Faster Data Transfer; Uniformity Prevails

No matter what industry one is working in, standardization and uniformity are very important to the success of a company or the industry as a whole. Within the entertainment industry, it has been noticed that there are a number of “standards” that just don’t seem to be standards anymore. Product compatibility is solely dependant upon the ability to sync data and equipment together, no matter what the age of the product.

One of the new technologies being developed within our industry is “Audio Video Bridging”, or “AVB”. AVB is a tool that allows multiple signals from multiple sources to be banded together and deliver high quality data. Changing from a once popular standard of or IEEE or MIDI, AVB will work with a number of everyday items for content routing. “Any existing network can be used for audio or video” says Bill Evans, writer to Front Of House Magazine in the article “AVB: Do We Actually Have An Audio Networking Standard?” It is further discussed within the article that AVB will also be compatible with the HiQ Net Control system, making integration to major systems that much better.

Standards are developed based around the speed at which data can be transferred between two pieces of gear. With the recent developments of IEEE 802, lower latency creates a much-needed bond for the delivery of audio and video paths to ensure proper presentation. The AVB network will allow gear such as digital processors, digital audio consoles, digital video processors (and virtually anything driven off of a digital Ethernet network), to communicate in a much more flawless fashion than before.

This technology will become one of the top methods of digital audio and video communications within a theatre world because of its ease of setup and its connectivity to old and new gear. Many theatres look to tools like this to prevent having to revamp an aged space, actually saving money in the long run. While this will be a benefit to thousands of users, there will still be those who wonder how this will effect the state of Ethernet communications for proprietary gear not using a standard bandwidth rate, but for that; “the new standard aims to pace traffic so that AV does not use up the entire bandwidth. 25% of the bandwidth is supposed to be reserved at all times for non-AV, standard Ethernet traffic” (EAVB, RoadieWorld 2009).

It will be a bright future in the development of digital synchronization in that there will be a demand for both new and old gear, giving sound companies and engineers the chance to utilize the many different capabilities of this industry.

References:

Evans, Bill (2009). “AVB: Do We Actually Have An Audio Networking Standard?” Front Of House Publications: May 2009, Vol. 7 No. 8

RoadieWorld (2009). Ethernet AVB (Audio Video Bridigng) – In Development. Retrieved August 19, 2009 from http://www.roadieworld.org/2009/05/ethernet-avb-audio-video-bridging-in-development/

External Links:

Boatright, Robert (2009). Understanding IEEE’s New Audio Video Bridging Standards. http://www.embedded.com/design/embeddeddsp/217201258

Audio/Video Bridging Task Group (2009). http://www.ieee802.org/1/pages/avbridges.html

Ethernet AVB Audio (2009).

http://www.xmos.com/applications/audio/ethernet-avb-audio

IEC 61883 Audio/Video Streams – IEEE 802 Networks (2007)

http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/1722/contributions/AVB-Transport-par-revision-0.04-2007-02-07.pdf

XLINX (2009). Ethernet AVB Endpoint FPGA Solution

Article can also be found at:

http://sites.google.com/site/wikitainment/faster-data-transfer-uniformity-prevails

http://www.xilinx.com/products/ipcenter/DO-DI-EAVB-EPT.htm

First Post

This newly created blog, as well as all of its tools, will be utilized for expansion of my career portfolio/resume. On this site, one will find information about productions, continuing education and new technology that I have been involved with over the past two to three years. During my time blogging, I hope to use this forum in light of a resume, discussing different things that I have been introduced to and learned throughout my career.

After completing over 60 productions throughout my high school years, I was introduced to a wide variety of methods and practices to complete any aspect to a performance. Continuing education at Full Sail University, I was able to fine-tune my skills in audio engineering and lighting design technologies to advance my career in many different directions.

Audio engineering is something that many people don’t take much time to look into, but holds a great deal of complexities based upon which part of the industry one is looking at. I find that the same is true for lighting, both with conventional and intelligent systems.

Working as the Assistant Technical Director at one of the top community theatres in the country, I have been able to expand on my experience both in lighting technologies and audio engineering, while still being able to maintain construction abilities for each performance. Being able to see skills being utilized to develop a performance is one of the best things about this industry.

Please continue to read this blog to learn more about my life and my career.