Neural® Surround MultiMerge™ + Neural Loudness Control

When broadcasters want to deliver consistent, quality audio with the fewest hassles, Neural Surround MultiMerge+NLC is the television audio processing solution.

Neural Audio combines Neural Loudness Control with MultiMerge's auto surround sound detection, 5.1 up-mixing and 2.0 down-mixing. Imagine: Loudness Management and Surround Sound Management in a single rack space solution!

Neural® Surround MultiMerge™ - The perfect blend of Stereo and Surround sound for your broadcast facility.

Neural Surround MultiMerge provides surround sound for DTV viewers whether the original content is stereo or discrete 5.1 surround. MultiMerge's stereo to surround UpMix has outperformed all other methods when evaluated for channel discreteness, envelopment, and original spatial location.

Positioned just ahead of the final audio output of a television facility, MultiMerge provides seamless transitions between stereo (LoRo), stereo matrix (LtRt), and discrete 5.1 audio mixes. Original 5.1 content passes untouched as other content is rendered to a 5.1 surround sound image using the Neural Surround UpMix process.

With MultiMerge placed ahead of a Dolby Digital (AC-3) encoder, a broadcaster can stay in the surround (3/2) mode. This eliminates the clicks, pops and dropouts that occur when transitioning back and forth between stereo (2/0) and surround (3/2). MultiMerge also includes a full-time DownMix (LtRt) output that can be used to feed tape or standard definition broadcast feeds.

Key features of the Neural Surround MultiMerge include:

• Outperforms all existing upmixing methods for channel discreteness, envelopment, and original spatial location
• Auto upmix of stereo content to reduce chances of operator error (can also be triggered by GPI)
• Mute-less 5.1 pass-through to guarantee critical audio is never lost, such as center channel dialog
• Full-time 5.1 surround outputs for HD feeds
• Full-time stereo (LtRt) outputs for SD feeds
• User-selectable input logic can automate unusual audio routing needs for voiceovers, EAS, and split transmission paths

Neural Loudness Control: Control the loudness, don't squash it.

Neural Loudness Control (NLC) is an advanced loudness leveling technology that accurately measures and regulates the perceived loudness differences in audio. Annoying side-effects of traditional audio processing are eliminated and loudness is controlled without squashing the quality of the audio. The result is audio with a natural, open quality and a consistent audio experience for all viewers.

NLC actually mimics human perception of audio and provides tight control of loudness. Neural's Loudness Measurement detects spectral and density differences, inter-channel relationships and temporal overlaps within the audio signal. After detection, NLC applies the appropriate gain or attenuation to the audio to achieve a user-defined loudness level.

If NLC is used ahead of an AC3 (Dolby Digital) transmission, the target loudness level will also match the DialNorm metadata information, thus providing viewers with a consistent audio experience.

Key Benefits of Neural Loudness Control

• Guarantees a consistent viewer experience despite variations in consumers' equipment
• Adheres to the ITU BS.1770 loudness recommendation, and--more importantly--agrees with your viewer's perception of loudness
• Uses the same loudness control for stereo and 5.1 surround content
• Manages loudness without a "squashed" or compressed sound
• Corrects loudness while preserving the original equal loudness curve
• Using look-ahead technology, makes large gain corrections imperceptible

Specifications

Ordering Information