SMPTE ST 2110 IP Infrastructure
The SMPTE standard for sending professional-grade video, audio, and data over IP networks.
What it is
About SMPTE ST 2110 IP Infrastructure
SMPTE ST 2110 is the suite of standards (ST 2110-10 through ST 2110-40) that defines how uncompressed and lightly compressed professional video, audio, and ancillary data are transported over IP networks in broadcast facilities. Unlike older transport methods (SDI coaxial cable, MPEG-TS), ST 2110 separates the video, audio, and metadata into independent essence streams — each with its own multicast address — enabling unprecedented flexibility in signal routing and monitoring. An IP-based broadcast facility built to ST 2110 can route any signal to any destination in software, without physical rewiring. Broadcast engineers implementing ST 2110 must understand both the media transport standards (RTP, multicast) and the control layer — NMOS (Networked Media Open Specifications, IS-04 and IS-05) for device discovery and connection management, and PTP (IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol) for the sub-microsecond synchronisation that keeps video and audio in sync without a traditional house sync reference. The EBU and AMWA publish implementation guidelines that bridge the gap between the specification and practical facility design.
What you can do with it
Capabilities
Configure a NMOS IS-04 registry and verify that ST 2110 devices are registering and advertising their capabilities.
Make a connection between an ST 2110 sender and receiver using the NMOS IS-05 connection management API.
Verify PTP grandmaster and boundary clock configuration and confirm sub-microsecond offset across a facility network.
Analyse an ST 2110-20 video stream capture in Wireshark to verify RTP timestamp and packet interleave.
Design a spine-leaf network topology that meets the latency and jitter requirements of SMPTE ST 2110-21.
How to learn it
Learning Resources
EBU Technology & Innovation (tech.ebu.ch) — free technical documents and EBU R 148 IP studio design guidelines
SMPTE Learning (smpte.org) — webinars and certification programmes covering ST 2110 standards
AMWA NMOS documentation at github.com/AMWA-TV — free open-source NMOS implementation guides and reference implementations
Riedel, Grass Valley, and Nevion training programmes — integrator-led hands-on ST 2110 commissioning courses
Pro Tip
Commission PTP before anything else in a new IP facility — every other timing-sensitive element (audio, video sync, VITC) depends on a stable PTP lock, and diagnosing a sync problem after all devices are connected is far harder than starting with a verified PTP foundation.
Skills that use this tool
Roles that use this tool
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