SMPTE ST 2110 - Helping Broadcasters Reap the Rewards of IP KVM

The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) is an organization that aims to help broadcast and media companies move towards an IP-based future through the publication of open standards. The journey towards reaching that goal has been both long and challenging, however at the end of 2017, the Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers (SMPTE) published its first standards within SMPTE ST 2110 - a suite of standards for Professional Media Over Managed IP Networks.

So, what are the SMPTE ST 2110 suite of standards? On a technical level, the standards specify the carriage, synchronization and description of separate elementary essence streams over professional IP networks in real-time for live production, playout and other professional media applications. 

Roll back to pre-2017, things were very different. The majority of businesses were aware of the benefits of operating via an IP-based infrastructure, but it was too complex for many to take advantage of them. If a broadcaster needed to use equipment from a wide range of suppliers to power its studio, for example, there was no guarantee that all of this equipment would be able to interact and ‘talk’ with one another over an IP network. There were individual standards for specific aspects, such as audio transmission, but nothing that combined the elements that needed to be transmitted.

Fast forward a few years, and it is clear to see how the publication of SMPTE ST 2110 has encouraged a significant step forward in the adoption of IP for businesses across a huge range of sectors.

Broadcasters can now be confident that the equipment they choose to invest in will be able to interact with one another using a universal method of ‘language’, so to speak. This makes the transition from legacy infrastructure to IP-based technology much smoother and gives a level of reassurance that couldn’t be guaranteed beforehand.

Now, more than ever, customers can reap the rewards of high performance IP KVM solutions by seamlessly integrating them into their IP infrastructures. Whether it’s for a broadcast studio, a control room environment, or something entirely different, customers can benefit from the flexibility, scalability and improved ergonomics that IP KVM solutions will deliver.  

Find out more about Adder's range of IP KVM matrix solutions at bit.ly/AdderMatrix