IBC 2007 (Stand 2.218)
Soundprocessing pioneers Dolby Labs claims it has solved the infamous loudness problem associated with TV broadcasts, especially when the commercials that come on thesounds like the volume is turned up to the maximum. Commercial makers try to grab viewers’ attention by compounding the audio, which is then perceived as being much louder than the preceding broadcast. Startled viewers then nervously grab for the remote to lower the volume or even flick the channel.There is also a perceived difference in volume, zapping along the channels on offer.
Dolby Volume is designed to “improve the TV listening experience by levelling the volume across channels and programmes while preserving the full listening experience at any volume level”, Dolby said in announcing the new product.
According to Dolby, “Dolby Volume is unique in that it measures, analyses, and controls volume based on how humans perceive and organise sound. It reproduces any audio signal, stereo or multichannel, at any desired playback level, naturally and transparently”.
Ready for inclusion in TV sets and AV receivers, Dolby Volume lets the user set the volume level and keeps it there. At the same time, it recreates the audio’s dynamics at any set volume level.
“As volume decreases, our ears become less sensitive to the highand low-end frequency extremes. Volume Modeler compensates for this by dynamically adjusting the bass and treble so that listeners continue to hear all the ambience and nuance in the soundtrack”.
Dolby is currently also promoting its TrueHD uncompressed 14 channel audio for Blu-Ray and HD-DVD discs and the AAC Plus based audio compression system to complement HDTV broadcast it has developed with MPEG codec specialist Coding Technologies.