Press Release

SMPTE, VSF Announce Standardized Framework For IP Video Transport

Result of collaboration critical to next generation of industry growth

Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 10 September 2011 - The Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers (SMPTE), the worldwide leader in standards and education for the communications, media, and entertainment industries, and the Video Services Forum (VSF), an international association dedicated to interoperability, quality metrics, and education for video networking technologies today announced the latest standard in a series that creates a standardized framework for the transport video over IP networks. The documents, including the latest addition known officially as SMPTE ST 2022-4:2011, are available via the SMPTE store and as part of the SMPTE standards subscription service.

The standard is the result of a collaborative process in which the VSF developed the original specification and SMPTE provided a detailed technical review process and formal accreditation. The work was conducted under the VSF 32NF Video over IP Ad-hoc Group, chaired by Brad Gilmer, Executive Director of the VSF. Both SMPTE and the VSF provided resources for the standard's development.

"The next generation of industry growth will ride on the IP networks that are delivering more content consumption choices and greater production efficiencies," said SMPTE President Pete Ludé. "This standard demonstrates the leading role that SMPTE is taking to ensure users a seamless viewing experience, no matter the platform."

"This work underscores VSF's commitment to work with other industry leaders to create solutions that enable high-quality video transport over IP networks," said VSF President Richard Friedel.

The SMPTE ST 2022-4:2011defines a transport protocol for the carriage of real-time, non-piecewise constant, variable bit rate MPEG-2 Transport Streams over IP networks. It also supports forward error correction for the recovery from network transmission errors. It is one of a series of documents that, for the first time, will provide a standardized framework for the transport video over IP networks. SMPTE and the VSF made their announcement at a SMPTE press event at IBC 2011. The event focused on the Society's symposium next May in Geneva, The Forum On Emerging Media Technologies. A panel discussion at the press event provided an early look at how the symposium will use a noncommercial, science-driven approach to focus on technologies likely to come onto the market in the next three years and those whose commercialization is a decade away. The Forum is emblematic of the leadership role SMPTE is taking to drive standards that will accelerate industry expansion and business success.

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About SMPTE

The Oscar® Award-winning and Emmy® Award-winning Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) is the leading technical society for the motion imaging industry. As an internationally recognized and accredited standards-setting body, SMPTE develops standards, recommended practices and guidelines, and spearheads educational activities to advance engineering and moving imagery. Since its founding in 1916, the Society has established close to 600 standards, including the physical dimensions of 35mm film and the SMPTE-time code. More recently, it crafted the Digital Cinema Standards, which paved the way for digital movie theaters.

About The Video Services Forum

Founded in 1997, the Video Services Forum is an international association composed of service providers, users and manufacturers dedicated to interoperability, quality metrics and education for video networking technologies. The organization's activities include providing forums to identify issues involving the development, engineering, installation, testing and maintenance of video networking technologies; exchanging non-proprietary information to promote the development of video networking technology and foster resolution of issues common to the video services industry; promoting interoperability by contributing to and supporting development of standards by national and international standards bodies. Visit VSF online at www.videoservicesforum.org.

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