PlexusAV www.plexusav.com are one of the most exciting new brands to have emerged onto the AV Market over the past 2 years. A wholly owned subsidiary of Sencore, a 70-year-old US based business who are a major player in the Broadcast sector, we spoke to Arthur Brockhoff who recently joined them about his background, the brand and their ambitions.
BD – For those readers that don’t already know you, can you please provide a little background on yourself and what you do.
AB – I am Arthur Brockhoff, Regional Sales Manager EMEA for PlexusAV. I have been in the ProAV and broadcast industry for 34 years and previously worked at Crestron as Business Development Manager Government for the BeNeLux region. Before this, I held various roles across different sectors within the ProAV business—ranging from running my own company to working in distribution, software, integration, and for major vendors. Always from a commercial and business development perspective, building lasting relationships with end-clients, distributors, integrators, dealers, and consultants.
BD – For those readers that don’t already know PlexusAV, are you able to sum up what they do and why you went to work for them…
AB – PlexusAV are the first brand to build a complete AVOIP solution around the open standard IPMX, from the ground up. I am convinced that IPMX will become the standard for AV-over-IP. If you look at the history of standardization in IT and Voice over IP, it’s hard to reach any other conclusion. IPMX is based on the SMPTE ST 2110 standard, which is the standard that the Broadcast Industry has been using for years. 2110 is well proven, but it did not have all the bells and whistles that ProAV required and so hence IPMX, now it does…The era of closed systems and vendor lock-in is coming to an end.
Whilst our products can be used independently, when using them over an IPMX based platform, that is when they really come into their own. I wanted to be part of this evolution and contribute to the future of AV-over-IP.
BD – What are the key added values that PlexusAV offers?
AB – For clients such as universities, government institutions, and large enterprise users, PlexusAV’s IPMX solution unlocks an unprecedented range of possibilities. While it can, of course, be used for encoding and decoding audio and video, its true strength lies in the ability to seamlessly integrate existing systems and infrastructures with ease.
Additionally, because IPMX is an open standard, it allows for interoperability with other products, breaking away from the traditional closed-system approach that has dominated the market until now.
“It’s a completely different way of thinking—one that frees users from closed ecosystems and opens new possibilities for the future.”
The PlexusAV product line is fully scalable and includes a range of software and hardware solutions. To ensure a seamless experience, we have developed an intuitive user interface that not only provides a clear overview of system capabilities and performance but also offers insights into the status and monitoring of connected and integrated systems—optimizing performance across the entire AV infrastructure.
BD – It sound exciting, but why should End Users, AV Consultants, SI’s and VAR’s move away from their existing solution.
AB – For an End User and AV Consultant, the reasons are very clear. If they move their core platform over to a “truly open standard”, then this opens up a choice of every product on the market, provided it has IMPX of course… Hence why we have seen so much interest from End Users themselves. For the AV Consultants, why would they not recommend a platform and a system that has true-interoperability via a genuine open standard. Why would you leave your client “tied” to any one brand? In my opinion the same goes for the SI’s and the VAR’s, surely your clients will thank you for opening their eyes and allowing them a true choice of any product, knowing it will 100% work. It’s futureproofing your business and theirs… Beyond interoperability, no one has been able to explain to me why you would convert an already IP-encoded signal back to HDMI, only to encode it again for further distribution, streaming, or recording purposes. Instead, use the IP signal as it is and make it work seamlessly with other IP signals—without the need for extra “boxes” and encoders. It’s a far more efficient approach, better for sustainability, and ultimately better for our environment and the world.
BD – That all sounds very well, but what about NDI and Dante and other platforms… Do the End Users, AV Consultants, SI’s & VAR’s have to move away from that?
AB – Absolutely not. IPMX allows for NDI, Dante and all other platforms to be incorporated into the eco AVoIP system by Streaming Conversion Gateways. As I stated, it’s a true open standard.
BD – So who defines the IPMX standard and is it finished…
AB: That’s a great question! The standard was developed by The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), a non-profit trade association that promotes the use of open standards for interoperability in the media and entertainment industries. AIMS consists of a broad group of manufacturers, and I would say the standard is about 90% complete—meaning that everything specified feature-wise works together perfectly.
The beauty of AIMS is that it allows manufacturers to continuously add new features as the AV industry evolves. So, is it 100% finished? No, and I don’t think it ever will be—or should be—because our industry never stands still. However, does it work? Absolutely!
BD – PlexusAV were one of the exhibitors at ISE this year and so what was new and how did that go…
AB: At ISE this year, we introduced several exciting new products.
One of the highlights was the PlexusAV AVN-2, which combines the efficiency of HEVC and H.264 compression with IPMX’s advanced capabilities. This device delivers ultra-low-latency, high-quality streams, even in bandwidth-constrained environments—all at a very competitive price point.
We also previewed the all-new PlexusAV P-AVN-SCG – Stream Conversion Gateway. Designed to tackle a key challenge in the AV industry, this device serves as a bridge between legacy and emerging technologies. The SCG supports multiple input and output protocols, including MPEG-IP, IPMX, NDI-HX, RTSP, SRT, and RTMP, making it a powerhouse for AV-over-IP protocol conversion.
These new products were showcased alongside our existing solutions, including the PlexusAV P-AVN-VA – Visual Array and the Plexus AVN-4 transceiver, further demonstrating our commitment to delivering flexible and future-ready AV-over-IP solutions.
BD – So for anyone interested in PlexusAV, how do they access it in the UK.
AB: We are 100% committed to the channel here in the UK, and we were thrilled to announce our distribution agreement with One Media towards the end of last year.
Before making this decision, Steve Cogels (Global Director of Business Development at PlexusAV) and I traveled across the UK, meeting with potential distributors. As a new and emerging brand with cutting-edge technology, it was crucial for us to partner with a distributor that truly understands the UK market and can provide the right level of support.
We believe that One Media is the perfect fit, as they align with our vision and growth strategy. They are an ambitious and dynamic company, and we are excited to grow alongside them in the UK market.
BD – So what’s next for PlexusAV.
AB: We are very keen to establish case studies in the UK, so if any of your readers are interested in discussing this, please have them contact OneMedia via sales@onemedia.co.uk. I am sure OneMedia will be more than happy to assist.
In terms of future products, we already have several key engineering projects in development, which we aim to unveil at InfoComm in Orlando. That said, our primary focus remains on ensuring that our existing products are being specified and adopted by major global end-users, AV consultants, and system integrators (SIs).
BD – Thank you so much for coming over to talk to us today Arthur and for any businesses trading outside the UK who might have seen this interview and are interested in PlexusAV. How do they contact you.
AB – They can always e-mail sales@plexusav.com or my personal e-mail is arthur.brockhoff@plexusav.com we would love to hear from them and many thanks for your time Bryan
