Has the transition to digital AV made things better for integrators – or has it made things more complicated?
As NSCA Platinum member Kramer Electronics points out in a recent blog post about AV over IP, instead of using big cables and racks of switchers to transport video and computer display signals, digital display interfaces have the ability to:
- Configure the right resolution
- Check required copy protection
- Piggyback control signals, power, and Ethernet traffic
Kramer Electronics also points out that the world of consumer electronics is now mainly what dictates commercial AV products. High-definition multimedia interface (HDMI), which is installed in more than 1 billion devices worldwide, is a good example. Originally designed to carry a signal from a DVD or Blu−ray player to a TV, HDMI is often at the core of large, complex AV matrix switching products.
But this proprietary display/audio format requires frequent updating, and may be outpaced by ultra−high-resolution displays. Instead, configuring AV and control signals to travel over fast public and private IP networks – internal and external – is the way to go. It’s already being done within telecom companies and cable, satellite, and terrestrial broadcast TV networks.
All AV interconnects are run through conventional network switches; only two types of wiring are needed – category cable and/or optical fiber – to connect everything in your network.
Read on to find out how this can be done in our industry, and how to handle displays and products that rely on standard display interfaces (HDMI, DVI, etc.).
AV over IP is here. Get ready!