Harris to Demonstrate Loudness Management Solutions at IBC 2011

Harris will demonstrate its complete loudness management solution to international audiences for the first time at IBC — specifically addressing the significance of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) loudness control recommendations in Europe.

“The DTV loudness issue affects broadcasters worldwide, as viewers often change channels when commercials come across significantly louder than the programs,” said Harris Morris, president, Harris Broadcast Communications.  “In the U.S., this has led to the passage of the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) act to prevent needlessly loud commercials.  Similar measures in Europe are designed to promote international harmonization around the ITU-R BS.1770 and EBU R 128 recommendations.  Harris’ loudness solutions are built to meet these and other standards and recommendations globally.”

Loudness Management
The complete Harris loudness management solution features tools for file-based analysis, real-time correction, and signal measurement and logging.  A dedicated loudness management station at the Harris booth will highlight the complete three-stage loudness demonstration, with visitors able to hear the loudness control in action and experience how to dynamically choose when and how much correction to apply.

At the front end, the Harris® QuiC™ solution provides file-based analysis and correction tools for ingest applications.  Harris will also show its APM6803+ multichannel audio processing station to international audiences for the first time at IBC.  The APM6803+ features DTS Neural Loudness Control and uses critical band analysis for perceptual loudness measurements.  This preserves the spectral balance of the signal and delivers a natural, open quality not found in traditional multiband compression technology.  The Harris® Videotek® LLM-1770 device provides real-time measurement and logging for transmission and compliance applications at the third and final stage.

Harris also will integrate Videotek loudness logging into the “as-run log” of Harris® ADC™ automation software — an industry first.  Additionally, Harris will show new enhancements to the Videotek MSA Series for multi-source analysis at IBC, including loudness monitoring and alarms for MPEG streams.

Advanced Audio Processing
The APM6803+ is a comprehensive solution for managing loudness and surround sound audio streams, featuring DTS Neural Surround™ UpMix, DownMix and MultiMerge solutions to achieve unparalleled surround sound image placement and stability.  Flexible user-defined workflows and intelligent metadata handling ensure that the right processing is applied at the right time, allowing broadcasters to meet regulations while preserving the artistic integrity of the content.

The APM6803+ is an audio processing system on a card and can be configured to support a wide variety of multichannel applications.  Its ability to incorporate dual Dolby® encoders and encoders, a full-featured SD/HD/3G-SDI audio/video frame synchronizer, and discrete AES inputs and outputs allows the APM6803+ to handle virtually any type of signal.  Setup is simplified through a virtual stream interface that eliminates complicated routing and configuration menus.

In broadcast communications, Harris offers products, systems and services that provide interoperable workflow solutions for broadcast, cable, satellite and out-of-home networks.  The Harris ONE™ solution brings together highly integrated and cost-effective products that enable advanced media workflows for emerging content delivery business models.