News & Trends

Broadcasters face growing pressure to deliver accessible content across every screen, and that starts with the right encoder. Whether the workflow is SDI, IP, or cloud-native, encoders carry the captions, subtitles, and accessibility data that make video usable for all viewers. Purpose-built systems ensure that these cues remain accurate and intact throughout every stage of production and delivery, enabling broadcasters to meet standards and maintain a consistent viewer experience. Read on to discover how selecting the right encoder for your workflow enhances accessibility at scale.

The Accessibility Imperative in AV

The push for accessibility in AV reflects a broader shift toward inclusion that ensures every viewer can engage fully with content, regardless of their ability or chosen platform. Understanding the laws and standards that govern accessibility is essential, as is recognizing the opportunity that lies in leveraging inclusive content to grow viewership and deepen community connection.

Why Accessibility Matters

Both the regulatory environment and audience expectations drive accessibility. Compliance ensures organizations meet legal obligations, while inclusive content delivers measurable business and engagement benefits. On the regulatory side, key drivers include:

• ADA Compliance: Guarantees equal access to goods and services, including video content, with penalties for non-compliance.
  
• FCC Requirements: Requires broadcast and streaming platforms to meet strict captioning standards, affecting licensing and operations.
  
• Global Standards: Addresses complex accessibility requirements for worldwide audiences through regulations such as the EU Web Accessibility Directive and Australia’s Disability Discrimination Act and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
  
• Reputational Risk: Protects stakeholder trust and brand perception by ensuring compliance and avoiding the negative impact of accessibility failures.

📖 Recommended Reading: EAA 2025: A Guide for AV Producers on Accessibility Compliance

Audience Reach and Engagement Benefits

Beyond compliance, accessibility drives measurable audience engagement and growth, offering benefits such as:

• Voluntary Caption Use: Many viewers choose to turn on captions, which broadens reach and viewership.
  
• Flexible Viewing Scenarios: Captions enhance accessibility for deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences, mobile users, non-native speakers, and viewers watching in sound-off environments.
  
• Stronger Engagement: Captioned content improves comprehension, retention, and social interaction across platforms.
  
• New Revenue Potential: Inclusive content connects with global, distributed audiences, opening doors to expanded monetization opportunities..
  

By prioritizing accessibility, broadcasters meet legal obligations while expanding audience reach, increasing engagement, and reinforcing an inclusive, audience-focused culture.

Demystifying SDI, IP, and Cloud-Native Workflows

Modern video delivery relies on SDI, IP, and cloud-native technologies, with each technological component serving a unique purpose in delivering synchronized, accessible content at scale. 

What Is an SDI Encoder?

An SDI encoder serves as the backbone of high-quality video transport, converting uncompressed video and audio from cameras or switchers into digital formats suitable for subtitles, audio description, and caption metadata. The encoders support precise timing, seamless integration, and scalable accessibility solutions with the following capabilities:

• Signal Processing: Capture video and audio from broadcast sources and convert them into formats suitable for distribution and streaming across multiple platforms simultaneously.
  
• Reliability: Provide exceptional performance in professional AV environments through deterministic signal behavior that ensures frame-accurate delivery critical for live broadcasts.
  
• Low Latency Performance: Deliver low latency where even a single dropped frame is unacceptable and can undermine professional credibility.
  
• Infrastructure Integration: Integrate with existing equipment in studios, control rooms, and live event venues worldwide, protecting infrastructure investments.
  
• Legacy-to-Cloud Bridge: Enable organizations to leverage existing broadcast equipment while adopting new cloud captioning capabilities without complete infrastructure replacement.
  
• Multi-Platform Output: Process professional-grade signals with embedded audio channels, outputting streams optimized for traditional broadcast, web streaming, and mobile delivery.
  
• Synchronization: Maintain precise timing across all outputs through sophisticated timing mechanisms and buffer management that ensure frame-accurate alignment.
  
• Accuracy: Eliminate audio-video drift that causes captions to fall out of sync, preventing frustrating viewing experiences and compliance violations.
  

SDI encoders are essential for ensuring high-quality, accessible content by maintaining precise timing, reliability, and seamless integration across platforms. Solutions like AI-Media’s SDI encoders are designed to embed closed captions and other accessibility data directly into video signals, supporting high-precision, real-time workflows commonly used in traditional broadcast environments. These encoders are often deployed in control rooms, OB vans, and master control facilities, where SDI remains the backbone of production.

What Is IP?

IP (Internet Protocol) addressing assigns a unique identifier to every device on a network, enabling video and audio to travel over standard network infrastructure instead of relying on dedicated broadcast cabling. By combining the reliability of traditional broadcast with the agility of cloud workflows, IP offers broadcasters flexibility, scalability, and cost-efficiency while maintaining professional-quality video. Its advantages include:

• Network Infrastructure Utilization: Transmits video and audio over standard network connections, dramatically reducing the need for dedicated broadcast cabling.
  
• Flexibility: Integrates traditional broadcast sources with cloud-native tools without extensive new hardware investments.
  
• Standards Compliance: Supports SMPTE ST 2110 and related protocols for professional-grade video over IP.
  
• Hybrid Architecture Support: Retains SDI’s reliability and precision while leveraging cloud infrastructure for greater agility and scalability.
  
• Multi-Destination Routing: Sends video streams simultaneously to cloud captioning platforms, CDNs, and social media endpoints from a single source, eliminating complex physical switching.
  
