ASPEN Passes SMPTE Technology Committee Ballot, Published to SMPTE Website

The ASPEN Community has announced that ASPEN has achieved a major milestone as it has been published by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE).  ASPEN (Adaptive Sample Picture ENcapsulation), which was submitted to SMPTE as a Registered Disclosure Document (RDD 37), passed the Technology Committee Ballot with all affirmative votes and is now published to the SMPTE website.  This is a major accomplishment for ASPEN as an open framework based on industry standards for video, audio, and metadata over IP. 

ASPEN is an open framework that enables independent flows for video, audio, and metadata in an IP-based broadcast and media facility.  ASPEN, as submitted to SMPTE, expands on the MPEG-2 Transport Stream (IEC 13818-1 or ITU-T Rec. H.222.0) standard to include uncompressed UHD/3G/HD/SD video over TS.  The ASPEN framework also utilizes open standards for transporting audio (SMPTE ST 302) and metadata (SMPTE ST 2038). SMPTE 2022-2 is used to encapsulate the transport streams into IP.

“As the number of global installations grow, achieving this milestone is very exciting,” says Mo Goyal, co-chair of ASPEN Community. “The publication of the SMPTE RDD-37 reinforces our commitment to supporting open-formats in the IP transition.  The ASPEN framework takes advantage of IP to allow for independent video, audio, and metadata flows, while utilizing the proven MPEG-2 Transport Stream architecture to enable facilities to move to IP today.  The publication of the RDD-37 also enables the ASPEN Community to promote interoperability, and encourages others to participate, to provide the industry a comprehensive open format solution.”

“Ross will be showing ASPEN I/O on our Acuity Production Switcher Series at NAB 2016, demonstrating the ability to plug and play in the Evertz ASPEN routing environments that mutual customers, of Ross and Evertz, have deployed,” says Ross Video CEO David Ross.  “Opening up ASPEN as a published set of specifications that anyone can adopt is an important step in closing the gap between the promise of IP and the practicality of today’s easy SDI connectivity.”

“The ASPEN initiative is very dynamic and has started to be well-spread in the TV broadcast community,” says Christian Dutilleux, CEO of DELTACAST, “We will be proud to provide our customers with easy access to ASPEN devices through our products”.

Broadcast Pix is in the process of adding the ASPEN protocol for IP video to their Granite integrated live production switcher.  Broadcast Pix is also exploring the addition of support for ASPEN across their entire product line, along with other IP protocols. “We like the ASPEN protocol for its separation of video, audio, and ancillary data,” says Benjamin Taylor, CTO, Broadcast Pix, Inc. “This ability to separate streams is important to us for the professional post production environment.  The efficient transport of the video essence that ASPEN provides allows for more signals through an IP network than other competing uncompressed standards.  The format agnostic nature of ASPEN will also help us in our transition to 4K and beyond workflows.”

The benefits of ASPEN and the importance of this milestone are echoed throughout the ASPEN Community.

“Pixel Power customers will be very pleased to see our IP playout demonstrations at NAB,” says Nick Wright, CTO Pixel Power, “and now that we have reached a key turning point with the ASPEN open standard being published by SMPTE as RDD 37 it enables continued trust as we deliver our virtualized software solutions.”

“We are happy to be participating in the ASPEN interoperability demonstration at NAB with our new Hybrid IP/SDI media analysis platform: PRISM,” says Charlie Dunn, GM, Video Product Line, Tektronix. “Here, we will be showcasing our upcoming software option to support RDD 37 flows within PRISM.   With ASPEN being based on the proven legacy of transport streams, the integration of the capability into our new product was straightforward and well supported.”

“The transition to IP infrastructures in the television production environment is inevitable and is a change that will accelerate exponentially in the next decade.  Hitachi has been at the forefront of large scale computing networks and cloud technology catering to Fortune 500 companies worldwide,” remarks, Masahiko Kato, Corporate Officer and GM, Video & Communications Systems Division. “Our networking, data management and storage technologies are world-renowned. Aligning ourselves with ASPEN allows us to efficiently transport high-quality, uncompressed video over modern data networks.  With ASPEN; our HDTV and UHD cameras become ubiquitous within the modern IP production plant.  The full integration of ASPEN in our TV Production camera offerings will elevate our customer’s R.O.I. in HITACHI products as well as adding a new, much more efficient operation and reliability performance.”

“Vizrt is really enjoying seeing early customers adopting ASPEN; to be able to be an early player on video playout and graphics shows the real value for our customers adopting ASPEN in quite large numbers,” says Petter Ole Jakobsen, CTO Vizrt. “Being able to exploit the flexibility of the new IP infrastructure – and at this early stage is really encouraging both for us and our customers.”

“As the number of global installations continue to grow, achieving this milestone is very exciting,” says Romolo Magarelli, CEO of Evertz. “The publication of the SMPTE RDD-37 reinforces our commitment to supporting open-formats in the IP transition.  Driven by business and competitive decisions, a great many of the leading media companies in the world have already installed and launched services utilizing our IP based systems.   Our customers cannot stall or pause in their competitive environment, they need to execute quickly and carefully.  ASPEN is the open framework that enabled that to happen.  The fact that it is not only an open format, but a published format within SMPTE, is great news to all of the current users and the industry at large!!!”

Current members of the ASPEN Community include: Abekas, AJA Video Systems, Broadcast Pix, ChryonHego, Cinegy, CSP, Inc., Deltacast, Diversified Systems, Discovery Communications, Dome Productions, Edit Share, Embrionix, Evertz, FOR-A, Game Creek Video, Hitachi Kokusai Electric Limited Inc., I-MOVIX, LEADER Electronics Corp., Macnica America Inc., Matrox Electronic Systems Ltd., Myricom, NBC Sports Group, NEP Group Inc., Neutrik, Nextera Video, PacketStorm, PHABRIX, Pixel Power, Providius Corp, Ross Video, Sony, Streampunk Media, Tektronix, Time Warner Cable SportsNet, The Weather Channel, TV2, TVU Networks, and Vizrt.