What is SMPTE 2110? Baseband vs IP video.
SMPTE 2110 is the IP video standard replacing baseband SDI in broadcast facilities. This guide explains the standard, compares it to SDI baseband and to compressed IP protocols (SRT, NDI), covers the migration path facilities are walking, and addresses the practical implications for production engineers across the GCC region.
What SMPTE 2110 actually is.
SMPTE ST 2110 is a suite of standards from the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers that specifies how to transport uncompressed professional video, audio, and ancillary data over IP networks. Unlike compressed IP protocols (SRT, NDI), SMPTE 2110 carries uncompressed essence streams: video at full bitrate, audio as PCM, metadata as discrete data. It is the IP replacement for baseband SDI in broadcast facilities.
The key architectural shift: SMPTE 2110 separates video, audio, and metadata into independent streams that can be routed, processed, and recombined as needed. In an SDI baseband world, those signals travel together on a single coax cable. In SMPTE 2110, they ride on the same Ethernet fabric but as separate flows, addressed independently. That separation is what makes facility-wide IP design possible.
The standard parts are: ST 2110-10 (system, timing, definitions), ST 2110-20 (uncompressed video), ST 2110-21 (traffic shaping for video), ST 2110-30 (PCM audio), ST 2110-31 (AES3 transparent transport), ST 2110-40 (ancillary data and metadata). Most broadcast facilities migrating to IP design implement at least 10/20/30/40.
Why facilities are moving.
SDI (Serial Digital Interface) has been the broadcast standard since the early 1990s. It works. The migration to SMPTE 2110 is happening because IP gives facilities operational flexibility that SDI cannot.
Routing flexibility. SDI requires physical patching or large dedicated routers (Grass Valley NVISION, Evertz EQX). Adding a new source means installing more cable and more router crosspoints. SMPTE 2110 sources are addressed by IP plus multicast group; adding a source is a configuration change, not a cabling change. Routing 1,024 inputs to 1,024 outputs in SDI requires a million-dollar router. In SMPTE 2110 it is a properly-sized Ethernet fabric.
Long-distance transport. SDI distances are limited by cable specification (3G-SDI good for 100 m on coax). SMPTE 2110 over fibre can run kilometres without amplification. For multi-site facility design, this matters.
Source separation. SDI carries video plus embedded audio plus embedded metadata in one signal. SMPTE 2110 separates them. A graphics engine that needs only the metadata stream pulls only the metadata, not the full video. Bandwidth on the fabric is allocated by what each device actually needs.
Cost trajectory. SDI infrastructure prices are stable (or rising as vendors discontinue product lines). Ethernet infrastructure (10 GbE, 25 GbE, 100 GbE switches) prices are dropping every year. Long-term capex is materially lower for IP-native facilities.
What SDI still wins on. Operational simplicity: an SDI cable just works. SMPTE 2110 requires PTP timing infrastructure (IEEE 1588), proper VLAN segmentation, multicast routing, and IT-grade network management. The skills required for an SMPTE 2110 facility are broader than for an SDI facility. The benefit is flexibility; the cost is complexity.
Where each protocol fits.
SMPTE 2110 does not replace SRT, NDI, or other compressed IP protocols. They serve different purposes.
SMPTE 2110 is for uncompressed video transport inside a broadcast facility (or between tightly coupled facilities) on a managed Ethernet fabric with PTP timing. It is the IP replacement for SDI baseband.
NDI is for compressed IP video on a local network where the bandwidth is constrained but the network is managed. Excellent for connecting cameras, switchers, and graphics engines within a single venue. Not designed for facility-wide IP fabric or for transport over the public internet.
SRT is for compressed video transport over the public internet (contribution feeds, remote production, point-to-point delivery). Not designed for facility-internal use because the latency and complexity are unnecessary inside a controlled network.
A modern broadcast facility uses all three: SMPTE 2110 internally, NDI for venue and local production, SRT for contribution to and from external sites. CBA's MCR in Dubai uses NDI internally (the facility is small enough that uncompressed IP is overkill), SRT for everything that crosses the public internet, and integrates with partner facilities running full SMPTE 2110 stacks.
How facilities actually move from SDI to SMPTE 2110.
No facility flips overnight. Migration happens in stages, typically over 3 to 5 years.
Stage 1, hybrid SDI/IP. Existing SDI infrastructure stays. New rooms or expansions are built IP-native. SDI-to-IP gateways (Lawo VSM, Evertz IPG, Grass Valley GV Convergent) bridge the two domains. Most facilities operating today are at this stage.
Stage 2, IP-primary with SDI fallback. Main routing and processing moves to IP. SDI islands remain for legacy equipment that has not been replaced. Production switchers, audio consoles, graphics engines all support both inputs.
