WyreStorm "The BrainStormer"

21-02-2017

Welcome to The BrainStormer - a monthly email newsletter from WyreStorm, focusing on AV signal distribution technology. Our goal is to provide you with useful information to make your job easier. Send us a note if you have feedback...We would love to hear from you.

Perspective

AV over IP... EVERYWHERE
Yesterday's rumble of the converging AV and networking worlds has developed to deafening roar. IP was the talk of the town at ISE 2017 in Amsterdam earlier this month, with nearly every manufacturer showcasing their newest network-ready wares.

With so many networked AV choices, how do you know which ones are worth looking at? What features and capabilities should an integrator consider when evaluating an AV over IP solution? What differentiating factors are relevant? How do you even know where to start?

With so many networked AV choices, how do you know which ones are worth looking at? What features and capabilities should an integrator consider when evaluating an AV over IP solution? What differentiating factors are relevant? How do you even know where to start? All of the solutions take advantage of the proven, packet-based Internet Protocol (IP) architecture that has been available for many years. The advantages are many:

Highly scalable
Flexible
Uses existing network infrastructure
Lower cost for large deployments

But not all AV over IP solutions use the same technology for encoding and decoding the AV signal. And this is where it is important to know the differences.

Broadly speaking there are three categories: Low Bandwidth Compressed, Low Latency Compressed and Uncompressed / Lightly Compressed, with each offering their own distinct benefits. The size, scope and video quality levels of the application will help determine which technology is best for the job.

Low Bandwidth Compressed: An excellent option for distributing HD and 4K UHD content with low-bandwidth requirements, H.264 is the most common compression standard due to its reliability, cost effectiveness and its ability to run easily on 1Gb/s networks. WyreStorm NetworkHD 100 and 200 Series components utilize H.264 for individual screens, video walls, and multi-view functionality. The trade-off for low bandwidth is a higher latency. However, H.264 it is great for commercial applications, such as hospitality, retail and corporate markets where bandwidth efficiency is a priority.

Low Latency Compressed: When image reproduction and low latency are equally important, JPEG2000 is the recommended technology. Transmissions are visually lossless and offer single frame latency for a step-up in video quality over H.264. A great all-rounder for HD and 4K UHD suitable for residential and small-to-medium commercial applications thanks to support for HDR and multi-channel audio. Low-latency AV over IP is capable of running on 1Gb/s networks but at 500+ Mb/s per stream, thus requiring some network planning to be successful in larger roll-outs. WyreStorm NetworkHD 400 Series was showcased at ISE 2017 and is due out this Spring.

Uncompressed / Lightly Compressed: Offers the highest video quality with no latency, but it requires a 10Gb/s network, which is still comparatively expensive at today's prices. The "light compression" is only required when the source content bandwidth exceeds 10Gb/s, which includes very little of today's consumer content. The front runner is a licensed technology from Aptovision. The WyreStorm NetworkHD 600 Series uncompressed solution will be shown at InfoComm in June and released shortly thereafter. This solution is considerably more expensive than the other options and is great for applications such as medical, military, government and high-end residential.

Technology aside, the other considerations when evaluating options for AV over IP include ease of installation, user interface, reliability and experience of the vendor. The WyreStorm NetworkHD AV over IP platform has been available for over 3 years and we are one of the few vendors with a multi-technology approach, offering the exact right technology for the application.

NetworkHD is the future of AV signal distribution. An analysis of the current and future needs of the customer together with and a clear understanding of the trade offs of each technology will make for happy clients.

WyreStorm Videos

ISE 2017 Booth Overview Video

Click to the right for a short video tour of our booth at ISE highlighting the products we had on display. As you will see, we are excited about our upcoming 400 Series NetworkHD AV over IP 4K solution. More information later.

English Version Video >>
German Version Video >>

Firmware Announcement

Luxul Releases Firmware Update 4.0.7 for Improved AV over IP Functionality

Luxul has recently released firmware version 4.0.7 for their AMS series switches that dramatically improves the operation of WyreStorm's NetworkHD System with Luxul switches. Previously, there were issues with Luxul switches regarding the handling of multicast traffic and IGMP packets. This has now been resolved with the new release.

Click here for the WyreStorm Technical Bulletin
Click here for the Luxul Firmware Update Page

Coming Soon Products

WyreStorm 4K HDR HDBaseT™ Matrix Switchers Featuring 5Play™ Including Audio Matrix & DSP

Soon to be available, the MX-1010-HDBT-H2X and MX-1616-HDBT-H2X offer 4K HDR video distribution up to 70m AND with a separate, highly configurable, built-in DSP audio matrix. Click below for the full video overview.

Click to view video >>