special report
olympics everywhere supplement The content chain
local Dolby audio technology resident on the device (eg surround sound virtualisation for speaker & headphone). • The content is streamed to a mobile device with constrained bandwidth. The audio stream is treated in the same way and remains under the control of the audio metadata and is then profiled to run on a specific mobile device to ensure the optimal EQ is used, for example, for the richest audio experience. An example of this is the new Nokia N8 and N9 phones. It is a mixture of its heritage from
the ability to consume wherever you are. We have been part of the forums that have set out the technology and, in some cases, have directly developed it. For us a future vision for content delivery is centrally important but this vision must be anchored in the reality of today. A reality which has seen many broadcasters upgrade their facilities to more adaptive file- based systems allowing them to automate procedures and scale services - essential when so many devices have to be supported and optimised for. Today it is possible to send a complete audio stream in brilliant surround sound quality for less than 200kbps with no need to send additional streams for the stereo mix as they are all contained within the single stream (around 3% of a typical online HD movie stream). This audio stream can contain all the information it needs to convert full surround sound into virtualised surround sound for headphones or downmix to stereo whilst all the time managing the overall dynamic range and loudness levels of the content. The stream can contain audio description information as well as multi-language audio sub- streams. So the key word here is flexibility. With so many devices each with varying capabilities and requirements it is vital that as content is being prepared for playout it is supported by an audio format that can scale in quality from efficient low bit- rates into higher, richer bit-rates where bandwidth is less constrained. At the heart of how Dolby audio
works is the philosophy of working with end-to-end partners. By working with partners across the whole
content chain from production to distribution to consumption we are able to provide that reassurance of audio quality and scalability. This reassurance is achieved by first ingesting or capturing the audio essence, measuring it and characterising it, for example against a loudness standard like EBU R128 or ITU 1770-2. Once this automated process has been completed any changes to the audio can be made (changes which reside in the audio metadata and are not destructive to the audio itself). Finally, storing the content in a specific format for playout (either via an intermediate format like Dolby-E, SMPTE2020 or BWav or by rendering the audio inside a container format like mp4). Once the content is played out either via a CDN or traditional transmission infrastructure the metadata is used to control the receiving/playback device. A typical scenario would be as follows: • A movie is encoded at source into an intermediate professional format like BWav (with audio metadata included). • The audio is then transcoded for playout into a Dolby Digital Plus audio track (with all metadata preserved) and sent via multiple distribution channel, eg DVB-T2 and streamed via CDN. Play back examples:
• The content is received by a TV and decoded (using the audio metadata to control the quality of the audio - eg its loudness, stereo downmix, dynamic range, surround sound characterisation). • The content is received by a PC or tablet as a file or stream and played back under the control of the audio metadata and taking advantage of the
Dolby Digital and its inherent flexibility to scale across different platforms and delivery systems that gives Dolby Digital Plus its differentiation from other audio technologies. It is a technology that looks to the future but is anchored in the reality of today (it can decode traditional Dolby Digital). Currently Dolby Digital Plus is supported in over 90% of HDTVs in Europe, and it is also carried in many set top boxes and games consoles. This means the technology now
The
consumer drives what we do. We have to lead and inspire but we must never lose sight or move too far ahead of the consumer.
exists for the consumer to enjoy major sporting events on multiple devices - through broadcast transmission, streamed or on-demand (eg for catch-up services).
Preparation and awareness
For Dolby the consumer is where the story begins and ends. We believe that everyone involved in content delivery, no matter now embedded, must consider the consumer. The consumer drives what we do. We have to lead and inspire the consumer but we must never lose sight or move too far ahead of the consumer. Engagement must always be within the reach of the consumer and to achieve this takes a lot of professional training to enable services, promotion of services in partnership with broadcasters and content aggregators, and cooperation with consumer electronics companies and retailers to help inform and engage consumers. This is why we engage end-to-end both from a technology point of view and from a marketing point of view. Consumers all want a great audio
experience but they want something manageable, easy to set up and to maintain. With the new technology infrastructures building out and the next generation video and audio technologies being deployed, the consumer can now truly enjoy an audio rich experience wherever they are - whether on-demand or live streamed.
www.ibeweb.com l olympics everywhere supplement november/december 2011 l ibe l 29
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