www.psneurope.com
June 2014 l 27
broadcastreport WORLD
Could the return of long-dormant technologies like binaural and Ambisonics – now collectively known as “3D sound” – be broadcast audio’s answer to immersive sound in cinema? Kevin Hilton investigates
SINCE THE earliest days of sound reproduction, inventors have strived to accurately replicate how humans hear in everyday life, with sensations of height and depth as well as width and length. Cinema has again led the way with Dolby Atmos and Auro by Barco, but in broadcast, developers are looking towards older technologies to create spatial audio.
Just when some technologies appear to have been consigned to the technical history books, they suddenly make a comeback to fulfil a need in modern broadcast and media production. Two prime examples from the sound world are binaural and Ambisonics, both of which have formed the
delivers virtual 11.1 surround to standard headphones, based on a customisable 3D audio renderer for localisation and spatialisation. DTS is aiming Headphone:X both at music/video and the games market, with a feature to allow gamers to save audio preferences on multiple devices for a consistent experience using many platforms.
Headphones formed part of the earliest experiments into what became known as stereo sound, often allowing more of an emulation of the full spatial information people naturally hear. Stereo was publicly demonstrated in 1881 during the International Exposition of Electricity, when Clarence Adler
“There are lots of potential applications for binaural sound, and when done really well, it’s very convincing”
Chris Pike, BBC R&D
basis of the BBC’s research into new formats for immersive sound in television, radio and general distribution to new mobile devices.
The appetite for so-called 3D sound is certainly there, as shown by the success of Dolby’s Atmos object-based spatial cinema system. A competitor is Auro 11.1, developed by Auro Technologies and marketed for the theatrical market by Barco. Dolby also sees potential for surround sound in the mobile device market, initially with its Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 system, but now is taking the concept further after demos of Atmos for handhelds during Mobile World Congress in February. DTS is another company looking to headphones and handheld devices. Its Headphone:X technology
placed 10 telephone transmitters around the stage of the Paris Opera. These were connected to corresponding pairs of telephone receivers at the Palace of Industry, where the public could hear the performances picked up through a spaced pair of microphones. It is said this basic equipment allowed listeners to identify the position of different sound sources. Binaural techniques were refined during the 20th century by placing microphones in a dummy head so that listeners wearing headphones would hear exactly what the recording setup “heard” in terms of the positioning of sounds.
The technique fell out of favour as a listener had to sit very still for true reproduction of the original audio picture, and the general preference moved towards
Old-school surround: the return of binaural
people listening on loudspeakers for greater convenience and freedom of movement. But
binaural never really went away, and in recent years BBC R&D at its MediaCityUK
A Brüel & Kjær Head and Torso Simulator (HATS) dummy head
facility in Salford has used it as a basis for experiments into immersive audio.
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