SMPTE officially announced that its entire Standards catalog is now freely available to the global media technology community. The company said that this includes all published SMPTE Standards, Recommended Practices, Engineering Guidelines and Registered Disclosure Documents (RDDs), as well as all future releases.

“This was a decision we did not make lightly,” said SMPTE president Rich Welsh. “For 110 years, SMPTE has evolved alongside the media technology industry, helping to drive change and innovation — and we’re not stopping now.”

SMPTE said that its move to an open-access Standards Library is part of an effort to modernize the organization’s Standards development and publication processes. The company said that recent initiatives include adopting GitHub-based workflows for version control, issue tracking and automation, as well as transitioning to structured HTML-based authoring and implementing an integrated publishing pipeline.

“Our industry is confronting transformative shifts, from IP-based workflows to AI authenticity and content provenance, and we find ourselves at another inflection point.,” Welsh said. “We listened to our Members, Partners and the global Standards community, and the answer was clear: Interoperability is essential to the future of media. Now is the time to open the gates and ensure the next generation of media technology is built on a stronger, more accessible foundation.”

SMPTE said that the transition is supported by the organization’s Diamond-level Corporate Members: Amazon AWS, Apple, Blackmagic Design, CBS/Paramount Global, Disney, Dolby, Fox, Google, Ross Video, Sony and Telstra. The company also said that companies and individuals pledging donations of $10,000 or more by Dec. 31, 2026, will be recognized as Inaugural Supporters of the Standards catalogue.

“Standards achieve their greatest value when they are accessible to everyone who needs to implement them,” said SMPTE Standards director Steve LLamb. “This move strengthens interoperability, reduces misinformation, and supports more consistent implementation across the industry. By opening access, SMPTE helps ensure that developers, integrators, educators, manufacturers, as well as emerging markets, can build from accurate specifications rather than secondhand sources, supporting the long-term health of the media, motion imaging and digital cinema industries.”

The latest Standards are now available on the Recently Published Documents page of the SMPTE website, with the full catalogue accessible through the SMPTE Standards Library.