As part of our special report into the industrys transition to IP standards and workflows, TVBEurope spoke to Thomas Bause Mason, director of standards development at SMPTE, to gauge the industrys current relationship with IP, the challenges that lie ahead, and SMPTEs latest work on standards
By James McKeown
Published: September 9, 2020
As part of our special report into the industry's transition to IP standards and workflows, TVBEurope spoke to Thomas Bause Mason, director of standards development at SMPTE, to gauge the industry's current relationship with IP, the challenges that lie ahead, and SMPTE's latest work on standards
target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin> As part of our special report into the industry's transition to IP standards and workflows, TVBEurope spoke to Thomas Bause Mason, director of standards development at SMPTE, to gauge the industry's current relationship with IP, the challenges that lie ahead, and SMPTE's latest work on standards
https://www.tvbeurope.com/ip-migration/ip-and-broadcast-an-industry-in-transition title=Share via Email class=share-email>
Firstly, do you think the industry is better informed about the transition/evolution to IP from SDI, or are there still questions and concerns that are preventing some media companies from embracing the change? Thomas Bause Mason I think there are still gaps in understanding which parts are needed to build a fully IP-based infrastructure, especially which parts can be addressed through open standards and specifications. That said there have been many efforts to close these gaps. For example, the AIMS IP Showcase, which is routinely held at IBC and NAB (which SMPTE is a part of), and the documentation of necessary IP infrastructure parts like transport, control and timing as outlined by the SMPTE cofounded JT-NM in JT-NM TR 1001-1.
Another reason why companies haven't yet fully embraced IP as an infrastructure is that current open standards and specification-based IP solutions are not plug-and-play. There is a certain amount of setup needed which requires skilled staff which may be at short supply. This missing plug-and-play capability is especially difficult for smaller scale IP infrastructure.
Other reasons are the lack of IP native equipment like cameras, switchers, monitors; the limited availability of diagnostic tools; the lack of knowledge of IT technologies among a broadcasters staff; and the security concerns which haven't been quite addressed yet.
Certainly in the earlier days of the IP discussion, some of the reticence to change was because IP was seen as a threat. Do you think it's important for the industry to think of IP as an evolutionary advance rather than anything more threatening, especially as hybrid environments are likely to exist for some time? Yes, definitely. I think it will be mandatory for a broadcaster to move to IP sooner than later to stay competitive. Yes, it will be some time until all equipment needed will be IP native, but it will come. The media industry is in a transformation, which will eventually embrace a sharing economy like what we have seen in lodging with AirBnB, transportation with Uber, or crafts with Etsy. IP infrastructure is a fundamental component of that shift and the media sharing economy. This transformation was only accelerated by the Covid-19 crisis, which forced broadcasters and production companies to adopt distributed production that allows for remote work through cloud systems and workflows. Underlying all this is IP infrastructure. It is forcing broadcasters to move away from location-based equipment rooms to centralised data centres that allow for better resource sharing between different production locations, but also for the monetisation of underutilised resources and distributed production.
For the uninitiated, could you describe the role of the SMPTE ST 2110 suite of standards and its importance in helping to define a pathway for IP adoption and implementation The SMPTE ST 2110 suite is solely focused on the transport of video, audio, and data over IP connections in single essence streams for live TV production. This means that each video, audio, or data signal is transported in a separate RTP stream instead of bundled as it is done in SMPTE ST 2022. It also defines the methods to ensure that this transport is reliable as well as deterministic and that streams can be identified. It does not address device control or define the technology for synchronisation between network devices.
SMPTE ST 2110 is one piece of the pre-step to move away from specialised interfaces like SDI to commodity IP-based hardware, which is a prerequisite to move infrastructure into centralised data centres and eventually in the cloud. It supports the move away from hardware systems to software-only solutions that can be virtualised for an effective use in a data centre and eventually in the cloud.
