AES Technical Committee

Transmission and Broadcasting

Chair:	Kimio Hamasaki	(Send E-mail)
Chair:	Stephen Lyman	(Send E-mail)
Vice Chair:	Lars Jonsson	(Send E-mail)
Vice Chair:	Neville Thiele	(Send E-mail)

Areas of Concentration

1. Broadcast Studio Techniques
2. Distribution and Contribution Technologies
3. Test Methods and Equipment
4. DAB Broadcasting
5. Broadband Telecom Linking
6. Audio over IP contribution

Emerging Technology Trends

The growth of digital broadcasting is the most remarkable trend in the transmission and broadcasting sector. Digital terrestrial TV and radio broadcasting have been launched in several countries according to the different technology standard as below:

Digital terrestrial TV broadcasting

• DVB (Europe)

• ATSC (USA, Canada, Korea)

• ISDB-T (Japan, Brazil)

Digital terrestrial radio broadcasting

• DAB (Europe)

• HD-Radio or IBOC (USA, Canada)

• ISDB-SB (Japan)

• DRM (Europe)

Recently, digital terrestrial TV broadcasting for mobile receivers was also launched in several countries according to the different technology

standard below:

• DVB-H (Europe)

• ISDB-T (Japan)

• DMB (Korea)

The difference between digital radio and digital mobile TV is often discussed, because digital radio can also broadcast video content, and transmission and coding schemes are similar. As the growth of the digital radio market is most important for the future of the audio industry in terms of broadcasting, how to promote digital radio to the conventional listeners must be discussed.

The introduction of digital broadcasting has introduced such benefits as:

• High Definition TV (1080i, 720p)

• 5.1 surround sound

• Data broadcasting including information related to a program.

Due to the availability of 5.1 surround sound in digital broadcasting, program production with 5.1 surround sound has gradually expanded. However, 5.1 surround sound does not appear to be a big trend in broadcasting yet. The number of productions with 5.1 surround sound is still small, and this might be the reason why people are not so interested in 5.1 surround sound broadcasting. Some countries have already announced when they will stop terrestrial analog broadcasting, A few countries in Europe have already switched over from analog to digital terrestrial TV broadcasting. When analog broadcasting is terminated, new trends on broadcasting are expected to appear. Some of the issues emerging with the introduction of digital broadcasting, which have been discussed at recent AES conventions, include:

• strategies for the expansion of digitalbroadcasting

• audio coding for digital broadcastingand transmission

• the role of audio technology in the era of digital broadcasting

• new program-production schemes for digital broadcasting

• the future of radio including multicasting and surround

The use of new methods for the distribution of signals to the home via the Internet with streaming services is an increasing trend. Web radio and IPTV are now getting audience figures that are closing in on traditional systems. Distribution technologies with rapid growth in many countries are:

• ADSL/VDSL over copper or fiber, combined with WiFi in homes

• WIMAX and 3G/UMTS or WiFi hot spots for distribution to handheld devices

Other trends in transmission and broadcasting are:

• Loudness metering was discussed in ITU-R and a long-term loudness metering method was standardized.

This loudness metering is useful to adjust the overall program level to match different programs, because many viewers claim that they often have to control the TV volume to keep the sound level consistent for different programs and different channels. Short-term loudness level metering is now being discussed as an additional program level meter, while VU and peak meter have been used.

• True peak meters have been discussed to avoid any overloads (over the full-bits) in digital systems. This new meter uses over-sampling schemes, and it can be used by broadcasters.

Lip-sync issues continue to be discussed in digital broadcasting These issues are probably due to the lack of synchronization in the consumer digital Audio & Visual system.

Meeting Report:

These documents do not necessarily express the official position of the AES on the issues discussed at these meetings, and only represent the views of committee members participating in the discussion. Any unauthorized use of these publications is prohibited. Authorization must be obtained from the Executive Director of the AES: E-mail, Tel: +1 212 661 8528, Address: 60 East 42nd Street, Room 2520, New York, New York 10165-2520, USA.

2009-5-10     Meeting report TC-TB AES 126 Munich
Description: Meeting report of AES TC-TB at AES 126th Convention in Munich.

2008-10-5     Meeting report TC-TB AES 125 San Francisco
Description: Meeting report TC-TB meeting, held during 125th AES convention in San Francisco

2008-10-2     Meeting report TC TB AES 122 Viena
Description: Meeting report TC TB meeting, held during 122nd AES convention in Viena

2008-10-2     Meeting report TC TB AES 123 New York
Description: Minutes of TC TB meeting, held during the 123th AES convention in New York

2008-5-20     Minutes from Meeting AES Amsterdam
Description: Minutes from Transmission and Broadcasting Technical Committee

2008-4-12     AES TC BC AES 123rd New York Oct 2007
Description: Minutes of the meeting of the Transmission and Broadcasting Technical Committee/ New York 10th Oct 2007

2006-9-26     Minutes AES TC TB AES in Paris May 2006
Description: Minutes of the meeting of the Transmission and Broadcasting Technical Committee/ Paris May 22 2006

2001-7-25     Minutes AES TC TB Amsterdam May 2001
Description: Minutes of the meeting of the Transmission & Broadcasting Technical Committee (Amsterdam May 14, 2001)

2001-5-8     Minutes AES TC TB Los Angeles Sept 2000
Description: Minutes of the meeting of the Transmission & Broadcasting Technical Committee (Los Angeles Sept. 22,2000)

2000-8-18     Minutes AES 108 TC TB Paris 2000
Description: Vice chairman's Minutes of the meeting of the Transmission & Broadcasting Technical Committee (Paris, 19 February 2000)

Technical Report:

2001-5-8     Possible method for developing an objective Loudness measurement method
Description: An Annex to the Sept 2000 T&B meeting report. Work will be done in the Measurement Standards committee.

Committee Members

Claus Maeksinger	Lars Mossberg	Chris Gaunt
Irving Joel	David Robinson	Ronald Ajemian
Stephen Lyman	Louis Fielder	Neville Thiele
Mick Sawaguchi	Gerhard Moeller	Tim Shelton
Robert Finger	C. Robin Caine	Lars Jonsson
Kimio Hamasaki	Martin Dietz	Gregory Massey

To request membership in this Technical Committee please e-mail the Chair by using the link above.