Dynamics processing specialist Jünger Audio has introduced a number of new additions to its ground-breaking Level Magic automated audio loudness control system for production and broadcast.
These new addition enable Jünger Audio to offer an integrated workflow solution for managing Dolby coded 5.1 audio signals in production, ingest and playout.
Peter Pörs, managing director of Jünger Audio, says: “Our aim is to offer an outstanding integrated workflow solution that incorporates signal monitoring and smart 5.1/2.0 fail over switching, including programme metadata management. The new cards we have introduced draw on our 20-plus years of experience in dynamic range processing and provide Level Magic customers with a solution that is far more effective than anything else on the market.”
Jünger Audio’s Level Magic is a sophisticated adaptive level control algorithm that is designed to adjust the level from any source at any time, with no pumping, breathing or distortion. It is based on a simultaneous combination of an AGC, a Transient Processor for fast changes and a “look ahead” Peak Limiter for continuous unattended control of any programme material, regardless of its original source.
Capable of using any kind of I/O (Analog and Digital) sources, as well as SDI, HD/SDI, Dolby 5.1 and all its related metadata, Level Magic is available in a variety of configurations to suit different applications.
The latest addition to the range is the C8086-8, an 8 channel DSP card that incorporates a new Dolby® Metadata Generator option. This is designed for use with the modular frame C8000 system, which provides audio processing for a wide variety of application including audio production, broadcasting, distribution, re-broadcasting and audio for video.
Level Magic can be configured and remotely controlled via a web interface – and it now complies with the ITU’s BS.R1770 loudness control specifications as level detection can easily be switched to ITU mode.
When used in combination with Jünger Audio’s C8601 Dolby D/E decoder, C8611 Dolby E encoder, C8612 Dolby D/D+ encoder and C8404 HD/SD-SDI inserter, the new DSP card allows users to verify, modify or generate metadata, including Dialnorm, according to Dolby specifications for both Dolby E and Dolby Digital. The card also incorporates Dolby® Metadata display and editing and eight Metadata presets. With the C8086 in place, the Level Magic system can transport metadata from the point of origin up to the point of Dolby Digital encoding, thus ensuring that the entire workflow for 5.1 audio production remains HD/SD-SDI embedded throughout.
“Programme suppliers, including IPTV companies, are well aware of the problems caused by surprise level changes when switching from one source to another,” Peter Pörs adds. “They are also equally aware of the annoyance this causes for viewers who have to rely on their remote control to adjust the volume between programmes on different channels or between programmes and commercial breaks.”
Having understood these problems long before broadcasters even realised they had them, Jünger Audio has had time to develop accurate, innovative products that are capable of automatically handling any audio, at any time and in any format, regardless of the individual loudness values of the source material. Level Magic is the solution that the broadcast and post production industries have been looking for.
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