Next-generation signal distribution infrastructures leveraging the Internet Protocol (IP) are quickly emerging as a cost-effective way to deploy such networks and move content from one point to another. Now the standards to specify how to do that are becoming available as IP delivery is being widely adopted by broadcast and media enterprises globally.
“IP networks are growing in speed and capability, and so are video signals,” said Hans Hoffmann, SMPTE engineering vice president.
This week the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) in cooperation with the Video Services Forum (VSF), an international association that advocates for the adoption of video networking technologies, announced two new standards in a series that creates a common framework for the transport of video over IP networks.
The new SMPTE/VSF IP video networking standards are the result of a collaborative process in which the VSF developed the original specification and SMPTE provided a detailed technical review process and formal accreditation. The work was conducted under the 32NF Video over IP Ad-hoc Group, chaired by Brad Gilmer, executive director of VSF. SMPTE and VSF provided resources for developing the standards.
“These new standards provide a framework for interoperability that will allow video producers, broadcasters and distributors to transport HD and other uncompressed video signals using equipment from a wide variety of suppliers,” Hoffman said.
The documents, including the latest additions known officially as SMPTE ST 2022-5:2012 Forward Error Correction for High Bit Rate Media Transport Over IP Networks and SMPTE ST 2022-6:2012 Transport of High Bit Rate Media Signals over IP Networks (HBRMT), are now available via the SMPTE digital library.
Originally created to support the transport of IT-related data and email traffic, IP networking technologies now support high-quality, real-time video services. In addition to offering the ability to share video assets quickly and efficiently, drive more cross-enterprise collaboration and potentially reduce operating and capital expenses, SMPTE said IP networking is bi-directional and lends itself to multi-point transmission, which is needed to monetize content and advertising in new ways across multiple screens, such as computers, smart phones and tablets.
Richard Friedel, president at VSF, said the new standards are the result of several years of work by the VSF and “reflect our organization’s ongoing commitment to open standards and innovation for all types of video transport.”
SMPTE ST 2022-5:2012 defines a methodology that can be used to provide forward error correction for the recovery from network transmission errors. The methods used have been specifically selected to perform well for high bit-rate video signals that operate at speeds up to the Gb/s range and beyond.
The other standard, SMPTE ST 2022-6:2012, defines a uniform data-mapping format that supports a wide variety of HD-SDI and 3G-SDI video signal formats. Using this standard, products from different manufacturers can, for the first time, send and receive high bit-rate video signals that are being delivered over IP networks. Potential users include television broadcasters, production companies and video transport service providers.