SMPTE offers virtual classroom courses on a variety of subjects, one of which offers a guide to SMPTE ST 2110. Talk us through these courses and their benefits to members The SMPTE ST 2110 virtual classroom course is helping engineers and technologist to understand the background and the concepts of the SMPTE ST 2110 suite of standards in greater depth. It provides a background on why SMPTE ST 2110 was developed, what came before it and what are the most important parts of SMPTE ST 2110. It looks at the encapsulation of video, audio, and data into RTP packages/streams, how the synchronisation between different SMPTE ST 2110 network devices works, and how RTP streams and their essences can be identified by receiving devices. It will also look at SMPTE ST 2110 traffic shaping and delivery timing to enable reliable, low latency, and deterministic transport of professional media over IP. At the end of the c
Most recent headlines
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
28/10/2025
ESPN Announces Monsters Funday Football', Its Latest Real-Time Animated Bro...
28/10/2025
SVG All-Stars: Catherine Chalfant, Manager, Remote Operations, ESPNThe Ole Miss alum is an operational force behind ESPN's extensive college-football catalo...
28/10/2025
Elevating the experience: AI and data take Ryder Cup to the next level By Joe OHalloran
Tuesday, October 28, 2025 - 10:25
Print This Story
NBC produced th...
28/10/2025
Conquering the Air (waves): Taking a close up look at the IBC Accelerator Priva...
28/10/2025
World Series 2025: Spectrum SportsNet LA Brings Dodgers Fans Closer to the Actio...
28/10/2025
Dylan Southern and Benedict Cumberbatch at the premiere of The Thing with Feathers (photo by George Pimentel / Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival)...
28/10/2025
For three weeks in Lagos, Spotify's Greasy Tunes Caf pop-up brought the cit...
28/10/2025
Once a niche subculture, German rap has evolved into an influential cultural movement. Now, Spotify is giving the genre a new home with OFFCULT, a playlist dedi...
28/10/2025
Shane Delia's Malta serves up the Mediterranean this summer
28 October, 2025
Media releases
Feast on 9,000 years of culinary history Mondays from 24 No...
28/10/2025
SBS's global sporting festival continues with the FIVB Beach Volleyball Worl...
28/10/2025
Bilbao, October 28, 2025 - AgileTV, a leading technology solutions company for t...
28/10/2025
Disney, NBCUniversal, FOX, Paramount Each Achieve Double-Digit Monthly Growth
...
28/10/2025
CINCINNATI The E.W. Scripps Company has announced an agreement to sell WRTV, its local ABC-affiliated station in Indianapolis, to Circle City Broadcasting for $...
28/10/2025
Berklee College of Music and Berklee Valencia Named to Billboards 2025 Top Music...
28/10/2025
NEW YORK As AI usage continues to spike, a new study from IAB delves into an important aspect of how AI is transforming the advertising business with new data s...
28/10/2025
Charlie Jablonski, a broadcast tech pioneer who helped shape the modern era of Olympics television coverage, died Oct. 25 at his home in Lake George N.Y., the N...
28/10/2025
VIENNA, Austria Bitmovin has launched Bitmovin Observability, a new stand-alone video data solution that delivers real-time insights into video playback. The so...
28/10/2025
LOS ANGELES LucidLink, the file streaming platform, has announced a Frame.io integration and expanded mobile capabilities at Adobe Max....
28/10/2025
Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitably connect the right content to the right audience, today announced that it has joined the Ama...
28/10/2025
Lightware, an industry leader in connectivity and signal management solutions, has announced a major update to its Taurus
platform, which now delivers flawless...
28/10/2025
Following a successful mid-September International Broadcasting Convention in Amsterdam, Hiltron Communications will promote its full range of satellite communi...
28/10/2025
Open Broadcast Systems has chosen MC&S (Media Consulting & Services) as a reseller to help strengthen its presence in France.
With over twenty years of experi...
28/10/2025
Bitmovin, leading provider of video streaming solutions, has launched Bitmovin Observability, a new stand-alone video data solution that delivers real-time insi...
