Tim Carroll

In coming months, I will try to cover the "nuts and bolts" of audio for both digital and analog television, focusing on the issues and applications within the broadcast plant.

Last time we introduced the idea of Audio Metadata, or "data about the audio data," and this time we will explore it in greater detail.

Last time I left you with a question: What is the problem with sending six channels of audio via three two-channel MPEG streams?

This time we will briefly wrap up our somewhat detailed look at audio compression by covering areas that some readers have submitted questions about.

This month we will start our journey exploring audio for digital television from end to end.

If you were able to attend, I hope your NAB experience was a good one and that you didn't get too many blank stares when you asked manufacturers about multichannel audio and/or metadata.

We return to the final stretch of our journey from post production to the consumer.

From BTSC to Surround Sound, audio changed with the times

Last time we wrapped up our investigation of audio distribution. This time we are going to sidetrack just a little bit and take a look at a different approach to controlling dynamic range.

As we prepare to enter into nice summer weather, I thought that it would be a perfect time to warm up to more details about transport stream distribution models.

The two major themes of broadcast these days, programming aside, seem to be either loudness or lip sync.

This month, I'll take a look at an enhanced version of AC-3 (Dolby Digital), the coding standard developed primarily to support the new enhanced version of the ATSC digital television standard.

To start the new year off on a solid foundation, we will begin a multi-part series of articles on audio data reduction, a.k.a. audio compression, a.k.a. audio coding.

We will wrap up our look at how to monitor almost every type of audio signal in a DTV plant by briefly exploring how to deal with baseband audio and separate metadata.

This month we will describe how each of the major terrestrial networks has chosen to distribute multichannel audio to their affiliate stations.

Loudness issues have plagued television broadcast for decades, and digital television is turning out to be no different. Luckily, the audio format specified