AV & Broadcast Standards Glossary

AV Networking & AV-over-IP

The protocols and networking fundamentals that decide whether an AV-over-IP install just works — or drops frames the first time someone joins a call.

Dante

Audinate's audio-over-IP protocol. Runs on standard Ethernet, uncompressed, with latency as low as ~150μs. The de facto standard for professional audio networking — small networks often run with minimal config, but managed switches with QoS and IGMP become necessary at scale.

NDI (Network Device Interface)

NewTek's IP video protocol for low-latency, high-quality video over standard Gigabit Ethernet. Variable-bitrate compression, no specialized hardware required — widely used in broadcast and production workflows.

SDVoE (Software Defined Video over Ethernet)

Chipset-based AV-over-IP standard delivering near-zero latency (~1 frame) and uncompressed-quality 4K/60 video over 10GbE. A shared ASIC across manufacturers keeps switching and scaling consistent.

AES67

Audio Engineering Society standard for interoperability between different audio-over-IP protocols (Dante, Q-LAN, Ravenna, and others). Relies on PTP for clock synchronization.

SMPTE ST 2110

Suite of standards for professional broadcast media over IP. Separates video, audio, and ancillary data into independent, synchronized essence streams. Requires PTP (ST 2059) for timing — the backbone of modern IP broadcast facilities.

AVoIP (AV over IP)

Umbrella term for any protocol or system that delivers audio and/or video over standard IP networking infrastructure instead of a dedicated matrix switcher.

IGMP Snooping

Switch feature that listens to IGMP traffic and forwards multicast streams only to the ports that requested them, instead of flooding every port. Essential for AV-over-IP — without it, multicast traffic broadcasts to every device and saturates the network.

IGMP Querier

The device — usually a switch or router — responsible for periodically polling the network to maintain multicast group membership tables. At least one device per VLAN must act as querier for IGMP snooping to actually work.

Multicast

One-to-many transmission where a single stream is sent once and replicated by switches only to subscribed devices. The core mechanism behind Dante, NDI, and most AVoIP protocols.

VLAN (Virtual LAN)

Logical segmentation of a physical network into isolated broadcast domains. Standard practice to separate AV traffic — Dante, control, video — from general office IT traffic.

QoS (Quality of Service)

Switch and network configuration that prioritizes latency-sensitive traffic, like real-time audio and video, over less time-critical data — typically via DSCP tagging.

PTP (Precision Time Protocol, IEEE 1588)

Network clock synchronization protocol accurate to sub-microsecond levels. Required by AES67, SMPTE ST 2110, and enterprise-grade Dante deployments to keep every device on a shared time reference.

Jumbo Frames

Ethernet frames larger than the standard 1500-byte MTU, typically up to 9000 bytes. Some AVoIP workflows — notably certain ST 2110 deployments — require jumbo frame support end-to-end.

Latency vs. Jitter

Latency is the fixed delay a signal takes from source to destination. Jitter is the variation in that delay over time. Systems can tolerate a certain amount of latency — jitter is what actually causes glitches and dropouts.

ST 2022-7

Seamless protection switching standard for SMPTE ST 2110. Sends duplicate streams over two independent network paths, so a single link or switch failure causes zero dropped frames.

Q-SYS

QSC's software-based AV and control platform. Uses its own AV-over-IP transport alongside Dante support, running on standard network switches with proper QoS and VLAN configuration.

Crestron NVX

Crestron's AV-over-IP product line for 4K video, audio, USB, and control distribution over standard Gigabit switches.

Energy Efficient Ethernet (EEE) / "Green Ethernet"

A power-saving switch feature that puts ports to sleep between packets. Frequently the number one cause of mystery Dante dropouts — should be disabled on AV networks.

Managed vs. Unmanaged Switch

Unmanaged switches offer no configuration — no VLANs, no QoS, no IGMP control. Fine for a home network, a liability for AV or broadcast. Managed switches give full control over multicast, prioritization, and segmentation — required for any serious AVoIP deployment.

Link Aggregation (LACP)

Combining multiple physical network links into a single logical connection for added bandwidth and/or redundancy, per the IEEE 802.3ad standard.