The phrase “AV over IP” is thrown around a lot. But what does it really mean in commercial AV installations today? Put simply, AV over IP is about sending uncompressed audio and video information over standard IP mediums. Put a little bit more complexly, it can also mean encoding the sources and streaming the content with some compression to mitigate bitrate over IP mediums. But ultimately, it means providing extension and switching of video and audio sources over standard IP.

Heading up the implementation of AVnu certification testing is Bob Noseworthy, chief engineer and manager of the AVnu Consortium at the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Lab (UNH-IOL), the third-party laboratory whose other distinguished clients have included OpenFabrics Alliance and Wi-Fi Alliance. As Noseworthy explained to SCN, the rigorous AVB scheme has been developed to assure end-users that certified bridges are compliant with every aspect of the relevant IEEE standards.

Success has become synonymous with companies like Facebook and Google and a variety of other seemly overnight breakout stars. But it’s never really that easy. Just because we work in technology doesn’t mean we’re poised to be the next Instagram.