At Inter BEE 2024, professionals from Japan and all over the world gather to present and discuss the latest advancements in the broadcast sector. As ARIB is currently working on an all-new next-generation terrestrial TV standard for Japan, this year’s event promises to be particularly exciting.
Among the technologies and solutions Fraunhofer IIS is showcasing from November 13-15 in Chiba at their booth 6204 is MPEG-H Audio, the Next Generation Audio (NGA) system for broadcast and streaming which has recently been chosen as the only mandatory audio codec for Brazil’s upcoming DTV+ broadcast system. It is the most sophisticated object-based audio technology on the market and excels through advanced personalization and accessibility options. It is also the only standardized NGA system that can automatically adapt the immersive sound experience to the individual listening environment. MPEG-H Audio is the only audio system capable to deliver 3D Audio sound using the 22.2 speaker layout developed by the largest Japanese broadcaster NHK and has been selected for the upcoming Advanced ISDB-T TV standard in Japan.
Visitors to the Fraunhofer booth can experience a range of tools and solutions that are already available for the market-ready MPEG-H Audio system and are currently rolled out in Brazil.
The first step of any broadcast and streaming experience is content production. Creatives can immediately go ahead with their first production of customizable immersive sound, as MPEG-H Audio is available in the most relevant DAWs for live and postproduction on the market, including Avid’s Pro Tools, Steinberg’s Nuendo, and DaVinci resolve by Blackmagic Design. Fraunhofer also provide their own toolkit that can be used to explore MPEG-H Audio.
A specialized, AI-based tool for the live production at sports events gives insights into the personalized experiences available thanks to MPEG-H Audio. MIXaiR by Salsa Sound enables the creation of immersive audio mixes with interactivity and personalization features via audio event detection. An AI engine processing the input microphone feeds lets creators output as many different mix variants as they like. This results in different crowd variants (broadcast, fan experience, home/away) or additional commentary feeds (different languages commentary or audio description), which can then be selected by the individual listener for their own favorite experience. The actual application of this tool is demonstrated at the Fraunhofer IIS booth in an all-in-one live showcase: Microphone feeds of a sports event are passed on to MIXaiR, where a production session is interactively set up to show how simple the production of immersive MPEG-H Audio content is. This content is then encoded with the MainConcept Encoder and played back on an MPEG-H Audio decoder created by Fraunhofer IIS.
And finally, visitors can experience the delivery of content using tools and solutions that are already available on the market. KORG’s Live Extreme encoding technology delivers high-end audio and video, including high-resolution and immersive audio formats, allowing audiences to hear every nuance of a performance. It supports MPEG-H Audio and is used in a live chain that connects the headquarters of Fraunhofer IIS in Germany to the booth in Japan: AV content is encoded in Erlangen with the Live Extreme Encoder and delivered as a DASH/HLS stream to the booth where it is played back on the Artist Connection App.
Visit us at booth 6204 to explore all aspects of MPEG-H Audio!
