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IP Everywhere
Part 2: Focus on Houses of Worship

Pastor on stage under blue and green digital dots

Is IP technology the right choice for today’s house of worship? We asked the experts.

I sat down with two panels of experts at the 2024 NAB Show to get some real-world perspective on the current state of IP in broadcast and beyond. In a two-part blog series, I’m sharing their key takeaways.

Last week, we kicked off with sports venues. Today, we hear from the team that recently completed a project at Lakepointe Church — one of the largest ST 2110 deployments in a house of worship to date.

Meet the Experts

IP Adoption in Houses of Worship is Growing

ST 2110 was initially viewed as a broadcast-only type infrastructure that a house of worship wouldn’t have the expertise to implement. That view has proven to be incorrect.

The panel pointed out that broadcasters and churches have a shared interest when it comes to video production: producing the best possible show with a flexible system that has the most potential for growth. According to our experts, houses of worship are a well-proven use case for ST 2110, and implementations across the industry continue to grow at a rapid pace.

IP MOMENTUM
“Some of the first people to understand the benefits and extol the virtues of 2110 were in the house of worship market.”

Keith Vidger
Panasonic

IP Makes Economic Sense in Any Size Operation

The entry point for ST 2110 was rather high a few years ago. But today, switches and gateways are available at a much lower cost — and will only continue to drop, while capacities will continue to increase.

Our experts discussed the fact that with IP workflows, less physical product is needed to accomplish the same things, and infrastructure is future-proofed for continuous expansion that would simply be cost-prohibitive in an SDI world. And for houses of worship on a budget, the ability to use existing cable infrastructure instead of creating a new one from scratch lowers costs dramatically.

IP ECONOMICS
“It’s a cheaper and faster workflow at the end of the day.”

Chris Winnie
Skylark

A Hybrid Approach is Ideal for Smaller Churches

It isn’t necessary for a house of worship to go all in on IP right away. They can start with a smaller ST 2110 infrastructure that handles certain aspects of their operations and then easily upgrade the system to a full IP deployment over time.

The panelists agreed that this flexible, hybrid approach is ideal for smaller churches, as it allows them to start realizing the benefits of ST 2110 without a costly rip and replace. And when it comes to expansion, the sky’s the limit — they can just keep adding switches to accommodate their changing needs.

IP FLEXIBILITY
“A hybrid system is what helps medium and smaller-size churches jump in and start future-proofing without having to wait to be able to afford the whole infrastructure.”

Gil Parente
AVnew

Interoperability is Key to IP Momentum

The ST 2110 standard has been central to widespread IP adoption. It enables smooth integration with a variety of equipment. It incorporates audio without the need for de-embedding or re-embedding. And it allows for seamless communication at peak performance levels in terms of resolution, frequency, and other parameters — both now and in the future.

From a routing perspective, ST 2110 makes operations much simpler. For example, you can easily subscribe to a specific source and manage controls through NMOS, avoiding the previous complexity of having to add outboard servers to connect routers to switchers. In the opinion of our experts, this simplicity and efficiency in interoperability is something SDI simply can’t achieve.

IP INTEROPERABILITY
“There’s an elegance to 2110 from an interoperability standpoint that SDI never had and will never have.”

Keith Vidger
Panasonic

In Summary

The evolution from traditional broadcasting methods to IP-based systems isn’t just a technological upgrade or trend — it’s a fundamental shift in how media is produced and delivered across a wide range of industries. From tier-1 broadcasters to sports stadiums to houses of worship, IP technology is proving to be adaptable, scalable, and economically feasible for organizations of all sizes.

I think my key takeaway from these two panels of experts is that IP is enabling media operations of all kinds to overcome limitations. The era of saying “yes” to more possibilities has arrived, making it an exciting time for everyone in video production.

Did you miss part one of this blog series?

IP Everywhere: Focus on Sports Venues

American football player under blue and green digital dots
A headshot of Steve Reynolds

Steve Reynolds

Chief Executive Officer

Steve Reynolds is Chief Executive Officer of Imagine Communications, a global leader in multiscreen video and ad management solutions that broadcasters, networks, video service providers and enterprises around the world rely on to support their mission-critical operations.

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