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LOUDNESS CONTROL
THE DPP MADE A SIGNIFICANT ANNOUNCEMENT BY INTRODUCING EBU R128 LOUDNESS FOR TV BROADCAST IN THE UK DURING IBC 2013. NEIL HATTON EXPLAINS.
The most significant launch at IBC 2013 for those who work in the UK broadcast industry was the Digital Production Partnership’s (DPP) announcement of 1st October 2014 as the date by which all the major broadcasters would be taking file delivery of programmes. This major pronouncement overshadowed the introduction of their latest Technical Delivery Standards which were unveiled at the same event. Their Version 4 spec now includes EBU R128 loudness as had been widely expected. With audio loudness regulation sweeping the world such as the CALM act in the USA and R128 now commonplace in Europe, the DPP broadcasters decided to pre-empt any intervention by OFCOM by self-regulating.
Jumps in loudness around commercial breaks and programme junctions have been a problem for years.
Advertising and promo producers have sought to create ear-catching, high-energy mixes by the over-use of compression much to the irritation of viewers who are constantly reaching for their TV remotes.
Loudness standards like R128 take into account the way our ears and brains perceive sound. It acknowledges that loudness is a function of frequency and also a function of time. The old paradigm of mixing to PPM6 is a hangover from analogue days when we were primarily concerned with avoiding peak distortion and therefore we normalised all programme material to its peak electrical level with generous headroom, rather than its perceived loudness. Whilst we still need to avoid digital clipping, the introduction of true peak meters means that there is less need to leave as much headroom as was needed when using the old quasi-peak PPMs.
Click here to visit the HHB Loudness Resource Centre
hhb.co.uk
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