AJA BRIDGE LIVE IP v1.20.3 Adds ST 2022-7 Redundancy and SRT Security Update

AJA confirms August 27 release

AJA Video Systems has released BRIDGE LIVE IP v1.20.3, a software update for its rack-mount IP video gateway. The manufacturer lists the release date as August 27, 2026 and recommends the update for BRIDGE LIVE IP family systems. The update combines interoperability additions with operational and security-related maintenance rather than introducing a new hardware platform.

BRIDGE LIVE IP is designed to bridge compressed IP transports and uncompressed SMPTE ST 2110 environments. AJA positions the platform for encoding, decoding and transcoding workflows that use protocols including SRT, RTP, UDP, HLS and RTMP/RTMPS. For facilities managing remote contribution, live production or IP distribution, the practical value of this release is its focus on ancillary data, network resilience, observability and library maintenance.

Ancillary receive support expands ST 2110 workflow options

Version 1.20.3 adds ST 2110-40 receive support. ST 2110-40 defines RTP-based transport for SMPTE ST 291-1 ancillary-data packets associated with video streams over managed IP networks. In operational terms, ancillary data can carry workflow-critical information such as captions, timecode and other metadata that must remain associated with a production signal.

AJA’s product documentation already identifies support for ST 2110-40 ancillary streams and metadata functions including closed captions, timecode, SCTE markers and metadata pass-through. Installers and engineers should nevertheless test the exact ancillary payloads used in their plant. Successful video and audio transport alone does not establish that captions, timecode, automation markers or other metadata survive a complete encode, transport, decode and playout chain.

Redundancy and monitoring are central operational changes

The release adds SMPTE ST 2022-7 redundancy support and a new Monitoring Dashboard. ST 2022-7 is the SMPTE standard for seamless protection switching of RTP datagrams: redundant packet streams can be used to reconstruct one output stream when packets are lost on one path. The approach can reduce the impact of a path-level impairment, but it is not a substitute for designing genuinely diverse network paths, power arrangements and upstream sources.

AJA’s current BRIDGE LIVE IP documentation describes hitless redundancy for ST 2110 and MPEG-TS, as well as receive support across Class A, B and C ST 2022-7 scenarios for ST 2110-20 video. Before enabling redundancy in a production environment, engineering teams should confirm that the two network paths are physically and logically separated, that multicast and PTP designs remain correct under failure conditions, and that switch configurations do not introduce asymmetric packet loss or unexpected latency.

The new dashboard should also be evaluated as an addition to—not a replacement for—existing NMS workflows. BRIDGE LIVE IP documentation lists browser access, REST API and SNMP among its management and monitoring interfaces. Teams should determine which alarms, transport statistics and redundancy-state indicators are required by their current monitoring platform, then verify behavior during planned link and switch-path fault tests.

HDR signaling and low-latency H.264 require endpoint testing

AJA says v1.20.3 adds NDI 10-bit HDR signaling and a configurable H.264 GDR low-latency mode. The NDI change is relevant when HDR signals move between ST 2110, NDI and compressed-delivery portions of a workflow. AJA’s product specifications describe NDI 10-bit capability and HDR metadata marking, but HDR behavior still depends on the receiving device and the end-to-end interpretation of color and HDR metadata.

The configurable H.264 mode gives operators another latency-oriented encoder setting. It should be qualified with actual program material and destination devices rather than enabled globally. Engineers should compare encoder latency, visible refresh behavior after packet loss, decoder recovery and compatibility with any contribution receiver, CDN handoff or multiviewer in the chain.

SRT v1.5.6 makes the update security-relevant

AJA identifies integrated SRT v1.5.6 support as part of the release and characterizes v1.20.3 as including important security updates. The upstream Haivision SRT project’s v1.5.6 notes list a fix for an unchecked KMREQ buffer size as well as additional validation fixes involving wire lengths and packet parsing. An upstream security advisory also identifies v1.5.6 as the patched release for an encryption-state downgrade issue affecting SRT receivers.

AJA has not publicly stated in its update notice which of those upstream issues are applicable to BRIDGE LIVE IP deployments, so operators should not assume either confirmed exposure or complete immunity from the brief announcement alone. The defensible action is to inventory deployed BRIDGE LIVE IP systems, review whether they accept SRT connections from untrusted or internet-reachable sources, apply normal change control, and move to the supported release after a lab or maintenance-window validation. Network segmentation, access restrictions and credential management remain important controls even after a software update.

Procurement and deployment checklist

For new deployments, specify the required ST 2110-40 payload handling, ST 2022-7 class and topology, SRT use cases, HDR format expectations and management-system integration before acceptance testing. Confirm that the required NDI, JPEG XS or JPEG 2000 functionality is licensed where applicable, as AJA lists some of those capabilities as optional.

For installed systems, capture pre-upgrade configurations and baseline latency, packet-loss and alarm behavior. After upgrading, run representative tests for primary-path loss, secondary-path loss, SRT reconnects, ancillary-data carriage, HDR handoff and H.264 decoder compatibility. That process will help teams realize the resilience and observability benefits of the release without creating an unplanned interruption in a live production chain.