It seems inevitable that workflows based on the flexibility of IP will eventually become the assumed standard. Many new facilities are lucky enough to be designed and built from the ground up as IP workflow native. However, many TV facilities use SDI because their SDI gear isn’t off the books yet. Most are happy with their SDI workflows because they work, and many have developed parallel IP workflows when it makes sense to do so. As system designers grapple with the transition from BNC to Cat 5 or better, the result is often hybrid plants defined by their needs, infrastructures, budgets, and workflows that use a mixture of SDI and IP gear depending on what they already own, what works best for them, and what they can afford.

At IBC 2023, many companies will be showing their latest hybrid SDI/IP distribution technologies to help facilities with the transition. If you’re looking for the latest hybrid video technologies, check out the following companies.

AJA Video Systems (Stand 7.C19) will showcase its Dante AV 4K-T and Dante AV 4K-R using the new Dante AV Ultra solution that enables networked video to be used alongside the widely adopted Dante audio-over-IP platform on standard 1 GigE IP networks.

Both devices support Dante AV Ultra signals up to 4K/UltraHD, with 12G-SDI and HDMI 2.0 inputs or outputs. Dante AV provides ease-of-use, seamless multi-vendor interoperability, and an integrated control experience that customers have come to expect from AJA Video and Dante by Audinate. Both transport up to 4K/UltraHD 60p RGB/4:4:4 video output with ultra low latency and visually lossless quality.

Dante AV works with 1 GigE networks and achieves high quality Dante AV Ultra video with a network-efficient JPEG 2000 codec. It also has fully time aligned and separately routable audio and video streams and is compatible with Audinate Dante Controller software on macOS and Windows. The Dante AV 4K-T encodes 12G / HDMI video with embedded audio into Dante AV Ultra JPEG 2000. It consists of a Dante AV Ultra Transmitter (JPEG 2000) 4K/UltraHD/2K/HD/VESA 12G-SDI and HDMI 2.0 In, with 1 GigE POE+ IP. It is compatible with Dante Controller software for routing Video, Audio, KVM, VISCA, and IR.

The Dante AV 4K-R decodes Dante AV Ultra JPEG 2000 into 12G / HDMI video with embedded audio Dante AV Ultra Receiver (JPEG 2000). It outputs 4K/UltraHD/HD/VESA 12G-SDI and HDMI 2.0 Out with a 1 GigE POE+ IP connection. It is Compatible with Dante Controller software for routing Video, Audio, KVM, VISCA, and IR.

Also on display will be BRIDGE NDI 3G, a high-density HD and 4K/UltraHD conversion gateway device for SDI to NDI and NDI to SDI, as well as AJA’s IPR and IPT Mini-Converter series which support conversion between SMPTE ST 2110 and HDMI or 3G-SDI.

Cobalt Digital (Stand 10.F42) will show units from its growing Sapphire converter series including the single-channel, stand-alone Sapphire BBG-2110-H/S & dual-channel, stand alone, Sapphire BBG-2110-2H mini converters and Sapphire BIDI-2H2S, an openGear, dual channel bidirectional HDMI to SDI / SDI to HDMI converter board.

The company will also introduce its new WAVE family of routers and control panels at IBC, developed to accommodate virtually any application with support for signals up to 12G SDI. WAVE high-density routers at IBC offer flexibility, ease-of-use, and simplified integration. Available in two configurations - WAVE RTR-64x64 and WAVE RTR-32x32, and they accommodate signals up to 12G-SDI. The routers include an Ethernet port for IP-based controls such as Cobalt’s Reflex, PESA PNET and General Remote protocol SW-P-08. The units also incorporate RS-422 & RS-232 9-pin serial communication ports. Web-based controls allow full setup, salvos, monitoring, and preset management. This compact design is specifically optimized for 12G SDI operation but easily handles lower SDI rates, as well as ASI and MADI.

Evertz (Stand 1.B79) will show their well-established SDVN solution based around MAGNUM-OS, a comprehensive orchestration, monitoring and analytics platform for IP-based facilities. A JT-NM tested NMOS Controller, MAGNUM-OS can discover and register third party devices using IS-04 and move flows between devices using IS-05 as connection management. MAGNUM-OS also provides control of network switches that include Evertz EXE and NATX, Cisco, Arista, and cloud-based swxcth.io. It manages the link bandwidth between the discovered edge devices and the network switches to ensure reliable switching of ST 2110 flows.

