Even with all this digital and IP television, it’s worth remembering that we still live in an analogue world. Our light and sound transducers, otherwise known as eyes and ears are analogue, and we live in an infinitely varying environment. So what is it about analogue that makes it so attractive to producers and creatives?

We seem to be hearing a lot recently about LED walls, Unreal Engines, and tracking cameras. Is it possible we have Bambi to thank?

As interview guests are finding it nearly impossible to visit television studios, many broadcasters are turning to video conferencing to interview them from their own homes. Although the results are “acceptable”, given the circumstances, this clearly results in a significantly reduced technical quality, but has video conferencing now paved the way for a new method of working?

Adoption of IP is providing broadcasters with real and unprecedented opportunities to reconsider many of their workflows and operating procedures. Due to the unique way in which video and audio essence has been abstracted away from the underlying timing parameters, we now have the freedom to reconsider our attitude towards timing, and specifically latency.

IP is a word that seems to be thrown around as a catch-all term. But there are many facets to IP and different workflow scenarios all have their unique requirements.

Broadcasting is talking about the need to employ rocket scientists to make complex IP networks operate efficiently. But is there a far more practical solution?

In the synchronous world of SDI and AES, we often seem to take for granted the absolute timing that circuit switched networks provide, but as we transition more to IP, probability is playing a key role.

A catalyst is often needed to move from the status quo as even the most advanced technology cannot progress alone. Is it possible that the lockdown we all now find ourselves in is responsible for the widescale adoption of IP in broadcasting?

Agile development and DevOps are relatively new concepts for broadcasters. But when I interviewed Paul Markham, from Discovery, in Part 1 of Transitioning to Broadcast IP Infrastructures, it became clear that these disciplines have implications that stretch far beyond software development.

We do enjoy drawing the internet as a fluffy cloud in our system diagrams when designing broadcast contribution circuits. But as we expand our reliance on this seemingly magical technology, is it time to take more of an interest in what is going on under the hood?