SSL integrates EBU Dynamic Media Facility for software-defined audio production
Solid State Logic will use IBC 2026 to showcase updates to its System T platform, including the integration of the EBU’s Dynamic Media Facility initiative and Media eXchange Layer for containerized shared-memory media transfer. In addition to software-defined production enhancements, the company is debuting new hardware solutions including the Net I/O ST 2110 Bridge.
Key Takeaways
- VTE software engine supports EBU MXL for shared-memory video, audio, and metadata transfer across containerized functions.
- New Net I/O ST 2110 Bridge offers 1RU conversion for up to 512 channels of ST 2110 and Dante with NMOS support.
- µVTE product provides a low-entry virtualized production point with 96 processing paths and event-based licensing.
- System T Virtual Tempest Engine now handles up to 256 paths for immersive audio on on-prem, cloud, or hybrid stacks.
- Joint demonstrations with Techex’s TX Darwin platform will highlight automated cloud and on-prem deployment tools.
Why It Matters
This move marks a significant shift from hardware-centric routing toward the EBU’s vision of a 'virtualized cabling' layer. By adopting MXL, SSL allows broadcasters to bypass the overhead of standard IP packetization, reducing latency and hardware costs while enabling a multi-vendor 'best-of-breed' software stack on standard commodity servers. It signalizes that major audio manufacturers are now optimizing for the 'Dynamic Media Facility' model to handle the increasing complexity of immersive, multi-platform live production. Watch for further adoption of MXL by video-focused vendors to see if shared-memory exchange becomes the industry standard for high-bandwidth containerized workflows.
Additional Context
The Media eXchange Layer (MXL) represents a collaborative industry push led by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the Linux Foundation, and the North American Broadcasting Association (NABA). Per The Broadcast Bridge (April 2025), the open-source project provides a standardized code package for media functions to exchange data in virtualized environments. Major media organizations, including the BBC, CBC/Radio-Canada, France TV, and SVT, have backed the initiative to move broadcast processing from proprietary boxes to software containers. This architecture treats media processing as a network of microservices, using shared memory and Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) to achieve performance levels previously only possible with dedicated hardware. At the April 2026 NAB Show, the EBU released Version 2 of its Dynamic Media Facility reference architecture. According to NewscastStudio (April 2026), this update clarified orchestration responsibilities and provided a more structured framework for managing complex, software-defined workflows. This development is occurring as broadcasters face rising costs for AI and UHD processing; by using MXL to share data directly in memory, technical teams can significantly reduce the pressure on main memory and CPU cycles. Per Techex (April 2026), its tx darwin platform also integrated native MXL support this year, winning awards for enabling multi-vendor live workflows in the cloud. Industry momentum is building behind these software-defined standards to solve 'vendor lock-in' issues. According to SVG Europe (December 2025), the transition is becoming essential as broadcasters attempt to scale production for live sports across linear, OTT, and FAST platforms simultaneously. The combination of projects like MXL and the Time Addressable Media Store (TAMS) is intended to provide the 'technical glue' that lets production facilities remain agile while lowering the total cost of ownership for high-end processing infrastructure.
Read full article at tvnewscheck.com
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