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The AVoIP transition guide

www.kramerav.com

© 2023 KRAMER ELECTRONICS, Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited.
Table of Welcome to the World of AVoIP

What is AVoIP and why is it important?

3

contents
Traditional AV distribution 3
vs. AVoIP

The advantages of AVoIP 4

AVoIP in action: Exploring diverse applications 5

Understanding AVoIP compression 6

A closer look at AVoIP technology 7

The hidden challenges of AVoIP 7

So what’s the catch? 8

Embracing the Future of AVoIP 9

Looking to learn more? 9

The AVoIP Transition Guide 2

Welcome to the World of AVoIP

What is AVoIP and why is it Traditional AV distribution

important? vs. AVoIP
Today, IP networks are everywhere. They can be found in homes, offices, When comparing traditional AV to AVoIP solutions, the simplicity of AVoIP
shopping centers, hospitals, and more. These networks all use the same becomes evident. Traditional AV requires range extenders to reach the
technology as the internet and can be either wired or wireless. destinations, resolution scalers to adjust to the output monitor, and the physical
matrix that switches the AV signals.
AVoIP, also known as “Networked AV” or AVoIP, is a way of transmitting audio,
visual, and data signals over standard IP networks. AVoIP technology relies on However, with AVoIP, the source signal is encoded from HDMI to packets,
IP networks to transmit the AV signals from sources to destinations. As opposed which are then sent to the IP network. The AV signal can be sent to any point
to traditional AV environments, AVoIP refers to the use of standard network reachable by the network, where it is decoded to the relevant signal of the
equipment to transmit and switch video and audio. output monitor. A virtual matrix can be deployed anywhere on the network to
allow central management of the entire AV solution.

Traditional AV

AVoIP

The AVoIP Transition Guide 3

The advantages of AVoIP
AVoIP has 5 advantages over traditional AV distribution:

1. Distance 4. Cost effective

By using existing IP infrastructure and deployment, AVoIP applications can Since AVoIP works on standard IT networks, the cost per port (a common way
reach any distance the network can. Additionally, the nature of IP networks of calculating ROI for AV distribution solutions) is much lower.
makes it possible to send AV data to any point in the network.
5. IT friendly
2. Scale The IT revolution is drastically influencing the Pro AV market. Customers are
Increasing the scale of IP networks is simple and isn’t limited to a certain looking for AV solutions that can be deployed, managed, and maintained by
number of ports like physical AV matrices. Instead, adding a network switch their IT departments, which means that AV professionals are becoming an
can easily increase the number of connected devices. This allows us not only to integral part of the IT team. AVoIP offers management controls, with IT driven
connect multiple AV input & output devices to the network, but also to stream administration methodologies taken into account.
from a single source to multiple destinations.

3. Flexibility
The use of IP networks for AV makes the entire solution very flexible. Since
AVoIP relies on common technologies and infrastructure, it uses existing
cabling, which remove the requirement to deploy special wiring or Pro AV
equipment. This means that deploying AV endpoints becomes easier than ever.
Wherever a network port exists, an AV endpoint can be deployed.

The AVoIP Transition Guide 4

AVoIP in action: Exploring diverse applications
AVoIP has many applications, in many different structures. Here you will find these
applications, each followed by an example of this application’s deployment:

One to Many Remote KVM

For example: Digital Signage AVoIP allows for an easy and
in an airport automatic switching between the
Keyboard, Video & Mouse (KVM)
of several computers or devices.

For example: An operator in a

command and control center,
can use a single mouse and a
Many to One single keyboard to control several
For example: A monitor devices, thanks to a KVM setup
displaying the video feed from
several security cameras

Point to Point Video Wall

For example: A monitor For example: an easy
displaying the video feed from deployment of a video wall
a security camera - directly to
a display

The AVoIP Transition Guide 5

Understanding AVoIP compression
In order to stream AV signals over an IP network, there must be a balance between 3 The remaining 10% of the market is the H.264 / H.265 compression
the image quality (resolution) and chroma (color depth); the bandwidth it requires codecs, also called HEVC - High Efficiency Video Codec. This is a ruling
(the higher the resolution, the more bandwidth it requires), and the latency. trend for streaming services (such as Netflix etc.), due to the very high
latency of 200-400 ms, and the low bandwidth required – below 60
In other words, in order to stream with higher resolution while lowering the Mbps. Such video streams will work on any existing network, but there is
required bandwidth latency, the AV signals must be compressed. Alternatively, some quality lose.
if one uses a 10G network, they can stream very high-quality signals while
essentially not compressing.
* All compression standards, JPEG, SDVoE, and H.264/H.265 continue to
AVoIP market splits into three usages of compression levels: demonstrate a similar growth rate

1 80% of the market is the “Mezzanine codecs”: JPE2000, JPEG-XS 1026

Medium compression, which is visually lossless (very slight compression).
The required bandwidth is between 300-950 MBPS, 10-40 ms latency. 813
6%
22 .
This is the mainstream of the market.
627

2 10% of the market is SDVoE – a virtually uncompressed codec (just 493

424
enough to compress from 18G for 4K videos, to 9G of required 385

bandwidth). This compression requires 10G bandwidth and is practically

zero latency.

