As open-standards-based IP has come of age as a network protocol for the broadcast, AV and corporate sectors, the emphasis has moved from making essence transport work to refining and improving the customer experience and workflow, writes Jeremy Courtney, senior director, CTO office, Lawo
By Contributor
Published: August 11, 2022 Updated: August 16, 2022
As open-standards-based IP has come of age as a network protocol for the broadcast, AV and corporate sectors, the emphasis has moved from making essence transport work to refining and improving the customer experience and workflow, writes Jeremy Courtney, senior director, CTO office, Lawo
target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin>
Jeremy Courtney, Lawo Gone are the days when the ability to control all devices via a unified, overarching control system was enough to set one's pulse racing. Even staunch defenders of ST 2110-based infrastructures admit that getting everything to work as expected used to take oodles of blood, sweat and tears. Just ask them about the behind-the-scenes programming and configuration work as well as their negotiations with vendors to implement the missing links.
In a sometimes brutally competitive environment, operators are expected to do more with ever less and quite naturally look for solutions that keep their tasks manageable. They expect their IP infrastructure to work like a samba that swings so cool and sways so gently right from the start
Head start Finding ways to reduce complexity, increase speed, and simplify the management of devices and signals with higher levels of agility and protection is key.
Operators and vendors can be proud of what has already been achieved. The number of operations built around a distributed set-up, with control rooms on premise in different parts of the world and data centres in still other locations is growing steadily. Operators in the US, Australia, Norway, Belgium and many other countries successfully managed to devise a new normal where the studio as well audio and video controllers are in one city, whilst the processing happens elsewhere.
Flexible, globe-spanning resource sharing over the IP network allows broadcasters and production service providers to lower their capital expenditures simply by using the tools they already own more frequently. Some users even went so far as to design multi-functional workspaces whose feature-set is determined by the credentials of the user logging into that space. All of this was implemented well before the global pandemic.
Vendors who pioneered the migration to IP for both audio and video infrastructure had already reached cruise speed when distributed production scenarios moved from being a forward-looking approach to sheer necessity.
With all elements in place and most pitfalls out of the way, they rightly anticipated that the next step would be to make broadcast IP manageable. Hence the launch of the HOME management platform for IP-based media infrastructures. It offers a microservice architecture based on modern technology and techniques that deliver the performance, reliability and experience tier 1 broadcasters expect.
More standards Interoperability has been at the top of the agenda since day one. The term stands for the ability to use best-of-breed solutions for the task at hand, irrespective of the vendor. This requires vendors to scrupulously stick to the protocol of the open standards employed: ST 2110, AES67, ST 2022, etc. Complications often arose from the fact that different manufacturers seemed to have different understandings of the word scrupulous'.
Another aspect was quickly brought to the vendors' attention: unlike IP-based networks for IT applications, broadcast and AV tools are essentially blind until operators assign them an IP address and make the other networked devices aware of them. This used to be a manual process that often took weeks, or months, for large broadcast infrastructures. It was also error-prone.
To alleviate this issue, a number of manufacturers jointly developed the AMWA NMOS IS-04 and IS-05 protocols that take care of discovering and registering devices as well as device connection management. NMOS is an open standard with a certain level of interoperability, but it has yet to become the silver bullet that allows all devices to work harmoniously together. This is not intentional, by the way, it typically occurs due to differences in interpretation, behaviour and implementation of specifications.
In any case, today's operators expect more than discovery and registration: they want a simple, but rich user experience, complete with the ability to tweak parameter settings on remote devices and signal grouping for one-click routing of essences. Separating audio from video and metadata offers more flexibility except when it doesn't. And this is where essence grouping steps in: devices and signals can be routed quickly and easily using a platform-agnostic web UI front-end.
Like NMOS, HOME revolves around a registry that keeps track of all known devices and greatly simplifies the discovery and registration process (no more manual input of IP addresses, etc).
