MPEG-H Audio Alliance shows audio system at CES2016

Tuesday, January 5th, 2016
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MPEG-H Audio Alliance presents television audio of the future

LAS VEGAS — CES 2016, Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC), South Hall, booth 21044 — At CES, Fraunhofer presents the audio system developed by the MPEG-H Audio Alliance of Fraunhofer IIS, Technicolor and Qualcomm. It allows broadcasters and streaming services to deliver the future of video streaming and TV audio at comparably low bit rates and in a cost-effective manner.

The MPEG-H Audio Alliance system is designed to work with today’s broadcast and streaming equipment. It includes object-based and immersive audio that allows viewers to adjust the sound mix to their preferences and improves the realism of sound. Furthermore it will tailor playback to sound best on a range of devices and environments, providing “universal delivery”.

Fraunhofer IIS will show real-time encoding and decoding as well as authoring and rendering of the new TV audio system. The combined audio/video content will be broadcast to a Technicolor consumer set-top box for playback so that visitors can experience the new interactive and immersive features in a living room environment. Fraunhofer IIS will also demonstrate a new prototype 3D soundbar for convenient playback of 3D sound in any living room without the need to installing a 3D loudspeaker setup. Besides playback in a living room, visitors at the Fraunhofer booth can also enjoy MPEG-H 3D Audio on the virtual reality device Samsung Gear VR and on tablet computer speakers.

To enable broadcasters and streaming service providers to take advantage of all the features of MPEG-H Audio, new products have been developed, some of which will be on display at the Fraunhofer booth:

  • The Jünger Audio MPEG-H Audio Monitoring and Authoring Units adapts today’s 5.1 consoles for immersive audio production and allows operations to audition MPEG-H Audio in the plant as it will be reproduced on viewer’s devices.
  • Real-time encoders and decoders that include MPEG-H Audio, supporting all phases of content delivery including contribution, distribution and emission using AVC video in our demonstrations.