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Overview and Analysis of IP Protocols for Television Production

DECONSTRUCTING LIVE IP

www.alphavideo.com

A Broadcast Industry White Paper Sponsored by:

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Table Of Contents

SDI has served for years as the common language of uncompressed video in broadcast facilities for years, enabling any piece of equipment from any manufacturer to connect with any other equipment that also supports this standard.

A NOTE ON MAPPING SDI02 Page-04

A key point of differentiation between the protocols is compression.

COMPRESSION04 Page-08

This white paper does not make a claim for any of the approaches but has laid out the facts as they stand.

JUST THE FACTS06 Page-12

INTRODUCTIONPage-03The great promise of IP is to create a truly open and interoperable environment for the

smooth plug and play of best of breed technologies. IP is a bit like SDI, in fact, but with greater potential for economic and creative benefit.

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FOUR APPROACHES TO LIVE IPPage-05A comparison on the four approaches to live IP based on video, audio, data, synchronization,

and real world applications. 03

CAN PROTOCOLS BE BRIDGED?Page-09There are far more similarities than differences between the approaches. There are

distinguishing differences, notably around how to split the media essence and whether and what form compression should take.

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01. Introduction

The Promise of IPThe great promise of IP is to create a truly open and interoperable environment for the smooth plug and play of best of breed technologies. IP is a bit like SDI, in fact, but with greater potential for economic and creative benefit.

One impediment to this transition is that multiple, competing approaches to the transition are being introduced, complicating an already daunting decision for broadcasters, live event producers, news organizations and corporate AV users. These approaches are promoted under the brands: AIMS, ASPEN, NewTek NDI and Sony NMI.

Each of these brands can count multiple backers, all claim to be standards-based and all claim to be an open system. But no scheme has been fully ratified

by any international standards body – reliant on drafts or Registered Disclosure Documents (RDD) - and the degree of openness is up for interpretation.

Each offers a solution to the same problem: IP in the live production environment. This is the biggest challenge for IP due to the nature of the application. Low latency in conjunction with discrete and reliable switching is required.

All the approaches recognize that IP affords the opportunity to move from the constraints of SDI to allow for independent video, audio, and metadata streams. The differences between the groups is, broadly, how to deliver this.

The broadcast and media industry’s transition from Serial Digital Interface (SDI) to Internet Protocol (IP) as the primary means of moving signals between and through facilities is well and truly upon us. With the transition comes the promise of increased agility and system scalability that can help broadcasters develop

new business models and to remain competitive. While there’s no longer a question as to whether or not a transition is necessary, opinions are quite varied regarding the pace and level of priority a broadcaster should be placing on the transition.

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SDI has served for years as the common language of uncompressed video in broadcast facilities for years, enabling any piece of equipment from any manufacturer to connect with any other equipment that also supports this standard.

Taking this as a baseline, standards body SMPTE ratified a standard for mapping HD-SDI signals over an IP network. This is called SMPTE 2022-6 and its key characteristics are that it transports uncompressed media and is intended to mirror the video switching functionality of traditional SDI-based systems.

The chief limitation of SMPTE 2022-6 is that by mapping the whole SDI payload including video, audio and metadata as a package, it cannot deal with video, audio and metadata independently. For some, this nullifies one of the most beneficial aspects of moving to IP which is to add greater flexibility and control into the handling of media. An example might be efficiently connecting different audio tracks with a video.

THE ISSUE WITH AUDIO

With SMPTE 2022-6, the entire video stream must first be de-packetized and then the audio signal de-embedded from the SDI stream. Once processing is completed, the audio must be re-embedded into SDI before the SDI signal can once again be packetized.

This is why three of the approaches have developed or promote technologies which pass individual streams of audio, video and metadata through a network, to be re-composed into different combinations as needed for production purposes. The fourth approach, NewTek NDI, utilizes a distinct approach compared to the competitive protocols.

