According to a new survey, IP adoption for live production isn’t quite as far along the road as previously thought. Where it is taking place is in the replacement of ‘like-for-like’ hardware.
The survey—conducted online by TV Tech TVBEurope and Caretta Research—polled both vendors and broadcasters (buyers) to understand more about the extent to which operations are transitioning towards IP-based and software-defined infrastructure and live production.
According to the survey, SDI remains the primary infrastructure approach for 70% of broadcast and media companies, and is used by 90% of the survey’s respondents in total. For those that have made the move to IP, SMPTE ST 2110 is the primary flavor of IP.
Unsurprisingly, many broadcast technology vendors are offering a wide range of support for IP infrastructure in their product lines, with ST 2110 again the primary flavor, followed by NDI.
However, the findings show that buyers are much less IP-centric than technology vendors think, with just 22% of the broadcaster respondents having deployed IP in “most of their operation.”
One unexpected finding is the way buyers see "IP" more broadly than "live video production infrastructure," with streaming ranking as the most commonly-implemented example of technology, probably because streaming has always been IP-first.
In the production environment, master control rooms are first to integrate IP infrastructure, and most likely to be upgraded to IP in the next 12 months. News, in-venue production and—surprisingly—OB trucks are least likely to have seen IP implementations according to the broadcaster respondents.
The most surprising finding from the survey was the preference of almost 50% of buyers for dedicated hardware appliances to run their IP infrastructure for live production. This runs counter to the approach of “early adopters” and suppliers’ belief that 30% of customers are deploying on COTS, compared with 14% of customers themselves.
Almost half of buyers feel the main outcome of IP infrastructure is adding technical complexity (compared with a quarter of their suppliers). Enabling business efficiency is a much lower priority for buyers (16%) than for vendors (39%)
Speaking about the survey’s findings, Robert Ambrose, co-founder of Caretta Research, says: “Our research reveals how adoption of IP infrastructure isn’t as mature as the industry sometimes thinks. While more than half of broadcast and media companies have now deployed ST 2110, it’s still most likely to be found in ‘IP islands.’
“But at a time when broadcasters are under huge pressure to be more efficient, many are at risk of missing out on the real benefits of IP, like enabling more flexible software-defined workflows to make more efficient use of expensive facilities," he added. "It’s crucial that facilities see IP infrastructure as a transformation, not just a like-for-like replacement of SDI routers.”
TVB Tech's November/December issue will include a deeper dive into the survey’s results. Click here to receive a free copy.
Overall, survey respondents represented a broad geographical spread, with 34% from Europe and 37% from North America. Over 70% of those who took part in the survey have more than 10 years of experience in the industry.
