WHITE PAPER

Atlona® | 2017

OmniStream:
Truly Converged, Networked AV
 Table of Contents

P.1 - Introduction

P.1 - The Case for AV Over IP

P.3 - Atlona OmniStream

P.6 - OmniStream: A Closer Look at the Technology

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Introduction
Distribution of audio and video signals over data networks (also known as AV over IP or
networked AV) offers potentially significant benefits for pro AV system integrators and end
users. Compared to traditional systems for AV distribution, networked AV systems can be
designed with virtually unrestricted scalability and flexibility, in addition to the convenience
and cost efficiency of standard data networks. The benefits of AV over IP can especially be
realized in large installations for enterprises and other organizations.

Networked AV solutions have been available for over a decade, but industry adoption is still
evolving. This is due to several inherent challenges relating to cost, security, the need to
conform to IT-specific requirements, and the fact that many AV-over-IP technologies are not
capable of fully replacing traditional video distribution. OmniStream™ is a new technology
platform from Atlona that specifically addresses these and other challenges, while delivering
immediate and long-term ROI to enterprise end users of AV systems.

The Case for AV Over IP

In the commercial AV industry, there is a general consensus that video and audio signal
distribution will eventually migrate from circuit-based AV switching to packet-based data
networks. There are four primary factors driving this transition, as presented in Table 1.

IP is the de-facto signal infrastructure for most forms of AV

communication, including audio, teleconferencing, and telephony. The
Convergence final hurdle is HD and 4K video. Enterprises and IT operations are looking
forward to a single medium for all communications, without the need to
manage separate data and AV infrastructures.

Traditional circuit-based AV distribution requires hardware with fixed

input and output port configurations that dictate system capacity, routing
capability, and upgradeability. With networked AV, there is far greater
Scalability
flexibility in distributing signals, and upgrading is simply a matter of
adding as many endpoints and network ports as desired. This makes it
very agile for expanding system capacity.
AV systems are usually designed with signal transmission distances in
mind, due to inherent limitations in how far signals can be extended over
Distance cable. On the other hand, with networking there are few restrictions in
how far IP packets can be distributed. In fact, data can theoretically be
sent over networks to anywhere worldwide.
A new AV system installation requires an AV-specific infrastructure
investment in specialized distribution equipment, plus cabling, equipment
CAPEX
rack space, and power. With AV over IP, enterprises and IT operations can
(Capital Expenditure)
significantly lower their capex by using the network infrastructure already
planned or installed at the facility.
Table 1. The primary motivating factors for AV distribution over IP networks.

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Virtual Matrix

A networked AV system can bring together numerous sources and destinations from many
different locations, and distribute content between them in ways that would not be possible
with traditional AV matrix switching and distribution. For example, a corporate campus-
wide, networked AV system can be configured for just about any AV presentation scenario,
from an in-room presentation, to interdepartmental meetings between colleagues in several
buildings, and even a company-wide presentation by the CEO. See Figure 1. This “virtual
matrix” capability is enabled by the flexibility and agility of integrating AV over networks.

Camera Laptop

AV
AV Encoder Encoder AV Decoder

LAN Building 1

AV Decoder AV Decoder
Display

LAN LAN

Media Player AV Encoder AV Decoder

Building 4 Building 2

AV Encoder AV Decoder
PC

LAN Building 3

AV Decoder AV Encoder AV Decoder

Figure 1. A networked AV system allows unprecedented flexibility in distributing AV between remote endpoints.

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Atlona OmniStream
OmniStream integrates and distributes video, audio, and control signals over a standard
data network. It was engineered from the ground up at Atlona with specific features
and capabilities that make it ideal as the AV signal infrastructure for interconnected
rooms, multiple floors, an entire building, a corporate or university campus, and beyond.
OmniStream is distinguished from other networked AV platforms on the market which may
be better suited for complementing traditional AV systems rather than replacing them, due
to tradeoffs in performance, cost, image quality, and other factors.

