In Broadcast - October 2015 - 80


80

www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 5 - Issue 10 | October 2015

InAudio

Picking An ATSC 3.0 Audio Format
Is Cause For Sound Debate cont'd...
Proponents of MPEG-H Audio say
that this next-generation system
facilitates all types of interactive and
immersive sound features that could
be offered to consumers as part of a
pay-TV service that allows subscribers
to set audio levels of different parts of
a programme.
Dolby AC-4 advocates state that
MPEG-H is simply a codec, while AC-4
is a system maintained by Dolby and
built on over five decades of audio
system experience, two decades of
which focus on television audio from
film and post-production all the way
through to consumers. If Dolby is not
added to the official 3.0 standard,
who will broadcasters, post houses,

CE manufacturers, and consumers
turn to? They also say that the
royalty revenue gained from Dolby's
preceding format, AC-3, has helped
pay for this new AC-4 support network.
It's interesting to note that the
faction that is behind MPEG-H is made
up of some of the same players that
developed the ATSC's ill-fated Mobile
Handheld (M/H) system used by some
broadcasters to send their TV channels
to mobile devices (cell phones, laptops
and other portable media players) and
now largely abandoned. This standard
also excluded Dolby and then went on
to have significant costly audio issues.
The initial rollout resulted in numerous
audio complaints as broadcasters

Dolby AC-4 can carry conventional
channel-based soundtracks and
object-based mixes

Whatever the source type, the decoder
renders and optimises the soundtrack
to suit the playback device

tried to simply map their
ATSC 1.0 audio to the M/H
encoder. As one engineer told
me: "The levels were too low,
people couldn't hear, and they
complained or tuned away."
This caused many stations to
purchase another $6-10K processor
specifically for their mobile services.
Will that same scenario occur again
with ATSC 3.0, which will require
consumers to buy new compatible
television sets and broadcasters
to purchase new encoders and
transmission circuitry for their
stations? Right now, after numerous
conversations with key decision
makers, the prediction for widespread
success among consumers is about
50-50. Time will tell, as the ATSC
finalises its 3.0 spec and elevates
it to a Standard that might not be
mandated by the government (the
Federal Communications Commission),
and thus might not be used by all
broadcasters in the US either.
If, as many predict, smaller stations
elect to stay with ATSC 1.0, which

The Fraunhofer IIS 3D Audio listening lab
in Erlangen, Germany, where the MPEG-H
spec was tested and improved

they will legally be able to do, the US
broadcast industry could wind up with
a situation where some larger markets
will have 4K TV (in reality 3840 X
21603,00-line "Ultra High Definition"
or UHD) available over the air while
others won't. It could become a
competitive edge for stations that have
the capability, as it was in the early
days of the digital-to-HDTV transition,
or it could become a wasted expense,
like those mobile/handheld (M/H)
encoders now mostly sitting on a shelf.
Meanwhile, setting aside logistics
and practicality, at least for the time
being, the MPEG-H vs. AC-4 debate
within the ATSC for the audio part of
the 3.0 specification rages on.

BT Selects
Systembase IP
Audio Codecs
B

T Media & Broadcast, BT Group's
international media services
enterprise business, has recently
expanded their IP Audio capability by
purchasing Systembase C510ip audio
codecs for installation in their fleet of
UHD and HD Outside Broadcast (OB)
trucks. The new codecs will allow BT
Media & Broadcast to offer real-time

"This upgrade is part
of a major refit of the
TV Outside Broadcast
network..."
Neil Huggins
Head of Occasional Use Services
at BT Media & Broadcast

audio delivery over IP networks whilst
maintaining backward compatibility
with their extensive network of C310xr
ISDN audio codecs.
By switching to the Systembase
C510ip it is now possible to stream
audio and video services through
the same IP connection using Virtual
Private Networks (VPNs) to allocate a
fixed amount of IP bandwidth to each
service. In particular, the use of IP
technology for delivering audio will
reduce reliance on the availability
of temporary ISDN installations at
OB locations. Additionally, IP offers
greater flexibility than ISDN, by
allowing dynamic simulcast broadcast
of an audio feed to multiple clients
from a single IP connection.
Managing Director, Andrew Steward,

BT Media & Broadcast's Systembase C510ip set up

has commented: "I am very pleased
that BT have committed to using the
C510ip audio codec, they now join
a growing network of mainstream
broadcasters using Systembase IP
codec technology."
Neil Huggins, Head of Occasional
Use Services at BT Media & Broadcast
added: "BT Media & Broadcast has
always been at the cutting edge of
service delivery. The deployment of

the new Systembase C510ip codecs
across our national fleet of OB
vehicles will give us the ability to
deliver IP comms as well as traditional
ISDN comms on all of our Outside
Broadcasts. This upgrade is part of a
major refit of the TV Outside Broadcast
network, trucks and infrastructure. We
look forward to seeing the benefits of
delivering enhanced services to our
customers."
http://www.inbroadcast.com http://www.iis.fraunhofer.de/en.html http://www.dolby.com/us/en/technologies/AC-4.html http://www.systembase.com/c510ip.htm
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