At IBC, Linear Acoustic will introduce two new audio signal-processing devices, the AERO.air Transmission Loudness Manager and the AERO.mobile Audio Loudness Manager for Mobile DTV.
The AERO.air accepts any Dolby-encoded or PCM audio. It provides upmixing and loudness control, and outputs to both PCM and Dolby-encoded audio for transmission. Advanced multiband processing ensures consistency without artifacts, which is not achievable with wideband-only control.
New features for the AERO.air include UPMAX-IITM 5.1 reference quality 5.1-channel automatic upmixing; CrowdControl, which prevents dialog 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.
The AERO.mobile Audio Loudness Manager for Mobile DTV addresses new challenges in mobile sound. Linear Acoustic said 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 ear buds 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 employs newly developed psychoacoustic processing that enables content to remain audible in noisy environments on small mobile devices. Accepting mono, stereo or Dolby 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.
