What Are the Benefits of AV over IP? How Secure Is It?

An increasing number of companies are using AV over IP products to perform presentations, advertisements, information dissemination, and other tasks. As traditional AV products lack scalability and flexibility, many companies are looking for alternatives to achieve more efficiency. That’s why AV over IP products gradually entered the market. What is AV over IP? What are its benefits? How secure is it? In this blog, I will answer these questions one by one.

What Is AV over IP?

AV over IP stands for “Audio-Visual over Internet Protocol”. It involves the transmission of audio, video, and control signals via a network cable infrastructure, such as a WAN, LAN, or the Internet. In contrast to traditional analogue AV systems, AV over IP refers to the switching and transmission of video and audio signals using common network hardware.

The idea of “AV over IP” has been around for a while. It includes everything from sophisticated video distribution infrastructures in production and broadcast facilities to internet-based live or on-demand video streaming.

What are the Benefits of AV over IP?

Generally speaking, AV over IP solutions are more cost-effective and scalable than conventional AV products when more than 8 sources are required to be distributed to over 8 display devices. It brings benefits to your AV setup as follows:

Cost-effective

AV over IP products can make use of your existing IT network infrastructure, where Ethernet switches are frequently utilized in business settings. Additionally, they are simple to connect via Ethernet ports, and can perform input/output tasks simultaneously. Therefore, they are very adaptable and expandable, which further reduces the cost of both labor and equipment. There is no need to buy new devices or re-cable the existing configuration in order to set them up.

High Scalability

With the expansion of businesses, it is essential for a company to assess a product’s level of scalability. The Ethernet connectivity of AV over IP makes it very scalable. Traditional AV has a certain number of input and output ports that are not flexible enough to accommodate various user scenarios.

A small business would purchase a 2×2 switch, two transmitters, and two receivers, for instance. In order to extend their firm in line with their expansion, they must buy a new one that is suitable for their intended application. Another matrix switch or re-cabling might be needed in a straightforward project, which would entail more labor and money.

By contrast, AV over IP products can work with an Ethernet switch via a Cat5e/6/7 cable instead, making them more scalable and adaptable. Traditional physical cables are more expensive than cat5e or cat6 cables. Users have a lot of influence over their computers thanks to the data transmission over the Internet. Scalability and flexibility are crucial for businesses as they consider which items to purchase.

Long-Distance Transmission

Long-distance transmission has always been a problem for traditional AV equipment since it necessitates physical cables that are more expensive than Cat5e or Cat6 connections.

The distinction between AV over IP products and conventional AV systems is minimal in small projects. In contrast, the cost escalates for larger projects, particularly those with transmission distances of above 100 meters. The cascaded connection of Ethernet switches enables long-distance transmission.

How Secure Is AV over IP?

Contrary to popular belief, AV over IP poses fewer security vulnerabilities than traditional analogue AV. And encryption methods exist for a variety of IP devices and address a number of AV system design components.

Even though encryption technologies exist to give AV professionals security alternatives, they are occasionally solely employed to decrease transparency. By limiting the compatibility of users’ encoders and decoders to just their own brand, the lockdown option can provide total protection but also limit the range of their quality assurance testing, technical support, and customer care options.

However, maintaining the security of AV over IP networks requires expertise, the use of a skilled AV installer, and the available technical assistance.

Conclusion

Compared with traditional AV solutions, AV over IP solutions boast more scalability and flexibility. They are more cost-effective if you need to transmit more than 8 sources to over 8 display devices, with transmission distances of above 100m/330ft.

If you are looking for a high-quality and plug-n-play AV over IP solution, AV Access HDIP100 is the one you can’t miss. The HDMI encoder/decoder can work flawlessly with any universal managed or unmanaged Ethernet switch on the market.

The HDIP100 AV over IP solution boasts matrix switching, video wall support, easy visual control, fast seamless switching, and other amazing features. It is ideal for wide applications like sports bar, restaurant, shopping mall, retail store, house of worship, casino, college and university, etc.

That’s all for the blog. If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to leave a comment below.

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About the Author
Shane Jiang holds a master’s degree in English translation and brings more than four years’ working experience in content marketing. His extensive knowledge in multilingual writing and translation has brought a balanced perspective to the AV Access team.

Original Text Source: https://www.avaccess.com/blogs/guides/benefits-of-av-over-ip/