Even if this market share grows beyond 10%, the market size will remain 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026
a significant share, as 10G is visually lossless. This is mainly required in
SDVoE JPEG2000 264-265
medical usages and in large events, where full resolution is required,
together with zero latency. Sources: Futuresource Consulting; Mapping the Low-Latency AVoIP Market 2022

Kramer provides AVoIP solutions for every application and network

The AVoIP Transition Guide 6
A closer look at AVoIP technology

The hidden challenges of AVoIP

The AVoIP codec Tradeoff triangle

Three technologies serve the market, balancing between bandwidth, latency Network bandwidth: The amount of traffic the codec puts out into the network,
and Image quality: codecs are hardware or software-based processes that measured in megabits or gigabits per second.
compress and decompress large amounts of data. They contain an encoder,
which compresses the data coming from a source, and a decoder, which Latency: The elapsed time between the source playing out an image and the
decompresses it on the display or speaker. image appearing on screen. Essentially, latency is the sum the codec and the
transport time. Typically, network latency is less than 1ms, but often a codec
Video codecs must make tradeoffs between bandwidth, latency, and quality, latency is 100ms or more. Research shows that users become uncomfortable at
also known as the Codec Triangle. The downside is that you can only optimize only 50ms.  
for two out of three.
Image quality: Quality is often stereotyped as “you know it when you see it.”
5
Image Quality Determining whether the reproduced image looks like the source is subjective,
4 given the differences in the human eye. But algorithms and other tools can
quantify some of the differences.  

2
* Optimizing for low bandwidth and high quality requires more sophisticated
compression that takes longer, resulting in higher latency. Optimizing for low
bandwidth and low latency will degrade video quality due to video artifacts.
Instead, trading low latency with high quality results in less compression, and
it increases bandwidth.
0
1

3
Network Bandwidth Latency
5 4
H.264/265 JPEG2000 SDVoE
1G 1G 10G

The AVoIP Transition Guide 7

So what’s the catch?
Achieving network speed in a blink of an eye

Improved display image drives performance requirements for increased bandwidth • 4:4:4 Chroma sampling delivers the best representation of the original image
but requires much more information to do so. 8K devices aren’t expected to
• Modern display technologies have raised the bar by delivering increased become prevalent for several years.
resolutions, at higher frame rates, bits per pixel, and chroma sampling,
• The 10G SDVoE standard is being scaled to 40G and may grow to 100G and
necessitating the need for more bandwidth to deliver a superior visual
beyond. 1G solutions are looking to 2.5G and beyond to meet demand.
performance.
• As with 10/100 to 10/100/1000 in the IT industry, the cost per port of higher
• 4K UHD, 3820x2160, is quickly becoming the standard, with some 8K
bandwidth network connections will decrease commensurate with market
resolution displays entering the market. For certain applications demanding
demand. It will take time to deliver 10x the performance at the same prices.
high motion video, 120 frames per second or higher is available. High
Dynamic Range (HDR) displays are also becoming commonplace and 16-bit
image processing is on the horizon.

120 fps 60 fps Image Size Frame Rate Bits per Pixel Chroma Sampling Bandwidth

1280x720 60 fps 8-bit 4:4:4 1 Gbps

1920x1080 60 fps 8-bit 4:2:0 1.5 Gbps
1920x1080 60 fps 8-bit 4:2:2 2 Gbps
1920x1080 60 fps 8-bit 4:4:4 3 Gbps
3840x2160 30 fps 8-bit 4:4:4 6 Gbps
3840x2160 60 fps 8-bit 4:2:0 6 Gbps
3840x2160 60 fps 10-bit 4:2:0 7.5 Gbps
3840x2160 60 fps 8-bit 4:4:4 12 Gbps

Sources:
1
2022 Futuresource Consulting research
8-bit 10-bit 12-bit 2
www.Semtech.com
The AVoIP Transition Guide 8
Embracing the Future of AVoIP

“ With AVoIP, teachers can now present everywhere in the

classroom and are not dependent on any connection.
— Niko Sutinen, IT Manager, Forssa Municipality, Finland

Looking to learn more?

The ability to transmit audio, visual, and data signals over standard IP networks
has revolutionized the way we connect and communicate, making the
technology more accessible, flexible, and efficient.

No longer confined by the limitations of traditional AV, you can now have the
power to send signals to any point reachable by the network, breaking down
barriers and unlocking new possibilities.

With Kramer’s innovative solutions at the forefront, the path forward is not only
full of potential but also guided by expertise and a commitment to excellence.

It’s an exciting journey, and with Kramer as your trusted partner, you have the
tools and support to explore the transformative possibilities of AVoIP.
www.kramerav.com
Let’s embrace this new era of connectivity together.