Limitations of SMPTE 2022-6

02. A Note on Mapping SDI to IP

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AIMS has a three-phased approach to introducing IP into existing facilities building on SMPTE 2022-6 and extending this with tools to split the media essence.

NUTS & BOLTS

AIMS’ starting point is SMPTE 2022-6 but it recommends combining this with a protocol called TR-04. This was devised by the VSF and links SMPTE 2022-6 for video with embedded audio and AES67 for separate IP addressable audio streams. AIMS says that this makes TR-04 suitable for systems that require both the compatibility benefits of SMPTE 2022-6 and the flexibility of discrete audio.

AIMS goes further in that it recommends that video and metadata as well as audio be individually packetized into separate IP streams. This was also devised at the VSF and is called TR-03. The idea is that TR-03 would replace the SMPTE 2022-6 portion of TR-04 with an improved method for distributing video data. The work on TR-03 and TR-04 is being documented as SMPTE 2110. It is not yet a standard.

VIDEO

TR-03 uses AES67 for audio, a standard widely accepted by audio equipment suppliers for high performance audio over IP.AUDIO & DATA

For timing over IP, TR-03 specifies SMPTE ST 2059-2 (which builds on the IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol / PTP).SYNCHRONIZATION

The highest profile tests conducted using AIMS’ recommended protocols was made at Belgium broadcaster VRT. A number of AIMS vendors collaborated to build an all IP live studio which was used successfully to produce and air a live outside broadcast of a concert. This was based on SMPTE 2022-6, AES67 and PTP but did not trial TR-03 or any form of compression.

AIMS projects that systems using the SMPTE/VSF-based interoperability roadmap will be “fully realizable in 2016 with system implementations from multiple companies.”

AIMS has also agreed to support the AMWA NMOS (Networked Media Open Specifications) initiative for discovery and registration of services over IP. This means that two manufacturers connecting equipment to a network will be able to ‘discover’ each other and use each other’s services and outputs/inputs.

APPLICATIONS

AIMSThe marketing organization Alliance for IP Media Solutions was launched in December 2015. It is not a standards body nor does it develop any technology, but its members are lobbying for a set of standards developed by bodies like the Video Services Forum (VSF) and the Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA), and with the support of organizations like the European Broadcasting Union. Its founding members are Nevion, Grass Valley, Imagine Communications, Lawo and Snell Advanced Media.

03. Four Approaches to Live IP Production

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Like AIMS, ASPEN is focused on splitting the audio, video and metadata streams. Unlike AIMS, it does so using existing and draft MPEG protocols.NUTS & BOLTS

ASPEN takes uncompressed SD, HD, 3G and Ultra HD video signals and packetizes them into an MPEG-2 Transport Stream (TS). This encapsulation method is documented in SMPTE draft RDD-37.

VIDEO

For transporting audio and ancillary data ASPEN makes use of existing standards. Embedded or discrete AES audio is processed according to SMPTE ST 302. Metadata is handled according to SMPTE ST 2038.

AUDIO & DATA

ASPEN uses the existing timing mechanisms of the MPEG-2 Transport Stream to align audio, video and metadata. ASPEN is compatible with SMPTE ST 2059 PTP-based synchronization.

SYNCHRONIZATION

ASPEN is already implemented by existing Evertz customers including Dome Productions, Game Creek, NEP Group, NBC Sports, Time Warner Cable Sports and Discovery Communications

APPLICATIONS

ASPENDeveloped by Evertz, Adaptive Sample Picture Encapsulation (ASPEN) was launched in April 2015.

NDI routes video over IP on a 1Gbit network connection, with bandwidth consumption generally ranging from 50-100Mbps per video stream. NewTek is aiming NDI at lower-budget broadcast, corporate communications, houses of worship, and niche sports streamers.

NUTS & BOLTS

A key trait of NDI is that it permits two-way signal transmission over IP. This means a NDI-enabled switcher can simultaneously send multiple input and output signals to the network for transport to multiple NDI destinations, and receive the input and output signals of every other NDI-enabled device over the network for use as sources. Of course, this presupposes that each part of the chain is NDI-enabled.

