IS IMF IMPORTANT FOR THE
MODERN BROADCASTER?
By JAY BATISTA, GENERAL MANAGER,
NORTH AMERICAN OPERATION, TEDIAL
The Society of Motion Picture and Television
Engineers’ (SMPTE) Interoperable Master Format
(IMF) specifications are gaining traction in the US,
and are being considered as core specifications
for interoperability around the globe. The Digital
Production Partnership (DPP) in the UK, and
the North American Broadcasters Association
(NABA) have launched a campaign to deter-
mine which business requirements will drive the
enhancement of the IMF specifications, and sup-
port the widest number of broadcasters.
So, what is IMF and why should it matter to
broadcasters?
IMF is the latest effort to build a real-world speci-
fication that allows media files to be circulated
between producers, distributors, broadcasters,
and direct-to-consumer suppliers whether they
are theaters, Video-on-Demand (VOD), IP stream-
ing or Over-the-Top (OTT) services. And that
formatted media file arrives as a fully useful asset
for all recipients. The first attempt was the SMPTE
Master Exchange Format, or MXF, a very detailed
and extensive specification designed by smart,
forward-thinking individuals. Its application is
found everywhere in the industry and is espe-
cially common as a file wrapper to standardize for
delivery and publication. Yet, the MXF specifica-
tion was broad and encompassing, allowing for
too many different versions and vendor product
variations.
Standing on the shoulders of MXF, the new IMF
specification constrains the original MXF designs—
it limits the possible variations to support a much
smaller number of compliant files, and the less
number of compliant files increases the prospects
40 • Broadcast Beat Magazine • www.broadcastbeat.com