DALLAS—The media industry is moving toward IP environments, and according to a study from Imagine Communications, a near majority of companies are well on their way toward that goal. Imagine’s “Focus Forward 2016 Technology Trends Report” conducted a survey of more than 700 professionals from around the world to weigh in on matters including IP, UHD, the transition from hardware-centric to virtualized networks and linear to omniplatform.
While the 22 percent of respondents are still reporting that they have made no moves to transitioning from SDI to IP, 78 percent have at least begun the process, with 42 percent having transitioned somewhere between 25 to 100 percent of their operations to IP. The report indicates that it may be “the propensity of media professionals to disregard file-based workflows as part of the IP transition that most likely accounts for the 22 percent of survey respondents who indicated they have transitioned zero percent of their operations to IP.” Imagine’s report also shows that respondents believe that there are both cultural and technical obstacles to overcome in the transition to IP.
As a result, the report claims that many companies will have some sort of SDI/IP hybrid environment as part of their transition. The major concern for most respondents, 55 percent to be exact, is the use of standards-based and non-proprietary generic equipment. Still, the report shows that 74 percent of respondents expect the transition to IP to take place between the next two to 10 years, with 41 percent predicting a two to five year window.
An additional finding from the report is that 46 percent of companies believe that it will be more than two years before market demand for UHD is strong enough that it will require a significant investment. While the penetration of UHD-capable TVs and other devices is certainly a significant factor for respondents in being ready to support UHD—29 percent rated it as their biggest concern—it is the cost of upgrading infrastructure for UHD that is the most important factor for 36 percent of respondents, according to Imagine. A majority (55 percent) of respondents also believe that the relationship between UHD and the IP transition are closely related.
Additional findings from Imagine’s report include findings that nearly 90 percent of media companies have begun the process of moving hardware-dependent operations into virtualized ones; and roughly 75 percent believe that a unified, omniplatform approach to ad management is either important or very important to their business success.
To read the full report, click here.
