Avid | Stream IO at NAB 2024
The transition from SDI to IP. The desire to take advantage of cloud and hybrid cloud workflows. The need to support formats all the way from low resolution proxy up to Ultra High Definition. All are challenges facing the media industry and are also key elements of Avid’s software-based ingest and playout solution Avid | Stream IO.
Visitors got a firsthand look at Avid | Stream IO at NAB 2024 trade show in Las Vegas. Avid | Stream IO launched in autumn 2023 and has already been sold and deployed in broadcast operations worldwide.
Avid | Stream IO provides a convenient solution for the industry where many broadcasters continue to require support for existing SDI infrastructure, but also want to move toward a more IP-based infrastructure in the future. Bridging that transition is key to their requirements for ingest and playout.
Delegates to the show were shown how Avid | Stream IO meets these requirements, with support for SDI today, and in future software releases support for SMPTE 2110 uncompressed IP and support compressed streams such as SRT, RTMP and NDI.
“We have already seen great adoption of Avid | Stream IO from customers who need to manage their migration from SDI to IP,” says Martin Appleton, Avid Senior Manager of Product Management for Graphics and Video Servers. “This is not going to be an overnight process, so it is critical that our solutions address their needs today, plus give them the benefit to move at their own pace to IP or cloud-based solutions in the future.”
Available in two, four and eight channel configurations, with the flexibility to assign any channel to either ingest or playout, Avid | Stream IO supports the most commonly used codecs and formats. This includes H.264 proxies, XDCAM 35 and 50, AVCLong 12 and 25, AVCi 50 and 100, the DNxHD format family and UHD with both XAVC Class 300 and DNxHR.
Avid staff in the booth were also keen to highlight the flexible deployment of Avid | Stream IO. A software-only solution, it is available through subscription, can be deployed on COTS hardware, and meets Avid specifications set out in the hardware guide, or in a cloud instance. Licenses are seamlessly transferred from on-premise to the cloud when needed.
The latest releases of Avid | Stream IO have added support for the creation of playlists within the web-based interface of the solution, more options around the on-screen display information plus greater resilience with the addition of RaidZ1 storage protection.
The move from SDI to IP, cloud-based workflows and how best to manage that transition were recently discussed in an Avid White Paper on the future of ingest and playout. The whitepaper covers a range of topics including the considerations needed to maximize return on investment for IP, effective change management policies and the requirement to review workflows and working practices.
Why not discover how Avid | Stream IO is helping the broadcast industry address these essential questions – check out the web page
Craig Wilson
Craig Wilson is a newsroom specialist with over thirty years of experience in the broadcast industry. Craig has held various roles with Avid and is now the Global Media and Cloud Product Evangelist and host of the Making the Media podcast.