• Scalability: Handles spikes in viewers by dynamically routing streams through additional servers or network nodes without manual intervention.
  
• Instant Caption Distribution: Enables captions to scale immediately across multiple platforms without additional hardware or onsite adjustments.
  
• Cost Efficiency: Reduces capital expenditure by leveraging existing network infrastructure while supporting diverse devices and geographies.
  

IP workflows ensure that accessible content reaches every viewer seamlessly, no matter how or where they choose to watch. AI-Media’s IP encoders offer virtual caption encoding for next-generation workflows that are software-driven, fully virtualizable, and native IP. 

Cloud-Native Workflows

Cloud-native platforms process video entirely within distributed cloud infrastructure, removing the bottlenecks and limitations of on-premise hardware. This approach unlocks capabilities that are difficult or impossible with traditional architectures, including:

• Real-Time Collaboration: Global production teams can work together seamlessly on content creation and distribution, with updates reflected instantly across all markets.
  
• Centralized Management: Captions and metadata are controlled from unified platforms, ensuring consistency across distribution channels and reducing operational complexity.
  
• Scalability: Systems automatically scale during peak events to handle millions of concurrent viewers without manual intervention or hardware upgrades.
  
• Reduced Capital Expenditure: Infrastructure is managed by specialized service providers, enabling rapid deployment of new features while converting capital costs into predictable operational expenses.
  
• Geographic Distribution: Processing occurs in regional data centers closest to viewers, minimizing latency and enhancing the quality of experience.
  
• Continuous Improvement: AI models and processing algorithms update automatically, without requiring manual upgrades or service interruptions.

Using cloud-native workflows, broadcasters can generate captions in multiple languages, distribute them globally through delivery networks, and update them instantly as AI models advance. 

SDI Encoders: The Backbone of Scalable Accessibility

While hybrid environments exist, most broadcasters and streaming platform providers rely on one dominant workflow architecture: SDI, IP, or cloud-native infrastructure with caption insertion points aligned to their environment and audience’s needs. 

For Broadcasters With SDI Workflows

SDI encoders embed closed captions and other accessibility data directly into video signals, supporting high-precision, real-time workflows commonly used in traditional broadcast environments. These solutions are commonly deployed in traditional broadcast control rooms, outside broadcast (OB) vans, and master control facilities, where SDI remains the backbone of production. By integrating with cloud-based captioning solutions, broadcasters can achieve scalable captioning while leveraging their existing SDI infrastructure.

For Broadcasters With IP Workflows

IP encoders support major live IP production standards, such as MPEG Transport Stream, SMPTE-2110, SRT, and CDI, making them ideal for modern, network-based facilities. IP workflows are increasingly used in remote production setups, hybrid studios, and facilities transitioning from SDI technology. These encoders allow broadcasters to transport high-quality video across standard networks while ensuring captions and accessibility data remain synchronized and compliant.

For Streaming and Cloud-Based Workflows

Encoders designed for OTT platforms, web streaming, and CDN delivery enable broadcasters to insert captions seamlessly into digital workflows, supporting accessibility for global audiences. This solution is optimized for digital broadcasters, live event streaming, corporate webinars, and educational content delivered online. 

By clearly aligning each encoder type to its specific workflow, AI-Media helps broadcasters maintain precision, reliability, and compliance while taking advantage of the most appropriate technology for their production environment. This approach also supports the broader industry trend of transitioning from traditional SDI to IP workflows, with LEXI’s unified captioning layer ensuring accessibility remains scalable across all streaming and cloud-based workflows.

Aligning With AVIXA's Standards and Interoperability Goals

Ensuring seamless interoperability is critical for today’s AV workflows. By adhering to industry standards, broadcasters can integrate new technologies, reduce costs, and maintain flexible, future-proof systems without disrupting their ongoing operations.

Why Interoperability Matters

In professional environments, where large broadcast facilities and corporate organizations rely on multi-vendor systems, standards-based solutions are essential. The standards reduce integration costs, prevent costly vendor lock-in, and allow flexibility in strategically upgrading their infrastructure without interrupting live productions or requiring full system redesigns. 

Encoders that adhere to rigorous industry standards ensure seamless integration and long-term reliability in complex AV environments:

• Video Formats: Comprehensive support for 1080i, 1080p, and 4K resolutions, accommodating diverse production requirements and future format evolution.
  
• Audio Standards: Full AES compliance for professional-grade audio quality and reliable embedded audio channel handling.
  
• IP Transport: Complete SMPTE ST 2110 compatibility for modern network-based workflows and seamless integration with IP-based production infrastructure.
  
• Metadata Schemas: Standards-compliant preservation of captions and content attributes across systems for seamless integration and reliable downstream processing.
  

This rigorous standards alignment future-proofs accessibility infrastructure investments while dramatically simplifying integration with existing and planned AV ecosystems, protecting organizations from premature obsolescence.

Why the Right Encoder Choice Matters

Broadcast workflows span SDI, IP, and cloud-native environments, each with unique demands for latency, captions, metadata, and scale. No single encoder can serve every scenario. Choosing a purpose-built encoder for your specific use cases delivers the performance, reliability, accessibility, and interoperability your workflow requires. When the encoder truly matches the job, live, linear, on-demand, or multi-platform, your pipeline becomes stronger, more efficient, and fully prepared to deliver inclusive, accessible content to every viewer.