Engineering Reports

SMPTE ER 1010:2023
Artificial Intelligence and Media

This report is intended to provide background to media professionals on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). The report surveys how AI/ML are being used for media production, distribution, and consumption. It explores ethical implications around modern AI systems and provides background on current standards activities and possible opportunities for future standards. It also considers the need for datasets to help facilitate research and development of future media-related applications

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SMPTE ER 1009:2023
Security in SMPTE ST 2059: Threats, Controls and Mitigation Strategies

This Engineering Report (ER) is pursuant to a request from the Joint Task Force on Networked Media Administration Group.
TC-32NF SG on Security in ST 2059 began its work in December 2018, directed by SMPTE Standards Development leadership to “investigate issues surrounding PTP security within a facility; and produce a report identifying both theoretical and observed security risks as well as recommendations for potential mitigation. Recommendations should be constrained to the nature of the mitigation (e.g., operational practice, device behavior, new specifications, new standards, etc.) and should not be solutions.”
This current report is a second report from the SG. While the first report focused on describing the threats, this second report specifies the detection and mitigation strategies for the same.
The scope of the SMPTE Study Group on Security in SMPTE ST 2059 can be found in Annex A.

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SMPTE ER 1008:2022
Digital Cinema – Overview for the SMPTE 428, 429, 430, 431, 432, and 433 Document Suites

The Digital Cinema Format is a file-based framework that allows high-quality versions of motion pictures, called Compositions, to be efficiently represented and played back on digital playback servers and projectors. The delivery of these Compositions are packaged into what is known worldwide as a Digital Cinema Package or its more common acronym; DCP. 

 The DCP, its assets, corresponding video/audio/text-based data essence and operational processing, and security and operation of DCP playback servers and projectors are governed by a family suite of SMPTE standards which regulate the constrained application specific implementation of the framework.

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SMPTE ER 1007:2021
ATSC 3.0 (NextGen) Architecture and Workflow Challenges, an Invitation to Develop New and Improved Solutions

A Joint Task Force (JTF) has been created among the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) and the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) to identify and develop solutions that may be put into practice when implementing NextGen transmission
systems.

The initial goal and focus are to aggressively seek solutions to simplify the management of ATSC 3.0 air chains, and in particular to enable broadcasters to make configuration changes to their transport stream on the fly with negligible impact to the viewer. We believe this may be
accomplished through common control of several key devices and software required in the ATSC 3.0 broadcast transmission chain. Thus far we have identified a number of functional blocks from the input of the encoder/packager through to the scheduler/gateway and we anticipate many other functions yet to be discovered as our work evolves.

The purpose of this document is to inform the industry of some critical needs of Broadcasters as they implement and operate NextGen systems. We are casting this document widely to make these needs known and to encourage solutions development in the marketplace. As Standards
Development Organizations, ATSC and SMPTE strongly prefer the use of established standards rather than manufacturers develop each their own (proprietary). We see much opportunity in this area for improved and simpler workflows. Additionally, we know there will be remaining questions from this document and we stand ready to work together on identifying solutions.

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SMPTE ER 1006:2021
35PM Study – Automated Processing with IMF OPL for TSP 2121 AMWA AS11 Applications

The broadcast community has shown keen interest in the use of automation to prepare content derivatives from a library encoded using the Interoperable Master Format (IMF). The Output Profile List (OPL) is designed to support this general use case. This report identifies use cases for the broadcast community and makes recommendations for additional developments within the OPL framework to support such use case.

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SMPTE ER 1005:2021
35PM Study – IAB in OPL

This study report discusses potential applications of Output Profile Lists (OPL) for the processing of Interactive Object Audio (IOA) packaged using the Interoperable Master Format (IMF). Features of IOA have practical value throughout the entertainment value chain, therefore an increasingly relevant body of use cases employ an Immersive Audio Bitstream (IAB) plug-in. Since the addition of IAB support through a plug-in mechanism in IMF, SMPTE ST 2067-201, broadcasters and online distributors can now augment IMF packages with IAB content which can then be compiled into one or more deliverable files. The IMF OPL can aid in automating this process for a variety of use cases. The primary examples are rendering output from IAB content into channel based PCM as well as serialized ADM deliverables. This report details the requirements to support such IAB rendering and exporting processes as well as the additional components required for the OPL framework.  

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SMPTE ER 1004:2021
Report of the Study Group On Security in SMPTE ST 2059 – Threat Landscape

SG on Security in ST 2059 was formed to investigate issues surrounding PTP security within a facility; and produce a report identifying both theoretical and observed security risks as well as recommendations for potential mitigation.

