Organisations Join Forces To Create AIMS

It's often been said that the more advanced a project or production, and the more technology that is used to bring it together, the more likely it is to be presented with integration problems. In addition, you have emerging technologies or all-digital distribution platforms that will add its own complexities. As a result, standards has long been vital to the industry as they aim to address the issues and streamline processes more efficiently for businesses and consumers.

However, over the past 12 months there have been a number of major developments in relation to standards – whether it be colour, HDR, or the much-talked about transition to IP.

During NAB 2015 for example, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences discussed its efforts of establishing the Academy Color Encoding System (ACES). ACES has been 10 years in the making, and is viewed as the industry standard for colour management throughout the life cycle of a television production or motion picture. Then, in October, the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) published its SMPTE study group report on the HDR imaging ecosystem. It looked at the implementation of HDR in professional media workflows and addressed questions as to how the industry can move forward in taking advantage of the technology, as well as offering recommendations for further HDR standardisation efforts by SMPTE and other organisations.

Last month, a number of organisations came together – including Imagine Communications, Nevion and Lawo – to join the newly-formed Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS). AIMS is an independent media and entertainment trade association. It has been established to foster the adoption of standards to facilitate the industry's transition from SDI to IP.

The industry has utilised open standards for SDI for more than two decades which has enabled the transport of uncompressed video in broadcast and media facilities. This open standards approach has benefitted the industry by allowing the seamless interconnection of SDI-compatible equipment – regardless of the technology supplier.

The mission of AIMS is to ensure that this same open standards approach is implemented for media over IP, allowing for widespread multivendor interoperability. It will promote the adoption, standardisation, development and refinement of open protocols for media over IP, initially focusing on VSF TR-03, TS-04, SMPTE 2022-6, and AES67.

"The broadcast and media industry is facing monumental changes in how video is produced, managed, and consumed, and this is driving the need to rapidly transition from traditional networks to much more efficient and flexible IP technologies," explained Steve Reynolds, CTO, Imagine Communications. "Critical to this transition is the adoption of standards that enable open and interoperable mechanisms for the exchange of video, audio and metadata over IP. This open standards approach avoids vendor lock-in and will encourage innovation and interoperability to accelerate the modernization of broadcast and media facilities."

Andreas Hilmer, Director Marketing & Communications with Lawo, commented: "Thanks to the collaborative work already performed in SMPTE, VSF and AES, our industry has built a solid basis for a sustainable transition to IP. AIMS's support of open standards and technical recommendations such as TR-03, TR-04 and AES67 afford us an opportunity to eliminate the fragmentation of implementations that our industry has endured over the last 20 years. It's our big chance to avoid repeating expensive and time-consuming mistakes of the past."

Geir Bryn-Jensen, CEO, Nevion, said: "Broadcasters are realizing the benefits that IP workflows can bring to their operations in terms of cost-efficiency and flexibility, and as the transition to IP continues and more organizations adopt IP across multiple areas, we need to ensure long-term sustainability and this is precisely where standards and interoperability become crucial."

Image: Courtesy of Nevion.

(JP/MH)