IP broadcast standards for the mere encapsulation of content (ST 2110) can be complemented with robust, established IT standards for other important tasks. Support for DHCP, DNS and RADIUS therefore makes a lot of sense.
Elephant in the room Given the dramatically increased awareness regarding network security and the need for a strategy to fend off hacker attacks and content theft, the addition of the tried-and-tested 802.1x standard offers a robust solution.
This simplified way of adding devices to a network via automated discovery and registration may pose a new threat: the newly-added device might immediately come online and wreak havoc on at least part of the network. This i
Europe Stories
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
09/10/2026
September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026
New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
11/09/2026
Spark series gains compact modelling stompbox
Positive Grid's Spark amps have become a popular part of the company's line-up, offering a convenient ...
11/09/2026
New flagship sequencing plug-in revealed
Rapid Flow have just launched a new 16-track sequencer plug-in which they say has been designed for total rhythmic...
11/09/2026
Rohde & Schwarz unveils the air-cooled R&S TM1 medium-power UHF transmitter at I...
11/09/2026
Friday 11 September 2026
Sky Sports extends US Open deal to 2030
Sky has agreed a three-year extension to its US Open deal, ensuring Sky Sports & NOW remains ...
11/09/2026
Wuppertal September 11, 2026
A Decade of Innovation: AMP VISUAL TV Builds on Ten Years of MediorNet EvolutionAMP VISUAL TV is continuing the evolution of its ...
11/09/2026
Wuppertal September 11, 2026
Mediacom Deploys Riedel Easy5G for Wireless Camer...
11/09/2026
Wuppertal September 11, 2026
Touring Video Expands Flexible Production Workflows With Riedel MediorNet and hiRiedel Communications today announced that Tourin...
11/09/2026
Wuppertal September 11, 2026
Riedel Technology Powers Record-Breaking Esports World Cup Production in ParisFrom July 6 to Aug. 23, 2026, Paris hosted the Espo...
11/09/2026
Article courtesy of Digital Production
Read the article
With Baselight 8 coming in 2027, the interesting part is not the number of new buttons. Some features...
11/09/2026
It's almost iPhone Pro time. Starting Saturday, September 12, at 1 p.m, cust...
11/09/2026
RT has today announced Benetti Menswear as the sponsor of its 2026 Amgen Irish Open coverage for a sixth consecutive year, further strengthening the heritage c...
10/09/2026
Editing, restoration & mastering suite upgraded Acon Digital Acoustica 8 audio editing restoration mastering software.
Acon Digital have just launched the la...
10/09/2026
Classic synths & drum machines available to play
Based in Reading, UK, Readipop are a music and arts charity with a long track record of innovative, partici...
10/09/2026
Popular model updated & new addition introduced
With many of the models in Neumann's KH family now boasting onboard DSP and support for the company'...
10/09/2026
Improved desktop interface announced
The latest iteration of Arturia's flagship desktop audio interface has just arrived, introducing improved preamps, ...
10/09/2026
Progress needs proof: Rohde & Schwarz showcases its trailblazing test solutions ...
10/09/2026
The beloved duo are back with big challenges and even bigger laughs as they discover if you're ever truly too old to try something new.
Previous praise for...
10/09/2026
Thursday 10 September 2026
Sky News Defence Insider app launches as new researc...
10/09/2026
Thursday 10 September 2026
Award-winning network Sky Mobile to offer Apple iPho...
10/09/2026
Thursday 10 September 2026
Sky unveils gripping teaser for The Good Daughter, coming this NovemberTurn on cookies to view this content. Go to Privacy options a...
10/09/2026
Harmonic Leads the New Era of Broadband Connectivity at SCTE TechExpo 2026 Showcase Spotlights Include:
New cOS SensAI intelligence fabric unleashing data-pow...
10/09/2026
RT to Broadcast Amgen Irish Open free-to-air
New multi-year agreement will see RT continue to bring the Amgen Irish Open to Irish audiences
Ryder Cup hig...
