Norwegian company Bridge Technologies has become the latest company to join the Ravenna community. This partnership represents not only Ravenna’s increasing importance in the field of Audio-over-IP, but also Bridge’s commitment to the development of probes that support a range of industry standards and facilitate monitoring of broadcast networks, regardless of the infrastructure, standards or technologies on which they are based.
Ravenna is an open technology for real-time distribution of audio and other media in IP-based network environments, using standardised network protocols and technologies across existing network infrastructures with low latency, full signal transparency and high reliability. Ravenna is fully compatible with the AES67 and SMPTE ST 2110 standards, and constitutes the only audio networking protocol that allows for seamless coexistence with other network traffic, by removing the need for a separate network to transport audio and its associated metadata.
Bridge’s suite of monitoring probes offer monitoring of broadcast traffic in ST 2110 environments (as well as conventional RF, terrestrial, cable, satellite and hybrid networks), providing end-to-end monitoring of both audio and video from production to distribution. The flagship VB440 supports an extensive range of audio formats and standards, which now extends to include Ravenna, and allows broadcasters to ensure that the audio delivered to audiences matches all expectations in terms of both Quality of Service and Quality of Experience. It does this by providing a range of intuitive meters, readouts and visualisations in order to understand network performance at every stage of the process, from ingress to playout.
Bridge’s VB440 leverages the power of ST 2110 to allow production professionals of all types – camera painters, audio specialists and network engineers among others – to access an extensive range of high-grade production tools, all through a single appliance. Most importantly, the VB440 makes this available with next-to-no-latency, using only an HTML-5 web browser. The past year has seen Bridge significantly expand the VB440’s audio production potential, incorporating a wider range of monitoring tools, listening options and immersive audio standards, making the recent alliance with the Ravenna community a logical next step.
‘We really believe in what Ravenna is doing and we’re excited to be a part of that,’ says Bridge Technologies Chairman, Simen Frostad. ‘We have been champions of IP-based broadcast for two decades, and we knew when we set out on that path that it would be collaboration rather than competition that would drive the standard forward in the industry.
‘Open standards like Lawo’s Ravenna are crucial to this – not just in the technology they embody, but in the way they provide common ground for leading companies to work together and push innovation and quality for the benefit of the industry as a whole. We’re very proud to be involved.’
‘Bridge Technologies, with its award-winning monitoring/analysis systems and its collaborative mindset represents an enriching addition to our community,’ says Lawo’s Andreas Hildebrand. ‘The company’s recent focus on audio advancements has seen it incorporate ST 2110-31 or -41 monitoring and a range of immersive audio tools to push forward the scope of what can be done in the field of live IP production.’
