DTV Audio Group Forum at AES To Look Far and Forward

The DTV Audio Group has finalized its forum program for the 2013 AES Show (Oct. 17-19) at New York’s Javits Center. Scheduled for 2:30-6 p.m. on Friday Oct. 18, “Audio Production and Distribution in an Evolving Television Delivery Landscape” is intended to explore the opportunities and challenges presented by advanced encoding schemes and to debate whether ubiquitous mobile and over-the-top content delivery demands a retrenchment to more-limited audio or could lead to further audio advances. The discussion will also address the long-term implications of mobile data’s inevitable annexation of available broadcast spectrum and the resulting impact on wireless production and will once again revisit the challenges of producing multichannel music for television.

“The transition from traditional broadcasting to a largely stream-based model opens up a lot of possibilities but potentially adds to confusion as different entities pursue a range of formats and encoding solutions,” says DTV Audio Group Executive Director Roger Charlesworth. “The demand for more-sophisticated interactive and object-oriented services on next-generation streaming appliances and the transition to streaming of highly sophisticated cinema formats at the very high end are directly at odds with the common perception that television audio now needs to be dumbed down for mobile and desktop streaming. This disconnect between competing visions creates a strategic dilemma for content producers who are looking for universal delivery standards and workflow practices across a range of delivery platforms.”

He further tells SVG that the transition to streaming brings up interesting and challenging questions: “What is the vision for broadcast audio as television goes over-the-top and mobile? Is this an opportunity for enhancement? Does the agility of streaming platforms allow for more-sophisticated interactive, object-oriented surround formats, and can surround virtualization play an important role in bringing a more immersive experience to mobile users?”

Those questions and others will be addressed by panels with considerable technical star power. After a keynote address by SVG Chairman Tom Sahara, VP of operations and technology, Turner Sports, the forum will offer the following panels:

A Paler Shade of White: Facing the Realities of Shrinking Professional Wireless Spectrum
Panelists:
Mark Brunner, Shure, Senior Director of Global Public Relations
Joe Ciaudelli, Sennheiser, Director, Advanced Products and Engineering
Kevin Cleary, ESPN, Senior Audio Producer
Henry Cohen, CP Communications, Senior RF Design Engineer
Peter Larsson, Broadcast Sports Inc., General Manager
Mike Noseworthy, NBC Universal, Senior Audio Engineer, Field Operations

Objects Are Closer Than They Appear: Interactivity, Object-Oriented Audio, and Advanced Channel Formats in Next-Generation Services
Panelists:
Robert Bleidt, Fraunhofer USA, Division GM
Jean-Marc Jot, DTS, VP, Research and Development
Jim Starzynski, NBCUniversal, Director and Principal Audio Engineer
Nicholas Tsingos, Dolby Laboratories, Senior Platform Engineer

How Many Channels Is Your Cloud?: Expanding Visions of Television Audio for Mobile and Over-the-Top Streaming Delivery
Panelists:
Hardys Eggum, HBO, VP, Media Technology
Stacey Foster, Saturday Night Live, Coordinating Producer
Peter Scott, Turner Sports, VP, Emerging Media
Sean Richardson, Starz Entertainment, Director of Post Production, Audio

Television Vs. Music, Round Two: Revisiting the Joys of Multichannel Music and the Struggle for Stereo Compatibility
Panelists:
Roger Charlesworth, DTV Audio Group, President; Charlesworth Media, Executive Director
Ken Hahn, Sync Sound and Digital Cinema, Co-Founder and Principal
Lawrence Manchester, Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, Senior Music Mixer

The DTV Audio Group Forum at AES is produced in association with the SVG and is sponsored by Dale Pro Audio, Dolby Laboratories, DTS, JBL Professional, Linear Acoustic, and Studer.