ZeeVee, along with five other major companies, recently announced that they are forming and alliance designed to set the protocols standards for a standardized software define video over Ethernet (SDVoE) for interoperable AV-over_IP applications. Joining ZeeVee in this new industry alliance are Sony, NETGEAR, Christie Digital, Apto Vision and Aquantia.
It is universally acknowledged that the transition of the AV industry to IP-based solutions is inevitable. Moving AV distribution to IP offers the possibility to create dramatically new architectures and entirely new user experiences. However, too many different approaches exist and are confusing the market and customers. Furthermore, many technologies simply fail to meet the performance needs of pro AV. For these reasons, adoption of AV over IP has been slow.
The SDVoE Alliance is bringing leading companies in the space together around a standardized hardware and software platform. The SDVoE platform will disrupt the pro AV industry by enabling applications that were previously unrealizable.
All AV distribution applications that demand zero-latency, uncompromised video can benefit from SDVoE technology. SDVoE network architectures are based on off-the-shelf Ethernet switches thus offering substantial cost savings and greater system flexibility and scalability over traditional approaches, such as HDBaseT. Markets that benefit from SDVoE technology include education, healthcare, enterprise, entertainment, hospitality, retail, houses of worship, government, military, industrial and security.
ZeeVee CEO, Bob Michaels said if the new alliance that,
“For well over two years ZeeVee has been leading the way in developing, educating the market and installing IP-based AV distribution solutions by successfully leveraging industry standard technology. We believe in simplifying video distribution and are proud to be a founding member of the SDVoE Alliance. Participation in this new alliance will allow ZeeVee to better integrate our products into a wider AV-over-IP ecosystem, while giving integrators a trusted source for knowledge and products that will help them navigate the new technologies and applications, and compete as IP-based solutions become mainstream.”
The goals of the alliance are:
- Standardize adoption of Ethernet to transport AV signals in professional AV environments
- Enable a hardware/software platform that offers applications better tailored to individual user’s needs
- Enable a system architecture that is more flexible, reliable, and cost-effective than point-to-point connectivity and circuit switches
- Facilitate true AV/IT convergence, allowing high quality AV networks and data networks to share a single infrastructure
- Bring ecosystem partners – equipment manufacturers, software developers, chipset designers, and system integrators — together under a single banner to foster collaboration
- Bring awareness to new opportunities by educating the industry and offering training in the new paradigm
Toru Suzuki, Deputy Senior General Manager, B2B Segment Business Division, Professional Solutions and Services Group, Sony said of the alliance that,
“High image quality and low transport latency are both required in B2B field, and we expect SDVoE technology enables ideal AV-over-IP product solution. By incorporating SDVoE’s high bandwidth, processing flexibility and long distance connectivity, our latest display systems create immersive experiences more flexibly. We will deliver this solution for industrial product design and manufacturing, theme parks, museums, high-traffic lobbies, corporate boardrooms — any environment requiring realistic simulation. We can now construct display systems more flexibly beyond 4K resolution with free aspect, free layout contents on any size of display output. We are happy to be part of the SDVoE Alliance.” 
