IBC 2023: Imagine Communications to Bring ST 2110 Strategies and Innovations

At IBC2023 (15-18 September, RAI Amsterdam, Stand 2.A15), Imagine Communications invites attendees to bring their technical, operational and business questions to Imagine IP experts who can share insight on how SMPTE ST 2110 works in the real world and evolutionary strategies for migrating to more flexible, efficient and scalable IP infrastructures.

While the pace of transition from SDI to IP varies depending on customers’ specific requirements and resources, the broader industry has moved beyond evangelizing and early adoption toward widespread implementation of ST 2110 IP infrastructure. Media companies around the world have deployed Imagine’s open-standard ST 2110 IP solutions in various applications, from live sports production and inter-facility connectivity to channel playout.

In one recent example, Sky Italia used a planned technology refresh to migrate its Rome operations center to ST 2110, deploying Imagine’s Magellan Control System and Selenio Network Processor (SNP) as part of a turnkey, multi-vendor solution that supports uncompressed IP video and audio signal routing within the facility; NMOS-based orchestration of all networked connected devices; and JPEG XS compression for low-latency, production-quality signal transfer to its headquarters in Milan.

Gabriele Ubertini, Director of Group Origination & Distribution Platform, Sky, says, “The flexibility of the 2110 standard and NMOS protocol inherent in the Imagine platforms enabled the fast, easy deployment of a best-in-class, seamlessly integrated system that has improved our operational efficiencies and will enable us to easily scale as our business requirements evolve in the future.”

Arabic-language public broadcaster Alaraby TV used the migration of two operational channels from London to Doha, Qatar, as an opportunity to optimize efficiency and reliability by creating a 90% ST 2110 IP-based media facility built on a multi-vendor ecosystem. Imagine provided core production and playout infrastructure, including its widely deployed Versiointegrated playout platform, which enables an end-to-end SDI/ST 2110 ecosystem for ingest, playout and content management, and ADC automation, which integrates with more devices and business systems than any other automation product, helping to ensure a workflow environment.

Rudaw Media Network is transitioning to an all-new headquarters complex built on end-to-end Imagine ST 2110 IP production, playout and master control infrastructure. At Rudaw, Imagine’s configurable SNPs will not only serve as IP gateways, but will also provide all core functionality from audio/video processing and to up/down/cross-conversion ― even supporting as many as 40 UHD multiviewer layouts with 180 inputs.

MultiChoice, operator of Africa’s premier sports broadcaster, SuperSport, took UHD channels to air for the first time using a hybrid SDI-IP ST 2110-compliant playout and infrastructure foundation based on Imagine’s Versio integrated playout platform and D-Series automation to provide sports fans with comprehensive, premium-quality coverage of the championship football tournament in Qatar.

Other recent deployments include Italian communications and broadcast transmission specialist EI Towers, which broadcast the 2022-23 season of Italy’s football Lega Serie A from a new International Broadcast Centre (IBC) built on ST 2110-compliant IP infrastructure from Imagine; and Creative Technology, a global leader in technical solutions for live events, which implemented the proven combination of Imagine’s SNP and Panasonic’s KAIROS IP video production platform to help provide a smooth segue from SDI to ST 2110 IP for their production teams.

“While many of our customers around the world are realizing the benefits of SMPTE ST 2110, there are many others that have yet to make the move,” says Steve Reynolds, president of Imagine Communications. “We look forward to meeting with customers at IBC2023 to share our real-world experience and showcase our latest open-standard ST 2110 solutions that enable media companies to migrate from SDI to IP at the pace that works for their business.”

Imagine has made an investment in enabling interoperatbility and publishing APIs that media companies and partners will need to build seamlessly integrated systems. Imagine is using NMOS in nearly every project deployment to integrate ST 2110 endpoints from other vendors, enabling customers to build solutions leveraging the cameras, switchers, audio, replay technologies, etc., that their creative teams prefer.