Stage 3, IP-native. SDI is gone except for legacy archive playback. The facility is a managed Ethernet fabric end to end. Examples in 2026: BBC Wales, NHK Tokyo, several Saudi government broadcast centres.
For broadcasters in the GCC region, the migration is being driven by new facility builds (Saudi Vision 2030 broadcast infrastructure, Dubai TV expansions, Qatar broadcast centre) where greenfield construction can go IP-native from day one. Retrofit projects are slower because the legacy equipment value is significant and the operational disruption is real.
How SMPTE 2110 changes day-to-day.
For most live event production, SMPTE 2110 is invisible. Cameras output SDI to the venue truck. The truck handles everything in SDI. The contribution feed leaves the venue via SRT. None of that touches SMPTE 2110.
Where SMPTE 2110 matters is in major broadcast facility integrations: live events that route through a partner broadcaster's IP-native facility, multi-site productions with central facility design, and high-end studios where the facility itself is built around the standard.
For CBA productions that integrate with SMPTE 2110 partner facilities, the bridge is at the contribution layer. We deliver SRT contribution feeds to the partner edge gateway. The gateway converts to SMPTE 2110 for ingest into the partner facility. From the production engineer perspective, this is the same workflow as delivering SRT to any other partner; the IP-native processing happens on their side.
For broadcast engineers planning a career, SMPTE 2110 skills (PTP timing, multicast routing, VLAN design, IP-native production tools like Lawo, Imagine, EVS) are increasingly required for facility-side roles. Field production stays SDI plus compressed IP for the foreseeable future.
When to care, when to ignore.
SMPTE 2110 is the future of broadcast facility design. It is not the future of every broadcast workflow. Field production, live event coverage, remote contribution, esports broadcasts, corporate streaming, all of these continue to use SDI plus compressed IP (NDI, SRT) for the foreseeable future. Facility-internal infrastructure (broadcast centres, master control rooms, graphics suites) is where SMPTE 2110 changes the game.
If you are evaluating broadcast partners, the question is not "do you do SMPTE 2110." The question is "do you integrate cleanly with our facility, whether SDI or IP." CBA delivers SRT contribution feeds to any partner facility, IP-native or SDI-based. The contribution protocol is the bridge. The internal architecture of the partner facility is their concern.
If you are planning a new broadcast facility build in the GCC region, SMPTE 2110 should be the design baseline. Greenfield projects that go SDI in 2026 will be migrating to IP within 5 years anyway. For more on broadcast architecture and contribution protocols, see what is SRT streaming, IP-based broadcasting, or talk to the team.
Questions we get from buyers before they book
What is the difference between SMPTE 2110 and SDI?
SDI (Serial Digital Interface) is a coax-based broadcast standard from the 1990s that carries video plus embedded audio plus metadata on a single cable. SMPTE 2110 is an IP-based standard that carries uncompressed video, audio, and metadata as separate IP streams on an Ethernet fabric. SMPTE 2110 gives facilities routing flexibility, long-distance transport, and source separation that SDI cannot. SDI is operationally simpler.
Does SMPTE 2110 replace SRT or NDI?
No. They serve different purposes. SMPTE 2110 is for uncompressed video transport inside a broadcast facility. NDI is for compressed IP video on a local network (venue, studio, small facility). SRT is for compressed video transport over the public internet. A modern facility uses all three: SMPTE 2110 internally, NDI for local production, SRT for external contribution.
Why are broadcast facilities migrating from SDI to SMPTE 2110?
Three reasons. Routing flexibility (configuration change instead of cabling change to add a source). Long-distance transport (kilometres on fibre versus 100 metres on coax). Cost trajectory (Ethernet infrastructure prices drop yearly while SDI infrastructure is stable or rising). The trade-off is operational complexity: SMPTE 2110 needs PTP timing, multicast routing, and IT-grade network management.
Does CBA work with SMPTE 2110 partner facilities?
Yes. We integrate at the contribution layer. CBA delivers SRT contribution feeds to the partner edge gateway. The gateway converts SRT to SMPTE 2110 for ingest into the partner facility. From our side it is the same workflow as delivering to any other partner. The IP-native processing happens on the partner side.
Should our new broadcast facility be built on SMPTE 2110?
For greenfield builds in 2026, yes. Greenfield SDI builds will be migrating to IP within 5 years anyway. The design baseline should be SMPTE 2110 with SDI gateways for legacy equipment. The complexity is in the network design (proper PTP timing, VLAN segmentation, multicast routing) but the operational and capex benefits over 10 years are clear. Retrofits are case-by-case.
What skills do broadcast engineers need to work in an SMPTE 2110 facility?
