AES E-Library

Loudness Descriptors to Characterize Wide Loudness-Range Material

Previously we introduced the concept of loudness descriptors – key numbers to summarize loudness properties of a broadcast programme or music track. This paper presents the descriptors: Foreground Loudness, which measures the level of foreground sound, and Loudness Range, which quantifies the variation in loudness. Wide loudness-range material may benefit from level-alignment based on foreground loudness rather than overall loudness. We propose to use these descriptors for loudness profiling and alignment, especially when live, raw, and film material is combined with other broadcast programs, thereby minimizing level-jumps and also applying appropriate dynamics-processing. Finally, we introduce the “zap test” which can objectively characterize the quality of loudness-balancing schemes, based on statistics of the potential loudness-jumps. A study of loudness-jump tolerance is presented, considering loudness-jumps from a subjective point of view.

Authors: Skovenborg, Esben; Lund, Thomas
Affiliation: TC Electronic A/S, Risskov, Denmark
AES Convention:127 (October 2009) Paper Number:7948 Import into BibTeX
Subject:Analysis and Synthesis of Sound

Click to purchase paper or login as an AES member. If your company or school subscribes to the E-Library then switch to the institutional version. If you are not an AES member and would like to subscribe to the E-Library then Join the AES!

This paper costs $20 for non-members, $5 for AES members and is free for E-Library subscribers.

Learn more about the AES E-Library

E-Library Location: (CD 127Papers)   /127/7948.pdf

Start a discussion about this paper!