10/09/2026
More than 30 women report allegations of sexual harassment, misogyny and bullying within National Ambulance Service
Tonight on RT Prime Time, 9:35pm, RT One ...
10/09/2026
Series 3 of Nero's Class begins Friday 11 September on RT Listen
The third...
09/09/2026
New parts aimed at hip-hop and pop productions
The latest update to Celemony's innovative virtual session musician expands the collection of built-in in...
09/09/2026
Save up to 40% until 21 September 2026
Sonarworks are currently running their Autumn Sale, with discounts of up to 40% currently available across their rang...
09/09/2026
Upcoming title officially launches in September 2026
Bjooks' celebrations for this year's 909 Day will be welcome news amongst drum machine lovers, ...
09/09/2026
Chennai/Luxembourg, 9 September 2026 - SES, a leading space solutions company, today announced the inauguration of its new office in Chennai, India, marking a s...
09/09/2026
September 9 2026, 22:35 (PDT) Cinema Sunshine Becomes Japan's First Exhibit...
09/09/2026
Wednesday 9 September 2026
Tom Daley adds final stitch to giant Baa-Ewe' t...
09/09/2026
Red Seat Ventures Integrates Barometer into Speakeasy to Maximize Podcast Revenu...
09/09/2026
Baselight-powered color comes natively to Media Composer, connecting creative de...
09/09/2026
RT brings three packed days of live radio, entertainment, news, weather and fun
Join RT Radio 1: Morning Ireland, Oliver Callan, Today with David McCullagh,...
08/09/2026
Built for rap producers, by rap producers
Sauceware Audio, the independent plug-in company founded by Grammy-nominated producer Jacob (Travis Scott, 21 Sava...
08/09/2026
Classic Sound Techniques design revived
Warm Audio's latest release delivers a meticulous recreation of the preamp circuitry employed by the Sound Techn...
08/09/2026
Latest soft synth inspired by the Memorymoog
XILS Lab have just launched a software instrument that draws its inspiration from Moog's iconic Memorymoog,...
08/09/2026
September 08, 2026 NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - Soundcraft today announced the launch of its Signature Plus Series Analog Connected Mixing Consoles. As the next genera...
08/09/2026
Tuesday 8 September 2026
Sky Go gets a major upgrade for Sky Glass and Sky Stream customers
Today, Sky launches a new version of the Sky Go app for Sky Glass ...
08/09/2026
Documentary thriller simulating a Russian attack on UK soil will culminate in a live final episode reuniting the playersTuesday 8 September 2026
Trailer releas...
08/09/2026
Tuesday 8 September 2026
Jamie Demetriou and Amelia Dimoldenberg to host next t...
08/09/2026
Wuppertal September 8, 2026
Riedel Introduces New OnAir Headset PlatformRiedel Communications today announced the launch of its new OnAir headset platform, a...
08/09/2026
BERLIN, September 8, 2026 - J nger Audio will introduce a major expansion of its flexAI audio processing platform at IBC 2026. The flexAI system adds autonomous...
08/09/2026
New Vendor-Agnostic Broadband Intelligence Fabric Reduces Operational Complexity and Improves Service Quality for Broadband Service Providers SAN JOSE, Calif. -...
08/09/2026
Arvato Systems Brings TI Expertise to the Stage
Panels, workshops, and real-world examples at the TI-SUMMIT 2026
Arvato Systems, a partner of the TI-SUMMIT 2...
08/09/2026
On October 1, Apple Arcade is rolling out a lineup of fun new games for players ...
07/09/2026
Two new full-range, flat-response cabinets introduced
HeadRush have recently introduced a pair of new full-range, flat-response cabinets designed for player...
As open-standards-based IP has come of age as a network protocol for the broadcast, AV and corporate sectors, the emphasis has moved from making essence transport work to refining and improving the customer experience and workflow, writes Jeremy Courtney, senior director, CTO office, Lawo
