Tools and Techniques for Globally Unique Content Identification

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Publisher: SMPTE — White Plains, NY, USA
Doc Type: Journal Article
Content Type: Original Research
Abbreviated Title: SMPTE J
Volume: 109, No. 10, pp. 795–799
Abstract: The EHU/SMPTE Task force report highlighted the requirement for the unique identification of essence with the aim of tracking content throughout the television production process from acquisition to delivery. The term unique material identifier (UMID) was coined in order to be essentially different from the many unique program identifiers (UPID) that exist today. UPIDs rely on a registration process to assign numbers and these may be unique to an organization or (more recently) globally unique. UPIDs are a simple label whereas UMIDs identify every component part of a program and provide a linkage between the essence and its associated metadata. This paper outlines the specification of the SMPTE UMID and shows how it can link metadata to essence in both streaming and storage applications. Even in a server-only-based solution, separation of metadata and essence is attractive from the viewpoint of access speed for program decisionmaking. Although the UMID is a key part of television production, it is essential to both analog and digital archives, where metadata is the key to speedy access of the desired material. The paper also addresses the operational issues arising from the introduction of the UMID into the program chain with particular regard to migration into existing systems.
Publication Date: 2000-10-01
DOI: 10.5594/J17572
ISSN: Print: 0036-1682
Link: https://doi.org/10.5594/J17572
Author(s): James H. WilkinsonSony BPE, Basingstoke, Hants, RG22 4SB, England
bio
Jim (James H.) Wilkinson's first foray into the realm of broadcasting was in 1974, when he joined the IBA's Engineering Headquarters. While there, he worked on DICE, video compression using DPCM at 34 Mbits/sec and other video projects. In 1979 Wilkinson became one of the founding members of the newly created R&D Laboratories of Sony Broadcast, where he currently works as chief research scientist. A sampling of his activities and projects include digital video recording, video bit rate reduction, digital image processing, and digital audio developments (including MADI). Recently Wilkinson has actively participated in the EBU/SMPTE Task Force, where he has worked on developing SDTI (including SDTICP, SDTI-PF and HD-SDTI), the UMID, the Metadata data structure and dictionary, and the SDI label to identify payloads on SDI interconnects. A member of SMPTE, Wilkinson was awarded the Society's Alexander M. Poniatoff Gold Medal for Technical Excellence, in 1995. He is also a member of the RTS, IEE, IEEE. and AES.
Michael E. CoxSony BPE, Basingstoke, Hants, RG22 4SB, England
bio
Mike Cox graduated from the University of Strathclyde, Scotland in 1969. It was there that his interest in television production started; he joined the BBC in London in 1970. In 1987 he joined general resource management at the BBC's Southampton station. Over a fiveyear period, operations moved from being film and 4-tube studio camera based to Beta-SP, nonlinear editing, and lightweight CCD. Cox left the BBC staff in 1997 to set up his own company, specializing in consultancy and project management to the broadcasting industries.
Copyright: © 2000 Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, Inc.

Bibliographic Reference(s)

Proposed SMPTE Standard: SMPTE 298M for Television—Universal Labels for Unique Identification of Digital Data [Active]
EBU/SMPTE Task Force for Harmonized Standards for the Exchange of Program Material as Bit Streams — Final Report: Analysis and Results [Active]
1. SMPTE 330M, “Television–Unique Material Identifier (UMID),” SMPTE J. , 109 : 221 , Mar. 2000 . EXTERNAL
2. SMPTE RP 205, “Application of Unique Material Identifiers in Production and Broadcast Environments,” SMPTE J. , 109 : 238 , Mar. 2000 . EXTERNAL
4. Proposed SMPTE 336M: “Data Encoding Protocol Using Key-Length-Value,” www.smpte.org . EXTERNAL
6. Proposed SMPTE 335M “Metadata Dictionary,” www.smpte.org . EXTERNAL

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James H. Wilkinson and Michael E. Cox; Tools and Techniques for Globally Unique Content Identification, SMPTE Journal ( Volume: 109, Issue: 10, October 2000); SMPTE, 2000. Available at https://doi.org/10.5594/J17572

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James H. Wilkinson and Michael E. Cox; Tools and Techniques for Globally Unique Content Identification, SMPTE Journal ( Volume: 109, Issue: 10, October 2000); SMPTE, 2000. Available at https://doi.org/10.5594/J17572

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<span class="citation">James H. Wilkinson and Michael E. Cox; <cite>Tools and Techniques for Globally Unique Content Identification</cite>, SMPTE Journal ( Volume: 109, Issue: 10, October 2000); SMPTE, 2000. Available at <a href="https://doi.org/10.5594/J17572" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://doi.org/10.5594/J17572</a></span>

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James H. Wilkinson and Michael E. Cox; Tools and Techniques for Globally Unique Content Identification, SMPTE Journal ( Volume: 109, Issue: 10, October 2000); SMPTE, 2000
doi: 10.5594/J17572
url: https://doi.org/10.5594/J17572

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James H. Wilkinson and Michael E. Cox; <cite id="bib-10-5594-j17572">Tools and Techniques for Globally Unique Content Identification</cite>, SMPTE Journal ( Volume: 109, Issue: 10, October 2000); SMPTE, 2000
<span class="doi">10.5594/J17572</span>
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