Whether you’re dealing with ingest for huge fixed camera rigs or dealing with capture while edit workflows for live events, there’s no denying that the I/O landscape is changing. Stalwarts like Avid’s AirSpeed server are going end of life, and when you’re looking for a replacement, there are more options than ever. But can NDI solutions deliver the image quality you need? Will working with SRT and public cloud services mean you’re hit with huge fees? Is there a real alternative to SMPTE 2110 for large-scale broadcast? We asked the Jigsaw24 Media team for answers…

I/O is one of those complicated junctions in the media pipeline when solving one problem will inevitably create others. 

For example, AirSpeed’s demise was brought about by the fact that it could only run on an older chassis whose CPUs and OS both went ‘end of support’. Avid have attempted to avoid this fate with its replacement, Stream IO, by making it a software-based solution that can run on any qualified hardware, so you can update your system as you go. But that means that in the event of a crisis (and let’s face it, in the world of close-to-air TV, any downtime is a crisis) you’re going to have to deal with multiple support partners who are likely to blame each other for issues: not exactly ideal when you’re looking for a fast fix. 

Similarly, IP transfer of video has brought down costs and made it easier to adopt a ‘follow the sun’ approach to delivering content - but it’s also encouraged manufacturers to move to software-only, subscription-based I/O solutions that don’t suit legacy infrastructure. And then there’s the complex relationship post houses have with the public cloud – a cost saver at some scales, crushingly expensive at others.  

“When it comes to I/O, ‘boringly predictable’ is the goal,” says Jigsaw24 Media’s Principal Technical Account Manager, Graham McGuinness. “AirSpeed was beloved not because it was a perfect product out of the gate, but because it had been reliable for fifteen years and people knew exactly how it integrated with their Avid environment, what its strengths were and what its shortcomings would be. Switching to any other platform will be daunting, even if it’s actually better at ingest or playout, because you’re introducing a learning curve into a mission-critical environment.”

However, change is inevitable. You can’t keep running Windows 10 on unsupported hardware forever. So as you take the bold next step of choosing a new I/O solution, here are a few things to consider…

NDI, SRT and SMPTE 2110

These are really the ‘big three’ when it comes to choosing new infrastructure and workflows, and they all have very specific strengths and weaknesses. 

NDI, an over-IP standard developed by NewTek, is “not good for native long distance transfer or moving anything to the public cloud, but great for moving things internally within big facilities and between public cloud instances within the same network,” says Head of Innovation Chris Bailey. “It’s been really disruptive when it comes to monitoring, processing and vision mixing footage in agile news and sports facilities, and the solutions that work around it – most notably the Gallery Sienna toolset – are industry-proven.”

For example, Sienna has a cloud option that allows you to send NDI between public and private facilities. It also has the tools to accept native NDI, 2110, CDI, SRT and MPEG-2 transport streams, and can also convert an outgoing stream to SRT, CDI, HLS  or MPEG-2. 

SRT or Secure Reliable Transport lives up to his name. “This is the standard for global workflows that rely on cloud services,” says Chris. “If you’re shooting at, say, Old Trafford or the Olympics, you can set your bitrate and stream directly to the cloud and create a growing file for editors. SRT uses forward error correction, so you can be sure that everything will arrive on time and in order, and there are solutions available that will let you manage the capture and ingest of that growing file exactly as if it were coming in over SDI, which takes a bit of the fear factor out of a new workflow.”

SMPTE 2110 may not have taken off as much as SMPTE expected, but it’s still a strong choice for large scale, legacy broadcast. As SMPTE’s official video over IP solution, it replicates traditional SDI workflows closely (though requires high performance networking and switches) and, being a SMPTE standard, is widely supported by vendors.

The image quality of 2110 is above repute – but the bit rate is much higher compared to other standards. Trying to connect public and private networks over 2110 would be prohibitively expensive, which is why Amazon developed CDI, their own uncompressed variant to send video between instances. For now, this is the choice if you’re looking to kit out a big, fixed newsroom, but for a more agile outfit looking to follow the sun, NDI and SRT could be the future.

MOS or API?

Another contentious topic, particularly in newsrooms, is whether you should stick with MOS or move to an API-first system. 

MOS has a lot in its favour: it’s a known quantity, it’s vendor agnostic, and you don’t need a software developer in house to get the most out of it. However, newer content management, automation and workflow orchestration tools all depend on APIs to work, and as media workflows become more IT-centric, MOS faces a serious challenger in the shape of API tools that can respond more quickly to increased demands for automation.

“The fact is, we have very large, traditional broadcasters on our books who are still using SDI because that’s the infrastructure that’s in their building, but even they are testing IP workflows and API-driven tools alongside them,” says Greg Abell, Jigsaw24 Media’s Head of Services and Solutions. “It is possible to get support and solutions for both, and we’ve seen customers running SDI and IP newsrooms side by side while testing API automation in both. It's also worth bearing in mind that even Stream IO, which is being seen as this radical change from Avid, supports NDI, SRT and RMPT transport streams with 2110 support on the way, so there are ways to combine the old and the new.”

Consolidated support 

“Ultimately there’s no way to change systems without introducing an element of risk, but there are ways to minimise it,” says Phillip Boettcher, our Lead Technical Pre-Sales Consultant. “For example, if facilities are concerned about splitting support across multiple software and hardware providers, they can consolidate it with a multi-vendor support provider such as ourselves. We can also help sandbox and test new solutions before you unleash them on a live environment, and our networking audits will help you understand what you can achieve with your current infrastructure. 

“Changing something this essential is always going to be daunting, but you can’t escape changing protocols forever and the solutions currently in the marketplace will mature just as AirSpeed did – the important thing is to start testing early, and be vocal in your feedback to vendors and partners. After all, the solutions are ultimately there to serve you and create better workflow efficiency, not the other way around.” 

Got an I/O workflow question? You can get in touch with the team on 0332 409 210, by emailing media@Jigsaw24.com or by dropping your details into the form below.