The following diagram and table summarize the essential attributes of OmniStream,
including their key benefits for AV and IT integrators, system designers, consultants, tech
managers, and executives planning for facility-wide AV system integration.

Figure 2. Primary features of Atlona OmniStream.

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Support for 4K/Ultra HD video resolutions

Designing enterprise AV systems that can handle 4K video is a must. End
users are aware of 4K and are requesting it from integrators, while new and
interesting use cases continue to emerge for 4K in pro AV applications. The
OmniStream product line supports 4K/UHD at 30 Hz.
High density video-over-IP integration
OmniStream endpoint devices (also known as encoders and decoders) can
process two independent video channels up to 4K/UHD in a single box,
with dedicated processing for each channel. See Figure 3. Competitive
products are of similar size, but with only one channel of video encoding or
decoding. Based on pricing per video channel, OmniStream dual-channel
encoders and decoders offer a significant cost advantage, along with
lower box count for installation, reduced wire clutter, and more streamlined
system management. These benefits can especially be realized for facility or
enterprise-wide installations.
System redundancy and failover
IT operations require redundancy and failover measures for key components
of their data center infrastructure to maximize system uptime. With IT
increasingly managing AV operations, networked AV systems are expected
to meet similar requirements. Atlona designed OmniStream with features for
establishing primary and redundant networks, as well as delivering primary
and redundant AV streams.
Secure content distribution
With networked AV systems as part of the IT infrastructure, security
is another key consideration. For government, military, and enterprise
applications, protecting sensitive information is absolutely essential,
including content shared in AV presentations. OmniStream features
AES-128, the same standards-based encryption technology adopted for
government, financial, and other applications.
Highly robust and reliable over networks
In any network application, there is a small possibility of lost or damaged
packets, especially for large systems spanning multiple networks.
OmniStream employs SMPTE 2022 forward error correction, an industry-
standard technology that fully compensates for any network errors while
delivering artifact-free, uninterrupted real-time video. This ensures the
reliability and dependability of a traditional AV signal routing platform.

Continued...

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Low latency AV content delivery

Video signals are highly bandwidth-intensive. Video compression is a
necessity to reduce AV signal data rates to within the throughput capacity
of a network. However, compression also introduces some latency which
may not be suitable for certain AV applications. OmniStream features a light
compression algorithm with absolutely minimal encode-to-decode latency
of less than one frame.
Power over Ethernet
Power over Ethernet (PoE) is essential for convenient installation and
powering of Wi-Fi access points, IP cameras, VoIP phones, and many
other devices at the edge of an enterprise network. OmniStream devices
are PoE-capable as well, making it convenient and cost-effective to place
them wherever AV sources and displays may be located. PoE also allows
centralized power monitoring and management of endpoints.
Cost and value benefits
For facility-wide AV distribution requiring a capacity of 32 inputs and 32
outputs, an OmniStream networked AV system can deliver more appealing
value compared to traditional AV technology. However, when it comes to
larger system designs, the value and cost benefits increase dramatically,
since there is no need to upgrade to a larger AV matrix switcher to scale up
I/O capacity.
Table 2. Essential features and benefits of Atlona OmniStream.

PC PC Stream

Network Displays

Atlona Laptop Stream Network Atlona

AT-OMNI-112 Switch AT-OMNI-122
Dual-Channel Dual-Channel
Networked AV Networked AV
Laptop Encoder Decoder

Figure 3. OmniStream enables high density streaming with two independent channels of video processing in
one box.

High Quality AV over Gigabit Ethernet

Some competitive networked AV platforms are based on 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) to avoid
the need for compressing video signals, including 4K/UHD video at data rates below 10
Gbps. The problem is that 10 GbE is still expensive and not widely implemented for switches
or endpoints at the edge of an enterprise network. Additionally, PoE is not available with 10
GbE. On the other hand, OmniStream runs over 1 GbE, which is easily accessible, widely
deployed throughout enterprises, allows PoE for powering AV encoders and decoders, and
is cost-friendly.

