TC Electronic DB4 MKII - Manual (Page 94)

LM6
90 DB4 / DB8 MKII Algorithms
Post Script
Control of loudness is the only audio issue that
has made It to the political agenda. Political reg-
ulation is currently being put into effect in Europe
to prevent hearing damage and disturbances
from PA systems, and to avoid annoying level
jumps during commercial breaks in television. In
Australia, something similar may happen.
Many years of research into loudness of not
only dialog, but also of loudness relating to any
type of audio programming, has brought TC to
the forefront of companies in the world to per-
form realtime loudness measurement and con-
trol. Therefore, TC has taken active part in loud-
ness standardization efforts in Japan, the United
States, Europe and other areas.
In broadcast, digitization is driving the number
of AV channels and platforms up, while the total
number of viewers remains roughly the same. On
the sound production side, it is therefore impor-
tant that delivery criteria can be easily specified
and met, even by people not primarily concerned
with audio: Journalists, musicians, video editors,
marketing professionals etc.
Using only dialog based audio measurements
in digital broadcast, has led to ambiguous level
management, more level jumps between pro-
grams, and extra time spent on audio produc-
tion and management in general. Non-dialog
based level jumps are currently creating havoc
in digital TV, and LM6 helps correct that situa-
tion. The LM6 Loudness Meter can be used to
control level and improve sound, not only in Dol-
by AC3 based transmissions, but also on other
broadcast platforms, such as analog TV, mobile
TV and IPTV.
To summarize: LM6 is part of a holistic and uni-
versal approach to loudness control, starting at
the production or live engineer. When she real-
izes the dynamic range at her disposal, less pro-
cessing is needed at later stages of a distribution
chain. The chain ends with the capability of qual-
ity controlling everything upstream by applying
the same loudness measure for logging purpos-
es: A closed loop.
Welcome to a new, standardized world of audio
leveling. Across genres, across formats, across
the globe.