Version 6.04 (002)

Next Generation Audio

Active project

A new generation of audio technologies has arrived in broadcasting.

It is necessary to talk about Next Generation Audio because in broadcasting it is prefiguring a higly innovative scenario, in which, in addition to the traditional increase of coding efficiency typical of technology evolution, new and important features are added, which will require the contents producers an adaptation of their production workflow.

These functionalities represent a new audiovisual experience based on personalization, accessibility and immersiveness.

The personalization will allow the user to model the experience according to his own preferences. For example, during a sport event, to have the possibility to choose different types of comment, choosing sound level respetc to the environment or even deleting the comment, exaclty as if you were witnessing the event.

A similar personalization will require the broadcaster the transmission of a more complex signal, in which different audio objects (in the cited case the voices of comment) are not mixed by the broadcaster but they are transmitted and coded separately and then mixed by the receiver according to the user’s settings.

The accessibility will allow the user with particular needs related to auditory or visual limitations to modify, typically emphasizing the level of speech established by the broadcaster or adding the audio description signal.

The immersivity will allow the broadcaster to create sound events with spatiality (3D Audio) which can be used by the users with sophisticated reprodutcion systems (eg systems with speakers positioned on the ceiling) or with binaural playback techniques in case of listening using headphones, always ensuring a proper use for those with most common multichannel or stereo reproduction systems.

On this theme the CRIT is active in the evaluation of Next Generation Audio technologies both in terms of coding efficiency and in experimentation of hte new features introduced, among which the immersion requires experimentation of new technological solutions of audio playback as soundbars or listening systems with a proper loudspeakers configuration.