SMPTE Launches Online Training Around ST 2110 Standard

Course on standards on A/V streams over IP combines independent study, instructor-led coaching

The recently established ST 2110 Professional Media Over Managed IP Networks suite of standards was often a topic of discussion during The SVG Summit in New York this week. The standards — comprising specifications for the carriage, synchronization, and description of A/V streams over IP for real-time production, playout, and other professional media applications —were developed by the Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers (SMPTE). That organization this week also announced an online training program aimed at communicating details of the first four documents in the SMPTE ST 2110 suite released this year.

Thomas Bause Mason, SMPTE Fellow and owner/managing director, Open Media Consulting

Led by consultant and SMPTE Fellow Thomas Bause Mason, virtual-classroom course Understanding SMPTE ST 2110: Live Production of Professional Media Over Managed IP Networks will examine various aspects of the standard, including video, audio, and data encapsulation; identification and synchronization; and traffic shaping.

Like all SMPTE virtual-classroom courses, Understanding SMPTE ST 2110 is offered online as a platform for independent study with weekly, one-hour instructor-led coaching sessions. Live coaching sessions are recorded for on-demand viewing, and instructors also provide responses to questions posed through the course’s online discussion forum. The course will run for seven weeks. The first of the online classes, which began on Dec. 12 and are limited to 20 participants, is already sold out. There is availability for the March 26 and May 21 class starts.

Understanding SMPTE ST 2110 costs $499 for SMPTE members, $599 for non-members. It has no prerequisites but assumes a basic understanding of IP and associated terminology. SMPTE virtual courses Introduction to Networks, Routing and Switching Essentials, and the Essentials of IP Media Transport for Broadcasters: Moving Real-Time Video and Audio over Packet Networks are not required to register for Understanding SMPTE ST 2110. However, these courses enable a deeper understanding of IP, internetworking, and many essential concepts referenced in the ST 2110 suite of standards and are recommended prior to enrolling in Understanding ST 2110.

According to Bause Mason, planning for the course began more than a year ago, as ST 2110 and AES67, the intercompatibility standard on which it’s largely built, were coming together as published standards. Manufacturers are already implementing those standards in products, increasing demand for related formal training; interest was also sparked by trade demonstrations, such as the IP Showcase at NAB 2017 sponsored by AES, AIMS, SMPTE, and VSF, among others.

“There is high demand for education, because nobody wants to be left behind,” he said. “There is a lot of pressure to get [this information] out quickly.”