VIDEO

NDI is format-agnostic. It accepts and supports interoperability between audio sources including AES67 and Dante, in addition to audio sources attached to NDI-enabled systems and devices which are subsequently ‘translated’ to NDI and made available for use by other NDI-enabled systems and devices on the network.

AUDIO & DATA

This is a common question when comparing NDI to other formats. Fundamentally, NDI is a different technology and for this reason, NewTek sees NDI as being a format that will allow for expansion of video production at all levels, including those that use protocols such as ASPEN. Put another way, NDI does not require synchronization to work.

SYNCHRONIZATION

NewTek offers NDI as a free SDK to developers and video producers wanting to implement it into products and workflows. It claims that it supports more than 100,000 devices in use today.

APPLICATIONS

NDIEschewing the approach of what it would call ‘traditional broadcast’ equipment vendors, NewTek launched the Network Device Interface in September 2015.

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It is based on SMPTE ST 2022-6 and therefore for packaged transfer of uncompressed HD-SDI over an IP network. For media requiring higher bandwidth, such as 4K video, Sony has developed and promotes its own codec within NMI (see below).

NUTS & BOLTS

NMI supports SMPTE 2022-6 (where the essences are not discriminated) but it also employs its own means of mapping of SDI audio, video and metadata information, calling this Sony Essence. Sony says this approach has the advantage of keeping lip sync information coherent in contrast to TR-03 which – Sony argues - splits essence into separate RTP Streams while optimizing the use of available bandwidth. Both approaches have their pros and cons, says Sony. In the future, Sony says it will support the SMPTE 2110 (currently TR-03) media transport method.

VIDEO

The Live System Manager solution from Sony, which supports NMI, manages audio and video routing linked or independently. The audio is converted in DANTE / AES 67 for audio processing by third party products which support Sony NMI (Yamaha and Audinate, for example).

AUDIO & DATA

Sony uses SMPTE ST 2059-2.SYNCHRONIZATION

Sony has developed a system on a chip called LSI which is equipped with the encoding/decoding function of its codec plus network packetizing and synchronization. The company is embedding LSI into a variety of its own equipment as well as offering it to third party vendors to integrate into their product.

For interoperability with legacy devices that only feature an SDI interface, Sony has developed external conversion hardware that can support up to 4K signals.

Sony will point to the fact that it originally developed SDI as a proprietary technology and that this became the de facto open industry standard. 

APPLICATIONS

SONY NMISony was first out of the block with a live production IP protocol launching the Networked Media Interface in September 2014.

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04. Compression

What’s the Difference in Compression?A key point of differentiation between the protocols is compression. While ASPEN and AIMS are nominally uncompressed for routing Ultra HD over 10 GigE pipes, Sony (which has long had a marketing and product development focus on 4K) includes use of its own codec within its protocol. By comparison, NewTek NDI offers an uncompromisingly compressed approach but over ubiquitous 1 GigE pipes.

There is consensus that where production of 4K is needed today then a form of lightweight (mezzanine) compression is required in order to reduce bandwidth consumption. This is even more the case as Ultra HD attributes like High Dynamic Range, Wide Color Gamut and High Frame Rates are added to the equation, each bumping up data rates.

Manufacturers are tending to adapt their core routing, switching and playout gear to include support for multiple codec options, of which there are several. They include:

TICO. Developed by Belgium-firm IntoPix and based on the JPEG 2000 wavelet compression scheme. It is a licensed codec supported by a coalition of companies branded The TICO Alliance. Members include Blackmagic Design, EVS, Grass Valley, Ikegami, Imagine Communications, Matrox, Nevion, Panasonic, Ross Video, Tektronix and Telestream.

VC-2. Based on wavelet compression. It was originated by the BBC as Dirac and standardized as SMPTE 2042. It is royalty-free.

