Paul Treleaven, IABM’s Technology Specialist Consultant, has recently been honored by SMPTE with its prestigious Excellence in Standards award, which recognizes individuals or companies who have been actively involved in advancing Society standards activities and processes.
Standards – What’s happening with Technology Standards?
In these update articles, I often launch directly into topics related to the SMPTE and AES meetings that the IABM attends. However, there are numerous Standards bodies that have some impact on our industry, so I have put together a table to show how the picture fits together.
Later in this article we also describe some other organizations that contribute valuable standards-like work to our industry.
IMF Unpacked
How SMPTE’s latest delivery standard can save you space, money and time. Covers:
- Core constraints and applications.
- What’s in an IMF package.
- How IMF works.
- Who IMF is right for.
Network I/O for System T broadcast platform successfully participates in ST 2110 JT-NM testing
Solid State Logic (SSL) successfully participated in the Spring 2020 JT-NM Tested program, with the HC Bridge SRC and other devices from the SSL Network I/O range included in the “JT-NM Self-Tested” catalogue for ST 2110.
Audio over IP – IP technology for broadcast audio routing systems
As the AoIP debate continues to confuse and delight in equal measure, what is clear is different scenarios require specific solutions. So is there a solution that encompasses open standards and existing proven AoIP technologies to the benefit of all?
By definition, network infrastructure (switches, routers and cables) is protocol and technology agnostic, it carries data. This is one of the primary reasons to use IP technology in a broadcast facility, the same infrastructure can carry different formats of video and audio data. Key to developments are open standards, ensuring the widest potential future interoperability. Key to real-world installations are system requirements and technology choices driven by the application, or specific usage case. The market share of AoIP technology stacks is also an important factor to consider for interoperability. At this point on the standards adoption curve for audio, the use of licenced AoIP technology stacks provides the widest guaranteed interoperability and greatest functionality when considering audio specific routing requirements.
In Conversation with Matrox
We caught up with Jean Lapierre, Senior Director, Advanced Technologies to discuss Matrox® VERO.
Jean tells us about what VERO is and what stimulated its development, why they build a new device rather than just use a simple SDI-to-ST 2110 gateway.
We also talk about how VERO includes a capture function and why someone would need that in a signal generator. Finally, we hear how VERO is useful for any users that may need a ST 2110 reference source.
Emerging IP Technologies in Broadcast Industry
A two day course that covers the fundamentals of SMPTE 2110, Network Device Interface (NDI) and Secure Reliable Transport (SRT).
Case Study: How 100G Will Transform The Media Landscape
Research reveals that there were around 2.4 billion Internet users in 2014. By June 2019, that number doubled to 4.4 billion. That’s an 83% increase in the Internet user base in a span of just five years.
Matrox White Paper: Insiders Guide to Validating Devices for SMPTE ST 2110 Infrastructures
Why Test ST 2110 Devices?
A SMPTE ST 2110-networked environment must deliver all of the benefits of an IP infrastructure – with the predictability of SDI – in order for it to be useful. This challenge can be met only when the infrastructure is well-managed and edge devices respect specifications. A rogue ST 2110 device may not deliver as expected, which would be bad enough. More importantly, it could adversely affect other functioning devices and lead to unpredictable general failure, which could be catastrophic.
With this in mind, the first step to take after acquiring a new ST 2110 device for a broadcast network is to make sure that it is a good “network citizen.” A good network citizen will not affect the network or disrupt operations when it is directly connected to an on-air production environment. The second step is to actually test the promised functionality and its compliance to SMPTE standards and industry norms. For example, a production environment that is architected around ST 2022-7 redundancy would be very poorly-served if devices do not actually support the ST 2022-7 specification properly – which could ultimately lead to disruptions.
It is important to understand that some devices might actually work well in a small synthetic setup, but fail when put into a real working environment. Due to a number of unaccounted variables, a simple pass-fail test may not be sufficient to make informed decisions on choice of equipment. For example, network packet timing is very different when several transmitters are sending to one receiver compared to a single transmitter sending to a receiver. The timing of a sender is also different if it sends a single ST 2110 flow vs. several flows. Another typical testing pitfall is the dependence on one kind of transmitter. A receiver might work great with a narrow gapped transmitter – like an SDIto-IP gateway – but not work well with a wide linear transmitter.
At first glance, issues like these may not appear to be a problem if the environment may only contain narrow gapped devices. However, knowing the functional boundaries of a working environment is critical to maintaining future expansion. Misinformed decisions taken today may limit future capability and possibilities, (e.g. supporting wide senders). To pre-empt this, it is advisable to build up a test suite that pushes the test boundaries for imperfect, but sufficiently good cases. It is only with these types of tests that informed decisions could be made, eventually leading to judicious ST 2110 device purchases, safe device firmware/software updates, and beneficial service agreements.
How to Overcome the Challenges of ST 2110 Infrastructures
Find out how Matrox’s groundbreaking new SMPTE ST 2110 signal generator and diagnostic appliance, Matrox VERO, is helping to alleviate some of the common challenges faced in ST 2110-networked environments. Matrox’s VP of Sales and Business Development, Francesco Scartozzi, and VRT’s Design and Engineering Manager, Willem Vermost will discuss the importance of the JT-NM Tested Program, the move toward self-testing, and the top concerns for broadcasters integrating new ST 2110 equipment. A live demonstration of the Matrox VERO device and a Q&A will follow this not-to-be-missed session.