Public Release Imminent on Call for Proposals on Audio for Next-Gen ATSC 3.0

The ATSC plans to release publicly Tuesday its call for proposals on audio codecs for the next-gen ATSC 3.0 broadcast system, sources close to the ATSC told us Monday. Release of the call for proposals, which had been expected for the past month (see 1411060033), is a major step toward building the audio and video compression components of ATSC 3.0. When coupled with its new physical layer, ATSC 3.0's video and audio codecs will make for a next-gen system that will be "far more efficient, far more robust and far more flexible" than the existing ATSC DTV broadcast system, its framers said. HEVC likely will be the backbone video codec for ATSC 3.0, they said. ATSC’s "S34-2" ad hoc group on ATSC 3.0 audio is charged with drafting specs that would allow an "immersive" experience, said the group’s chairman, Jim Starzynski, director and principal audio engineer at NBCUniversal Advanced Engineering, at an ATSC 3.0 "Boot Camp" conference last spring. ATSC 3.0 audio is expected to have two parts, its "personalization" aspect and its immersive home theater surround component, the ad hoc group said. For ATSC 3.0 surround, the ad hoc group for months has been "zoning in" on an object-based, height-rich format it calls "7.1 plus 4," which includes four height speakers, it has said. The announcement to be released Tuesday stresses the personalized and immersive audio experiences ATSC hopes to gain through ATSC 3.0. "Personalization includes enhancement to the control of dialog, use of alternate audio tracks and mixing of assistive audio services, other-language dialog, special commentary, and music and effects," it quotes ATSC President Mark Richer as saying. "Plus, the system will support both the normalization of content loudness and contouring of dynamic range, based on the specific capabilities of a user's fixed or mobile device and its unique sound environment." As for its "immersive audio functionality," it’s hoped ATSC 3.0 will envelop "the listener with precise sound source localization in azimuth, elevation and distance, and provides an increased sense of presence," Richer says in the announcement. "These features can be supported over the listening area, without the need for a large number of physical speakers." Systems submitted in the call for proposals "will be judged discretely and in their entirety, as comprehensive, end-to-end systems for emission of the ATSC signal," the announcement will say. It requests that proponents submit "only complete audio solutions that satisfy ATSC 3.0 system needs, because the ATSC does not intend to develop the ATSC 3.0 audio system out of independent components from multiple sources." The ATSC 3.0 audio system is expected to support audio with video content as well as audio-only content, it says.