The Rise Of The SDVoE Alliance
Commercial Integrator Article on SDVoE
By DANIEL J SAIT
One of the big stories to come out of this year’s ISE was the progress made by a new industry body, the SDVoE Alliance. Set up to promote the advantages of Ethernet and IP networks for video transport without compromise and latency, the body is looking to set a performance standard for AV over IP.
Justin Kennington, president, SDVoE Alliance, explains: “The Software Defined Video over Ethernet Alliance was formed around two central principles. It is now possible to take advantage of Ethernet and IP networks for video transport without the compromises to quality and latency that used be required. For the reason, the industry needs a performance standard for AV over IP.
“Also, because the network lets us decouple application from the infrastructure, the industry now needs a platform for creating software that takes advantage of this flexibility with new approaches to applications, as well as entirely new applications not previously conceivable. The Alliance seeks to address both needs by defining performance standards and offering a development platform for AV applications.”
So far the Alliance includes AptoVision, Aquantia, Christie Digital, NETGEAR, Sony, ZeeVee as founding members. Contributing members are DVI Gear, Grandbeing and IDK. Arista, Aurora Multimedia, Cleerline, HDCVT, Techlogix, and Xilinx are adopting members. So what benefits and advances is the group looking to deliver? Justin explains: “Installers will benefit from our approach to make AV over IP devices interoperable and to guarantee a performance standard without the compromises to image quality traditionally associated with AV over IP. Further, training is a central goal of the alliance. There is a knowledge gap in our industry that must be closed before AV installers and designers can fully realise the gains that are possible with AV over IP. The alliance’s goal is to close that gap.”