Linear Acoustic
IBC2010
Stand 8.D29
Company Overview
Linear Acoustic is the leading authority in television audio control from content creation to transmission. The company designs and manufactures the AERO(TM) range of audio processing and loudness control solutions, LQ-1000(TM) Loudness Quality Monitor, e²(TM) (e-squared) multichannel audio backhaul and distribution, and MetaMAX(TM) metadata processing products and licenses key technologies to other companies in the broadcast industry. The company is actively involved in standards and practices creation as a member of the ATSC (Advanced Television Systems Committee) and as a sustaining member of SMPTE. Linear Acoustic is proud to be a premier member of the Sports Video Group and is one of the founding members of its DTV Audio Group. Linear Acoustic provided its upmixing products and technical services for NBC's coverage of the 2008 Beijing Summer Games and provided 24 AERO.qc(TM) units and technical services for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games.
More information about Linear Acoustic is available at www.linearacoustic.com.
New Products and Updates for IBC2010
New features for the flagship AERO.air(TM) Transmission Loudness Manager
The AERO.air(TM) -- for over-the-air and cable network broadcasters -- is the only all-in-one processor to accept any Dolby(R)-encoded or PCM audio, provide upmixing and loudness control, and to output both PCM and Dolby-encoded audio for transmission. Advanced multiband processing ensures consistency without artifacts, which is not achievable with wideband-only control.
Many new features keep AERO.air at the forefront: UPMAX-II(TM) 5.1 reference quality 5.1-channel automatic upmixing; CrowdControl(TM), which prevents dialogue from disappearing in the mix; internal Dolby E/Digital/Plus decoding; Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, and Dolby Pulse (HE-AAC) encoding; and internal Nielsen Watermark encoding for audience measurement.
Photo Caption: Transmission Loudness Manager
Photo Link: www.wallstcom.com/LinearAcoustic/AERO.air.zip
AERO.mobile(TM) Audio Loudness Manager for Mobile DTV
Audio for mobile DTV presents new challenges. The dynamic range "comfort zone" used for mixing television audio for viewing on stereo or surround in-the-home televisions is far too wide for comfortable listening on typical earbuds or tiny speakers. Background noise in many environments will define a relatively high loudness floor -- if the volume is increased for acceptable intelligibility on soft passages, loud passages run the risk of causing hearing damage.
The AERO.mobile(TM) employs newly developed psychoacoustic processing that enables content to remain audible in noisy environments on small mobile devices. Accepting mono, stereo, or Dolby(R) 5.1-channel station audio, the unit includes all tools a broadcaster needs to deliver the most satisfying experience appropriate for widely varying individual listening environments.
Photo Caption: Audio Loudness Manager for Mobile DTV
Photo Link: www.wallstcom.com/LinearAcoustic/AERO.mobile.zip
e2(TM) 16-Channel Backhaul Encoder and Decoder
Offering up to 16 channels of full-bandwidth audio carried via a single 20-bit, 48-kHz AES pair, e2(TM) (e-squared) has become the choice for high-quality, reliable, error-free backhaul of program and associated audio of high-profile events including the Academy Awards and Country Music Awards.
The e2 format has less than one frame total encode/decode latency and is video-rate independent. Rugged, simple-to-use hardware supports AES and SDI connectivity and includes redundant power supplies. An SDK is available for integration of software decoding.
Photo Caption: 16-Channel Backhaul Encoder and Decoder
Photo Link: www.wallstcom.com/LinearAcoustic/e-squared.zip
Linear Acoustic Shortlisted for the IBC Innovation Award
The IBC announced that Linear Acoustic is shortlisted for the IBC Innovation Award for Content Creation:
http://www.ibc.org/page.cfm/action=Archive/ArchiveID=5/EntryID=66
Consistent loudness from the Winter Olympics -- NBC Olympics
Perceived loudness, and its sometimes wide variations, is very much a hot topic at the moment. Having won an Emmy(R) for its audio from the 2008 Beijing games, NBC had a lot to live up to. The challenge this time was that, with the Winter Olympics just over the border, all coverage was live so there was no time for post-production tweaking.
The solution allowed the audio engineer at each venue full creative rein to capture the excitement of what are very different events, yet allowing the broadcaster to switch seamlessly from curling to board cross to luge to ice dancing.
NBC's technology partner was Linear Acoustic, and the president and founder Tim Carroll was on site during the games, providing personal support for the audio team.
"Linear Acoustic is honored to be shortlisted for the IBC Innovation Award for Content Creation," said Tim Carroll, president and founder of Linear Acoustic. "It is recognition of our dedication to creating technology that enables broadcasters to produce dynamically compelling audio while keeping loudness variations within standardized guidelines."
"Control of loudness while maintaining production values is critical to broadcasters worldwide," said Howard Mullinack, director of marketing for Linear Acoustic. "At IBC, Linear Acoustic will show a range of new features for the flagship AERO.air(TM) Transmission Loudness Manager, including support for the EBU P/LOUD recommendations, once finalized."
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