Across industries and around the world, standardization has been essential to the success and advance of major market sectors. From the early automotive and film industries to the personal computer, the internet, and countless other examples in modern times, standards have enabled the degree of conformity necessary to ensure consistency and interoperability.
For decades the broadcast industry relied on a standard and interoperable set of technologies for media creation and processing: SDI. People across production, post-production and transmission all used the same set of standards, which delivered the high degree of compliance and interoperability necessary to ensure that two devices equipped with SDI interfaces would work together.
The broadcast industry is migrating successfully from SDI to IP in large part due to SMPTE ST 2110; a suite of open standards that enables the use of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) IT infrastructure equipment while benefitting from the flexibility, agility, and scalability of IP Networks.
The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) has published this month, an array of free educational resources related to media over IP for the broadcast and Pro AV industries. The unique collection of presentations, papers, and solutions now available on the AIMS website highlights progress in achieving an all-IP ecosystem using open standards, offers forward-looking perspectives on IP workflows, and provides practical solutions for migrating smoothly to IP.
Posted at https://aimsalliance.org/techfest-2021-presents-ip-showcase/, videos from the May 25-26 AIMS TechFest 2021 Presents: IP Showcase highlight presentations by end users, industry associations, solution providers, and technology developers on topics including IP video/audio taxonomy, live production, IPMX for both Pro AV and broadcast, NMOS, and more.
AIMS has now published and maintains a vendor guide showcasing an array of proven products from companies that support the principles of AIMS and follow the AIMS roadmap. The continually updated guide is on the AIMS website at https://solutions.aimsalliance.org.
A new article penned by Andrew Starks, AIMS board member and director of product management for Macnica, has been posted to the IPMX website. Titled Internet Protocol Media Experience (IPMX), the article offers perhaps the most comprehensive explanation of IPMX published for broad consumption, and touches on development of the emerging open-standard protocol and how it addresses the particular requirements of the Pro AV industry.
Event Will Delve Into the Latest Advances in Media Over IP and Showcase Real-World Deployment of IP Ecosystems in Broadcast and Pro AV
The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), in partnership with the Video Services Forum (VSF) and the Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA), has opened registration for IP Oktoberfest 2021, a live, interactive, virtual event for broadcast and Pro AV professionals slated for Sept. 28-30. Registration can be accessed online at www.ipoktoberfest.com. Running from 10 a.m. ET each day, the free event will highlight the industry’s significant progress toward an all-IP ecosystem supporting today’s real-world media productions.
“Given the rapid rate of IP adoption over the past year, speakers at IP Oktoberfest 2021 have a great deal of material to share and discuss with attendees,” said AIMS Chairman of the Board Michael Cronk. “We’ve seen a great deal of change across the broadcast and Pro AV markets, and we look forward to another successful IP Oktoberfest event that blends fresh, dynamic, technical conversations with plenty of opportunities to catch up with colleagues and connect with other industry professionals.”
Throughout IP Oktoberfest 2021, experts from across the broadcast and Pro AV industries will present technical papers, use cases, facility overviews, and other educational and informative content to illustrate the latest advances in IP-based technologies and media workflows. Paper presentations will examine recent advances with respect to supporting standards, protocols, and technologies, as well as actual deployments of IP systems for production operations.
The interactive event platform will enable participants to move freely between meeting areas — including a live presentation stage, virtual pub, and meeting and networking rooms — and make it easy to engage in education, interaction, and networking.
Further details about AIMS IP Oktoberfest 2021 are available at www.ipoktoberfest.com. More information about AIMS is online at www.aimsalliance.org.
Event Will Explore Fresh Advances in Media Over IP and Real-World Deployment of IP Ecosystems for Media Production
The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) has opened its call for papers for IP Oktoberfest 2021, a live, interactive virtual event for broadcast and Pro AV professionals to be held Sept. 28-30. Now in its second year, the event will highlight the industry’s significant progress toward an all-IP ecosystem supporting today’s real-world media productions. Proposed papers may be technical presentations, use cases, facility overviews, and other noncommercial, non-promotional pieces on media over IP that offer educational value. The deadline for proposal submissions is Aug. 15.
“IP Oktoberfest 2020 offered the industry a much-needed opportunity to catch up on the latest advances in implementing IP-based media workflows, and we expect the 2021 edition will be even more valuable, given the accelerated rate of IP adoption over the past year,” said Mike Cronk, chairman of the AIMS board. “We’ve seen a great deal of change across the broadcast and Pro AV markets, and we look forward to paper presentations that showcase recent advances in terms of supporting standards, protocols, and technologies, as well as actual deployments of IP systems for production operations.”
Running daily from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. EDT, IP Oktoberfest 2021 will provide participants with numerous opportunities for education, interaction, and networking in a dynamic, online environment that makes it easy to move freely between meeting areas — including a live presentation stage, virtual pub, and meeting and networking areas.
AIMS Techfest Presents: IP Showcase highlighting the great strides that have been made in achieving an all-IP ecosystem using open standards was a great success.
Presentations and case studies demonstrated how the SMPTE ST 2110 suite of standards and the AMWA NMOS technology stack are improving media workflows for large and small, broadcast and Pro AV deployments alike.
