Did the ATSC Let the Cat Out of the Bag on 3.0 Audio?
A slide used at the HPA conference in February said that Dolby AC-4 will be recommended as the ATSC 3.0 audio standard for the United States.
At the HPA Technology Retreat in Indian Wells, California last month, a presentation was made focusing on ATSC 3.0. It was nothing special, simply an overview of the technology, like ones often done before.
However, a slide came up that answered what might be one of the hottest unanswered questions lingering about the state of ATSC 3.0 audio.
Jim Starzynski, director and principal audio engineer for NBCUniversal, said the ATSC’s ad hoc group working on audio is “drafting candidate standard now.”
But the remaining question is which of two standards will win? Will it be Dolby AC-4 or MPEG-H? No one has said and the secrecy surrounding the subject has been deafening.
Well, maybe a slip up has answered the question.
A slide used at the conference revealed the answer. Dolby AC-4 will be recommended by the S34-2 committee for use in the United States, the slide said. For the rest of the world, each country or region is free to choose an audio standard.
Here is the slide. Sources have confirmed it was shown in public at the forum.
The ATSC slide shown in public at HPA.
You might also like...
HDR & WCG For Broadcast: Part 3 - Achieving Simultaneous HDR-SDR Workflows
Welcome to Part 3 of ‘HDR & WCG For Broadcast’ - a major 10 article exploration of the science and practical applications of all aspects of High Dynamic Range and Wide Color Gamut for broadcast production. Part 3 discusses the creative challenges of HDR…
IP Security For Broadcasters: Part 4 - MACsec Explained
IPsec and VPN provide much improved security over untrusted networks such as the internet. However, security may need to improve within a local area network, and to achieve this we have MACsec in our arsenal of security solutions.
IP Security For Broadcasters: Part 3 - IPsec Explained
One of the great advantages of the internet is that it relies on open standards that promote routing of IP packets between multiple networks. But this provides many challenges when considering security. The good news is that we have solutions…
The Resolution Revolution
We can now capture video in much higher resolutions than we can transmit, distribute and display. But should we?
Microphones: Part 3 - Human Auditory System
To get the best out of a microphone it is important to understand how it differs from the human ear.