The Olympics has far-reaching effects on technology, including the design of new products considered too complex or unique for traditional broadcast applications.
NBC Olympics is taking Linear Acoustics’ UPMAX:Neo to Beijing to improve the sound of its coverage, but the product didn’t exist before NBC requested that it be built.
NBC wanted to use the company’s original upMAX, which took up 3RU, to upmix stereo sound to 5.1 digital for this summer’s work in Beijing, but the box was too big. So Linear Acoustics went to work to redesign the unit to work in a single rack space.
This led to the birth of the UPMAX:neo, introduced at NAB2008. In addition to the smaller single rack size, additional upmixing choices were added to the original algorithm for increased flexibility in post-production applications. Metadata input is standard, along with GPI inputs to control upmixing.
The UPMAX:neo uses proprietary processing to create an infinitely adjustable multichannel signal that is completely downmix compatible. It also provides a cost-effective solution for integrating legacy two-channel material into today’s 5.1-channel programs.
An analog output option provides eight channels of balanced audio capable of output up to +24dBu. A remote option gives the user the added convenience of adjusting volume and mute functions via remote control. In addition to metadata generation, future options will include HD-SDI audio and VANC metadata de-embedding and re-embedding.