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SMPTE ER 1003:2017
Study Group on Flow Management in Professional Media Networks

The media industry is rapidly moving towards transport of uncompressed and compressed media content streams (flows) over packet switched facility networks. Media transport protocols (such as SMPTE ST 2022-6, VSF TR-03, IEEE AVB, etc.) are currently being adopted by equipment manufacturers. While these address the transport of live media content, they do not address how these flows will be managed in professional media networks, nor do the standards address a standard methodology for manufactures in this space to ensure interoperability.

Several concepts of flow management have been proposed, but the feasibility of these approaches in media networks need to be investigated. Many of these technologies are under development today, and there is currently no timeline on when these technologies will be available for professional media networks or when open standards will be developed. In addition, it is unclear how control messages will be transmitted to switching devices in a standard way. Existing solutions (e.g., OpenFlow, NETCONF, SMPTE ST 2071) could be utilized, but it is unclear today if they will fulfill the requirements for management of low latency flows in professional media networks. Furthermore, the media industry needs to define metrics on how network congestion can be measured to enable efficient stream control.

There might also be a lack of understanding in the media industry of network management technologies, how they will be applied in professional media networks consistent with operational needs in the tele-production community. This report seeks to address these issues.

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SMPTE ER 1002:2017
Time Code Summit – User Survey and Requirements for a New Time Label

In 1975 one of the most prolific SMPTE Standards, then called ANSI C98.12.1975 now called ST 12-1 Time and Control Code, was published which allowed the industry to consolidate around what became known as SMPTE Time Code. These 32 Binary Coded Decimal (BCD) bits would be used in ways that no one had imagined at the time. Today, theatrical shows, concerts, music recording, and of course television, just to name a few, make use of this standard. ST 12-1 was voted the top Standard of the past 100 years in a poll taken recently of the Standards Community.

The report describes the process to collect the User Requirements, the results of surveys conducted and the comments captured at each of the three Time Code Summits that were held in Hollywood, London, and New York City. It concludes with a summary of the results from the author’s perspective.

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SMPTE ER 1001:2017
SMPTE MXF Time Code Study Group Report  

MXF was developed as a versatile professional wrapping format to describe existing media encapsulation practices as well as providing facilities for new applications. As a result of this evolution, there are many places where MXF is able to store Time Code values. 

MXF can store Time Code values as Metadata in the headers as well as capturing Time Code values from media streams and storing them in a file. The HANC, VANC & VBI specifications from SMPTE as well as de-facto specifications contain rules for the placement of Time Code values. MXF has multiple places in which VANC or VBI information may be carried. The end result is that multiple MXF Time Code values might exist for each frame in a file.

The goal of this report is to look at the requirements for the use of Time Code within different MXF applications. The Study Group requested a list of Time Code applications from the participants. The sections of this report cover the applications that were identified.

Corrected on November 14, 2017.

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SMPTE ER 1000:2017
JT-NM Roadmap of Networked Media Open Interoperability (Updated August 2017)

This JT-NM Roadmap shows the evolution of the standards and specifications enabling the JT-NM Reference Architecture. The JT-NM Roadmap of Networked Media Open Interoperability shows which standards and specifications enable the JT-NM Reference Architecture, how the range of underlying technologies is expected to evolve and when it is expected that an interoperable multi-vendor system can be built around standards / specifications

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SMPTE ER 0999:2017
SMPTE ST 2059 PTP Interoperability Testing and Demonstrations Report

The ST 2059 Standard is a complex document and utilizes an external Standard, IEEE-1588 Precision Time Protocol (PTP). PTP is a now-mature technology used in many industries for high precision timing, but not in broadcast.

This report includes:

• Results from the Second SMPTE Interoperability tests June 13 to 17, 2016
• Results from the JT-NM Interoperability tests and IBC planning August 22 to 26, 2016
• Timing demonstrations from IBC and SMPTE Annual Conference

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SMPTE ER 0998:2015
Study of UMID Applications in MXF and Streaming Media

This SMPTE TC-30MR study report discusses the UMID applications specifically for the MXF technology.

