Audio & Mulitmedia @ IBC 2015

The audio system developed by the MPEG-H Audio Alliance of Fraunhofer, Technicolor, and Qualcomm allows broadcasters and streaming services to deliver the future of TV audio at comparably low bit rates and in a cost-effective manner. It is based on the MPEG-H Audio standard and is being evaluated for the new ATSC 3.0 TV broadcast standard for the U.S.

The system is designed to work with today’s broadcast equipment. It includes object-based and immersive audio that allows viewers to adjust the sound mix to their preferences and improves the realism of sound. Furthermore it will tailor playback to sound best on a range of devices and environments, providing “universal delivery”.

What to expect at IBC 2015

Fraunhofer IIS will show real-time encoding and decoding as well as authoring and rendering of MPEG-H audio. The combined audio/video content will be broadcast to a Technicolor consumer set-top box for playback so that visitors can experience the new interactive and immersive features of MPEG-H audio in a living room environment. The demo will cover a wide range of audio content formats, e.g. stereo, 5.1, 5.1 + 4H, 7.1 + 4H and HOA (Higher Order Ambisonics).

To enable broadcasters to take advantage of all the features of MPEG-Audio, new products have been developed, some of which will be on display at the Fraunhofer booth:

• The Jünger Audio MPEG-H Audio Monitoring and Authoring Units adapts today's 5.1 consoles for immersive audio production and allows operations to audition MPEG-H Audio in the plant as it will be reproduced on viewer's devices.
• Real-time encoders and decoders that include MPEG-H Audio, supporting all phases of content delivery including contribution, distribution and emission using AVC video in our demonstrations.
• Selective loudness leveling available from Alliance partners such as Jünger Audio prevents the undesirable concatenation of loudness processing or leveling at network, affiliate, and MVPD points in the signal chain.

With Fraunhofer Cingo your mobile devices become true multidimensional sound theaters. Plug in your earphones or use the built-in stereo speakers for enveloping sound when enjoying movies, games or any other virtual environment.

Not only does Cingo enable an excellent surround sound listening experience over stereo speakers or headphones, it also provides existing stereo content with a more natural and clear sound. What’s more, Fraunhofer Cingo supports rendering of 3D audio content with formats such as MPEG-H that add a height dimension to the sound image with 9.1, 11.1 or other channel configurations as well as object-based audio. In addition, Cingo includes loudness optimization for listening in noisy environments and improves the intelligibility of dialog and commentary.

The Google Nexus family of devices uses Cingo for an enhanced listening experience when playing back content in stereo or surround. Cingo is also part of the Samsung Gear VR, creating the ultimate mobile virtual reality experience by delivering 3D spatial sound that incorporates head movements.

Fraunhofer IIS technologies enable and enrich digital radio broadcasts across the world as part of broadcast equipment and receiver devices.

Today, Fraunhofer IIS introduces the ContentServer R6 technology, a revolutionary step in encoding and multiplexing for the terrestrial digital radio standards DAB and DRM. R6 enhances the highly reliable and worldwide proven predecessor technology ContentServer R5. It supports IP based remote control and operation (ContentServer as a Service concept).

New highlight features include:

• A powerful new Monitoring System, closely controlling all system functions including all IP based provision lines.
• Local Backup Audio encoding in case of failing external audio provision
• Advanced data provision (JSON API) and AES67 audio-over-IP support
• Full support for the latest DRM features, including MPEG-4 xHE-AAC audio coding
• “Extended STI-C” – the solution for regionalized DAB networks: All common programs are autonomously encoded/scheduled by a central service multiplexer and simultaneously fed to all regional ensemble multiplexers.
• Support for Emergency Warning Functionality (EWF), an integral part of the ContentServer R6 release. By combining existing core features of the digital radio standards, it enables authorities to alert the public in case of disasters with audio and detailed multilingual text instructions on standard digital radio sets.

With its special features, xHE-AAC (Extended HE-AAC) effortlessly meets the requirements of digital radio and streaming applications where various audio content types need to be transmitted at very low bit rates. The audio codec produces excellent sound for both music and speech, delivering high quality performance at bit rates of 6 to 64 kbit/s. Thus xHE-AAC streaming apps and streaming radio players may switch to very low bit rate streams and offer a continuous playback even while the network is congested. It also opens up the possibility to reach billions of 2G users with music streaming services for the first time especially in emerging markets such as India.

At IBC, Fraunhofer, Modulation Index and broadcast partners will demonstrate live encoding and streaming of xHE-AAC to Android devices.

DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) is the first digital radio system to adopt xHE-AAC and therefore benefiting from its features.

At this year’s IBC, booth visitors will have the chance to experience how well the audio codec handles various signal types at changing bit rates on a consumer radio device and as part of streaming applications.

Various partners present products featuring Fraunhofer Audio & Multimedia technologies, including the following:

• Ampegon at booth 8.D35
• AVT Audio Video Technologies GmbH at booth 8.E76
  
• Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) at booth 1.D81
• Dimetis at booth 1.B30
• IZT GmbH at booth 8.A34
• Jünger Audio GmbH at booth 10.A49
• Nautel/RFmondial at booth 8.C49
• TRANSRADIO SenderSysteme Berlin AG at booth 8.D35