almost unanimously, the industry chose the standards-based approach, uniting behind SMPTE ST 2110/ST 2059, AES67, and AMWA IS-04/IS-05. As we move from watching the progress of the early adopters into seeing how the industry as a whole will move into the IP transition, the IP Showcase is more important than ever.”

The IP Showcase will feature equipment displays and product demonstrations that emphasize everything industry vendors have achieved in support of IP standards and specifications. The displays will showcase the benefits IP can bring to an operation and will comprise equipment from an estimated 50 vendors — one of the most massive assemblies of interoperable IP products ever. Displays will highlight the benefits of IP signal transport and focus on SMPTE ST 2110-10/20/21/30/31/40, the SMPTE ST 2059 Broadcast Profile for IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol (PTP), AES67, and AMWA IS-04/IS-05.

The IP Showcase Theatre will provide an education resource of information about the phases of IP adoption. Vendors, broadcasters, service providers, and integrators alike will highlight their solutions to technical challenges related to the transition from SDI to IP. Choosing from a full slate of presentations on IP technology and installations, professionals ranging from broadcast/IT engineers and CEOs to TV producers can learn how to unlock the full potential of using IP for real-time professional media.

The IP Showcase will take place in rooms E106 and E107 at RAI Amsterdam during the show. More information is available at www.ipshowcase.org.

LOS ANGELES—With the theme of “Making IP Video Production a Reality,” VidTrans 2018 is pulling out the stops for attendees, among which will be an interoperability demonstration of technologies for transporting uncompressed video and audio over IP, including the AMWA NMOS IS-06 Interop.

IS-06 is the interface between Broadcast Controller and the Network Controller that is used to secure network services. The interfaces expected to be demonstrated will feature functions that include discovering network topology; authorizing endpoint devices; routing flows from senders to receivers via optimal paths; and bandwidth management.

The interop will also feature a hybrid mode that enables the Broadcast Controller to perform authorization and manage bandwidth requests, whereas flow routing is done directly by endpoints using IGMP or other mechanisms.

Additional offerings during VidTrans 2018 will include technical sessions, product demonstrations in the exhibit hall, networking opportunities and special events.

VidTrans 2018 will take place from Feb. 27 to March 1 at the Marina Del Rey Marriott in Los Angeles. For more information or to register, visit www.vsf.tv.

MARINA DEL RAY, CALIF.—The annual VidTrans conference, Feb. 28-March 2, at the Marina del Rey Marriott, has long been a place where new video transport formats get their first public showing, and the 2017 edition is no different; once again it’s stuffed full of fresh technologies. Headlining the InterOp Demonstration this year will be the SMPTE 2110 series of document drafts that define IP formats for uncompressed video and audio signals.

Since SMPTE ST-2110 isn’t released yet, the Vidtrans InterOp is based on versions of the documents that have already been discussed extensively within the drafting group and are nearing the point where they will become suitable for publication.

Three major parts being demonstrated include:

• SMPTE ST-2110-10: System Timing and Definitions – This part covers the fundamental packet formats used throughout 2110 (RTP over UDP), packet size limits, system timing model (based on SMPTE ST-2059-2), and specifies SDP (Session Description Protocol) as the required method for describing individual media sources.
• SMPTE ST-2110-20: Uncompressed Active Video – This part covers the transmission of uncompressed video (similar to how it would be found on SDI), but only the active video pixels (no HANC or VANC space). Raw pixel data is arranged into IP packets with a common timestamp for all of the packets that make up a single frame of video, in a manner similar to RFC 4575. The SDP parameters that are used to precisely describe video essence are also defined in this part.
• SMPTE ST-2110-30: PCM Digital Audio – This part covers uncompressed audio transport in close conformance to AES67, with a few modifications to simplify compatibility with IP video signals.

EXHIBITORS SUPPORTING INTEROP

At VidTrans, companies participating in the InterOp will be showing equipment that implement one or more of the above technologies, plus some other, more established technologies, including ancillary data over IP (captions) and standards such as SMPTE ST-2059 timing and SMPTE 2022-7 Protection Switching. Data needed to coordinate the actions of senders and receivers will be communicated using AMWA IS-04 NMOS Discovery & Registration technology, which will be a key requirement for any studio that needs to manage more than a handful of video or audio streams.

