Markets To Define Winning ATSC 3.0 Audio Codec Amid AC-4/MPEG-H Impasse
The MPEG-H audio alliance of Fraunhofer, Qualcomm and Technicolor is “pleased that MPEG-H likely will be the first new audio system put on the air by broadcasters, as it now is being built into TVs and professional equipment for Korean ATSC 3.0 broadcasts that will start in 2017.” So said an MPEG-H spokesman in an email hailing the inclusion of MPEG-H as one of two audio codecs -- with Dolby AC-4 -- in ATSC’s A/342 document now out for balloting among ATSC members. Once balloting is complete in early May, A/342 with its dual audio codecs would be elevated to the status of an ATSC 3.0 candidate standard (see 1603280043).
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MPEG audio codecs “provide half the world's television audio delivery today,” the MPEG-H spokesman said in his email. “That is the case even though a number of worldwide standards allow for inclusion of more than one audio codec. We expect a similar level of deployment with the latest MPEG audio system -- MPEG-H 3D Audio.”
The Fraunhofer-Qualcomm-Technicolor alliance is “excited” that MPEG-H audio “has been chosen by ATSC for submission to ballot to be a Candidate Standard,” the spokesman said. “This is a reflection that many ATSC members clearly see the unique benefits of MPEG-H 3D audio.” The spokesman said those benefits include: (1) The ability to “efficiently encode immersive, interactive, and personalized audio with high quality over a wide range of bit rates”; (2) Support for “multiple, simultaneous audio formats including channel-, object- and scene- based formats”; (3) Provisions for “multi-tiered, layered/scalable coding”; (4) A “complete rendering solution that adapts to any loudspeaker configuration”; and (5) “Low cost and ease of deployment.”
Dolby Labs representatives didn’t comment on the inclusion of AC-4 in the candidate standard ballot. But the company released a statement Thursday trumpeting its AC-4 "collaboration" with Samsung that it said includes Samsung's "commitment" to ship "select" TV models with AC-4 beginning in 2017. Dolby will work closely with Samsung, broadcasters and streaming services "to advance the industry's experience with next-generation audio and drive consumer awareness of next-generation audio entertainment experiences delivered in Dolby AC-4," the statement said. "Adding Samsung to the growing list of CE manufacturers, SoC providers, and professional partners that support Dolby AC-4 brings Dolby one step closer to offering consumers revolutionary personalized and immersive broadcast audio experiences."
Samsung deemed it "logical to include Dolby AC-4 in our products​ now to ensure our customers have this new technology to support the upcoming ATSC 3.0 standard and other standards worldwide," said a statement that Dolby attributed to "the Samsung Visual Display R&D Team." Samsung representatives didn't comment on whether the AC-4 collaboration precludes adopting MPEG-H or whether the commitment to launch AC-4 TVs applies specifically to South Korea, where ATSC 3.0 broadcast services are scheduled to launch in 2017, a year ahead of the February 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.
That ATSC opted in the A/342 document to designate both competing audio systems with the recommendation that only one should be used in a given global region follows many months of delays during which ATSC 3.0's framers grappled with designating a single audio codec, but failed to do so. We’re told by ATSC insiders that the A/342 candidate standard, once approved, will be composed of three parts -- one describing the common elements of the two codecs, and one each for a technical summary of AC-4 and for MPEG-H. It's unclear how A/342 defines individual world regions, if it does so at all, or how or if it puts into words the recommendation that there be only one codec used in a given region. ATSC insiders said that after months of delays, there was a fervent push within the organization to get both ATSC 3.0 audio codecs documented first, and have industry worry about those implementation issues later.
With A/342's failure to designate a single audio codec, and letting the market decide, ATSC 3.0's framers opted in a sense “to kick the can down the road a little bit further,” said one observer. But questions abound about how ATSC's decision to kick the can down the road might bring clarity to choosing an ATSC 3.0 audio codec, deliberations on which have been at an impasse for many months. There were few answers in the joint petition that CTA, NAB and others filed Wednesday at the FCC asking the commission to begin a rulemaking that would allow broadcasters to use ATSC 3.0 by authorizing the format's physical layer, leaving other components of the ATSC 3.0 platform, including audio, for industry to decide (see 1604130065). "Along with higher resolution and better picture quality, Next Generation TV will support a deeply immersive audio experience with accurate sound localization, customizable sound mixes, and a greater sense of spatial sound envelopment," the petition said in one of its few references to ATSC 3.0 audio.