Broader than SDI. Required: PTP timing (IEEE 1588), multicast routing, VLAN design, IT-grade network management, IP-native production tool experience (Lawo, Imagine Communications, EVS, Sony NXL/IP Live). Useful: NMOS discovery and registration protocols, broadcast control system experience (Lawo VSM, Evertz Magnum). The SDI-only era is ending for facility-side roles; field production stays SDI plus compressed IP for the foreseeable future.
Intro
If you have spent any time in a broadcast facility in the last five years, you have heard the phrase "moving to IP." The standard driving that shift is SMPTE 2110 , a suite of specifications that lets broadcasters transport video, audio, and metadata over standard IP networks instead of dedicated SDI cables.
For decades, baseband SDI was the only way to move signals around a live production environment. It worked. It was reliable. But it was also rigid, expensive to scale, and increasingly unable to keep up with the demands of 4K, HDR, high frame rates, and remote production.
Alongside 2110, transport protocols like SRT are accelerating the shift from satellite and baseband to IP delivery. Together, they represent a fundamental change in how live content moves from camera to audience.
Here is how SMPTE 2110 works, what makes it different from baseband, and why it matters for anyone involved in live broadcasting.
What Is Baseband SDI?
Baseband is the traditional method of transporting broadcast signals using SDI (Serial Digital Interface) cables , typically coaxial or fibre. For over 30 years, SDI has been the backbone of live production, carrying video with embedded audio from cameras to switchers, replay servers, and playout systems.
It is a point-to-point system. One cable carries one signal from one source to one destination. If you need 20 camera feeds going to a vision mixer, a replay server, and a graphics system, you need a lot of cables and a matrix router to manage them all.
SDI comes in several generations: SD-SDI, HD-SDI, 3G-SDI (1080p), and 12G-SDI (4K). Each step up required new cabling or infrastructure upgrades. That is the fundamental limitation , every time the industry moves to a higher resolution or frame rate, the physical infrastructure needs to follow.
Baseband is robust, low-latency, and well understood by every broadcast engineer on the planet. But it was designed for an era when a single production meant one venue, one OB truck, and one set of cables.
What Is SMPTE 2110?
SMPTE ST 2110 is a suite of standards developed by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers. It defines how to transport uncompressed video, audio, and ancillary data as separate, independent streams over standard IP-based broadcasting networks.
The key standards within the suite:
SMPTE 2110-20 handles uncompressed video. Each video feed becomes an IP stream that can be routed anywhere on the network , no physical re-patching required.
SMPTE 2110-30 handles audio using the AES67 standard. Audio streams are completely independent from video, meaning you can route, mix, and process audio separately.
SMPTE 2110-40 handles ancillary data , subtitles, closed captions, timecode, and metadata. Again, as a separate stream.
SMPTE 2110-21 defines traffic shaping and delivery timing, ensuring that video packets arrive at the right time to be reconstructed without glitches.
The critical difference from SDI: in a 2110 environment, video, audio, and data are no longer locked together in a single cable. They travel independently and can be combined, split, or rerouted in software.
Why Broadcasters Are Moving to 2110
The shift from baseband to IP is not theoretical. It is happening now, driven by practical production needs.
Scalability without rewiring. In a baseband facility, adding 10 more camera feeds means installing 10 more cables, updating the router, and possibly running out of physical ports. In a 2110 environment, you add streams to the network. The infrastructure scales with bandwidth, not cabling.
Remote and distributed production. SMPTE 2110 enables production teams to work from different locations. A vision mixer operator can sit in London while camera feeds come from Dubai. This remote production model (sometimes called REMI or "at-home" production) is already standard for major sports broadcasters and is growing rapidly in the Middle East.
Independent signal management. Because video, audio, and metadata travel as separate streams, each can be processed independently. An audio engineer can adjust a mix without touching the video path. A graphics operator can overlay data without intercepting the main feed. This flexibility is impossible with embedded SDI.
Format flexibility. SMPTE 2110 natively supports HD, UHD, 4K, HDR, and high frame rate content. Moving between formats is a network configuration change, not a hardware upgrade. As 8K and next-generation formats emerge, 2110 facilities are ready without ripping out infrastructure.
Software-defined routing. Instead of a physical matrix router with BNC patch panels, signal routing in a 2110 facility happens in software. An operator can reconfigure the entire signal flow from a control interface. This is faster, cheaper, and more flexible than any hardware router.
Vendor interoperability. SMPTE 2110 is an open standard. Equipment from different manufacturers , cameras, switchers, replay servers, multiviewers , can all communicate on the same IP network. This breaks the vendor lock-in that has characterised broadcast infrastructure for decades.