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OmniStream also delivers inherently greater scalability. Networked AV platforms over 10 GbE
are limited to a single AV stream over a network link. When multiple 10 GbE switches are
connected, IP port capacity increases but signal distribution capability is limited to a single
AV stream in the uplink between the switches. On the other hand, Gigabit networking offers
greater expandability since a 10 GbE uplink can be used to transport several AV streams
between two Gigabit switches. With OmniStream, eight or more 4K streams are possible
over a 10 GbE network segment. See Figure 4.

Uncompressed Networked AV OmniStream

One 4K Stream Over 10 GbE Eight 4K Streams Over 10 GbE

10 Gigabit
Ethernet
Uplink

Figure 4. OmniStream offers considerable scalability with 1 GbE switches interconnected by 10 GbE uplinks.

OmniStream: A Closer Look at the Technology

With an overview of the essential features and benefits, let’s explore in greater depth the
key technologies engineered or adapted for use in OmniStream, and the ways in which they
contribute to a networked AV product line ideal for system integration with very high image
quality, operational performance, and reliability.

Professional broadcast-grade video compression

An enterprise-wide pro AV implementation should be capable of delivering nothing less than

professional-quality video presentations. Visual details should be faithfully reproduced from
the original source content to ensure the highest image quality. For pro AV, this is particularly
important as the typical presentation material is computer-generated RGB video, which
often necessitates accuracy for fine text and graphic details.

Popular video compression technologies such as H.264 are geared toward full-motion
video content for consumer applications, as well as some commercial applications such as
videoconferencing. However, they’re usually targeted for bandwidth-constrained content

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delivery, or to meet specific file size and data storage requirements. This necessitates a
deliberate balance between data rate consumption, screen size, and video quality. The
tradeoffs in image quality generally are not suitable for rendering professional-quality
computer graphics at full fidelity.

Atlona has adopted a video compression technology developed for critical-quality image
viewing in broadcast and production video applications, known as SMPTE VC-2, or Dirac
Pro by the BBC, its original inventor. VC-2 addresses the challenge of transporting multi-
gigabit video content over networks through a light compression algorithm that delivers
visually lossless, pristine-quality representation of the master source video for post-
production and archiving. VC-2 is standardized by the Society of Motion Picture and
Television Engineers as SMPTE 2042.

There are several important attributes for VC-2 that make it ideal for pro AV applications.
It employs wavelet-based video compression, which professional video experts generally
favor when preserving image quality is important. VC-2 also compresses video content
within individual video frames, which is ideal for high-motion video. Additionally, VC-2 can
encode RGB video at full 4:4:4 color, which is vital for accurately rendering single pixel-width
computer video graphics and text, as well as color resolution beyond 8-bit.

With VC-2, OmniStream is optimized for distributing computer-generated imagery without

compromising image quality, while reducing 4K/30 video to facilitate transport over 1 GbE.
(Two 1080p/60 signals can be transported over 1 GbE as well.) The VC-2 algorithm is low
in computational complexity, which translates to very minimal encode and decode latency.
In fact, the implementation of VC-2 in OmniStream yields just half of a frame of end-to-end
latency, or less than 9 ms for 60 Hz video, which is significantly lower than the JPEG2000
or H.264 codecs commonly used in the pro AV industry. This allows OmniStream to be
implemented for just about any AV application without the limitations normally associated
with encode-decode delay.

A summary of the features and benefits of VC-2 is presented in Table 3. In short, Atlona
adopted VC-2 for OmniStream to deliver the same expectations for video performance as
with a traditional, uncompressed HDMI® or HDBaseT™ system.

