SMPTE Makes Its Standards Freely Accessible, Opening Standards Library to the Global Media Technology Community

SMPTE Makes Its Standards Freely Accessible, Opening Standards Library to the Global Media Technology Community

Brie Clayton June 22, 2026

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Move Will Drive Adoption, Accelerate Implementation and Strengthen Interoperability Across the Industry

SMPTE , the home of media professionals, technologists and engineers, has announced that its entire Standards catalog is now freely available to the global media technology community. This includes all published SMPTE Standards, Recommended Practices, Engineering Guidelines and Registered Disclosure Documents (RDDs), as well as all future releases. For more than a century, SMPTE Standards have helped enable the interoperability that underpins the entertainment technology industry. By removing barriers to access, this milestone is expected to accelerate adoption and implementation, strengthen interoperability, and help drive the next generation of innovation.

This was a decision we did not make lightly, says SMPTE President Rich Welsh. For 110 years, SMPTE has evolved alongside the media technology industry, helping to drive change and innovation - and we're not stopping now.

Our industry is confronting transformative shifts, from IP-based workflows to AI authenticity and content provenance, and we find ourselves at another inflection point. We listened to our Members, Partners and the global Standards community, and the answer was clear: Interoperability is essential to the future of media. Now is the time to open the gates and ensure the next generation of media technology is built on a stronger, more accessible foundation.

SMPTE's move to an open-access Standards Library is part of a broader effort to modernize the organization's Standards development and publication processes. Recent initiatives include adopting GitHub-based workflows for version control, issue tracking and automation; transitioning to structured HTML-based authoring; and implementing an integrated publishing pipeline that streamlines document creation, review, validation and release.

We are thrilled to make SMPTE Standards accessible to everyone, says Raymond Yeung, SMPTE Standards Vice President. Opening access removes barriers to adoption and implementation while supporting greater transparency throughout the standards-development process. Combined with our modernization efforts, this milestone enables SMPTE to respond more quickly to industry needs while maintaining the quality and rigor our Standards are known for.

SMPTE's move to an open-access Standards Library is supported in part by the organization's Diamond-level Corporate Members: Amazon AWS, Apple, Blackmagic Design, CBS/Paramount Global, Disney, Dolby, Fox, Google, Ross Video, Sony and Telstra. Additionally, companies and individuals pledging donations of $10,000 or more by Dec. 31, 2026, will be recognized as Inaugural Supporters of the Standards catalogue.

Standards achieve their greatest value when they are accessible to everyone who needs to implement them, concludes SMPTE Standards Director Steve LLamb. This move strengthens interoperability, reduces misinformation, and supports more consistent implementation across the industry. By opening access, SMPTE helps ensure that developers, integrators, educators, manufacturers, as well as emerging markets, can build from accurate specifications rather than secondhand sources, supporting the long-term health of the media, motion imaging and digital cinema industries.

The latest SMPTE Standards are available on the Recently Published Documents page of the SMPTE website, with the full catalogue accessible through the SMPTE Standards Library. To join SMPTE, visit smpte.org.

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