They will be showing their new EXE3.0 and NATX-32/64-100G switch fabrics, which offer a flexible, format agnostic and scalable infrastructure for SD, HD, 3G, and Ultra HD (4K and 8K) video. Fully supported by MAGNUM-OS and specifically developed for high capacity and low latency data routing, both the EXE3.0 and NATX-32/64-100G are Evertz’ latest generation switch fabrics that support real-time network address translations. Both platforms merge traditional networking with SDN networking to offer the power of IP and the simplicity of SDI. With built-in boundary clock support, Layer 3 functionality, and 25/100/400GbE interfacing, both EXE3.0 and NAT-X switch fabrics seamlessly integrate into ST 2110-based infrastructures to deliver highly reliable video and audio routing.

Grass Valley (Stand 9.A01) plans an “Anytime, Anywhere, Any Way” IBC theme and will exhibit several solutions in the hybrid distribution category, including Alchemist, for motion compensated frame rate standards conversion. Alchemist Live supports live IP or SDI media streams, either 1x 4K UHD channel or 3x HD/3G channels and is available in an IP version and an SDI version. It provides IP support for SMPTE ST 2110-20/30/31/40, SMPTE ST 2022-6/7, PTP timing to SMPTE ST 2059, RS-FEC support, NMOS IS04/05 device discovery and connection management. SMPTE ST 2110-30/31 support includes 4x SMPTE ST 2110-30/31 input audio streams, configurable output channel count, and 125 µs, 250 µs, 500 µs and 1 ms packet times.

Grass Valley will also be showing its IPVU IP to HDMI monitoring gateway. The IPVU is a compact dual-channel IP-to-HDMI converter for displaying IP sources and a multiviewer’s IP outputs on HD and 4K UHD HDMI displays with optional JPEG XS decoder. The IPVU is a dual-channel IP-to-HDMI converter supporting SMPTE ST 2110, SMPTE ST 2022-6* and SMPTE ST 2022-7. It is fully compliant with NMOS IS-04/-05 discovery, registration and connection management specifications. Each channel is completely independent — which optimizes the bandwidth usage on the IP fabric — which in turn reduces the total cost of the system by halving the number of required switch ports and optical SPFs versus a single-channel device. Two models are available: one for 720p/1080i/1080p resolutions, and one for 720p/1080i/1080p/2160p resolutions. The 720p/1080i/1080p model can be upgraded to 2160p 4K UHD with a software license.

Lawo (Stand 8.B90) will be demonstrating its new .edge ‘hyper density as a service solution.' It is designed for simplicity, flexibility, agility and economic efficiency. It is software-defined and can be used as a feature-laden replacement for traditional SDI routers and expanded with flexible software licenses to provide the perfect mix of advanced features.

The .edge’s compact 2RU housing accommodates up to 192 HD-BNC connectors for SDI and MADI interfacing and can be clustered to provide matrices well beyond 1152 x 1152 crosspoints. .edge’s high-density processing blade is based on the latest generation of high-performance FPGAs, featuring high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for high-density, high-performance 100Gbps operation. .edge blades are hot-pluggable and designed to support multiple ways of connecting to the network fabric. Each blade is equipped with four 25Gbps SFP28 and two 100Gbps QSFP28 ports, each with a dedicated LINK STATUS indicator. 25GbE connectivity comes as standard, 100GbE operation can be activated via an optional license.

Support for the SMPTE ST2110 suite of standards with SMPTE ST 2022-7 redundancy is built in, providing not only advanced essence-based handling but also ensuring seamless protection switching of audio, video, and ancillary data streams in both LAN and WAN operations.

LYNX Technik AG (Stand 10.A10) will debut two new yellobrik products. The CQS 1462 is a bi-directional single-link / quad-link converter. The CQS 1462 replaces the popular CQS 1441 yellobrik and is the perfect bridge between single link 12G SDI and quad 3G SDI signals. Typical applications include the conversion between legacy quad 3G 4K transport systems (SQD or 2SI) into single link 12G SDI signals. It supports both Square Division (SQD) and Two Sample Interleave (2SI) input pixel mapping. It includes local controls directly on the module itself, which removes the need for a PC to make basic settings.

LYNX Technik also added a new HDMI to SDI converter to its yellobrik line, the CHD 1402. The CHD 1402 is designed projects that require signal conversion from up to 4K HDMI to up to 12G SDI. It is the successor of the popular CHD 1802, which supports up to 3G SDI. With the SDI fiber output and SFP transmitter options, the SDI signal can then be transmitted over fiber to a remote location.

