Internet Protocol (IP) isn’t new to broadcasting, with talk of it dating back to the late 1990s. Since then, IP technology has advanced, and the workflows supporting it have moved beyond theory to practice. Full-fledged NDI studios are operating worldwide, and SMPTE ST 2110 is now often the standard for many greenfield facility builds. While these IP approaches have been around for a while, they’re now becoming more accessible.
Fibre is getting faster and cheaper, and SMPTE ST 2110 network switches are becoming more affordable. As IP infrastructure costs come down, technology providers are also solving another part of the equation—developing equipment for hybrid pipelines that connect the worlds of baseband and IP. This is key to unlocking the scalability and long-term cost benefits of IP for a broader group of professionals.
An era of hybrid experimentation
With IP technologies rapidly evolving and video quality needs varying, there is no shortage of IP options available today. NDI is supported by a robust ecosystem of technologies and can be effective for environments where a nominal amount of latency is acceptable, but with efficient compression. The fast-growing Dante AV, also compressed, uses a highly efficient codec to ensure lower latency video delivery and integrates seamlessly into environments already leveraging Dante Audio.
SMPTE ST 2110 provides an uncompressed option. In these environments, signals are split into audio, video, and metadata, with redundancy. SMPTE 2110 is ultra-reliable and helps to avoid dropped video frames. If something goes awry, redundancy is in place to ensure the user experience is seamless.
There isn’t necessarily one right approach to IP, with each infrastructure unique. As many facilities and trucks find their stride with IP, the reality is that they’re likely working with a combination of these approaches, in addition to baseband equipment. SDI remains integral to workflows because not all IP tools are accessible yet. For instance, SMPTE 2110 monitors are significantly more expensive compared to HDMI and SDI monitors.
NDI, Dante, ST 2110, and SDI can be thought of in some workflows as different islands. Professionals need a bridge to move between them, which is where manufacturers are stepping up their game. At IBC, we saw lots of innovation in this arena, but education remains a hurdle to making IP more accessible.
Expanding the knowledge base and talent pool
The worlds of broadcast and IT are inherently different, but with IP, they’re becoming more interlinked, so understanding both is crucial. We’ve seen a lot more material come out in recent years designed to help broadcast engineers better understand the intricacies of IP, and vice versa, with IT professionals learning more of the underpinnings of broadcast.
Running a SMPTE ST 2110 network requires knowledge of how to run both fibre networks and copper Ethernet networks, and how to solve networking issues that can be difficult to pinpoint. Thankfully, in the UK and even Europe at large, we’re seeing Ravensbourne and other universities starting to provide that training to students early on, with many of these institutions now becoming a springboard for IP talent.
Predicting the impacts of the continued democratisation of IP
As the industry advances in its IP journey, IP will not only provide the more obvious long-term cost-efficiency and reduced cabling footprint advantages but also enhanced production flexibility. More accessible IP workflows enable broadcasts and productions to produce content remotely from anywhere with less friction.
Barriers to IP accessibility will continue to come down, and as they do, distributed production pipelines will only improve, even in regions where they may have previously been difficult to facilitate. The volume of available content will continue to grow alongside the content quality, as these networks advance to support transport of the highest resolutions, bit depths, and sample rates. It will also become easier to add new tools to the pipeline and creative and production suites to networks.
While the M&E industry has made progress in its transition to IP in the last decade, there is still a long way to go. Predicting where everything will net out down the line is difficult, but I see IP becoming the new standard, especially as costs continue to drop. IP advancements could also pave the way for an expanded SMPTE ST 2110 feature set over the years and further ratification of standards that address challenges like 8K. The democratisation of IP is already underway, and with it come ample opportunities to reimagine how content is created, delivered, and experienced.
