Asia-Pacific Broadcasting (APB) Systems Integration 2017 | Page 15

TRANSITION TO iP
Production to delivery:
Integration of IP
BY DR AMAL PUNCHIHEWA
IP has been in use for broadcasting over many years. However, IP was used
in various segments of broadcast production and delivery in an unintegrated
fashion. The nature of IP and its limitations, specific to the application of IP in
broadcasting, have delayed deployment of IP in live broadcast production.
The traditional live broadcast infrastructure is based on the
Serial Digital Interface (SDI) for the interconnection of signals.
SMPTE developed and standardised SDI in collaboration with the
industry, and led the way with its chipsets and evolved from SD to
HD, 3G and, most recently, UHD-1.
Technological advancements and social transformations
are changing the broadcast landscape. Broadcasters are under
tremendous pressure to create more content at a lower cost. They
also need to anticipate future transitions beyond HD to UHD-1 and
UHD-2 and high frame rates. These requirements are driving the
industry to transition from SDI to IP Live production.
This article attempts to address briefly IP Live technology in the
context of broadcaster needs, the emergence of industry standards
and inform the overwhelming advantages of IP Live in terms of
cost, agility and scalability. IP Live implementation needs to meet
the most stringent requirements for broadcast picture quality,
operating simplicity and reliability.
Challenges in use of IP in broadcast production
IP Live production technology is inevitable because the broadcast
environment is so competitive. Emerging trends are rapidly
transforming the broadcasting business. Post-production facilities
at broadcast stations have already deployed non-linear editing
equipment, setting up file-based systems and implementing fully
networked editing environments. Such editing environments
do not have strict requirements regarding signal latency and
synchronisation, hence best-effort packet delivery is acceptable for
such confined broadcast facilities. In these applications, off-the-
shelf IP routers suffice and costs are low.
However, in live production, best-effort packet delivery is not
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