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SMPTE VC-2 Video Compression

Feature Benefit
Visually lossless, light compression Image quality visually indistinguishable from
the original source
Encodes RGB video at 4:4:4 and color Fully preserves visual detail in PC-generated
depths beyond 8-bit imagery; ideal for video and graphics with
Deep Color
Intra-frame encoding Ideal for high-motion video content
Allows 4K video over 1 GbE network Optimal CAPEX with widely deployed
infrastructure networking equipment at a lower cost per
port than 10 GbE, while also supporting PoE
Encode-to-decode latency 0.5 frame Significantly lower than JPEG2000 or
H.264; ideal for applications which require
interactivity
Table 3. Features and benefits of SMPTE VC-2 compression for pro AV applications.

Resilience to network errors

Network errors in the form of lost or damaged packets may be a reality depending on the
size and scope of the data network. For small, localized networks, network errors should not
be a concern. However, for enterprise-wide implementations spanning connections between
several networks, the probability of packet-related losses may increase, depending on the
design, installation, and integrity of the network infrastructure.

For most network applications, including Web, e-mail, and online video streaming,
packet errors are mitigated through the use of TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) which
incorporates error-checking to ensure reliable delivery of all packets. If any errors are
detected, replacement packets are resent to the destination node.

While TCP guarantees reliable network communication, it also may introduce latency
associated with retransmitting packets, and disrupt the flow of real-time data such as
video. For this reason, UDP (User Datagram Protocol) is used in time-sensitive network
applications such as live video transmission. With UDP, packets are delivered to the
destination as a continuous, uninterrupted stream. However, UDP does not check or correct
for packet losses, which if significant, can result in visible video artifacts and possibly
disruptions in image display.

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To address this challenge, OmniStream employs Forward Error Correction (FEC) as part
of SMPTE standard 2022. This standard was created specifically to allow real-time network
transmission of broadcast video with a built-in mechanism to correct for network errors.
With FEC, redundant data is transmitted along with the primary AV data streams. FEC works
in conjunction with RTP (Real-time Transport Protocol) and RTCP (Real-time Transport
Control Protocol) to track packet delivery and detect errors. Lost or corrupt packets can be
replaced through FEC.

In the context of real-time video transmission, FEC enables consistent, reliable performance
free of artifacts or interruptions in image display. For OmniStream, the crucial benefit is
that it allows a very large-scale, enterprise-wide networked AV system implementation with
uncompromised dependability.

Networked AV redundancy

Maximizing system uptime is an important requirement for IT investment and technology

planning, and an integral aspect of meeting the mission-critical requirements of a company
or organization. IT data centers typically are designed with backup resources and failover
mechanisms for storage, WAN and Internet access, servers, IP telephony, disaster
recovery, and more. AV systems over data networks should not be an exception when an IT
department assumes responsibility for procuring and managing AV technology.

OmniStream offers redundancy and failover capabilities that are unique in the commercial
AV industry. The OmniStream 112 (AT-OMNI-112) dual-channel AV encoder, and OmniStream
122 (AT-OMNI-122) dual-channel AV decoder can process two independent streams, as
illustrated earlier in Figure 3. They can be configured for redundant, dual-network operation.
An example of a configuration for 1080p/60 video is shown in Figure 5. Each network path
can accommodate 1080p/60 streams from both the PC and laptop – OmniStream allows two
1080p/60 streams over a single GbE network connection.

Network 1
PC + Laptop
1080p/60
Streams

PC

Displays

Atlona Atlona
AT-OMNI-112 AT-OMNI-122
Dual-Channel Dual-Channel
Networked AV PC + Laptop Networked AV
Laptop Encoder 1080p/60 Decoder
Streams Network 2

Network
Switch
Figure 5. Dual-network system configuration for 1080p/60 sources.

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An OmniStream 122 can continually monitor network connection integrity. If a signal loss
is detected, such as from a network cable disconnection, the OmniStream 122 will then
automatically switch over to the other network connection, and deliver AV output with
minimal interruption in system operation. See Figure 6. No user intervention is necessary.

Network 1
PC + Laptop
1080p/60
Streams

PC

Displays

Atlona Atlona
AT-OMNI-112 AT-OMNI-122
Dual-Channel Dual-Channel
Networked AV PC + Laptop Networked AV
Laptop Encoder 1080p/60 Decoder
Streams Network 2

Network
Switch

Figure 6. In the event of a lost network connection, the OmniStream 122 can fail over to its other Ethernet port.

