The membership of the International Telecommunication Union
(ITU) has granted approval for open standards, in line with the recommendation
ITU-R BS.2088-0, aimed at delivering advanced sound for broadcasting services
that will create a listening experience that is closer to real life, reports
ITRealms.
The new global standards will facilitate the production and
exchange of advanced audio files by allowing a single file to carry a complete
audio programme containing audio samples as well as metadata for any
combination of object, channel and scene-based audio. The new file format was
developed based on the existing and widely used Resource Interchange File
Format (RIFF) or Waveform Audio File Format (WAVE/WAV) Filename extension file
format in order to facilitate its application and implementation.
ITRealms reports that sound have become an indispensable
part of television and radio, just as in real life, experts say, man hear sound
from all around; a bird above us, a car behind us, and a voice ahead of us.
ITU in a press statement made available to ITRealms also
noted that emulating this same experience in the media will be ‘immersive
audio’.
“Coupled with new high quality Ultra High Definition
Television (UHDTV), which offers enhanced image rendition, immersive audio will
lift the television experience to an entirely new level, further blurring the
line between physical reality and virtual or digital simulation,” part of the
press statement read.
Future technical capabilities for audio, ITU said, will allow
viewers to select their own menu of services. “They will be able to decide on
and adjust the level of immersive sound in their living rooms, creating dynamic
sound imaging,”
ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao was quoted as saying that
these features become possible with ‘object based coding’, which will allow
viewers to personalize their viewing and listening experience ‘at the point of
consumption’.
This, he said, could include setting language and dialogue
levels and selecting different aspects or sections of programming, which could
also bring added benefits for people with disabilities.
“The ITU global standard for immersive audio sets an
important step for an exciting new age of ‘sound’ for broadcasting,” Zhao said stressing
that the advanced audio systems will provide additional features and
performance well beyond those available today.
For the Director, ITU Radiocommunication Bureau, François
Rancy, the role that sound plays in the media is under-estimated, pointed out
that “The work of ITU, along with other standards bodies, is creating a very
exciting future for audio production, delivery and programming.”
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