A dozen vendors, including heavy-hitters such as Evertz, SAM, Grass Valley and Sony will be on hand with their equipment and key personnel in support of the InterOp. In addition, more than two dozen companies will have booths in the sold-out exhibit hall to showcase their latest and greatest IP video and other media networking equipment.

PANEL DISCUSSIONS

The conference program covers a broad range of topics, headlined with two panel discussions: “Roadblocks to Implementing SMPTE 2110” and “Getting There from Here,” which, if VidTrans tradition holds, will be well-attended and spark some thoughtful debate as to how new technologies will play out in studios going forward.

Throughout the rest of the two-and-a-half-day conference speakers from a variety of backgrounds will cover many different topics, including two different case studies of broadcasters replacing SDI-based studio infrastructure with IP cores. Crucial IP-video technologies such as UHD video, software-defined networks and advanced network interfaces will be presented. Long-haul video transport will also be covered, with speakers talking about commercial insertion on OTT networks, as well as private-network and internet-based video contribution systems.

On Monday afternoon, Feb. 28 (just before VidTrans begins) a two-hour course “AES67 – What Every Media Professional Needs to Know” will be hosted at the show site. Registration for this class can be done at the same time as regular VidTrans registrations. Free, exhibits-only passes are also available from most of the exhibitors.

Marina del Rey is always a great spot for VidTrans, with plenty of lodging and dining choices in area, as well as being a short walk from the beach and a quick ride from LAX airport. Conference fees include catered breaks along with lunch and receptions each day on Tuesday and Wednesday.

For more information about VidTrans, including the full program and list of exhibitors, click here.

LOS ANGELES—The Video Services Forum said a “major industry interoperability demonstration” of uncompressed audio and video over an IP network will be conducted at the group’s upcoming technical conference, VidTrans 2017, at the Marina del Rey Marriott, Feb. 28 to March 2.

This year’s VidTrans will focus on flavors of IP networking and video technologies for video transport and production studio applications. It will feature a multivendor Interop demonstrations based on the work of the Joint Taskforce on Networked Media, with a particular focus on the draft SMPTE ST-2110 spec, parts 10, 20, 30 and 40, including video, audio, and ANC data.

The demonstration will feature a number of equipment manufacturers, test equipment manufacturers and additional networking technology suppliers. The exhibition hall and Interop demos will be open Tuesday and Wednesday, Feb. 28 & March 1, with an opening night reception on Tuesday.

For more information about the conference, visit www.videoservicesforum.org for updates.

LOS ANGELES—A technology-driven migration is taking place in the television engineering community, from baseband SDI-based equipment to IP-based and sometimes virtual technology. The discussion on the virtues and drawbacks of each continue. Last week, the Video Services Forum published a draft Technical Recommendation for “Transport of Uncompressed Elementary Stream Media over IP.” (See “VSF Publishes Draft Technical Rec. for Studio Video-over-IP.”)

Thomas Edwards, vice president of Engineering & Development at Fox Networks Engineering and Operations, has been at the forefront of testing and developing IP-based technologies for video transport for several years. Edwards participated in the group that developed the VSF draft, TR-03. TV Technology asked Edwards why this is significant.

TV Technology: How does TR-03 differ from SMPTE 2022-6? Is non-SDI encapsulation the differentiator?

Edwards: SMPTE ST 2022-6 is encapsulation of the entire SDI signal in IP. VSF TR-03 allows the individual elements of video, audio, and ancillary data to be separately forwarded through a network, and re-composed into different combinations as needed for production purposes.

One interesting aspect is that the ancillary space in HD-SDI uses 16 percent to 38 percent of SDI bandwidth depending on resolution and frame rate, so there is significant bandwidth savings from only transmitting the active video. Now we can finally let go of the legacy of the blanking regions of the CRT by using TR-03.

TV Technology: TR-03 mentions “specific concentration on live production,” meaning real time?

Edwards: Yes, this effort is all about a real-time, low-latency, production-oriented format.

TV Technology: Does this reflect the work you’ve been doing at Fox?

