Fraunhofer and Sinclair Show Digital Radio Mondiale Integration Into ATSC 3.0 Digital TV Platform

Fraunhofer IIS, the primary developer of the xHE-AAC audio codec and long-time member of the ATSC as well as the DRM Consortium, and Sinclair Broadcast Group, the US media company, are joining forces to bring the best possible DRM digital radio experience to users of the ATSC 3.0 digital TV platform. This is definitely a great idea to relaunch awareness of digital radio services, which have remained largely ignored in the midst of the streaming media transition.

Learn more about next generation audio and MPEG-H Audio, the industry’s most advanced audio system for UHD-TV and streaming. A new webinar series promoted by Fraunhofer IIS, featuring a distinguished panel of experts in standardization, broadcast and production workflows will talk about pioneering solutions for immersive audio and video production, efficient delivery formats and live encoders for broadcast and OTT, as well as creation of enhanced consumer experiences. Register now for the three sessions, October 6, 8, 13, 2020.

Fraunhofer IIS, one of 72 institutes and research units of Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Europe’s largest application-oriented research organization, announced the licensing of its MPEG-H Audio patents to LG Electronics, allowing the Korean consumer electronics giant to produce products which feature MPEG-H object-based Audio. In South Korea, terrestrial ATSC 3.0 broadcasting with MPEG-H Audio is already on air, making MPEG-H the world’s first commercialized next-generation TV-audio technology.

In my previous report on IBC 2018, I addressed some key technology trends from the IBC show in Amsterdam (September 13-18, 2018), in the perspective of audio technology, content production, and distribution. Of course, on the backbone of all the tremendous changes that are currently happening in the media business, broadcast, and professional production, the topic of audio-over-IP (AoIP) and the ongoing transition to fully IP-enabled operations in all platforms - traditional linear television, radio (digital, hybrid, virtual, etc.), and new over-the-top and on-demand streaming services - is front and center.

At the recent European Championships athletics competition in Berlin (August 7-12), the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) conducted successful trials of a broadcast production environment mixing to both Dolby AC-4 and MPEG-H 7.0.4 channel-based formats with English and French commentary, and English and French Audio Description as object channels, feeding channel direct outputs for an MPEG-H High Order Ambisonic mix simultaneously. Solid State Logic provided a fully IP-based System T solution for the EBU-Eurovision.

Object-Based Audio. You’ve heard the term. It means we no longer need to record audio information in 6 (5.1), 8 (7.1), or an insane number of audio channels – 22.2, as Japan is pitching for its 8K production and broadcast standard – to properly convey the spatial information of sound reproduction. And not necessarily only for sophisticated soundtracks in immersive formats. And that's where the industry is heading, leaving our precious "audiophile" discussions about the ideal "production standards" for stereo recording and reproduction of music in the dust.