High quality AV over IP networks and cabling infrastructure

Ask anyone interested in high quality video and audio in Australia and they will tell you that distribution over an IP network and its cabling infrastructure has long been a 'holy grail'. While, till now, this was the preserve of those with massive network bandwidth availabilities such as high-end corporations and education facilities, Australia is now seeing a rapid expansion, due not only to the increased robustness of IP networks, but also the availability of products that satisfy this market demand. Organisations are searching for fast communication channels that provide increased flexibility for situations where audio and video quality as well as timing is mission critical.

The distribution of video and audio over IP networks is a hot topic in the AV market and has generated a lot of attention. Most recently, this talk has been fuelled by the new Labor government's $4.7 billion commitment to build a national broadband network. Most people would equate this government change to increased video speeds on their public internet connection, but there are far wider corporate implications in terms of communication.

Email, mobile phones and data transfer are driving the requirement for fast connections between offices in remote locations and these connections are now commonplace. But new avenues are already beginning to open up in the market to provide even higher speed connections that will also transport audio and video. This new government broadband initiative will make rapidly expanding bandwidths available to organisations externally; and coupled with internal connections, applications requiring high quality network paths for the transfer of high quality video and audio on business and consumer networks will soon become commonplace.

Video over IP products are becoming increasingly available to satisfy strong market demand across corporate sectors that require the highest quality and fastest communication possible such as those in education, interactive broadcast and tele-medicine. This, coupled with the increasing robustness of IP networks and the expanding bandwidths, means that the holy grail is now within reach.

While at an 'early adopter' stage in Australia, there is already significant interest in this technology concept, with most uptake resulting from a market that is beginning to understand the technology and its potential.

Video over IP is being seen deployed in applications such as point-to-point and point-to-multipoint high quality AV signal transfer, tele-presence, IPTV and video streaming in markets that include broadcast, medical, security, corporate, education and houses of worship.

A rapidly emerging future for signal distribution is in sight where virtually all types, including data, telephony and high quality audio and video signals, are all distributed on a common backbone. This has great potential for use in mission-critical applications. For example, a doctor in the UK can call a specialist in an Australian hospital to assist with the diagnosis of a patient, eliminating the need for a potentially critically ill patient to travel. Business meetings can be conducted between local or international centres with very high quality video and audio transmitted without the current delays or inconsistencies.

This expansion of video and audio distribution across businesses raises significant potential for industry segments typically obstructed from this market. New technologies require new thinking and it is easy to see the line between traditional AV suppliers, network integrators and data cablers becoming very blurred.

The good news is that new technology — like that developed by HaiVision — will open up these markets to provide electrical consultants with opportunities to work across previously obstructed boundaries. For example, it is likely that there will now be a much closer relationship between the audiovisual applications and IP infrastructure. This will require consultants in both these areas to become more familiar with the requirements of the other. Electrical consultants will soon be able to take their existing skills in the application of data networks and offer new solutions to their customers in the provision of AV facilities.

It is clear that the video over IP market is expanding at a rate of knots and that there is a great market demand from the corporate sector to have products that provide increased flexibility for business. With vendors dedicated to delivering technologies to address the specific needs within these markets, the future looks bright.

*Image Design Technology (IDT)
www.idt.com.au