Encoders based on Motion JPEG 2000 and MPEG-4 AVC which are other options for compressing data over IP. Several manufacturers have developed these.

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How Do the IP Protocols Differ?

AIMS

ASPEN

AIMS members tend to agree that compression is required for resolutions above HD and most will say they are agnostic about the codec used. Some, however, have expressed a preference for one over another. Snell Advanced Media, for example, states that an end-to-end IP system should be license free

and that it would vote for VC-2 over a scheme like TICO.

ASPEN currently defines uncompressed video over MPEG-2 TS but has provision to add uncompressed formats, including Sony LLVC and TICO, both of which Evertz says have benefits. In truth, compressed video (MPEG-2, H.264, JPEG-2K) over IP has been done for years using MPEG-2 TS over IP with SMPTE

2022-2.

NEWTEK NDI

NDI uses its own compression scheme to deliver what the company calls baseband quality (similar to ProRes or DNXHD) of HD or 4K signals over 1GbE networks. “Most everyone will come to the same conclusion,” NewTek President and CTO, Dr. Andrew Cross, told Streaming Media, “If you want to transport

uncompressed around then SDI is going to be better than IP. For instance, in TR-03, you need 10 microsecond timing accuracy for each scan line of video. There’s just no way that a computer system without customized hardware is ever going to be able to achieve that.”

SONY NMI

Uses its own-designed Low Latency Video Codec (LLVC). The intention is to minimize latency to “within several milliseconds”. Using LLVC, Sony say users can transmit up to four 1080i HD signals using a single gigabit Ethernet cable, or two 4K signals using a single 10-GbE cable or a 4K 60p transmission over single

10 Gbps link. It is before SMPTE as RDD34.

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05. Can the Protocols be Bridged?There are far more similarities than differences between the approaches. There are distinguishing differences, notably around how to split the media essence and whether and what form compression should take. The more fundamental differences are philosophical and center on how some protocols are viewed as more proprietary and therefore less open, more costly to implement and less standards-based or potentially inoperable, than others.

Since April 2016 Evertz and Sony signaled that they would support the rules of AIMS. That is, to promote the use of agreed standards within bodies such as SMPTE, VSF and EBU and specifically to promote the use of the AIMS ‘roadmap’, that of SMPTE 2022-6 on through the TR-03.

For example, according to AIMS, a customer can buy an Evertz Multiviewer that works in IP and a SAM router and be sure that those two organizations will work towards (or have already achieved) compatibility testing.

The same will apply in connection management. AIMS support of the NMOS devised by AMWA “does not preclude additional mechanisms being used that may offer customers some advantages and enables innovation across the market,” according to AIMS.

AIMS says it supports a base level of interoperability based on standards that are open and agreed upon internationally. Other innovations and proposals are

commendable, but will not guarantee the level of compatibility that AIMS members are offering, AIMS says.

Sony says that as part of the ASPEN community it provides products that support the ASPEN media transport method. It is straightforward to integrate a system camera chain with an Evertz audio/video infrastructure, for example, Sony says.

Sony NMI also encompasses the objectives of AIMS. The difference, according to Sony, is that where AIMS focuses on the adoption of SMPTE 2022-6, TR-03 and AES 67 and therefore mainly on the media transport plane, Sony NMI is a wider approach. Sony says NMI is more complete in the way that it covers the seven planes of interoperability (media transport, timing, compression, flow control, flow switching, device control and discovery, identity) as defined by the Joint Task Force on Networked Media (EBU, VSF, SMPTE, AMWA). Sony does mention it will support TR-03 when it is ratified as a standard.

Sony and Evertz Join AIMS

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EVERTZ & NEWTEK

Evertz has also announced its support for the NewTek NDI format based on its own Software Defined Video Networking (SDVN) solutions. By adding NDI support, Evertz says this benefits facilities transitioning to IP by taking advantage of a 10GbE core SDVN system to bridge a large number of NDI-enabled devices, providing scalability and flexibility today and into the future. Customers using Evertz SDVN will be able to connect to the many products across the NewTek Developer Network, it states.