Edwards: Fox has been supporting this work in the VSF Studio Video over IP (SVIP) Activity Group, and we are currently working with Aperi Corp. to create FPGA code to convert between SDI and RFC 4175, the uncompressed video format specified by VSF TR-03.

TV Technology: Is there a limitation to the payload?

Edwards: RFC 4175 can handle video of any bit depth, up to 32,767x32,767 resolution, 4:2:0, 4:2:2, and 4:4:4 color subsamplings, and both progressive and interlace. TR-03 adds BT.2020 color space as well as a SMPTE 2084 HDR EOTF. We feel that RFC 4175 is extensible for any video format we are thinking about.

TR-03 carries audio using AES67, the AES standard for uncompressed audio over IP. This lets the broadcast video industry immediately become compatible with a large number of networked audio systems.

For ancillary data, TR-03 uses IETF draft-ietf-payload-rtp-ancillary, which allows interesting new workflows. No ANC embedders/disembedders are needed, instead devices can contribute or consume ANC data independent of video streams, while maintaining synchronization.

TV Technology: The press release states, “The group studied and documented requirements within the broadcast plant including video, audio, ancillary data, grouping, timing, sequencing, identities, and latency.” Are all of these elements transported independently, without encapsulation, and if so, how is synchronization achieved and maintained?

Edwards: Video, audio, and ancillary data are transported separately. A network clock is distributed using IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol. Streams and synchronized groups of streams are described with IETF Session Description Protocol (SDP).

Sessions are announced with IETF Session Announcement Protocol (SAP). More complex capabilities of identities, registration, and discovery may be addressed by future work of the VSF SVIP AG. Synchronization is provided through IETF RFC 7273 RTP [real-time protocol] Clock Source Signalling, which links PTP time to the RTP media clock.

TV Technology: Further, it states, “It then researched current and proposed solutions, and developed a gap analysis between the requirements and existing solutions.” What were the gaps?

Edwards: I feel that TR-03 did a great job of fulfilling the requirements. Higher level capabilities of identity, registration, and discovery need some additional work. Fortunately, BBC Research & Development has been doing great work in these areas, and may prove them out during the AMWA Networked Media Incubator project. [Advanced Media Workflow Association]

TV Technology:I seem to remember somone suggesting that the work on this in VSF might at some point be adopted or otherwise included in SMPTE-2022. Is that the case? Will this become part of SMPTE-2022?

Edwards: SMPTE ST 2022-6 also uses RTP, like the RTP payloads specified in VSF TR-03. Since SMPTE ST 2022-6 is SDI encapsulated in IP, it will likely have some use in the short term for solutions that need to expose SDI inputs and outputs for mixed SDI/IP installations. But to achieve the maximum flexibility of IP production, there was a need to break these out in elementary streams—audio, video and anciliary data.

For example, one may want to connect different languages of audio with a video, or one may have a device that can generate closed captions, timecode, etc., and those don’t have to be encapsulated in SDI.

On video, there is some bandwidth savings of only sending the active video area than carrying all of SDI because there is less overhead. For the people who are 50p, especially 720p50, the waste of bandwidth in ancillary data space of SDI is significant.

TV Technology:Will this become a part of SMPTE standard.
Edwards: Yes, it is believed that this will go to a SMPTE committee for standardization. The VSF effort involved 60 people from 30 companies who took part in the teleconference meetings to produce the TR, so we know that we have input from a large portion of the industry. From the Fox point of view, that’s very important.

TV Technology:Does this eliminate some of the latency of encapsulation?
Edwards: TR-03 defines the transport and synchronization protocols. How they are used is up to the implementer. There will certainly be subframe latency implementations.
I don’t think latency would necessarily be any less or more than SMPTE 2022-6. Both are using the real-time protocol—RTP. In both protocols, you put a section of uncompressed video into a packet and then send it out over the network. The latency depends on how the how much buffering is required for network jitter. A millisecond or less would suffice for most LAN implementations.

TV Technology:What is the concern with synchronization?
Edwards: There is a real concern among users that synchronization (lip sync, audio imaging, clean switching, etc.) goes out the window when you move to IP media. With a proper implementation, this is not true. Actually when every packet is time stamped accurately, we should have better synchronization between media streams than SDI solutions could provide. Synchronization was an important set of requirements for the development of TR-03.

