Dave Moulton

This will actually take a couple of columns. I'll start with the idea of standing waves.

This month I’d like to spend a little more time discussing the center channel, concentrating on some of the production issues we have to deal with.

Over the past couple of months, professional things for me have been happening on a lot of fronts. It's worth sharing because it bodes well for all of us in the 'biz.

Our story to date... last month I described my well-meaning efforts to upgrade my living room TV into a small, pleasant home theater.

For those of you who don't know this, there is a comparatively new trade organization called the Custom Electronics Designer and Installer Association.

Last month, I reviewed the Modulation Sciences SpiderVision Surround Sound signal level meter. As the lead-in to that review, I noted Lord Kelvin’s dictum that to measure is to know.

The gap between the HD television we deliver and the HD television that our viewers perceive lies in the difference in the way we and they think about it.

You may recall that last month I wrote about audio guru Neil Muncy's observations regarding television audio level problems he encountered in Canada.

We tend to gloss over some of the production difficulties we face as a consequence of our current broadcast distribution system.

You may recall that we’ve been grappling with the measurement of audio loudness and the implications of the ITU’s B.S. 1770-1 standard for the measurement of loudness, in support of the CALM Act.

Dave Moulton takes another look at TV audio levels in advance of the CALM Act next month.

“I’m a TV engineer from the old school, so of course I never read articles about audio. The CALM Act changes that, of course.”

You need to get a handle on the actual measured levels at which you are working.

You need a room—pretty much all to yourself and big enough so others can join you on occasion.

You need good speakers, placed well in a good room.