SMPTE 2110 vs Baseband SDI: Comparison
| Feature | Baseband (SDI) | SMPTE 2110 (IP) |
|---|---|---|
| Signal transport | Dedicated coax or fibre per signal | Packets over standard IP networks |
| Scalability | Limited by physical cabling and router ports | Scales with network bandwidth |
| Video and audio | Embedded together in a single SDI stream | Separated into independent IP streams |
| Routing | Fixed, hardware matrix routers | Dynamic, software-defined routing |
| Remote production | Requires physical cabling to every location | Native support for remote and cloud workflows |
| Format support | HD, 3G, 12G , each requiring infrastructure upgrades | Native UHD, HDR, HFR , format-agnostic |
| Cost model | High upfront investment in cabling and routers | Network-centric, scales more efficiently |
| Latency | Extremely low, near-zero | Very low, but requires careful network design |
| Industry adoption | Universal , every facility worldwide | Growing rapidly, especially in new builds |
How 2110 Works in Practice: Inside a Live Production
In a traditional SDI production, every camera connects via a dedicated cable to a matrix router. The router sends feeds to the vision mixer, replay server, graphics system, and multiviewer , each on its own cable. If the director wants to add a camera, an engineer physically patches it in.
In a 2110 production, every camera feed enters the IP network as a stream. The network switch replaces the matrix router. Any device on the network can access any stream, subject to permissions. Adding a camera means adding a stream to the network , no physical patching, no downtime.
Replay systems like the Evertz DreamCatcher and EVS XT-VIA connect natively to 2110 networks, ingesting multiple camera feeds directly from IP streams. Vision mixers, multiviewers, and graphics systems do the same. The entire multicam workflow operates on a shared IP fabric.
This is why new broadcast facilities and OB trucks being built today are overwhelmingly 2110-based. The operational advantages compound over time: less cabling, faster setup, easier reconfiguration, and lower cost for expansion.
2110 in the Middle East and GCC
The Middle East is one of the fastest-growing regions for IP-based broadcast infrastructure. New studio builds in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar are being designed as 2110 facilities from the ground up, rather than retrofitting existing SDI plants.
Major events in the region , from international sports tournaments like the Esports World Cup in Riyadh to government summits and entertainment festivals , increasingly rely on IP-based production workflows. The ability to support remote production is particularly valuable when covering events across multiple GCC countries from a central production hub.
At Creative Broadcast Agency, we work with 2110-based systems for live event streaming, esports broadcast production, and corporate event production across the GCC. Our engineering team designs hybrid IP and baseband workflows for clients transitioning from legacy infrastructure, as well as fully IP-native setups for new builds and flypack deployments.
The Hybrid Reality: IP and Baseband Together
Moving to 2110 does not mean throwing out every SDI cable overnight. Most facilities today run hybrid environments where baseband SDI equipment interfaces with 2110 gateways.
A gateway converts SDI signals into 2110 IP streams (and vice versa), allowing legacy cameras, routers, and monitors to coexist with new IP-native equipment. This is the pragmatic path that most broadcasters take , a gradual migration rather than a full rip-and-replace.
Hybrid infrastructure allows production teams to keep using proven SDI equipment where it makes sense while gaining the benefits of IP routing, remote production, and software-defined workflows where they matter most.
FAQ
What does SMPTE 2110 stand for? SMPTE stands for the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers. ST 2110 is their suite of standards for transporting professional media , video, audio, and data , over managed IP networks.
Is SMPTE 2110 better than SDI? For scalability, flexibility, and remote production, yes. For simple point-to-point connections in small facilities, SDI remains perfectly adequate. Most new large-scale facilities are being built on 2110 because the long-term operational advantages outweigh the initial network design complexity.
What is the difference between SMPTE 2110 and NDI? SMPTE 2110 transports uncompressed video over managed networks and is designed for professional broadcast. NDI (Network Device Interface) uses compressed video over standard LANs and is designed for production environments like studios and corporate AV. They serve different use cases and can coexist in the same facility.
Do I need special network equipment for SMPTE 2110? Yes. A 2110 network requires managed switches capable of handling high-bandwidth, low-latency video traffic with PTP (Precision Time Protocol) synchronisation. Standard office network equipment is not suitable.
What replay systems support SMPTE 2110? The Evertz DreamCatcher and EVS XT-VIA both connect natively to 2110 networks. We covered how these systems work in our guide to live sports replay systems. Most modern broadcast equipment from major manufacturers now supports 2110 connectivity.
Can Creative Broadcast Agency set up 2110 for my event? Yes. We design and deploy IP-based production workflows for live events, esports tournaments, and corporate broadcasts across the UAE and GCC. Contact us to discuss your production requirements.
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