Why QA Infrastructure Matters in the IP Transition: Lessons from ARRI and Angelbird

The shift from SDI to IP-based workflows in the broadcast industry is no longer just a trend — it’s a necessity. IP offers flexibility, scalability, and compatibility with cloud-native tools that traditional SDI simply can't provide. Yet, this transition is not just about replacing cables or upgrading routers. It demands a rethinking of the entire QA (quality assurance) infrastructure to ensure reliability, consistency, and compliance across the broadcast chain.

So, what makes QA so critical in IP transitions — and what lessons can we draw from industry players like ARRI and Angelbird?

The Role of QA in SDI vs IP Workflows

In the SDI world, quality assurance was typically centralized. Fixed hardware and linear workflows made signal verification straightforward — scopes, analyzers, and monitoring tools lived in predictable places in the chain.

In IP-based environments, this model collapses. Video flows dynamically across software services, virtual machines, or edge devices. The QA infrastructure must now:

Monitor packetized AV streams (ST 2110, NDI, SRT, etc.)
Ensure synchronization (especially PTP timing and frame alignment)
Detect dropped packets, jitter, and protocol inconsistencies
Validate compliance with HDR, loudness, and captioning standards
Work across hybrid on-prem/cloud environments

This shift requires distributed, embedded, and intelligent QA layers — not just central monitoring stations.

What ARRI Shows Us: Precision at the Source

ARRI, best known for its high-end digital cameras, plays a foundational role in broadcast and cinema. In their IP-enabled camera systems, QA doesn’t begin at the studio — it starts inside the camera. Their newer models embed diagnostics, waveform monitors, and even packet flow analysis directly into the hardware.

This approach exemplifies a broader trend: QA moving to the edge.

Whether it's an OB van, a drone stream, or a remote studio unit, quality verification must occur close to the source, ideally before the stream ever hits the core network. For engineering partners, this opens opportunities to design QA features into:

FPGA-based camera modules
ARM-powered ingest devices
Embedded Linux boxes with lightweight AV probes

What Angelbird Teaches: Storage QA in the Broadcast Chain

Angelbird, a vendor specializing in high-performance media storage, shows how storage is no longer a passive participant in the IP broadcast ecosystem.

When you're streaming high-bitrate video over ST 2110 or SRT, storage systems must be:

Format-aware
Latency-optimized
Error-corrected in real-time
Compatible with QA frameworks that validate data integrity on ingest

Angelbird integrates QA modules directly into their SSDs and CFast cards, enabling error detection, logging, and feedback upstream — a crucial capability in remote production environments.

This teaches us that QA is now a multi-domain task, covering not just signal quality but also storage reliability, metadata validation, and sync integrity.

Engineering Implications: Designing QA for IP Broadcast

For system integrators and OEMs, the move to IP means they can no longer rely on “black box” analyzers at the end of the chain. QA tools must be:

Embedded into software-defined elements (e.g. containerized encoders)
Integrated into FPGA and ASIC pipelines
Compatible with open standards like NMOS, ST 2022-6, or BCP-006

At Promwad, we’ve developed QA modules that plug into ST 2110 chains using Xilinx Zynq and Intel Cyclone platforms. These modules perform real-time packet monitoring, buffer diagnostics, and provide RESTful APIs to external control systems.

We also work with broadcasters to inject these QA tools into playout systems, enabling frame-accurate logging and instant fault localization.

How QA Accelerates IP Adoption

It’s not just about compliance. In projects we've supported, robust QA:

Reduced root-cause detection time by 70%
Cut integration costs by avoiding mismatched protocols
Enabled broadcasters to deploy cloud playout with confidence

The better your QA infrastructure, the smoother your transition to IP. It becomes easier to onboard new contributors, adopt remote production, or trial hybrid setups — all while maintaining trust in signal fidelity.

Final Thoughts: Why You Need QA Integration Partners

ARRI and Angelbird show that innovation in QA is happening at the edges — in cameras, in storage, and in the embedded systems that glue everything together.

If you're a broadcaster or a hardware OEM navigating the IP transition, the real question isn’t whether QA matters. It’s whether your QA infrastructure is ready for a non-linear, IP-native world.

At Promwad, we help media companies modernize their workflows with embedded QA systems tailored to IP, hybrid, and cloud environments. Whether you need FPGA-accelerated diagnostics, embedded Linux modules, or full integration with your orchestration tools — we’re ready to support your shift.

The future of broadcast is IP. Let’s make sure your QA is ready to keep up.