AES — Audio Engineering Society and Digital Audio Standards
The Audio Engineering Society (AES) and its key standards — AES3, AES67, MADI, and OCA — that define professional digital audio.
AES67 — Audio over IP Interoperability Standard
AES67 is the SMPTE/AES standard for interoperable audio over IP, defining RTP transport, PTP clocking, and SDP/SAP discovery so that Dante, Ravenna, Livewire, and Q-LAN devices can exchange audio across platforms.
Dante — Digital Audio Network Transport
Industry-standard audio networking protocol by Audinate carrying uncompressed multi-channel digital audio over standard Gigabit Ethernet with sub-millisecond latency.
IGMP — Internet Group Management Protocol
IGMP controls multicast group membership on Ethernet networks — required for Dante audio and AV-over-IP video to work correctly without flooding every switch port with unwanted traffic.
Latency and Jitter — AV Network Timing
Latency is the delay from source to destination; jitter is the variation in that delay — both critically affect live audio, video conferencing, and AV-over-IP systems.
NDI — Network Device Interface
IP video protocol by NewTek/Vizrt streaming broadcast-quality video over standard Ethernet with automatic device discovery, widely used in production, streaming, and corporate AV.
PoE — Power over Ethernet
PoE delivers DC power over Cat cable alongside network data, eliminating separate power supplies for IP cameras, VoIP phones, wireless APs, HDBaseT receivers, and AV control devices.
PTP — Precision Time Protocol (IEEE 1588)
PTP (IEEE 1588) synchronizes clocks across a network to sub-microsecond accuracy — essential for Dante, AES67, AV-over-IP, and any system where audio or video devices must share a common time reference.
QoS — Quality of Service
QoS prioritizes time-sensitive AV traffic (Dante audio, AV-over-IP) over bulk data on shared networks, preventing dropouts caused by congestion from IT traffic.
RTP and RTSP — Real-Time Transport Protocols
RTP carries real-time audio and video over IP networks; RTSP controls the playback of those streams — together they underpin Dante, AES67, IP camera streaming, and IPTV in AV systems.
SIP — Session Initiation Protocol
SIP is the signaling protocol for VoIP and video conferencing — understanding SIP is essential for integrating telephone interfaces, paging systems, and SIP-based video conferencing endpoints with AV systems.
VLAN — Virtual Local Area Network
VLANs segment a physical network into isolated Layer 2 broadcast domains — essential for separating AV, IT, and control traffic while sharing common switch infrastructure.