Matrox Video (Stand 7.B15) and signal management solution provider Stagetec will produce a joint demonstration at IBC 2023 to launch Stagetec’s Stagenet 1.0 IP signal management control software. The joint demonstration seeks to show how to overcome the complexity of IP signal management and transition to IP operations without network engineering expertise or dedicated staff to manage the network infrastructure. The joint demonstration will be in the Stagetec stand (8.A95). Featuring JPEG XS compressed video, they will show how Stagenet 1.0 enables comprehensive command over Matrox ConvertIP units, which provide multiple input/output connectivity options for converting SMPTE ST 2110 IP signals between HDMI, HDBaseT, or SDI. ConvertIP also supports compressed and uncompressed 4K over IP signal transmission, perfect for a variety of workflows from a single standalone device.

Meinberg (Stand 8.B63) will announce its new generation of GNSS-synchronized reference clocks: the GPS183, GNS183, and the GNS183-UC. These new reference clocks have been fully redesigned to introduce new features via firmware and software going forward. The new Meinberg clocks are based on a common technology platform that will ensure that all three modules can benefit from new features and improvements, where appropriate, more reliably and more quickly.

The GPS183 and GNS183-UC are specifically optimized for the recently launched GPSANTv2, GPS & Galileo antenna and are engineered to take full advantage of the additional performance the GPSANTv2 provides.

The GNS183 provides broad-spectrum GNSS support with the ability to receive GPS L1 C/A code, Galileo E1 B/C, BeiDou B1I, and GLONASS L1OF services using a 40 dB Multi-GNSS antenna. The GNS183-UC ("Up-Converter") builds on the function of the GPS clocks, providing Galileo E1 B/C reception support alongside GPS reception with GPSANTv2 technology.

Meinberg will also be demonstrating its IEEE-1588 Slave Clocks and PTPv2 Clients. Meinberg Slave Clock devices simplify the migration towards PTP/IEEE 1588-2008 with a wide range of legacy time synchronization outputs. The Slave Clocks are synchronized by a PTP Grandmaster and can be used as a time source for equipment that requires IRIG, PPS, 10MHz or E1 telecom carrier signals.

The SyncBox/N2X operates as an IEEE-1588 multicast slave clock or NTP client in a PTP / NTP network and with its interfaces this converter can synchronize many different systems. Our IEEE-1588 PTP Grandmaster Clocks or a LANTIME NTP Server can be used as a reliable time source. Also on exhibit will be Meinberg’s LANTIME PTP Grandmaster: Modular IEEE 1588 Grandmaster and NTP Server with integrated satellite receiver. The PTP V2 (Multicast/Unicast) implementation is fully compliant to the IEEE 1588-2008 standard and provides PTP management messages as well.

Riedel Communications (Stand 10.A31) used IBC to launch MediorNet HorizoN, a new addition to the MediorNet family of video networking and processing devices. In addition to providing extensive and powerful video processing capabilities such as UHD up/down/cross conversion, SDR-HDR conversion, and color correction, the innovative hybrid processing platform blurs the boundary between SDI-based and SMPTE ST 2110 infrastructures with a dense array of UHD gateways. With its software-based app concept, HorizoN aims to bring next-level flexibility and simplicity to video ecosystems.

HorizoN houses 16 independent and individually configurable processing engines within a single rack unit, facilitating flexible processing while seamlessly bridging the gap between baseband and IP systems. The platform provides up to 128 SDI - IP gateways, up to 32 channels of SDR-HDR conversion and color correction, or up to 16 up/down/cross conversions and color corrections. SFP-based baseband video I/O completes the package, making HorizoN an extremely versatile solution capable of handling even the toughest challenges in a modern production environment.

Ross Video (Stand 9.A05) announced that its theme at IBC 2023 is “From idea to audience, let’s make it real.” At press time Ross has not released any of its significant product introduction plans at IBC. The company focus is around solutions and end-to-end workflows that encompass the entire spectrum of of broadcast productions and featuring the huge array of Ross products. At the heart of this is the Ultrix platform routing system which facilitates SDI, IP & hybrid infrastructures. 

The Ultrix platform is production in a box, containing video/audio routing, multiviewers, audio processing, frame synchronizers, clean/quiet switching, UHD gearboxing, production switchers, audio mixers, and more are all unified in one single chassis. 

Other articles in this IBC 2023 'Show Focus' series:

The Broadcast Bridge will be at the IBC Show - Stand 8.F01. Please come and see us, get a copy of our free book on 'Scalable Dynamic Software For Broadcasters' and share your thoughts on what we do and what you would like to see from us in the coming year.