In Broadcast - October 2017 - 53

53

www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 7 - Issue 10 | October 2017

InUSA

Highly Anticipated IP Specs
Become A Standard
Contributing Editor Michael Grotticelli
notes that the SMPTE 2110 suite of IPrelated standards are advancing rapidly...

F

or the past 16 months, the industry
- that is both broadcasters
looking to set up Internet Protocol
(IP) workflows and the equipment
manufactures that support them with
new technology to make it happen -
have been eagerly awaiting the formal
standardisation of the SMPTE ST 2110
specification for sending and receiving
Professional Media Over Managed IP
Networks. The standard, actually a
suite of standards, opens the door to
innovative uses for IP, such as remote
control of an entire system from miles
away, and maximising resources within
a studio to improve productivity.
The best part is that the new SMPTE
ST 2110 standards are video-formatagnostic and therefore support Ultra
HD, HDR, and other new and emerging
formats.
At the recent IBC2017 Show in
Amsterdam, SMPTE announced it
had reached approval on a new set of
standards that outline best practices
for the carriage, synchronisation, and
description of separate elementary
essence streams over professional IP
networks in real-time for the purposes
of live production, playout, and other
professional
media
applications.
ST 2110 standards make it possible
to separately route and breakaway
ancillary data, as well as audio and
video. This change promises to simplify
the process of adding metadata such
as captions, subtitles, Teletext, and
timecodes; as well as tasks such as
the processing of multiple audio
languages and types. All elements
can be routed separately and brought
together again at the endpoint. With
ST 2110 standards, each component
flow - the audio, video and metadata
- is synchronised to each other while
remaining independent streams.
All-IP Common Pipe
By deploying the SMPTE ST 2110
standards,
intra-facility
traffic
now can be all-IP, allowing media
organisations to rely on one common

data-centre infrastructure rather than
two separate facilities for SDI and IP
switching/routing. The foundation
for the first SMPTE ST 2110 standards
came from Video Services Forum
(VSF) Technical Recommendation
for Transport of Uncompressed
Elementary Stream Media Over IP (TR03), which VSF has made available to
SMPTE as part of the newly approved
specifications.
The new SMPTE ST 2110 standards
were a primary focus of the IP
Showcase at IBC2017, where SMPTE
joined with the AES, AIMS, AMWA,
EBU, IABM, MNA, and VSF to support
the interoperability event. With
more than 60 companies working
together to demonstrate real cases of
IP interoperability based on the final
draft SMPTE ST 2110 standards, the IP
Showcase featured the latest advances
in IP technology for the professional
media industries and demonstrated
how SMPTE ST 2110 standards add
value.
Numerous
interoperability
demonstrations using ST 2110 were
held to show broadcast/IT engineers,
CEOs, producers, and others in
understanding how they can leverage
the benefits of the ST 2110 standards.
To prove ease of use as well as
interoperability, the demonstrations
are divided into a series of application
pods, such as live production signal
flows, contribution and playout signal
flows, etc., which were all shown under
the control of familiar user interfaces
(such as an editing timeline, playout
server interfaces and various webbased (and highly, secure) portals.
Manufacturing Standard
The need for an official standard
(and the IP Showcase) was also critical
to manufacturers that are developing
the new software and hardware
tools that can make ST 2110 useful in
the real world. In fact, many of the
standards committee members on
the SMPTE ST 2110 Drafting Group are

also
representatives
from many different
manufacturers. Without
the
standard
fully
approved, many were
forced to hold off
development of key
technology
because
they didn't want to
build a product that
IBC2017: The IP Showcase saw 60 companies
wasn't supported by
demonstrating interoperability based on draft
SMPTE ST 2110 standards
SMPTE. This approval
is critical for customers to know that portions of the standards suite, such
the technology they buy will work with as support for compressed audio and
other companies' technology in a file- video, will follow a similar process and
based workflow.
will likely be published in time for the
Interestingly, SMPTE said that 2018 NAB Show.
while the industry can now start
manufacturing equipment, a fully- Benefits Realised
interoperable system will require
The impact of the new standards
additional areas to be addressed. goes beyond just replacing SDI with
Nevertheless, the new SMPTE ST 2110 IP to having the flexibility to develop
standards are already being embraced a whole new set of applications based
by the industry. In a survey conducted on, and leveraged off, information
by the AIMS group, 70% of its technology
(IT)
protocols
and
members said that they would begin infrastructure. SMPTE said the
offering equipment and solutions advantages of shifting to IP are
implementing the SMPTE ST 2110 comparable to those achieved when
standards soon.
the industry moved from physical
According to SMPTE (as of October tapes to virtual files for content
2017) the ST 2110 standards suite is storage. Files were not treated as if
made up of three key parts:
they were just virtual tapes; rather, all
*	 SMPTE
ST
2110-10/-20/- the benefits of software and virtualised
30 - addressing system concerns access have come to be realised with
and
uncompressed
video
and new workflows and functionality
audio streams - are now approved offered.
standards;
Another advantage is that intra*	 SMPTE ST 2110-40 - concerning facility traffic now can be all-IP. Thus,
metadata such as captions, subtitles, rather than requiring two separate
active format description, timecodes, sets of switches - SDI switches for
dynamic range, and more - is professional media and IP/Ethernet
presently undergoing final committee switches for general data - facilities
draft ballot and is anticipated to be can rely on a common infrastructure.
published before the end of 2017 or Most operators will continue to
early in 2018;
separate traffic by priority; however,
*	 SMPTE ST 2110-21 - specifying the newer switches do have the
traffic shaping and delivery timing of intelligence to prioritise real-time
uncompressed video - is presently in media streams.
the comment resolution phase of the
So, while additional work continues,
final committee draft text.
SMPTE has given the much-needed
The SMPTE standards committee is green light for suppliers and users
now resolving final comments on ST to begin deploying IP networks and
2110-21 before conducting the final reaping the benefits. Most agree that
ballot (draft publication) to elevate it IP is the future of video transport,
to standard status. This document is remote control and automated playout
anticipated to be published before the of virtual channels. And SMPTE's
end of 2017 or early in 2018. Additional stamp of approval has finally arrived.
http://www.inbroadcast.com https://www.smpte.org/st-2110
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