CAMPBELL, CALIF.—Video Clarity announced that its RTM real-time audio and video monitoring solution and ClearView line of video quality analyzers now provide built-in decoding of Dolby Digital audio in SDI or IP video streams and files. With this new capability, both the RTM and ClearView systems offer a method for media enterprises to run critical test parameters on all channels and devices carrying Dolby Digital audio.
Many facilities for cable, IPTV, and satellite program distribution carry Dolby Digital audio in programs from the origination point through digital processing and distribution. As part of the encoded video/audio package, these signals need to be decoded from the file or the network in order to be tested for quality, loudness, and lip sync. Previously, in order to test SDI or IP video streams, RTM and ClearView systems required an additional external decoding device to provide PCM (uncompressed), MPEG, or AAC audio in the stream.
With this new function, Video Clarity customers can now use RTM and ClearView to test files and streams containing Dolby audio without having to decode IP streams to baseband signals. Additionally, operators can join and switch to any stream over an IP network and selectively decode any of those audio/video streams serially for testing. The new integrated decoding functionality saves television networks and other broadcast facilities the expense of having to purchase a separate decoding device, and also reduces cabling and power consumption.
The new Dolby Digital audio encoding functionality for RTM and ClearView will be available late in the fourth quarter of 2014 at a price of $4,995 per system for all multichannel audio decoding requirements or as an optional software license for new systems.
