The general practice of carrying audio and video signals over IP networks instead of dedicated cabling — the foundation of every modern control room and broadcast facility.
What it is
AV over IP is the umbrella term for transporting audio, video, USB, and control signals over standard IP networks. It replaces dedicated point-to-point cabling (HDBaseT, SDI, DVI) with the same Cat6 / SFP+ infrastructure already used for data.
The dominant standards
- SMPTE ST 2110 — broadcast-grade, separately streamed video, audio, and ancillary data; PTP timing.
- NDI — production-friendly, mDNS discovery, lightweight intra-frame codec.
- SDVoE — 10 GbE uncompressed, vendor-driven; common in high-end AV.
- JPEG XS / RIST / SRT — long-haul and contribution transports.
Why it matters
AV over IP collapses three formerly separate networks (data, video, audio) into one. For video walls, this means any source on the building network is a potential window — no truck rolls to pull SDI.