At NAB 2026, one of the clearest trends across the show floor is the continued push toward SMPTE ST 2110—but just as apparent is the friction that still exists between traditional broadcast infrastructure and modern streaming workflows. AJA’s new BRIDGE LIVE IP squarely targets that gap, and after a hands-on demo, it feels less like a niche converter and more like a practical missing link.
At its core, BRIDGE LIVE IP is a high-density IP video gateway designed to move signals seamlessly between ST 2110 environments and the wide range of codecs and protocols that dominate streaming and delivery. In practice, that means encoding, decoding, and transcoding is all happening in real time, in both directions, inside a compact 1RU box.
What stands out immediately is how much heavy lifting the system is doing under the hood. Whether you’re dealing with SRT, HLS, RTMP, or more traditional MPEG transport streams, BRIDGE LIVE IP acts as a kind of universal translator. It allows compressed IP video to move into an uncompressed ST 2110 pipeline—and just as easily back out again for distribution.
That may sound straightforward, but in real-world workflows, it solves a persistent problem. Many productions today are hybrid by necessity. Cameras, switchers, and infrastructure may be built around ST 2110, while contribution feeds, remote guests, and delivery endpoints still live in compressed IP formats. Bridging those worlds typically involves multiple devices, added latency, and increased complexity.
BRIDGE LIVE IP collapses that into a single system.
In the demo environment, the flexibility is immediately apparent. Multiple channels can be ingested, processed, and output simultaneously, with support for several UHD or HD streams at once. More importantly, those streams can be routed and converted independently, enabling multi-camera workflows, remote production setups, or multi-destination streaming without requiring separate encoding stacks.
This is where the device starts to feel less like a converter and more like infrastructure.
Another key takeaway is how well it aligns with the realities of remote production. By supporting secure, reliable transport over public internet connections, BRIDGE LIVE IP opens up alternatives to traditional satellite or dedicated fiber links. For smaller productions—or even large ones looking to reduce cost and complexity—that shift is significant.
The system also integrates cleanly into existing IP-based ecosystems. With support for a wide range of codecs and optional formats like NDI and JPEG XS, it’s designed to meet facilities where they are, rather than forcing a full-stack overhaul. That flexibility feels intentional, especially at a time when many broadcasters are still mid-transition to ST 2110.
Operationally, the experience is straightforward. The interface provides granular control over formats, protocols, and destinations, but without feeling overly technical or opaque. Once configured, the system runs predictably—something that matters when dealing with live signals and tight turnaround times.
If there’s a broader takeaway from BRIDGE LIVE IP at NAB this year, it’s that the conversation around IP production is maturing. The question is no longer whether to adopt ST 2110, but how to integrate it into a world that still depends heavily on compressed streaming formats. AJA’s answer isn’t the force a choice, but to bridge the two.
After seeing it in action, that choice feels not just practical, but necessary.