Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IISBeijing, China / 09/27/2017 - 09/30/2017
PT/Expo Comm China 2017
Please visit us at booth 4111 in hall 1. We are looking forward to seeing you!
Exhibitions and Events
MPEG-H 3D Audio: The new audio codec for 4K TV- Now on-air in South Korea
MPEG-H 3D Audio is the first next generation audio system to be used in terrestrial 4K TV: Since May 2017, the new UHD TV system in South Korea is on-air utilizing the MPEG-H TV Audio System. Next year, viewers in Korea will enjoy the benefits of the new audio codec during the TV broadcast of the Olympic Winter Games. Viewers can set the audio mix for a program to their individual preferences, for example:
- Choose between different languages and boost hard to understand dialogue.
- Set the volume of the commentator or separately listen to the announcers or sideline mics.
The immersive 3D sound of MPEG-H 3D Audio also provides a truly realistic sound experience.
The MPEG-H TV Audio System is designed to work with today`s broadcast and streaming equipment. The MPEG-H TV Audio System is part of the ATSC 3.0 standard and the DVB A/V codec specification.
MPEG-H & Fraunhofer Cingo® for the best-in-class immersive sound experience on VR devices
At PT/EXPO, Fraunhofer IIS will showcase an end-to-end VR audio system based on MPEG-H for production, delivery, playback and rendering of immersive sound. The entire chain consists of Fraunhofer upHear® Spatial Audio Microphone Processing, Cingo Composer post-production plugin, the MPEG-H 3D Audio codec and a VR player SDK for high-quality VR experiences.
Fraunhofer upHear®: Spatial Audio Microphone Processing
Capture spatial audio for Virtual Reality. Fraunhofer upHear has been designed to significantly improve the sound capture capabilities of professional and consumer 360° cameras and mobile devices using built-in microphones. It automatically transforms the captured sound in real-time to any popular surround or immersive audio reproduction format, such as FOA, HOA, 5.1 channels, and 7.1+4 height channels, while preserving the authenticity of the audio scene. Spatial Audio Microphone Processing is the first audio technology to be delivered under Fraunhofer’s upHear brand of immersive audio innovations.
Cingo Composer: Simplified immersive sound production for Virtual Reality
Looking for a tool that simplifies mixing immersive sound for VR? If so, be sure to check out the Cingo Composer plugin at AES! We recently released a BETA version of the plugin that allows sound designers to easily mix, pan and monitor audio channels, ambisonics audio, as well as audio objects using Fraunhofer Cingo. The plugin supports export of MPEG-H ready audio essence and metadata, plus export of FOA and 5.1 for legacy platforms. Therefore, you only need to mix once for any distribution channel.
MPEG-H 3D Audio: Maximum Creative Freedom in the Creation of VR Audio Experiences
The next-generation audio codec enables interactive and immersive audio experiences for VR as it can carry audio channels, ambisonics audio, as well as audio objects with metadata. Fraunhofer’s implementation allows the transmission of 3D sound on mobile devices at the same bit rates used today for the playback of 2D surround sound.
Fraunhofer Cingo: Binaural Rendering for VR HMDs and Applications
In addition to the efficient delivery of immersive sound using MPEG-H, Fraunhofer Cingo optimizes the 3D audio rendering on VR devices and applications with a stunning level of immersion, creating the experience of “being there”. Cingo’s reference customers include Samsung who integrated Cingo into the first generation of the »Gear VR«, LG for its »LG 360 VR« glasses as well as Hulu who integrated Cingo in its app for mobile and tethered VR experiences.
Besides immersive sound, Cingo enables excellent surround sound over stereo speakers and headphones when playing any media content on mobile devices such as tablets or smartphones. Thanks to loudness optimization, Cingo also improves the intelligibility of dialog and commentary making clear, authentic sound possible even in noisy environments. Cingo has been utilized in devices worldwide - for example in the Google Nexus and Pixel family of devices.
VR Player SDK
For effortless integration on VR playback systems, Fraunhofer IIS provides a VR Audio SDK, ready to create a VR experience with MPEG-H 3D Audio decoding and the best-in-class audio rendering.
Please visit our official website for more information.
EVS: The new 3GPP/GSMA voice service codec
Enhanced Voice Services (EVS) is the next-generation 3GPP VoLTE codec, successor of AMR-WB. It is the only and mandatory codec for super-wideband VoLTE/VoWiFi services. EVS enables phone calls with Full-HD Voice quality, bringing call fidelity up to the same level as today’s other digital media services. Integrating state-of-the-art speech and audio coding technology, EVS removes the limitations of bandlimited, voice-centric codecs previously used in mobile communication. The algorithm enables high quality speech, background music and mixed content with the full audible audio spectrum at unmatched low bit rates. Combined with EVS’ advanced robustness against packet loss indoor coverage is considerably enhanced. The algorithm results in clear, natural sounding conversations and vastly improved performance of hold music and ring back tones.
EVS implementation in VoLTE services
T-Mobile USA was the first operator in the world to announce the introduction of EVS in its VoLTE network in April 2016. Only one month later, EVS entered the Asian market: The Japan based operator NTT DoCoMo launched its EVS powered VoLTE service. EVS services are also available in Korea.
In December 2016, EVS reached Europe: The German carrier Vodafone Germany announced the launch of their EVS VoLTE service. Half a year later, in July 2017, the German operator Deutsche Telekom adopted EVS under the name “HD Voice Plus”.
Today, EVS is supported by a broad range of smartphones from major manufacturers, for example, Samsung Galaxy S7/S7 edge and S8/S8+, LG G5 and V20, Sony Xperia XZ/X Performance and XZ Premium, Huawei P10 and P10 Plus and HTC U11.
EVS Patent Portfolio License available from MPEG LA
In June 2017, MPEG Licensing Administration (MPEG LA) announced the availability of an EVS Patent Portfolio License. The License will facilitate future deployments of EVS by providing efficient access to patents related to this telecommunications standard.
xHE-AAC – The audio codec of choice for digital radio and low bit rate streaming
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 starting as low as 6 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 potential to reliably serving billions of 2G users for the first time with uninterrupted music streaming services especially in emerging markets around the globe, from India and Indonesia to African countries. Streaming service providers benefit from drastically reduced CDN cost, while consumers enjoy an improved service quality while saving on their precious monthly data allowance.
DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) is the first digital radio standard to adopt xHE-AAC as the mandatory audio codec and therefore benefiting from its features. xHE-AAC allows for multiple better-than-FM stereo services on a regular medium wave transmission, and up to three stereo services on a single FM frequency for local coverage. Several car manufacturers have already launched new models equipped with xHE-AAC capable DRM receivers in India, with several other Asian and African countries in the process or rolling out DRM services.
At this year’s PT/EXPO, booth visitors will have the chance to experience how well the most advanced audio codec (xHE-AAC) for radio and streaming handles all types of content at lowest and dynamically changing bit rates.