Almost two years ago, we discussed AV over IP for the first time in our LANG Insights newsletter at LinkedIn: What exactly does it mean, what does IP-based signal transmission do in the AV context, and what are its advantages?

By now, the term has gained widespread recognition in the industry: Anyone dealing with professional video technology today is familiar with AV over IP and, ideally, knows how to use the technology to its full advantage.

More and more manufacturers want to harness the potential and are equipping an increasing number of new products with AV over IP compatibility. In the end, this means greater flexibility, speed, and possibilities for more projects. Looking at the last two ISE editions is worthwhile: signal transmission at the LANG booths of 2024 and 2025 was entirely IP-based.

However, hardware is only one side of the coin – a common language is also needed for devices to communicate. AV over IP standards are a crucial part of any network-based installation, and choosing the right standard is essential.

Which standards do exist? What can and can’t they do? What are their advantages and disadvantages? Let’s introduce the most important parts and compare them.

SMPTE ST 2110

This standard – or rather, this set of standards – is still a hot topic: Developed by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) for broadcasting purposes, this group of standards aims to unify and standardise equipment and processes.

ST 2110 is (almost) the only standard capable of transmitting video signals uncompressed or compressed using JPEG XS. A 4K transmission would require around 25 Gbit/s of bandwidth – significantly more than other standards. SMPTE ST 2110 can also transmit audio and requires an external sync via PTP.

While HDCP and KVM functionality are not possible, SMPTE ST 2110 is an open standard that manufacturers are free to integrate into their devices.

IPMX

IPMX (Internet Protocol Media Experience) is the rising star among AV over IP standards: Based on SMPTE ST 2110, it is also an open standard but offers additional features.

Like ST 2110, the maximum resolution here is 32K, and video signals can be transmitted either uncompressed or with JPEG XS compression. However, IPMX goes a few steps further: It supports HDCP and KVM, and external sync is possible, but not required.

While only a few devices were IPMX-compatible in the past, the range of available products is steadily increasing and more and more devices are supporting the standard – great news given the capabilities that IPMX brings along.

NDI

The Network Device Interface (NDI), developed by NewTek, is one of the best-known standards on the market – simply because a large number of devices support NDI.

The maximum resolution is 4K, and bandwidth usage is below 1 Gbit/s. NDI also transmits audio signals, but it does not fully support KVM or HDCP, and external sync is only possible under certain conditions. Unlike SMPTE ST 2110 or IPMX, NDI is not an open standard.

SDVoE

SDVoE (Software Defined Video-over-Ethernet) has been in use since 2016. This standard allows the transmission of signals up to 8K with a bandwidth of up to 10 Gbit/s. Audio transmission is possible, as well as HDCP and KVM functionality.

However, integrating an external sync signal into the system is not possible, and SDVoE is also not an open standard. Nevertheless, the SDVoE Alliance built a network of manufacturers and tech providers over the years to offer a small-meshed ecosystem for SDVoE installations.

Dante AV

The idea behind Dante AV, developed by Audinate, is to bring the advantages of the original Dante Audio into the video domain (Dante stands for 'Digital Audio Network Through Ethernet'). Dante AV is not an open standard and it’s primarily found in devices from the manufacturer AJA.

Of course, these are not the only existing standards: Just as installations vary widely, there are many different standards designed to meet different requirements.

Questions about AV over IP?

Director IP Connect, Sven Bauschke, has the answers: He is LANG’s expert when it comes to IP-based transmission and is happy to address your questions at sven.bauschke@lang-ag.com!