Asia-Pacific Broadcasting (APB) BroadcastAsia2017 Show Daily - Day 1 | Page 27

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BROADCASTASIA2017 SHOWDAILY 27
23 May 2017
IP: No excuses to wait anymore
BY STAN MOOTE
With the IP SMPTE ST 2110 standard
having gone through all the technical
hoops and in the final throes of
ratification, the industry no longer has
any excuses not to embrace IP. With
interoperability proven, end-users can take
advantage of the massive flexibility, agility
and efficiency of IP-based infrastructures
and begin the transition process.
A recent IABM end-user survey asked:
“Of the products/solutions that you plan
to purchase over the next 12 months,
which is the most important priority?”
A large number of broadcasters ranked
IP routing and networking products as
number one on their purchasing priority
list, closely followed by workflow and
asset management solutions to enable
them to take full advantage of the new IP
technology.
In April this year, the Alliance for
IP Media Solutions (AIMS) surveyed its
members who are vendors with this
question: “Will your company be shipping
SMPTE ST 2110 products to market in
2017 (not including alpha, beta or proof-
of-concept)?” Of the 26 AIMS members
Understanding SMPTE ST 2110
• Professional media over managed IP
networks
• Ideal for studio/production applications
• Format/Standard-agnostic
• Essence-based — video, audio
and ancillary data are separately
addressable IP streams
• Supports gateways to and from SDI
• ST 2110 is a family of standards; main
parts:
- SMPTE ST 2110-10 System Timing
and Definitions
- SMPTE ST 2110-20 Uncompressed
Active Video
- SMPTE ST 2110-30 PCM Digital
Audio (compatible with AES67)
- SMPTE ST 2110-40 Ancillary Data
who responded to the survey, 72% stated
YES they would.
While IP is everywhere on the show
floor at BroadcastAsia2017, the real-
world transition will, of course, not
happen overnight. Large investments in
existing SDI infrastructures will need to
be amortised to a greater or lesser extent,
and will always be measured against the
enormous potential gains of going IP.
The industry needs to educate itself on IP
The [broadcast] industry no longer has any excuse
not to embrace IP.
technology and how best to apply it. To
this end, BroadcastAsia2017 is providing
a fulsome platform to help visitors
understand the technology and business
benefits of the move to IP.
IABM is presenting the IP Theatre on
booth 6C4-04 at BroadcastAsia2017,
taking a leading role in helping visitors
understand the transition to IP. Here,
attendees can learn from a number of
experts from IABM, AIMS and the Asia-
Broadcasting Union (ABU) about the
business and technology aspects of IP,
and hear case studies from leading IABM
member companies about actual IP-based
applications. IP technology suppliers
including Imagine Communications, Grass
Valley, SAM, Lawo and Harmonic are
presenting.
Right next door is the Broadcast
IP Inter-Op Lab. Presented by APB,
BroadcastAsia organiser UBM SES and
systems integrator Ideal Systems, the IP
Inter-Op Lab includes a live broadcast
studio, content editing and distribution to
over-the-top (OTT) — all in real time —
with equipment supplied by 16 leading
IP vendors to demonstrate real-world IP
interoperability.
I am sure that the BroadcastAsia IP
sessions will play to packed houses and
as a last point of interest, I asked several
end-users with IP installations that are
not based on SMPTE ST 2110 their
forward-looking plans. The answer was
pretty simple – we are excited and have
already engaged our systems integrators
to upgrade over to 2110. ❑
Stan Moote
has worked
worldwide in
the industry
for more than
three decades
and is the
CTO for IABM,
International
Association
for Broadcast
and Media
Technology
Suppliers.
Stan has a
clear understanding of technology
combined with a solid business twist.
You can see many of Stan’s articles at
theIABM.org.