The UMID, or Unique Material IDentifier, is the SMPTE standard unique identifier of an audiovisual material. Based on the recommendations by the EBU/SMPTE Task Force envisioning the file-based media production workflow we have today, it was initially SMPTE standardized in 2000 prior to the MXF technology in 2004. As a mandatory component of an MXF file, the UMID has been widely spread in the Media & Entertainment (M&E) industry by using the MXF file as a vehicle. But it has been eventually useless in practice so far because of lack of industry standard technologies called UMID Application Principles and UMID Resolution Protocol. The UMID Application Principles are fundamental rules for the UMID to be treated in a reliable and consistent way over the media products from multiple vendors, which have been standardized in the latest SMPTE RP 205 in 2014. The UMID Resolution Protocol is a standard method for a given UMID to be converted into the corresponding URL of a material uniquely identified by the UMID, for which an intensive development is ongoing in SMPTE.

In this study report, based on those standard technologies, the UMID applications specifically for the MXF technology are discussed. Thanks to the MXF’s logical structure, which realizes what we can observe at the playout of an MXF file is not always identical with what is stored within the MXF file; an MXF file has three kinds of UMID. The first two are called MXF Material Package UID and File Package UID, both of which take a form of the 32-byte Basic UMID.

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SMPTE ER 0997:2015
Study Group Report High-Dynamic-Range (HDR) Imaging Ecosystem

The capture and display of content with a dynamic range that approaches real scenes has been a long term challenge. Limitations come from the choice of imaging technologies such as early pick-up devices (Vidicon, Image Orthicon) and the traditional video display device, the CRT. Until recently the industry has accepted that content capture and display technologies have inherent limitations that would limit the ability to reproduce more realistic High Dynamic Range (HDR) images.

Traditional capture techniques using film camera negative that has been used in motion picture and television episodic production has allowed more scene dynamic range to be captured by the film negative that was ultimately shown to the viewer in the film print.

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SMPTE ER 0996:2015
Joint Task Force on Networked Media (JT-NM) Reference Architecture V1.0

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) and the Video Services Forum (VSF) have announced the release of the JT-NM Reference Architecture (RA) v1.0 document; a collection of models, best practices, and frameworks intended to facilitate interoperability in networked media systems.

In this first version, the RA focuses on three foundational frameworks. The foundational frameworks provide our industry with a common, interoperable approach to how devices and services are uniquely identified, discovered and how their capabilities are registered. The RA also provides a timing model supporting PTP and SMPTE 2059 Standards. These frameworks are building blocks that will enable networked media to deliver new workflow possibilities.

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SMPTE ER 0985-1:1997
Joint Task Force for Harmonized Standards for the Exchange of Program Material as Bitstreams

First Report: User Requirements

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SMPTE ER 0995:2015
Joint Task Force on Networked Media (JT-NM) Minimum Viable System Requirements Of a Sample System Architecture for Live Multi-Camera Studio Production

This report from the Joint Task Force on Networked Media (JT-NM)1 presents the detailed requirements of the Minimum Viable System (MVS) that was introduced in the “Phase 2 Interim Report December 2014”2. MVS is a sample System Architecture that addresses a well-known operational scenario of minimal scope.

This set of requirements could change or be expanded in the future to reflect the development of the JT-NM Reference Architecture.

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SMPTE ER 0994:2014
B-Chain Frequency and Temporal Response Analysis of Theatres and Dubbing Stages

The Theatre B-Chain Study Group was formed in March 2010 in response to the work statement that was approved by the SMPTE Standards Committee on 4 March 2010. The goal of the group was to study the
current standards and practices regarding B-chain electroacoustic response and calibration, and make recommendations for work that SMPTE should undertake in these areas. During this 2.5-year study, the group tested many aspects of the subject.

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SMPTE ER 0993:2014
Joint Task Force on Networked Media (JT-NM): Phase 2 Interim Report for IBC 2014

The goal of Phase 2 is to create a system reference architecture. This will be a key tool to guide the industry towards interoperability. It will achieve this by providing a template based on a generalized solution. It will include a set of patterns that can be composed together to form a specific solution. It will also provide a common vocabulary with which to facilitate discussing implementations between the different levels (i.e. management, integrators, architects, developers, sellers, etc.) from the different domains (i.e. broadcast, IT) involved.

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SMPTE ER 0992:2014
On-Screen Light Measurement Study Group Report

There are seven identified SMPTE standard or recommended practice documents that identify or refer to methods of measuring screen luminance. Each document identifies a different specific methodology for measurement. While each of these approaches has some validity, each will result in different measured screen characteristics from the point of view of peak brightness and light distribution.  This report details the approach we took to the study group task, and provides recommendations for the measurement approaches.

