Apple Immersive Video enables creators to produce content that moves beyond the limits of traditional video. By combining ultra-high-resolution 3D video with Spatial Audio, Apple Immersive creates a true sense of presence for Apple Vision Pro users.
Instead of framing a scene for a screen, creators can build environments around the viewer. Apple Immersive captures 180-degree stereoscopic video at extremely high resolution, allowing audiences to look around naturally. Spatial audio reinforces that realism by aligning sound with the visual environment.
The result changes how content is perceived. Sports feel more immediate. Concerts feel more intimate. Storytelling becomes more personal, placing the viewer inside the narrative rather than observing it from a distance.
This is not simply an incremental improvement in video quality. It represents a structural shift in how audiences engage with content—moving from passive viewing to active participation.
For creators, that opens the door to new forms of storytelling and new opportunities to differentiate. Immersive content can support premium experiences, deepen audience engagement and expand what is creatively possible.
The production challenge behind immersive video
While the creative potential is clear, the technical requirements are advanced.
Immersive video demands extremely high resolutions and frame rates. Current workflows using SDI infrastructure quickly run into physical and operational limits. Capturing left- and right-eye feeds at high fidelity can require multiple 12G-SDI connections per signal, creating significant cabling complexity and infrastructure overhead.
Next-generation camera systems push those demands even further. Cameras such as the Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive can capture resolutions up to 7168 × 7168 per eye at 90 frames per second. At that scale, the data rates exceed what SDI-based workflows can realistically transport.
Until recently, this meant immersive content was largely confined to record-and-process models—captured in-camera and handled later in post-production. Live immersive production at scale was not practical.
Why ST 2110 changes the equation
Enabling real-time immersive workflows required a fundamental shift in how video is transported and processed.
With SMPTE ST 2110, video workflows can move from SDI to IP-based infrastructure. This transition allows high-resolution video, audio and metadata to be transported as separate, synchronized streams across standard networks.
However, uncompressed immersive video at these resolutions can approach data rates of 100 Gb/s per eye—placing significant demands on network and compute resources.
This is where ProRes over ST 2110-22 becomes critical.
By using Apple ProRes as a mezzanine codec within ST 2110 IP workflows, creators can dramatically reduce bandwidth requirements while maintaining high-image quality. ProRes is also widely used in post-production, which simplifies the workflow from capture through editing and delivery.
On Apple silicon systems, ProRes processing is further optimized by dedicated media engines. High-resolution streams can be encoded and decoded with minimal CPU and GPU overhead. In many cases, streams can be recorded directly to disk or played out without additional transcoding, reducing system load and avoiding generational loss.
This combination—ProRes, Apple silicon and ST 2110—creates a more efficient and practical foundation for live immersive production.
Softron’s role in enabling live immersive workflows
Softron Media Services has been working alongside Apple for more than four decades, developing broadcast solutions designed specifically for macOS. That focus now extends into immersive video workflows.
Softron’s MovieRecorder and M|Replay solutions support immersive production at high resolutions and frame rates, enabling synchronized capture and instant replay workflows that were previously limited to post-production environments.
By integrating ProRes over ST 2110-22, Softron is helping bridge the gap between extreme data rates and real-world production infrastructure. The goal is straightforward: make immersive workflows more efficient, more accessible, and easier to deploy.
These efforts are supported through collaboration with technology partners such as Macnica Americas. High-performance network interfaces like the Macnica MEP100 SmartNIC enable Mac-based systems to ingest and process multiple immersive ProRes streams over IP in real time.
When combined with compact systems, such as Mac Studio, this approach significantly reduces the footprint and complexity of immersive production environments. Workflows that once required large, specialized infrastructure can now be deployed in more flexible, space-efficient configurations.
Managing complexity beyond video
Immersive production introduces more than just higher data rates. It also requires precise handling of metadata, including camera geometry, positioning and motion data.
This metadata must remain tightly synchronized with each frame to preserve the integrity of the immersive experience. Traditional SDI workflows are not designed to manage this level of complexity. IP-based ST 2110 infrastructures, however, are built to handle synchronized streams of video, audio and metadata together.
This capability is essential for delivering consistent, high-quality immersive experiences—particularly in live environments.
A practical path to immersive production
The convergence of Apple Immersive Video, ProRes, Apple silicon, and ST 2110 represents a meaningful breakthrough for content creators.
What was once technically possible but operationally impractical is becoming deployable. Live immersive production can now move beyond experimental setups into real-world workflows for sports, live events and storytelling at scale.
For creators, that means fewer constraints between vision and execution. For audiences, it means richer, more engaging experiences that feel closer to reality.
Moving immersive forward
Whether it is a rocket launch, a live concert or a major sporting event, immersive video is redefining what it means to create and experience content.
Softron continues to bring these capabilities into production environments—helping creators capture, process and deliver immersive experiences with greater efficiency and reliability.
If you are attending NAB 2026, visit the Softron booth #N845 to learn more about how these workflows are evolving and how immersive production can be integrated into your environment.