InBroadcast - April 2024 - 72

72
www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 14 - Issue 4 | April 2024
InNABShow
Weighing Transport Options
Through the Cloud
JPEG-XS compression strikes the right balance between efficiency and
quality when moving large media workloads into and through the cloud.
With Geeter Kyrazis, Chief Strategy Officer at swXtch.io
T
he broadcast industry's long road
to an IP transition took a major
leap forward in 2017. This was the year
that SMPTE ST 2110 suite of standards
was ratified, paving the way toward
a common IP-based
mechanism
and accelerating the shift to more ITbased
software-defined
workflows
and applications.
SMPTE ST 2110 is a multipart
standards suite that addresses four
core components of IP networking,
emphasizing the carriage,
synchronization and description of
essence streams over IP. Collectively,
each of the standard's four parts are
designed to advance the possibilities
of IP production and
among other professional
playout,
media
applications.
Two SMPTE ST 2110 components
focus on the world of uncompressed
video: ST 2110-10/20/30 addresses
specific
management
streams
system concerns
of
(including
for the
uncompressed
video stream
latency), while SMPTE ST 2110-21
specifies traffic shaping and delivery
timing.
elements
These were important
to establish for many
reasons, though on the surface they
provided a bridge from the SDI legacy
world.
From Baseband to IP
SDI (Serial
Digital
Interface)
and its sibling HD-SDI are the de
facto legacy
video standards
the live production community.
Often referred to as baseband, SDI
leverages uncompressed video to
ensure the highest
quality
for
servers in their media workflows.
The adoption of IT servers come
at a much lower cost
HD-SDI hardware, and solve the
problem of scalability
associated
scalable by
nature,
modern networks. Uncompressed
UHD streams
than SDI/
limitations
with baseband
systems. Additionally, IP networks
are highly
whereas SDI products have clear I/O
limitations. The math is simple =
scaling with SDI requires some very
deep pockets.
The acceleration of cloud adoption
accentuated the challenges of freely
moving uncompressed video over
bandwidth, and those costs quickly
add up when moving through the
cloud.
These costs became a barrier to
entry for many broadcasters, and
moving lossy
compressed
video
through the cloud was generally not a
viable option.
Keep IT Quality
The JPEG-XS compression algorithm
to strike a
was developed in part
balance between the cost concerns
require 13Gb of
of uncompressed
attributes
lossy
of
video and the
compression
techniques. JPEG-XS
produces visually
compression
lossless quality,
meaning that there is no discernable
loss. It achieves that high quality
at an impressive bandwidth ratio
that can range between 10 and 20:1,
substantially
reducing stream size,
and it does so with very low-latency.
Essentially, broadcasters with a 25Gb
pipe can now move 20 channels
(JPEG-XS
compressed
versus
two
channels (uncompressed) into the
cloud, with no discernable delays or
loss in quality. These benefits alone
make it an attractive proposition for
moving more production workflows
into the cloud.
Another intriguing benefit exists
on the structural side. SDI/HD-SDI
connections
are essentially signal
waves, which require an abundance
of electricity to power. This means
a high density
system crosspoints
of routers and core
to support
carriage, but even with that sizeable
infrastructure these signal waves are
prone to fading during their journeys.
Amplification is a reliable problemsolver,
but this translates to adding
an amplifier point every 1200 feet
- the distance limitations of the SDI
signal wave. Those distances grow
shorter when passing UHD signals,
made even more challenging if
passing HDR colors - both of which
JPEG-XS can carry in its streams.
We Deal in Packets
IP networks employ packetization
visual
presentation for the broadcast
environment.
The SMPTE
ST 2110 suite of
standards built in these components,
with input from the Video Services
Forum, to adapt
baseband
uncompressed video flows to IP. In
addition to maintaining broadcastquality
pictures, these components
also offered broadcasters a path
toward the use of standardized IT
Full wXcked Eye View
for transport, which eliminates the
amplification element. The ability
to send duplicate packets and add
forward error connection helps its
cause over long distances, reaching
up to 40 kilometers.
There is
benefit
of a robust
also the sustainability
reduction
in power consumption, and
SDI required
a
simplification of how audio streams
move over IP network and into the
cloud. Whereas
http://www.inbroadcast.com https://www.swXtch.io https://www.swXtch.io http://www.swXtch.io https://www.swXtch.io
InBroadcast - April 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of InBroadcast - April 2024
