NAB Product News
Harris and TC Electronic Unveil File-Based Solution to Address Loudness Monitoring
By
Apr 9, 2008 - 11:39:59 AM

Booth N4202

Harris and TC Electronic have teamed up to put and end to the annoying audio jumps viewers often endure when TV programs to go commercial. At NAB, Harris Corporation will unveil the latest version of its Videotek QuiC media analysis server, a first-of-its-kind product that combines loudness monitoring technology from TC Electronic with the QuiC system's automated quality control and correction tools.

"Today's television viewer is very familiar with audio levels that jump to unacceptable levels, especially during commercial breaks, which causes millions of annoyed viewers to dive for their remotes to turn the sound down and is counter-productive for commercial television," says Thomas Lund, program manager for TC Electronic A/S. "As more channels and platforms are being controlled by fewer master control operators, our loudness monitoring tools offer broadcasters a unique, automated solution for this problem."

TC Electronic developed metadata based on the open ITU-R BS.1770 standard that describes the loudness levels of compressed audio files residing on servers. The QuiC File Correction Tool then adjusts the audio to an acceptable dynamic range without returning to baseband. This audio processing takes place during ingest to enable quality control of incoming content prior to air.

Harris first introduced QuiC in April 2006, and existing QuiC systems can be upgraded with TC loudness monitoring and control software.

"QuiC is now a mature, full-featured system that consolidates a wide array of essential quality control features within a single, compact system," said Tim Thorsteinson, president of Harris Broadcast Communications. "Our latest version, including loudness monitoring and correction, solves a pressing problem that plagues broadcasters and content providers in this multichannel, multiplatform distribution environment."

Since July, 2007, Harris and TC Electronic have been working in close cooperation to integrate TC Electronic's software into the Videotek QuiC system.