Rapid tech evolution drives AV broadcast growth

Underpinning this are networks, protocols and connectivity – the fundamental building blocks for integrating best-of-breed tools into creative solutions. 

The transition from SDI to IP has been critical in keeping the broadcast world fighting fit in transporting video around and between studios; and the same ‘glue’ is advancing into AV in the form of IPMX (a version of the SMPTE standard 2110) and NDI. Any brand or business looking for high-performing video production solutions that enhance interoperability between different vendor systems will need to consider working with this growing range of products. 

Once upon a time, those with IT backgrounds were frustrated with the slow level of progression and adoption. Not any more. Analysts noted that ISE 2024 brought a palpable feeling of change across the industry with a growing maturity in signal distribution, control and associated services across the show floor.   

Cloud-based workflows are no longer exotic. Suppliers of cloud storage have multiplied, with all leading video editing software and most leading camera vendors offering versions. Since cloud-based systems and storage are inherently accessible from anywhere in the world, this enables both hybrid and fully remote collaborative workflows for production teams. 

A large corporation orchestrating dynamic shows with remote and on-site participants might use the same mix of products as a show streamed live on the BBC. Few pieces of audiovisual production equipment are definitively AV or broadcast. 

There are three key areas of overlap. PTZ cameras, increasingly armed with sophisticated automation controls and higher-fidelity sensors, are a staple of almost any livestreamed video. Not only are they discreet in terms of form factor and positioning, multiples of them can be controlled by a single operator, bringing more events and angles into play. 

The importance of games engines in the systems integration ecosystem should not be underestimated. They are enabling the fusion of real objects and environments with real-time and photoreal CGI, supercharging aspects of industry from architecture, training and simulation to manufacturing. 

Games engines are used to produce mathematically perfect digital twins of a physical object or entity like a city, with data continuously updating its functions and processes.  

In film and TV the engine generates video or CGI output to LED walls for background photography of live action. Related uses of LED, virtual set and real-time camera tracking technology are used to create extended reality experiences for music artists, theatre productions and corporate presentations alike. 

As online audiences grow, it’s crucial that digital events bring something unique to the table. Wearable AR/VR spatial computers linked to virtual metaverses, for example, could allow fans at home and at the venue the opportunity to experience a completely new dimension of music as revolutionary as the shift from mono to stereo. 

Meshing everything together in ways that no-one has truly grasped is AI. 

AI’s adoption within the AV industry marks a significant shift towards more dynamic, efficient, and tailored content experiences.  

But AI is only as good as the data it is trained on, and in turn on the data fed back into the loop by its use. It’s why some AV executives have talked about a full-stack AV platform to maximise AI’s potential. This would be composed of a platform connecting AI to the physical world; a data pipeline that intelligently routes to other devices and platforms; and the cloud where AI/ML tools and servers to process it on are stored.  

From assessing guest/customer behaviour with real-time insights to extracting more value from archives, AI is forcing organisations to reevaluate everything they do.  

Generative AI adds a creative layer on top, potentially accelerating time to market and re-imagineering creative possibility – provided the ethical and legal use case is tight.