Thomson Video Networks and Jünger Audio have revealed a strategic partnership intended to bring Jünger’s audio loudness technology to the ViBE encoding platform.

Under the agreement, the companies will work jointly to integrate Level Magic into the Thomson ViBE platform, and the technology will be incorporated into new ViBE products from Q3 2012. The aim is to provide a reduced infrastructure footprint, as well as providing a simpler and more effective solution to regulatory loudness requirements. A software upgrade will be available to customers of existing ViBE EM4000 and VS7000 units.

‘We have chosen Jünger from the key players in this arena because the Level Magic algorithm is very highly regarded by broadcast sound engineers for the outstanding results it delivers,’ says Thomson Video Networks CTO, Claude Perron. ‘Audio quality is a key criterion for our customers and an important part of the viewer experience, and with this collaboration we can combine the leading loudness solution with the leading encoding technology.’

Jünger Audio’s audio leveling technology delivers broadcast audio that complies with all current loudness regulations (ATSC A/85, ITU 1770 and EBU R128). The company’s Level Magic algorithm provides a comprehensive series of level controls that address all of the issues broadcasters currently face, with audio coming from a wide variety of sources. It is based on a Multi-Loop dynamic range control principle where slow changes (AGC), fast changes (transient processing) and Look Ahead peak limiting are handled simultaneously, and without colouration, pumping, breathing, distortion or modulation effects.

‘In the light of new legislation, broadcasters around the world are very aware of the need to maintain legal audio levels,’ adds Jünger Audio MD, Peter Poers. ‘As audio specialists, we have spent many years developing technologies that address the loudness issue without any detrimental effect on sound quality. By combining Level Magic with ViBE encoding, it is now much easier for broadcasters to deploy and operate a solution that complies with all current loudness regulations and offers a smaller footprint, thus minimising the possibility of errors.’