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SMPTE ER 0991:2014
Joint Task Force on File Formats and Media Interoperability: User Requirements Survey Report

The JTFFFMI has an ultimate goal to create greater efficiencies and cost savings for exchange of file-based content. The group’s initial focus will be to gather and analyze requirements for a machine-generated and readable file interchange and delivery specification — including standardized and common structured metadata — for the professional media industry. To achieve this, one of its initial actions is the publication of a survey to collect data on user requirements.

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SMPTE ER 0990:2014
Open Binding of IDs to Audiovisual Essence Report

This effort had its origins within the Coalition for Innovative Media Management (CIMM). CIMM is a group of buyers and sellers of advertising-supported media formed to promote innovation and explore new, high-quality ways to measure audiences across traditional and new media in the United States. CIMM began in 2009, founded by leading television content providers, media agencies, and advertisers.

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SMPTE ER 0989:2014
Report of the Study Group on Immersive Audio Systems: Cinema B-Chain and Distribution

Monophonic sound was transformative for the art of motion pictures. Every sound format that followed has attempted to improve the sense of reality by adding more channels feeding ever more speakers. With rare exception, those speakers were located behind the screen and around the audience, effectively on the same horizontal plane. Even though the ensuing decades transitioned from optical film to digital media, the planar sound concept lives on with 5.1 and 7.1 soundfield configurations. (In this document, any references to “5.1” also include 7.1 unless noted.)

The movie industry is now evolving toward an expanding range of audio formats with additional audio signals driving height and overhead speakers to achieve a more immersive experience. Broadly stated, the Immersive Audio Study Group (IASG) was formed to explore ways to deliver these capabilities using a common distribution method and possible shared B-chain attributes.

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SMPTE ER 0988:2014
Report of the SMPTE Study Group on Media Production System Network Architecture

The design and architecture of Professional Media Networks (PMN) is becoming increasingly important with the ever-increasing use of shared packet switched networks (PSN). These PMNs are used for applications such as live contribution and production, post-production, and presentation. Typically these are built upon Internet Protocol networks and used for the production of media, including the carriage of media essence (audio & video), metadata, synchronization and control traffic. Where media traffic coexists with other sorts of communication and business traffic (multi-service networks), it is particularly important to balance the requirements of media production network traffic with other types of network traffic. This other traffic may or may not be related to the Professional Media Network workflows.

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SMPTE ER 0987:2015
Report of the UHDTV Ecosystem Study Group

This report, dated 28 March 2014, represents the final considerations of the Society of Motion Pictures and Television Engineers (SMPTE) study group investigating the Ultra-High Definition Television (UHDTV) Ecosystem. The report provides recommendations for further work, which will be further analyzed within SMPTE.

The industry has developed technologies for increasing image pixel arrays, capturing higher frame rates, extended color gamut and other image parameters beyond those currently defined for High Definition Television (HDTV).

Image formats for UHDTV have been approved by, SMPTE[1] and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU)[2]. It has been indicated that commercial deployment of UHDTV could begin as early as 2014 for UHDTV1 and 2016 for UHDTV2. While the intent is distribution of the content to the home, overall questions for the professional industry sector are:

• How to interchange content with these new formats in the professional real-time and non-real-time domains (considering uncompressed, mezzanine and contribution quality)
• What exchange and interface standards are needed
• What issues need further investigation to provide compatible workflows with current HDTV and SDTV systems

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SMPTE ER 0986:2008
Joint Task Force for Time Labelling and Synchronization

The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) and the European Broadcasting
Union (EBU) have formed a new Joint Task Force to examine and standardize future needs for
timing and synchronization in moving picture and related industries. Current methods of timing
and synchronization for television, audio and other moving picture signals rely on standards that
have been in place for over 30 years. These standards are becoming increasingly inappropriate
for the digital age with, for example, networked content sharing and the higher frame rates
appropriate to HDTV, UHDTV and other image formats. They now impose unacceptable
limitations for the future and must be replaced by new time-labelling and synchronization
technology.
The Task Force has begun by collecting User Requirements (hereafter, “UR”) from broadcasters
and the media and entertainment industries. This document represents these UR and is
presented as a Request for Technology (RFT) to invite responses and proposals from any
interested party.
The Task Force will evaluate responses to this RFT against its UR. The outcome of this process
will be a set of specifications that will be passed to the appropriate SMPTE Technology
Committees for due-process standardization.

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SMPTE ER 0985-2:1998
Joint Task Force for Harmonized Standards for the Exchange of Program Material as Bitstreams

Final Report: Analyses and Results

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