The IP Transition Task Force

If IP workflows are to fulfill their potential, a commonly recognized standard for video over IP will be necessary.

Otherwise, exchanging content between devices from different vendors will be difficult — sort of the modern-day equivalent of trying to play a Betacam cassette on an MII tape deck.

The Joint Task Force on Networked Media is working to head off any such incompatibilities and create a common format. It’s jointly sponsored by the European Broadcasting Union, the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers and the Video Services Forum. The task force was created to help manage the transition from broadcast infrastructures based on specialty broadcast equipment and interfaces — such as serial digital interface (SDI) and Audio Engineering Society (AES) standards — to IP-based packet networks.

Several existing SMPTE standards designated as “2022” with different extensions define standards for transport of media over IP networks. The most recently adopted SMPTE standards are 2022-6:2012 and 2022-07.

The task force’s current work has entered the second of three phases. The ultimate aim is to ensure interoperability in packet-based systems for professional media. As part of its effort, the task force will define a packet-based network infrastructure designed for file- and stream-based professional media workflows.

In all, about 300 people are task force members. The next face-to-face meeting of the task force is scheduled during IBC in Amsterdam on Sept. 14 from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Holiday Inn adjacent to the RAI Convention Center. All are welcome to join the group.

This story originally appeared in TVNewsCheck’s Executive Outlook, a quarterly print publication devoted to the future of broadcasting. Subscribe here.