WASHINGTON, D.C.—Comcast NBCUniversal, Sinclair Broadcast Group, and the Pearl Network Consortia (PNC) have announced plans to demo the improved audio accessibility features of NextGen TV, aka ATSC 3.0, during the 2023 NAB Show in Las Vegas.
These new features are designed to make television more accessible and inclusive for everyone. The demo marks a significant milestone in NextGen TV’s enhanced audio description support by demonstrating how they can be extended to multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD) distribution platforms.
Audio description is a spoken narrative that describes purely visual elements and context in a program for viewers who are blind or visually impaired. The enhanced audio capabilities of NextGen TV enable the audio description to be delivered with the same high quality as the primary audio track.
A two-screen demonstration will feature an NBC Sports NextGen TV broadcast from the Las Vegas Sinclair station that will simultaneously be distributed via a Comcast Xfinity set-top box. Enhanced accessibility features highlighted will include full Dolby Atmos immersive sound in English and Spanish with audio description and Voice+ to increase the intelligibility of the foreground announcers’ voices over the program content.
“Our collaboration with PNC is part of Comcast NBCUniversal’s commitment to continually improve the experience for all audiences,” said Clarence Hau, senior vice president, standards, policy & advanced engineering, NBCUniversal. “This demonstration helps us to understand how NextGen TV’s advanced audio capabilities can be leveraged to improve the sound quality of audio-described programming simultaneously delivered over-the-air and via MVPDs.”
“NextGen TV enables consumers across many communities to access television programming that takes advantage of this unique over-the-air path to deliver quality content,” added Anne Schelle, managing director of Pearl TV. “This demonstration shows how broadcasters and Comcast have cooperated to present new features that can be delivered, in a manner compatible with their systems, thus enabling them to provide these accessibility benefits to NextGen TV viewers.”
The enhanced audio accessibility demonstration will be offered at the NAB show between April 16-19 in the West Hall at booth W3443.
