JPEG XS Enables Real-Time Music Collaboration Across Continents

06.05.26 12:40 PM

What if musicians located thousands of kilometers apart could rehearse, teach, and perform together as naturally as if they were on the same stage?


This is no longer a vision of the future. Thanks to the ultra-low latency capabilities of JPEG XS, leading music institutions are now creating real-time collaborative environments across continents with imperceptible delay and uncompromised audiovisual quality.


A New Era of Remote Music Collaboration

The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) in New York, together with DISK Systems and CESNET’s MVTP (Modular Video Transmission Platform), is pioneering a new model for music education and live performance.


Using JPEG XS-based technology, musicians and teachers located in New York, London, Copenhagen, Vienna, Amsterdam — and even Osaka — can interact live over standard IP networks while maintaining the synchronization and responsiveness required for professional music collaboration.


Unlike traditional videoconferencing platforms, where latency disrupts rhythm and interaction, MVTP delivers synchronized HD and 4K video together with high-quality audio while preserving sub-30 millisecond latency — the critical threshold for real-time musical performance.

Why JPEG XS Changes Everything

At the heart of the MVTP platform lies JPEG XS, the lightweight, ultra-low latency compression standard designed for professional live media workflows.

For applications such as remote music education and distributed live performances, compression latency matters just as much as image quality. Every millisecond counts.


JPEG XS enables:

  • Visually lossless HD and 4K video quality
  • Ultra-low codec latency down to milliseconds
  • Stable real-time transport over IP networks
  • High-quality synchronized audio and video
  • Efficient bandwidth usage for long-distance transmission


The MVTP platform combines FPGA-based JPEG XS encoding with professional SDI and Dante audio interfaces to create a true plug-and-play solution for immersive remote collaboration.


In practical terms, this means musicians separated by oceans can still play together naturally, preserving timing, dynamics, and artistic interaction.

From New York to Europe: A “Worldwide Classroom”

The Global Conservatoire initiative demonstrates the real-world potential of JPEG XS-powered remote collaboration.


Five prestigious institutions:

  • Manhattan School of Music (New York)
  • Royal College of Music (London)
  • Conservatorium van Amsterdam
  • Royal Danish Academy of Music (Copenhagen)
  • University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna

are connected through a multi-point MVTP 4K setup enabling live educational sessions and “Live Labs” between students and teachers in different countries.


The system supports simultaneous multi-site connections with synchronized video and Dante audio streams between all participating locations.


With JPEG XS compressionusing only around 70Mbps per stream, the platform maintains high image quality while keeping latency extremely low. 


Live Performances Across 9,000 Kilometers

Beyond education, JPEG XS is also enabling entirely new forms of live performance.


One remarkable example connected JAMU Brno in the Czech Republic with the Czech Pavilion at Expo Osaka in Japan — a distance of approximately 9,000 km.


Despite the extreme distance, musicians performed together live using MVTP technology with an end-to-end latency of approximately 125 ms over the WAN connection.


Over three days, the installation delivered:

  • 18 live performances
  • 2,700 visitors
  • Real-time interaction between artists located in Europe and Japan

Another project during the “Pilsen in Light” international festival connected a theatre orchestra with performers located remotely on an outdoor stage. The setup achieved only 3 ms end-to-end latency over a 1 km connection, enabling fully synchronized live opera, musical, ballet, and drama performances. 

The Future of Distributed Video

These projects illustrate how JPEG XS is becoming a foundational technology for the future of remote production, live performance, education, and interactive collaboration.


By solving the latency challenge without sacrificing quality, JPEG XS enables experiences that conventional streaming technologies simply cannot deliver.


For music institutions, broadcasters, live event producers, and ProAV professionals, the implications are enormous:

  • Borderless collaboration
  • Remote rehearsals and productions
  • Distributed live performances
  • Global classrooms
  • Real-time creative interaction over IP


What once seemed technically impossible is now becoming operational reality — powered by JPEG XS.

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