MUNICH, GERMANY—The Society of Motion Pictures and Television Engineers has partnered with a research institute of public broadcasters from Germany, Austria and Switzerland to conduct an Interoperable Master Format plugfest to test whether or not vendors can create and play interoperable IMF packages.
SMPTE and the Institut für Rundfunktechnik (IRT) have scheduled the plugfest for May 29 in Munich. It will be conducted as a meeting of the SMPTE Media Packaging and Interchange Technology Committee (TC-35PM) Plugfest Drafting Group.
SMPTE will conduct another IMF plugfest Oct. 18-19 in the Los Angeles area. That event will occur in the days leading up to SMPTE 2018 Annual Technical Conference & Exhibition, Oct. 22-25, at the Westin Bonaventure in Los Angeles.
The SMPTE-IRT plugfest, the first such collaborative IMF test, will bring together various international content providers, distributors, broadcasters and vendors.
For the plugfest, devices from multiple vendors will be used to create IMF packages using agreed-upon test vectors and supplied source material for various IMF applications. Packages created on the device of one vendor will be tested on all other participating devices to verify whether they can be processed correctly to produce the same results.
As issues are identified, solutions will be proposed that can be used to inform IMF users and to clarify or update the existing SMPTE IMF standard.
Prior to the SMPTE-IRT plugfest, a virtual plugfest will be held to give participants the chance to work with the source material in their labs.
To date, more than 16 organizations have registered to participate.
Those who wish to register to participate should visit the plugfest website.
