Sony Touts Trans-Atlantic IP Production

LAS VEGAS — Sony announced at the NAB Show today that it has completed a successful trial of long-distance remote production between New York and London using IP networking with telecommunications firm CenturyLink Inc., making what it claims is the first trans-Atlantic live transmission using the SMPTE 2110 standard.

The trial, which Sony and CenturyLink conducted on behalf of a large news customer, was designed to test the operational latency of a long-distance Remote Integration (REMI) connection between New York and London via a fiber link. For the test, Sony simulated a live broadcast and switched live between cameras in New York and London.

The entire REMI architecture was built on the SMPTE ST2110 standard with Sony IP equipment, using a Sony XVS-8000 switcher outfitted with 40-gigabit Ethernet I/O cards running special firmware that supports ST2110. Other signals were handled by special gateway cards that converted them from SDI to ST2110.

In addition to transmitting audio, video and control signals between New York and London, the test also effectively “separated” the XVS IP-based switcher between the switcher’s processing in New York and the control surface in London. With the resource-sharing capabilities of the XVS series switchers, users can split one processor into multiple logical switchers, enabling simultaneous production operation from the same hardware.

In practical terms, a switcher in New York could be used to run concurrent shows there, then used by a control room in London. Switching hardware could also be located remotely in a data center, to control camera sources located anywhere via an IP link. This “Remote Production Data Center” concept is being demonstrated by Sony at NAB this week, with a live connection between Las Vegas and Atlanta.

According to Deon LeCointe, Sony marketing manager for production switchers, the CenturyLink test used Sony’s XVS system processor in New York and a control panel interface in London to switch between cameras during the mock show. The simulation yielded no discernable operational latency on the video sources, proving that the concept of REMI productions over such long distances are viable.

“We were switching between camera sources in New York and London, and it was imperceivable,” said LeCointe of the delay.

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