SMPTE ST 2110 standardizes separate essence streams for IP production
This article provides a fundamental overview of SMPTE ST 2110, a suite of standards designed for IP transport in media workflows. It explains how ST 2110 separates video, audio, and ancillary data into distinct streams, enabling flexible, interoperable, and efficient IP-based production for real-time applications and facilitating the transition from SDI to IP.
Key Takeaways
- ST 2110-20/21 handles uncompressed video and traffic shaping to prevent network congestion
- ST 2110-30/31 supports uncompressed PCM and compressed AES3 audio transport
- ST 2110-40 encapsulates ancillary data including captions and timecode into RTP packets
- PTP-based system timing (ST 2110-10) synchronizes separate streams across the broadcast chain
- NMOS integration automates device discovery and connectivity in multi-vendor IP environments
Why It Matters
ST 2110 is the technical foundation for the move toward centralized and remote production (REMI). By treating video, audio, and data as distinct essences, broadcasters can optimize bandwidth and process metadata independently without decoding entire video signals. This flexibility is essential as the ecosystem shifts toward 4K, HDR, and software-based processing that cannot be easily scaled on rigid SDI routers. Watch for the continued deployment of ST 2110-22, which uses JPEG XS compression to balance high-quality output with bandwidth constraints in wide-area network (WAN) contribution links.
Additional Context
The transition to ST 2110 is reaching a critical inflection point as major sports and international events serve as active proving grounds. FOX Sports recently utilized SMPTE ST 2110 and JPEG XS via Appear's X Platform to refresh its remote production infrastructure for high-profile championships, per TVBEurope in June 2026. Similarly, NBC Sports leveraged ST 2110-based transport for the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, citing the standard as the cornerstone for expanding camera feed capacity across its enterprise. These large-scale deployments demonstrate that IP-native workflows have matured beyond experimental sandbox environments and are now mandatory for managing the geographical complexity of modern live production. Technological integration is also expanding through platforms like NVIDIA Holoscan for Media. In June 2025, NVIDIA released AI reference applications designed to handle uncompressed ST 2110 streams, enabling real-time effects like AI virtual cameras and automated person tracking with minimal latency. By running live video pipelines on the same accelerated hardware as AI microservices, broadcasters are reducing their physical infrastructure footprint while gaining the ability to deploy software-defined tools on-demand. This shift toward IT-governed services is further supported by the formal launch of IPMX as a certifiable standard at ISE 2026, which aims to bring ST 2110-level interoperability to the Pro AV and enterprise sectors. While Tier 1 broadcasters have lead adoption, hybrid SDI/IP environments remain the operational reality for many facilities. As per AJA Video Systems in January 2025, the demand for conversion technology remains high as teams bridge legacy baseband equipment with 25 GbE or 100 GbE network fabrics. The upcoming 2026 NAB Show is expected to feature a first-of-its-kind ST 2110 IP Media Roadshow, highlighting how the industry is addressing the skills gap between traditional broadcast engineering and network architecture. This educational push reflects a broader consensus that software-defined production is no longer optional for organizations aiming to manage rising content volumes and operational costs.
Read full article at imaginecommunications.com