The OmniStream 122 can also monitor for disruption of an AV stream – see Figure 7. Several
configuration options are available to specify redundancy, failover, and recovery modes of
operation, depending on the topology of the network, the AV system design, and the specific
needs of the AV application.

Normal AV AV Stream
Stream Disrupted
Network 1
PC + Laptop
1080p/60
Streams

PC
Automatically
Decodes from Displays
Second IP Port
Atlona Atlona
AT-OMNI-112 AT-OMNI-122
Dual-Channel Dual-Channel
Networked AV PC + Laptop Networked AV
Laptop Encoder 1080p/60 Decoder
Streams Network 2

Network
Switch

Figure 7. The OmniStream 122 can detect loss of an AV stream, even with a normal network connection.

To provision full network and streaming redundancy for 4K video, an OmniStream 112 dual-
channel encoder would be required for each 4K source. An example of an OmniStream
system configuration for 4K is illustrated in Figure 8.

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PC
Display

Network 1

Network 2

Atlona Network Atlona

AT-OMNI-112 Switch AT-OMNI-122
Dual-Channel Dual-Channel
Networked AV Networked AV
Laptop Encoder Decoder

Display
Figure 8. Dual-network system configuration for 4K sources.

Audio system integration with Dante™

Audio and video are usually separate system designs with separate signal paths and
equipment. For large-scale AV implementations, separate audio and video systems can be
expensive to integrate and complex to manage. Additionally, many AV-over-IP platforms
are not compatible with the audio-over-IP technologies that have become very popular in
modern audio system designs. For meetings, videoconferencing, and other applications,
quality audio goes hand-in-hand with video presentations.

OmniStream meets this challenge with the OmniStream 232 (AT-OMNI-232) Dante Networked
Audio Interface. It allows microphones, PC audio, amplifiers, and more to be integrated over
the same network alongside OmniStream AV encoders and decoders. The OmniStream 232
utilizes Audinate Dante, an audio-over-IP technology very widely adopted in the commercial
AV and pro audio industries. It can transmit and receive two audio channels over the
network.

Figure 9 illustrates an OmniStream system for a meeting room. The OmniStream 232 is
used to incorporate conference table microphones onto the network. The mics can then
be processed by a Dante-enabled DSP (digital signal processor) to optimize audio quality.
Another OmniStream 232 is installed at the OmniStream 122 decoder. It can deliver de-
embedded audio to the DSP for processing, and also send audio from the DSP to the
OmniStream 122 for embedding and playback through the display.

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Microphones Dante-Enabled DSP

and Audio System

Atlona
AT-OMNI-232
Dual-Channel
Atlona
Dante Networked
AT-OMNI-232
Audio Interface
Dual-Channel
Dante Networked
Audio Interface

Network
Atlona
AT-OMNI-232
Dual-Channel
Atlona
Dante Networked
AT-OMNI-122
Audio Interface
Dual-Channel
Networked AV
Laptop Decoder

Atlona
AT-OMNI-111
Single-Channel
Networked AV
Encoder

Display with Speakers

PC

Atlona
AT-OMNI-112
Dual-Channel
Networked AV
Encoder

Figure 9. OmniStream enables Dante audio network integration.

Summary
OmniStream is a new technology platform from Atlona, designed for AV system integration
over networks with the performance and expectations of traditional circuit-based AV
signal distribution. OmniStream was developed and engineered with specific features and
technologies to address the many challenges with successfully implementing networked AV
systems.

With other forms of AV already IP-based, high resolution 4K video is the final step toward a
fully converged data and communications medium for enterprises and other organizations.
OmniStream delivers the essentials for IT and AV integrators to work with their clients in
planning for a future with AV interconnected everywhere, with unprecedented flexibility and
agility.
© Atlona 2017

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