With a workflow that’s already compatible with SDI equipment NewTek says NDI will also support integration into SMPTE 2022 and other emerging standards.

NewTek restates its claim for NDI to be an open protocol and notes that vendors, including its competitors, have already started to include NDI in their own products and more than 600 companies have downloaded the NDI SDK. Additionally, NewTek has joined the ASPEN community for full integration into that environment.

For example, NewTek has a product to bridge between worlds called NewTek Connect Pro. Tighter integration between the two standards will be forthcoming. NewTek has already worked with vendors like Deltacast to bridge devices using SMPTE 2022.

NewTek says it is fully supportive of all IP standards including the AIMS group. Since AIMS builds on SMPTE 2022 - which NDI can interface with via NewTek Connect Pro – a bridge is technically possible. “We are already working with many of the streams (e.g. TR-03) and will work to support any others as they become standardized,” NewTek advises.

At this time, NewTek says it is not aware of any announcement from Sony that NMI will be available to bridge to or communicate with it: “We would be very happy to work with Sony on interoperability between our products and NDI and theirs,” it states.

NewTek on AIMS, ASPEN, Sony

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06. Just the Facts

This White Paper does not make a claim for any of the approaches but has laid out the facts as they stand.

None of these approaches on its own is intended to land customers in a silo workflow committed to one supplier and incapable of realizing the potential benefits of investment in IP. However, the combination of them does make the picture confusing for customers and risks reducing buyer confidence and fragmenting the industry. At worse it threatens a format war.

Understandably, the broadcast equipment vendor’s trade body International Association of Broadcast Manufacturers (IABM), takes a diplomatic stance. “Industry standards remain important and should continue to be one benchmark of stability,” it states. “However, looking for a single standard is no longer tenable for every aspect of the industry. The value of standards is increasingly in the open documentation of important parameters, ensuring that more than one supplier can produce systems that will be compatible or operate in a consistent way. If one standard

leads others, this will come from popular use.” The transition to an all IT/IP system is different from other technology developments in that it affects so many aspects of the production/playout chain – it is not just a box-for-box replacement within existing systems. The consequence is that workflows need to be re-designed, skill sets are different, new creative opportunities will develop and most important, the technology deployment will be very different with some commodity hardware, software solutions, shared resources, cloud integration and virtual machines.

“All of this is going to take time to mature and evolve,” stresses the IABM. “As there is no precedent for these changes, we are facing a period of experimentation for some aspects. Fortunately, not everyone is facing a refurbishment cycle at the same time.”

Once Size Does Not Fit All

Looking for a single standard is no longer tenable for every aspect of the industry. The value of standards is increasingly in the open documentation

of important parameters, ensuring that more than one supplier can produce systems that will be compatible or operate in a consistent way. If one

standard leads others, this will come from popular use.”

“

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IP Protocol Basecamps

Adobe

AJA

Avid

Chyron

Evertz

EVS

Grass Valley

Harmonic

Hitachi

Ikegami

Imagine

JVC

LiveU

NewTek

Ross Video

Snell (S-A-M)

Sony

Utah Scientific

VizRT

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A sample of leading manufacturers and what IP protocols they currently support.*

*Based on data that was available at the time of publication.

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About the Sponsor

Alpha Video is a leading national software developer and professional systems integrator. They design, integrate, and support audio, video, digital signage and broadcast systems that empower their clients to communicate their vision.

Alpha Video & Audio, Inc.

QUESTIONS?

If you have questions about the content of this white paper, please contact Bryan Nelson, Alpha Video’s Broadcast Account Executive.

Email: bryan.nelson@alphavideo.com

Phone: 952-841-3304 (o) or 612-819-7213 (m)

Twitter: @bryanalphavideo