If you were unable to attend the live event — or if you’re just in the mood for fresh perspectives on media over IP — the recorded presentations are all available now to view at your leisure.
Check them out here!
One of the many ways in which AIMS supports the adoption of media over IP across both the broadcast and Pro AV industries is by featuring products designed to ease the transition from SDI to IP.
AIMS members have not only enhanced existing products to support IP but have also introduced new solutions that offer critical capabilities for IP-based media workflows.
Check out our collection of products and solutions on our solutions page, where you’ll find an extensive listing of products compliant with the AIMS roadmap, delivering essential functionality for broadcasters and other organizations making the move to IP.
For a deep dive into EDID support in IPMX, check out this recent blog post by Andrew Starks. Andrew does a fantastic job of outlining challenges and new solutions in the tricky universe of practical EDID implementations amidst the always increasing range of displays.
As part of Installation’s recent Pro AV Tech Outlook report, the Alliance for IP Media Solutions set out the purpose of its work in defining open standards for AVoIP interoperability
By Andrew Starks.
Plug your monitor into your laptop, and you will expect to see video on the screen and hear audio through your speakers. Your laptop and your monitor will negotiate the most optimal settings and even allow you to override its selection with an alternate mode supported by your display, should you choose. Thanks in part to EDID, and its replacement DisplayID, this works perfectly… almost always.
However, throw in a distribution amplifier or multicast with AV over IP to drive multiple monitors, and you’ll begin to understand the pain and frustration of your average Pro AV installer. This is because EDID is designed for simple one-to-one connections, and everything beyond this is done with hacks that are not based on standards or best practices. As a result, there is a small cottage industry of donkey-knuckles (aka dongles and dohickeys) designed to fake out source devices, replacing the EDID information that the source device would normally receive with whatever the installer wants. Believe it or not, these kinds of workarounds represent the state of the art in AV over IP installations as of 2021.
For IPMX, AIMS recognized the opportunity to improve this situation dramatically by thoroughly supporting content negotiation between sources and displays, especially in multicast scenarios. With that goal in mind, AMWA is developing a new specification called NMOS IS-11 Sink Metadata Processing. Along with NMOS Receiver Capabilities (BCP-004-01), a prior AMWA group’s work, and NMOS EDID to Receiver Capabilities Mapping (BCP-005-01), IS-11 defines how NMOS Senders negotiate with one or more Receiver devices connected to displays using EDID, and eventually DisplayID.
To illustrate how it works, consider the simplest scenario: one Sender and one Receiver device. The Receiver device detects when a monitor is attached to its output using HDMI’s signaling facilities and reads the EDID information. The Receiver then maps the EDID’s timing, video, and audio profile data to receiver capabilities endpoints (a URL) on one or more NMOS Receivers. These Receivers now contain a list of all the video or audio modes supported by the attached monitor. When the user connects a Sender to one of these Receivers, the NMOS controller gets this information from the Receiver and gives it to the Sender. If the Sender can support one or more of the modes it receives, it’s configured and ready to make a connection. If a controller attempts to change the flow to something that is not supported, the Sender shuts down the flow and returns an error.
Now imagine there are multiple monitors. In the case of video, the NMOS controller retrieves the receiver capabilities of each connected Receiver. Typically, the controller would combine them into a constrained set that all monitors support. However, it could alternately use custom logic to determine how mismatched capabilities are handled or further constrain the choices, as desired by the user. With this constrained set, the Sender can pick a mode that every monitor can support or fail if it can’t.
Hidden in these examples are the gory details and exceptions that the IS-11 group must address, thanks to the rocky world of real-world EDID implementations and the ever-increasing variety of displays. Currently, they are in Phase 3, which includes validation and testing of the design with implemented contributions from Pebble, Matrox, and Macnica. Guided by the feedback received from integrators, customers, and manufacturers, the group is confident that they can deliver a robust and deterministic way of managing one of Pro AV’s thorniest issues.
With in-person trade show cancellations and postponements in 2020 and early 2021, it has been quite a while since industry professionals gathered for an IP Showcase event. Thanks to the work of many AIMS volunteers and partners, however, the IP Showcase has made a successful return.
AIMS TechFest 2021 Presents: IP Showcase took place in May and was an immense success, drawing attendees from over 30 countries. AIMS hosted the online event along with AMWA and the VSF, and presentations tackled a wide array of topics related to IP for media transport. In all, more than a dozen experts spoke to critical considerations across standards, design, implementation, and future developments.
Recordings of AIMS TechFest 2021 Presents: IP Showcase presentations are now available for on-demand viewing twice per week. Follow AIMS on LinkedIn and Twitter each week to catch these great educational presentations and visit https://aimsalliance.org/techfest-2021/ for a list of recordings as they become available.
That’s not the only great content available through the AIMS website. The new AIMS Product Portal gives you the resources you need to learn more about how to simplify your transition from SDI to IP. You’ll find a collection of helpful videos and product information at https://solutions.aimsalliance.org/.
For a deeper dive into interoperable IP for the Pro AV industry, you can also check out “Standardise and deliver,” a new article by Paul Bray of AV Magazine. It’s a thorough article and well worth a read!