In this panel session, technology experts in sports production – Carlo Lisa at Deltatre and Mirko Mastropietro of Italy’s Lega Serie A – share insights from a successful recent deployment of a pioneering, end-to-end ST 2110 IP ecosystem for live graphic production. From the decision behind implementing a standards-based solution to the flexibility of a fully interoperable workflow, hear how leveraging an IP system delivers the reliability and scalability to meet the exacting demands of high-value sports productions.

Developed to enable easier configuration and operation of networked media environments, the NMOS specifications provide – to quote the IPMX website – “the ‘plug and play’ capabilities needed to easily add and integrate devices in an IP media workflow”. As a result, some aspects of transporting the media can be automated, albeit on a permissions basis to ensure cybersecurity protection, whilst IPMX’s flexibility to be implemented in hardware and software is beneficial for the increasingly commonplace hybrid deployments encountered in corporate applications such as conferencing.

“An ST 2110 system is scalable in ways that an SDI system would not be. As the productions change and grow, WETA technicians have the flexibility to take audio and video from any source and send it anywhere very easily. This beautiful and robust technical facility will serve the popular ‘PBS News Hour’ show well for many years to come,”

The MNMT production center is a SMPTE 2110 facility that features two top quality studios which can combine on non-conflict nights to create one single national telecast worthy experience. The main studios feature 24 cameras, 1,200 square feet of 4K quality LED monitors, and innovative robotics to help create the best possible pre- and post-game show viewing experiences for sports fans in the national capital region. The facility also includes two insert studios and five control rooms to produce multiple events simultaneously.

With the BBC’s Belfast facilities aiming to switch from SDI to IP, it has interoperability between the two options, and has processing capabilities for both the truck and the facilities to be used and controlled by staff located either in the truck or the facilities.

Today, the Pac-12 Enterprises operation in San Ramon is not only serving its two member schools (and potentially the four recently announced programs set to join in 2026) but is also seeking out third-party clients that can benefit from the robust production capabilities the fully SMPTE ST 2110 IP facility has to offer.

The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), Audio Engineering Society (AES), Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA), European Broadcasting Union (EBU), SMPTE®, and the Video Services Forum (VSF) has announced the full IP Showcase on the Water presentation schedule taking place during IBC2024.

“The old SDI world for us is kind of dead,” he says. “There is no way we can manage this complexity and this volume of distribution in a live environment using old technology. Everything is ST 2110, and we convert it only at the edge. But we see more and more broadcasters taking ST 2110 directly, and they also see a big difference in the ease of use because they no longer have to deal with a big spaghetti of cables to receive all the multilateral signals.

Making the move fully to ST 2110 paid dividends when it came to setup. “When you are the forward operating base,” says Donovan, “you need to throw things together relatively quickly, and an IP-based environment goes together faster [than an SDI environment]. It means fewer physical cables because fiber carries many more signals. It is also remarkably reliable and scales better. You can have the router very easily do 1080p, 1080i, 4K, HDR or SDR. If it is properly provisioned, it doesn’t care [what the signal is].”

This phased approach also makes it easier for manufacturers to feel more positive about implementation: “When we eventually publish the final versions, as opposed to the drafts, it isn’t a case of ‘good luck, this should now work.’ Instead, it is more like ‘this has been fully interop tested by multiple vendors and is good to go.’ So that created a lot of confidence for manufacturers to adopt NMOS and build products against the specs because they knew they had already been thoroughly tested.”