Information

Q-LAN is a collection of open, IT-standard protocols and solutions designed to allow Q-SYS to integrate easily with modern IT networks. Q-SYS leverages the Q-LAN protocol suite for audio and video distribution as well as device discovery, synchronization, control, and management. All Q-LAN protocols are Internet Protocol (IP) based and can easily reside on either Layer-2 (single VLAN) or Layer-3 (multi-VLAN and Routed) networks.

Precision Time Protocol is particularly vital in the realm of audio and video, serving the purpose of highly accurate time synchronization in networked systems. PTP is highly sensitive to latency, jitter, and packet loss. Exceeding the specified thresholds for jitter and latency within the network can result in PTPv2-related issues.

• The maximum jitter allowed for PTPv2 clock steering is +/-30µ seconds.
• The maximum latency allowed for the PTPv2 clock is 280µ seconds.

A network that doesn't maintain suitable latency and jitter is susceptible to experiencing PTP issues. This may manifest as audio and video stream dropouts, frequent reconnections, and late or missing audio or video packets, potentially causing problems like audio drops, packet loss, audio distortion, or delayed packet arrivals. Additionally, missing PTP announcements can result in a PTP grandmaster mismatch due to inaccurate synchronization.

For additional information, please refer to Q-SYS Networking Requirements (qsys.com).