SMPTE publishes standards for immersive audio in cinemas

The new standards simplify immersive audio distribution and ensure smooth, consistent playback across multiple immersive sound systems.

The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), the organization in charge of setting work standards in the broadcast and audiovisual world, has just published the new SMPTE ST 2098 standards for immersive audio. La Sociedad ha publicado ST 2098-1:2018, Immersive Audio Metadata; ST 2098-2:2018, Immersive Audio Bitstream Specification; y ST 2098-5:2018, D-Cinema Immersive Audio Channels and Soundfield Groups.

Brian Vessa, founding chairman of SMPTE's Cinema Sound Systems Technology Committee (TC-25CSS) and executive director of digital audio mastering at Sony Pictures Entertainment, highlights that “immersive audio makes a significant impression on audiences and, due to the Adding real value, we are seeing an increasing number of films being remixed for an immersive environment. By supporting the delivery of a standardized immersive audio bitstream within a single interoperable digital cinema package, the new SMPTE immersive audio standards simplify distribution while ensuring that theaters can safely play immersive audio of their choice of compatible immersive sound systems.”

SMPTE ST 2098-1 establishes metadata for use in creating immersive audio content for cinema. The standard defines the metadata elements supported in immersive audio content and, where applicable, the range of values, value precisions and cardinal values. (The format of metadata elements when transported in a bitstream or file is provided in SMPTE ST 2098-2.)

As for the SMPTE ST 2098-2 defines an encoded representation (bitstream) that carries the audio essence and metadata necessary to play a fully immersive audio program.

For its part, SMPTE ST 2098-5 defines names and abbreviations for immersive audio channels and sound field groups associated with D-Cinema immersive audio presentation. This standard also provides guidance on typical locations of cinema speakers used for immersive audio playback.

The new standards for immersive audio are now available in the SMPTE digital library hosted on the plataforma IEEE Xplore.

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