28/10/2025
Ease Live, the leader in interactive TV technology, today announced the successful launch of interactive graphical overlays for UEFA Champions League matches fo...
28/10/2025
LucidLink, the file streaming platform, today at Adobe MAX announced a Frame.io integration and expanded mobile capabilities, streamlining collaboration and hel...
28/10/2025
ATLANTA Gray Media has promoted Nick Hasenecz to general manager of WNDU, its NBC affiliate in the South Bend-Elkhart, Ind., market....
28/10/2025
Applications Open for Berklee Fenway Neighborhood Improvement Grant Boston nonprofits can apply by December 12 for funding to support community projects that ...
28/10/2025
28 Oct 2025
VEON's JazzCash Wins Silver Award for Innovation in Lending at ...
28/10/2025
Guests include Wayne Rooney, Maya Jama, Dame Laura Kenny, Chloe Kelly, Chris McC...
28/10/2025
The two-hour special, recorded live from the iconic Dolby Theatre in LA, will ai...
28/10/2025
Eutelsat upgrades teleports with Rohde & Schwarz satellite uplink amplifiers High efficiency and resilient Ku-band amplifiers for excellent RF performance
...
28/10/2025
These appointments come at a pivotal time for ABC, as the organisation continues to evolve to meet the changing needs of a digital-first media ecosystem. The ne...
28/10/2025
Scripps Research awarded $4 million to advance platform for neurodevelopmental disorders The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) grant support...
27/10/2025
You can touch this: Haptics becoming central to the virtual live experience By Adrian Pennington
Friday, October 24, 2025 - 09:12
Print This Story
The vid...
27/10/2025
A tale of two trailers: France's Stop & Go doubles up with its new hybrid tr...
27/10/2025
Pro Padel League Stages City's Cup Finals Inside NYC's Hammerstein Ballr...
27/10/2025
World Series 2025: Sportsnet Delivers Made-in-Canada' Moment for a Nation U...
27/10/2025
ESPN Extends Partnership With Sony's Beyond Sports To Expand Animated Altern...
27/10/2025
Reid Davenport attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Life After at The Ray Theatre on January 27, 2025, in Park City, UT. (Photo by Robin Marsha...
27/10/2025
As the days grow shorter and the nights get darker, there's nothing like getting swept up in a story that sends shivers down your spine. In honor of spooky ...
27/10/2025
UPDATE: Both parties have reached a new carriage agreement....
27/10/2025
LONDON As Hollywood jumps into the production of mini-dramas, a new study from Ampere Analysis finds that more than one in 10 internet users have watched drama ...
27/10/2025
LONDON Yealink, a provider of unified communication and collaboration solutions, has joined the NDI ecosystem with the availability of its SmartVision 80 premiu...
27/10/2025
ATLANTA Gray Media has named Chris Conroy as general manager of its stations in Cleveland, leading WOIO, a CBS affiliate, The CW station WUAB and Telemundo outl...
27/10/2025
ESPOO, Finland European connectivity leaders Nokia and Ericsson, have partnered with Berlin's Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute (HHI), to shape and drive ...
27/10/2025
PHILADELPHIA Comcast has expanded NOW TV Latino, its Spanish-language live TV and streaming offering, adding five more channels from Univision, ViX Premium with...
27/10/2025
Test & measurement innovator, Leader Electronics, will present its latest products and solutions at InterBEE 2025 (Hall 5, Booth 5218) Makuhari Messe in Chiba, ...
27/10/2025
Back to All News
City of Shadows, the New Netflix Thriller Arrives on December 12
Entertainment
27 October 2025
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Downl...
As part of our special report into the industrys transition to IP standards and workflows, TVBEurope spoke to Thomas Bause Mason, director of standards development at SMPTE, to gauge the industrys current relationship with IP, the challenges that lie ahead, and SMPTEs latest work on standards
