SMPTE, EBU to Collaborate on Timing and Synchronization

The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) has teamed up with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to form a joint task force on timing and synchronization.

The task force will focus on updating the current methods of timing and synchronization for TV, audio and other moving picture signals. The current standards—which are more than three decades old—don’t take into account the demands of the digital age, such as networked content sharing and higher frame rates for HDTV image formats, according to the organizations.

“The task force will begin by focusing on user requirements from broadcasters, and the media and entertainment industries,” the organizations said in a joint statement. “Once these user requirements are known, the task force will publish one or more requests for technology (RFT). The industry’s responses to these RFT will be evaluated against the user requirements. The outcome of this process will be a set of specifications that will be passed to the appropriate SMPTE Technology Committees for due process standardization.”

The task force will operate on a combination of face to face meetings as well as online discussions. The first face to face meeting will be held in New York City on Nov. 5-6. Pre-registration is required. Details are available at www.smpte.org/standards/meeting_schedule/tf_home.