Meeting Topic: The CALM Act
Moderator Name: SMPTE's Bob Gilmartin of BIS
Meeting Location: NBC Studios, Rockefeller Center
On January 26th professionals in many areas of broadcast and audio engineering met at NBC's Rockefeller Center Location to participate in a very interesting and pertinent topic: Loudness in television broadcasting. Recently (Dec. 2010) President Obama has signed into law, The CALM Act (Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation).
Complaints due to loudness variations between program items is a well known issue in television broadcasting world wide. Some believe the cause to be skilled operators being replaced by automated broadcast systems. Others on the engineering side, have strived to provide more uniform levels, without sacrificing dynamic range.
Produced by SMPTE's Bob Gilmartin ((BIS, who did a fine job of moderating. Presenters included leaders in the field; Jim Starzynski, NBC Audio Architect, who has played an integral role, along with the ATSC, in assembling the technical data needed for the formation of the bill. Jean-Claude Krelic, Sales Specialist, Miranda Technologies, who described in detail the testing and standards established by all involved, including the ATSC, EBU and ITU. AES Co Chair Ken Hunold, Broadcast Applications Engineer, Dolby Laboratories, discussed 'Managing Loudness Without Compromising Dynamic Range.' Ken also included an audio media content demonstration of several of these aural perceptions. Roger Charlesworth, President, Charlesworth Media and Executive Director, DTV Audio Group, discussed the Practical Operational Applications of Loudness Management techniques across a range of Workflows within a Conventional Broadcast Plant Environment. Mr. Charlesworth also filed in for Tim Carroll of Linear Acoustics, who ended up stuck on a train en route from Pennsylvania.
The event was very well attended, especially considering the snowstorm and included lively Q&A and audio demonstrations, exhibiting the problems and solutions to the TV commercial loudness issue.
Written By: James Williamson
