LANCASTER, PA. – Linear Acoustic, the leader in television audio control from production to transmission, introduces the LQ-1000 Loudness Quality Monitor at NAB 2010 (Booth SU8125.) The LQ-1000 provides comprehensive loudness and peak level metering of up to eight channels of 5.1 surround and/or stereo AES or SDI audio per industry-standard ITU-R BS.1770, a crucial requirement for mixing and transmitting in compliance with ATSC Recommended Practice A/85.
The LQ-1000 evolved from extensive field experience with mixers and broadcasters during post production and high-profile live events. Joining the recently introduced Linear Acoustic AERO.qc, the LQ-1000 is also a 2RU device that shares the same clear at-a-glance display of all critical parameters on a large color OLED display. The LQ-1000 offers metering in a simple cost-effective package for studio mixing and plant-wide monitoring, while the AERO.qc provides metering, loudness correction and upmixing; both are ideal for ingest and live sports event metering and control. Deploying the LQ-1000 and AERO.qc throughout a facility maintains a common user interface and display, improving consistency and reducing operational errors.
Mixing to a loudness standard while maintaining production values requires much more than looking at a simple LKFS number. In the LQ-1000, current loudness, target loudness and peak level are clearly indicated with large numbers. In addition, loudness and peak level are displayed simultaneously on a familiar bar graph display. Thumbnail input meters confirm signal presence and level on all channels, and a histogram shows loudness over the duration of the program. Color is used to display the loudness comfort zone: green if within target, blue if too quiet, yellow if getting loud and red if too loud.
Ideally the LQ-1000 display would be directly in front of the sound mixer. Linear Acoustic will offer a LQ-1000/AERO.qc Remote Display/GPI module for universal in-console mounting. The units all provide a VGA output to send the full display to an external monitor or multiviewer. AES outputs provide de-embedded audio for speaker monitoring. GPI/O enables remote control of functions assigned to the four programmable front panel buttons and provides tally output alarms when the loudness gets too loud, too soft or center channel is lost.
Immediately available options include HD/SD-SDI input and re-clocked or re-embedded output, Dolby Digital/Dolby Digital Plus/Dolby E decoding and dual power supplies.
The LQ-1000 Loudness Quality Monitor is currently in field testing; production units will ship March 2010.
About Linear Acoustic:
Linear Acoustic is the leading authority in television audio control from production to transmission. The company designs and manufactures the AEROTM range of audio processing and loudness control solutions, e2™ (e-squared) multichannel audio backhaul and distribution, and MetaMAX™ metadata processing products and licenses key technologies to OEM partners. The company is actively involved in standards and practices creation as a member of the ATSC and by participating in other international standards groups. Linear Acoustic is a sustaining member of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), and is a premier member of the Sports Video Group. Linear Acoustic provided its UPMAX:neo™ 5.1-channel upmixer and technical services for NBC’s coverage of the 2008 Beijing Summer Games and is proud to be providing new technology and services for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games. Linear Acoustic is a member of the Telos group of companies along with Omnia and Axia. More information about Linear Acoustic is available at www.linearacoustic.com.