TV Technology:How does this fit with ASPEN, TICO, et al?
Edwards: It’s true that lots of transport protocols are being announced. That’s why we thought it was important to encourage the industry to adopt a common transport protocol. And so Fox decided to support the SVIP AG. The VSF was able to develop this Technical Recommendation in a year and a half.

Hopefully, we won’t have the situation that happened with networked audio, with 10 different audio formats. It delayed widespread implementation by over ten years, because you’d buy one device from one vendor, and it wouldn’t work with another device from another vendor. After a long period of multiple, incompatible transport protocols, the AES developed AES67, which many networked audio vendors are now supporting. Because of this, the VSF SVIP AG adopted AES67 in TR-03 to continue that interoperable compatibility.

TV Technology:Does this accommodate a hybrid world?
Edwards: This is looking toward a world that’s all IP, but there will be a period of hybrid SDI/IP. I will be giving a talk at the SMPTE 2015 Annual Technical Conference on elementary streams over IP, which with the publication by the VSF will basically be about TR-03.

TV Technology:Will this be real time?
Edwards: Yes.

TV Technology:What would you like to add?
Edwards: We’re not doing this just for fun. The move to IP is about improving the agility of our broadcast operation. How do we get there? By moving to a virtualized facility. And how do we get to a virtualized facility? Using COTS hardware equipment and IP. It’s all part of a strategy to improve the agility of the broadcast plant.

There are other advantages in the short term as well. Fox Sports’ new Encore production truck, for example, was able to dramatically impove signal density by putting a large number of video flows over 10 GbE.

There may not be a cost advantage today—I think the costs are nearly equivalent now. But IP solutions will get cheaper over time. We know that IP networking technology is being driven by the hyperscale data centers, which are now moving from 10 Gbps this year to 25 Gbps, 50 Gbps, and 100 Gbps in the LAN shortly.

TV Technology:Why is TR-03 important?
Edwards: It represents a key element of cooperation in the industry on a common protocol. This is the beginning of a revolution.

The draft TR is “TR-03 - Transport of Uncompressed Elementary Stream Media over IP“ (Published as a draft.)

Also see...
October 23, 2015
“VSF Publishes Draft Technical Rec. for Studio Video-over-IP“
The VSF SVIP Activity Group was tasked with developing a standard for video-over-IP without SDI encapsulation with a specific concentration on live production.

October 22, 2015
“UHD In a Hybrid SDI/IP World“
“There are more and more technology partnerships between vendors; this is something I’m seeing more and more of, which I haven’t seen in the past.”

October 20, 2015
“SDI vs. IP: Packet to Packet“
If one looks at the delay through an IP switch, it is due to the necessity to buffer the packets as they arrive, are processed and then sent out. Depending on the switch design, the traffic load, and the packet size, the performance required in terms of packet loss dictates the buffer sizes.

October 19 2015
“Global HDR TV Shipments to Exceed 32 Million in 2019“
IHS forecasts that unit shipments of HDR TVs globally will grow from 2.9 million in 2016 to 32.6 million in 2019.

October 19 2015
“AES Delves Into IP Audio, OTT“
Television broadcasting has gone through numerous significant changes since the first station went on-air more than 80 years ago, but nothing may prove to have such an impact on the medium as IP technology.

October 14, 2015
“SDI vs. IP: Which Switch is Which?“
If major industries, including manufacturing, transportation, telecommunications, commerce and banking, have adopted IP, why not real-time video production?

July 23, 2015
“Test Vendors Straddle the Worlds of SDI and IP“
It doesn’t really matter what is broken these days, it’s either deemed disposable or worthy of repair.

June 10, 2015
“IP for Broadcast: A Conversation with Thomas Edwards of Fox“
The main drive for moving from SDI/AES to IP is the need to enhance flexibility and agility of the broadcast plant.

October 22, 2014
“SMPTE 2014: Uncompressed Video Over COTS Ethernet Switches“
How many packets are dropped by Ethernet switches moving video? Thomas Edwards of Fox set about with Aperi Corp. to find out.

June 28, 2010
“Uncompressed Video Over IP“ ~ by Thomas Edwards
Today, the use of compressed video (such as MPEG-2 or H.264) over IP is no longer unusual.