Building the World’s Most Complex TV Network: A Test Bed for Broadcasting Immersive and Interactive Audio

Fraunhofer and its partners have developed a TV audio system based on the new MPEG-H Audio standard, now part of the ATSC 3.0 A/342 standard adopted for Korean broadcasts in 2017. Given its complexity, a complete broadcast plant was built to test the features envisioned. At NAB 2015, we demonstrated “The MPEG Network” on the show floor. It was perhaps the most complex combination of broadcast audio content ever made in a single plant, involving 13 different formats. The network was designed to handle immersive audio in both channel and HOA-based formats, with each using audio objects for interactivity. Live mixing at a simulated sports remote was contributed to a network operating center, with distribution to affiliates, and then emission to a consumer living room, all using the MPEG-H audio system. Both system and equipment design are presented, including an Audio Monitoring and Authoring Unit to mix signals using existing consoles.